Bathing in Melted Wax 



If your joints are stiff, boiling wax 

 poured over them may bring relief 



By the Paris correspondent of the 

 Popular Science Monthly 



THE wax bath is a new idea in medicine 

 and is recommended as a curative 

 measure in a number of ailments, 

 such as rheumatism, various disturbances 

 resulting in skin troubles, inflamed and 

 painful joints, and so forth. Incredible as 

 it may seem, it is possible to pour boiling 

 wax on any part of the human body without 

 causing burns. 



The treatment originated with Doctor 

 Barthe de Sandfort of France, who found 

 the wax bath very successful in a number of 

 stubborn cases. The wax he uses is a 

 paraffin composition prepared after his own 

 formula and possesses curative properties 

 which would not be possessed by the 

 ordinary wax candle. 



The patient who is to receive a paraffin 

 wax bath is placed in a wicker basket so 

 built that his head is slightly raised. The 

 basket is lined with a material impervious 

 to wax. . When all is ready the hot wax is 

 poured over the patient so that his entire 



Pouring hot paraffin wax over a patient. 

 Note how the wax forms a "kind of plas- 

 ter cast over the legs as soon as applied 



At left: The cradle for the partial bath. In 

 this instance the patient's arm alone was 

 coated with wax from elbow to fingertips 



body is coated with it, or the part which is 

 to be specially treated. When the wax 

 cools, the patient looks as if he were covered 

 with a plaster cast. After the wax has been 

 poured on, the patient is covered carefully 

 with a quilt, and remains in his wax bath 

 just as long as the physician deems it 

 necessary to bring about relief. 



When a patient is taking an entire wax 

 bath, which means when he is covered with 

 hot wax from his chin to his toes, the wax is 

 not quite as hot as when a patient is taking 

 what might be termed a partial bath. That 

 is to say, if a patient is suffering from, say 

 rheumatism in his elbow, he can stand the 

 wax at a slightly higher temperature than 

 he could were it poured all over him, for the 

 simple reason that the skin over the elbow 

 joint is not so sensitive as that of other 

 portions of the body. Doctor Barthe de 

 Sandfort has devised a method for heating 

 his paraffin so that the composition is not 

 altered. The temperature may be varied 

 in greater or less degree, and large or small 

 quantities of paraffin may be heated as it is 

 required for use. The paraffin is heated by 

 steam which is regulated by valves. 



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