Page:Guide to health.djvu/100

 he may be made to lie down on a cot with interstices, taking care to see that some of the steam escapes. Of course, care should also be taken to see that the patient's clothes or the blankets used do not catch fire; and due consideration should be paid to the state of the patient's health, as an inconsiderate application of steam is fraught with danger. The patient, indeed, feels weak after a steam bath, but this weakness does not last long. Too frequent use of steam, however, enfeebles the constitution, and it is of the highest importance to apply steam with due deliberation. Steam may also be applied to any single part of the body; in cases of headache, for instance, there is no need to expose the whole body to the steam. The head should be held just over a narrow-mouthed jar of boiling water, and wrapped round with a cloth. Then the steam should be inhaled through the nose so that it may ascend into the head. If the nasal passage is blocked, it will also be opened by this process. Likewise, if there be inflamation in any part of the body, it alone need be exposed to the steam.

Very few realise the curative value of cold water, in spite of the fact that it is even more valuable in this respect than hot water, and can be made use of by even the weakest persons. In fever, small-pox, and skin-diseases, the application of a sheet dipped