IOCS 



BATHING. 



BATHING. 



1006 



by the motto, " Tria juncta in uno," and is worn pendant over the 

 right shoulder. The civil Knights Commanders wear the same badge 

 pendant from the neck ; and the civil Companions, one of a smaller 

 size pendant from the button-hole, all by a red ribbon. 



The star of the civil Knights Grand Crosses is of silver, with eight 

 points or rays charged with three imperial crowns proper, upon a glory 

 of silver rays, within a red circle, bearing the motto, " Tria juncta in 

 uno." That of the civil Knights Commanders is. of the same form and 

 size as that of the military, but the laurel wreath and the motto, " Ich 

 dien " are omitted. 



BATHING means the temporary surrounding of the body, or a 

 part of it, with a medium different from that in which it is usually 

 placed. The means employed for this purpose are generally water, 

 watery vapour, or air of a temperature different from that of the 

 common atmosphere. The objects for which these are employed are 

 usually the prevention of disease, the cure of disease, or the pleasure 

 derived from the 'operation. To understand in what way these ends 

 are accomplished, we must observe that the human frame is endowed 

 with a power of maintaining, within certain limits, a nearly uniform 

 temperature in whatever circumstances it is placed. The general 

 temperature of an adult in a state of perfect health' is from 97 to 98 

 of Fahrenheit's thermometer ; that of a new-born infant about 94. In 

 some cases of disease the temperature rises far above this standard, 

 even to 106, while in others it sinks far below it. The power by 

 which the body maintains a uniformity of temperature is the property 

 of developing animal heat, the perfection of which function is intimately 

 connected with the state of the nervous system, and through that with 

 the circulation. When the body is well nourished and the circulation 

 vigorous, the temperature is high, and nearly equal over all parts of 

 the body, provided the supply of nervous energy be adequate. If 

 anything impairs the vigour of the circulation generally, or of an artery 

 going to a particular limb (as when it is tied in the operation of 

 aneurism), the temperature of the whole or of the part will be low. 

 On the other hand, if the whole nervous system be impaired, a lower 

 temperature will prevail generally, and especially at the extremities ; 

 or if a particular limb, such as a paralysed limb, have an imperfect 

 share of nervous energy, a lower temperature of the part will exist. 

 The respiratory function is also intimately connected with the develop- 

 ment of animal heat, and the skin assists in regulating it, especially in 

 reducing it when too high. When the body is placed in a medium of 

 a temperature much lower than itself, the heat is abstracted from the 

 surface with more or less rapidity, according to the difference of 

 temperature, and, if the medium be air, according to its state of 

 humidity or dryuess ; the effect of which wo*ild be a reduction of the 

 temperature of the whole body, were it not counteracted by an increased 

 development of animal heat. Again, when the body is surrounded by 

 a medium much higher than itself, the exhalation from the surface, 

 both of the skin and lungs, is greatly augmented : that from the 

 former being thrown off in the form of perspiration, that of the latter 

 in the form of vapour. The evaporation attending these processes 

 causes a reduction of temperature. As illustrations of the truth of 

 these two positions, we need not do more than allude to the nearly 

 equal temperature of the body maintained by Sir Joseph Banks, Sir 

 Charles Blagden, Drs. Fordyce and Solander, in their experiments, 

 when the heat of the room was 260 of Fahrenheit (see 'Animal Phy- 

 siology, Library of Useful Knowledge,' part i. p. 3), and that main- 

 tained during the winter by the members of the expeditions under 

 Captains Ross, Parry, and Franklin, when the thermometer frequently 

 fell to 51 below zero of Fahrenheit. 



In a moderate temperature the animal heat is generally prevented 

 from rising too high by means of the insensible perspiration, the 

 quantity of which varies with circumstances. According to the 

 experimente of Seguin, the largest quantity from the skin and lungs 

 together amounted to thirty-two grains per minute, or three ounces and 

 a quarter per hour, or five pounds per day. The medium quantity 

 was fifteen grains per minute, or thirty-three ounces in twenty-four 

 hours. The quantity exhaled increases after meals, during sleep, in 

 dry warm weather, and by friction, or whatever stimulates the skin ; 

 and it diminishes when digestion is impaired, and the body is in a 

 moist atmosphere. These last-mentioned circumstances prove the 

 sympathy which subsists between the skin and the internal organs. 

 The skin must not, therefore, be regarded as a mere covering of the 

 body, but as an organ, the healthy condition of which is of vast 

 importance to the well-being of the whole frame, but especially of the 

 stomach and lining membrane of the lungs, with which, as mucous 

 membranes, it has the closest sympathy. It also sympathises with the 

 kidneys, the quantity of discharge from which is regulated by the 

 action of the skin. Hence in summer, when the perspiration from the 

 skin is abundant, the secretion from the kidneys is less ; and when, in 

 winter, the secretion from the skin is diminished, that from the kidneys 

 U increased. 



