The remedial effects of bathing are generally underrated. This want of appreciation is more often due to the improper manner in which it is performed than to an insufficiency of curative virtues. The term bathing not only implies a cleaning of the body or certain portions of it, but also the application of water in such a manner as to influence the nervous system, and regulate the functions of the secretory organs. Cleanliness, while it preserves health and promotes recovery, has reference only to the hygienic influences of water and not to its curative effects. There are several kinds of baths, the names of which indicate their character, manner of application, or the part of the body to which they are applied. Among others, we have Cold, Cool, Temperate, Tepid, Warm, Hot, Hot Air, Russian, Turkish, Vapor, Electric, Sea, Shower, Sponge, Douche, Foot, Sitz, Head, Medicated, Alkaline, Acid, Iodine, and Sulphur Baths. Temperature influences the properties of any bath; thus the sponge, sitz, and alkaline baths may be employed warm or cold, according to the effect desired.

The Cold Bath, used at a temperature of from 40° to 60° Fahr., is powerfully sedative, and is employed for its tonic effects. If the vital powers are low, or the individual remains in it too long (two or three minutes should be the limit), the reaction is slow and its effects injurious. While it is highly invigorating to robust persons, those who have a low standard of vitality should be cautions in its employment. A local bath [pg 357]may be followed by beneficial results, when a general bath would be inadmissible. For these reasons we advise the general use of the

Cool Bath, at a temperature of from 60° to 75° Fahr. If, in any instance, the reaction is slow, we recommend the

Temperate Bath, at a temperature of from 75° to 80° Fahr. The time of remaining in the bath should be regulated by the strength of the invalid. As a rule, it should not exceed three minutes, and the colder the water the less time should the patient be immersed. Immediately after emerging from any bath, the body should be thoroughly dried and rubbed with a moderately coarse towel until a glow is experienced and reaction is fully established. The attempt to toughen children by exposing them to low temperatures of either air or water, cannot be too emphatically condemned. This caution, however, does not apply to the employment of moderately cool water for ablutions. The cold or cool bath should be taken in the early part of the day, but never during digestion. Whenever reaction does not follow bathing, artificial means must be resorted to, as stimulating drinks, dry warmth, or exercise.

The Tepid Bath, the temperature of which is from 85° to 92° Fahr., is generally used for cleansing the body. It is prescribed in fevers and inflammatory affections for its cooling effects. It is usually medicated with some acid or alkali. The latter unites with the oily secretion of the skin and forms a soapy compound easily removed by the water. The temperature should be regulated according to the vitality of the patient; and the bath may be repeated two or three times a day. It removes superfluous heat, and keeps the skin in a condition favorable for excretion.

The Warm Bath, at a temperature varying from 92° to 98° Fahr., is always agreeable and refreshing. It equalizes the circulation and softens the skin, by removing all impurities. It moderates pain and soothes the whole system. It does not weaken or debilitate the person, but is in every way beneficial. It is an efficient, remedial agent in many chronic diseases, convulsions, spasmodic affections of the bowels, rupture, rheumatism, and derangement of the urino-genital organs. It should be employed immediately before going to bed unless [pg 358]urgent symptoms demand it at other times. It may be medicated or not, as circumstances require, but should always be taken in a warm room.

The Hot Bath at a temperature of from 98° to 110° Fahr. is a powerful stimulant. It excites the nerves, and through them the entire system. It causes a sense of heat and a constriction of the secretory organs; but perspiration, languor, and torpor soon follow. In the sudden retrocession of cutaneous diseases, it restores the eruptions to the surface and gives speedy relief. The hot bath may be applied locally when circumstances require.

The Russian Bath consists in the application of hot vapor, at a temperature varying from 112° to 200° Fahr. The patient is first subjected to a moderately warm temperature, which is gradually increased as he becomes inured to it, the head being surrounded with cloths wet in cold water. Upon emerging from it, the bather is plunged into cold water or receives a cool, shower bath. In rheumatic and cutaneous diseases, chronic inflammations, and nervous affections, the Russian bath is an effective remedy.

The Turkish Bath is a, dry, hot-air bath. The bather passes from one apartment to another, each one being of a higher temperature than the preceding. He undergoes a thorough shampooing, and, although the person may be scrupulously clean, he will be astonished at the amount of effete matter removed by this process. The bather then returns through the various apartments, and, upon emerging from that of the lowest temperature, he experiences a delightful sensation of vigor and elasticity.

As a hygienic agent, the hot-air bath has been' constantly growing in favor. Its value is now recognized by all physicians throughout the world. The judicious use of the Turkish bath serves to secure perfect equalization of the circulation. Glandular activity is increased, elasticity and power given to the muscles, and a permanent, stimulating and tonic influence imparted to the system, a condition at once conducive to the enjoyment and prolongation of life. Dr. Erasmus Wilson, of England, says, in a paper read before the London Medical Association: "The inhabitant of a large city would live as [pg 359]healthy, immured within city walls, as amid the fields and meadows of the country. His bath would be to him in the place of a country house or horse—it would give him air, exercise, freshness, health, and life."

"The bath that cleanses the inward as well as the outward man; that is applicable to every age; that is adapted to make health healthier, and alleviate disease, whatever its stage or severity, deserves to be adopted as a national institution, and merits the advocacy of all medical men; of those whose especial duty it is to teach how health may be preserved, and how disease may be averted."

The hot, dry atmosphere of the Turkish bath promotes rapid evaporation from the surface of the body, and it is well known that rapid evaporation from the surface is a cooling process. A person's finger may be frozen in one minute's time, by throwing upon it a constant, fine spray of rhigolene or sulphuric ether. The rapid evaporation of the light fluid congeals the liquids of the tissues and a film of ice is rapidly formed upon the part. In a less intense degree the same cooling process is carried on over the whole surface of a person, when in the hot room, or sudatorium, of the Turkish bath. The evaporation from the surface is so rapid that one can hardly appreciate the profuseness of the perspiration going on. The evaporation from the surface so rapidly carries off the heat from the body that one finds himself able, with little or no inconvenience, to remain in a room heated to from 180° to 200° or even 220° Fahr.

