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                   THE


   WATER-CURE  MANUAL:

          A POPULAR WORK,

                  EMBRACING

  DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VARIOUS MODES OF BATHING,
THE HYGIENIC AND CURATIVE EFFECTS OF AIR, EXERCISE,
  CLOTHING, OCCUPATION, DIET, WATER-DRINKING, &C.

                 TOGETHER WITH

      DESCRIPTIONS OF  DISEASES,


AND THE HYDROPATHIC MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN.

       ILLUSTRATED WITH CASES OP TREATMENT AND CURB

     CONTAINING, ALSO, A FINE ENGRAVING OF FEIESSNITZ.
" He that judgeth a matter before hearing it, is not wise."
    BY JOEL SHEW, M. D.,

PRACTITIONER OF WATER-CURE.
         NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY CADY AND BUBGESS,
      (T.ATK PAIN'K and burgess.)
         UJ JOHN STREET.
             1S47. 
  vJ6r

.it ¥7
     Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1847,
             By JOEL  SHEW,  M.D.
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the
              Southern District of New York. 

       2Co x\)t Kntmortal flriesouttj,




  AND TO ALL TRUE FRIENDS OF HYDROPATHY




                EVERYWHERE,




THIS VOLUME  IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.





                              THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE.
  Something upwards of four years ago, it became the
privilege of the author to commence, in a small way, the
introduction of the new system of water in the city of New
York.   A little upwards of three years since, he prepared
a work entitled " Hydropathy, or the Water-Cure,"  and
soon after a cheaper one, designed for more general circu-
lation,  " The Hand-Book of Hydropathy."  These works
have had considerable circulation, and the editions are now
nearly exhausted.   It is under these circumstances, that
the present volume has been prepared.
  Considering the time the author has practised  the new
mode, he has had a very considerable share of experience
therein.  This work, as will be seen, is mainly an original
one, and contains the results of his own  observations  and
experiments.  An apology, however, is due, for the manner
in which it is written.  The author's duties have  been so
very numerous and arduous, it has been impossible for him
to give that care and attention to style and method  of ar-
rangement desirable.  Partly during the storms and calms
at sea, partly during a  short  stay at  Grafenberg, and 
VI
PREFACE.
partly while in attendance upon the sick,  but more dur-
ing hours that should  have been  devoted  to  sleep,  this
little  volume has  been  prepared.   For inaccuracies in
style,  then,  the friends of the system will  excuse  the
author, he cannot  otherwise than  believe.   But for  the
principles of practice  herein contained,  he will be con-
sidered strictly responsible.
   The water treatment, so called,  practised to a greater
or less extent in all ages  and periods of time, but owing
its origin as a  distinct and permanent  system to Vincent
Priessnitz, is the greatest discovery, the greatest improve-
ment,  which ever  yet  came to man.   In connexion with
the many other valuable works  that  have been written
on the subject, may this aid in  the promulgation  of the
great principles of the cause.
   New York, March, 1847. 
WATER-CURE MANUAL. 
 
THE  WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
                       CHAPTER I.

  VINCENT PRIESSNITZ, GRAFENBERG, AND THE WATER-CURE.*

  " Discover what will destroy life, and you are a great man,—what will
prolong it, and you are an impostor.  Discover some invention in ma-
chinery that will make the rich more rich, and the poor more poor, and
they will build you a statue!   Discover some  mystery in art that will
equalize disparities, and they will pull down their houses to stone you."
                                                 Bulwer.

   Friewaldatj  is  a small German town of three thou-
sand   inhabitants,  situated  in  a somewhat narrow valley,
extending between two  portions  of the mountains named
Sudates,  of  Austrian  Silesia, Germany.    Persons  who
have read  of this place as being a " dirty  little  town,"
will  be  agreeably  disappointed  in visiting it, provided
they have  within  them  the spirit  of candor, by which to
judge  of  men  and things.  The brisk streams  of exceed-
ingly pure, limpid water that pass  through  Friewaldau,  run
swiftly, and large water-wheels, like those of a steamboat,
  * The best term, perhaps, for the treatment by water, is the plain
English one, Water-Cure.  Somewhere, it has taken the name of Hy-
dropathy,  This has been a source of sneering on the part of objectors
to the treatment, inasmuch as the term signifies  water-disease, instead
of water-cure.  The Germans call it wasscrcur (wasserkoor.)  Hydrothe-
rapeutics, which means, healing with water, has been used by some. So,
also, the word Hydrialia.
               1* 
10
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
are erected over them, with the paddles extending into the
water, and thus the wheels  are  made to turn.  By this
means, manufacturing purposes of different kinds  are car-
ried on.  There appear  to be no cascades  in  these small
streams, such as we often find in  New England and some
other  parts, but there is gradual and yet rapid descent.  The
houses have a  cleanly aspect; still there is not that air of
neatness seen in many of our  American villages.   Every-
thing  bears the  impress of quiet and simplicity; and, from
the number of crucifixes and  images frequently to be met
with,  we must conclude that these industrious people are
not unmindful of sacred things.  A candid person, of what-
ever belief, could hardly object to the religious observances
here seen, provided no undue importance  is  attached to
them.   One thing is certain ;  the inhabitants of these rude
mountain parts  are  remarkably kind and honest in their
dealings with their fellow-men.  A boot-maker makes you
a pair of boots,  or a tailor a coat;  he works for days extra,
if need be, and without charge, to make  a fit;  but if you
try to  beat him  down in  price, he is displeased, and will
not thank you  for your work.  Going,  at evening, up the
mountain to Grafenberg,  a  stranger,  you meet  a fruit-wo-
man returning  home; you wish to buy of her  some fine,
costly grapes ;  you cannot make change ; so she tells you,
(by her actions, if  you cannot understand her  language,)
that she will trust you to another day.  The next morning
you see  her  among the  fruit-women, up at Priessnitz's;
but she does not intrude upon you with her dun.   You go
towards her, with your hand full of change, and she smiles,
to see  that  you remember the grapes : and,  if you cannot
speak   a  word of German, know nothing  of the currency,
and are with her alone, you may be certain she will take
from  you not one fraction over her regular price.  Such,
as a rule, appear to be the habits of the German peasants,
whether Protestant or Catholic, in  these parts.
  This beautiful valley at Friewaldau, extends in a direc-
tion nearly east and west.  The mountains, each side, rise
to about twelve hundred feet,  and are made up of pleasant
eminences and slopes, varying in  appearance and height, 
VINCENT PR1ESSNITZ.
11
and are mostly arable, to the very tops.   Portions of plough
land and beautiful forest are interspersed.
  Grafenberg* is  a small colony of some twenty houses,
and is situated about half-way up one of these mountains,
having a southerly exposure, as nearly as I can recollect, of
the sun  at mid-day.   From a  point a little  way off, we
have an extended view  upon the plains of Prussia.  The
mountain-tops, the hill-sides, the  valley,  and, in fact, every-
thing the eye can reach, is, by nature, beautiful in  the ex-
treme.  The air is as pure and exhilarating as can be con-
ceived ; springs, in almost every direction, are found gush-
ing forth, and  the water is of  purity and softness rarely
to be  met with.   A more fit place than this  could not be
found in which for Providence to raise  up  an  humble pea-
sant genius, whose lot should be to present to the world the
greatest improvement yet known to man.
  A person comes from the refined cities, London or Paris,
or he  may have made  his  way from New York, or from
some other part of our  country, across the wide Atlantic.
He  has,  we  will  suppose,  some  inveterate  malady,  of
which  all ordinary means have failed to bring relief.  He
has, we  may  imagine, some disease of a limb, that the
best and most experienced in surgery have declared could
never  be removed.  Persons of similar ailment  have fre-
quently  been  cured by Priessnitz; and  now  the  person,
after a long, tedious journey, arrives at the far-famed spot.
He looks upon that most wonderful  man of whom he has
heard so much ;  and strange as.it may  appear, his extreme
simplicity of manners and appearance is equalled only by
his goodness, and his goodness by the simplicity of the sys-
tem he practises.  The emotions of such an invalid can
be imagined only by those who have been similarly circum-
stanced, and have themselves resorted to the place.
   The  learned  may say, as often  has been,  of Vincent
Priessnitz, that  these   most wonderful  cures  are  easy
  * Grafenbero- is situated about 18 English miles from Neisse, 70 from
Breslau, 260 from Berlin, 200 from Dresden, 160 from Prague, 63 from
Olmutz, and 175 from Vienna. 
12
THE WATER-CUKE  MANUAL.
enough,—that it is  not  water-cure, but more the imagina-
tion, the pure air, the exercise, the mental repose, the regu-
larity of habits,  and the temperance observed ; or that it is
not by one circumstance, but by a combination of favorable
agencies, that these cures are performed.  What candid man
does not know that  all this  is neither more  or less than
Priessnitz and all his followers advocate as being true; and
one thing  is certain,—the practice of this man has been at-
tended with a greater degree of success than that of any other
individual who has  ever  lived.   No  honest,  well-informed
physician will deny this,—not one.   Facts are  facts, and
cannot be overthrown.  With this immense power of mind,
combined  with the most artless simplicity and honesty of a
child, to what more envious reputation than that of Priess-
nitz, can the human  heart aspire ?
  It is wonderful to  witness the power of one man's mind
over that  of other  men.  Priessnitz is, according  to the
world's ways, unlearned ; and  yet,  in  different  countries,
learned men have formed institutions like his.  Some of
these are sumptuously arranged, and possess every luxury
and  convenience of civilized life; yet Priessnitz receives
two, if not four times more patients than any of these.  Since
the dawn of Christianity, more  than that of  any other hu-
man being, will the light of Priessnitz pass, as  the sun
through the air,  into the minds of men.
  I shall be accused of undue enthusiasm, I know.   It can-
not be  said,  however, that I am  prepossessed in favor of
Priessnitz,  from  long acquaintance  and favors received.
My stay with him  was  only short.  It is true, I had,  for
years,  practised  his  system, and with  results at which  I
could  not complain; his teachings,  too, had,  through the
providence of God, come to me indirectly, from afar.  From
the treatment Priessnitz has too often received, he could not
be expected to lavish favors upon an educated  physician;
nor does he, in any instance, give written recommendations,
since every man's work,  like his own, recommends, neces-
sarily, itself.  I  honor  Priessnitz greatly.   I respect  his
rare ability and honesty,  I  trust, in accordance with his
worth. 
VINCENT PRIESSNITZ.
n
  What, in future ages, are  to be the results of this great
man's work ?  A patient asks of his physician, " What do
you think of the water-cure ?"  He answers, " Oh, water
is a very good thing,—a good thing in its place, as we  al-
ways have  known ; and diet,  and air,  and exercise, and
cleanliness,  are  all good, certainly, as  none  of us deny.
People do not  need medicine, if they will but give  atten-
tion to these."   But, says the patient, " If these  means are
so useful,  why have  you not told us before 1  We become
sick, and send for you.  You set one poison to catch another ;
and mischief, you  admit, often results.   You cause disease
in one part, with the hope of curing it  in  another.  You
admit that,  on the whole,  more harm than good  is done
in the healing art."
  There  are,  then, two striking facts relating to the pro-
gress of water-cure at this day.   Physicians admit the power
of our means, and contend  for medicine  only as the excep-
tion  to the rule.   Second :  It is  notorious, how little conn-
dence medical men have in the profession at large.   Sweep,
say they,  all medical practice from the world, and  there is
at once a  diminution of disease, suffering, and  premature
death.  Can we have confidence in the work of such a pro-
fession as this ?
  Again : Teetotalism, with all its blessings, is yet, as many
see,  a thing far short of what it  ought to be.  It is true,
many a broken  heart has been healed ;  many a wife made
happy again ;  and many a wanderer brought back  from the
error of his way ; but yet, so long  as temperance goes no
further than alcohol, there is great reason to fear  that the
movement will retrograde.   If men persist in loving stimu-
lation, they  will  be very apt to get back in the  old way.  If
tea,  coffee, tobacco, and medicinal stimulants are continued,
who shall determine how many will be driven  back ?
  Priessnitz comes then before the world with doctrines,
carried out in practice,  that are in advance of all former
times.  He says practically, " It is a law of nature, that in
the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread.  The sluggard,
the gormand, and  the inebriate,  cannot  have health at any
price.  Health, like truth and  every thing good,  must be 
11
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
wrought for.   Perform honest labor daily in  the open air,
be cleanly, be seasonable in your hours, drive away the
ten thousand useless corroding cares of artificial life.  Be
temperate in all your  actions and  habits.   Tea, coffee,
tobacco,  heating spices, and  exciting condiments, all act
upon the same principle of drug substances, and should be
avoided, if you wish to enjoy happiness and health."  Now
all  this, and much  more,  Preissnitz says, and the most re-
markable part of the matter is, he is great enough to induce
men to carry out in practice the doctrines he  insists upon.
It is one thing to assert a truth, and very  different to bring
men to act according to  it.
  The moral effects of the great system of Priessnitz should
not be lost sight of.  It is said, " cleanliness is next to god-
liness."  We  do not see the cleanly, sober, industrious,
temperate and healthy  man, committing evil  deeds.  The
quarrelsome, the licentious,  and  the wicked, we shall find,
all have their improper dietetic and physical habits,  and that
these  have preceded the moral evils such persons practise.
" It is  always,"  says Priessnitz, " the  weak  and enervated
who are the most sensual and debased."  " The  healthy
man has pure tastes, independently of his greater self-com-
mand."
  I express feebly,  I am aware, my  convictions concern-
ing the merits of Vincent  Priessnitz; I appeal  to those
who have  had  the best opportunities of becoming  ac-
quainted with the man,  if I have estimated  his merits too
highly.  If I have in any wise exaggerated, there is little to
fear but that  the truth  will soon become known.   To no
living man probably is there more of the world's  attention
at  this time directed, than to Vincent Priessnitz, of the moun-
tains of Germany.
   A considerable number of individuals from  our  country
have already been under treatment at  Grafenberg.   I have
myself sent patients there.   While  lately in Germany,  I
was most happy in travelling in company with Mr. Stiles,
our very worthy Charge d'Affaires at  Vienna.  He having
been subject, more  or less, for years, to a complication of
chronic ailments, was cured the past summer by Priessnitz. 
VINCENT  PRIESSNITZ.                15
He is a most ardent admirer of the new practice.  My friend
and  patient,  Mr. D.  A. Cushman, of this  city, was with
Priessnitz at the same time  with Mr. Stiles, and was himself
much  benefitted, as he had also been  by a course of treat-
ment just before leaving  home.
  There are many in  our  country who, through excessive
mental care  and labor,  injurious modes of medical treat-
ment,  and neglect of due attention  to dietetic and other
hygienic habits, have  brought upon themselves invetgrate
ailments.   These cases often  resist all ordinary modes of
treatment.  In great  numbers of cases of  this kind, it  is
acknowledged on all hands, that drug  medicines do no good,
but  on the  contrary, as  a general  fact, decided  harm.
Persons of this class, who can contentedly leave home, will
in no way do so well as to resort to Grafenberg.  We have,
it is  true, a number of very good water institutions in this
country,  but none of them possess all the advantages of a
rude mountain location, like Grafenberg ; nor is there proba-
bly any water so pure in any establishment yet formed in this
country, as that used by Priessnitz, besides the long journey
to Grafenberg, the  separation from mental, cares and excite-
ments, are circumstances  highly  favorable.   The voyage
across the Atlantic, if understanding^ prosecuted, has many
advantages.  The sea-sickness, which almost all must expe-
rience, is unpleasant enough, and  always of itself injurious ;
the fasting, patients are compelled to practise in connexion,
generally3 more than compensates  the harm,  and in some
cases works wonders.   This is especially true if pure soft
water, like the Croton, is at the time freely drank.  People
latterly  are beginning to learn the value of this practice.
The mental repose, the agreeable and entertaining society
of those  very excellent masters of our American ships, the
alternations to  manly exercises in climbing the ship's rig-
ging, the promenades, the pure invigorating air, the pleasant
calms and majestic storms often experienced at sea, consti-
tute likewise a change, in many instances attended with the
best results.   No  person,  however,  of very  feeble frame
should undertake  a  journey to  Grafenberg,  or a voyage
across the wide ocean, without first obtaining the advice  of 
10
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 some competent  physician  who has himself been at sea.
 Fresh air, water, exercise and diet, powerful means as they
 are, will not cure every thing as we of the new system are
 sometimes accused of advocating.   It will be well,  more-
 over, in many instances,  for persons to make a beginning in
 water treatment at home, before undertaking a  voyage to
 Europe.
   The expense of going  to  Grafenberg for a cure will ne-
 cessarily detain many from  the  attempt.   It is easy, how-
 ever, by  economy, to go  cheaply.   There  are  now very
 good ships that sail regularly to Hamburg.   A person, going
 by one of these, arrives  at  Grafenberg for less  than one
 hundred dollars.  In Priessnitz's establishment all expenses
 for advice, treatment, servants' fees, &c, amount to about five
 dollars per week.   At Friewaldau, the town in the valley,
 thirty or  forty minutes walk from Grafenberg, patients can
 remain for less,  having at the same time the medical care
 of Priessnitz.  In England the cost is three to four times as
 much as  at Priessnitz's.
   As an  instance  of the  favorable effects of a very  plain
 diet, which is also an example of cheap living,  Priessnitz
 told me of a lady patient of his  at  Friewaldau,  who had
 been in all the refinement and luxury,  so-called, of Euro-
 pean life,  who was at that time (Nov. 1846)  living simply
 upon brown bread and water, with a small quantity of milk.
 Her food cost daily 12 kreutzer,  or  between nine and ten
cents, American money.   She was doing remarkably well.
Lodgings  may here be obtained  at one dollar, or even less,
per week.  A bath attendant will need about fifty cents per
week  (the price  in  Priessnitz's own house), and the  fee
for Priessnitz's attendance is, say one dollar per week, al-
though many increase it two-fold or more.   A patient then
may  be treated at Freiwaldau at a very low price, having
at the same time the advice of Priessnitz.
   One objection to some  establishments in this country  is
the high  price charged.   This however will not last lono-.
There are certainly, among our hills and mountains, and in
our forests, places where establishments may be  formed so
that patients may  resort to them  at a very moderate price, 
VINCENT PRIESSNITZ.
17
 Most articles of food  are  cheap in this  country ; patients
 who are able to walk about, and do most of their treatment
 without aid, as they should to obtain the best effects, may
 be received into a rude mountain establishment for at most
 a half dollar per day, including the advice of the physician ;
 and  indeed, if they furnish their own bedding, blankets, &c,
 there is no reason why a smaller sum  may  not  be taken,
 provided the concern  is got up  in  some mountain district,
 where the soil and water  may be had at a very low  price.
 A great number of persons in this country need water treat-
 ment, who will  be deprived  of  going to an  establishment
 unless some cheap one is formed.  Such there should be in
 this country, and such we shall soon have, with competent prac-
 titioners at the head of them.  The water system is  admi-
 rably calculated  for home practice, as I have always con-
 tended.  We can have towels, wet  sheets, wash-tubs, wa-
 tering-pots, and injection-pipes, every where, and with these
 simple contrivances strong work  can  be done.  But  as
 things exist,  there are many  advantages arising from the
 gathering patients together in an establishment.   At  home
 the  patient is often annoyed  by the  fears,  importunities,
 and  meddlesomeness  of friends.   " Water will  kill you."
—"You  will certainly starve to death."—"These  water
 doctors kill  a great many folks."—"How  bad  you  are
 getting  to  look."—" Oh,  my husband,  I  dreamed last
night that I saw you die, and water killed you ;  why will
you  use  cold water ?"  Such are  the expressions the  pa-
tient  is annoyed with; and  besides all this, he is  often
thwarted in his efforts, and is unable to  carry  out his reso-
lutions, however good, amid the temptations  and luxuries
of home.  In an establishment we  have  the increased  influ-
ence of numbers.   The strong uphold the weak.  There
are always here resolute, industrious, and persevering men
and women, who enter right heartily into the work.   The
example of one man influences the many ; and better than
all, you have the personal practice of the presiding genius
of the establishment to guide you.   He  lives, and eats and
drinks with you, and if he be true to his calling, exhibits in
hisown life, physical and moral, the precepts you are to follow. 
18             THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.

