On the curative effects of baths and waters : being a handbook to the spas of Europe / Including a chapter on the treatment of phthisis by baths and climate, by Rohden. An abridged translation, with notes, ed. by Hermann Weber.
- Julius (Arzt) Braun
- Date:
- 1875
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On the curative effects of baths and waters : being a handbook to the spas of Europe / Including a chapter on the treatment of phthisis by baths and climate, by Rohden. An abridged translation, with notes, ed. by Hermann Weber. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
91/684 page 71
![general, however, water most free from other ingredients, as rain-water, seems not sufficiently stimulating, and the sense of taste is in this respect probably the best guide. It con- demns both the softness of river and rain water and the Jmrdness of those spring waters which in their amount of salt approach the mineral springs, and is only satisfied with a moderate amount of salt. Besides softness and hard- ness, however, the sense of taste recognises the qualities of purity and impurity, and that of freshness and the ivant of it. The former is dependent on the deficiency or existence of organic products of decomposition, the latter on the existence of atmospheric air and especially of car- bonic acid, which for the most part exists in greater quantity in well water than in rain and river water. [It need scarcely be mentioned that we do not mean to say we can trust our sense of taste regarding the presence of subtle animal poisons, such as those of typhoid fever and cholera.] From this sketch of the physiological effect of water Eesume as a beverage, its importance as a common agent in all rfsPecting spa cures, apart from the especial constitution of the -water as a mineral waters, is not difficult to estimate. The im- common instrument mediate effect on digestion, the general effect on the in balneo- change of substance, and the lixiviation of the iuices and therapeu- ° ' J tic treat- tissues, are added to the other common influences of ment. travel, change of physical and psychical mode of life, diet, enjoyment of fresh air, &c. In most courses of baths, likewise, an increased drinking of water appears as an incidental remedy, as with many such courses the drinking of waters is combined; and even when this is not the case, the whole mode of life encourages a more plentiful use of water. As regards a course of mineral water-drinking specially, the influence of the water alone can but rarely be critically distinguished from that of its characteristic constituents; yet there exist observations which confirm the general opinion, and afford indications for future suc- cessful investigations. An especially instructive example is afforded by the comparison of carbonate of soda and of waters containing soda, in their effect upon the secretion of uric acid. According to the observations already mentioned](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21032579_0091.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
