Bath, BATHING. As usually understood, bathing is the application of water in some form to the body, as in ordinary cold baths, hot baths, or sea-bathing. But many other substances, liquid, solid, or gaseous, may be substituted for water—e.g. mud, seaweed, air; and the baths take different names according to the nature of the substance, its condition, its method of application, or the part of the body to which it is applied—e.g. salt-water bath, hot salt-water bath, salt-water spray-bath, salt-water arm-bath. It may be presumed that at first bathing in cold or in hot water was simply a cleansing or cooling act; then it would develop into a therapeutic process, as a remover of stiffness, pains, and fatigue, and as a preventive or cure for the skin diseases so prevalent in the East; and so it would ultimately become with some peoples a religious and solemn rite. The great step of substituting hot air for hot water in the first stage of the bath took place probably in Phœnicia, that cradle of so many arts, as cinders and other signs of the existence of such baths have been found in the ruins of Baalbek ('the house of Baal'). Thence to Greece was an easy transition, and we know there were many both public and private baths there, the former connected with the gymnasium; while there is also evidence that there were separate institutions for women. Homer tells us that Athena instructed Hercules how to use certain baths, so as to recover his strength after severe exertions, and also that Andromache prepared a hot bath for her husband Hector on his return from battle. The Romans, when they subjugated the Greeks, acquired the bath along with other fruits of their conquest, and carried it to such a pitch of splendour and luxury as it has never since equalled. There were no fewer than 850 baths in Rome at one time, and some of these accommodated thousands of bathers. It will give some idea of their extent and magnificence to quote from Fergusson's Handbook of Architecture the following: 'St George's Hall at Liverpool is the most exact copy in modern times of a part of Caracalla's baths.' The bath became such an institution with the Romans, that apparently they could not live without them, and wherever we find Roman remains, we find traces of a bath as well. Thus their use spread throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, and there is very little doubt that the first Turkish baths were really built by the Romans, and were retained in use through the subsequent centuries on account of their suitability to the climate and to the manners of the people; while in the more northern climes they ceased to be of public importance, until their reintroduction in modern times under the name of Turkish baths. It is unnecessary to enter into a minute description of the Roman bath, as it so closely resembled its modern offspring the Turkish, which will presently be described. The chief points of difference are that the lubricating of the body with oil in the apodyterium, and the practising of various exercises and games in the hall called the sphaeristerium, have been omitted in the modern baths.
Hot-air Bath.—(1) In the form generally known as the Turkish bath, there are usually two rooms filled with air heated by stoves placed either inside or outside the rooms. One of these, the tepidarium, has a temperature of about 120° F., while the other, the calidarium, or sudatorium, runs up as high as 220° F. or even higher. In these the bather, with only a cotton loin-cloth and slippers to protect his feet, reclines on marble benches covered with felt, or canvas-covered chairs, until the perspiration runs from every pore. He then passes into the lavacrum, where on a marble slab he undergoes the process of shampooing, the bathman kneading, rubbing, and thumping every part of his body, until all the loosened epidermis or outer skin, which has been softened by the hot air and perspiration, is removed. He is then soaped over and sprayed or doused with warm water, which is gradually cooled down till it runs perfectly cold, after which he plunges through a cold bath and enters the frigidarium, where he lies comfortably on a couch with a soft dry sheet round him, and reposes for half an hour or longer, sipping a cup of coffee, before dressing to emerge into the outer world again. During this period of repose the bather enjoys a singularly delicious sensation of perfect well-being.
(2) In another form of this bath, which can be taken at home, the hot air is produced by a lamp placed under a wooden cushioned chair, on which the bather sits closely enveloped in blankets fastened tightly round his neck. When the perspiration has broken out freely, the blankets are unfastened, and the body bathed with tepid water, after which the bather lies on his bed or a couch, lightly covered, until the skin feels cool and comfortable. In this, as in most of the other baths to be described, there are innumerable small modifications which need not be discussed here.
Vapour-bath.—(1) That commonly known as the Russian bath consists of a room filled with steam, where the bather sits on benches arranged as in an amphitheatre, so as to give different temperatures according to the height above the floor, until he perspires freely; after which, switching with birch-twigs takes the place of shampooing, and then free application of cold water, carried to the length even of rolling in the snow, completes the process.
