Part 1

THE USES OF WATER —IN— =Health and Disease.= A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE BATH, ITS HISTORY AND USES.

BY J. H. KELLOGG, M. D.

PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OF THE HEALTH REFORMER, BATTLE CREEK, MICH.

1876.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, BY J. H. KELLOGG, M. D., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE.

Since the announcement of the alleged discovery of Priessnitz, about fifty years ago, there has been no scarcity of books upon “Hydropathy,” “Water Cure,” and kindred topics. With rare exceptions, these works have been, in reality, little better than advertising mediums for some individual or institution. As might be expected in works prepared for such purposes, they have contained numerous and flagrant exaggerations of the effects of water as a remedial agent, often representing it as a specific for certain maladies and a sure preventive of others. These extravagant accounts, together with various absurd teachings relating to methods of application, have rendered just the popular verdict indicated by the fact that the dingy shelves of nearly every second-hand book store in New York and Philadelphia, as well as other large cities, are laden with these musty old volumes which rest beneath the accumulated dust of years.

The objects of this work may be briefly summarized as follows:—

1. To present a careful and candid account of the nature of water and its physiological effects.

2. To explain the effects of water when used as a remedy for disease, and to demonstrate its value as a remedial agent.

3. To show that the employment of water in the treatment of disease has been practiced by the most eminent physicians of all ages, and is not a modern discovery.

4. To expose those absurd and erroneous practices which have brought the use of water as a remedy into disrepute, and have thus deterred scientific physicians from adopting it.

5. To provide a convenient manual of the various methods of applying water.

The reader will observe that water is not presented as a panacea. Its use is not advocated as a specialty. It is only recommended as one of the many potent agencies which may be successfully employed in the treatment of the numerous ills to which humanity is subject—a remedy which has been abused by quacks and tyros and disgraced by fanatics, but which still urges a just claim to the attention and consideration of all candid persons.

J. H. K.

BATTLE CREEK, MICH., SEPT., 1876.

[Illustration: [Fleuron]]

CONTENTS.

