236 PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 



570. Dr. Andrew Combe confirms this effect of the daily 

 cold bath by his own personal experience, and by the ob- 

 servation of others. " Instead of being dangerous, it is, 

 when well managed, so much the reverse, that the author of 

 these pages has used it much, and successfully, for the ex- 

 press purpose of diminishing this liability, both in himself 

 and in others, in whom the chest is delicate. In his own 

 instance, in particular, he is conscious of having derived 

 much advantage from its regular employment, especially 

 in the colder months of the year, during which he has uni- 

 formly found himself most effectually strengthened against 

 the impression of cold, by repeating the bath at shorter 

 intervals than usual. Few of those who have steadiness to 

 keep up the action of the skin by the above means, and to 

 avoid strong exciting causes, will ever suffer from colds, 

 sore throats, or similar complaints." * 



571. For the weakly, for those who are liable to pul- 

 monary complaints, who may have any hereditary disposition 

 to consumption, or who are subject to rheumatism, the cold 

 bath, or, if this cannot "be borne, the warm or tepid bath, is 

 one of the means of protection, and should never be omitted 

 by people of such tendencies. It should be begun in sum- 

 mer, and practised, without intermission, through the autumn 

 and winter ; and the gradual increase of strength and the 

 power of endurance will keep pace with the gradual approach 

 of the cold season. 



572. It has before been stated ( 565, p. 234) that one 

 should take his bath in the morning, on rising from the bed. 

 This is a matter of convenience; for then the labor of un- 

 dressing is spared, and the means may be ready. This, 

 however, is not to be unfversally practised. To some, the 

 feeble and the debilitated, and to others of peculiar tempera- 

 ment, the bath upon an empty stomach, when the systerti 

 wants nourishment from the fast of ten or twelve hours, 

 would be injurious. On the other hand, the bath is not the 

 safest and best, when taken upon a full stomach, imme- 



* Physiology, Chap. III. 