  So important is it that every individual sustain his every
faculty, bodily and mental,  to  the  highest possible pitch,
patients should take to heart the duty of doing every  thing
in their power by which to regain health.   If you place
confidence in your physician, follow his directions implicitly.
Let there be no lack on your part, and then you hold him
responsible for what  he promises.  If you shirk  any part
of his  treatment,  you give him a loop-hole to get  out.
Priessnitz,  like every  practitioner,  has  difficulty on this
score.   Not unfrequently it is necessary  for  him to  make
an example of some one, who becomes delinquent, and will
not follow  out the work.  He  is the  easiest man  in  the
world to get along with; simple and artless as a child.
He does not get ill-tempered,  but if you disobey him by
not carrying out  his  reasonable requisitions,  you  will find
it is no small man with whom you have to do.
  A water establishment ought  by rights to be  away from
all bad influences, as in a forest place.  There  should be
allowed no tippling,  no  candy-shops,  no confectioners, or
the like.   At Freiwaldau, on a convenient side of the town
next to Priessnitz's,  there is a confectionary  establishment
which  appears to be supported principally by the water-
cure patients.   Every patient knows Priessnitz is much
displeased.  He  has been  the  means of building up one
half or more of the best  of the town,  and brings a  great
deal of money there.  In  every sense of the word, it is
wrong for such an establishment to be kept up contrary to
his wishes.   No one, however, is to blame so much as some
of the  patients.   I  met  a  friend at Priessnitz's, (I say  a
friend, for so far  away from home every American seems
a near friend,) who had closed up his business and went to
Grafenberg, so that if possible  to get  a cure.  He made it
a serious matter with him.  He complained rather of being
not the slightest better, although he had been there a num-
ber of weeks.  Now, it may seem strange, I saw this friend
in that confectionary establishment,  feasting upon the good
things, cure or no cure, as the case might be.   Poor human
nature, is indeed  weak !
   It will not be uninteresting to the friends of water, to learn 
VINCENT PRIESSNITZ.
19
that Priessnitz has been well rewarded in a pecuniary way
for the services he has rendered the world.  From being a
very humble farmer in circumstances, he has, through in-
dustry and the strictest honesty, become very rich.  He is
now estimated to be worth nearly a million of dollars.   All
his wealth and  honors, however, make no difference with
him in his appearance or actions.   The  past year, the king
of Austria, as is said, presented him with the highest medal
awarded by the government.   Distinctions without number
have been conferred upon him ; but he is yet the same sim-
ple, plain, unpretending man.  Should you meet him among
the mountain peasants and farmers, you could not distin-
guish him from the rest by his clothing.   It is as plain and
homespun as their's.   You see him, however, as one whom
you  delight  to look upon.  Indeed, you  would know that
you were in the presence of no ordinary man, but yet so
humble and unpretending is his appearance, you know  not
why you are thus impressed.
  Anecdotes  of Priessnitz, and cases of  cure.—It is due to
Priessnitz,  and  the great system  he has so ably brought
forth for the world, that as many facts as possible that have
transpired  during his career, be recorded.  In giving some
details of this kind, I shall make myself indebted to the va-
rious  authorities that have fallen in my way, especially to
the very excellent work of Captain Claridge, of England.
  Priessnitz, as is now generally well understood, derived
his first knowledge of the curative  effects of water, by acci-
dent.   Those only who have been at  Grafenberg, and are
aquainted with the modes in which the  affairs of Govern-
ment  are carried on in the Austrian part of  Germany,  can
have  any adequate idea of the difficulties he had to contend
with.   In this,  our country of experiments, changes and re-
forms, the matter would be very different.  The  sick saw
his first cures upon himself and others, and it was only of
the best part of human nature that they should desire his
aid, although he was not by law allowed to practise the heal-
ing art.  Medical  men growing envious, he was arraigned
before the authorities as an impostor.  There is one amusing
anecdote  about this  matter.   Priessnitz had  the credit
                                                   * 
20
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
of curing a miller of the gout.   The miller's former physi-
cian was wrathful, and prosecuted Priessnitz for practising
without license.  The miller  was summoned  before the
court  to give his testimony, and being inquired  of as  to
who had relieved him, answered,  "Both—the doctor of my
money, and Priessnitz of my gout."   Whatever may have
been true in this case, it is demonstrated now, that a great
many might in  truth affirm of their doctors and Priessnitz,
as did the miller of Freiwaldau.
  Priessnitz was,  however, at length fined, and forbidden to
go on  with his operations.  Confident  in  the  truth and
merits of his system, and backed by those he had  been  so
fortunate as to cure, he appealed against the decision of the
court, and it was set aside.   By this time the governmental
authorities  at  Vienna began to take an interest in his pro-
ceedings, and sent a medical commission of inquiry to his
establishment.  It was a  fortunate thing  that old Baron
Turkheim, the head of the medical department, a man cele-
brated for  his  liberality,  independence, and scientific ac-
quirements, was also at the  head of this commission.  He
staid some  time at Grafenberg, and on his return to Vienna,
being at a medical meeting, he  was asked what he thought
of the "new charlatanism?" when he replied, "Priessnitz is
an honest man,  and  no impostor ; and his mode of treatment
is more successful than ours ;  believe me, gentlemen, you
have much to learn from this countryman."
  The world  persists in having  no  confidence  in simple
means.  Disease is reckoned a living something within, that
can only   be  killed by  substances  harsh and powerful.
Through centuries traditions have been handed down, and
fallacies perpetuated.   Thus simple agencies have not ob-
tained. It is so in every country.   I  have administered
water emetics, and physicians have asked the friends grave-
ly,  if they were sure I put no medicine in the water.  So with
injections, the same question has been asked, in this enlight-
ened city of New-York, and in the middle of the nineteenth
century.   The same lack of knowledge concerning the effect
of  a very  simple  means, was  exhibited  by  the  medical
commission just  referred to.  They analyzed the  Grafen-
\ 
VINCENT PRIESSNITZ.
21
berg water to discover its mystic virtues ! but how were they
disappointed to find it was nothing but pure spring water!
Then the sponges used at first by Priessnitz, it was thought
must contain some secret  remedy.   These were also ana-
lyzed with great care, and, of course, nothing found.
  Great numbers of cases, exhibiting the strikingly power-
ful effects of water as administered by Priessnitz, have been
published.   Some of  them will  not  be unwelcome to my
readers.
  In the early part of Priessnitz's practice, he was in the
habit of going  long distances, to treat persons whose cases
had resisted the ordinary modes.   It seemed almost as if no
distance was too great, or anything  too difficult for him to
undertake.    One very cold winter,  he went a long  way,
not being well  at the time.   He travelled in an open con-
veyance, and was thus  much exposed.  He was there re-
quested to  go on further, so that,  by the time he  reached
home, late at night, his lower limbs were frozen.  The next
day, his legs were swollen, accompanied with fever and in-
flammation  in  the stomach and bowels.   After some pre-
liminary treatment, he said to his wife, " I must now go im-
mediately into the shallow bath, and be rubbed, or I  shall
be laid  up with  a dangerous illness, perhaps  a fatal one;
do you see  that  it is  properly done, and the  proper effect
produced, before I get out."  He  remained several hours
in the bath, two bath-servants carrying on the ablution, and
rubbing, without  intermission,  until the  circulation was
equalized.   Two hours after the bath, a profuse, spontane-
ous perspiration set in, and the next day he was without
a symptom of anything  wrong, feeling only weak and
tired.   Is it, then, to be wondered  at, that  he  should have
such confidence, himself, in the  remedial powers of water,
or that his patients, when they see similar results frequently
taking place, should be inspired with the same  feelings ?
  Priessnitz has had born unto  him eight children, the first
a boy, and the rest all daughters.  When first married, his     ',
wife had no great  faith in the  water-cure.   She insisted
that  the first child (the boy) should be  treated in  the old
way.   This he promised ; and  when it was attacked with
• 
22             THE  WATER-CURE  MANUAL.

measles, the doctors were called in,  but it died.   All the
other children he  has treated  himself, in all  their com-
plaints,—measles, whooping-cough, scarlet fever, &c.; and
Mrs. Priessnitz says, that she has never had a moment's ap-
prehension about them.
  Mrs. Priessnitz, after her last confinement,  had  a severe
attack of child-bed fever, induced by the excitement of be-
ing  visited,  for several days afier  her confinement, by a
number of ladies of rank.   She was enveloped,  repeatedly,
in the wet sheet, followed  by a tepid bath;  and the fever
completely removed in two  days.   Priessnitz observed,
" Our enemies can do us but little harm; it  is  our friends
who kill us."
  An aged female came to Grafenberg, using  two crutches,
and supported by a servant.  She had been  confined four
years,—the  first two to her bed, and the last two, not being
able to support an horizontal  position, had been supported
by  pillows.   She had  only been with  Priessnitz  a short
time, when she was  able to be brought into the ball-room.
She  became, at length,  able to  walk and go  about,  like
others.
  A medical man  from Sweden, came to. Grafenberg,  sup-
ported by two crutches, and led  by a servant.  At one time,
during treatment, a feverishness came  upon him.  Priess-
nitz applied, successively, eighteen  sheets in the day, and
then a bath.   In a week, he went about, with only a stick,
and  in  ten  days more,  he walked as well as any  one.
  A lady, from general  debility, was  brought  to  Grafen-
berg, in a carriage built on purpose, so that the sofa might
be taken in  and out.  For ten  years, as she told  Captain
Claridge, she had not had  the use of her lower  limbs.   In
two months, she was so far recovered, that she walked about.
  A Polish  general, who  had a complaint  of the spine,
on his arrival at Friewaldau,  was told  by his friends  who
met him, as  he descended from  his carriage, that there was
no doubt he would throw away his crutches, and be perfect-
ly cured, if  he followed the system. ' He sat talking  with
them on one of the seats outside the house, when Priessnitz
came up on  horseback ; he rose  to salute him  ; the latter
» 
VINCENT  PRIESSNITZ.
23
 begged him to be seated,  and instantly said, " I perceive
 that the water-cure will not be available in your complaint."
 The general afterwards said,  that Priessnitz recounted to
 him all his sufferings with the greatest exactness.  The ge-
 neral, however, then answered,  "Well, I  may as well die
 here, for I have tried all other  remedies in vain;  but the
 most painful part  of the  matter  is,  that I have a  young
 family, which I had hoped to live to see brought  up."
 The other replied, " Although cold water will not cure you,
 it will  relieve your  pains, enable  you to dispense  with   ^r
 crutches,  and will  prolong your  life ;  but, as you  regard
 these as advantages, avoid drugs."   The general at once de-
 termined  on residing there for some  years.  He became
 cheerful, free from  pain, and walked with the use of a stick.
   Count ------- corresponded  with  Priessnitz  through a
 general (a friend of his) at Grafenberg.  From the count's
 statement, it was concluded that hydropathy would effect a
 cure of his  disease, and this induced him to undertake the
journey.  Priessnitz,  on seeing the invalid in the apartment
 of the general, instantly doubted the paper statement of the
 case, and requested him to walk as far as the window. This
 the count did ;  whereupon Priessnitz  declined undertaking
 the cure.   After the departure of the invalid, the general,
 who was on intimate terms with Priessnitz, inquired why he
 had refused his aid ?  " Because," said he, " instead  of it
 being as he  stated to me, it is one  of those incurable cases,
 so far  advanced, that  the poor gentleman will not be living
 in three months."   A prediction which proved too true ; for
 he died at- Vienna, whither he went to consult some eminent
 physician, shortly after quitting Grafenberg.
   A lady  and her  daughter, on alighting from  their  car-
 riage at Grafenberg,  were  accosted by Priessnitz, who, on
being informed by the mother that the faculty thought her
daughter in a consumption, requested the young lady to run
a few paces up the  hill.  On returning to where they stood,
he said, " She  is not in a consumption, though there is a
strong tendency to it in the system."   This young  lady
gained flesh and color daily, and was perfectly cured  in a
few month*. 
24
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
   The Marquis D----, a French nobleman, accompanied a
friend on a visit into Gallicia.   Almost as soon as they ar-
rived, a dysentery broke out, which carried off great num-
bers in the neighborhood, and, finally,,a gentleman who was
on a visit in the same house.  This so alarmed  the marquis's
companion, that he also had the dysentery, upon which  he
declared his conviction, that unless they left immediately,
he should follow  his friend to the tomb:  upon  this they
started for Grafenberg.
   This gentleman told me, that he  never thought it possible
any human being could endure what he had for forty-eight
hours, the time required for the journey ; but, notwithstand-
ing that, on arriving within  the confines of Grafenberg, he
said, jokingly, to the marquis, " Now I h^ave nothing more
to do with it;  now it is Priessnitz's affair."  They arrived
in the night, and sent, without loss of time  to call Priessnitz
up, who, as soon as he understood  what was the matter, in
his cool, confident manner, replied, " D.»; ist nichts," or, it
is a mere nothing.  In a few days,  the • aient was perfectly
recovered.  The marquis soon after a'jo,{e\\ ill of the same
complaint, and then he also  experienced  the  beneficial  ef-
fects of hydropathy.
   An English medical man called Captain Claridge's  at-
tention, at Grafenberg, to an individual about sixty years of
age, who passed  them  as they were talking  together, and
said, that on   his first arrival  at that  place, before he had
the greatest confidence in hydropathy himself, he was aston-
ished one morning, at the great bath, on being accosted  by
that person, who said, " Doctor, this is a trying moment for
me : I have been afflicted with  asthma for upwards of thirty
years, during  which period I have hardly ever touched cold
water;  and now, after having perspired for an hour, I am
to plunge into  the cold bath.   Don't you think it is danger-
ous ?"   The doctor inquired, " Are you sure that Priessnitz
ordered it ?"   He replied in the affirmative.  " Then," said
the doctor, " you have no alternatve ;  so follow me :" upon
which they both went into the  bath.   This man  was per-
fectly cured of his asthma  in three weeks.   He  staid  at
Grafenberg some months after this for some other corn- 
VINCENT PRIESSNITZ.
25
 plaint, during which time he never had the slightest :eturu
 of his asthma.
   A delicate female came to Grafenberg,  to be euro! of a
 liver complaint.   The  disease arose from inflammation in
 the  liver, to cure which, by the allopathic system, she had
 been treated with mercury.   Under Priessnitz's  mode  of
 treatment, in a short time, she  had a crisis of boils, through
 which the mercury evaporated.   Immediately  after these
 had healed, the inflammation of the liver returned.   "  Now
 you may  consider yourself cured," said Priessnitz;  and
 she  was  indeed cured in a few weeks, when the liver  com-
 plaint left her.
   Count Mitroski, a gentleman aged 54, who had long  been
 afflicted  with gout, was found in his bed  in an apoplectic
 fit.  Some medical men were quickly in attendance, and
 Priessnitz was sent for.   The medical gentlemen considered
 the count past recovery ; and one of them said that  he would
 throw his drugs out of the window, and become  a  hydro-
 pathist, if Priessnitz restored the  patient.   It was  proposed
 by another, to  bleed the  patient; to this Priessnitz would
 not consent, if he was to bear any part of the responsibility.
 So far  gone was  the patient, and  so nearly extinct did his
 vitality appear, that the priest  administered extreme  unc-
 tion ; and, according to the custom of the country,  a  lighted
 wax candle  was  placed  in  each hand  of the  apparently
 dying man.  By  cold water treatment alone, under  the sa-
 gacious  direction of Priessnitz, this gentleman recovered
 consciousness On  the third day, drove out on the fourth, and
 gradually returned to his former habits.
   The only son of a sovereign prince, aged  three years,
 suffered  for fifteen months, from chronic obstruction of the
 bowels, which belied the skill of his medical attendants, and
 resulted  in  total  atrophy.  For eighteen  days, the child
 had no relief, and, by his physician's advice, Priessnitz was
called in.  He saw the child, and, at his recommendation,
the prince and  his family came he*, in order  that  Priess-
nitz  might  daily superintend the  treatment.   The disease
yielded to the water-cure; and, in  less than three months,
the child  returned home, quite well.
Q 
26
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
  A lady of rank suffered severely from  frequent  head-
aches, cramps in the stomach, indigestion, and other  mala-
dies which cannot here be particularized.   She constantly
threw up her food, even while in the act of eating, and could
not  have the  slightest relief,  without medicine, and even
then had great pain and difficulty.   She was under medical
treatment for fourteen  years, during which time she con-
sulted fourteen eminent physicians.   In fourteen weeks, by
water treatment, she was completely cured.
  A person who had recently lost his wife and two children,
was attacked with brain fever.   Priessnitz ordered him  a
tepid bath, in which he sat, and was rubbed  by two men,
who were occasionally changed.  The man became  so de-
ranged,  that it was with difficulty he could be kept  in the
bath.  Priessnitz, with that coolness which is so leading a
feature  of his character, said,  " Keep on, until he  either
talks much or goes to sleep."  The latter the man at last
did, but not until he had  been in  the bath for nine  hours
and a half;  that is  to say, they commenced at one o'clock
in the day, and  the  patient fell asleep, from exhaustion, at
half past ten at night: he was then  put to bed, and, next
day, the fever had left him, and, though weak, he  was able
to walk.
  Any number of  remarkable cases of cure  by Priessnitz
might be collected.  Enough I  have  cited to give some
idea of the  water-cure,  as practised by its great founder.
Many a  tear will glisten in many  an eye,  among patients,
as they  call to mind the able  services, the many kindnesses
of the man who effected their cure.
  Perhaps in no part of the world  is there greater enthu-
siasm manifested than at Grafenberg.  To witness prospe-
rity borne in the most perfect  manner as it is by Priessnitz,
is truly a  moral  phenomenon the world  rarely  beholds.
Some idea of the enthusiasm  alluded to will be seen in the
following well-written account by Dr. Smethurst,  of Eng-
land, held upon a birtn"-day of Priessnitz :
  " The 2d of October, 1842, was  a day of great rejoicing
at Grafenberg : it was the forty-third anniversary  birth-day
of  Priessnitz, commemorated by  a rich  merchant  from 
VINCENT PRIESSNITZ.                27
 Vienna, who was cured of a chronic disease of long stand-
 ing.   This gentleman had an obelisk erected for one of the
 best  springs in the wood, which  bore the name of Hirsch,
 or stag-spring;  on this spot, two hundred years ago, fell  a
 Priessnitz, an ancestor of our renowned Vincent Priessnitz,
 in the  defence  of his only daughter, against the  Swedes
 who then invaded the country ;  both  fell a sacrifice to the
 infuriated  soldiers.   On the completion of the  spring  in
 question, it was  christened and called "Priessnitz Spring,"
 to mark the two events.  There was a procession formed
 of all the patients, three or four hundred in number, headed
 by a  band of music profusely decorated with garlands, and
 followed by the flags of all the  nations, individual members
 of which were present, twelve in number.  Each had their
 own flag made at their own expense, in honor of the coun-
 try they represented; and the Union-jack waved  trium-
 phantly next to the national flag of Austria ; besides which,
 there were the Prussian, French, Belgian, Bohemian, Hun-
 garian, Dutch, &c.  The cur-gaste, or cure-guests, brought
 up the  rear:—all who could walk or hobble joined, the la-
 dies enlivening  the scene  by  their  presence.  After the
 ceremony of consecrating  and  christening, a collation  was
 served up,  consisting of potatoes and salt, which were boiled
 in large saucepans in gypsy style,  fifty yards  from  the
 spring ;—these were  relished with copious draughts of the
 pure water from the Priessnitz spring.  Due honor was paid
 to Priessnitz and  to the various nations, by  their healths
 being proposed ;  all were received with tremendous cheer-
 ing, which made the very  woods ring again; a salute of
 cannon succeeded every  toast: greater joy  and hilarity
 could not be  witnessed in the most sumptuous feast.  The
 procession  retraced their steps to the house  in a similar
 manner: the evening was  finished with a grand ball,  the
spacious saloon  being brilliantly  illuminated.  Priessnitz
absented himself that day,  but his health  was  drank  again
and again, each time cheering louder and louder, and with
bumpers of—water."
   Priessnitz then is now  forty-eight years of age, and  not-
withstanding the great amount of labor he has been in the 
28             THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
constant habit of performing for the past near  thirty years,
he is yet perfectly sprightly, firm and active in  his  move-
ments, as much  so as any  healthy young man.  He had
formerly a  weakness in his chest,  but through  his very
temperate modes of life, and habits of bathing and exer-
cise, he has  become a most  perfect example in illustration
of the value and truth of the system he  teaches.   Thanks,
Priessnitz, to thy great name !   Healthfully and long mayst
thou live to enjoy thy glory  so nobly won.
  There is  one slander  upon Priessnitz I shall here take
upon myself to refute.  It has been said, that he not being
a graduated  physician, has no license to practise with drugs,
and uses, therefore, only  water.   This imputation has been
reiterated by many who appear glad enough, notwithstand-
ing Priessnitz's  alleged lack of education and license, to
herald themselves  forth under the auspices of his  system.
If such objectors  would take upon themselves to go to
Grafenberg, and learn a few lessons at the  fountain-head
of hydropathy, their patients would most likely be  gainers,
to say  the least.  I should, for one, be  pleased to  see the
man who  has  ever been at that place,  and yet cares to
signalize himself before the world, by asserting that Priess-
nitz does not practise the system he chooses,  or that he  is
in any wise  a dishonest  man.   Besides, every thing con-
nected with  his history proves that he would be permitted
by the Austrian government to practise any mode  that he
chose to adopt.  As a matter of common honesty,  then, let
those who advocate drugs, not put themselves forth as practi-
tioners of water-cure.   No one  deserves the name of hydro-
pathist, who does not practise in accordance  with the prin-
ciples of the immortal founder of the new system.  It is well
known to be a standing rule of Priessnitz's, with which all
must  comply,  that no patient is allowed to take medicine
while undergoing the cure. 
WATER.
29
CHAPTER II.
                         WATER.