(2) A simpler form, where, as in the second form of the hot-air bath, the bather's head is kept outside the bath, sitting as he does either in a wooden box with a hole for his neck, or on a chair as in the hot-air bath, but with a basin of boiling water instead of a lamp beneath it. In this basin there are placed one or two red-hot bricks, or a little quicklime is added to produce abundant vapour. A rude variety of vapour-bath, where the bather is placed in a hole or cabin, is practised amongst the Irish, the Finns, and some other nations.
Medicated, Hot-air, Vapour, and Water Baths.—In these baths some foreign material is added, as bran, sulphur, carbonate of soda or potash, mercury, nitro-muriatic acid, mustard, extracts of pine-leaves, eucalyptus, lavender, conium, seaweed (known as ozone-baths), or mud (either spring or sea).
Baths of the natural mineral water are also given at nearly all the spas at home and abroad; but the subject, with the classification of such baths, will be best discussed at MINERAL WATERS, of which, therapeutically, the most valuable are those containing sodium, magnesia, iron, carbonic acid, sulphur, and hydrosulphuric acid. Natural hot-air baths are given by exposure to strong sunshine, which, if only the head is protected, can be well borne by the naked body. In the salt-districts, as at Droitwich, strong brine-baths are administered. In these curious baths the body has to be held down, as its specific gravity is not sufficiently great to allow it to submerge itself. Wrapping the body in the hide of a newly killed animal is known as an animal-bath. Compressed-air Baths are discussed in a separate article. See also HYDROPATHICS.
Electric Bath.—In this bath, while one pole of the battery is connected with the bath, and thence the electricity passes through the water, the other pole is connected with an insulated bar, to be grasped by the patient while lying in the bath, or with a sponge which can be applied locally as desired. A switch arrangement is usually connected with the bath, by which the direction of the current can be reversed, or by which it can be sent to a coil, so that faradaic electricity can be applied instead of the galvanic variety. Another switch can also be had which will allow of any desired number of cells being brought into the circuit.
Effects of Hot and Cold Baths.—Hydrotherapeutics, or the science of treating disease by bathing, must now have our attention, in order that we may briefly explain the use of these various baths. No valuable curative agency has suffered so much discredit from over-laudation as has water. Its importance as a therapeutic agent is naturally immense, seeing the great importance of the skin, which is not only one of the chief excreting glands of the body, but regulates the heat-producing function of the system (see SKIN, TEMPERATURE OF THE BODY). It is truly marvellous that, be the external temperature below zero or over 100° F., the temperature of the body remains invariably at about 97° F.; and this result is effected by the skin. Hence the importance of maintaining the latter in perfect health, and this is best attained by bathing. As mentioned previously, all the chief baths are founded on the principle of applying heat and some mechanical friction, and then cold. It is thus seen that water is practically merely the vehicle for the application to the body of the great forms of energy, heat, cold, mechanical friction, and electricity, and of various medicinal substances in solution, so that really it is a fiction to call such treatment distinctively the water-cure. The effects of the treatment are that the heat and friction open and stimulate the pores of the skin, dilate the small blood-vessels, and excite to their highest action the terminal nerve-fibres, while the effete scales of the epidermis are loosened and removed; and after all this has been effected, cold is applied to check the action and restore these various parts to their normal quiescent condition. Not only are unhealthy skins thus restored to their normal condition, but the effect is transmitted to the body as a whole, which is stimulated to healthy action; and thus we are able to understand how it can be claimed for baths that they produce at first sight apparently opposite effects of reducing corpulence and increasing body weight, their tendency being to bring the body to the normal line, from whichever side it may have previously deviated.