As a hygienic measure to be regularly or occasionally employed by persons in fair health, the Turkish or hot dry-air bath is far superior to the Russian or vapor-bath. (1.) It produces more profuse perspiration, and is therefore more depurating, or cleansing, in its effects. (2.) It does not relax the system, but rather produces a tonic effect, and fewer precautions are, therefore, necessary to guard against taking cold after employing it. (3.) The Turkish bath can be better ventilated than the Russian. While the air is heated to a high temperature, it can be readily kept pure by constant changes. In the Turkish hot-rooms, or sudatorium, of the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, provision is made for bringing underneath the floors a current of fresh air from without. This column of [pg 360]fresh air is carried under the centre of each room where it escapes from the conductor, is warmed, and rises into the room, from which extraction of air is constantly going on through registers opening into tubes, communicating with large ventilated shafts which are kept hot, summer and winter, to insure a draught through them. In this manner, thorough ventilation of our Turkish hot-rooms is insured.

The Turkish bath not only combines a most agreeable luxury with a decidedly invigorating and tonic influence, but also, by its stimulating power, induces proper glandular and cellular activity, producing a healthy condition.

Sallowness, tan, and freckles, the result of local or general increase of the pigment granules of the skin, soon disappear under the stimulating influence and regular use of the Turkish bath, which causes rapid development of new and transparent cells. The colored granules are thus gradually replaced and the skin assumes a beautiful clearness and purity of appearance, which transcends immeasurably the unhealthy hue that follows the frequent employment of the various cosmetics.

The value of an agent which thus improves the general health, insures immunity from coughs, colds, and other diseases, and at the same time produces a healthy and permanent beauty of complexion, is at once apparent. The purity of person, perfect circulation, increase of healthy nutrition and glandular activity produced by the Turkish bath, serve to make it of the most lasting utility.

The eminent Dr. Madden has said, and his experience is confirmed by every regular patron of the bath, that, "Wherever the Turkish bath was a national institution the hair of the women was peculiarly luxurious and beautiful. I can vouch for it that the use of the bath rendered the complexion more delicate and brilliant; that the eyes became clearer and brighter; all the personal charms were enhanced. I can recommend no hygienic measure more beneficial or effectual in preserving the health and an attractive personal appearance."

Pimples, blotches, eruptions, and other disfigurations of the skin are removed by the frequent use of the Turkish bath, leaving the integument smooth and soft.

Illustration: Fig. 144. First Hot-room of the Turkish Bath.
Fig. 144. First Hot-room of the Turkish Bath.

[pg 361]How the Turkish Bath is Administered at the Invalid's Hotel and Surgical Institute. The hot-rooms, of which there are two, are exactly similar in every respect except as regards temperature. The first room has a temperature of from 110° to 120° Fahr. The bather is supplied by the attendant every few minutes with copious draughts of cool water. Gradually the relaxing influence of the elevated temperature manifests itself. The capillaries slowly dilate, the veins enlarge under its gentle stimulus, and small points of perspiration appear upon the surface, which assumes a slight, rosy blush. A delightful calm, a feeling of perfect rest and luxurious ease is imparted to the senses. From this room, after an appropriate interval, the bather enters the second room, in which the atmosphere is higher by from 20° to 30°, and it may be made still higher, its regulation requiring but an instant.

Illustration: Fig. 145. One of the Shampooing rooms.
Fig. 145. One of the Shampooing rooms.

A thorough sweating occurs while the subject remains in these rooms, during a period of from ten to forty minutes. The secretions of the skin, at first impure and loaded with the dÉbris of dead cells and extraneous matter, gradually become purer, and clearer, until, finally, all trace of color disappears and the pearly drops of sweat come full and free. Soon the attendant appears and leads the [pg 362]way to the shampooing-room, where, lying upon a warm marble slab, massage is applied most thoroughly to every portion of the body.

By the massage, shampooing, or rubbing, the superficial veins are thoroughly emptied of their contents, the muscles are given elasticity and tone, and glandular activity is promoted. Innumerable dead epithelial cells, together with other impurities, are rolled off in flakes under the skillful manipulation of the attendant.

After a thorough shampooing, the shower bath is applied, to secure a contraction of the capillaries and a diminution of the perspiration.

The Spirit Vapor-bath is very effective when employed in the earlier stages of acute, febrile, inflammatory, and painful diseases. In many forms of chronic diseases the administration of a spirit vapor-bath once in from three to fifteen days, is a valuable adjunct to the treatment of these affections. It exerts an exceedingly beneficial influence upon the entire system, and, when habitually employed, may ward off disease.

The body should be moistened with an alkaline solution before the administration of a spirit vapor-bath. After the perspiration which it occasions has subsided, which will usually be in from three to four hours, sponge the body with a mixture of the following ingredients: water, three gills; alcohol, one gill; salt, one teaspoonful. By this method the patient experiences none of the unpleasant effects which generally follow the employment of diaphoretics. Various kinds of apparatus have been devised to facilitate the application of the spirit vapor-baths. Most of them are cumbersome and expensive, and, consequently, are seldom used except in hospitals or sanitariums.

The following method described by Dr. J. King, may be advantageously employed.

"The patient is undressed, ready for getting into bed, having removed the clothing worn through the day and put on a night shirt or other clothing to be worn while sweating, and during the night, if the bath is taken at bed-time. He is then seated on a high Windsor or wooden-bottomed chair, or instead thereof, a bench or board may be placed on a common open-bottomed chair, care being taken that the bottom is so covered [pg 363]that the flame will not burn him. After seating himself, a large coverlet or blanket is thrown around him from behind, covering the back of his head and body, as well as the chair, and another must be passed around him in front, which last is to be pinned at the neck, loosely, so that he can raise it and cover his face, or remove it down from the face from time to time as occasion demands during the operation of the bath. The blankets must reach down to the floor, and cover each other at the side, so as to retain the vapor. This having been done, a saucer or tin vessel, into which is put one or two tablespoonfuls of whiskey, brandy, alcohol, or any liquor that will burn, is then placed upon the floor, directly under the centre of the bottom of the chair, raising a part of the blanket from behind to place it there; then light a piece of paper, apply the flame to the liquor, and as soon as it kindles let down the part of the blanket which has been raised, and allow the liquor to burn until it is consumed, watching it from time to time to see that the blankets are not burned. As soon as consumed, put more liquor into the saucer, about as much as before, and again set it on fire, being careful to put no liquor into the saucer while the flame exists, as there would be danger of setting fire to the blanket, and producing injury to the patient. Continue this until the patient perspires freely, which, in a majority of cases, will be in five or ten minutes."