               '*' All hail to pure cold water,
                That bright rich gem from Heaven;
               And praise to the Creator,
                For such a blessing given i
               And since it comes in fulness,
                We'll prize it yet the more; .
               For life, and health, and gladness,
                It spreads the wide earth o'er."
                                      Mrs. A. C. Judson.

   Water  is the most common and abundant of all mate-
rial  substances  on the face of  the earth.   About  three-
fourths of the  whole globe  is encircled  by  it.   Water is
the great emblem  of purity, and, at the same time, a sym-
bol,  on the one hand, of weakness,  and on the other of
power.   In delicate  dew-drops—in the fine mists of moun-
tain air—in the snow flakes, so light that  the most delicate
balance is  not sufficient  to weigh them—water appears the
very symbol of weakness.  If we take a drop of it upon the
finger, and rub it with the thumb, it  vanishes, as it were,
into nothing.   Is there in nature  any thing so feeble, so un-
resisting ?  In majestic rivers—in terrific floods—in mighty
falls—in the overwhelming avalanche—and in old Ocean's
depths, we find water possessing the most formidable power.
In the rending of rocks—the tearing apart of the most noble
ships—and in the destroying of man's proudest works, is
the nature of this element, so feeble,  and yet so powerful,
made known  to man.
   What is there in  nature so beautiful as water ?   In  the
form of genial spring showers, that fertilize and render fruc-
tiferous the earth—in the opening flower-buds—in glistening
dew-drops—in  sparkling  fountains—in rivulets—in spring
streams—in cascades—and in the delicate tear-drop that 
30
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
moistens the cheek of woman, how beautiful is this agent,
everywhere so abundant—pure,  simple water !
   The earth becomes  dry and  parched:  flowers cease to
put forth their blossoms ; the trees yield no fruit;  the grass
withers,  and the plain becomes dusty.   At length,  after
many days, the  clouds begin to gather; the lambs are
heard bleating upon the hills; the cows gambol, and fowls
prepare their feathers.   The showers,  all  fresh and genial,
descend, and nature, as  with one uplifted  voice, praises
that Being who sends the rain.
   The inebriate, at the midnight revel, quaffs  deep of the
intoxicating bowl.   His brain becomes fevered, and his body
"ill at ease."   When  he began  his inebriation, he would
have scorned the simple beverage of nature ; but  now his
sensations are imperious, and he longs  for  that drink which
alone is sufficient to quench his thirst.
   A sick man has high, burning fever  and delirium, which
lasts for days.  More earnestly than for all other blessings,
he  begs  for cold water to drink.  In the belief that it is
dangerous, he is denied.  He grows more and more thirs-
ty.  The tongue swells,  the lips crack, and the pores be-
come closed.   In every breath he puts forth, and  at every
exhalation that passes from his body, its moisture is being
carried  off.  Yet, strange though it  be, his thirst no one
dares to quench.  At last, in his sufferings, he breaks over
all restraint,  and drinks to the fullest  extent of his desire.
Before  sleepless,  he  now  passes  into a profound  rest.
Drenching perspiration  breaks out,  and in the morning he
awakes refreshed, and  in his  right mind, and the power of
his disease is broken up.
   Thus we have in water, abundance, simplicity, purity,
feebleness, not  less than  terrific power;  awfulness, gran-
deur, sublimity, beauty, the  purest of all beverages,  and
the best  of all  means  for healing the  sick.   Who can be
sufficiently thankful  for this, one of the  best of Heaven's
gifts--PURE COLD WATER. 
QUALITIES OF WATER.
31
  Qualities of  Water.—For  all  drinking,  culinary, and
medicinal purposes, we should, if possible, obtain water that
is pure and soft.  The test of an ingenious washerwoman
is sufficient.   Any well or spring water, that washes equally
well with rain water,  we may be certain  is good.
  Animals have  been observed to prefer even muddy soft
water to  that which is hard, however clear.  Any one who
watches  the  effects, may easily  determine the difference,
when he  changes from the use of hard water to that which
is soft.   The former sits heavy  upon the stomach.  It often
causes indigestion and derangement of the alimentary canal.
This  is  proved by the fact, that a change to hard water is
often  attended with diarrhoea,  dysentery, &c,  when the
change back  again soon cures the complaints.
  Almost every family may have a cistern, so constructed
as to afford a liberal supply of good rain water.   When the
rain falls, it may be made to run off, at first, until it becomes
clear.  Some have two cisterns, with a  filter between, so
arranged in  the  partition  that  the water,  by its weight, is
forced through it, and is thus  always made pure.   Have,
by all means, water that is pure and soft.
  Spring and well water are used mostly in drinking and
culinary   purposes.  These  are generally  hard.   There
may be,  however, exceptions.  In  various parts  of New
England, the water of springs and wells  is of an excellent
quality.   At different  points along the Connecticut river, it
is very pure  and soft.   Probably, in almost every section of
our country,  there is more or less of good water;  but the
greater part of it is hard.
  I brought with me specimens of water  from Grafenberg.
I have examined  a considerable number of springs in this
country,  and have  not yet, except in one instance, found
any as good as that.   It has,  in the gallon, only  one and a
halfgrains of mineral substances, principally the compounds
of lime,  as is generally the case in hard water.  This is a
very minute quantity, indeed—so small, that, probably, no,.
the least  difference could  be detected between it and rain
water, in the processes of washing.   As good as we consider
the Croton water, in New  York, it contains, in the  gallon 
32
THE  WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
upwards of four grains of mineral impurities.   Probably, in
no water establishment yet formed, either in this country or
England, is the water so good as at Grafenberg.   The well
water of cities and large  towns is often  rendered very  im-
pure.   All manner of filthy and disgusting substances find
their way  into  the wells; and troublesome diseases have
been known to  have directly resulted from the use of the
water.*
   Water in the  vicinity of Burying-grounds.—The subject
of choosing burying places in cities has,  of late years, very
properly received attention.   In the  city  of London, water
has  been  rendered  very impure  and  loathsome,  by  the
proximity  of burying-grounds.   The drainings of the filth
of cities, it is beginning to be more  understood, deteriorate
water greatly.    Still, many persons, as,  for instance, thou-
sands in this city, will persist in drinking the filthy water of
the well,  merely because habit has brought them to relish
it better than pure  soft water.
  The  plan of conveying water through metallic pipes, is,
in some respects,  objectionable.   Iron pipes  soon become
coated with insoluble compounds, so  that metal is  no longer
exposed to the  action of the  water.   Lead pipes are, of all,
the most objectionable.   In  this city, it is perfectly easy to
detect lead in water that  has stood for awhile in  the  lead
  * " Dr. M. Barry affirms that the troops were frequently liable to dysen-
tery, while they occupied the old barracks at Cork ; but he has heard
that it has been of rare occurrence in the new barracks.  Several years
ago, when the disease raged violently in the old barracks, (now the de-
pot for convicts,) the care  of the sick was, in the absence of the regi-
mental surgeon, entrusted to the late Mr. Bell, surgeon, in Cork.  At
the period in question, the troops were supplied with water from the
river Lee, which, in passing through the city, is rendered unfit for drink-
ing, by the influx of the contents of the sewers from the houses, and
likewise is brackish from the tide, which ascends into their  channels.
Mr. Bell, suspecting that the water  might have caused the dysentery,
upon assuming the care of the sick, had a number of water-carts en-
gaged to bring water for the troops, from a spring called the Lady's
Well, at the same time that they were no longer permitted to drink the
water from the river.  From this simple but judicious arrangement, the
dysentery very shortly disappeared among the troops."—Dr.  Cheyne. 
WATER.
33
 pipes, so much used.   There is a prevailing opinion  to the
 contrary, I know ; but I quote the authority of Dr. Chilton,
 a man second  to no one in judging of things of this kind.
   It  is  necessary, then,  in order to be safe, when the un-
 tinned pipes are employed, that, before using the water,  it
 run awhile, to carry off and wash out the solution of lead.
   Amount of Water in Food.—The amount of water con-
 tained in different kinds of food is much greater than is ge-
 nerally  supposed.   A table, showing the proportion of this
 fluid in a variety of dietetic substances, will be interesting,
 at least,  as  a matter of general knowledge.  The following
 we give from Pereira on Food and Diet, with the authorities
 annexed.   The numbers represent so many parts in the 100
 of the articles mentioned.

                               Water.         Authority.
 Gum Arabic...................17-6.........Guerin.
 Sugar Candy..................10-53........Peligot.
 Arrow-root, (by drying at 212° F.)18-2.........Prout.
 Wheat, (by drying at 230° F).. .14-5.........Boussingault
 Rye,        do.     do........16 6.........    do.
 Oats,        do.     do........20-8.........    do.
 Bariey,     (do. at 212° F.).....13-2.........    do.
 Maize,     do.     do.........18...........    do.
 Peas,       do.     do.........16...........Playfair.
 Beans.      do.     do.........14-11........   do.
 Lentils,     do.     do.........15-9.........   do.
 Potatoes, (dried at 230° F.).....75.9.........Boussingault.
 Turnips,    do.    do...........92-5.........    do
 Carrots,     (do. at 212° F.).....87-6.........    do.
 Beet-root,   (do. at 230° F.).....87-8.........    do.
 Jerusalem Artichoke, do.........79-2.........    do.
 Cabbage,White, (driedat 212°F.).92-3.........    do.
 Black Bread,     do.     do..  . .31.4 to 33___Boeckmann.
 Beef Tea,*....................98-4375......Christison.
Blood.........................80...........Liebig.
 Fresh Meat....................74-8 to 75.....Boeckmann.
Muscle of Beef................74...........Brande.
  * Physicians often speak of giving good strong nourishment, as beef
tea.  Such are certainly not aware of the fact, that the article is almost
entirely simple water.
               2* 
34
THE  WATER-CUFE MANUAL.
                              Water.         Authority.
  Muscle of Beef............. ..77-5.........Schlossberger.
  Do. Veal....................75...........Brande.
  Do.   do.....................79-7 to 78-2... Schlossberger.
  Do. Mutton..................71...........Brande.
  Do. Pork....................76...........  do.
  Do.   do.....................78-3.........Schlossberger.
  Do. Roe  Deer................76-9.........  do.
  Do. Chicken.................73...........Brande.
  Do.   do.....................77-3.........Schlossberger.
  Do. Pigeon..................76...........  do.
  Do. Cod.....................79...........Brande.
  Do. Haddock................82...........  do.
  Do. Sale...................79...........  do.
  Do. Carp....................80-1.........Schlossberger.
  Do. Trout...................80-5.........  do.
Calf's Sweetbread.............70...........Morin.
Ox's Liver....................68.64........Braconnot.
Egg, (White of,)...............85...........Gmelin.
Do., (Yolk  of).................53-77........Prout.
Milk, Cow's,...................87-02. ^i
Do., Asses',....................91-65. |
Do., Human....................87-98. | O.Henry&Chevalie*
Do., Goats'....................86-80. |
Do., Ewes',....................85-62. J 
DRINKING  OF WATER.
35
                      CHAPTER III.

                 THE DRINKING  OF WATER.

         " Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty
          For in my youth I never did apply
          Hot and rebellious liquors to my blood:
          Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo
          The means of wickedness and debility;
          Therefore my age is as a lusty winter,
          Frosty, but kindly."

  "O, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their
 brains! that we should, with joy, revel, pleasure, and applause, trans-
 form ourselves into beasts!  O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou
 hast no name to be known by, let us call thee—devil!!"
                                              Shakspeare.

