A gentleman of my acquaintance took his full-bath every night for 18 years. I had not ordered him to do so, but he would by no means give up this practice. During these 18 years he did not have an hour's illness. Others who went into the bath 2 or 3 times a night, had to be detained from it; I had to forbid it to them. If the practice had been hard or insupportable, as people often cry out, they would surely have omitted it.
Those who are in earnest about hardening themselves, about preserving and increasing their strength, should fix their attention on the cold full-bath; but they must not let it rest simply with the resolution.
Vigorous nations, generations, families, have always been true friends of the cold water; and precisely of my full-bath. The more the present age gets the character and name of effeminate, the higher time is it to turn back to the sound, natural views and principles of old.
There are still many families, especially such of high rank, distinguished men, who keep my water-cures as a family tradition, as it were, and a means of education, exceedingly important in the care of health, and who wish to secure it to their race, to their posterity. We need not therefore be ashamed of our business.
b. The cold full-bath for the sick.
It is carefully mentioned in the third part with the special diseases, when and how often this bath is to be used. A few remarks of a more general character may find room here.
A strong nature, a healthy organism, is able of itself to evacuate the morbid matters which try to settle in the body. But the diseased body, weakened by illness, must be helped, in order to enable it to do its work by itself again.
This assistance is often given by the cold full-bath, which in such a case serves as an excellent crutch or staff, as a means of strengthening.
Its chief application, however, is found with the so called , hot diseases", i.e. with all those diseases which have violent fevers as their forerunners and companions. The most dangerous ones are those of 39° to 40° and above; they take away all strength, burn down, as it were, the cottage of the human body. Many a patient, whom the illness has spared, becomes a victim to weakness. To look on, to wait for what may come of this terrible fire, seems to me to be dangerous and of grave consequences. Of what good are „a spoonful every hour", or the expensive quinine, the cheap antipyrine, or the poisonous mixture of digitalis, the consequences of which, for the stomach, all of us know? With such fire, all medicaments are, and always will be, very insignificant remedies and febrifuges. Of what use lastly are all those artificial intoxicating physics which are administered to, or injected into, the patient, which really intoxicate him, so that he no longer knows, feels or perceives anything?
Apart from moral and religious views, it is indeed a miserable sight to see a patient lying half asleep, or rather half tipsy, with disfigured features, with distorted eyes! Can that do any good? Against such fever-fires nothing can help but extinguishing. Fire is extinguished by water, and so also the fire in the whole body where, as it were, everything is in flames, is best extinguished by the full-bath. If it is repeated at every blazing up, i.e. as often as the heat, the agitation increases in the beginning of the fever, perhaps every half hour), it will, with early application, soon master the fire (see inflammations, scarlet fever, typhus etc.)
I was told some time ago that in large public hospitals the bath was often applied to poor patients who could not afford the expensive quinine; I was glad to see in the news-papers lately that, especially in large military hospitals, in Austria, people had begun again to treat certain diseases like typhus with water. But why only typhus? I should like to ask. Why not, with logical necessity, all those diseases, which grow up like poisonous fruits, out of the mushrooms of fever?
Many are in great expectation to see this going on, among them also professional men.
One remark which perhaps belongs more to the ablutions, may find place here. All patients are not able to use the full-bath; many of them are, perhaps, already so much weakened, that they can neither move nor turn themselves, nor be lifted out of bed; but must they on this account resign the application of cold water? By no means. Our applications are so manifold, and every kind of application has so many degrees or steps, that those who are most healthy, as well as those grievously ill, can easily find what is suitable for them. The only thing is to make a good selection.
Those who are afflicted with serious illness, who, on account of excessive weakness are unable to use the cold full-bath, may take the whole-ablution as a substitute; and this can easily be done in bed by every patient, even the weakest. How to make it, is explained where the ablutions are spoken of. Like the whole- bath they are to be repeated as often as the heat or agitation reaches a high degree.
It is precisely with such grievously affected patients, who are, as it were, chained to the bed, that doubly great care must be taken not to make the great mistake of a too rugged application; it would always increase the evil. I could name a person who was bed-ridden for eleven years, and who during the whole time, was attended by a physician. Water-cures too, had been tried, but all in vain. The physician, when he found that this person had been cured by me in six weeks, declared that it seemed to him like a miracle. He came to see me and wished to know what had been done. The whole proceeding was the more incomprehensible to him, as in his opinion there was not the least activity in the body, and all his applications of water had remained unsuccessful. I told the gentleman how simple the proceeding was, and how still more simple the water-applications were. We both acknowledged that a glimmering pine-torch was not to be extinguished by a fire-engine; his water-cure had been too rugged, mine was mild, slow and according to the capability of endurance of the wretched body.
It has often excited my pity to hear, or to read, how in many institutions and homes, people are fastened to their beds for ten, or twenty and more years. They are indeed worthy of pity!
But I cannot understand it and never could, except in some few very rare cases. The bible, too, has its patient of 38 years.
I am quite sure that very many of the bed-keepers, could be helped out of it by the simplest water-applications, if only continued with perseverance and punctuality.
2. The warm full-bath
like the cold one is useful both for the healthy and the sick.
The manner of taking it is twofold.
The one bath (a) is sufficiently filled with warm water to cover the whole of the body, and in this the person remains for 25 to 30 minutes. At the end of that time the other bath (b), filled with cold water, is, quickly entered, the person dipping in up to the head, but not with the head. If no second bath is there, the whole body is washed as quickly as possible with cold water. This cold bath, or cold washing, must be filled in one minute. The clothes are then put on, quickly, without drying, and exercise taken for at least half an hour, either in the room or in the open air, until one feels quite dry and warm.
Country people may immediately return to their work. The water for this first bath must have a temperature of 26° to 28°, for aged persons 28° to 30° R. It is advisable to measure carefully and accurately with a thermometer, which is easily obtained. But it is not sufficient to put the quicksilver-tube into the warm water, and take it out again at once; it must remain in the water for a while. It is only by the standing still of the quicksilver that it can be decided whether a sufficient length of time has been taken for the measurement, and if the latter is correct. Those who prepare a bath, should do it earnestly, being aware of their responsibility. Indifference and carelessness are nowhere less pardonable than