74 COLD, TEPID, AND WARM BATH. 



parts of their persons, and would even express 

 surprise if told that more than this is necessary to 

 health. Certain it is, that many never wash their 

 bodies at all, unless they happen to be at sea-bath- 

 ing quarters in summer, or are oppressed with heat, 

 when they will resort to bathing as a means of com- 

 fort, but without thinking at all of its efficacy as a 

 means of cleanliness in preserving health. In 

 many public charities and schools, in like manner, 

 bathing or ablution is never thought of as a proper 

 or practicable thing, except for the sick ; and yet, 

 it is obviously of great importance to every one, 

 especiaJ ] y to the young.* 



For general use, the tepid or warm bath seems to 

 me much more suitable than the cold bath, especi- 

 ally in winter, and for those who are not robust and 

 full of animal heat. Where the constitution is not 

 sufficiently vigorous to secure reaction after the 

 cold bath, as indicated by a warm glow over the 

 surface, its use inevitably does harm. A vast num- 

 ber of persons are in this condition ; while, on the 

 contrary, there are few indeed who do not derive 

 evident advantage from the regular use of the tepid 

 bath, and still fewer who are hurt by it. 



Where the health is good, and the bodily powers 

 are sufficiently vigorous, the cold bath during sum- 

 mer, and the shower-bath in winter, may serve 

 every purpose required from them. But it should 

 never b e forgotten, that they are too powerful in 



* While revising these pages, a friend has mentioned to me 

 A case strikingly illustrative of the necessity of attending to the 

 condition of the skin, and of the sympathy subsisting between 

 it and the bowels. A lady, who is in other respects very cleanly 

 in her habits, has never been accustomed to the use of the bath 

 or to general ablution of any kind, and in consequence the skin 

 acts very imperfectly. Asa substitute, however, for its exhala- 

 tion, she has all her life been affected with bowel complaint, 

 which no treatment directed to the bowels has been able to re- 

 move. It is probable that the natural course of the exhalation 

 could not now be restored. 