   Scarcely any man can be found, now-a-days, who takes
 upon himself at all to think, but believes that water is  the
 best possible  drink,—the best  to promote healthfulness  of
 body, vigor, cheerfulness, and contentment  of the mind ;—
 the best to enable the system to endure  excessive heat, cold,
 or protracted exertion of any of the faculties of man.   How
 different from this  universally  received  opinion  has been
 the practice of  ages!   Immediately  after the  flood, it was
 found  that  he  who was chosen above  all others as the fa-
 vored of Heaven, had yet within him  the artificial love for
 intoxicating substances ; and how far back in the period of
 man's history these substances  were used, it would be diffi-
 cult,  if not impossible,  to determine.   I will  not stop here
 to adduce the proofs that all intoxicating and exciting drinks
 are more or  less  injurious to  the system,  and unfriendly
to life.
  That water is the best  and most natural drink, is  not a
doctrine peculiar to modern times.   In  the Sacred Scrip-
tures  we find abundant  examples for  its use.   It was not
Tokay, or Sherry, or Claret, that was formed for our first pa-
rents in the garden of Eden.   When there was made great 
36
THE WATER CURE MANUAL.
provisions for the Syrian army, the drink was water.  When
Rebecca received the offer of marriage, she gave to Abra-
ham's  servant  water.   Elijah, when fed by  the ravens,
drank water.  The only drink of the  valiant soldiers of
Gideon, was water,   Daniel and his three friends, famous
for wisdom,  and learning, and personal appearance, would
drink only of water.  The Jews  were  promised, by  the
King of Assyria, that they should eat  their own vine, and
of their own cisterns  drink  water.  For the infant at the
breast, next to  the bland and healthful fluid, coming from
the maternal breast, as well as for the aged and infirm, is
water, the most  kindly of all drinks.
  Too much, indeed, cannot be said  in praise of cold wa-
ter.  No where in nature, either in spring or fountain, lake
or stream, has Providence provided any thing as a beverage
so grateful;  and in health, whether wandering among the
snows of the north,  or the sands of the  tropics, man every-
where  finds  this beverage the most grateful and the best.
When, too, the  system is all parched and burning in fever,
how superlatively grateful, how reviving and invigorating
is pure cold water to drink!
  I  will now cite some opinions of physicians and others,
who, notwithstanding the times in which they lived, had the
sagacity to discover the great and immutable truth  con-
cerning the  value of water as a drink.
   Hippocrates, the father of medicine,  who lived more than
two  thousand years ago, considered water the best drink.
He  lived to an old age, ninety years, and it may be fairly
inferred that he availed  himself freely of the  fluid he ad-
mired.   It was a  recommendation of  his, that  those who
have head-ache, drink nothing but pure water.
   Galen, of the second century, who. next to  Hippocrates,
was considered the prince of Greek physicians, was a strong
advocate of water.  He said he had cured many cases of con-
tinued burning fever by giving his patients nothing but cold
water to drink, and that not one of them died who had re-
course to this  simple remedy sufficiently  early.  He had
seen many cured of a severe pain in the stomach in a single
day, merely by drinking freely of cold water.   GalenVas 
DRINKING OF WATER.
37
very  abstemious and simple in his habits of life ;  and like
Hippocrates, lived to a very advanced age.
  Pliny considered it a great absurdity that mankind should
bestow so much trouble  and expense in manufacturing arti-
ficially such a variety of drinks, when Nature has prepared
to their hands a beverage of so superior a quality.
  Celsus, an  ancient physician  and  philosopher of note,
strongly  advocated  water.  He  recommended cold water
when limpid, light, without smell and taste, (pure soft wa-
ter,) and obtained from  a clear running stream.
  Hoffman, a cotemporary of Boerhaave, professor of physic
at Halle and physician  to the King of Prussia, said that wa-
ter proves agreeable to  persons of all ages.  The  drinking
of water is serviceable in every complexion.  Those who
drink only  water, are  observed to have much whiter and
sounder teeth.   They are brisker and more alert in all the
actions, both of  body and  mind,  than those who use malt
liquors.  In reference to the use of mineral waters, so much
in vogue in  chronic diseases, he said, it was not owing  to
the light sparkling air in the  saline or other mineral sub-
stances combined with the water, so much as to the  medicin-
al and other properties  of common water with which they
are mixed, and which is  drank  in large quantities.
  Hufeland, another  distinguished German physician and
professor, said, water is the greater promoter of digestion, an
excellent reviver of the stomach and strengthener of the
nerves,  and assists all the  secretions of the body,  and that
it purifies not merely the skin, but freshens and exhilarates
both  mind and body.  It strengthens and preserves against
the changing influences of  air and weather, keeps  the solid
parts supple and the joints pliable.   It preserves the strength
of youth, and  keeps up the vigor of old age.   It is a pow-
erful preventive  of bile  and putrefaction.   Hufeland  men-
tions also the case of a Mr. Thedan, veteran surgeon-gene-
ral, who  ascribed his long life, more than  eighty years, to
the quantity of water he drank for upwards of thirty of the
latter years of his life.   Between his thirtieth and fortieth
years he was a  most miserable hypochondriac ; oppressed
with the  deepest melancholy, tormented with palpitation of 
38
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
the heart, indigestion, &c, and fancied that he could not live
six months ;  but from the  time  he commenced his water
regimen, all these symptoms began to disappear, and in the
latter half of his life he enjoyed better health than ever be-
fore, and was perfectly free from his troublesome ailments.
  Hahn, who was also a German physician of note, said,
" Water does not, as some suppose, weaken the stomach, but
increases the appetite, as may be  seen by the larger quantity
of food taken at meals.  Those who make this  assertion
contradict themselves:  for a debilitant stomach requires a
less and not a larger  quantity of food.   Others imagine that
by drinking water they lose their color and flesh.    Even if
this were the  case, and they did become a little paler and
thinner, such  a  loss  is not to  be compared to the general
improvement  of  health which is  obtained thereby.  It yet
remains to  be shown whether a  protuberant stomach, with
swollen, flabby, puffed-out cheeks, is to be preferred to a
more slender shape,  and a thinner face ; or whether the
rude country  glow of health, with rosy cheeks, is not to be
preferred to that pale and sickly  hue so  much  admired by
people  of fashion.  But  water  drinkers generally retain
their flesh and healthy color.  A few, however,  who had
swollen, flabby or spongy  flesh,  and therefore unhealthy,
have in appearance become thinner, and lost their puffiness,
having exchanged it  for a firm and compact flesh, therefore
healthy.   Those who, from the  use of ardent spirits and
thick glutinous  beverages, as beer, brandy, &c,  have got
reddened, violet copper-colored faces, have not by drinking
water become pale, but have exchanged their violet or pur-
ple redness for a more natural color.  Every man, I think,
ought to be satisfied with such a  change.
   Zimmerman, the author  of the well-known work on Soli-
tude, and physician to Frederick  the Great, king of Prussia,
strongly  recommended water.   " Water," says  he, " does
not chill the ardor of genius."   He instances Demosthenes,
whose  sole drink was water.   "  Pure soft water is the most
suitable drink for man."
   Sir JohnFloyer, one of the earlier English physicians, a
man of high repute, said, " The water drinkers are temperate 
DRINKING OF WATER.
39
in their actions, prudent and ingenious; they live safe from
those diseases which affect the head, such as apoplexies,
pain, blindness,deafness; also,  gout, convulsions, trembling
and  madness.  Water resists putrefaction, and cools burn-
ing  heats and thirsts :  and after dinner it helps digestion."
" That good, pure water has a  balsamic and healing quality
in it, I could give  many  instances, as well externally in
curing  wounds, as  internally in ulcers, excoriations, &c,
for I once knew a gentleman of plentiful fortune, who  by
some accident fell to decay, and having a numerous family
of small children, whilst the father  was a prisoner at  the
King's Bench, his family was reduced almost to  want,  his
wife and children living on little other than bread and water.
But  I never saw such  a change in six months, as I did  in
this  unhappy family;  for  the  children that were  always
ailing and valetudinary, as with coughs, king's evil, &c,
were recovered to  a  miracle, looked  fresh, well colored and
lusty, their flesh hard and plump."
   The editor of the London Lancet, a standard medical
journal, some time ago, in  an article in which he professes
to analyze water-cure, makes  this assertion,  " If we could
always persuade a patient who consults us for the first fit
of the gout, to drink water for  the rest of his life,  to take
exercise and to diminish by half the amount of animal food
he is in the habit of taking, there would be but little chance
of a  return of the attack."
   The celebrated Dr. Cheyne, of Dublin, gives a striking
case, illustrating the effect of pure soft water as a drink in
enabling the body to withstand fatigue.  He says," I had once
the opportunity of inquiring into the habits of the workmen of a
large glass factory ; they generally wrought from twenty-
four to thirty-six hours at a time, according as the furnace
continued in  a proper  state, and  I found, during  this time,
which was technically called a journey, that to supply the
waste caused by perspiration, they  drank a large quantity
of water, in the quality of  which they were very curious ;
it  was the purest and  softest water in the district, and was
brought from a distance of two miles.  There were three
men out of more than  one  hundred that drank nothing but 
40
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
water;  the rest drank porter or ardent spirits ; the three
water-drinkers appeared to be of their proper age, while the
rest with scarcely an exception, seemed ten or twelve years
older than they proved to be."
  Dr. Franklin, when a printer in London, proved to his fel-
low workmen that water was sufficient to enable him to exert
more physical strength than they could put forth with the
use of porter, an article to which they were much addict
ed.   This, Franklin claimed,  contained  but a  very small
amount  of nutriment,  and not enough to  cause any appre-
ciable effect in  sustaining strength.   It is, however, more
from the morbid craving for  present stimulation, that other
drinks than pure water are taken, than from any belief that
strength is by their use permanently sustained.
  Many more examples of water-drinkers and water-drink-
ing might be given.   Facts like the  foregoing I trust will
prove to the general reader,  as they have to myself, inte-
resting,  especially in these days of cold-water praising  and
temperance.
  Does mail naturally drink?—It has been a question with some
whether man is naturally a drinking animal.  One author
of notoriety, Dr. Lambe, argues that we must suppose every
animal to be furnished with organs suited to its physical ne-
cessities.  " Now I see," continues this writer, " that man
has the head elevated above the ground, and to bring the
mouth to the earth,  requires a strained and painful  effort.
Moreover,  the  mouth is flat  and the nose prominent, cir-
cumstances which  make the  effort still more difficult."—
But in all this reasoning, it is forgotten that one of the most
pleasant, safe, and natural modes of drinking water, is  that
from the hand.  If  a person is wandering of a sultry sum-
mer day, along the  mountain side, and parched and thirsty,
and  comes to  a spring, pure, fresh,  and bubbling, he very
quickly lifts the fluid  portion by portion, in the half-closed
hand, and raises it to his lips ; besides, it is as natural for man
to employ his ingenuity, provided this is done in accordance
with  certain  laws,  as for animals instinct.   Man, I have
no doubt, like  animals, in general, drinks.
  Considerable has for some years past been said by medi- 
DRINKING OF WATER.
41
cal writers, in this country, concerning the case of Dr. Win,
A. Alcott, of New England, the well known writer on vari-
ous  subjects connected  with health.  This gentleman is
quoted as  having gone more than  a whole year at a time
without tasting of drink, and  hence it has been inferred that
he  did not believe  in  drinking even of pure water.  This
was never Dr.  Alcott's idea.  His  object merely was, so to
regulate the habits of labor, exercise and diet, that thirst
would be experienced but seldom.   He was well aware that
the supply of some pounds of fluid that pass from the body dai-
ly>  hy respiration, evaporation,  &c, must in some way or
other constantly be kept up.  This he  did in great part
by the free  use of fruits, principally apples, which contain a
very large proportion of water.
  Philosophy of  Water-Drinking.—The human body, as  a
whole, by weight, consists  of about 80 parts, in the 100, of
water.   Even its dryer portions, as bone, muscle, cartilage,
ligament, and nerve, contain  a large proportion of this fluid.
The blood  has about 90 parts, in the  100, and  the brain
nearly the same proportion.  Without the presence of water
in the living body, food would not become digested  in the
stomach; no chyme would  be elaborated,  to supply  the
chyle,  or chyle to form  the  blood.  Respiration,  circula-
tion, secretion, nutrition, perspiration, elimination, neither
of these  could take place in the human system, without the
presence of a large proportion of water.
  The living body may be  compared to a perpetual furnace,
which has  a tendency, constantly,  by evaporation, to be-
come dry.   If food  and water are, in every form, withheld,
the  individual grows parched and feverish.  In a few days,
delirium  supervenes,  and,  in about three weeks,  he dies.
But if water be taken according to the demands of thirst,
no fever or  delirium ensue, and life goes on more than twice
as long as when both food and drink are withheld.*
  * In the "Transactions  of the Albany Institute," for 1830, Dr.
McNaughton relates the case of a man, named Reuben Kelsey, who
lived on water alone for fifty-three days.  " For the first six weeks, he
walked out every day, and sometimes spent a great part of the day in the 
42
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
   It is not, nowever, proper, as has been done, to speak of
water as a nutriment.   True, it  is  immediately concerned
in most or  all of the  transformations constantly going on in
the system ; but that water is ever  decomposed, or chemi-
cally changed, in the living animal, has not  been  proved,
nor have we reason to believe that such is ever the case.
   Drinking in Fevers and Inflammatory Diseases.—We can
scarcely give a lecture,  enter  a neighborhood, or even  a
family, and introduce the subject of water, but that we are
at once told of remarkable instances  of cure, which  the
narrator has known  to take place,  through the drinking of
water.   The  patient was  very sick ;  learned  physicians
declared,  " For his life,  he must  not  touch cold water."
Everything fails;  the man grows worse,—is given  up ;
and, in the  long, dark night, to give some small relief from
his raging thirst, water is administered.   The  friends trem-
ble for his  safety, but he appears to grow better, and more is
given.  Sleep and perspiration ensue.   The  patient  lives,
" in spite of cold water" shall any one  say ?   Or,  perhaps,
in his delirium, he has  broken over all bonds, and quaffed,
suddenly and deep, of the  fluid which,  above all  earthly
things,  he  craved ;  or,  by stealth,  hire, or threats, he ac-
complishes his object.   Who ever  knew a patient in high,
burning fever, (not induced by over-exertion,) killed by cold
water?  Many have been thus saved,  but  more, alas ! in-
comparably more, have been lost, for the want of its use.
   Let the  sick dr:»nk  freely,  copiously, according  to the
woods.  His walk was steady and firm; and his friends even remarked,
that his steo had an unusual elasticity.  He shaved himself, until about
a week before his death, and was able to sit up in bed to the last day "
Kelsey was twenty-seven  years of age, at the time of his death ■ and
during his fasting, evidently under the influence of delusion.  At the be-
ginning of his course, he  assigned, as his reason for so doing,  that he
would be furnished with an appetite, when it was the will of the Almighty
he should eat
  Barn-yard fowls, kept from food and drink, do not survive the ninth
day.  If water is allowed them, they reach the twentieth day.  These ex-
periments can be easily tried; but, as the principle is well established, no
possible  good would result • and none but the most heartless barbarian
would repeat them. 
DRINKING OF WATER.
43
demands of thirst.  Be the disease curable or fatal, deny it
not.   Even in  the last hours of consumption, by draughts
of pure cold water, let the fever be quelled, the suffering miti-
gated,  and everything done possible that may be, to smooth,
in some degree, however small, the sufferer's passage home.
   It is most surprising, that physicians should so generally,
and for so long a time, have erred, in regard to the use of
cold drinks.  Had fads been sought out, theories could not
have  prevailed over the precepts of Hippocrates,  Celsus,
Galen, Hoffman,  as well as the voice of nature  and the dic-
tates of common sense.
   Drinking, after great  exertion  and fatigue.—Every one
is well aware, that life is sometimes suddenly  destroyed
by persons  drinking a  large quantity,  when  greatly  fa-
tigued.   It is easy to avoid  all  danger  in  these  cases,  by
sipping the water, only a few drops at  a time, as it were.
The body is already in  perspiration, which is,  of itself, a
cooling process; and  a small quantity of water, slowly
taken, proves sufficient, soon, to quench the thirst.  Wash-
ing the face, hands,  and  temples, and holding water in the
mouth, are safe and excellent means.
   Treatment for  injury of  this  kind.—By whatever  means
the system becomes severely  chilled, so  that prostration
takes place, the first indication  is  to secure warmth.  In all
cases,  the more the body  can  be  brought to generate  its
own heat, the better, provided  this is done quickly enough
to answer the  end.  Frictions with the dry hand, and, per-
haps, still better,  the wet, are means to be used.  If the pa-
tient can be brought sufficiently to his senses to be made  to
drink  enough,  vomiting, by means of blood-warm  water,
should  be  practised.  This action of the  stomach always
excites circulation, perspiration, and determination towards
the surface.  According to the philosophical and very ac-
curate experiments of Dr. Currie,  of Liverpool, the best of
results followed the use  of the warm bath, warm applica-
tions to the region of the stomach, that is, over the great
solar plexus, or centre of the sympathetic  nervous system.
By this means, as well as  through the stomach, internally,
the general system  may be speedily warmed.   The arm- 
44
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
pits  and inner part of the thighs and feet are also highly
sensitive, and, therefore, good places for applications of* this
kind.  It is best of all, when we  can, to make the body
warm itself, so to speak;  but this cannot always  be  ac-
complished ; and then artificial means must be used.  The
same general rules apply, in  whatever way the chilliness
and exhaustion may be brought on.
  Rules for Water-Drinking.—A very good  rule  for  the
healthy, and such as  have active exercise, is  to drink, ex-
cept in fatigue and exhaustion, as thirst demands.  Patients
may have  the general direction to take  at such times, as
when the stomach is empty, as much as can be conveniently
borne, which will generally be from six to twelve half-pint
tumblers in the whole day.   Feeble persons must not go on
very rapidly at  first.  If they have  been  accustomed, a
long time, to hot drinks, they should on commencing, make
small beginnings, gradually training the stomach in the new
way.  Wonders may thus be accomplished, if the   patient
can have system and perseverance enough to proceed.
  The better  statement for invalids perhaps,  is, " exercise
as much as  may be without causing too  great fatigue;
by this means, the system becomes invigorated and warm-
ed ;  more fluid is thrown off, more is needed,  and more re-
lished ;  so exercise and drink as much as you conveniently
can."
  Some persons who have accustomed themselves much to
exercising and drinking,  have gone  great  lengths in  the
matter; taking even  more than  one  hundred  tumblers  in
the  day, and  apparently experiencing no  harm.
  Drinking at Meals.—People generally have an impres-
sion, that drinking at meals is injurious; and yet they are
ready enough to take soups,  tea, coffee,  cocoa, chocolate,
and the like, not to mention  stronger articles,  healthy or
unhealthy, as fluids may be.   It is said the gastric juice is
diluted and weakened,  and that  therefore digestion is re-
tarded.   But it should be understood that  the stomach is not
a sack for holding gastric juice.  The first part of digestion
is the absorption of the more  fluid portion of the food.  The
more solid contents are crowded to  the  lower or  pyloric 
DRINKING OF WATER.
45
part of the stomach, and  a sort of hour-glass contraction
takes place.   The fluid becomes absorbed,  and afterward,
as  the  churn-like motion  of the stomach commences, the
gastric juice oozes forth like perspiration  upon the surface,
to commingle with the food.   Does not every one know that
grapes, apples, and  the  like substances, almost all water,
are among the most  healthful forms of food ?  In fact, these
substances,  taken  in suitable  quantity,  as  by  half tea-
spoon doses, if the stomach is so weak as to  require  that,
are, to say the least, among the  very best things possible for
the sick.   This is especially true in fevers, in which cases
food is so illy  borne;  and certainly, food that is good for
the sick must be as good for the well, needed of course in
greater quantity, proportioned to the amount of strength.
   In a late work by Drs. Wilson  and Gully,  practitioners
of water at Malvern, England,  we find the following sug-
gestions, intended to apply to all  who are  undergoing the
water treatment:
   " The less you drink of any thing at meals the better;
not  because the liquid dilutes  the gastric  juice,  as some
have said,  but because it gives a stimulus to  the  secretory
vessels of the stomach,  different from that of the  dry  ali-
ment which is the right  stimulus, and the  consequence is
likely to be, the secretion of an  improper gastric juice."
   If the food must be dry,  what will Drs.  Wilson and Gully
do with their fine peaches, apples, plums and grapes.  With
a good  plateful of any of these articles before a man, it
would  be  hard to convince him, I think, of  their hurtful
tendency.   These good things, it is true, are often taken in
too great quantity, and when the stomach has  already more
than it can bear. The trouble then is from the quantity, and
not the quality of the food.  These articles, moreover, are
often taken at improper times.   As to the second part of the
above objection to liquids, viz: that water gives the secretory
vessels of the stomach a stimulus, the consequence  of which
is likely to be the secretion of an improper gastric juice, is
merely an assertion without proof.  Who knows but that a
weak, dibilitated stomach, (as all patients to a greater or less
extent have,) needs this very stimulus ?   A mother's breast 
46
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
is inflamed and swollen, the  milk thickened, and little or
none of it can be made to flow.   The cooling  of the part
with cold water, (stimulating it, according to the physiologi-
cal  notions of Drs. Wilson and Gully,) causes  the milk to
come forth, in streams even, and although thick and  viscid
at first, if the process be continued sufficiently, it gets to be
more and more bland, instead of becoming  bad.  I believe
the  same principle holds good in regard to the stomach and
the  gastric  juice.   If this  be true, there will often be cases
in which the drinking of water at meals  must be salutary
and  good.   The  food, every one knows,  should  be well
masticated, and not " washed down."   The larger part of
drinking for medicinal or curative purposes,  should, how-
ever, be practised at other times than the  meals.   To enter
at  length into this matter, would  involve more space than
we can here give.
  Farmers, and those who labor much during the long, hot
days of summer, sweating a great deal, as they must neces-
sarily do, tell  us that if they drink freely at meal-times,
they need much less water, or, in other words, experience
much less thirst.   Here  then would seem to be an argu-
ment in  favor of drinking at meals.
  Let it be remembered, that almost every kind of food is
made up, the larger  part,  of water.   Even baker's  bread
contains 35 per cent. ; domestic bread generally more than
50 per cent.
  If all the habits are well regulated, true natural thirst
will seldom be experienced by the healthy, and it remains
yet  to be proved, that, (except in certain cases, as in hiccup,
heart-burn, acidity, &c.,) the  drinking of water is useful at
such times as  when there is  no  thirst.   Priessnitz recom-
mends drinking at meals,  but not  to excess.
  Acidity of the Stomach,  Heart-Burn, and Thirst, caused
by improper food.—Mr. Sylvester Graham, who  has written
so strongly, and in general so accurately, upon the subject of
health, fell into the error of advocating the disuse of drink
in acidity, heart-burn, and the like, and others have done  the
same.   Generally in such cases there is no thirst, but some-
times this becomes very tormenting.  Now in all these cases. 
DRINKING OF WATER.
47
if I can understand the effects of water, both upon myself
and others, 1 am certain that copious drinking is one of the
best, if not the best, means that can be used, i. e.  after the
difficulty  is  already  present.  Better much, of course,  to
avoid the trouble by practising sufficient moderation  in
food, but if the evil comes, drink.
   Digestion is one thing and fermentation another,  and very
different.  If the stomach is weak, food is apt to pass at once
into  acetous fermentation,  just as  would be,  were it  in
any other warm moist place.  The acid substance is an ir-
ritant or excitant to the coats of the organ, thus causing the
difficulties in question.  The more  it is diluted, therefore,
the less effect can it have, and the sooner is it washed away.
The undue heat in the part is quelled, and the stomach is
invigorated, the better to perform its  functions.
   Wind upon the stomach may be expelled  by  drinking
rery often small quantities of water.
   The smaller difficulties of digestion had  perhaps better
not be interfered  with.  When  the  process goes on  fairly,
three or more hours should supervene  before drinking  is
commenced.   Towards the end of digestion, the  stomach
becomes jaded, so  to speak, when the sipping of water will
prove salutary.
   Hiccup.—As is perhaps  generally  known, hiccup is  at
once arrested simply  by drinking.   Even in those  cases we
all dread so much, in which hiccup is an almost certain in-
dication of approaching death, it may often be arrested  bv
small draughts of water frequently repeated.   It does one's
inmost heart good, if he can do something to relieve his frieno
when upon the bed of death.  Other  cooling means are here
also useful.
   Bleeding from the Stomach.—In this there is great heat  in
the part, and  cold water is very grateful as well as salutary.
The swallowing of small pieces of ice, and  taking frequent-
ly small draughts of ice-cold water, are the best means until
hemorrhage is  arrested.  Any  part that is bleeding can
hardly be  chilled too much.
   Cholera.—It is a fashion for the profession to assert that
nothing is known of the true mode of treating the cholera, 
48
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
because the opinions concerning it were  so contradictory.
Professor Chapman,  of the chair of theory and practice  in
the medical department of the  University in Philadelphia,
said three years ago, in my hearing at one of his  lectures,
that the best mode he ever saw in cholera was, giving the
patient as much ice and ice-water as he desired ; and, said
he, it is astonishing what quantities such patients would take
in this disease.  In this the  professor  was right.   There is
no disease in which  the serum or watery part of the blood
passes off so rapidly as in this.   There must necessarily be
a thirst proportioned  to the loss of fluid, and there is no other
disease  in  which  such enormous quantities of water are
tolerated as in this.
   Constipation.—Persons are always bettered more or less
in this complaint  by drinking  freely of pure soft  water.
Nothing, however, will answer  fully for plainness of food  in
these cases.  Water-drinking is  good, but other means  in
connexion must be used.
  Mineral  Waters.—Patients go to watering-places,  leave
their cares, anxieties, excessive  labors, mental and  physi-
cal,  rise early, go much in the open air, drink spring water,
and  by so doing are sometimes benefitted, sometimes  made
worse.  The same  principle precisely, holds  good  in the
use of all mineral waters as in  drugs.  It is for the drug
effects only that they are taken.   The same amount of pure
soft water, drank in connexion with the other favorable cir-
cumstances, would be incomparably better than the mineral
water.  Ask one hundred  persons who  have  tried  both
methods, and ninety-nine, if not the whole number, will de-
cide in accordance with that which I have affirmed.
  Head-ache.—Many persons troubled with this symptom,
have only to restrict themselves to  water-drinking, partak-
ing temperately of plain food,  and the difficulty vanishes.
But some had rather eat and drink, and die, than deny self.
Poor human nature, how weak !
   The Teeth.—The'good effects of water-drinking  are very
apparent in  the condition  of the  teeth.   These beautiful
and useful organs are thus rendered firmer, whiter, and less
liable to decay and ache. 
DRINKING OF WATER.
49
   The Skin.—Water-drinking  affects  very favorably the
skin.   It becomes clearer, more beautiful, and has a better
hue.   Old and obstinate skin diseases, pimples, eruptions,
and rashes, have been cured simply by drinking pure dis-
tilled  water for a length of  time, the person at the same
time being temperate in food.   In a crisis way, these symp-
toms may at first become a little increased,  but  only the
sooner to be expelled.
   Palpitation  of the Heart.—This symptom may, in many
cases,  be cured merely by coming down to water, and ex-
cluding all other drinks.
   Vomiting by Water.—If there is need of vomiting, as in
internal cramps, colics, pain in the bowels, flatulency, pros-
tration by heat or cold, poisoning, &c, water vomiting is a
most serviceable means.  Drink many tumblers of blood-
warm water, place the finger in the  throat, or knead the
stomach,  and  the vomiting ensues.   Repeat the process
again  and again, till  the  organ is  completely  cleansed.
Perseverance  must be  practised here, in  some  cases, at
least.  Persons must be urged  to the work, if they  have
not, of themselves,  courage enough.   The sick cannot  al-
ways be their own masters in these things.  If a cathartic
action is caused by the water drank, the effect is good.
   Water-Vomiting in Poisoning.—Domestic animals,  it  is
well known, if they become poisoned, as  by arsenic set  for
rats, take, at once, to water.   They vomit many times, and
are thus sometimes saved.  Rats do the same ;  but whether
they are generally killed or not, would  not be so easy to
determine.
   Nearly three years ago,  a  very worthy lady,  in this
city, was, beyond doubt,  poisoned by  her husband, a phy-
sician,  and  worthless  character, in the following  way:
There had been serious difficulty between them ; and, one
day, he wrote a penitential note, requesting her  to call  at
his office.  She being anxious to do all she could for peace
and good will, went.  They were neither of them, strictly
speaking, temperance persons ;  so he took down what  ap-
peared to be  some bottles of porter.   But, of one of  these
he poured a part of the contents for her,  and took the  other
               3 
50
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
for himself.   She said,  immediately on drinking the arti-
cle, it seemed as if it  flew like fire through the whole sys-
tem, to the fingers' ends.  She went  instantly to the door,
was helped into a carriage, and arrived soon  at her board-
ing-house.   She was  at once carried  into the house, but
could scarcely utter  a whisper ;  and  severe cramps and
contractions of the muscles and limbs, with coldness of the
extremities, had come on.  A lady in  the house, who under-
stood water treatment, commenced quickly giving water  to
drink.  The mouth, throat, and stomach  were so burning,
the patient afterwards said, that she could not at all taste the
water, although ice-cold.   I was sent for immediately ; but,
the messenger not finding me,  another was callsd.   When
I arrived, the attending physician, together with the well-
known chemist, Dr. Chilton,  was present.   They approved
of what had been done, and continued the vomiting, as the
symptoms demanded.   Gallons of water were drank and
vomited ;  and, by this simple means, apparently, the lady
was saved.
   There  was one thing remarkable in this case.   Dr. Chil-
ton, although so ingenious a chemist,  could not possibly de-
tect any poison in what was vomited.  The physician, who
we had every reason  to believe gave the lady poison, was
remarkably  well educated, and knew,  doubtless, too well,
that there were some vegetable poisons which no  chemist
could possibly detect under such circumstances.   Cases of
poisoning have not unfrequently been cured in the  above
way.  Poison taken internally inflames the stomach.  Wa-
ter is the effectual agent to reduce inflammation, as well as
to cleanse, and  here  we can get  immediately at the very
part, and the remedy is besides the most grateful one to  be
found.  The lady  above referred to said, that she felt  as
certain as possible that she must have died, had it not been
for the water, so much had she suffered.  This she said  on
my first seeing her, and so to this day.
   To check  Vomiting.—Vomiting  is   sometimes  very obsti-
nate.  I  have  never yet had any  difficulty to arrest  it.
Persons in this state  are often dosed and dosed  with such
quantities of food and medicine, so  frequently,  and of  so 
DRINKING OF WATER.
51
many  kinds, that it is no wonder at all  that the  vomiting
does not cease.  Many cases would stop soon enough, if the
patients were only let alone.  The stomach is always fever-
ish when vomiting occurs in this way.   What does common
sense then dictate  as the remedy ?  Let  cold water be ta-
ken in small quantity, according to the  strength.  And if
there is  strength  enough to cause vomiting, some water
at least can be borne.   The vomiting may continue a while,
but when the stomach is cleansed and sufficiently cooled, it
stops.  Give then  afterwards no nourishment until the or-
gan has had a good rest.
                    CHAPTER IV.

