Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/406

 386 BATH blood were all driven to the interior of the body, particularly to the chest ; the breath was gasping, interrupted, quickened, almost to suf- focation; the pulse concentrated, small, and hard ; there was rigidity of the tissues, but without trembling. At the end of two or three minutes a feeling of calm followed, the respi- ration became deep, the skin warm, and all the movements were free and easy. " All the mus- cular movements are quick, easy, and precise ; one feels as if the skin and aponeuroses were applied more closely to the muscles, and that these thus held down acted with greater force and energy than in their ordinary state. Soon a lively redness covers the surface, a marked and pleasant feeling of warmth spreads over the skin ; it seems as if one swam in a liquid raised to 8(i or 98 ; the body appears to seek to expand in order to multiply the surface of contact ; the pulse is large, full, strong, regu- lar. Few sensations are so delicious as those felt at such a moment. All the springs of the animal machine acquire greater flexibility, strength, and firmness than they had previous- ly ; the limbs cleave with ease a fluid which no longer offers any resistance ; one moves with- out effort, with quickness, and above all with an incredible lightness." In from 15 to 20 minutes there was a gradual return of cold and discomfort ; it was then time to leave the wa- ter. If the bather still remained, he was seized with chills, and the difficulty of moving became so great that he was in danger of drowning. On quitting the water, continues M. Begin, before the reaction has ceased, the transition to the cold air gives no unpleasant sensation. In despite of the wind and the moisture which covers the body, the latter remains warm, and the skin is so insensible that the friction of the towel is not perceived ; indeed, M. Begin some- times rubbed off the cuticle without being aware of it. To endure a bath of such a tem- perature with safety, to say nothing of enjoy- ment and benefit, requires a vigorous constitu- tion and great promptness of reaction. M. Eos- tan, another French physician, was unable to remain longer than six minutes in the Seine at a time when the water was 43 F., and then reaction only fully occurred on the following night after many hours of discomfort, accom- panied by a painful feeling of weight about the head. Reaction takes place most promptly, and a lower temperature can safely be borne, when exercise is conjoined with bathing, as in swimming, than when the body is at rest. Salt water is more stimulating than fresh, and ren- ders the reaction more marked and of longer duration ; the shock of the waves too, by ren- dering muscular action necessary to resist it, has a similar influence. The effects of the cold bath, where it agrees, are tonic and bracing ; it stimulates the skin, improves the appetite, and renders the circulation more active and vigorous. It hardens the system, and causes it to be much less sensitive to vicissitudes of temperature. The regular employment of the cold hath is the best protective against the lia- bility to take cold on moderate exposure. Its beneficial effects depend mainly on the prompt- ness and completeness of the stage of reaction ; if full reaction does not take place, if the bather remains cold and shivering, with a sense of weight about the head, the bath is injurious. It should not be taken when the body is fatigued and exhausted, or when it is overheated by ex- ertion in hot weather ; on the other hand, a moderate degree of warmth, or even a gentle perspiration, provided there is no exhaustion, does not contra- indicate its employment. When first employed, it should be used but a few min- utes until the bather has tested his powers of resistance and reaction, and the interval can then be gradually increased. When the shower or cold bath is taken in the house, it may be used immediately on rising while the body is still warm from bed; but the sea bath suits best about noon, or some three hours after the morning meal. The presence of disease of the heart or of the great blood vessels renders the use of the cold bath dangerous. The cool and temperate baths produce effects similar in kind to those of the cold bath, but less in degree ; they are the cold bath of the invalid and feeble. Infants and old persons, as a rule, bear the cold bath badly. Young infants in particular do not react promptly, but remain cold and blue for some time after taking a bath ; yet in feeble and strumous children the bath is one of our best means of hardening and invigorat- ing the constitution. With them it is best to commence with the tepid bath, and the temper- ature should gradually, day by day, be lowered ; when the cold bath is arrived at, it should be given in a properly warmed apartment; the immersion should be sudden, complete, and continued but for a few moments, and the child should immediately afterward be well and thoroughly rubbed with dry flannels. The ef- fect of the warm bath is very different from that of the cold bath. There is no shock ; on the contrary, the temperature is grateful to the bather. The blood is solicited to the surface, which becomes full and rounded. The cuticle absorbs water and is softened, and the epithe- lial debris are readily removed. The pulse is unaffected, irritability of the nervous system is soothed, pain dependent on spasmodic action or neuralgia is allayed, and the relaxation of the skin extends to the deeper-seated parts. Its beneficial effects are especially recognizable after excessive muscular exercise or after the fatigue and excitement of a long journey, in refreshing and tranquillizing the system. On the other hand, the warm bath exercises none of the tonic and astringent influence which is produced by the cold ; its frequent use tends to relax and debilitate, while it renders the system more sensible to the variations of external tem- perature. The hot bath, 98 to 112 F., pro- duces at first an inconvenient and even painful sensation of heat ; from the determination of blood to the surface, it soon becomes reddened