Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/419

 Popular Science Monthly

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��pipes forming a square; these curve over and meet at the top to form an ordinary shower. The pipes at the corner are perfor- ated so that the patient gets the water from the sides and top at once. The Scotch douche is regu- lated by an operator at a table about fif- teen feet away, by means of levers. A ther- mometer near him indicates the exact tem- perature of the water the pa- tient isgetting. When the pa- tient steps in the bath, for instance, the water is made about 1 06 de- grees, it is kept at this for about ten sec- onds, then the temperature is gradually re- duced until it reaches 60 de- grees or even lower, if the patient is able to stand cold water, the test being whether he gets a warm, healthy reac- tion afterwards. It is kept at this low tem- perature about ten seconds and then turned off.* Then follows the unique feature of the Scotch douche. The operator controls at his table a short hose with a nozzle and through this he plays a stream of cold water up and down

���The Scotch douche is a special kind of shower bath. The temperature of the water is gradually reduced un- til the patient can stand a cold stream along the spine

��the patient's body, making it a spray against the more sensitive parts and a hard stream upon the less sensitive ones. Chiefly attention is directed to the spinal column and the cold stream is run up and down the

back-bone sev- er al times. The patient then steps out of the bath and is given a brisk rub- down.

Curing Raving Maniacs in Bath-Tubs

The con- tinuous bath is just what its name implies and is chiefly used for very excited pa- tients, the "raving mani- acs" referred to before. An ordinar>^ bath- tub is fitted with a mixing chamberabove so that the water is kept at an even temperature, this being body temperature or a degree higher. Many of these are equipped with a safety-valve so that if any accident happens the supply is automatically shut off. Thus, if the valve is set at 105 degrees and the cold water stops running for some reason, the tempera- ture of the water in the bath rises rapidly, but at 105 degrees the water is shut off. Of course patients in a continuous bath are always attended by a nurse who is supposed to watch

���A patient in a "pack." This consists of sheets out of which water of the desired temperature has been wrung. These arc wrapped tightly about the body and over them blankets are pinned

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