       THE ENEMA, CLYSTER, INJECTION OR LAVEMENT.

   This very important part of  the water-cure, is as old as
the healing art itself, but in the endless complications of the
remedial means of modern times, almost any irritating or
disgusting  fluid, other than pure water, is preferred.   A va-
riety of instruments for  administering  injections are now
manufactured, varying in price from fifty cents  to four or
five dollars.   The  cheaper  kinds, if well made  and used
with some degree of dexterity, answer a good purpose.—
Every person should have access to one ; no lady's toilet is
complete without it.   Contrary to the common notion,  a per-
son, by the exercise of a little skill,  can  easily use this rem-
edy without assistance.   It is in  no wise painful, but de-
cidedly agreeable, and affords  in a variety  of complaints,
speedy and efficient  relief.  Thousands suffer  incalcula-
bly  from   constipation,  year after year,  when the  use
of this simple  means would  give the  greatest relief,  and
thousands more are in the daily and constant habit of swal- 
52
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
lowing cathartic and aperient drugs, Brandreth's pills, cas-
tor oil, magnesia., blue pill, mercury, and so through the long
chapter,  that irritate and poison the delicate coats of the
stomach, and exert their pernicious influence throughout
the numberless lanes  and alleys of the  system, destroying
the healthy  tone of the tissues, deranging the nerves, and
thus causing a state of things incomparably worse than the
disease itself, and rendering even that  more and more per-
sistent.
   Most persons may and should use this remedy cold.   A
beginning may be  made with the water slightly warmed.
In obstinate cases, luke-warm water effects the object quick-
er and with greater certainty than cold.   It may be repeat-
ed  again and again,  in as  great  quantity  as is  desired.
Some prefer the clyster before  breakfast; others  immedi-
ately after; the former, I believe, on the whole,  to be the
best.  A  good mode, too, is to take a small injection, a tumb-
ler full, more or less, that is retained permanently without
a movement before morning.  This is very soothing to the
nervous  system, aids in procuring sound  sleep,  and by its
absorption, in the coats of the bowels, dilutes acrid matters
therein, tonifying and strengthening likewise those parts,
and aiding  materially  in bringing  about  natural  move-
ments ;  but invaluable and efficient as is this remedy, let
no one persist in those habits of diet, such as tea and coffee
drinking, the use of  heating and stimulating condiments,
greasy and concentrated forms of food, &c,  that tend  so
certainly to constipation and irregularity of the bowels.
   In  all forms of looseness of  the bowels,  as  diarrhoea,
dysentery, cholera morbus, cholera infantum,  and  the like,
this remedy is  most excellent.   In many a sudden attack,
injections, sufficiently persevered in, will suffice quickly to
correct  the attack, and this when, in the ordinary treat-
ment, a course  of powerful drugging  would be deemed in-
dispensable, that would  result perhaps in death. This state-
ment will cause sneering, I know, but it is no fancy sketch.
The thoroughly washing out, so to say, the lower bowels ;
by which also  the  peristaltic or downward action of the
whole alimentary canal is promoted, and by the absorption 
INJECTIONS.
53
or transudation of water, its contents are moistened and dilu-
ted, and the whole of the abdominal circulation completely
suffused, by  that blandest and most soothing of all fluids.
pure water.  I say all this is sufficient to effect, in all such
cases, a great amount of good ; and whoever understands
well the sympathies and tendencies of  these parts of the
human system, will at once perceive  the  truth  of that I
affirm.   So also  in constipation and  obstructions of the
bowels ;  when no  powerful cathartics that any  one dare
venture to exhibit, can be made to act, this simple remedy
is effectual in bringing about the desirable object.
   In any of these cases, if there is debility, and especially
if it be great, whether the patient be young or old,  the water
should be used of  a moderate temperature—not above that
of the  blood  (98° F.) nor  very much  below that point.
Even if there is  high inflammation and much heat in the
bowels, water at 90  or 95°, persevered  in, will readily bring
down the temperature of the parts to a natural state, as may
be determined by  placing the  hand  upon the  abdomen.
The patient's feelings of comfort as to warmth or cold are a
good guide.  With these precautions as to temperature, &c,
the injections may be repeated for an  hour, or even hours
upon the stretch.
   In  attacks of colic, clysters  are used much.   In spas-
modic colic, I believe,  it will generally be found best  to
use them quite warm.   In  wind colic, the enema is highly
useful.  Vomiting as well, and some other means, as is
shown elsewhere, should be brought to bear.  Some cases
are very obstinate and require all the skill of the most ex-
perienced  practitioner; yet I advise all persons  to perse-
vere ;  in bad cases, you cannot make matters worse, and
will generally succeed if you do not falter by the way.
   At the beginning of labor in childbirth,  it is  advisable
that the colon or lower bowel be cleared of its conteuts.
There is generally more or less constipation then ; and it
is the  common practice to  administer some  cathartic,  slow
in its operation, and irritating and debilitating in its effects.
   The injection is quick and harmless in its action, and al-
 wavs  aids, in a greater or less degree,  the natural pains 
54             THE  WATER-CURE  MANUAL.

in accouchement.  It is also invaluable day by day, when
needed, after the birth.
  In uterine hemorrhage, or bleeding from the womb, very
cold injections  might be brought well to  bear,  but they
have seldom if ever  been used for that purpose.
  In the untold sufferings of painful menstruation,  expe-
rienced by so many of the  fair ones of our country, now-
a-days, injections to the bowels are invaluable.  Generally
chilling cold ones are best here.   They do not arrest the
menstrual discharge,  as would generally  be feared, but on
the  contrary, promote it if too  scanty, or  check it  if too
great.   If in any case  the cold  application increases the
pain, the warm one is indicated.
  In fainting  fits, and in  hysterical symptoms, the injec-
tion is  serviceable.   If there  is  much debility, care must
be taken that  the temperature  is  not too cold ; but, gene-
rally, the colder it is given, the  better.
  In cases of cholera infantum, when the infant is already
past recovery,  I have  known tepid injections, frequently re-
peated, give, apparently, much relief; and it affords satis-
faction, when nothing more can be  done, to be the means,
in some degree, of smoothing the passage of these innocent
sufferers to the tomb.
  Injections to the urinary  passages, and to the vagina and
womb, are useful in all acute and chronic affections of these
parts.   The water should generally be used cold.  Various
instruments  are constructed for these purposes.
  In piles and hemorrhoids,  of whatever  kind, injections
are indicated.   Recent cases are often cured with wonder-
ful  rapidity; and, in any case,  those who  have been long
troubled with  these  complaints,  (and it would seem, that
about one-half the number  of adults who lead a sedentary
life, are thus troubled,) will find,  that simple, pure  water
is incomparably better than any of the thousand-and-one nos-
trums so much in vogue at this day.  In a majority of these
old  cases,  however,   no  local application  will accomplish
much,   alone.   The  local symptoms  only  indicate the dis-
eased condition of the whole  alimentary canal, as well as
considerable derangement  of every function  of the  whole 
INJECTIONS.
55
system.   Hence, the treatment must be general, and often
powerful  and long continued ; and  it may appear singu-
lar that the disease may be made apparently worse by the
treatment, before it can* be cured.  It likewise,  sometimes,
comes on as a crisis, where it never had existed  previously.
In all of these cases, cold injections are good.
   Injections of air, or ventilation of the bowels, have been
recommended and practised by some, in cases of obstinate
character.  A pair of small hand-bellows have  been used,
for giving the remedy.   I have no personal  knowledge  of
this means.  Confined air, or gas, in the bowels, we know,
may be the cause of  much pain ; but I doubt if there need
be any fear on this score.  The air is introduced from be-
low upwards ; and it would appear that the air  would not
be apt to become confined, since it must find  exit  in  the
same way by which it was introduced.
                     CHAPTER V.

          BATHING,  AND DESCRIPTIONS  OF BATHS.

  And Naaman, the leper, came with his horses and with his chariot,
and stood at the door of the house of the prophet Elisha.
  And Elisha sent a messenger to him,  saying,  Go wash in the river
Jordan, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought
he would surely come out to me, and stand, and  call upon the name of
the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the  place, and recover the
leper.  So he went away in a rage.
  And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father,
if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have
done it 1   How much rather then, when he saith unto thee, Wash, and
be clean.                                   Book of Kings.

              " Cleanliness is next to Godliness."

