[Fives in the Floors and Walls. [Specimen of Hollow PaveFrom Cameron.] ment.-From Cameron.] The castellum of the therma of Antoninus Caracalla was supplied with water by the aqueduct of Antoninus. Two of the arches of this aqueduct are represented at A; B is a cistern which received the water from the aqueduct; C is an aperture for permitting the descent of the water from the receptacle to the chamber below; D is a receptacle with a mosaic pavement, wherein the water was exposed to the heat of the sun; E is another aperture through which the water passed into the lowest chambers placed immediately over the hypocaustum; F, the hypocaustum; O O, doors for introducing the fuel. A transverse section through the middle of the same castellum is given at H. By the plan of this castellum, it appears that there were twenty-eight of these vaulted rooms placed over the hypocaustum: they were placed in two rows, fourteen on a side, and had all a communication with each other. The sections show, that over these were twenty-eight other rooms, having likewise a communication with each other, although only one of them had any communication with the chambers below, through the aperture at E. Upon the top of all was a spacious receptacle, not very deep, but extending the whole length of the castellum, in which the water was considerably heated by the influence of the sun, before it passed into the several chambers. This receptacle received its water from the cistern B, and not immediately from the aqueduct. The use of this cistern appears to have consisted in promoting a more gentle flow of the water into the receptacle, that its surface might not be ruffled by the least agitation, as that would very much have counteracted the purposes to which the receptacle was applied, nothing contributing so much as tranquillity in the water to acquire all the advantages from the influence of the sun its situation would permit. When there was no efflux from the inferior chambers, there could be no demands for water from the receptacle, which would have been liable to overflow were there not an aperture in the side of the cistern, through which the water ran off in different directions from that which was used for bathing. During all this time the water in the receptacle would be in the most perfect state of rest. The cistern, therefore, answered two material purposes, as it prevented any agitation in the water of the receptacle, and likewise carried off what was superfluous. The twenty-eight vaulted chambers, placed immediately over the hypocaustum, would now begin to be heated, which heat they would acquire so much the quicker, as only one of them had any communication with the external air by the apertures C and E. They therefore evidently were constructed upon the same principle as Papinius's digester, the strength of the walls and of the roof being sufficient to resist the force of the rarefaction of the air in the water, and consequently to prevent any loss from evaporation. Flues were still necessary to give the water a heat sufficient for bathing. The arched chambers were also supplied with flues, N N, from Sections of the Castellum of Antoninus Caracalla-From Cameron.] | the hypocaustum, and served as a reservoir of tepid water for those below. The water they received was likewise heated by the sun. When the time for bathing was come, the cocks were turned to admit the hot water from the lower chambers into the labra of the baths, to which it would run with great velocity, and ascend a perpendicular height in the therma, equal to the surface of the receptacle in the castellum. The current would be accelerated by the great tendency the water would have to expand itself after having been confined in the chambers. The pressure of the column of tepid water was equal to, if not greater than the diameter of the column of hot water which ran out from the chambers below. To prevent the water cooling as it passed through the tubes underground, they were all carefully surrounded with flues from the præfurnium, so that these tubes were in the centre of a funnel, and always considerably heated before the water entered them. Each of these chambers was, within the walls, forty-nine feet six inches long, by twenty-seven feet six inches wide, and about thirty high; the number of superficial feet in the bottom of the rooms being 38,115. If we allow thirty feet for the mean height, the whole quantity of water in these lower rooms will amount to 1,143,450 cubic feet, and the like quantity must be allowed for the upper rooms; allowing, therefore, eight cubic feet of warm water as sufficient for one man to bathe in, and that water preserved in a bathing heat in the labrum half an hour, the whole consumption of hot water, in this given time, for 18,000 people, would be 144,000 cubic feet. By this calculation there would be a sufficient quantity of water for three hours, or until five in the evening, for 108,000 people. The water, however, would gradually cool as it flowed in from the higher chambers. 