PAGE. =PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER=, 9 Chemical Composition, 9 Physical Properties, 10 Pure Water, 11 Hard Water, 12 Mineral Water, 12 Magnetic Water, 13 =HYGIENIC RELATIONS OF WATER=, 15 Structure of the Skin, 15 The True Skin, 15 The Cuticle, or Epidermis, 16 The Sweat Glands, 17 The Mucous Membranes, 17 Functions of the Skin, 18 Functions of the Mucous Membranes, 20 The Hygienic Value of Water, 21 Thirst, 22 Regulation of Temperature by Evaporation, 24 Depuration, 25 Cleanliness, 25 How to Make the Skin Healthy, 27 Bathing Protects against Colds, 28 Aristocratic Vermin, 29 Prevention of Disease, 31 Modern Neglect of the Bath, 32 Bathing a Natural Instinct, 33 =PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF WATER=, 35 Water as a Diluent, 35 Effects of Solvent Properties of Water, 36 Vital Changes Increased by Water, 36 Effects Resulting from the Modification of Temperature, 38 The Cold Bath, 38 Effect of Cold upon the Pulse, 40 Effect of Cold upon Bodily Temperature, 40 Rationale of Effects of the Cold Bath, 41 The Hot Bath, 43 Rationale of Effects of the Hot Bath, 44 The Warm Bath, 46 Sympathetic Effects of Baths, 47 Modes of Administration of the Bath, 48 =HISTORY OF WATER CURE=, 49 The Bath in Egypt, 49 Bathing among the Jews, 50 Persian Baths, 50 The Bath among the Greeks, 50 Roman Baths, 51 Testimony of Arabian Physicians, 53 Modern Bathing Customs, 53 Modern Medical Use of Water, 55 =REMEDIAL PROPERTIES=, 59 Refrigerant Effects of Water, 59 Sedative Effects of Water, 60 Tonic Effects of Water, 60 Anodyne Effects of Water, 60 Antispasmodic Effects of Water, 61 Astringent Effects of Water, 61 Laxative Effects of Water, 61 Emetic Effects of Water, 61 Eliminative Effects of Water, 61 Alterative Effects of Water, 61 Derivative Effects of Water, 62 Testimony of Eminent Physicians, 62–70 =ERRORS IN WATER CURE=, 71 Cold Water Doctors, 71 Heroic Treatment, 72 Crisis, 74 Hydropathic Quacks, 75 Ignorance among Hydropathists, 75 A Popular Error, 76 Absurd Claims, 77 Neglect of Other Remedies, 78 Rational Hydropathy, 78 =APPLICATIONS OF WATER=, 79 Equalization of Circulation, 79 Regulation of Temperature, 80 Removal of Pain, 81 To Excite Activity, 81 Removal of Obstructions, 82 Dilution of the Blood, 82 Influence on the Nervous System, 82 Temperature of Baths, 83 How to Determine the Temperature of a Bath without a Thermometer, 85 Rules for Bathing, 87–94 General Baths, 94 Swimming, 95 Plunge Bath, 95 Sponge Bath, 96 Rubbing Wet-Sheet, 98 Wet-Sheet Pack, 101 Shower Pack, 105 Dry Sheet Pack, 107 Full Bath, 107 Half Bath, 109 Shallow Bath, 109 Standing Shallow, 110 Affusion, 111 Pail Douche, 111 Cataract Douche, 112 Hose Douche, 113 Shower Bath, 113 Spray Bath, 114 Local Baths, 115 Sitz Bath, 116 Leg Bath, 118 Foot Bath, 118 Half Pack, 119 Chest Pack, 120 Leg Pack, 120 Chest Wrapper, 121 Wet Girdle, 122 Ascending Douche, 123 Drop Bath, 123 Arm Bath, 124 Head Bath, 124 Eye Bath, 125 Ear Bath, 127 Nose Bath, 127 Compresses, 128 Fomentations, 131 Refrigerant Applications, 133 Miscellaneous Baths, 136 Vapor Bath, 136 Russian Bath, 138 Hot-Air Bath, 139 Turkish Bath, 140 Electric Bath, 141 Electro-Vapor Bath, 143 Dry Rubbing-Sheet, 143 Dry Hand-Rubbing, 144 Air Bath, 144 Sun Bath, 145 Sea-Bathing, 146 Medicated Baths, 147 Oil Bath, 147 Novel Baths, 149 Mud Bath, 149 Earth Bath, 149 Enema, 149 Water Emetic, 151 Dry Hot Applications, 151 Water-Drinking, 153 How to Make a Filter, 154

[Illustration: USES OF WATER]

IN HEALTH AND DISEASE.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES.

Water is one of the most abundant elements in nature. As rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans, it covers three-fourths of the earth’s surface. It even enters largely into the formation of the solid rocks. The clearest and purest air contains it in large quantities as an invisible gas; while in clouds, fogs, and mists, it appears in the form of minute drops.

Water also forms a very considerable part of all vegetable productions, and constitutes about _three-fourths_ of the human body, as well as other animal tissues. The blood and the brain are each about four-fifths water, while the fluid secretions and excretions contain more than nine-tenths of their weight of this limpid fluid.

=Chemical Composition.=—The chemist designates water as hydrogen oxide, and represents it by the chemical formula, H_{2}O, which signifies that it is composed of the two gases, hydrogen and oxygen, in the proportion of two volumes of the former to one of the latter. Both of these gases are colorless, transparent, tasteless, and odorless. Hydrogen is the lightest gas known; oxygen is the great supporter of combustion and animal life and heat. Water is produced by the burning, or oxidation, of hydrogen, a process attended with very little light, but most intense heat. The two gases are explosive when mixed.

=Physical Properties.=—Water exists in three states; viz., as a solid, in the form of ice; as a liquid, its most common form; and as a vapor, in the form of steam. When in the last condition, the gaseous, it is invisible. That to which the term steam is very commonly applied, is not steam, but water in a state of fine division, or mist.

Below 32° F., pure water exists in the form of ice. Between 32° and 212°, it is a liquid. At 212°, it is converted into vapor. Water also slowly evaporates at all temperatures below 212°, being absorbed and held in solution by the air.