"If, during the operation the patient feels faint or thirsty, cold water must be sprinkled or dashed in his face, or he may drink one or two swallows of it,—and in some cases the head may be bathed with cold water. As soon as free perspiration is produced, wrap the blankets around him, place him in bed, and cover him up warm, giving him about a pint of either some good store tea, ginger, or some diaphoretic herb tea to drink, as warm as he can take it. After two or three hours, remove the covering, piece by piece, at intervals of twenty or twenty-five minutes each, that he may gradually cease perspiring."

The above method may be improved by using an ordinary hoop skirt, ten to twelve inches below the bottom of which is suspended a larger and stronger hoop. The upper and smaller hoops should rest upon the patient's shoulders. A woolen blanket, large enough to reach and rest upon the floor, and [pg 364]envelop the whole person, is thrown over the hoops. Unless the bath is employed to diminish the quantity of fluids in the body (as in dropsy), the patient may drink some simple, diaphoretic infusion, to hasten or facilitate perspiration. When he perspires freely, small quantities of cold water may be frequently given. "There is little or no danger of taking cold after this process, if ordinary precaution is observed, and it is easy, agreeable, safe, and effectual."

"Occasionally we will meet with patients, upon whom it is almost impossible to produce the slightest moisture, much less perspiration. The skin of such persons is generally dry and harsh, communicating an unpleasant sensation to the touch. In most instances the skin may be restored to its normal condition, by adopting the following course: 1st. Anoint the whole surface of the body and limbs with olive oil every night upon retiring to bed. 2nd. Every morning wash the whole surface with a warm, weak, alkaline solution, employing considerable friction while drying. 3rd. Every two weeks administer a spirit vapor-bath. A perseverance in this course for a few months will accomplish the desired result."

Frequent reference to spirit vapor-baths will be made by the author of this work, in speaking of those diseases in which its employment will prove beneficial.

Sea Bathing is an excellent, remedial agent in chronic disorders, particularly in those of an atonic character, such as nervous prostration, dyspepsia, and general debility.

Much of the benefit attributed to this mode of bathing is undoubtedly due to other influences, such as pure air, exercise, change of scenery, diet, and associations which surround the patient during his sojourn at the sea-shore.

At first, the duration of a sea-bath should not exceed three or five minutes, but it may be gradually prolonged to fifteen or twenty minutes. If the patient is very feeble, one or two baths a week are sufficient, and the most robust person should never take more than one a day. They should always be taken in the earlier portion of the day, before breakfast if possible, and never during digestion.

Before entering this bath, a moderate degree of exercise should always be taken, enough to arouse the vital energies, but [pg 365]not to produce fatigue. Suitably dressed, the patient plunges into the water, in which he remains during the prescribed time. Immediately after emerging from the bath, the patient should be thoroughly dried and dressed and then moderate exercise should be taken to induce reaction. If the reaction is slow, a mild stimulant may be taken and the duration of the bath must be diminished the next time. When sea-bathing is beneficial improvement is soon manifested. The blood becomes richer, the whole system is strengthened and the functions are performed with more regularity. To the rich, sea-bathing is a luxury, but it is a remedy beyond the reach of the poorer classes unless they live near the sea-shore.

The Shower Bath produces a shock to the nervous system by suddenly coming in contact with the skin. Numerous streams of cold water fall upon the neck, shoulders, and body of the patient who stands beneath the hose or reservoir. When the patient is plethoric, feeble, or nervous, or when some internal organ is diseased, the cold, shower bath should not be employed. In simple debility unaccompanied by inflammation or symptoms of internal congestion, its use proves advantageous. By moderating the force of the shower, and substituting tepid water, the most delicate persons can endure it and profit thereby. The usual means for inducing a good reaction, friction, and exercise, should be employed.

The Douche Bath consists of a stream of water, dashed or thrown upon the patient from a moderate height or distance, with considerable force. The size, temperature, and force of the stream may be modified to suit the exigencies of the case. It is locally employed as a remedy for sprains, weak or stiff joints, old swellings, etc. The cold, douche bath is more powerful than the shower bath and should be given with the same precautions which govern the application of the latter.

The Sponge Bath admits of extensive employment in both acute and chronic diseases, and its simplicity renders it of untold value. It consists in a general or local application of water (medicated or not) at any desired temperature. The quantity may be great or small to suit the requirements of the case. If it is applied in acute diseases at a temperature agreeable to the patient, it is exceedingly grateful and may be [pg 366]repeated as often as necessary. It may be rendered alkaline by the addition of some compound of soda, in the proportion of a teaspoonful to a quart of water. A portion of the body may be bathed at a time, and quickly dried, thus avoiding any exposure to cold. It removes excessive animal heat, relaxes the capillaries, equalizes the circulation, and produces comfort, tranquility, and sleep.

Nothing is more conducive to the health and comfort of laboring men in summer than a daily bath, and it is a matter of regret that there are so few conveniences for the purpose in most homes, especially those in the country. Farmers in particular need bathing facilities, and yet in most cases they are almost entirely without them. For their benefit we will describe a device which we can recommend to all who want a cheap, convenient, and easily managed apparatus for sponge bathing in the bed-room.

The articles required are a piece of rubber-cloth a yard and a quarter square, four slats, two inches wide and three feet long, notched at the ends so as to lock together in the form of a square, and a large sponge. The slats are placed upon the floor and the rubber cloth is spread over them (there is no need of fastening it to the slats), forming a shallow square vessel a yard wide. In this the bather stands and applies the water with a sponge from a basin or bowl on a stand placed conveniently near. There need be no danger of wetting the carpet, or spoiling the furniture.