   Neither Priessnitz, or any of his followers,  contend for
the remedial use of water, as being entirely new.  On the
contrary, they advocate the antiquity of the system.  Far 
56
THE WATER-CUKE  MANUAL.
back, even in Bible history, we find examples of ablutions,
washings, purifications ; and so in all  periods of time.   We
have not here room for a detailed account of the historical
uses of water, but  must content ourselves by merely des-
cribing the modes of the modern water-cure.
  The Abreibung, or Rubbing  Wet-Sheet.—This is  one of
the  mildest and most convenient forms of a bath.  A  large
linen sheet, of coarse material, is wrung out in cold water,
and, while  dripping, one or  more assistants immediately
aid  in rubbing over the whole surface.  This is continued,
briskly, three, five,  or more minutes, until the skin becomes
reddened, and the surface  in a glow.   The system is then
made dry with towels, or a dry sheet.  Frictions  with the
dry hand, are also  very  useful.  If the patient is feverish,
much friction is not required,—the sheet is repeated often.
  In determination  of blood to the  head,  the lower extre-
mities being generally cold, the rubbing-sheet tends to re-
store an  equilibrium of the circulation.   The rubbing wet-
sheet,  in principle, is easily  administered  to  patients in
such a state of health as to render it necessary for them to
remain in bed.   The person lays upon a blanket, that  may
be afterwards removed :  a portion of  the system is rubbed,
first with wet towels, followed with the dry.   This part is
then covered, and the other  extremities disposed of in the
same way.  The water should be moderated, according to
the strength of the patient.   All  who are  able to  walk
about, to ensure warmth, should take the water  cold.
  Dr. R. H. Graham, of London, who advocates, strongly,
the  uses of water, but objects  to Priessnitz  as  a  prac-
titioner,  commits an error in saying,  " A glass of  water
must be  drank immediately before,  during, or after this ap-
plication, according to the inclination of the patient."   Be-
fore no cold bath, whatever, should cold  water be drank.
Even if  there is fever and thirst, we should avoid drinking
it.   Most persons  may bear  such  a practice ; but,  even
with the most  robust,  the physiological action  of the bath
is more  beneficial with the drinking omitted until after it:
and then, water should  not be taken internally, until the
system becomes decidedly warm. 
BATHS.
57
  Again, Dr. G. says, " It may, moreover, be usea immedi-
ately after dinner, and with much advantage, when the body
is covered with perspiration, from exercise."   Here, again,
?s wrong teaching.  Physiology says, unequivocally, "When
digestion is going on, take no form, whatever,  of general
Dath."  If you  exercise the muscular system violently, or
set the brain hard at work, the blood and  vital power need-
ed at the stomach, is withdrawn to other  parts, and, there-
fore, it cannot well do  its office ; and if you  commence
operating upon the skin,  that greatest organ of the system,
you, by sympathy, arrest the progress of its work.  I ad-
mit, certainly, that if the dinner has  been such (and there
are some who take of this kind) as to throw the system into
a decided general fever, this should, by some means, be re-
duced.  Digestion does not now go on.   Under such cir-
cumstances, then, a person may take  the  rubbing sheet, or,
if strong, almost any form of bath.   If it. be the fever caused
by strong  drink, he may  lay  himself in  a tepid bath, and
sleep, even, until his fever is  removed, and he awakes re-
freshed.  But such modes are very wrong for the  well, or
those in chronic disease.
  As to the other part of Dr.  G.'s last statement, if a per-
son is  very much fatigued, and covered  with perspiration,
he must be careful how he meddles with the cold bath. But,
if the fatigue has not gone too far, although there is perspi-
ration, the rubbing wet-sheet  is one of the most soothing,
and, at the same time, invigorating modes that can  possibly
be found.   Such as have become exhausted, from public
speaking, strong mental efforts, watchings, and the like, are
greatly benefitted by the . rubbing wet-sheet.  If, at any
time, the surface is cool, dry  frictions or exercise are to be
practised, to induce warmth, before it  is used.   If a person,
from debility, fails of becoming warm, he is well wrapped
in dry  blankets, a half hour, or more, and, when  sufficiently
comfortable,  the rubbing sheet  is  again  given, to  promote
the strength.   Frictions,  with the dry, warm  hands of as-
sistants, are always good, in these cases,  to help  to insure
warmth.  If a person finds himself  remaining cold in the
lein-tuch, he should  omit that, until  the  use of the abrei-
              3* 
58
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
bung, exercise, &c, enables him to get warm.  The tonic
effect of the rubbing sheet is most serviceable in nignt per-
spirations and debilitating sweats.
  The very soothing effects of the rubbing sheet shouid not
be lost sight of.  In cares, watchings, and in grief, this re-
medy of Priessnitz's is unparalleled in its effects.  In deli-
rium tremens, and  in inebriation, it  is  most  valuable in  its
results.  Priessnitz,  in  his  practice,  depends upon it very
much.
  Towel Bath.—By means of wet towels, we may take, al-
most anywhere, a good bath.  With  a single quart of wa-
ter, we can do this, even in a room, carpeted ever so nice,
without spilling a single drop.  The towel bath  may seem
a small matter;  but we find none, but the most lazy, who,
once accustomed, are willing to relinquish its  use.   Small
matters, oft repeated, and long continued, accomplish much.
A little medicine is taken, day by day, and, at length, health
fails, and death is the result.   Tea, coffee, tobacco,  wine,
&c, are used in very small quantities, and the teeth become
dark, and decay ;  the head  aches,  the hand trembles, and
the  spirits fail.  So good influences, however  small, in the
end, accomplish great results.
  How can it be, asks an objector, that trifling applications,
made externally, become, to the internal organs, so servicea-
ble  as some assert ?  This query may be well answered in
the  sarcastic words of a good old English writer on water,
Dr. Baynard :  "A demi-brained doctor, of more note than
sense,  asked, in the amazed agony of his half understand-
ing, how 'twas possible that  an external application should
affect the bowels, and cure the pain within.   Why, doctor,
quoth an old woman, standing by, by the same reason, that
being wet-shod, or catching  cold from without, should give
you the gripes and pain within."
  Sponge  Bath.—Some like to stand in a tub, and  use  a
large sponge, out of which the water is pressed, and made
to pass upon the head, neck,  and shoulders, and other parts.
We may pour water from a cup, basin,  or pitcher, if we
choose.  There appears  to be no particular advantage in
the sponges;—the  water is what we need. 
BATHS.
59
  The Shower  Bath.—This  is  often  wrongly used.  As
physicians are becoming generally more impressed with the
importance of water, they not unfrequently say to a patient,
" Take the shower bath."  The patient, a lady, perhaps, is
very weak.  Medicine enough to make her so, quite likely
has been given, and a good bill  run up.  Last of all, the
order comes, " Take the shower bath :" about  as philoso-
phic a prescription, as to say to a person in severe constipa-
tion, and not at  all acquainted  with the doses of medicine,
" Take  Croton oil."  Of this most powerful of all purga-
tives, every one  would, of course,  take too much.   Within
three years, since baths are getting to be the fashion, I have
known a number of persons  materially injured, in  conse-
quence of this loose kind of advice.   A great many patients
are too weak to take the cold shower bath.  Milder means
must be used.
  The shower bath should never  be taken upon  the head.
Some can bear it;  but, in all cases, it is better to wash the
part.  The head should  never  be  beaten by water, or any
thing else.  Most men have an idea, that taking it  upon the
head is necessary, to prevent rushing of blood to the part.
Cooling the head is, of course,  good for  this, and,  if the
bath has but little force, the  head is, in many instances, be-
nefitted.   But it may be beneficially acted upon indirectly,
as by the foot bath, which is so good to relieve head-ache.
The  hip bath is easily managed, so as to cause the same
effect.  So, also, the shower bath, upon any or all parts of
the body, but the head,  may be made to cause the  same re-
sult.   Now the blood at the feet is cooled, and now it has ar-
rived at the head.   The blood  is rapidly coursing through
the  system ; and  thus,  by  cooling it, we very soon affect
the most distant part.
  If the person  has strength enough, and does not take the
shower bath upon the head, he will find no difficulty in its
use.  It is a very valuable  and convenient mode; and
many persons have, by this  simple means, been most won-
derfully restored.   And yet, some water-practitioners are
so prejudiced, that, if a patient commences telling  them the
benefit he has derived from its  use, they at once fall into a 
00
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
rage.  It  is easy, in these cases, to see where  the  shoe
pinches:  they have committed themselves before-hand, and
been talking of what they know but little about.  If I have,
myself, taken  some hundreds of the shower bath, and pre-
scribed it to hundreds of others, (as  I have,) I  ought  to
know more concerning its effects than those who have seldom
or never attempted its use.   I do not say that a shower bath
is the best that can  be;  but I contend, that,  properly man-
aged, it is a most excellent  mode.  The pouring of water,
or the small stream, of the  same quantity and force of the
shower, I hold is, in most cases, the best.  I go, as I always
have done, for avoiding the shock, although this is generally
advocated as  being the principal good of the bath.  The
pouring, and the small stream, much less than the shower,
produce a shock.
  Drunkenness.—In the fever of drunkenness, (for that state
of the  system is one of artificial fever,) the  best thing that
can be done is to cool the body;  and, in this way, the ef-
fects of water are often singular enough.   Thus, if a per-
son is  so  drunken  as  not  to  be  able to speak a sentence
through, a good showering, or  pouring of cold water over
the body, restores the senses at once.   Those who are " dead
drunk," are more quickly restored in this  than any other
possible way.  Pouring cold water some time upon the head,
works wonders in cases of this kind.   Large cold injections
are also highly serviceable here.
   Obstinacy.—Cold water is one of the best  means, in cases
of obstinacy.   The dashing of cold  water upon  obstinate
persons, is immeasurably more humane and effectual  than
the old barbarous modes.  Prisoners have been much injured
by  a stream  of cold water  directed   upon  the head; and
thus this kind of punishment seems to have gone into disre-
pute.   It was a dangerous practice, and  never should  have
been commenced.   The head should never be beaten by a
stream of water, or any thing else.
   General directions concerning  Baths.—Persons who are
under the necessity  of commencing the use of water, with-
out the advice  of  a physician, (and most persons in chronic
disease, with  the most perfect safety, may,) should begin 
BATHS.
HI
very cautiously.  It is so easy, at any time,  to increase,
that  there  is no  need of hurry  in  the  matter.   " Haste
makes waste."   Begin  by merely  washing  the  surface
once, daily.  If you are  very weak  and  sensitive, use the
water at 70°  F.,  or even 80°, and,  if it  is  at  90°,  it
is yet cooling,—cold water, in effect,  and  very mild in de-
gree.  It is easy, then, to lower the  temperature, day by
day, as you find you can bear.   Rub the skin thoroughly,
to excite activity in this part.  The warmer it becomes, and
the better the circulation, the more grateful is water, and
the better  the effect accomplished.  Very  soon  you can
commence  taking  the shower, small  stream, or  douche,
upon a part.   Take it, first,  upon a single  limb,  or two,
next upon  all the limbs,  then  upon a part of the  body,
and, finally,  upon  the whule, except  the head.   In this
way,  any one, who is able to walk  about, may gradu-
ally and safely accustom himself to the shower, or  small
douche  bath.   Most  persons are  apt to wish  to  proceed
too rapidly, and, in so  doing,  fail of  bringing about the
best results.   If  disease  has been a  long  time  accumu-
lating, as is  almost always true,  time must be given for
Nature  to  do her work.  You may aid  her in her efforts,
but to force her, is impossible.   Many invalids, of course,
have strength to proceed much  more rapidly than I  have
indicated for  those who are very weak.  But, I repeat, those
who practise  upon  themselves,  should  proceed  cautiously,
and, as it were, feel their way.
   If one bath per. day is  found useful, soon a second may
be ventured  upon,  and,  finally, a third, or  even  a fourth.
Weak persons go fishing voyages, and, in many cases, soon
become able  to remain much in the  water,  the whole day,
and half of the night.  If a crisis appears, you may know
Nature is doing her work.  The treatment  must be, then,
moderated, as we shall elsewhere see.
   Bath by Affusion.—A person  may stand in a wash-tub or
any convenient place, and by means of  a pitcher, cup,  or
hand-basin, pour water upon the  neck and shoulders, and
thus take a very excellent bath.   This simple way will in-
deed  be found, as a general thing, better  than the portable 
62             THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 shower baths.  These are very apt to get out of order, al-
 though some of them are very good.
   Fifty years ago, Dr. Currie, of England, performed won-
 ders by the affusion of cold and tepid water,  graduated in
 temperature  according to the  strength of the  constitution.
 In  all the varieties of fever he adopted the  mode ;  so in
 small  pox, measles, scarlatina,—as well as in  convulsive
 diseases and in insanity.   It is now acknowledged by the
 highest authority in that country, that Dr. Currie's  mode
 was attended with greater success than any other previous-
 ly known.
   Plunge Bath.—In sea, river and lake, as well as by arti-
 ficial means, bathing and general ablutions have been prac-
 tised from time immemorial ;  as a  matter  of  luxury, reli-
 gious  observance,  purification, prevention and cure of
 disease,  bathing  has been resorted to in every period
 of the world.   So efficacious has this simple means proved
 in the healing of the sick,  that not a little superstition
 has  been  mingled with it.  Springs and wells have  often
 been supposed to possess some  mysterious power, and have,
 therefore, been named after some pattern saint.   The world
 has loved mystery and  marvellousness, and has ever been
 wandering from simplicity and truth.
   Many wonderful things are recorded of the effects of the
 general cold bath.   Insane persons, who have,  accidentally
 or designedly, plunged into cold water, have been almost as
 suddenly brought to their reason.   There is a  well authen-
 ticated story, like this :   An insane  man, living upon  the
 Connecticut river, was observed by his friends  to be making
 his way with a rope in his hand towards the river.   Know-
 ing  his suicidal  propensities, his friends  followed.    He
succeeded in climbing a tree, the branches overhanging the
 river.  Before he could be reached, he succeeded in placing
the rope about his neck,  but in his  haste  forgot to attach it
to the limb : so in jumping off, instead of being hung,  as he
intended, he fell into the  cold river.  He was taken out by
his friends, and at once recovered his senses.
   I know  a physician who was delirious in a high fever, and
being of strong frame, he ran away from his attendants, 
BATHS.
63
plunged  himself into a spring stream, and there  remained
until the  system was cooled, when he came to his right mind
and was  soon cured.
  My worthy friend, Mr. Flagg, ex-mayor of New Haven,
informed me that at one time, while in the south, a very fatal
fever (the yellow fever, I think,) was raging, and carried off
numbers in a very short time.  A friend of his, of strong
frame, was attacked and in  a few hours died.  The  fever
came upon himself, but in its beginning he hastened to the
sea-shore, waited in the  water some hours,  and thus broke
up the attack.
  I was informed of a gentleman of Boston, who some years
since had the rheumatism very severely, and one cold win-
ter's day accidentally fell through ice into the water.  His
friends took him out, thinking, of course, that death would
be the certain result, but were surprised to find him very
soon recovered of the  disease.  Such occurrences have
every now  and then happened, but, valuable as is bathing,
we cannot  reckon  upon  them as being the ordinary  result.
Drunken persons, as  is  well known, are very soon sobered
by a good cooling with cold  water.
  Howard, the philanthropist, as we elsewhere see, observed
most remarkable effects to take  place from cold baths.  In
prisons, one great object of his was to recommend their fre-
quent use.   The very talented Rev. John Wesley also had
the sagacity to observe the remarkable effects of cold water
baths.
  In districts, where autumnal fevers  prevail, boys  who
have been in the habit of resorting  to the swimming  exer-
cise daily,  have been known  by  numbers to pass through the
season without having the slightest attack  of fever, while
those who did not practise the water exercise,  almost every
one experienced the disease.
  Fighting dogs are  very soon quelled by dashing cold wa-
ter upon  them.  The experiment would not be a  bad one,
made upon fighting  men.   Beyond a doubt, if cold water
was  more freely used, there would  be  less need  of bullets
and stripes.
  It is well known that the  numerous  body of Christians 
61
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 called Baptists, are in the habit of performing the ceremo-
 ny of baptism in the most inclement seasons of the year.
 As an argument in  favor of their peculiar mode of adminis-
 tering this rite, it has often been said that none are ever in-
jured by it, however cold the water may be when it is per-
 formed.  Those who fear so much the effects of cold wa-
 ter under ordinary circumstances, naturally enough attri-
 bute this immunity from harm to  a  superhuman  power.
 Whether this be so or not, everyone must be his own judge.
 The fact certainly exists, that persons seldom, if ever, under
these circumstances, receive any harm.
   Not only is no injury done  to the health, in these cases,
but sometimes great good.  As I am now writing, my wor-
thy co-worker,  Mr. La Morte Barney, hands me an anec-
dote,  penned down  as  given by the individual who  re-
lated it to him, as follows :  " Not long since, a clergyman
called at our  office,  and appearing to be much interested in
the new system, I,  through curiosity, asked him what first
induced him to turn his mind to the subject.  He said  he had
been for years afflicted  with the  rheumatism, which grew
upon him as he became more advanced in life.  One pierc-
ing cold Sunday, about a year ago, in  time of a revival, he
was persuaded, against  his  inclination,  to  preach.  A
large congregation assembled ; the  room was very  warm,
he became  much excited, and at the end of his  discourse,
was in a profuse perspiration.  He was now prevailed up-
on  to undertake the baptizing  of  a number  of persons.
Putting his trust in Providence, he was soon at the  water's
side.  Not feeling able  to perform the service of prayer, he
requested a brother to lead in that exercise.   The latter, in-
stead of making the prayer as short as was desirable, contin-
ued it to an unusual length.   At  the conclusion, the  former
had become so chilled as to be scarcely able to advance in-
to  the water.   With  difficulty he succeeded  in  baptizing
the proposed number, but, at'the end, found himself unable
to  come out from the cold element without assistance.   He
Mas conveyed to the nearest house, stripped, made dry, and
wrapped in  warm blankets, and, although chilled as he was,
he  became, before a long time,  comfortable.  The result 
BATHS.
65
was, that instead of being killed, as was supposed would be
the case, he was at once relieved, and his rheumatism left
him.   Occasionally, since, he has had slight returns of the
disease, Which have been as often driven off by the applica-
tions of cold water.  Thus singularly was this  individual
brought to experience in his own person the wonderful ef-
fects of cold water."
   Mr. Barney  also gives me  at second-hand a narrative
showing the power of water, to wit:
   " A gentleman of this city (a patient of Dr. Shew's) tells
me the following story.  In the early part of last March,
he went, in company with a physician, on a fishing  excur-
sion.   The latter had an affection of the throat, which part
he  was very careful to exclude from  the cold, fearing if
the cold air  came in contact with that part, it might end in
serious consequences.   However, they had not been engag-
ed long at their sport, ere a flaw struck them  and upset the
boat, leaving them in the  water.   They remained in  this
predicament nearly half an hour; a boat then came to their
rescue.   They reached the shore, and there  being no con-
veyance at  hand, were obliged to  run, as it  were, for
their  lives.  They reached the house, and with  some diffi-
culty  relieved  themselves of  their frozen clothing.  After
some time they  became warm.   They passed the night  and
their sleep was not troubled with frightful dreams.   In the
morning, the doctor was at a  loss to know what had become
of his bronchitis.   In accidents like the above there seems
never to be any harm done, except theondividual becomes
either greatly exhausted or the body frozen."
  Priessnitz's Plunging Baths.—In each of his different build-
ings, and those of his immediate neighbors,  (some  twenty
houses in all,) there are  oblong plunging baths, made rude-
ly of strong coopers' work.  These are supplied by the pure
spring water that  issues  so  copiously  in every direction
among the hills.  The water is conveyed from considerable
distances in  hollow  logs placed in the ground.  The water
passes continually in at one side of the bath, and out at the
other.   That it may  be pure, it  is  made to pass under
ground, through earth and gravel, after it leaves one build- 
66
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
ing to go to another.  A perpetually cleansing bath of wa-
ter so pure and soft as that at Grafenberg,  is  a  blessing
which  may well be craved.   These baths of Priessnitz's
are all placed  in the  basements or cellar kitchens of the
houses, and  as persons pass from  the  wet sheet, or the
sweating blanket, which is now rarely used there, they have
often to go a considerable distance  to the bath.   Rude as
things necessarily  are in these mountain parts, one would
be looked upon strangely should he  undertake to convince
the people here of the  feasibility of conveying  water  into
the upper stories of the  houses.  Besides, it is Priessnitz's
professed object, and a true way, to  make the cure a hardy
one.  The more hardy and work-like the course, the better
the' results.
  These plunging baths are much used in the  cure.  Those
who are not sufficiently strong, practise at first the rubbing
wet sheet, half baths, hip baths, drinking,  exercise, &c,
until they have sufficient strength.   From the sheet or the
perspiration, the person goes  quickly to the bath,  wets his
face and temples, and then plunges directly in. He remains
longer or shorter, as the case may require.   It is  not  best
to continue so  long as to get a second chill.   Keep in mo-
tion, and practise as much friction as possible, while in the.
water.  These baths are exceedingly exhilarating  and in-
vigorating for those who are in a condition  to bear them,
and most persons are.
   The  Douche  (Doosh) Bath.—This powerful bath,  al-
though highly useful in a great variety of cases, is not per-
haps quite as much used at Grafenberg as it formerly was.
With all Priessnitz's amount of experience (greater than that
of any other  man), as  he  grows  older, he makes  some
changes.  Nor is he unwilling, as has been  said,  to speak
of those changes, but, on the contrary, glad to inculcate the
improvements he has made.   1 know by personal experi-
ence of what I affirm.
   A stream of water, an inch or two  in diameter, with a
fall of ten, fifteen or twenty feet, may be said to constitute
an  ordinary douche.   At Grafenberg there are a  number
of these in different directions in the forest, formed in rude 
BATHS.
67
huts.   Some are exclusively for ladies, others for the men.
One for each is  kept open through the winter.  According
to rules formed by a standing committee of the patients, a
small sum is paid weekly by those who  use  them, for  the