'We have no intimation from the antients when they firs fell upon this expedient for heating such large bodies of water, whether it was the invention of the Romans or brought from the East. We may reasonably suppose, that as it was not necessary before the public warm-baths were built in Rome, it was not more antient than the time of Augustus, in whose reign we are told by Dion Cassius (lib. lv.) that Mecænas first instituted a swimming-bath of warm water, or a calida piscina. (Cameron.) But few Roman citizens in casy circumstances were without the luxury of a private bath, which varied in their construction according to the taste or prodigality of their owner. Amongst many articles of luxury for which Pliny censures the ladies of his time, he takes notice of their bathing-rooms being paved with silver. Even the metal flues of the hypocaustum were gilt. (See Cameron On Roman Baths. For an account of the private baths, see Pompeii, vol. i. p. 199.) The Persian manner of bathing, in some respects, is not unlike that adopted by the antient Romans. Sir R. Ker Porter describes it in the following terms:-The bather having undressed in the outer room, and retaining nothing about him but a piece of loose cloth round his waist, is con- bank by damming up with mud the other three sides, and The Russian baths, as used by the common people, bear a close resemblance to the laconicum of the Romans. They usually consist of wooden houses, situated, if possible, by the side of a running stream. In the bath-room is a large vaulted oven, which when heated makes the paving-stones lying upon it red hot, and adjoining to the oven is a kettle fixed in masonry, for the purpose of holding boiling water. Round about the walls are three or four rows of benches, one above another, like the seats of a scarrold. The room has little light, but here and there are apertures for letting the vapour escape; the cold water that is wanted is let in by small channels. Some baths have an ante-chamber for dressing and undressing, but in most of them this is done in the open court-yard, which has a boarded fence, and is provided with benches of planks. In those parts of the country where wood is scarce they sometimes consist of wretched caverns, commonly dug in the earth close to the bank of some river. In the houses of wealthy individuals, and in the pa.aces of the great, they are constructed in the same manner, but with superior elegance and convenience. The heat in the bath-room is usually from 32° to 40° of Réaumur, and this may be much increased by throwing water on the glowing hot stones in the chamber of the oven. Thus the heat often rises to 44° of Réaumur. The bathers lie quite naked on one of the benches, where they perspire more or less, in proportion to the heat of the humid atmosphere in which they are enveloped; while, to promote perspiration, and more completely open the pores, they are first rubbed, then gently flagellated with leafy bunches of birch. After remaining for some time in this state, they come down from the sweating-bench and wash their bodies with warm or cold water, and at last plunge overhead in a tub of water. Many persons throw themselves immediately from the bath-room into the adjoining river, or roll themselves in the snow in a frost of 10° or more. The Russian baths are therefore (concameratæ sudationes) sweating-baths; not of a moderate warmth, like the Roman tepidaria or caldaria, but very violent sweating-baths, which, to a person not habituated to the practice, bring on a real, though a gentle and almost voluptuous swoon." (Tooke's Russia.) [See BATHING.] The savage tribes of America are not wholly unacquainted with the use of the vapour-bath. Lewis and Clarke, in their voyage up the Missouri, have described one of them in the following terms:- We observed a vapour-bath or sweatinghouse in a different form from that used on the frontiers of the United States or in the Rocky Mountains. It was a hollow square of six or eight feet deep, formed in the river In France there are baths in all the towns; and bathing is practised more than in Germany or England, where baths are rare. There are but few baths in London, and those established there would not suffice for a small fraction of the population, if bathing were a common practice. Still of late years baths have increased both in London and England generally. Antient Roman baths have been found in several of the Roman villas in England; that at Northleigh in Oxfordshire, near Blenheim, is the most perfect. (See the account of the villa at Northleigh, Oxfordshire, by Mr. Hakewill.) Baths have been discovered also at Wroxeter in Shropshire, and near Arundel in Sussex. In the former, the suspended pavement was very perfect in the centre of a chamber in that near Arundel is an octagon bath sunk in the floor, the pulvinus of which is quite perfect. There are also some curious Roman baths at Vallogne in Normandy. (See Montfaucon, Antiq. t. iii. pl. 2; Cameron's Roman Baths; Gell's Pompeii; Museo Borbonico; Pompeii, by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; Eustace's, Classical Tour.) BATHGATE, a burgh and parish in the county and presbytery of Linlithgow, 18 miles west of Edinburgh, 24 east of Glasgow, and 6 south of Linlithgow. The great road between Edinburgh and Glasgow passes by the southern extremity of the town. This road is distinguished for its singular levelness and firmness, and it may also claim a not inconsiderable antiquity, it being no doubt the same passage which was travelled by the monks of the abbey of Newbotle under the grant made to them in 1333, by Walter the Steward of Scotland, that they might freely pass with their carriages through his barony of Bathgate from their monastery to the monkland. (Chalm. Caled. vol. ii. p. 865.) Bathgate has been on the increase for many years past, which may be ascribed to a branch of the Glasgow cotton manufactures being established in it; to extensive coal and lime works in the immediate vicinity; to its admirable situation for grain and cattle markets (both well attended); to the great intercourse through it between the two