When the bath is finished, gather three corners of the rubber cloth in the left hand, take the fourth corner in the right in such a way as to form a spout when lifted or held over the slop-jar or bucket. The water may be poured out in a moment, when the cloth should be spread over the back of a chair to dry, and the slats unlocked and set away in a closet.

The Foot Bath is frequently employed, as a means of causing diaphoresis, in colds, attacks of acute diseases, and also to draw the blood from the head or some internal organ. It is a powerful auxiliary in the treatment of those chronic diseases in which inflammation, congestion, and a feeble circulation are prominent symptoms. The water should be as hot as it can be borne and the temperature kept up by additions of hot water. [pg 367]It may be made stimulating by the addition of salt, mustard, ginger, or cayenne pepper.

The Sitz Bath. A tub is so arranged that the patient can sit down in it while bathing. In this manner the lower part of the abdomen, hips, and upper part of the thighs, are immersed in whatever fluid the bath is composed of. It is applicable in diseases of the pelvic organs, and may be hot, warm, cool, cold, or medicated, according to the effect desired.

The bath tub should be large enough to permit a thorough rubbing and kneading of the diseased parts, and the patient may remain in it from ten to thirty minutes. The clothing may be wholly or partially removed, as agreeable to the individual. A warm, sitz bath is an effective, remedial adjunct in menstrual suppression and in painful menstruation, gravel, spasmodic and acute inflammatory affections generally. The cold, sitz bath is used as a tonic in cases of relaxed tissues of the pelvis, in debility of the urino-genital organs, in piles, prolapsus of the rectum, and in constipation.

The Head Bath. A shallow basin contains the fluid for the bath; and the patient, assuming a recumbent position, immerses a portion of the head, generally the back part. The temperature may be warm, cool, or cold, as desired.

Medicated Baths are infusions of vegetable or other substances in water. They are sometimes applied with the sponge, though generally the patient is immersed. The temperature at which they are usually employed is that of the tepid bath. The nature and strength of the medication depends upon the character of the disease for which it is employed.

The Alkaline Bath is prepared by dissolving half a pound of carbonate of soda in sixty gallons of water. It is useful in those diseases in which the fluids of the body are abnormally acid, as in rheumatism.

The Acid Bath is prepared by adding two pounds of muriatic or hydrochloric acid to sixty gallons of water. A much smaller quantity of the acid is sometimes used, and in some instances vinegar is substituted.

Scott's Acid Bath is composed of nitro-muriatic acid (aqua regia) and water. It should be prepared in a wooden tub, and a sufficient quantity of acid used to give the water a sour taste. [pg 368]It is extensively used in India as a remedy for disorders of the liver.

The Iodine Bath is composed of the following ingredients: tincture of iodine, two drachms; iodide of potassium, four drachms; water, forty gallons. It should be prepared in a wooden tub. It reddens the skin. For children, a much weaker solution must be employed. Its use is generally restricted to scrofulous and tubercular affections.

The Sulphur Bath is prepared by dissolving eight ounces of sulphuret of potassium and two ounces of dilute sulphuric acid in sixty gallons of water. The acid may be omitted.

A Sulphur Vapor-bath is often employed in cities where the necessary apparatus can be procured. It may be improvised by placing sulphur on a shovel over hot coals. The patient should be prepared as in the spirit vapor-bath, and burning sulphur substituted for the liquor. The patient is then enveloped in the fumes of sulphurous oxide. Heating a mixture of sulphur and sulphuric acid, produces the same result. If the gas is inhaled in large quantities it causes irritation of the respiratory passages, and suffocation. It is therefore necessary that the coverings should be securely fastened at the neck, and that the room be one which can be quickly filled with pure air This bath is used in cutaneous, rheumatic, and syphilitic disorders.

Fomentations consist of the general or local application of woolen cloths wrung out of hot water. They should not be so light as to be ineffectual, nor so heavy as to be burdensome. They should not be wet enough to drip, nor applied so as to expose the body to the surrounding air. A fresh cloth should be ready for application before the first one is removed, and the change quickly effected. Fomentations are effectual in relieving congestion and inflammation.

The Wet Sheet Pack. As this remedial appliance will be frequently recommended in the pages following, its mode of application is here described. Take a pail half filled with cold water, gather together one end of a common cotton sheet, and immerse it, allowing it to remain while preparing the bed, which may be done as follows: remove all the bed-clothes except a coverlet and the pillows, then spread upon it, in [pg 369]the following order, two ordinary comforters, one woolen blanket, one woolen sheet, (or two woolen sheets if a woolen blanket is not at hand); then wring out one-half or two-thirds of the water from the wet sheet, spread it smoothly upon the blanket, and the patient being undressed, places himself on the sheet, with his arms extended, while an assistant wraps him closely and tightly with it, as quickly as possible. Each arm may be thus covered by the wet sheet, or may lie outside of it, and be covered by wet towels, prepared in the same manner as the sheet. Then quickly and tightly cover with the blankets and comforters, tucking snugly from head to foot. The head should also be covered with a wet towel, and a bottle of warm water placed to the feet, or near enough to keep them warm.

After the first shock of the chill is over, the pack is very pleasant and refreshing, and the patient should go to sleep, if possible. The ordinary time for a patient to remain in a pack is about sixty minutes. Thirty or forty minutes is sufficient, if he is in a feeble condition. Never wring the sheet out of warm water, for one of its principal benefits comes from the vigorous reaction induced by its cold temperature. After remaining in the pack from thirty to sixty minutes, allow the patient to stand on his feet, if he is able, and have the whole surface of his body bathed. Rub briskly, and dry with towels, or by throwing over the body a dry sheet and then rubbing him. The dry sheet retains the bodily warmth and is more comfortable, but interferes with the completeness and vigor of the rubbing of the body. Be sure and establish full reaction, which may be known by the warmth of the surface. Frequently, when the patient is released from the pack, and is being bathed, rolls of scales, scurf, and skin-debris come off, thus giving palpable evidence of the utility of the pack in freeing the myriads of pores of the skin of effete matter. It is efficient in fevers, and for breaking up colds, and is a very valuable, remedial agent in most chronic diseases, assisting in removing causes which depress the bodily functions.

