446 KEEPING DOWN WEIGHT. 



seat of the chair made of wood and its under surface covered 

 with zinc or tin, which will prevent it from being burned, and 

 will also radiate the heat better than wood would do. He 

 should have no clothes on, but should have several rugs and 

 blankets wrapped round the chair and himself and brought 

 tight round it, so that the heated air may not escape. A 

 waterproof sheet considerably assists this operation. A little 

 practice is required to teach one how to get the rugs and 

 blankets fixed. If the hot air is properly kept in, the person 

 taking the bath will, in about ten minutes, break out into a 

 profuse perspiration. He may continue in this state for an 

 hour, which will be as long as most men can bear. Portable 

 baths are specially made for this purpose. 



A lamp bath will take off little more than half the weight 

 that a regular sweat will do ; for its action is confined to the 

 skin. In the other form of sweating, there is general waste, 

 in the removal of which the lungs largely help, and thus the 

 blood is kept pure. Under the influence of a lamp bath, the 

 action of the heart becomes tumultuous after a short time, 

 and the breathing laboured, on account of the lungs becoming 

 gorged with impure blood, until faintness and marked distress 

 ensues. By persisting in these sweats, the heart is liable to 

 become permanently injured. 



The action of a Turkish bath is similar to that of a lamp 

 bath, except that it is not so severe. 



I have known some men keep down their weight for race 

 riding by taking plenty of exercise, and by rigidly abstaining 

 from drinking more than a pint or a pint and a half of fluid 

 during the twenty-four hours. 



The more a man trusts to hard exercise and self-denial, 

 the fitter will he be to ride. Sweats and physic should be 

 employed only when time is narrowly limited, and the amount 

 to be got off is very considerable. 



A man can ride in a two or a two and a half pound saddle, 



