234 BATHING. 



to the time of going to bed. But the best time for the cool 

 bath is on getting up in the morning. 



Prolonged warm baths are debilitating, and probably in- 

 crease a tendency to take cold, whereas cold bathing is one of 

 the very best means of fortifying against cold, and especially 

 against the tendency to take cold on slight exposure. For 

 most persons a cool sponge bath, on rising, will act as a most 

 excellent tonic ; but if it seems to produce neuralgia, it should 

 be used with caution. 



We have learned that the blood supply to any organ is 

 regulated by the action of the plain muscle fibers in the walls 

 of the small arteries. Now, when we are subject to changes 

 in temperature these muscles get exercise, and one writer has 

 well called the cold bath the "gymnastics of the plain muscle 

 fibers," and we can understand how the system can be trained 

 to adjust itself to cold, and enabled to avoid " taking cold " so 

 frequently. 



There are undoubtedly many persons who do not profit by 

 cold bathing, but probably many of these would soon adapt 

 themselves to it by beginning with tepid water and gradually 

 using cooler. To stand stripped in a cold room, of course, is 

 not a safe thing to do. And the great secret of the benefit 

 that may be expected from the operation, as most people are 

 situated, is to be very brisk, the whole process occupying only 

 a few minutes. Many are opposed to cold sponge bathing, 

 and condemn it without reserve, when, probably, they have 

 never really given it a fair trial. 



Let it be repeated, with emphasis, that for students it is 

 one of the very best means of preserving health. 



Exercise. The full significance of the benefits of mus- 

 cular exercise could not be understood when we studied the 

 muscles, and before we had studied the blood and its work in 

 the tissues of the body generally. Now we can comprehend 



