vided with brains. An easy and nearly horizontal 

 position is the best for the moment of immersion. 



It is frequently objected, that cold bathing is 

 dangerous in internal and local weaknesses ; but a 

 close and attentive observation, as well as per- 

 sonal experience, lead me to think this objec- 

 tion at least equivocal. May not these weaknesses 

 be occasioned by obstructions which the bath will 

 remove ? and as to the humors being forced on the 

 peccant part, they are too briskly driven to rest 

 anywhere ; and it is at least as probable that the 

 part affected, partaking of the power of this simple 

 and natural tonic, may join in the general expul- 

 sion. I have myself bathed under pleuritic affec- 

 tion, which immediately abated, and by repetition 

 was entirely removed. Similar consequences en- 

 sued on bathing with a face much inflamed and 

 swollen from a violent tooth-ache. The same 

 effects were produced in a case of head-ache, which 

 had continued for ten days, with excruciating tor- 

 ture, and was nearly subdued by the first immer- 

 sion, and wholly in a very short time. In short, 

 I have scarcely a doubt that when evil has resulted 

 from bathing, it has been from the injudicious 

 manner in which it has been used. 



In regard to the best time for bathing, it is when 

 the natural indication is the strongest, and this, 

 generally speaking, will be after considerable exer- 

 cise (but short of producing sensible perspiration 

 or fatigue). The body is then in that adust state 

 which renders bathing so highly luxurious ; and a 

 vigorous circulation will ensure the full effect of 

 reaction. Nothing then can be more operative of 

 ill, or at least of diminished good, than lingering 

 on the margin of the flood till the stagnating fluids 

 refuse to obey even the spur of immersion. Hun- 

 ger is the first sensation in a healthy body on 

 rising from the repose of the night ; and as diges- 

 tion takes place in the most perfect manner during 

 sleep, and many hours have passed without supply, 

 the stomach should then be recruited. This, 

 therefore, is not the most proper time for bathing. 

 I consider the best time, generally, to be between 

 breakfast and dinner ; but every one will be able 

 to determine this point, who is capable of a small 

 degree of reflection, and will give it as much con- 

 sideration as he often bestows on matters of less 

 importance. Perhaps, where there is great rigidity 

 of fibre, the morning may not be objectionable, and 

 the warm bath may be a good preparative. 



I cannot too often repeat, that every subsequent 

 dip lessens the effect of the first immersion ; and 

 that the bath should be used once, and once only, 

 every day ; and were it so used every day in the 

 year, it would ensure a life of health, barring 

 the effects of intemperance, and all other 

 ill habits ; though even these enemies to health 

 and life will labor against such an antagonist. 

 I cannot here help smiling at the idea, that 

 three or four dips, twice or thrice a week, 

 are better than one every day. I really should be 

 provoked to call this notion absolutely idiotic, had 

 I not met with persons of good sense who had 

 fallen into this egregious error ; and I knew a lady 

 who actually took ten dips on the last day of her 

 stay at a watering-place, and would have gloried 

 in her economical exploit, had not the chattering 

 of her teeth, instead of her tongue, prevented 

 her recounting it to her friends for at least ten 

 hours after. 



I am now to tread on slippery ground ; but I 

 cannot conscientiously avoid it, though I know I 

 shall risk the displeasure of the real, but mistaken, 

 delicacy of some, and the affected delicacy of 

 more, when I urge the ill effects of using dresses 

 in bathing ; but I must submit to sensible and 

 reasoning females, that an encumbering dress not 

 only injures the primary influence, but by clinging 

 to the person, checks the glow which should be 

 felt on coming out of the bath, and in weak con- 

 stitutions often totally prevents it. As the usual 

 enclosure ensures a perfect privacy, it were to be 

 wished the imagination would not conjure up a 

 phantasmagoria of merely ideal observers. 



A part of my subject now presents itself, upon 

 which I can never sufficiently expatiate while any 

 thing remains unsaid which may tend to enforce 

 its interest ; I mean, the bathing of children. The 

 little innocents are entirely at the mercy of fhoee 

 into whose hands they may happen to fall ; and 

 the brutal or senseless indifference to their feel- 

 ings, their fears, their almost convulsive apprehen- 

 sions, is sometimes productive of the most afflict- 

 ing consequences, and too often prevents any 

 beneficial effect from bathing. 



Children should never be dipped more than once ; 

 and that with the greatest care, that the immersion 

 may be deep, but quickly done. The practice of 

 dipping them three times (Folly's magic number), 

 and generally without allowing them sufficient 

 time to recover their breath, is so preposterously 

 absurd, so evidently injurious, that one would 

 almost wonder it could ever obtain. The child is 

 made to look with increased dread to the hour of 

 bathing, through the pain it has experienced from 

 the distress which the lungs have undergone ; by 

 which the chance of benefit is reduced to almost 

 nothing. Let parents, then, and all who have the 

 care of children, weigh well these suggestions, and 

 rescue the little sufferers from the hands of ignor- 

 ance and inattention ; that they may partake of the 

 benefit of this invaluable remedy, preservative as 

 well as curative. When a child knows that it is 

 only to be dipped once, it will soon be recon- 

 ciled ; for it will be put to no pain ; on the con- 

 trary, the sensation will be highly agreeable. 



The proper depth for bathing is about four feet 

 and a half; a less depth were disadvantageous, and 

 a greater would be too deep for general use. Per- 

 sons attending bathing-machines should be very 

 attentive to this circumstance, as it will greatly 

 contribute to the satisfaction as well as benefit of 

 the bathers, who are seldom aware of its import- 

 ance. 



Volumes of cases might be adduced, incontest- 

 ably proving the efficiency of the bath, and show- 

 ing the absurdity of those apprehensions which 

 some people have entertained respecting its appli- 

 cation in particular complaints. There is much 

 more danger of deranging the frame, and occasion- 

 ing local injury, by medicines uncongenial with 

 the natural economy, and powerful in their sensible 

 or less perceptible ravages, than can possibly 

 be experienced in any case from judicious bath- 

 ing. 



In a word, when the bath is used with due con- 

 sideration and judgment, its advantages are cer- 

 tain and universal. 