cities above mentioned; and to other causes. It is a very healthy place, has a fine southern exposure, and is seen at a considerable distance to the west and south. The streets of the town are well-paved, the houses generally well-built and covered with slates or tiles, and the inhabitants are copiously supplied with excellent water, brought from the neighbourhood in leaden conduits. Gas-works were lately erected for lighting the town. The public buildings are, the parish church, a very plain edifice; three chapels for Dissenters (Relief and Burghers); a fine academy; parish school; jail; two masonic lodges, &c. The Earl of Hopetoun is patron of the parish. The academy, which stands on an elevation, a little to the south-east of the town, overlooking the great road, was erected about two years ago from funds bequeathed by the late John Newlands, Esq., of Kingston, Jamaica, a native of the town. These are vested in the parish minister, and three neighbouring proprietors (Sir William Baillie, Bart., Mr. Majoribanks, and Mr. Gillon, M.P.), whose attention to the trust reposed in them BAT 32 is deserving of much praise. The system of education | Buthgate has been a free burgh of barony since 1663, (Further particulars will be found in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland; Penney's Linlithgowshire; Chambers's Gazetteer, &c., &c.) BATHING, means the temporary surrounding of the body, or a part of it, with a medium different from that in which it is usually placed. The means employed for this purpose are generally water, watery vapour, or air of a temperature different from that of the common atmosphere. The objects for which these are employed are usually the prevention of disease, the cure of disease, or the pleasure derived from the operation. To understand in what way these ends are accomplished, we must observe that the human frame is endowed with a power of maintaining, within certain limits, a nearly uniform temperature in whatever circumstances it is placed. The general temperature of an adult in a state of perfect health is from 97° to 98° of Fahrenheit's thermometer; that of a new-born infant about 94°. In some cases of disease the temperature rises far above this standard, even to 106, while in others it sinks far below it. The power by which the body maintains a uniformity of temperature is the property of developing animal heat, the perfection of which function is intimately connected with the state of the nervous system, and through that, with the circulation. When the body is well nourished and the circulation vigorous, the temperature is high, and nearly equal over all parts of the body, provided the supply of nervous energy be adequate. If anything impairs the vigour of the circulation generally, or of an artery going to a particular limb (as when it is tied in the operation of aneurism), the temperature of the whole or of the part will be low. On the other hand, if the whole nervous system be impaired, a lower temperature will prevail generally, and especially at the extremities; or if a particular limb, such as a paralysed limb, have an imperfect share of The perspiration is the channel by which salts and other The great vascularity of the skin, and the manner in which the vessels of this part are influenced by affections of the mind, as in blushing, when it becomes red from more blood being sent to it, and during fear when less blood goes to it, and more to the vicarious organs, as the kidneys, point out how an exposure to a cold and damp atmosphere and how mental emotions are concerned in producing morbid action of this organ. The skin must also be regarded as a net-work of nervous filaments, and the most extensive organ of sensation: in this way it enables us to judge of heat and cold, though not with absolute certainty, as the sensation conveyed will depend upon the temperature of the medium in which the body or any of the limbs may have been placed immediately before. To understand this doctrine, it is necessary to be acquainted with the action of heat and cold on the human system; in our explanation of which, we will endeavour to be as concise as possible. We treat first of cold; in doing which it is necessary to distinguish between the immediate primary action of cold on the organ or part with which it is brought into contact, and the secondary action, depending upon the organic activity residing in the part, or that train of effects usually denominated re-action. The primary effect is always the same, consisting in the abstraction of heat from the part, and the consequent reduction of its temperature, while the internal development of heat becomes greater, so that the organic life strives ever to maintain an equilibrium between the conflicting powers, in order that it may not be limited or disturbed in its healthy action. Yet it must be remembered, that both the external and internal degree of the primary action of cold, as also the period in which it slowly or suddenly shows itself, and the time, whether longer or shorter, that it lasts, occasion a variety of effects, both in the part to which it is applied, and those more immediately sympathizing with it, as well as in the whole system. The degree of primary action of cold can vary in endless degrees, from the lowest, where it scarcely affects the sensibility, to the highest, when it utterly destroys life. This difference of degree depends | upon the concurrence of several circumstances, partly relating to the action of the cold itself, and partly to the nature of the organic life upon which the cold operates. The