350 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



quickly and take a brisk walk for ten or fifteen min- 

 utes, or take some form of gymnastic exercise until 

 reaction is well established. 



If one becomes chilly after a cold bath, or has head- 

 ache or cold hands or feet, the results are damaging 

 rather than beneficial. There must be good reaction 

 and a feeling of well-being. If not, the cold bath should 

 not be taken. 



If a bath tub is not available, a bath which is very 

 beneficial may be taken with a washbowl and a towel. 

 The towel should be wrung just dry enough so it will 

 not drip, and the whole body should be gone over rap- 

 idly, and quickly dried. 



Persons suffering from seminal weakness, sexual 

 neurasthenia, or general debility from any cause, 

 may take a cool (not cold) morning bath, and in 

 some cases it may be taken two or three times a 

 day. The room in which the bath is taken should be 

 warm, and the body should always be warm before 

 entering the bath. A cold bath should never be taken 

 when there is a sensation of chilliness, when the body 

 is exhausted, or when there is a great feeling of dread 

 of contact with the cold water. Persons suffering from 

 Bright 's disease and from weak heart must avoid very 

 cold general baths and especially prolonged cold baths. 

 In such cases, the cold application should be made to 

 small surfaces in succession, as an arm, leg, chest, or 

 some other part, and each part should be rubbed until 

 good reaction occurs before proceeding to another part. 



The Evening Bath.— Cold baths are best taken 

 in the early i^art of the day, for the reason that they 

 are strongly tonic and exciting and sometimes produce 

 wakefulness when taken at night. A bath taken to 

 produce sleep should be at a temperature of 92 to 95 



