BATH 



196 



BATH 



20 minutes. For a foot-bath, add y^ ounce of nitric 

 acid and 1 ounce of HC1 to 4 gallons of warm water. 

 This is said to be useful in cases of dyspepsia with 

 sluggish liver and constipation. B., Air, a bath in 

 which but little water is employed, the body being 

 exposed freely to the air. It is employed in those 

 cases in which there is a tendency to catch cold from 

 undue facility to perspire. B., Alcohol, one in dilute 

 alcohol, used to reduce temperature in fever. B., 

 Alkaline, add 3 ounces of potassium carbonate, 

 or 6 of sodium carbonate, to 25 or 30 gallons of 

 hot water. It is used in chronic squamous skin 

 diseases, chronic rheumatism, and lithemia. It 

 should be taken in a wooden, earthenware, or 

 enamelled bath. B., Arsenical, baths at a tem- 

 perature of from 90 to 97 F., containing a small 

 quantity of arsenic. They are used occasionally in 

 the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. B., Blanket, 

 a method employed in chronic nephritis to stimulate 

 the diaphoretic action of the skin. The patient is 

 placed in bed and closely wrapped in blankets, a hot 

 poultice being applied at the same time to the loins, 

 and renewed as often as it becomes cool. B., Blood, 

 one consisting of the blood of an animal, freshly shed. 

 B., Bog, a bath formed by mixing bog-earth (gener- 

 ated by the decomposition of plants in the presence of 

 water and found at iron and sulphur springs) with 

 warm water to form a pulpy or mushy consistence. 

 This is used as a mud bath. B., Borax, borax, 4 

 ounces ; glycerin, three ounces ; water, thirty gal- 

 lons. It is used in the same class of cases as the bran 

 bath. B., Bran, boil one pound of bran in one gal- 

 lon of water, strain, and add thirty gallons of water. 

 This is a soothing and emollient bath, and is of service 

 in squamous and irritable conditions of the skin. B., 

 Brand ; Cold bath. The tub is filled with water of 

 68°. The patient is given a stimulant of one-half 

 to two ounces of brandy, the face and chest are 

 laved with ice- water, and then he is gently placed 

 in the water. The attendants should gently pass the 

 flattened outstretched hands over successive parts of 

 the body to dilate the superficial cutaneous vessels. 

 Remove the patient as soon as the teeth begin to 

 chatter, or if cyanosis of the lips or face appears. 

 Usually the bath should be continued fifteen minutes. 

 Then the patient is laid wet on a sheet and quickly 

 wrapped from head to foot, then dried in five minutes 

 and hot water applied to the feet. See Treatment, 

 Methods of. B., Chemical, in chemistry, an appara- 

 tus for regulating the temperature of chemical pro- 

 cesses by surrounding the substance with water, sand, 

 oil, or mercury, through which the heat is communi- 

 cated. B., Cold See B., Brand. B., Corrosive- 

 sublimate, made by adding mercuric chlorid 

 three drams, and HC1 one dram, to 30 gallons 

 of water. It is sometimes of service in secondary 

 syphilis and in certain skin-diseases. B., Creasote, 

 composed of creasote three drams, glycerin four 

 ounces, and water 30 gallons. It is used in squamous 

 skin diseases. B., Electro-therapeutic, a bath fur- 

 nished with suitable electrodes and used in the applica- 

 tion of electricity for curative purposes. B., Foot, 

 a bath for the feet only. This is used as a derivative 

 agent in cases of cold, etc. B., Full, this consists 

 of a tub about two-thirds full of water, the duration 

 and temperature being adapted to the purpose in view. 

 The patient's body may be entirely covered by water, 

 so that his chin just clears it. B., Gelatin, dissolve 

 one pound of common glue in hot water, and add the 

 solution to the plain bath, or to the bran bath, and 

 use in the same class of cases as the latter. B., 

 Graduated Full, a modification of the Brand bath. 