essential conditions which must be here borne in mind are, that the continual evolution of animal heat is closely connected with the development or exercise of animal life; and that the power or extent of action of external media, having a lower temperature than that of the animal they surround, depends less on the absolute degree of their temperature than upon the quantity of caloric which they can abstract in a given time. The relative power and quickness of abstracting heat, with which different external media are endowed, depend upon different properties, such as their density, conducting power, capacity for heat, &c., and display themselves through the diversity of sensations which, at the same absolute temperature, they occasion. Thus, air at the temperature of 65° Fahr. feels pleasant, while water at the same degree feels somewhat cold. The organs of the body also differ in their power of sustaining the same temperature; hence, in the employment of vapour-baths, it is of importance to know whether the watery vapour is to be breathed or not, since, where it is to be breathed, the temperature must be much lower. The following table is given by Dr. Forbes as an approximation to what may be deemed correct as a measure of sensation in the cases where water and vapour are used. Tepid Bath Warm Bath. Hot Bath Water. 85° to 92° 92 " 98 98 106 " 120, 160 110 » 130 As a full exposition of the subject of the temperature of animals will be given under the article HEAT, ANIMAL, we must refer to it for further details, confining ourselves here to remark that the ultimate action of cold, when extreme, is a sedative to the nervous system, and alters the circulation from external to internal; and that moderate cold continued causes the same consequences as severe cold of short duration (See Beaupré On Cold, Edinb. 1826.) Heat, on the other hand, is a stimulant to the nervous system, and alters the distribution of the blood from internal to external. Taking these principles as our guide, we proceed now to consider the different kinds of baths, and their action on the system in different states both of health and disease. First, of water-baths. The common division is into cold and warm; but various subdivisions are formed, marked by a certain range of temperature, which are designated 1. The cold-bath, from 40° to 65° the immersion has been sudden, a peculiar impression on the nervous system, called a shock. The skin becomes cooler and paler, the respiration hurried and irregular, the action of the kidneys increases and the bladder contracts. In a few moments the colour and warmth return to the skin, and a glow is felt, especially if assisted by rubbing the surface. If the person remains more than five or ten minutes in the bath, the glow disappears, and paleness returns, which again gives place, though less quickly and perfectly, to a renewed glow. During the existence of the primary action of the cold, the bulk of the whole body, but especially of the more contractile parts, diminishes. Should the stay in the water be greatly prolonged, no reaction ensues, but a general feeling of chilliness prevails, with quick feeble pulse, convulsive breathing, cramps of the limbs, or fainting. If the person quit the bath after the few first minutes, as in prudence he should, the blood returns to the surface, accompanied with a sensation of pricking, itching, and sometimes throbbing of the arteries: the elasticity of the muscles being increased, more animal power is felt, accompanied with a general feeling of enjoyment. Very young or feeble individuals are either incapable of bearing the shock, or the reaction is so slight that they cannot endure to stay in the bath beyond a very short time. If they unwisely stay or are held in the bath longer than one or two minutes, the heat never regains its proper height, the extremities remain contracted, and they, as well as the lips, nose, &c., are of a livid hue. In such cases either artificial means must be used to bring about reaction, or the bath must be relinquished, as improper for such persons, as we shall show at a future part of our observations. The phenomena just described generally accompany cold bathing; and it is clear that we can recognize in them a series of three or even four distinct actions; viz., 1st, The shock; 2nd, The cooling effect; 3rd, The contraction or astringent effect; and, 4th, The re-action. Cold bathing may be employed, therefore, in such a way as to ensure the predominance of one action over any of the rest, according to circumstances, where all are not desired. They vary with the degree of cold and the suddenness of the application, as well as from the body being plunged into the water, or the water dashed against the body. Where the shock, as a stimulus to the nervous system, is desired, the water should be very cold, and where practicable should be dashed against the body, or, if the contrary, the stay in the bath should be momentary. This mode of using it may be either general or local. It has been employed generally, i.e. the whole body exposed to the action of the water, in mania, with occasional success, and in the early stage of the common continued fever (under certain regulations, for which see Currie's Medical Reports), sometimes with great success, cutting short the train of morbid actions which constitute the fever. It has been employed also in nervous affections, accompanied with a convulsive action, or deficient action of the muscular system, as in hysteria, in lock jaw (see Paper by Dr. Wright, London Medical Observations and