keeping them in good order, and paying the attendants.
   Although the  most powerful means used in hydropathy,
the douche may be made very mild.  Thus, a small stream,
first taken only  upon a single limb, is easily borne.   With
proper apparatus, indeed, the douche may be  made so mild
that any one can bear it.   If there is doubt in any case as
to its  propriety in a stronger form, it is  best to  commence
in a  small  way, and  only upon  a part of the  system at
once.   It is so easy to increase at  any  time, this will often
be found the safer and  better way.  The system can be
brought  to  endure  almost  anything, provided  moderation
at first and gradual increase are observed.
  Kinds of Douches.—The  douche may be vertical, oblique,
horizontal, or descending.  That which is nearly vertical,
is the one most used, and may be considered as the only one
strictly necessary in the treatment, to produce the different
effects required.  The  ascending douche is, however,  an
excellent mode, in cases of piles,  and diseases of the uterine
organs.  As a local means in uterine hemorrhages, fluor
albus, &c, this remedy is strikingly serviceable.
   In the older works on water,  we find the douche recom-
mended, in various cases, to be taken upon the head.  This
is,  in  every sense,  wrong.  The  principal  effect of  the
douche, it is true, is the conduction of caloric from the part
upon  which it is directed ; still, the mechanical force of the
application is a sufficient objection  against its  use upon that
sensitive part, the head.   The  pouring, or affusion, upon
this part, is  always to be preferred.  No blow of any kind
should ever  be struck upon the head.
   Those who have weak lungs,  stomach, or abdominal or-
gans,  should not take the douche upon  those parts.   Ope-
rate upon the system, through the limbs,  the large joints,
and the muscular parts.  This is the better mode.  Weak
organs can be strengthened, for most part, only through the
general health. 
68
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
  In paralysis, and in diseased joints, the douche is a valu-
able remedy.  In all cases of the like kinds,  the  system
should be  gradually prepared,  by  a general treatment.
Persons are apt, here, as elsewhere, to have too  great re-
gard for local means, and not enough for general treatment.
In diseases, of whatever kind, the greater part of the effect
is to be brought about through the general means.
  In gout and  rheumatism,  affecting the joints, there  has
been not a little discussion among medical writers,  as to the
safety  of douching.   It has been  feared  that  the  disease
might be driven to some other part.   Experience abundant-
ly demonstrates, that of this there is not the slightest danger,
provided certain  plain  rules  are observed.   If  the part  be
hotter than is natural, so long is the application of cold water,
by whatever means made, entirely safe.   Indeed, we have
no proof that cold water, in any case, ever  produces  the
metastasis,  or change of disease from one part  to another,
alluded to.   If the part is not hotter than natural, the dis-
ease might become increased by the douche, but,  further
than this, there is at least room for much doubt.  The prin-
cipal effect of cold  external  applications, it  should be re-
membered, is the abstraction of heat.   The action, then,  is
outward, and not inward, as is by some  supposed.   Another
proof of this is the fact, that eruptions, boils, &c, appear
upon the surface, where the water is used.
  In some cases of swelled and painful joints, the relief ob-
tained, in a very short time, by the douche, is little  less
than miraculous.
  Old  tumors are, sometimes, in connexion with other treat-
ment, driven  away in a very  remarkable manner, by the
action  of the douche.
  The best time for douching, I believe, in most cases, to  be
the morning.   The system is then more vigorous,  from the
night's rest, the  stomach is more apt to be free from undi-
gested food, and  thus the strong impression of this  powerful
mode is the better borne.   A strong douche  should seldom
be taken more than once a day.
   At a small expense, a douche may be arranged in almost
any situation.   By means of a  pump, water is easily ele- 
BATHS.
69
vated to a cistern, or cask, and thus the amount of fall ne-
cessary obtained.
   The Wave Bath.—This is, in some respects, similar  to
the douche.  In  this  there is force of water, as at an un-
dershot mill-wheel,—a sluice-way, as it is called.   A per-
son lays hold of a rope, or  something by which  he  may
keep his situation, and lays himself at length in the  swift
running water.   This  is what is called a wave bath.   The
mode is a good one, but possesses no peculiar advantages.
It is not used by Priessnitz.
   How often to bathe.—There appears to be as good reason
for the daily cleansing of the whole surface as of the hands
and  face.   I  have before written,  " Every  sick person,
in whatever condition, or however weak,  should  have the
whole  body rubbed over, with wet cloths,  sponges, &c,  at
least once  each day.   In some cases,  great caution will  be
required, in order that the bath  be performed safely.   Let
those who have lain for days  upon a sick bed, without any
ablution, as is generally the  case in the ordinary modes  of
medical practice, try, when the body is warm,  the rubbing
it part by part over the whole surface, following, briskly, with
dry cloths, and then covering it warmly,  according  to the
feelings of comfort, and  they will  find  it  a most  effectual
tonic, as well as  an application productive of the  greatest
comfort.   Physicians,  generally, have yet many simple les-
sons of this kind  to learn."
   Let every individual, then, old and young,  male and  fe-
male, sick  or  well, have a daily bath ;  and, in case  of in-
disposition,  of whatever kind, let there be  more, instead  of
less, attention given to bathing.
   The Half Bath.-—This bath may be used as one of the
mildest of water-cure processes, or as one of the most  pow-
erful.  An  ordinary bathing  tub is a very  good apparatus
for the purpose.   A good-sized washing tub will answer very
well, if there is nothing else at  hand.   The water is generally
quite shallow in this bath—from three to six inches.   Priess-
nitz's half baths are made of wood, four to five feet long,  about
two and a half feet wide, and twenty inches deep.  This sim-
ple contrivance is one  of his most powerful means—that  by 
70
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
which some of his highest triumphs are achieved.  The water
is generally used of moderate temperature, as 60° to 70° F.,
and when long continued is changed, as  it becomes warm
from the heat of the body.   This bath may be used—
  1st. As a means of cooling the mass of the circulation in
the hot stages of fevers, and inflammatory attacks of every
kind.
  2d. As a revulsive  or means of deriving blood in con-
gestions or inflammations of the nobler  organs,  the brain,
lungs, stomach, liver, &c.
  3d. As a means of resuscitation in the shock of serious
accidents, sun-stroke, and before, during, or after apoplec-
tic and other  fits.   In drunkenness and  delirium tremens,
the half bath  is a sovereign remedy.
  4th. As a milder means, and preparatory to the general
bath in weak constitutions.
  In the  latter of  these indications the  bath is  generally
used but for  a few minutes, after the wet sheet, or at other
times, as may be desired.
  In the  former indications, much  practical knowledge is
necessary in  order to proceed always with safety and to ob-
tain the  best results.  Thus six or even nine hours may be
required,  with the  greatest  perseverance, the patient being
thoroughly rubbed over the whole surface, and  this to be
kept  up  constantly by relays  of assistants, the patient's
head and shoulders being supported meanwhile.
  To make this bath milder for a given length of time, and
more powerfully derivative downwards, the upper half of the
body is left warmly dressed, the frictions being carried on
briskly upon  the uncovered parts.
  This bath is an  excellent means in the paroxysms of ague
and  fever.
  Head Bath.—Time immemorial, cooling and   other ap-
plications to the head  have been much depended upon in
that violent and dangerous disease, phrenitis or inflammation
of the brain.   When  all other means  had failed,  certain
obstinate affections of the  head have been known to  give
way by a constant stream  or affusion of cold water  upon 
BATHS.
71
the part.  In head-aches, convulsions, delirium tremens, tne
delirium of  fever, in epilepsy, rheumatism of the head, dis-
eases of the eyes,  ear-ache, deafness, loss  of smell  and
taste, and in epistaxis, or nose bleed, this  highly energetic
remedy is brought to bear.
   In taking  the head bath, the person lies at length upon a
rug or mattress, with perhaps a pillow under the shoulders.
A broad shallow basin or bowl of some kind is used.  The
back and sides of the head are in  succession placed in the
water.  It may  be  taken  for five minutes to a half hour,
or even more,  according to the case.   The whole  head
should be well rubbed and dried, if there is no inflammation
to combat.
   Those who are under the necessity of going  to excess in
literary labors, or have much mental effort to put forth, will
find great benefit from affusions upon the head and the head
bath.   Not unfrequently a troublesome head-ache will at
once give way,  by merely washing with cold water the part
In which the pain exists.
   In cases of inflammation of the brain, the patient should
lay with his head extending a little way from  the edge of
the bed, and the head and  shoulders supported by assist-
ants, so that affusion of the coldest water may  be  kept up
for hours if need be,  a tub or other vessel being  underneath
to receive the water, the patient being at the same  time in
the wet sheet.   I believe the affusion of ice-water can thus
be better managed than any applications of ice  in bladders
and the like.  Until  not only the fever in the head, but that
in the whole system is thoroughly reduced, this  application
cannot be overdone.
   The Nasal Bath.—In catarrh, colds in the  head, and in
diseases of the nasal  passages, the  sniffing of water up the
nostrils is to be performed.   The water should be drawn
back and ejected by  the mouth  to obtain the best effects.
This is a little disagreeable at first, but  one soon  becomes
accustomed to it.  In nose bleed this bath is a famous rem-
eo/y ; for this purpose the colder the water the  better.
   Those who have injured the nasal cavities by  snuff-taking 
72
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
will find good to result  from this  bath.  Some  who have
broken off the practice of snuff, use water instead, whenever
they feel the want of the abominable thing.
   The Mouth or  Oral Bath.—For inflammations in  the
gums,  mouth, throat  and palate,  in slimy secretions from
the throat, stomach, in tooth-ache, catarrh, colds, and chronic
hoarseness, garglings and baths for the mouth are of great
service.  Pauley, a merchant of Vienna, has been thought
singular for his zeal in  recommending this bath.   Clergy-
men and others who  suffer  hoarseness by much speaking,
will find that  holding very cold water in the mouth until it
begins to grow warm, and then ejecting it, and by frequently
repeating  the  process,  much  benefit will   be obtained.
Falling or elongation of the palate, in which  it is  now so
much of a professional hobby to clip off the part, the garg-
ling  sufficiently with cold water will be found a never-fail-
ing remedy.  Coughs and tightness in  the chest may often
be essentially relieved by this bath.  In mucous secretions
from the throat and stomach, by ejecting the water a num-
ber of times,  it will surprise those who have  not witnessed
the remedy, to see the amount of slimy secretion  thrown
off.
   The Sitz or Hip Bath.—Convenient tubs, wooden or  me-
tallic, are constructed for this bath ; but an ordinary wash-
tub answers very well.  The article should be large enough
to  admit the motion of the arms in rubbing  the abdomen,
sides  and  hips, first  with  one hand  and then  the other.
Water enough is  used  generally to  come  pretty well up
the abdomen.   The more movement and friction,  while in
this bath, the better.  It is more  convenient if  the tub be
elevated two or three inches from the floor.  Some undress
completely and place  a  blanket or sheet over the  upper
part of the body, but oftener the parts only of the person to
be exposed to the water are uncovered.   In.a .variety of
ailments, this bath  is  highly valuable.  It may be made
one of the most powerful of all of the hydropathic modes.
Like all other powerful applications, it should  be made only
after digestion is nearly or quite gone through with.
   As a tonic  to the stomach, liver, bowels,  womb,  spine, 
BATHS.
73
&c, this bath is highly useful.  In constipation and other
irregularities, it is famous.   Those of sedentary habits will
find its use of rare service.   For the tonic effect, it is taken
ten to twenty or twenty-five minutes or more.  If it is con-
tinued some length of time, the water is to be changed once
or more, as  it would otherwise become too warm.
   In pregnancy, besides general ablutions,  the semi-daily
use of this  bath  is productive of great good.   In those
troublesome  itchings (pruritus pudendi), this application
should be made as often as the symptoms occur, and the re-
medy will be found a sovereign one.
   In all violent diseases of the abdominal organs, in which
the parts are hotter than is natural, this bath is indicated.
Prudence would here, as in all other modes, indicate that
the cooling  process be made  not  too sudden or long con-
tinued ; and one admirable feature of the  system is, that
experiments  may be so safely made.  The water  may at
first be  made very moderate,  so that  a child can bear it;
and then, little by little, the temperature may be lowered
without the  least danger.
   In severe inflammations of the  chest or  head, the cold
hip bath is a powerful derivative, as we say in medicine. The
excess of blood  is thus drawn from  the inflamed part,  or
parts, and the mass of the circulation cooled, and thus the
pyrexia, or general feverishness,  which  is always  present
in inflammation, is  removed.
   In piles  and hemorrhoids, the cold hip bath is  used, and
in all acute diseases of the genital organs.
   In  that very common  complaint,  leucorrhcea,  or the
whites, this  bath is  very useful.   There is also another ad-
mirable contrivance that may be used in connexion, a small
tube,  or speculum, made  of wire-work.  It is about four
inches long, and  from half an inch to  an inch, or more, in
diameter.-  This, when introduced, allows the water to come
in contact with the  walls of the parts affected.  These may
be obtained  at a trifling expense.
   In violent flooding, the cold  hip bath is a most powerful
means.   It  should  be undertaken only by those of expe-
rience in such cases.
4 
74
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
  In all violent bleedings from the bowels, very cold  hip
baths should be used.  Let  it be  remembered, in all  he-
morrhages, the parts at and about which the bleeding takes
place are hotter than is natural, and that the constringing
power  of cold is the best possible means that can be resort
ed to.  This is in accordance with all authority in the heal
ing  art.
  The  Leg Bath.—It is sometimes necessary to  have  an
apparatus expressly for the purpose of placing  the leg in
water.   Where, however, the limb can be  sufficiently  im-
mersed in any large vessel, or in a pool, or stream, there
will be no need of any  particular contrivance of the kind.
A sort of bag, made of very firm  India-rubber cloth, is  a
convenient apparatus,  and is,  moreover,   portable.   It
should  have attached to its upper end strong straps, that it
may be suspended by the back of chairs, or in any conve-
nient situation, for use.
  This bath  is useful  in cases of ulcers,  swellings, erup-
tions, rheumatic pains, &c, of the leg or thigh.   It may be
taken for fifteen or thirty minutes, or an hour, or more,  ac-
cording to the indications of the case.   If it is taken to re-
move rheumatic pains,  the parts should be in a state hotter
than natural,  so  that the application  is an agreeable one.
It should  not be long  continued, in such  cases, after the
excess of heat is removed, as a  change of the disease to
some more important part might possibly take place.  This
caution needs to be observed more particularly in cases of
mercurial rheumatism.
  In cases of sprained knee,  and swellings of this joint,
the frequent use of this bath will be found highly salutary.
In  the latter disease, the relief, comfort, and strength  that
can often, in a  single application, be  obtained,  is truly
wonderful.   A  clergyman,  the  Rev.  A  Kuhn,  who  was
cured, in one of the German  establishments, of an invete-
rate disease of the knee-joint, that had resisted the best  sur-
gical  treatment of  Europe,  gives the following  good  ex-
ample of the  effects of this bath : " On Friday, the  5th of
June,  1838, I went out, after  my  bath,  at half past  four
o'clock, to visit a copper mine, between six  and seven miles 
BATHS.
75
from Ilmenau.   The road was almost entirely up-hill, and,
as I fancied I had reached the place, I was obliged to de-
scend a steep mountain, and climb up another of the same
kind,  and missed my way; in short, I did not  reach my
lodgings till two o'clock P. M., having been all that time on
my legs.  I was completely exhausted ;  my limbs felt as if
they  had been  taken  out  of their  sockets;  and  I  could
scarcely move one leg before the other.   I immediately put
both my legs,  a hand's breadth above the knee, into cold
water, and kept them there for three quarters of an  hour,
and felt no more fatigue or irritability in the same knee.  I
merely experienced, in  the  hip-joint, which had not  been
exposed to the water, that sort of sensation which every one
has, after a  long walk, when not accustomed to it."
   It is easy for  those who wish to experiment in the use of
this bath, to commence, in any case, with water of moderate
temperature, using it for only a short time,  at first,  and
gradually increasing the length of time and  lowering ihe
temperature of the  water.   It is to be observed, that fric-
tions upon swollen and inflamed parts are very serviceable,
in this bath.
   The uses  of the leg bath may be stated, then, to be—
   1. To  reduce the inflammation attending sprains, bruises,
swellings, and wounds.
   2.  To remove pain.
   3.  To promote discharges and the healing of parts. And,
   4.  To invigorate the system,  particularly the  lower
limbs, when greatly fatigued.
   The Arm Bath.—The same  general rules  are to be ob-
served in this as in  the leg  bath.
   The Finger Bath.—The  same  general rules  are also
to be observed in this as in the other partial  baths.   For
that painful  disease, paronychia,  whitlow, or felon, as it is
called, the cold finger bath will be found invaluable.  Years
back,  I prescribed this mode, and, in some cases, I  have
been applied to, when the sufferers had, for days and nights,
been unable to find any rest, and all the ordinary means
had been exhausted, keeping the finger,  or even the  whole
hand,  thoroughly and constantly chilled, afforded the great- 
76
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
est relief.   Patients sleep for a whole night, with the hand
immersed in the coldest water.  If this mode is sufficiently
persevered in, from the first symptom of these attacks, I believe
that many cases, at least, will be prevented from suppura-
tion, or gathering, at all; and if, in some cases, they must.
it will take place in a much  shorter time,  and almost en-
tirely without pain.
  The Hand Bath.—Some  three years ago, a very intelli-
gent lady, residing in Fourth street,  New York, applied to
me  to cure  a crop of warts, that had for some time  been
upon her hands.  She was already very hardy, and well
accustomed to cold bathing, even in the coldest weather, as
it was at this time.  I told her, that, with the cold bathing and
great simplicity in diet she already practised, it appeared
to me, that the chilling the  hands  sufficiently  in the  cold
water ought to remove those excrescences.  She  at  once
said she would wash, with  her own  hands,  the  towels for
the  whole family, every morning,  in water at  very near
the freezing point.  This she continued to do for some weeks,
chilling the hands, until they were completely benumbed,
and thus the warts were perfectly cured.
  The Cold Foot Bath.—The assertion put  forth in some of
the works on water-cure, that the cold foot-bath  is prescribed
by Priessnitz, for the same purpose that  the faculty order
warm ones, is, as I shall show not true.   The  latter is pre-
scribed among other remedies, for the feet when cold.  The
former are not, as people have often  been led to suppose, to
be used while these parts  are cold.  Some persons have,
for  instance, on going to bed,  taken  the cold foot bath, ex-
pecting the  feet to  become warmer, when to their surprise
they find them only the colder, and that the parts remained
in that condition for a longer time.  So  little do people
observe and reason for themselves  about  some  of the most
common and simple things of life.
  The feet, then, are first  to be warm whenever the  cold
foot  bath is taken.   For various purposes, it is  a most ad-
mirable remedy.   For a tendency  to cold feet, a very com-
mon symptom in these days of so-called luxury and  ease,
and  one that indicates  a state of things in  the general sys- 
BATHS.
77
tern, incomparably more to be dreaded than the mere cold-
ness of feet, this is the remedy.  It may be taken  at any
convenient time.  Just before the morning walk, is very
proper.  The feet are then warm ;  at other times, if cold,
they should, if at all  practicable, be warmed by exercise
or frictions ;  if this is not practicable, as in  case of old age,
debility, &c, the warm  foot bath may, with advantage, be
resorted to.   The cold foot  bath, in this  case, should  be
shallow, covering only a part of the  feet, and  the water
should be changed as it  begins to grow lukewarm.   Exer-
cise, or at least friction, should be practised after, as well
as before the bath.   The accustoming  the  feet thus to the
impression of cold from day to day, will soon beget  in them
the condition  of remaining habitually warm.   The bath
may  be continued each time from  a half  to two or three
hours, if desirable.
   For tooth-ache, rushing of blood to the head, ear  and
head-ache, inflamed  eyes, &c, this bath is very useful.
Also for controlling bleedings from the nostrils, the  womb,
and for difficulty in passing urine.
   In cases of sprains of the feet and ancles, this bath, pro-
perly used, is a remedy of great power.   In these cases, it
should be at least deep enough to cover the parts affected.
   In cases of gout  and  rheumatism, the cold  foot bath is
of great service whenever the parts are painful, hotter than
natural, and the  application agreeable.   It is  not, under
such precautions, dangerous, as  many  practitioners erro-
neously suppose, but perfectly safe, as much so as to  put
ice upon the head in  phrenitis or inflammation of the head.
   For corns this bath is the remedy, par excellence.
    The  Pediluvium, or Warm Foot Bath.—The  warm foot
bath, the " soaking the feet," of the days of our good sires
and grandames of old, is, in its place, a  most excellent part
of " water-cure."  It is used for soothing  pains and aches
that are of a nervous character, and  for sometimes warm-
ing the feet  when cold.   It  is often pleasanter and by far
better to warm the  feet well  in the warm foot bath on going
to bed, rather than to remain an hour or more awake
 for the want of warm feet.  Then, as we have said, in the 
78
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
morning when the feet are warm, take the cold foot bath.
This will, so to speak, get those parts in the habit of becom-
ing warm.
  1 know  a man who is a  very accurate observer, of rare
judgment, and as little likely to be misled in any of his or-
dinary concerns of life as any one I know.  He resides in
a part of the country in which the winters are often severe.
He says,  that  if he is to  be  exposed to much cold foi
a whole day, he is sure that a warm foot bath, taken before
starting in the morning, is of service  the  day  through, in
keeping the feet warm.
  Let it be understood, I do not advocate the  frequent or
general use  of the warm or hot foot bath ; but I  contend,
that as the sun  shines warmly and genially, giving animation
and life, so,  under certain  conditions and circumstances,
warming applications are as truly natural to  the human body,
as are cooling ones  under certain other conditions and cir-
cumstances; and in  the construction of dwellings, churches,
ships, &c, in clothing and in all the habits of the most intel-
ligent portions  of the human family, this principle is fully
acknowledged.
                    CHAPTER VI.