MOTION IS A REMEDIAL AGENT.

The stability of the planetary system depends upon the converted motion of its parts. So in the human system, motion [pg 370]is a fundamental principle which underlies every vital process. Health consists in normal, functional activity. The human system is the arena of various kinds of motions, both of fluids and of solids, and life and health depend upon these physiological movements. There are the movements incident to respiration, the expansion and contraction of the walls of the chest, bringing the oxygen of the air into contact with the blood as it circulates through the lungs. Corresponding with the movements of the chest are the motions of the abdominal walls, which promote the functions of the organs of the abdominal cavity.

There are motions of the heart and arteries, which urge the blood out to the extremities and diffuse it through every part of the system, and also motion of the blood in the capillaries, by which the blood is circulated through the tissues, that the latter may be built up from its nutritive constituents. Then there is the motion of the vital current in the veins returning towards the heart, and urged forward by the muscular and pump-like action of the chest and abdominal walls. The peristaltic motions of the stomach and bowels urge onward digesting materials, exposing them successively to different solvents and aiding the absorption of nutritive matter. No less essential to life and health are numerous other minute operations or motions, on which vital power in all its manifestations of muscular and nervous energy depends. Many other motions are consequent upon decay, growth, and repair. Oxygen, carbonic acid, watery vapors, and other gaseous matter are constantly being exchanged between the system and atmosphere. Then, the human system being a complex, chemical laboratory, there are motions consequent upon chemical action, constantly going on within it.

Muscular motion, under the direction of the will, is also absolutely necessary for the maintenance of good health.

Animal heat and muscular and nervous power are dependent upon motions of the minutest particles composing the body. The body is composed of fluid and semi-fluid matter, permitting great freedom of motion. Health requires that there shall be a constant change of place, an active transmission of material to and from vital organs and parts, through the medium of [pg 371]blood-vessels, as well as outside such vessels; that is, motion of interstitial fluids.

Nature's mode of Sustaining Health. The act of transforming latent, non-vital force which exists pent-up in food, as heat is in coal, into vital energy, requires the simultaneous elimination from the system of a like amount of worn-out matter. Assimilation of nutritive materials is impossible, unless a like amount of matter be eliminated from the system. Muscular and nervous energy are dependent upon activities which cause waste. Not only is this true in a general way, but it is also true that the energy produced by the operations of the vital system has a strict relation to the wasting products—that full energy is only attained by perfected waste. Use, waste, and power, then, sustain definite and dependent or corresponding relations, since waste is as essential to health as is supply.

Without waste, disturbance is at once produced in the system similar to that resulting from the introduction of foreign matter. These disturbances constitute disease. The more obvious effects of lack of waste and elimination are mechanical. The circulation is loaded with effete and useless matter, the vessels being thereby weakened and distended, and the circulation retarded. The capillaries become clogged and vital action is diminished. Local congestions, inflammations, effusions, morbid growths, and other pathological results follow.

Deranged or suppressed action characterizes, and, indeed, constitutes all departures from health which we call disease. Suffering indicates action, but action which is perverted into wrong channels, or action in one part at the expense of motion in other parts, constituting a disturbance in the equilibrium of forces, from which the system suffers.

Value or Mechanical Movements and manipulations for the Treatment of Chronic Diseases. To correct and restore deranged movements, thereby producing normal, functional activity of every organ and part of the system, must therefore be the chief object of the physician. All remedies, of whatever school or nature, imply motion, and depend for their efficacy upon their ability to excite motion in some one or more elements, organs, or parts of the system.

[pg 372]While we do not wish to detract from the real merits of medicine as a curative agent, yet we must admit that the remedial power of motion, transmitted either manually or mechanically, is founded upon rational and physiological principles. All systems of medicine, however much they may differ superficially, propose, as the chief end to be attained by the administration of medicine, or by other treatment, that motions identical with physiological activity should be incited or promoted. How best to accomplish this result, and with least cost to vitality, is an important consideration. Bearing in mind the conservation of forces, that energy or power is as indestructible as matter, that it may be changed into other forms but never lost, it is plain that mechanical force may be applied to the living system and transformed into vital energy; that chemical action, animal heat, and magnetism may represent in the system the mechanical force transmitted to the body. Keeping in view the transformable nature of force, and the need that our systems have of auxiliary power in different departments, when normal activity is impaired by disease, we can readily understand how undoubted, curative effects result from either the manual or the mechanical administration of motion.

Rubbing is a process universally employed by physicians of every school for the relief of a great diversity of distressing symptoms, is instinctively resorted to by sympathizers and attendants upon the sick, and constitutes one of the chief duties of the nurse. Uncivilized people resort to this process as their principal remedy in all forms of disease.

The difficulty in administering motion as a remedial agent by manual effort, such as rubbing, kneading, oscillating, flexing, and extending the limbs, lies in the impossibility of supplying the amount, intensity, and variety of movement required to make it most effective. The power of the arm and the strength of the operator are exhausted before the desired effect is produced. Inventive genius has at last overcome the obstacles to the successful and perfect administration of motion as a curative agent. We have now a series of machines propelled by mechanical power, by the use of which we rub, knead, manipulate, and apply in succession a great variety of movements to all parts of the body. These machines transmit motion to [pg 373]the body from inexhaustible sources, never tire, but are ever ready for new, remedial conquests. The movements administered by their use, while entirely under the control of the patient, are never disagreeable, and are far more rapid and intense than can possibly be given by the hands. By the application of short, quick movements of from twelve to fifteen hundred vibrations a minute, deep-seated organs and parts are reached, to which motion is transmitted and in which vital energy is thereby generated. The hands have not the power, by kneading, manipulating, or rubbing to impress the system except in a very mild degree, and deep-seated organs and parts are scarcely influenced by the comparatively slow movements thus administered. Among the most important, mechanical inventions devised for administering motion as a remedial agent, is one which has received the name of the manipulator.

