Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/457

Rh may be said that while the former tend to check cutaneous transpiration, the latter favour it. It is supposed, but is scarcely proved, that cold baths, by the stimulus they give, increase the reaction of the gastric and other fluids of the stomach, and of the alimentary canal, and that warm baths rather serve to retard it. Either hot or cold baths, but especially the latter, favour the secretion of urine. Whether warm or cold baths, like the breathing of hot or cold air, have any effect on the exhalation of carbonic acid has not been determined. The warm bath causes swelling and congestion of the capillaries of the surface in the first instance ; when the stimulus of heat is withdrawn their contraction ensues. A cold bath, again, first causes a contraction of the capillaries of the surface, which is followed by their expansion when reaction sets in. A warm bath elevates the temperature of the body, both by bringing a supply of heat to it and by preventing the radiation of heat from it. It can be borne longer than a cold bath. It draws blood to the surface, while a cold bath favours internal congestions. There is in both cases increased oxidation or waste of the tissues ; but with the warm bath there is less call made on the system, as oxidation depends chiefly on increased heat, which in the case of the warm baths is artificially supplied. The reason why a man when much exhausted feels a hot bath refreshing, while he cannot bear a cold one, may be that the increased heat conveyed to him -by the warm bath helps the process of oxidation, and thus relieves his system. Cold refreshes by exciting the functions, heat by physically relieving their action ; a hot bath calms by reducing the loss of heat, and by supplying a certain amount of it. Very hot baths, it is true, act like cold baths, as stimulants to the heart and nervous centres ; but they do it more gradually and with less shock to the system than cold baths. The general result of this comparison would show that warm are a milder remedy than cold baths, and are applicable often when the system does not possess power of reaction sufficient to make the use of the latter expedient. As regards the use of baths simply for the promotion of health, it follows, from what has been stated, that warm baths are best suited for the delicate, for the very young, and for the old ; cold baths for the strong and active, in whom the powers of reaction are unimpaired. It would be out of place to say much here about the use of baths in medicine. Warm baths according to their degree of heat are of great value in relaxing spasms, in calming the nervous system, and in neuralgias, chronic rheumatism, and gout. Turkish baths are useful in these last affections, and wherever it is of importance that there should be free action of the skin. Cold baths, again, are more useful when the system requires tonics, and when it can bear the shock of cold affusion ; when diseases of the system, especially of the nervous system, are more functional than organic. It is obvious that the cold-water cure, including, as it does, copious sudation, combines in a certain degree the effects of both kinds of baths. But baths often produce injurious effects when used injudiciously. Long continued warm baths are soporific, and have owing to this action often caused death by drowning. The effects of very hot baths are swimming in the head, vomiting, fainting, congestion of the brain, and, in some instances, apoplexy. The symptoms seem to point to paralysis of the action of the heart. It is therefore very evident how cautious those should be, in the use of hot baths, who have weak hearts or any obstruction to the circulation. Fat men, and those who are full-blooded or predisposed to epilepsy, should avoid them. Protracted indulgence in warm baths is relaxing, and has been esteemed a sign of effeminacy in all ages. Sleepiness, though it- will not follow the first immersion in a cold bath, is one of the effects of protracted coll baths; depression of the temperature of the surface that exceeds 9 becomes dangerous. The risk in cold baths is congestion of the internal organs, as often indicated by the lips getting blue. Extremely cold baths are, therefore, very unsafe wherever there is a tendency to internal congestion ; and they are always dangerous when the system is exhausted by fatigue. We shall conclude with a few words of advice about ordinary bathing for hygienic purposes : Wherever it is practicable, bathing should be over before 1 p.m. It is not to be thought of when the stomach is loaded, or after much wine. The shorter the bath is, especially if the water be cold, and the bather cannot swim, the better, say five minutes. He should swim if possible, and then a quarter of an hour is long enough. Bathing should not be practised more than once a day. When one is over-heated, but not exhausted, it is advisable to bathe at once, without waiting to cool. After hot air or vapour baths care must be taken that cold be not caught, although the more enthusiastic advocates of such baths declare that there is no risk of this.

1em  BATHURST, a town of New South Wales, on the Macquarie River, 122 miles W.S.W. of Sydney, with which it is connected by railway. It stands in a fertile plain on the western side of the Blue Mountains, and is the centre of an important gold field. Founded in 1815 by Governor Macquarie, and named in honour of Lord Bathurst (the third earl), it soon became a place of con siderable size, and was raised to the rank of a municipality in 1862. It is built in rather a spacious style, with broad and regular streets running at right angles, Many of the buildings are large and handsome ; and it possesses numerous churches and schools, a theatre, a hospital, and various societies. Population in 1871, 5030.  BATHURST,, a distinguished statesman in Queen Anne s reign, was born in the year 1G84. After completing his education at Cambridge, he was elected in 1705 to represent the borough of Cirencester. He distinguished himself particularly in the struggles and debates relative to the union of England and Scotland, firmly supporting a measure which he thought calculated to strengthen the Government and add to the prosperity of the country. Though he was content to act a subor dinate part in the opposition planned by Harley and St John, his intimate friends, in order to sap the credit of the duke of Marlborough and his adherents, nevertheless he did good service to his party by arraigning, with more eloquence than truth, the conduct of the general and of the earl of Godolphin, whom he accused of lavishing the treasures of the nation on conquests more splendid than serviceable. The loss. of the battle of Almanza, which happened about this time, seconded his efforts and those of his associates in dispelling what they called the intoxication of former successes, and disparaging achievements which 