Children under seven years of age do not bear the application of cold water very well, and it is advisable not to use the water at a lower temperature than 70° Fahr., and to employ friction constantly while administering it; but after that age the temperature may be gradually lowered. In old age the neutral bath, from 75 to 85° Fahr. will be found the best for general use, accompanied by friction.
The bath, to be thoroughly beneficial, should be taken at one of the three following portions of the day, immediately upon rising, about ten o’clock, or just before going to bed. The early morning bath is, however, immeasurably the best, and if cold, will be found a wonderful aid in promoting health and vigor, and being such a necessity, especially in the preservation of health, and the constant practice of it, strongly urged, we append the following useful suggestions for guidance:
A full meal should not be taken in less than half an hour after bathing. Nor should a bath be taken in less than an hour and a half after eating a full meal.
You can bathe with impunity in cold water when the body is perspiring freely, as long as the breathing is not disturbed, nor the body exhausted by over-exertion.
Never bathe in cool or cold water when the body is cold. First restore warmth by exercise.
Always wet the head before taking a plunge bath, and the chest also, if the lungs are weak.
In cases of sickness, where it becomes necessary to assist Nature in ridding the system of impurities through the medium of the sweat glands, the “wet sheet pack” will be found invaluable. It is usually regarded by those imperfectly acquainted with its action as simply the chief factor in a sweating process, but it is more than that. Not only does it open up the pores and soften the scales of the skin, but it “draws” the morbid matter from the interior of the body, through the surface to the pores. It is of immense value in all cases of fever, especially bilious fever.
It should be borne in mind that “flushing the colon” should always precede the use of the “pack.”
If any one doubts the purifying efficacy of this process he can have a “demonstration strong” by the following experiment: Take any man in apparently fair health, who is not accustomed to daily bathing, who lives at a first-class hotel, takes a bottle of wine at dinner, a glass of brandy and water occasionally, and smokes from three to six cigars per day. Put him in a pack and let him soak one or two hours. On taking him out the intolerable stench will convince all persons present that his blood and secretions were exceedingly befouled and that a process of depuration is going on rapidly.