The Manipulator. With this machine motion can be applied to any organ or part of the system, and intensity of the application regulated to a nicety. The rapidity of motion necessary to produce active exhilaration of any part of the body is easily secured by the use of the manipulator, but is far beyond the power of the hands. The degree of circulation given to the fluids, both inside and outside of the vessels, and of energy imparted to the organs and parts operated upon by the manipulator, is also unapproachable by the application of manual power.

We now make no charge for consultation by letter, but, instead of the one dollar formerly charged by us as a consultation fee, as we are desirous of making our facilities for treatment known to invalids far and near, we request that all persons writing to us for advice send us the names of all those within the circle of their acquaintance who are in any way in need of medical or surgical treatment for chronic diseases. If convenient, send the list on a separate piece of paper.

CHARGES MUST BE PREPAID.

Should you send a vial of urine for analysis, about a cupful will do, and all express charges on it must be prepaid. All liquids are excluded from the mails, when discovered, and yet we have received hundreds of samples through the mails safely when put in homoeopathic or other very small vials, well corked and carefully packed in a light tin can or wooden box, or in a light pine stick bored out hollow, the vial being carefully packed in sufficient saw-dust or blotting paper to absorb all liquid should the vial get broken. Letter postage, that is, two cents for each one ounce or fraction thereof, must be paid upon these sealed packages. Send the first urine that is passed after rising in the morning.[pg 969]

RELIABLE MEDICINES.

Next in importance to a correct understanding of the patient's disease, is the possession of reliable remedies for its treatment. Many of the medicines employed by physicians engaged in general practice are prepared from old drugs that have lost all their medicinal virtues, and hence are utterly useless and ineffectual. Many vegetable extracts are inert, because the plants from which they are produced were not gathered at the proper time. To give the reader an idea of the great care which we exercise in the selection and preparation of our medicines, he is requested to read under the head of "The Preparation of Medicines," in "The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser."

OUR TERMS FOR TREATMENT

require the payment of monthly fees, in advance, which entitles the patient to medicines specially prepared for and adapted to his or her particular case, and to all necessary attention and advice. Our fees for treatment are moderate, varying according to the nature and requirements of each particular case, and will be made known at the time of consultation.

WHY OUR FEES ARE REQUIRED IN ADVANCE.

We receive applications from strangers residing in all parts of America, and even in foreign countries, and it is not reasonable to suppose that credit could be dispensed so indiscriminately. It would not be a correct business transaction for a merchant to send a barrel of sugar or a roll of cloth to a stranger living hundreds of miles away, to be paid for when used. Our knowledge and medicines constitute our capital in business, and an order upon that capital should be accompanied with an equivalent. Some applicants refer us to their neighbors for a testimonial of their integrity. We cannot spare the time or employ assistants to make such inquiries for the sake of trusting any one. Should credit be thus indiscriminately given, there would necessarily be losses, and, to compensate for these, and the extra expense incurred by the employment of assistants, our fees would have to be much larger, thereby imposing the burden upon those who do pay. Instead of following this method of procedure, we place professional services within the reach of all, so that a greater number may be benefited. Many invalids say that they have paid large sums of money to medical men for treatment without obtaining relief. Unfortunately our land is cursed with quacks and unprincipled practitioners, who seek no one's good but their own, and it is a defect in our law that it permits such swindlers to go unpunished. Not so reprehensible is the family physician who fails, because his limited and varied practice does not permit him to become proficient in treating chronic diseases.[pg 970]The following beautiful sentiment of Hood truthfully expresses the sacredness of the physician's trust:

"Above all price of wealth
The body's jewel. Not for minds or hands profane
To tamper with in practice vain.
Like to a woman's virtue is man's health;
A heavenly gift within a holy shrine!
To be approached and touched with serious fear,
By hands made pure and hearts of faith severe,
E'en as the priesthood of the One Divine."

We are in regular practice, responsible for what we say and do, and cordially invite those who desire further evidence of our success in curing chronic diseases to come to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute and satisfy themselves of the truthfulness of our statements.

We are warranted in saying that our responsibility and disposition for fair dealing are known to many of the principal mercantile houses, as well as to all prominent American editors. We also refer to our present and former patients, one or more of whom may be found in almost every hamlet of America. To all who are under our treatment we devote our highest energies and skill, fully realizing that an untold blessing is conferred upon every person whom we cure, and that such cures insure the permanency of our business. On the contrary, we realize how unfortunate it is for us to fail in restoring to health any person whom we have encouraged to hope for relief. We are careful, therefore, not to assume the treatment of incurable cases, except when desired to do so for the purpose of mitigating suffering or prolonging life; for we never wish to encourage false hopes of recovery.

TERMS FOR BOARD AND TREATMENT AT THE INVALIDS' HOTEL AND SURGICAL INSTITUTE

are moderate, varying with the nature of the case and the apartments occupied. At times so great is the number applying to avail themselves of the skill of our Faculty, and the advantages which our institution affords, that we are unable to receive all applicants. To be sure of securing good apartments, it is well to engage them sometime ahead, and make an advance payment of fifty dollars or more upon them, which will be refunded in case acute sickness or any similar cause should prevent the patient from occupying them at the time specified. Complete terms for treatment and board can be arranged only when personal application for entrance to the institution is made, and the nature and extent of the disease and the necessary treatment fully determined by personal examination of the case. If satisfactory terms and arrangements cannot at that time be agreed upon, or if the case be deemed incurable, any advance payments that have been made to secure good apartments will be promptly refunded.[pg 971]

SPECIAL ADVICE.

Those coming here to consult us personally, should bring the money to pay for our services and for board and care while remaining here, in the form of drafts on New York City, Boston or Chicago, and not in the form of checks on a local or home bank. Such drafts can be purchased in the home bank by paying a small amount for the exchange. If more convenient, post office orders payable at Buffalo post office will do.

VISITING PATIENTS WHO RESIDE AT A DISTANCE.

We are frequently asked to visit patients residing hundreds of miles away, that we may personally examine their cases, or perform difficult surgical operations. We can seldom comply with such requests as the time of our professional Staff is generally very fully occupied.

