SHOWER BATHS AND WARM BATHS. 277 



provided the skin is not perspiring profusely; the common 

 belief to the contrary notwithstanding. On the other hand, 

 no one should enter a cold hath when feeling chilly, or in 

 a depressed vital condition. It is not wise to take a cold 

 bath immediately after a meal, for the afterglow of the skin 

 tends to draw away too much blood from the digestive 

 organs, which are then actively at work. The best time for 

 a long bath is two or three hours after breakfast ; but for a 

 brief daily dip there is no better time than while the body 

 is still warm from bed. 



Shower Baths abstract less heat from the body than an 

 ordinary cold bath, and at the same time give it a greater 

 stimulus, tending to set up the warm reaction. Hence they 

 are valuable to persons in not very vigorous health. 



Warm Baths, except occasionally for purposes of clean- 

 liness, are medical remedies, and not proper things for daily 

 use. While promoting the tendency to perspiration (which 

 it is often important to do in disease), they also, if often 

 repeated, lower the general vigor of the body. Persons in 

 feeble health, who cannot stand an ordinary daily cold bath, 

 may diminish the shock to the system by raising the tem- 

 perature of the water they bathe in to any point at which 

 it still feels cool to the skin. 



Is it ever safe to bathe while warm? Point out conditions when 

 a cold bath should be avoided. Why is it not wise to take a cool 

 bath soon after a meal ? What is the best time for a prolonged cold 

 bath? What the best time for a brief daily clip ? 



Why are shower baths better than immersion baths for persons 

 in enfeebled health ? 



Should healthy persons take daily warm baths? What is the con- 

 sequence of frequent warm baths ? 



How should persons in feeble health regulate the temperature of 

 their daily bath ? 



