SPIRIT-VAPOR BATH. 423 



the operation repeated one or more times if the patient does not al- 

 ready sweat freely enough, which he will probably do in from five 

 to ten minutes. 



If during the operation he feel faint or thirsty, cold water 

 must be sprinkled in his face; he may drink one or two swallows, or 

 even have his head bathed with it. 



Then, when free perspiration is produced, wrap the blankets 

 around him, put him in bed, cover him warmly and give him hot 

 teas to drink. After two or three hours remove the covering piece 

 by piece, at intervals of about half an hour, so that he may gradu- 

 ally cease to perspire. 



Ordinary precautions will prevent his taking cold, and he may 

 go to business the next day. 



This mode of producing perspiration is highly recommended 

 in severe colds, pleurisy, rheumatism, diarrhea, dysentery, feverish 

 and inflammatory attacks, etc. In acute diseases it may be practiced 

 once a day; in chronic, once or twice a week, according to indica- 

 tions of its necessity. 



BATHING CHILDREN. 



In bringing up children one of the most important things is the 

 bath. Mothers often lay the foundation for sickly constitutions, solely 

 by neglect of the bath or by improper bathing of the child. Children as 

 well as grown people should not be bathed until some hours after 

 meals. A time should be fixed and nothing else allowed to interfere 

 with it. Great care must be taken to avoid draughts, and under no 

 circumstances should there ever be any delay in enwrapping the body 

 or in vigorously wiping it dry the very instant it leaves the water. 

 The water should be tepid, or moderately warm, and have a handful 

 of salt or a little boracic acid dissolved in it. With a soft piece of old 

 linen dipped in this water, the baby's tongue, gums and roof of the 

 mouth should be first washed, then the eyes and the head, which 

 should be wiped dry before proceeding. It is then ready to be placed 

 in the bath and bathed all over. It should not take over five minutes. 

 Very little soap should be used, and that only of the very best obtain- 

 able. When through it should be taken out at once, wrapped in a 

 large bath towel and wiped quickly. Then with a dry, soft towel rub 

 until a slight glow appears on the skin. If the child is weak it ia 

 well to follow this by rubbing it with a sponge dipped in diluted alco- 

 hol, about a teaspoonful of alcohol to a small washbowl of water. If 

 it is inclined to chafe, dust the parts with powder, made in the pro- 

 portions of an ounce of talcum to a drachm of boracic acid. This is 

 the best infant powder in use, and is cheaper and better than the ex- 

 pensive preparations sold at drug stores. The reprehensible habit, of 

 bathing children one time in the morning, and another at night, or 

 perhaps during the day, as best suits convenience, should by all means 

 be avoided. Likewise the habit of bathing the child, sometimes five 

 or six times a week and again only once or twice a week, ia a matter 