Water possesses the greatest specific heat of any substance. By specific heat is meant the actual amount of heat required to elevate its temperature a given number of degrees. For example, it requires ten times as much heat to raise a pound of water 1° in temperature as to elevate a pound of copper 1° in temperature. To raise the temperature of a pound of lead 1°, requires only one-thirtieth as much heat as to produce the same effect upon a pound of water. Water absorbs more heat by elevation of temperature than any other substance. In passing from the solid to the liquid state, it absorbs a vast amount of heat without any elevation of temperature. The same thing occurs in the conversion of water into steam or vapor by evaporation. In the evaporation of one pound of water, as much heat is absorbed, or rendered latent, as would suffice to raise nearly a thousand pounds of water one degree in temperature. This heat is abstracted from surrounding objects; and, hence, evaporation is one of the most powerful means of producing cold. The effect is the same, no matter what the temperature at which evaporation occurs.

Water is not the best conductor of heat, but it conducts much more readily than air, and readily communicates its heat to bodies with which it comes in contact, also abstracting heat when of a lower temperature, when changing from a solid to a liquid state, or from the liquid to the gaseous condition.

One of the most useful properties of water is its power to dissolve numerous substances, its solvent properties being nearly universal. To this property it owes its value as a cleansing agent.

=Pure Water.=—Absolutely pure water is not found in nature. Rain water is the nearest approach to it; but even this gathers impurities of various sorts as it falls through the air, and often becomes very unwholesome by the absorption of foul gases and the collection of dust in this way. For any use connected with the human body, the purest water is always preferable to any other. Filtered rain water and distilled water are the purest forms of water attainable.

=Hard Water.=—Water is said to be hard when it will not produce a good lather with soap, but forms curds instead. Hardness is due to the presence of earthy salts in the water; salts of lime—chalk and gypsum—are the most common. Ten grains per gallon of any of these salts is sufficient to render water hard and unfit for use, though some waters furnished to cities for general use contain from 70 to 160 grains per gallon of solid matter. Hard water is unfit for cleansing purposes because its mineral ingredients form insoluble compounds with fatty substances. When mixed with soap, the lime or other mineral takes the place of the soda or potash in the soap, and forms an insoluble curd, instead of a lather.

=Mineral Water.=—Water containing in solution salts of iron, magnesia, or other metallic elements, as well as sulphur, arsenic, iodine, or any compound of these or other elements which are capable of imparting a nauseous or saline taste, an unpleasant odor, or medicinal properties, has been much employed for the cure of all sorts of chronic ailments. Such waters are totally unfit for general use for drinking or cooking purposes, and certainly possess no particular advantages as cleansing agents. Whether they are useful as medicines is a medical question which we do not purpose to consider here; but one would naturally suppose that water which is unfit to cleanse the outside of the body could not be of very great utility as an internal application.

=Magnetic Water.=—Within the last few years, the scientific world has been startled with the alleged discovery of “magnetic wells” and “magnetic springs” in various parts of the country. The claim has been made and stoutly defended by interested parties that the water furnished from these sources is magnetic in character, and possesses wonderful healing virtues on that account. The truth in the matter, when viewed in the light of science, seems to be that the water of these much-lauded wells is no more magnetic than any other water; the magnetic phenomena are all explicable by well-known laws of physics, without attaching to the water any magnetic properties. A close examination shows that the iron pipe through which the water passes is the only magnetic object. The supposition that the pipe derives its magnetism from the water is both unnecessary and illogical. In the first place, any iron pipe or rod placed vertical in the ground—or, better, placed parallel to the earth’s axis—will spontaneously become magnetic. The production of magnetism is greatly favored by the friction of flowing water, and by jarring, as beating with a hammer. In the second place, the water possesses no magnetism to impart. In view of these facts, the conclusion is inevitable that so-called magnetic water has no existence except in the minds of certain persons whose credulity greatly exceeds their scientific knowledge.

