THE WET-SHEET PACK. 411 



hydvopathic appliances alone, for home treatment, for the reason 

 that medicines should be administered by those only who have had 

 a thorough medical education, whilst water, air, exercise and diet 

 can be used by any one who is possessed of good fair common 

 sense. 



Any treatise on the use of water would be incomplete without 

 general directions for bathing, and I cannot do better than to copy 

 the notice issued by the Royal Humane Society, for the reason that 

 the rules laid down by this body are entirely correct, and the weight 

 of their authority will serve to more fully impress them on the 

 reader's mind. 



IMPROPER BATHING AND LACK OF BATHING 



CAUSES DISEASE AND THE DEATH OF 



THOUSANDS. 



Millions suffer because of ignorance of the proper method of 

 lathing. Never bathe within two hours of eating, when exhausted, 

 or when cooling after perspiration. Never bathe in the open air 

 if chilliness follows the plunge, but bathe when the body is warm, 

 provided no time is lost in getting into the water. Avoid chilling 

 the body by sitting or standing undressed on the banks or in boats 

 after having been in the water; leave the water at once if there 

 is the slightest feeling of chilliness. The vigorous and strong may 

 bathe early in the morning on an empty stomach. The young and 

 those who are weak had better bathe two or three hours after a 

 meal; the best time for such is from two to three hours after break- 

 fast. Those who are subject to attacks of giddiness or faintness, and 

 those who suffer from palpitation and other sense of discomfort at 

 the heart, should not batne without first consulting their medical 

 adviser." 



THE WET-SHEET PACK. 



In this process we use a coarse linen sheet although a coarse 

 cotton one answers tolerably well of length sufficient to reach 

 from the patient's head to the soles of his feet, and about two yards 

 in width. The bed is stripped of all its covering, one or two pil- 

 lows only being left for the patient's head. One or two comforts are 

 then spread upon it, and over these a like number of woolen blankets, 

 which are not so much injured by the wet as cotton comforts. Or, 

 what is better, but more expensive, we may use blankets only, two 

 or more pairs as they may be needed. The sheet having been pretty 

 well wrung out of warm or tepid water pure and soft always if such 

 can be had is then spread out as smoothly as may be upon the 

 upper blanket. The patient being undressed, at full length upon 

 the sheet, and holding up his arms, an assistant laps one side of it 

 over the body and lower limbs, tucking it snugly the whole length 

 of the body: the arms are then dropped at the side, after which the 

 other part of the sheet is lapped over as before, except that the 



