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.
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![Indica- tions in favour (page 64) the uric acid in the urine is often lessened con- siderably by plentiful water-drinking, frequently to its utter disappearance; the same effect is produced by mineral water containing soda ; and that in this it is not the soda only that produces this effect, is proved by Miinch's experiments,1 according to which the carbonate of soda at first, indeed, diminishes the uric acid, until it almost wholly disappears ; but this effect after some time ceases again, in spite of the continued use of the soda. In the use of natural soda waters, on the other hand, this effect not only continues as long as it is taken, but it often out]asts the course of treatment for some time ; and thus it is clear that in this case, in addition to the specifically chemical effect of the medicinal substance, we have the general influence of the water-drinking upon the change of substance, as a powerful, and at any rate, equally im- portant element in the cure. The indications in favour of internal water-cures with common water have been considerably limited within the of courses course of the last twenty years, in spite of the fact that drinking during that period the physiological effect of water has been more and more clearly perceived. The extreme length to which water-drinking has been carried in some water establishments, the experience that even pure water, taken in excess, may interfere with digestion, and the often repeated observation that in many states of chronic illness the object is obtained more rapidly, and without inconvenient effects, by mineral water containing salt and gas, and taken in smaller quantity; these ex- periences have greatly lessened the extent of water-cures with common water. On the other hand, the perception of the physiological effect of water has led to its more general dietetic use. In fact, plentiful or regular water-drinking, even when combined with strict prescriptions, has for the most part only a dietetic importance; for example, as used in febrile diseases for the lessening of thirst, for cooling the blood, and for restoring its due amount of water ; also in habitual sluggishness of the bowels, when a glass of cold 1 Archivfur Heilkvnde, vol. i. 1863.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21032579_0092.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
