Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/175

 is sympathetically deranged and vice versa. This does not necessarily mean that the effect is produced by physical transference of suppressed exhalation to the internal organ nor the reverse; the chief impression seems to be made upon the nervous system. But the importance of the relation existing between the skin and the other excretory organs is such that it cannot be disregarded when disease is to be remedied.

In order to insure functional activity of the surface of the body, frequent bathing is necessary at all times. For this purpose one cleansing bath daily is required. Dead, scaly particles of skin, dirt, and the products of perspiration are thus removed, and the other organs of elimination are relieved from the performance of extra labor. The rule of the body is that of cleanliness, internal and external. The importance of the daily cleansing bath during a fast period needs no further exposition.

A bath with temperature ranging from 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit is suitable for elderly people and for those who do not nervously react with promptness from either heat or cold. One of temperature not more than 105 degrees is cleansing in the highest sense