Inquiries, vol. vi. p. 143): in some cases of obstinate constipation, dashing cold water on the person, or the cold bath frequently repeated, has been of great service. Its stimulating effect is sometimes best procured by a local application, in the form of a stream of water falling on the head, from a considerable height. The simplest example of this is the common practice of sprinkling the face with cold water in case of a tendency to faint; and in many diseases of the most dangerous character, it is a remedy superior to any other. It is called the cold dash, or douche, or douse, and is beneficially employed in fever, particularly when the brain continues the seat of inordinate action of the blood-vessels, after depletion has been carried as far as prudence will allow. (See the instructive case of Dr. Dill in Dr. Southwood Smith's Treatise on Fever, p. 398.) It requires to be used with the greatest caution. Also in the state of stupor or coma which occurs in the last stage of hydrocephalus acutus, or water in the brain, it often succeeds in rescuing the patient from imminent danger. (See Abercrombie On Diseases of the Brain, first edit. 1828, p. 157.) Its utility is well known in the East in rousing drunken soldiers from their stupor so effectually as to enable them to rise up and appear immediately on parade. In the melancholy and mania which overtake habitual drunkards it is of great efficacy, and also in cases of loss of nervous power from excessive mental exertion. In apoplectic stupor it has also been very advantageously employed. In the sinking stage [THE PENNY CYCLOPÆDIA.] VOL. IV.-F of croup, when all other remedies have failed, cold affusion has sometimes restored the functions of life to new action. The cooling or refrigerating effect of cold bathing is most desired in diseases where the animal heat rises above the proper standard, as in fevers, both continued and eruptive, especially scarlet fever; also in some local inflammations, particularly of the brain. For the principles which should regulate our practice in this application we must refer to Dr. Currie and other writers, only remarking that in the hot and restless stage of scarlet fever, when the heat is steadily above the natural standard, the skin hot and dry, and neither sleep nor perspiration can be procured, a plunge into cold water will be followed by both, to the relief and often recovery of the patient. (See Bateman On Cutaneous Diseases, edit. 1529, p. 120.) In applying cold locally, as in inflammation of the brain, one rule is of the utmost importance to be observed, viz., that the application of the cold shall be continuous; therefore a second set of cold cloths or bags of ice should be applied before the former has become warm. This plan, especially pursued during the night, along with judicious internal treatment, will save many children from perishing under the most insidious and fatal disease of childhood-winter, when there are not facilities for using the complete water in the brain. The cases already mentioned are mostly acute diseases, where the cold affusion is employed to avert an imminent but temporary danger. It is generally in chronic diseases that the cold bath is employed for a length of time, and in these it is chiefly the secondary effect, the glow or reaction, which is desired. The rules to be observed in order to obtain this effect are founded upon the strength, which is generally inferred from the age, of the individual. The degree of reaction is, for the most part, dependent upon the coldness of the water and the length of time the person remains in the bath. Very cold water, in which the person remains but a short time, will, in general, produce a greater degree of re-action than a more moderate temperature in which he remains longer. But here everything depends upon the general power of the individual, the state of the system, especially of the skin at the moment of immersion, and the nature of the bath, according as it is fresh or salt water, and also the season of the year. As the immersion of infauts and young children in tubs of water must be considered as bathing, we deem it necessary here to explain the principles upon which the temperature of the bath for them should be regulated, especially during winter. The experiments of Dr. Edwards (see Edwards On the Influence of Physical Agents on Life, London, 1832) have proved that the power of producing heat in warm-blooded animals is at its minimum at birth, and increases successively to adult age. It is clear, therefore, that water of a higher temperature than what feels cool to the hand of the nurse should be used, particularly in winter, when the power of regaining a proper degree of heat s necessarily less. The attempt to harden children by exposure to too great a degree of cold is of the most injurious nature; it either produces acute disease of the lungs, which are then very sensible to external impressions, or disease of the digestive organs, leading to disease of the mesenteric glands, serofula, water in the brain, or, if they survive a few years, to early consumption. Delicate and feeble persons of all ages require a higher temperature of the bath, and a shorter stay in it than others. If the re-action does not speedily take place, means must be employed to ensure its so doing, or the use of the cold bath must be abandoned. A tepid or temperate bath may be used in the early treatment of feeble persons, and the cold bath gradually substituted for it, or a glass of wine, or, what is far preferable, strong coffee or chocolate may be taken