The principles of physiology applied to the preservation of health, and to the improvement of physical and mental education / [Andrew Combe].

Andrew Combe

Date:: 1844

Credit: The principles of physiology applied to the preservation of health, and to the improvement of physical and mental education / [Andrew Combe]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$‘young.* These facts shew that there is quite as much | vidual, is the most suitable ; and the duration of the im- truth as sarcasm in the remark of a late writer, that | mersion may vary from fifteen minutes to an hour or © ‘ we every day see whole families purged and vomited | more, according to circumstances. As a general rule, pity the order of their’ physicians, but rarely or never | the water ought simply to be warm enough to feel plea- o we hear of their being” recommended to wash their | sant without giving a positive sensation of heat; the r skins. Ja \ degree at which this happens varies considerably ac- For general use, the tepid or warm bath seems to me | cording to the constitution and to the state of health at: — - much more suitable than the cold bath, especially in | the time. Sometimes, when the generation of animal winter, and for those who are not robust and full of | heat is great, a bath at 95° will be felt disagreeably animal heat. Where the constitution is not sufficiently | warm and relaxing; while, at another time, when the vigorous to secure reaction after the cold bath, as indi- | animal heat is produced in deficient quantity, the same 4 cated by a warm glow over the surface, its use inevita- | temperature will cause a chilly sensation. The rule, bly does harm., A vast number of persons, especially | then, is to avoid equally the positive impressions of heat | of those leading a sedentary life, are in this condition ; of cold, and to seek the agreeable medium. A bath | while, on the contrary, there are few indeed who do | of the latter description is the reverse of relaxing; it not derive evident advantage from the regular use of | gives a cheerful tone and activity to all the functions, the tepid bath, and still fewer who are hurt by it. and may be used every day, or on alternate days, for fif- Where the health is good, and the bodily powers are | teen or twenty minutes, with much advantage. . sufficiently vigorous, the cold bath during summer, and} A person of sound health and strength may take a bath the shower-bath in winter, may serve every purpose re- | at any time, except immediately after meals. But the quired fiom them. But it should never be forgotten | best time for valetudinarians is in the forenoon or even- that they are too powerful in their agency to be used ing, two or three hours after a moderate meal, when the with safety by every one, especially in cold weather. In| system is invigorated by food, but not oppressed by the proportion as cold bathing is influential in the restora- | labour of digestion. When the bath is delayed till five tion of health when judiciously used, it is hurtful when | or six hours after eating, delicate people sometimes be- resorted to without discrimination; and invalids there-| come faint under its operation, and, from the absence of fore ought never to have recourse to it without the sanc- | reaction, are rather weakened by the relaxation it then tion of their professional advisers. induces. As a general rule, active exertion ought to be Even where cod bathing is likely to be of service, | avoided for an hour or two after using the warm or te- when judiciously employed, much mischief often results | pid bath; and unless we wish to induce perspiration, it from prolonging the immersion too long. I lately met | ought not to be taken immediately before going to bed ; with a case of this kind in a boy of fifteen years of age,'| or if it is, it ought to be merely tepid, and not of too who became nearly insensible from remaining half an | long duration. hour in the sea, while bathing at. Portobello. It was These rules apply of course only to persons in an or- some days before he was sufficiently restored to be con-| dinary state of health. If organic disease, headach, sidered out of danger. In delicate subjects, injury is | feverishness, constipation, or other ailment exist, bath- often caused by cold bathing, at a time when the vital | ing ought never to be employed without medical advice. __ powers are too languid to admit of the necessary reac- | When the stomach is disordered by bile, it also generally _ tion—before breakfast, for example, or after fatigue. | disagrees. Under ordinary circumstances, however, and _ For this reason, many persons derive much benefit from | with ordinary prudence, the warm bath is not only a _ bathing early in the forenoon, who, when they bathe in | safe and valuable preservative of health, but an active the morning before taking any sustenance, do not speedily | remedy in disease. Instead of being dangerous by caus- ing liability to cold, it is, when well managed, so much the reverse, that the author of these pages has used it much and successfully for the express purpose of dimi- nishing such liability, both in himself and in others in whom the chest is delicate. In his own instance, in particular, he is conscious cf having derived much ad- vantage from its regular employment, especially in the colder months of the year, during which he has uniformly found himself most effectually strengthened against the impression of cold, by repeating the bath at shorter in- tervals than usual. Considering the nature of the occupations in which most of the labouring classes are engaged, and the sooth- ing and refreshing effects as well as the cleanliness de- rived from the use of the tepid bath, there cannot be a doubt that a great public benefit would be attained by providing baths for their use at a very easy rate, and encouraging them to resort to them by personal influ- ence and frequent expositions of their advantages. In many factories where there is constantly steam or warm water running waste, baths for the workmen and their families might be fitted up at a very trifling cost, and their use do much to subdue that craving for stimulus which drives so many to the gin-shop; and also to allay that irritability of mind so apt to be induced by exces- — Se a ee a __ recover their natural heat and elasticity of feeling. ' For those who are not robust, daily sponging of the . body with cold water and vinegar, or with salt water, is the best substitute for the cold bath, both as a means of freeing the skin from its impurity and as a tonic; and it may be resorted to with safety and advantage in most states of the system; especially when care is taken to excite in the surface, by subsequent friction with the | flesh-brush or hair-glove, the healthy glow of reaction. It then becomes an excellent preservative from the ef- fects of changeable weather. When, however, a con- tinued sensation of coldness or chill is perceptible over the body, sponging ought not to be persisted in; dry friction, aided by the tepid bath, is then greatly prefer- -able, and often proves highly serviceable in keeping up the due action of the skin. For habitual use, the tepid or warm bath is certainly the safest and most valuable, especially during the au- tumn, winter, and spring, and for invalids; and every house ought to be provided with one as an indispensable requisite for health and comfort. A temperature rang- ing from 85° to 90°, according to the state of the indi- * While revising these pages, a friend has mentioned to mea case strikingly illustrative of the necessity of attend- ing to the condition of the skin, and of the sympathy sub- ‘sisting between it and the bowels. A lady, who is in other respects very cleanly in her habits, has never been ac- customed to the use of the bath, or to general ablution of any kind, and, in consequence, the action of the skin is very imperfect. As a substitute, however, for its exhalation, she has, all her life, been affected with bowel complaint, which no _ treatment, directed to the bowels, has been able to remove. It is probable that the natural course of the exhalation could | edition has just appeared. Both are well deserving the at- not now be restored. tention of parents and others interested in the health of the t Medico-Chirurg. Rev. No. LAVI. p. 523, | young, and especially of those who are delicate]y constituted. t Iam delighted to find my opinion of the value of the bath and of attention to the cutaneous functions in the pre- vention of pulmo ary disease, and indeed the whole practical doctrines of the present chapter, corroborated by the autho- rity of Sir James Clark, in his admirable works on Consump- tion and Climate—of the latter of which a much improved$