76 COLD, TEPID, AND WARM BATH. 



stances. As a general rule, the water ought simply 

 to be warm enough to feel pleasant, without giving 

 a positive sensation of heat : the degree at which 

 this happens varies a good deal according to the 

 constitution and state of health at the time. Some- 

 times, when the generation of animal heat is great, 

 a bath at 95 will be felt disagreeably warm and re- 

 laxing; while, at another time, when the animal 

 heat is produced in deficient quantity, the same tem- 

 perature will cause a chilly sensation. The rule, 

 then, is to avoid equally the positive impressions of 

 heat and of cold, and to seek the agreeable medium. 

 A bath of the latter description is the reverse of 

 relaxing ; it gives a cheerful tone and activity to all 

 the functions, and may be used every day, or on 

 alternate days, for fifteen or twenty minutes, with 

 much advantage. 



A person in sound health and strength may take 

 a bath at any time, except immediately after meals. 

 But the lest time for valetudinarians is in the fore- 

 noon or evening, two or three hours after a moderate 

 meal, when the system is invigorated by food, but 

 not oppressed by the labour of digestion. When 

 the bath is delayed till five or six hours after eating, 

 delicate people sometimes become faint under its 

 operation, and, from the absence of reaction, are 

 rather weakened by the relaxation it then induces. 

 As a general rule, active exertion ought to be avoided 

 for an hour or two after using the warm or tepid 

 bath; and, unless we wish to induce perspiration, 

 it ought to be taken immediately before going to 

 bed ; or, if it is, it ought to be merely tepid, and 

 not of too long duration. 



These rules apply of course only to persons in an 

 ordinary state of health. If organic disease, head- 

 ache, feverishness, constipation, or other ailment 

 exist, bathing ought never to be employed without 

 medical advice. But that it is a safe and valuable 

 preservative of health in ordinary circumstances, and 