TO PHYSICIANS

wishing to consult us in intricate cases of chronic diseases under their treatment, we desire to say that we shall, as in the past, take pleasure in responding to their solicitations. We have all the necessary instruments and appliances required in executing the most difficult surgical operations, and, as we have had much experience in this department, we are always ready and able to assist physicians who do not practice operative surgery. In this age of railways and telegraphs medical and surgical aid can be summoned from a distance and promptly obtained.

OUR MEDICINES

as put up for sale through druggists, are not recommended as "cure-alls," or panaceas, but only as superior remedies for certain common and easily-recognized diseases. They are our favorite prescriptions, improved and perfected by long study and a vast experience in the treatment of chronic diseases, and have gained world-wide celebrity and sale. We are well aware that there are many chronic diseases that can only be successfully treated and cured by careful adaptation of remedies to each individual case. This is especially true of the ever-varying and delicate diseases of the kidneys and bladder. It is not less so with reference to nervous debility, involuntary vital losses, with which so many young and middle-aged men are afflicted; and we may also include in this list epilepsy or fits, paralysis or palsy, obstinate gleety discharges, and many other chronic and delicate ailments of which our staff of physicians and surgeons cure annually many thousands of cases, but for which we do not recommend any of our put-up, ready-made, or proprietary medicines.

NO RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMBUGS.

Had our put-up or proprietary medicines, as sold by druggists the world over, been adapted to all classes and forms of chronic diseases, [pg 972]there would have been no necessity for our organizing a competent staff of physicians and surgeons to act as experts in the treatment of difficult, obscure, and complicated cases of chronic diseases. That we keep constantly employed, in our Buffalo and London institutions, eighteen medical gentlemen, with such helpers as chemists, clerks, etc., is indisputable proof that the medicines we offer for sale through druggists should not be classed with the humbug nostrums recommended to cure everything. They are the outgrowth of our vast and extended practice in the treatment of chronic diseases; are well-tried, world-famed, and honest medicines. They are not unduly puffed and lauded, but simply recommended for such diseases as are easily recognized and which they are known to cure.

NOT CONFINED IN PRESCRIBING

Our physicians, in the treatment of cases consulting us, prescribe just such medicines as are adapted to each particular case. They are not confined in the least to our list of a few put-up or proprietary medicines (valuable as they are when applicable to the case) but resort to the whole broad range of the materia medica, employed by the most advanced physicians of the age. They are not hampered by any school, ism or "pathy."

OUR MEDICINES PREPARED WITH THE GREATEST CARE.

The medicines employed are all prepared in our own Laboratory by skilled chemists and pharmacists, and the greatest care is exercised to have them manufactured from the freshest and purest ingredients. Our Faculty probably employ a greater number and variety of native roots, barks, and herbs, in their practice then are used in any other invalids' resort in the land. Using vast quantities of these indigenous medicines, we can afford and do not neglect to have them gathered with great care, at the proper seasons of the year, so that their medicinal properties may be most reliable. Too little attention is generally paid to this matter, and many failures result from the prescribing of worthless medicines by physicians who have to depend for their supplies upon manufacturers who are careless or indifferent in obtaining the crude plants and roots from which to manufacture their medicines for the market. While depending largely upon solid and fluid extracts of native plants, roots, barks, and herbs, in prescribing for disease, yet we do not use them to the exclusion of other valuable curative drugs and chemicals. We aim to be unprejudiced and independent in our selection of remedies, adopting at all times a rational system of therapeutics. This liberal course of action has, in a vast experience, proved most successful.

WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION,
663 MAIN STREET, BUFFALO, N.Y.

[pg 973]

The structure and functions of organized bodies are subject to continual alteration. The changes of nutrition and growth, which are constantly taking place in the tissues render them at the same time the seat of repair and waste, of renovation and decomposition, of life and death. The plant germinates and blossoms, then withers and decays; animal life, in like manner, comes into being, grows to maturity, fades, and dies. It is, therefore, essential to the perpetuation of life, that new organisms be provided to take the place of those which are passing out of existence. There is no physiological process which presents more interesting phenomena than that of reproduction, which includes the formation, as well as the development of new beings.

Since self-preservation is Nature's first law, the desire for food is a most powerful instinct in all living animals. Not inferior to this law is that for the perpetuation of the race; and for this purpose, throughout the animal and vegetable kingdoms, we find the Biblical statement literally illustrated: "Male and female created He them."

Health is the gauge by which the prosperity of a people may be measured. Were we to trace the history of nations,—their rise and fall,—we would find that much of the barbarism and crime, degradation and vice, as well as their decline and final extinction, was due to licentiousness and sexual excesses. Since there is an intimate relation between mind and body, when the body is enfeebled the mind becomes enervated. Morbid [pg 283]conditions of the body prevent the highest mental development, and, on the other hand, when the mind is debilitated, general depravity, physical as well as mental, is the result. The highest development of the body results from the equal and harmonious cultivation of all the mental powers. The perfect development and health of the physical organs is therefore essential to the happiness of mankind. But, before health can be insured the nature and general functions of the physical system must be understood. This being done, the question naturally arises: How can health be best maintained and longevity secured?

Influence of Food. We have previously noticed the effects which food, exercise, and other hygienic agencies, have upon digestion, circulation, and respiration; and we find that they exert a not less potent influence upon the health of the generative organs. Excessive stimulation excites the sexual passions. For this reason, children should not be immoderately indulged in highly seasoned foods. Those persons who have great muscular vigor are endowed with violent passions, and unless restrained by moral considerations, are very likely to be overcome by their animal propensities.

Alcoholic stimulants have a debasing influence upon the whole system, and especially upon the sexual organs; they excite the animal and debase the moral nature; they exhaust the vitality, and, after the excitement, which they temporarily induce, has passed away, the body is left in a prostrated condition.

Physical Labor modifies the Passions. Labor consumes the surplus vitality which a person may possess, and no better protective can be found against the gratification of the passions, unless it be high moral training, than daily toil extended to such a degree as to produce fatigue. Labor determines the blood to the surface and to other parts of the body, and prevents excitement and congestion of the sexual centers. If, by education or association, the passions of children be excited, they will be increased. If, on the contrary, they be taught to avoid these social or solitary evils, they will be abated. Let them be educated to work and the intellectual faculties will assert their sway, the moral powers will be strengthened, and the body better developed, for purity of mind is the result of the perfect development of man.