“Magnetic” wells and springs are ingenious humbugs. Thousands of people are duped by them. Hundreds are benefited by getting well washed, and by enjoying recreation and pleasant social surroundings. The curative effects are attributed to the imaginary magnetism, while other more tangible agents are the real means of cure.

HYGIENIC RELATIONS OF WATER.

In order to be able to appreciate the value of water as a means of preserving health, it is necessary to understand something of the structure and functions of those portions of the body to which it is directly applied; viz., the skin, externally, and the mucous membrane, in the interior of the body.

STRUCTURE OF THE SKIN.

The skin is composed of two principal layers; a thin outer layer, called the epidermis, cuticle, or scarf skin, and a deeper structure, the true skin, or dermis. We will describe the latter first.

=The True Skin.=—This structure covers the entire surface of the body. It varies in thickness according to its location, being thickest upon the soles of the feet, the palms of the hands, the back, and the outer portions of the thighs. Its basis is a dense network of elastic fibers, among which are intricately mingled minute blood-vessels, nerve fibers, and lymphatic or absorbent vessels. These are most numerous near the upper surface, and are arranged in loops upon little elevations called papillæ. In the palms of the hands and upon the soles of the feet these papillæ are disposed in rows with so much regularity as to give to those parts a minutely furrowed appearance.

The skin also contains little sacs, or follicles, in which the hairs originate. In its deeper portions are found two kinds of glands; sebaceous glands for the secretion of sebaceous or fatty matter to lubricate the skin, and the perspiratory or sweat glands, the latter of which will receive a more definite description shortly.

=The Cuticle, or Epidermis.=—At the upper portion of the true skin, new cells are being constantly formed, which become old in a short time and are pressed outward by the formation beneath them of other new cells. The old cells become shriveled and flattened as they grow older, and by a continuation of the process described, numerous layers of cells are formed upon the surface of the true skin, the lowest of which is composed of newly formed cells, while the uppermost one is made up of dessicated cells having more the appearance of horny scales than of cells. These several layers constitute the epidermis, or outer skin. It is totally devoid of sensibility, and has no blood-vessels. It is, in fact, dead, and is useful only as a protection to living parts beneath.

Scattered among the cells of the epidermis are colored cells, which give to the skin its proper color. In the Caucasian race, these cells are few; in the negro, they are abundant; while in the albino, they are wholly absent.

=The Sweat Glands.=—A close examination of the little ridges found upon the palms of the hands, by the aid of a small magnifying glass, will reveal what appear to be fine transverse lines crossing the ridges at short intervals. A still closer inspection shows that the apparent lines are really minute openings, guarded by delicate valves. These are the mouths of the perspiratory ducts, which convey to the surface the product of the sweat glands. The gland itself is merely a coiled tube, already described as situated deep down in the true skin, and is surrounded with a network of blood-vessels. The duct is simply a continuation of the same tube upward through the cuticle to the surface. It passes out upon the surface of the skin obliquely, thus leaving a small portion of the cuticle overlapping its orifice, forming a sort of valve.

The number of these delicate glands is enormous. It has been carefully estimated to be about 2,300,000 in a single individual. The length of each is about one-fifteenth of an inch, making their aggregate length about two and one-half miles.

=The Mucous Membranes.=—All cavities in the body which communicate with the surface by openings are lined with a membrane which is called mucous, from the character of its secretion. The mucous membranes are continuous with the skin at the natural openings of the body, and very closely resemble it in structure, being formed of several layers, like the skin, and having a superficial portion made up of layers formed by the deeper tissues. Mucous membrane forms the lining of the air-passages and lungs, of the whole alimentary canal, and of the urinal and genital organs. Its extent in the lungs alone has been estimated by scientists at 1400 square feet, or more than seventeen times the whole extent of the skin.

=Functions of the Skin.=—The skin performs a number of very important offices for the body. Perhaps the most important is that of excretion. Each of its millions of sweat glands is actively and constantly engaged in separating from the blood impurities which would destroy life if retained. These foul products are poured out through a corresponding number of minute sewers, and deposited upon the surface of the body to the amount of several ounces each day, or several pounds, if the whole perspiration be included in the estimate, as is commonly done.

