33$ 



B A T II I N G. 



Bathing. 



Varieties 



of baths. 



1st, In re- 

 spect of 

 composi- 

 tion. 



CJ, In re- 

 spect of 

 tempera- 

 ture. 



Cold Batli 



of view, tfley do not seem suited to the general pur- 

 poses for which this article is intended ; and we shaH 

 accordingly confine ourselves entirely to those species 

 of bathing, in which water, under some form or 

 Other, is the agent employed. 



The water of which baths at-" composed may he 

 nearly pure, or it may he naturally impregnated with 

 various mineral substances; it may be possessed of 

 very different degrees of temperature, from near the 

 freezing point to a heat considerably above that of 

 the human body ; and it may be applied universally 

 to the whole surface, or only partially to particular 

 regions. These circumstance! constitute the princi- 

 pal varieties of baths, which we are now to consider. 



The water which flows in small rivers, brooks, or 

 burns, or which fills ponds, lakes, canals, and con- 

 duits, and to which recourse is very commonly had 

 for the purposes of bathing, may be regarded as nearly 

 pure, since it contains but little mineral impregnation. 

 Its action on the surface, when of a medium tempe- 

 rature, must therefore be little more than that or a 

 detergent or cleanser. Sea water, which is so com- 

 monly used for bathing, contains, besides sea salt, a 

 considerable quantity of other saline ingredients, as 

 muriate of magnesia, and sulphate of lime, the saline 

 matters forming more than T * ff of the whole weight. 

 Many other mineral waters are occasionally used for 

 bathing ; as those of Bath in England, Vichy in 

 France, and Pyrmont in Westphalia, which are chaly- 

 beate ; and Harrowgate in England, Moffat in Scot- 

 land, Aix-la-Chapclle in Germany, and Barege at the 

 foot of the Pyrenees, which are sulphureous. The 

 effects of these baths will depend on the nature of 

 their impregnations, and shall be considered presently. 



By far the most important varieties of baths are 

 those in respect of temperature ; as, from the power 

 of conducting or transmitting heat possessed by wa- 

 ter, * and the large volume in which this element can 

 be applied, its effect in increasing, and more espe- 

 cially in diminishing the temperature of the surfa, 

 and hence that of the whole body, must be consider- 

 able. Most modern writers refer the whole effects 

 of bathing to the temperature of the bath ; and 

 though in this they perhaps generalise too much, it 

 must be allowed, that the effects ascribed to impreg- 

 nation are very trifling when compared with those 

 which depend on change of temperature. In this re- 

 *pect, baths were formerly dividedinto coWand xvarm ; 

 but since the use of the thermometer has become more 

 generah/ot/T degrees of temperature have been mark- 

 ed in baths, and these arc now distinguished into cold, 

 tepid or temperate, warm, and hot. 



The cold bath is that which possesses the ordinary 

 temperature of the atmosphere in the temperate cli- 

 mates, varying from 32 to about 65 of Fahrenheit's 

 thermometer. Between these degrees we may estimate 

 the temperature of most of the natural waters em- 

 ployed for bathing. The water of pools and small 



rivers, indeed, sometimes exceeds 65* ; while that of Batrmuf. 



the sea in this climate seldom falls below 4-0, m\ i that ' v~ ' 



of most springs in this country has generally a tem- 

 ture of about 45 u . It has been affirmed, that the 

 r of springs that arc inclosed fur the purpose 

 private bathing is-colder than that of open springs. We 

 doubt whether tins be a fact ascertained by actual ex- 

 periment, and suspect the observation to have arisen 

 from the fallacious circumstance of relati 'ion. 



The principal natural springs employed for ci Id b i- 

 thing in this country, are those of the Malvern lulls in 

 Worcestershire; 



The tepid or temperate bath, is variously defined Tepid Bath. 

 by authors. Dr Saunders -j- fixes the medium temper- 

 ature of what he calls the tepid bath, at 90 ; while 

 Marcard f denominates a bath cool, when its tem- 

 perature lies between 65 and 85 ; ami some of his 

 commentators chuse to denominate baths within this 

 range tepid. Perliaps they may more properly be 

 called temperate; and the term tepid, which can 

 chiefly apply only to the highest extreme of this 

 range, might be omitted altogether. The temperate 

 bath is usually artificial"; but there are several natural 

 springs oftelebrity, which possess a temperature be- 

 tween 65 and 85, and are employed as temperate, 

 or tepid baths. Such are the springs at Matlock, 

 Buxton, and Bristol hot wells in England. Of these, 

 the coolest is Matlock, whose temperature does not 

 exceed 66; while that of Bristol is 71, and Buxton is 

 as high as 82. 



The MOTH bath, according to Marcard, is that Warm 

 whose temperature varies from 85 to 97 ; while Dath. 

 Dr Saunders ranks under this denomination all baths 

 whose temperature exceeds 90. We prefer the 

 former definition ; for, as we shall shew immediately, 

 the effects of a bath below 98 are so very different 

 from those of baths above that temperature, as to re- 

 quire an accurate discrimination. We do not know 

 any mineral spring in this country that can be said to 

 come under the present variety, though Bristol hot- 

 well has been remarked as high as 81, and the 

 Cross-bath at Bath is sometimes as low as 91, or 

 even 92. On the continent there are several baths 

 of this description, but the most celebrated is that of 

 Pyrmont. 



When baths exceed the ordinary temperature of j-jot Batk 

 the human body, or 98, they are denominated hot 

 baths. It is scarcely possible to assign the utmost 

 limit of these baths in point of heat, as this must de- 

 pend much on the sensations of the patients. An ar- 

 tificial hot bath seldom exceeds 105, but the heat of 

 some natural springs used for hot bathing is very 

 considerable. Thus the waters of the King's-bath 

 at Bath are, at a medium, 116; those of Vichy 

 120 ; of Barege 122; of Borset, in Germany, 132; 

 of Aix-la-Chapelleabout MO" ; while those of the Ca- 

 roline baths at Carlsbad, in Bohemia, are as high as 

 165. The heat of the baths at Baden, in Switzer- 



We are aware that chemists are not agreed respecting the manner in which heat is transmitted through fluids; seme 

 attributing the transmis ion to a conducting power possessed by the fluid, while others expi.un it on the principle of intes- 

 tine motion in the fluid, by which it-, particles carry heat to each other. This question will be examined ill our article Citf- 

 jiistkv ; and in the mean time we shall express ourselves on this head so as to suit either hypothesis. 



f Treatise on Mineral Waters, p. 444. 



t !' h Notnrr- et TOtnge <I s JBafm. French Translation, p. 7. 