But besides this general tonic effect, bathing can also produce numerous local beneficial results. In inflammations or congestions of various organs, hot water applied either as a bath or continuous douche, or in the form of fomentations, gives great relief; while in many of the same class of cases, cold water in the form of a pack, or pounded ice in a waterproof bag, is equally effectual. The patient's own feeling, and the general rule that heat should be preferred in weak constitutions, must be our guides as to which form to employ. In piles, a hot ascending douche, and in various women's diseases, other kinds of douche, are invaluable. Very hot water is a most successful hæmostatic agent. Wounds are often best treated by water applications, and in cases of great laceration, submerging the part in an antiseptic bath is a cleanly and soothing plan for healing. Diseases of the ear, nose, mouth, and throat are often best treated by sprays of either simple or medicated water. Many lesions of the spinal cord are very much relieved by douches, the spinal ice-bag, or the rubbing wet-pack. Cases of insanity, and specially cases of delirium tremens, derive great benefit from the judicious use of baths.
The treatment of fevers by cold baths, especially those cases in which the fever runs very high, is a comparatively new method, and is much esteemed, particularly in Germany. It has cer- tainly worked wonders in many instances. The cold may be applied by affusion, wet packs, ice-bags, or baths. The last method is probably the safest and most comfortable for the patient. He is placed in a bath of about 97° F., and the water is gradually cooled down to 60° F. or even lower, after which his body is wiped dry and he is replaced in bed, the process being repeated when the temperature rises again. Baths help the elimination of various poisons, such as lead and mercury. The electric bath is useful both as a stimulant to paralysed nerves and muscles, and as a soother of pain in acute cases. In nearly all forms of skin disease, baths, simple or medicated, are highly desirable. A sulphur-bath is a pleasant and more cleanly method of curing itch than the treatment by sulphur-ointment. In this, as in the other cases, it would be out of place here to enter into a discussion as to the precise rules for guidance, which must be looked for by those who desire them in the various and numerous text-books or treatises on these subjects.
The terms water-bath, sand-bath, and electro-plating bath are used in chemistry and the various arts. The first two are contrivances by which vessels can be heated without immediate contact with the fire, an obvious advantage in many cases; while an electro-plating bath is a solution of silver or other metals which will deposit the metal on suitable substances immersed in it.
Hints to Bathers—Sea-bathing.—It may be laid down that a daily bath of some form or other is useful and beneficial to every one; but all persons whose health is not up to the normal standard ought to obtain competent advice as to the variety of bath which will probably suit them best, and as to how and when they ought to take it. Sea-bathing is probably the most bracing and the best form for the robust; but in our climate, except for a very short time of the year, when the weather is exceptionally fine, it is unsafe for the non-robust, and absolutely dangerous for the delicate. For the latter, bathing under cover is much safer, and this generally implies bathing in fresh water. The popular idea that bathing frequently repeated in fresh water is weakening is a complete fallacy, though salt water is probably superior in some respects, except for persons with very irritable skins. Whatever the form of bath chosen may be, it should never be taken immediately after a full meal, but should be indulged in either after a very light refreshment in the morning, or after two or three hours have elapsed since the last meal; the time varying with the character and quantity of the food which has been eaten.
The duration of the bath must vary with the health and feelings of the patient and with the temperature of the water and air at the time. If a warm glow cannot be obtained almost immediately after emerging from a cold fresh or salt water bath, then the bather may be quite sure it has been indulged in too long; while if such a glow cannot be raised at all, or if a certain duskness of skin be produced, he may be certain cold bathing alone does not suit his constitution. Many delicate persons can only enjoy a cold bath with safety after a previous application of hot air, water, or vapour—hence one of the advantages of the more elaborate baths, such as Turkish and vapour baths. In regard to Swimming (q.v.) it may be pointed out that in this art we have a combination of bathing with a capital form of exercise, which enhances for the young and robust the advantages of the simple bath.
Public Baths.—The usefulness of such institutions is self-evident. In 1846 an Act was passed by parliament to enable borough councils and parish vestries to establish baths and wash-houses, to be supported by the rates; and the Act of 1878, amended 1880, authorises the establishment of cheap swimming-baths. In such baths it is found almost essential that there should be separate baths for different classes of bathers. Equally essential are good ventilation, proper heating of the water, and means for restoring suspended animation and for rescuing those in danger of drowning. A very simple, handy, and effective apparatus for this last purpose is a long light bamboo rod. Club baths offer facilities only to such as are members of the club.