The tub is filled with sufficient warm water to cover 

 two-thirds of the recumbent body. The patient is 

 then laid in and the temperature gradually lowered by 

 the addition of cold or ice-water, while warm water is 

 being removed. Friction is practised, as in the Brand 

 bath. This bath lasts half an hour, and the water 

 should be reduced to 68° as rapidly as possible. B., 

 Half, the patient is seated in a tub containing eight 

 or ten inches of water of a temperature suited to the 

 case. A wet towel is tied around the head, and the 

 bath water is poured and dashed over the back, head, 

 and shoulders with the attendant's right hand, while 

 friction is practised with the left, and the patient does 

 the same on the anterior portion of the body. The 

 temperature of the water may be lowered if a more 

 decided impression is desired. The bath is continued 

 for from five to twenty minutes with active friction. 

 It is indicated in all fevers involving a depressed ner- 

 vous system, as shown by ataxia, delirum, or coma. B., 

 Herb, made by using the extract of pine-needles, or 

 of some aromatic herbs. The bath is used as a tonic. 

 B., Hip. See B., Sitz. B., Hot, the temperature 

 ranges from 104 to HO° F. It acts upon the skin, 

 producing free perspiration, and accelerates the pulse 

 and respiration. B., Hot-air ; Turkish bath ; the 

 patient is placed in a box (French method), his head 

 being outside, and the box is filled with hot air furnished 

 by a lamp. In the ordinary Turkish bath the patient is 

 compelled to inhale the air within a closed compart- 

 ment. Hot-air baths can be borne of a much higher 

 temperature than vapor baths. They provoke more 

 profuse sweating, and raise the temperature of the 

 body to a greater extent. They are useful as a 

 diaphoretic, and in catarrhal, neuralgic, and rheumatic 

 conditions. They are contraindicated, as is also the 

 vapor bath, in fatty degeneration of the heart. B., 

 Iron, half an ounce of sulphate of iron to four 

 gallons of water. Use in an earthenware or wooden 

 vessel. This is valuable for strumous or rachitic 

 children. B., Medicated, a bath in which medicinal 

 substances, as mineral salt, sulphur, etc., are dis- 

 solved or held in suspension. B., Mercurial, for 

 the treatment of syphilis. Calomel, 20 to 60 grains, 

 or a mixture of 15 grains of calomel and 20 grains 

 of cinnabar are fused over a water bath. The 

 patient is stripped and enveloped in one or more 

 blankets, or a mackintosh or India-rubber blanket 

 lined with flannel. The lamp and mercury are placed 

 under his chair, and the former lighted. In a few 

 minutes perspiration is induced and the sublimed 

 calomel is deposited upon the body. Twenty to thirty 

 minutes are sufficient for a bath, after which the patient 

 is allowed to cool off slowly. This is best taken before 

 retiring. B., Milk, a bath in milk, for nutritive pur- 

 poses. B., Moor, a bath in water mixed with the earth 

 of moors. B., Mud, a bath prepared by mixing well- 

 seasoned earths, containing more or less mineral 

 matter, with water containing the same substances. 

 The body is surrounded with this mixture at various 

 temperatures from 90° to 100 . The patient is then 

 rinsed with warm water. This is of value in some uter- 

 ine diseases, and in obstinate rheumatism. B., Mus- 

 tard, made by enclosing two to four ounces of ordinary 

 mustard in a piece of muslin or thin linen and hang- 

 ing it in about four gallons of hot water until the latter 

 becomes yellow. It is used as a general bath for 

 infants in collapse, convulsions, or severe bronchitis, 

 the child being left in until the skin becomes distinctly 

 reddened. It is also used as a foot or sitz-bath in 

 amenorrhea. B., Pack, or Sheet, one in which the 

 body is wrapped in cloths. B., Permanent. See 

 B., Warm. B., Pine, prepared by adding a decoction 