before entering the bath. Where the arrangements are such as to admit of it, a brief stay in a warm bath before going into the cold has a good effect. Nor, in general, is danger to be apprehended from such a proceeding. Though in most cases moderate exercise is advantageous before bathing, unless the person has an opportunity of springing out of bed into the bath, still he should never think of undressing and; going into the water when fatigued, or when the skin is covered with perspiration. It is a good rule to wet the head before taking the plunge. For a person in good health, early in the morning is the best time to bathe; for one more delicate, from two to three hours after breakfast is preferable; but no one should bathe immediately after a full meal, particularly if there be a tendency of blood to the head, and a disposition to apoplexy. Exercise while in the bath, such as friction of the limbs and chest, or swimming, is advisable, but not even this can prevent evil consequences if the bather remain too long in the water. To say nothing of the risk of cramps and convul sive action of the respiratory muscles, from the blood being pent up in the large internal vessels, which may occur while the person is in the water, the foundation may be laid for future internal disease if the blood do not soon revisit the surface, either from the natural powers of re-action, or from friction with coarse dry cloths. Friction should follow the use of the bath in most instances, except where the bath has been in the sea, in which case the salt particles, if allowed to remain in contact with the skin, stimulate it more. The cases of disease for which cold bathing is a valuable remedy are, morbidly increased irritability and sensibility, accompanied with general debility. If the sensibility be extremely high, it is best to begin with the tepid or cool bath, and pass gradually to the cold. Where there is a tendency to colds and rheumatism, the cold bath is an excellent preventive; for this purpose it should be used continually throughout the year, and the chest should be sponged with cold water, or vinegar and water may be substituted in bath. Before beginning this practice, careful investigation of the state of the mucous membranes of the chest and intestinal canal should be made, as it will certainly prove hurtful where chronic inflammation of these organs exists. If tubercles are suspected to exist in the lungs, cold bathing should be dispensed with. Though cold bathing is very useful in a tendency to scrofulous diseases, it is very hurtful when these are really developed, though tepid and warm bathing are allowable. Where the increased irritability shows itself in the mental functions or in the muscular system, as in hypochondriasis or hysteria, cold bathing is very useful; and especially in the hypochondriasis of literary persons, accompanied with a disposition to indigestion, and a dry harsh skin. In actual indigestion, especially if complicated with sub-acute inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach or intestines, cold bathing is very injurious. In cases of torpor and loss of power, cold bathing is of much service; in a relaxed state of the skin, subject to debilitating perspirations, it is often the most effectual remedy; in weakness of the limbs, or of any member, and after sprains or paralysis, the local cold bath is very useful. The astringent as well as tonic effect of the cold bath is employed to prevent the prolapsus or descent of different parts: hence, in a tendency to hernia (or even when it has occurred, ice laid upon the tumor, and frequently renewed, has restored the bowel to its place, or at least warded off the inflammation till other means could be tried); in loss of power of the sphincter muscles, or of the contractile power of the bladder, pumping cold water on the back is very useful; but it should be used only for a minute at a time. In chronic hæmorrhages, cold applied locally or generally has a good effect. The cold bath, like every other powerful agent, when improperly used, is capable of producing much mischief; in some states of the system it must be carefully avoided. In infancy and very advanced age it is less admissible than at other times, and even quite improper if the debility be great. It is inadmissible during, or immediately before, certain conditions of the female system; also when there is congestion of blood in the veins or internal organs: hence it is not suited to chlorosis. In any organic affection of the heart, or aneurism, it is altogether improper. Of the cold shower-bath and douche we shall only observe here, that their effects are more speedy, and extend more to the internal organs: consequently they are only to be used for a very short time, whenever recourse is had to them. A glow of the surface is sooner felt after the shower than the common bath; and as soon as this is perceived the person should withdraw himself from the stream. If the douche falls upon the head, it produces almost instantaneous and most powerful effects. If its use be prolonged, it quickly lowers, then destroys, the sensibility, induces faintings, and places the patient in the most imminent danger. Medical superintendence is therefore required through every stage of its employment. When the body is surrounded by media of a temperature in some cases lower, and in some higher than its own, it receives caloric, instead of parting with it. The difference of density and humidity is the cause of its receiving it from some media which are of a lower temperature than its own, |