The perspiration is the channel by which salts and other principles, 

 no longer useful in the system, are removed from it. According to 

 Thenard, it consists of a large quantity of water, a small quantity of an 

 acid, which according to circumstances may be either the acetic, lactic, 

 or phosphoric; and some salts, chiefly hydro-chlorates of soda and 

 potM8. Taking the lowest estimate of Lavoisier, the skin appears to 

 be endowed with the power of removing from the system, in the space 



of twenty-four hours, twenty ounces of waste ; the retention of this 

 in the system is productive of great injury, and the inconvenience is 

 only lessened by the increased action of some internal organ, which 

 becomes oppressed by the double load thus cast upon it. Even the 

 retention of the perspired matter close to the skin, from neglect of 

 changing the clothes, is the source of many cutaneous diseases, par- 

 ticularly in spring and summer. 



The great vascularity of the skin, and the manner in which the 

 vessels of this part are influenced by affections of the mind, as in 

 blushing, when it becomes red from more blood being sent to it, and 

 during fear [when less blood goes to it, and more to the vicarious 

 organs, as the kidneys, point out how an exposure to a cold and damp 

 atmosphere and how mental emotions are concerned in producing 

 morbid action of this organ. The skin must also be regarded as a net- 

 work of nervous filaments, and the most extensive organ of sensation : 

 in this way it enables us to judge of heat and cold, though not with 

 absolute certainty, as the sensation conveyed will depend upon the 

 temperature of the medium in which the body or any of the limbs 

 may have been placed immediately before. To understand this 

 doctrine, it is necessary to be acquainted with the action of heat and 

 cold on the human system ; in our explanation of which, we will 

 endeavour to be as concise as possible. We treat first of cold ; in 

 doing which it is necessary to distinguish between the immediate 

 primary action of cold on the organ or part with which it is brought 

 into contact, and the secondary action, depending upon the organic 

 activity residing in the part, or that train, of effects usually denominated 

 re-action. The primary effect is always the same, consisting in the 

 abstraction of heat from the part, and the consequent reduction of its 

 temperature, while the internal development of heat becomes greater, 

 so that the organic life strives ever to maintain an equilibrium 

 between the conflicting powers, in order that it may not be limited 

 or disturbed in its healthy action. Yet it must be remembered, 

 that both the external and internal degree of the primary action of 

 cold, as also the period in which it slowly or suddenly shows 

 itself, and the time, whether longer or shorter, that it lasts, occa- 

 sion a variety of effects, both in the part to which it is applied, 

 and those more immediately sympathising with it, as well as in the 

 whole system. The degree of primary action of cold can vary in 

 endless degrees, from the lowest, where it scarcely affects the sen- 

 sibility, to the highest, when it utterly destroys life. This difference 

 of degree depends upon the concurrence of several circumstances, 

 partly relating to the action of the cold itself, and partly to the nature 

 of the organic life upon which the cold operates. The essential con- 

 ditions which must be here borne in mind are, that the continual 

 evolution of animal heat is closely connected with the development 

 or exercise of animal life ; and that the power or extent of action 

 of external media, having a lower temperature than that of the animal 

 they surround, depends less on the absolute degree of their tem- 

 perature than upon the quantity of caloric which they can abstract in 

 a given time. 



The relative power and quickness of abstracting heat, with which 

 different external media are endowed, depend upon different properties, 

 such as their density, conducting power, capacity for heat, &c., and dis- 

 play themselves through the diversity of sensations which, at the same 

 absolute temperature, they occasion. Thus, air at the temperature of 

 65 Fahr. feels pleasant, while water at the same degree feels somewhat 

 cold. The organs of the body also differ in their power of sustaining 

 the same temperature ; hence, in the employment of vapour-baths, it is 

 of importance to know whether the watery vapour is to be breathed 

 or not, since, where it is to be breathed, the temperature must be much 

 lower. The following table is given by Sir John Forbes as an approxi- 

 mation to what may be deemed correct as a measure of sensation in 

 the cases where water and vapour are used. 



As a full exposition of the subject of the temperature of animals is 

 given under the article HEAT, ANIMAL, we must refer to it for further 

 details, confining ourselves here to remark that the ultimate action of 

 cold, when extreme, is a sedative to the nervous system, and alters 

 the circulation from external to internal; and that moderate cold 

 continued causes the same consequences as severe cold of short 

 duration. (See Beaupre', 'On Cold,' Edinb. 1826.) Heat, on the 

 other hand, is a stimulant to the nervous system, and alters the 

 distribution of the blood from internal to external. Taking these 

 principles as our guide, we proceed now to consider the different 

 kinds of baths, and their action on the system in different states both 

 of health and disease. 



First, of water-baths. The common division is into cold and warm ; 

 but various subdivisions are formed, marked by a certain range of 

 temperature, which are designated 