The skin is also an organ of respiration; it absorbs oxygen, and exhales carbonic acid gas, with other poisonous gases. The amount of respiratory labor performed by the skin is about one-sixtieth of that done by the lungs. In some of the lower animals, the whole work of respiration is performed by the skin. In the common frog, the respiratory action of the skin and of the lungs is about equal.

Another important office of the cutaneous tissue is absorption. The absorption of oxygen has been already referred to; but it absorbs liquids as well as gases, and to a much greater extent. By immersion in a warm bath for some time, the weight of the body may be very considerably increased. Dr. Watson, an English physician of note, reports the case of a boy whose weight increased nine pounds in twenty-four hours solely by cutaneous absorption of moisture from the air. This extraordinary action was occasioned by disease. Seamen, when deprived of fresh water, quench their thirst by wetting their clothing with sea-water, the aqueous portion of which is absorbed by the skin. The lymphatic vessels are believed to be the principal agents in absorption.

Another remarkable function of the skin is the regulation of temperature. By its density and non-conducting property it prevents the escape of necessary heat to a considerable degree. But when the amount of heat generated in the body becomes excessive, either from abnormal vital activities, or by exposure to external heat, the skin relieves the suffering tissues by favoring the escape of heat. This desirable end is attained through the evaporation of the moisture poured out upon the surface by the perspiratory glands.

It has been estimated that the evaporation of water from the cutaneous surface and the mucous membrane of the lungs occasions the loss each minute of sufficient heat to raise a pint of water 100° F. in temperature. This is certainly a powerful cooling process.

Lastly, we mention as a further function of the skin, and one which is not the least in importance, its utility as a sensitive surface. It is a well-established physiological fact that the mind is only a reflection of impressions received from without, or at least that its character is largely determined by the nature of the impressions made upon its organs of sensibility. The skin is the organ of touch, and the various modifications of tactile sensibility. It is the most extensive organ of sensibility in the body, and is very closely connected with all the great nerve centers, so that it is perhaps the most efficient means through which to affect the general nervous system. Its intimate sympathy with internal organs is shown in a great number of diseases in which this organ evidently suffers on account of disability of some other one.

=Functions of the Mucous Membranes.=—The functions of the mucous membranes are strictly analogous to those of the skin. Like the latter organ, a mucous membrane excretes and absorbs. It eliminates foul matters, and absorbs useful substances in a fluid state.

The importance of the functions of the skin is shown by the fact that a person quickly dies when its action is interrupted. A coat of varnish or caoutchouc, applied over the whole skin, will kill a man almost as quickly as a fatal dose of strychnia. In experiments upon animals, horses, dogs, and other animals have been killed by obstructing the action of the skin by some similar means. A little boy was once killed by covering him with gold leaf to make him represent an angel at a great celebration.

The offensive odor of the perspiration, and the characteristic smell of the sweat-soiled underclothing of a tobacco user, are facts which well attest the value of the cutaneous functions in removing impurities from the body.

We are now prepared to consider, understandingly,—

=The Hygienic Value of Water.=—If we except pure air, it may safely be said that no other element in nature sustains so important relations to the living system as does pure water. An individual will live much longer on water alone, than if deprived of drink. Water constitutes a large proportion of all our food, varying, in grains and vegetables, from fifteen to more than ninety per cent. If the water thus contained in solid food were wholly removed, an individual would doubtless be enabled to subsist longer on water only than on solid food so treated. Though water undergoes no change in the body, and hence takes no part in the development of force, it is absolutely essential to the performance of the vital functions, being necessary to enable the various organs to perform their offices in the maintenance of the vital activities.

The circulatory system is especially dependent upon this element. Water is the menstruum which floats the blood corpuscles and the varied nutritive and excrementitious elements which form the blood. By its aid, the nutrient particles destined to enter into the structure of the body are conveyed to the most minute and remote fiber of the intricate human mechanism where repair or growth is demanded. No other element in nature is so well suited to this exact purpose as water. It is so limpid and mobile that it can circulate through the most delicate capillaries without friction, and can even find its way, by osmosis, into parts inaccessible by openings.