[pg 284]Influences Of Climate. Individuals possess distinguishing peculiarities characteristic of the nation to which they belong. Climate exerts a powerful influence upon mankind. In tropical regions the inhabitants are enervated, effeminate, and sensual. The rich live in luxury and ease, vice is unrestrained and license unbridled. When the animal propensities are allowed to predominate, the mental faculties are kept in subjection. Hence races that inhabit those latitudes rarely produce scholars or philosophers. A warm climate hastens the development of the reproductive organs. Men and women become mature at a much earlier age in those regions, than in countries where the temperature is lower. In like manner there is a tendency to premature enfeeblement, for the earlier the system matures, the sooner it deteriorates.

Man is a Social Being. History demonstrates that when man is deprived of the society of women, he becomes reckless, vicious, depraved, and even barbarous in his habits, thus illustrating the maxim: "It is not good for man to be alone." Social intercourse promotes mental and physical development. The development of the individual implies the unfolding of every power, both physical and mental. Nothing so regulates and restrains passion as a healthy condition of the organs through which it finds expression. And every organ of the body is powerful in proportion to its soundness. The propensities play a prominent part in the education of the child. When properly disciplined and held in subordination to the higher faculties, they constitute an important factor in the economy of man. Boys are more liable to be morbidly excited when secluded from the society of girls, and vice versa. Again, when the sexes are accustomed to associate, the passions are not apt to be aroused, because of the natural antagonistic constitutional elements. The influence of the one refines, and ennobles the other. Let children be taught to understand their natures, and knowing them, they will learn self-government. "As man rises in education and moral feeling he proportionately rises in the power of self-restraint; and consequently as he becomes deprived of this wholesome law of discipline he sinks into self-indulgence and the brutality of savage life.

The passions may be aroused by the language, appearance [pg 285]or dress of the opposite sex. A word spoken without any impure intent is often construed in a very different sense by one whose passions color the thought, and is made to convey an impression entirely unlike that which was intended by the speaker. Also, the dress may be of such a character as to excite the sexual passion. The manner in which the apparel is worn is often so conspicuous as to become bawdy, thereby appealing to the libidinous desires, rather than awakening an admiration for the mental qualities.

Obscene Literature. Literature is a powerful agent either for good or evil. If we would improve the morals, choice literature must be selected, whether it be that which realizes the ideal, or idealizes the real. Obscene literature, or books written for the express purpose of exciting or intensifying sexual desires in the young, goads to an illicit gratification of the passions, and ruins the moral and physical nature.

It not unfrequently happens that a child is born with a vigorous, mental organism which promises a brilliant future, but manhood finds him incompetent, debilitated, and totally incapacitated for mental or manual labor. This may be the result of youthful indiscretion, ignorantly committed, but not unfrequently it is the effect of a pernicious literature which inflames the imagination, tramples upon reason, and describes to the youth a realm where the passions are the ruling deities.

Many persons are born into the world with disordered organizations for which they are not themselves responsible. Such individuals are entitled to the sympathy of humanity. Dyspepsia, scrofula, consumption, and a thousand ills to which mankind is heir, are inherited from parents, the results of ill-assorted marriages. Intoxicated parents often produce offspring utterly demented. Children of healthy parents, with good constitutions, are usually healthy and intelligent. There are marked varieties of character in children of the same parents. One manifests great precocity, another is below the average in mental attainments; one is amiable, another irritable in disposition; indeed, there are often as great differences between children of the same, as of different families. This is due to the physical and mental conditions of the parents, more especially the mother, not only at the time of the impregnation [pg 286]but also during the period intervening between conception and the birth of the offspring. The ancients regarded courage as the principal virtue. By us, purity is so estimated. Moral purity is an essential requisite to the growth and perfection of the character.

Self-Abuse. Untold miseries arise from the pollution of the body. Self-pollution, or onanism, is one of the most prolific sources of evil, since it leads both to the degradation of body and mind. It is practiced more or less by members of both sexes, and the habit once established, is overcome with the greatest difficulty. It is the source of numerous diseases which derange the functional activity of the organs involved, and eventually impair the constitution. This vicious habit is often practiced by those who are ignorant of its dangerous results. Statistics show that insanity is frequently caused by masturbation.

Immoderate indulgence in any practice is deleterious to the individual. Emphatically true is this with regard to sexual excesses. Not unfrequently does the marriage rite "cover a multitude of sins." The abuse of the conjugal relation produces the most serious results to both parties, and is a prolific source of some of the gravest forms of disease. Prostatorrhea, spermatorrhea, impotency, hypochondria, and general debility of the generative organs, arise from sexual excesses.

The health of the reproductive organs can only be maintained by leading a temperate life. The food should be nourishing but not stimulating. Lascivious thoughts should be banished from the mind, and a taste cultivated for that literature which is elevating in its nature, and the associations should be refining and ennobling. Let these conditions and the rules of hygiene, be observed, and virtue will reward her subjects with a fine physique and a noble character.

Woman, from the nature of her organization, has less strength and endurance than man. Much, however, of the suffering and misery which she experiences arises from insufficient attention to the sexual organs. The menstrual function is generally established between the ages of twelve and fourteen. For want of proper instruction, many a girl through ignorance has caused derangements which have enfeebled her womanhood [pg 287]or terminated her life. At this critical period the mother cannot be too considerate of her daughter's health. Preceding the first appearance of the menses, girls usually feel an aching in the back, pains in the limbs, chilliness, and general languor. The establishment of this function relieves these symptoms. Every precaution should be taken during the period to keep the feet dry and warm, to freely maintain a general circulation of the blood, to avoid exertion, and to refrain from standing or walking too much. Menstrual derangements should never be neglected, for they predispose to affections of the brain, liver, heart, and stomach, induce consumption and frequently end in death. Young women should, therefore, properly protect themselves, and avoid extremes of heat and cold.

[pg 288]