             THE LEIN TUCH, OR WET  SHEET.

   The far-famed application,  the  wet  sheet, one of the
safest  and most luxurious parts of  hydropathy, - is the
great "bug-bear"  of the  treatment.  The bare mention
of it is enough to bring chills to the nervous and hysterical,
and at once suggest fearful  ideas of sleeping in damp beds,
damp clothing, and the like.  Some friend of the new sys-
tem has answered an objector, " If you  are hung up bv the
heels with  the head in a bucket of water, that is one thing,
but water-cure is a  matter entirely different;" so it may be 
WET SHEET.
79
said of damp beds and wet clothing, compared with the wet
sheet ; the two are diametrically different.
  Discovery of the Wet Sheet.—The wet sheet has been oc-
casionally used at different times and in different parts of the
world.  Howard, during many of the later years of his life,
was  in the habit of bathing daily at all seasons of the year,
in cold water.   His shrewdness  and resolution  led him to
adopt many practices directly opposed to what has generally
been considered,  either  by physicians or  the  many, as
salutary or the best.  When Howard  could not have access
to. his usual bath, he was in the habit of wetting a sheet in
cold water and reclining upon it, until the desired  degree
of coolness had been communicated to the system.   In like
manner, he used towels  and compresses, and was by these
means,  as he   said, refreshed  and invigorated  beyond
measure.   Persons in this country, knowing the efficacy of
cooling means in certain fevers and other forms of  inflam-
matory disease, have used the  cooling wet sheet, and with-
out any knowledge of what was being done by  Priessnitz.
Other instances might be cited  to the  same effect.   J|ut all
this does not in the least  detract  from the credit due to the
man who, by his adroitness, skill and energy of  character,
has,  despite all this opposition, and prejudice,  and the so-
called science  of centuries, brought this invaluable means
into universal notice.  Long and happily may this great and
good man live to enjoy a reputation so honestly, so heroically
earned !
  Principles of the Wet Sheet.—Priessnitz, as is generally
understood, learned accidentally, that cold water  was, in
certain cases,  wonderfully powerful  to subdue pain.  He
first  used the cooling means upon apart of the body.  The
idea was then naturally  enough  suggested to his mind, (a
thing as easy, once known, as  the making an egg to stand
upon its end), that if the  cooling means, as cloths wet in cold
water, were good for a part of  the surface, the same princi-
ple would, under similar circumstances,  hold good  for the
whole surface ; and thus he was led to adopt the use of the
cooling wet sheet—a- larger application on  a larger scale.
If the finger, or head, or  any particular part, became by any 
80
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
cause too hot, it was easy to change the cloths as these be-
came too warm, and thus, by  continuing  the process, any
necessary amount of animal  caloric could be abstracted,
and the inflammation cured.   So if the whole body was in-
flamed and feverish, the same principle could be applied to
a corresponding extent.
   Poultice Effect of the  Wet Sheet.—Another principle of the
wet sheet Priessnitz soon ascertained.   A moist cloth placed
upon a part, covered with a dry one, to prevent evaporation,
(a cooling process.) soon, from the warmth of the body, be-
comes soothing and warm :  a sort of genial vapor bath is
formed upon the part, which is neither more nor less than a
poultice effect.   A neat, cleanly, and most convenient appli-
cation, then,  he  learned, suitable  for all  cases where the
remedy called a poultice is needed.  Accordingly, now, the
best authorities in medicine (in consequence of the discove-
ries of Priessnitz, no doubt,) assert, that the fomentations,
wet bandages, &c, are the best  possible poultices  that can
be used.   In surgery, water dressings are the fashion of the
day ; and what substance in nature is there, that, like wa-
ter, promotes animal as well  as vegetable growth ?   The
same principle  of poulticing  then, may be applied to the
whole body,  as well as  to any of its parts.
   The reader will now understand, that the wet sheet produ-
ces two diametrically  different effects, depending upon the
manner in which it is used.   Changed as frequently  as it
becomes warm, it is a  gradual and permanently cooling ap-
plication, varying in degree, as the case may need.   But if
the sheet be left upon the body sufficiently long, a most de-
licious sensation of warmth is produced, while pains are as-
suaged and uneasiness removed.
   Bleaching  Effect of the Wet  Sheet.—Although sweating is
not, one time in  a hundred, to be sought in the wet-sheet,
yet a bleaching  effect,  greater or less, always takes place
in its use.   The surface is rendered whiter, softer, and more
pliable and  morbid, and effete matters are removed.  The
system is thus aided in throwing off its old, worn-out mate-
rials, and, with other favorable circumstances, the body be-
comes built up healthfully  anew.   Ladies, too, have some- 
WET SHEET.
81
times used these water applications,  upon certain  parts, as
the hands and face, with another object in view.
   Mode of Application.—The usual mode of applying the
wet-sheet, is thus: a number of woollen blankets are spread
evenly upon a bed or mattress ; a sheet, of cotton or linen
material, (linen is  the more cooling,) is spread smoothly up-
on the blankets;  the patient then lays at length  upon the
sheet.   This is lapped over from side to side, and  made to
cover the whole surface ; the blankets, one by one, are, in
like manner, adjusted, drawn tightly, and well tucked under
each side.   Large pins, or  tapes, may be used, to secure
these coverings.   The blankets should be well arranged
about the neck and feet, to prevent evaporation and  too great
chilliness.   A down or feather bed is sometimes put over the
whole, and tucked under, the more effectually to retain the
warmth.  If there is a tendency to coldness of the feet, these
may be left covered with the blankets only.  Faithful rub-
bing them with the hand, is a good  mode.  Working and
rubbing  them one against the other, is serviceable; and,
rather than allow  these parts to remain a long time cold, as
is sometimes done, it would be better to place  moderately
warm bricks, or, better, bottles of warm water, &c, to them ;
and the same may be said of any part of the system.   Some
fear warm applications, in water-cure,  seeming to believe
that every thing must be of a cold, chilling kind.   The fact
is, warm  applications, though seldom  needed,  are, under
certain conditions, as natural, as scientific, as the  cold, un-
der other conditions.   Still, it is always  better,  as far as
possible, to cause the body to create its own warmth.
   Soothing Effects of the Sheet.—The first reclining upon
the cold  sheet, is, of course, unpleasant;  but, everything
properly arranged, a most soothing sensation begins soon to
pervade  the system, and it  is no exaggeration to  say, that
if a person's  state of bodily or mental  health had been
such that he had determined upon  suicide, he  would soon
change his mind, or that if  some friend has proved treach-
erous, or if he felt himself greatly injured, and that he
must have redress, he would soon begin to feel the prompt-
              4* 
82
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
ings of cnarity, and conclude that, after all, he will be upon
the side of forgiveness and mercy.
  Not to be used, generally, for sweating.—So delicious are
the sensations caused by the wet sheet, persons are very apt
to desire to remain in it too long.  As a general fact, it will,
I think,  be found best to remain in it only long enough to be-
come thoroughly warm.  In some cases, fifteen minutes are
required; in others,  an hour, or more.   It  is better never
to come from it chilly.   Many have an idea, that sweating
should always take place, and some practitioners have been in
the habit of sweating their patients into a night-mare.  They
seem to  imagine that sweating is the  one great thing to be
sought.   This is wrong, and, once for all, it should be  un-
derstood,  that sweating  is,  of itself, a debilitating process.
The times for it are  the exceptions,  and not the rule.
  Bathing, after the  Sheet.—Some form of bath should be
given, after the wet sheet, not that it is absolutely required
in all instances, to be safe, but, on the whole, it is more be-
neficial  so to do.  The surface  now needs cleansing,  and
the invigorating effect of cold water.   If  a person is weak,
and not  able to  sit up, the water should be used tepid, as at
70° or 75° F.   Piece-meal, with wet towels, the body is to
be rubbed, until dry  ; and it is better to obtain a comfortable
glow.   A half bath may be taken,  or  a shower, plunge, or
spout bath, as the case  may be.   As  in  all other applica-
tions, those who have not the advice of an experienced  phy-
sician, should begin  with the milder modes, and then pro-
ceed, gradually, to  the  stronger, as they ascertain, by ex-
periment, what they can bear.
   The Wet Sheet, in Fevers and other Inflammatory Diseases.
—In  diseases attended  with  an increase of heat of the ge-
neral system, the cooling wet sheet  is indicated.   There is
no danger here, so long as the animal heat is above the na-
tural standard.  If  it  be high, burning fever, use two or
three sheets at  a time, and thus  the refrigerant action will
be longer continued.  Little covering, other than the sheets,
need  be used, in cases of high fever, and sometimes none at
all.   If the body is becoming cooled too fast, and shiverings
occur,  more covering  is then applied.   The  sheets should 
WET SHEET.
83
be changed as often as they become too warm, and as many
times as is necessary to reduce the fever, be it three or fifty
times in the day.   Half baths, ablutions, affusions, &c, will
be serviceable between times.  If the system should at any
time become too much chilled, the warming means are to be
resorted to, packing in warm  blankets, warm baths, and the
like.
  Becoming cold in the Wet Sheet.—Some persons, who seem
not to have much calorific power, are, at first, that is, after
a few minutes, comfortable, but, in twenty or thirty minutes,
feel chilly, although to another, their body appears not so.
Persons in such cases, should come from the sheet, while
yet feeling warm.   Should it be desirable to continue long-
er, the rubbing wet sheet, first, and  then the dry, may be
applied briskly, to excite circulation and warmth.  The wet
sheet envelopement may then a second time be used.  The
better way, however, is to take the second sheet a half hour,
or so, at another time of the day.   A half hour in the early
part of the day, and another in the after part, is worth much
more than the two  in succession.
  This tendency to after-chilliness in  the sheet is soon driven
off, if everything is managed  in such way that  the  patient
gradually gains strength.
  Heal and Fulness in the  Head, from the Sheet.—The wet
sheet is liable to the same objections as the vapor-bath, warm
baths, &c, provided  the  body is allowed to  become too
warm.  Head-ache, giddiness, and fulness of the head, are
among the abuses  of  this  kind.   To prevent these effects,
cold wet cloths, pouring  or  sponging  of water upon the
neck, face, temples,  and  head, will be found  useful, both
while in and after the sheet has been applied.
  The Wet Sheet in domestic  practice.—The wet sheet, he-
roic  a remedy  as  it  is capable of being made, is  yet one
most admirably adapted for domestic use.  Already, in this
country, there are not  a few persons who understand well
the principles upon which it acts.   In great numbers of cases,
it may be  resorted to, without professional aid.   A very
light sheet  may be used at first.   It may be applied twice
or thrice a week and, as the  patient  finds he can bear, and 
 81             THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.

 the eftects to be good, he can go on daily, intermitting now
 and then, as of a Sunday, to let the system rest.   Wonders
 will be accomplished by the persevering in these milder pro-
 cesses of the water-cure.   The wet sheet, this greatest  of
 all remedial applications, is destined, the  world over, to be-
 come a family word ; and, in connexion with its use, the
 name of Priessnitz will  be known so long as  time shall
 last!
   The Wet Sheet at night.—Some, who  have not  time  by
 day, find advantage in using the sheet at night.   It is en-
 tered  on going to rest; a good sleep of three or four hours
 is  experienced; a bath is then performed, after which  the
 person retires again to rest in the dry bed.  In many instan-
 ces, I have known persons  to  remain all night, and never
 knew any injury to occur.  If the  packing should be too
 close, the body becomes weakened by the too great heat, or,
 in  the opposite extreme,va cold may take place.  I have slept
 a long winter's night in the wet sheet, arranged by myself
 alone, in  very  cold  weather, and in a room  in  which
 fires were not  used.  I had a bad cold on going to rest, but
 in  the morning it was all  gone.
   The Wet Dress.—A partial  wet sheet, in the form of a
 night-dress,  is sometimes very convenient.  A  person  can
more  easily manage it if to be  used alone.  The  sleeves
 should be very large,  that it may  be easily put on.  Some
 have  a  sort of wet jacket to cover the whole trunk. This
 is very good for those who have weak chests and coughs.
   Should water-drinking be practised while in the wet sheet ?
—If a person  is feverish  and thirsty, and  not exhausted by
 over-exertion,  cold water is to be drank at any time.   But
 it  is  seldom to be taken while in  the  wet sheet.  Cooling
 means, externally  applied, remove  internal thirst;  and, ex-
cept in extreme  cases, we should  not use cooling  means
both  internally and externally at the same time.   Serious
mischief may  thus be caused ; and why  ?  By cooling the
system too much at one and the same time.
  Is water  absorbed from the  Wet Sheet ?—Endosmose, or
imbibition, and exosmose,  or transudation of water  and other
liquids through animal tissues, are easily proved.   Thus, 
WET SHEET.
85
 if a portion of  the  intestine of a barn-yard  fowl  be tied
 at one end, filled with  milk, and secured, by tying at the
 other end, and  if this be placed for some hours in a  ves-
 sel of  water, we find  that some  of the milk has passed
 outward into the water, while a portion of the water has,
 in turn, passed inward,  and mingled  with the milk.   Here,
 then, we have an example of imbibition of water, and trans-
 udation of milk.  But it has never yet been proved positively,
 so far as we know, that water is ever absorbed through the
 skin.  There can, however, scarcely be a doubt of the thing.
 It is easy to mitigate inward thirst by external applications
 of water.  We  know, too,  that the wet sheet,  especially if
 lain in for some  time, causes a copious flow of urine ; but it
 must be remembered, that putting the feet upon snow or ice-
 cold marble, &c, will cause the  same effect.   Still, there
 can hardly be a doubt of imbibition through the skin.
   Wet Compress Bandages, Fomentations, fyc.—These  per-
 form precisely the same office upon a part of the system, as
 the wet sheet upon the whole.
   Cooling  Wet  Compresses are such as are  changed or
 re-wet frequently, until the necessary amount of coolness
 is obtained.   These are applicable to any part.
   Warming, or Stimulating, Wet Compresses, are, in their se-
 condary effects, the opposite of the cooling.  Covered, and left
 upon the part a sufficient length of time, the surface becomes
 warm, and even warmer than is natural,  in consequence of
 the retained heat.   They are therefore said to be warming,
 or stimulating.
   Soothing Wet  Compresses.—A distinction may be made
 between the cooling  and the warming.   Such as give no
decided sensation of  either coolness or warmth, may be said
to be soothing, in effect.
   Warm and Hot. Fomentations.—I am aware hydropathists
generally object to  these.   There are certain pains, as of
the spasmodic kind, in which I believe hot applications are
 best.   In  some forms of pleurisy, colic, and in other deep-
seated internal pains, I should, in my own case, were I attack-
ed, resort first to very  hot applications in order to lull the pain.
 I 'would, at the same time, use cooling means for the general 
86
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
system, as circumstances  should  require.  Years ago, I
took a deep-seated inflammation in the  region  of the  kid-
neys.  I reduced the pains, which were  at times  very se-
vere, quickly and effectually, simply  by having placed at
the small of the back,  hot  bricks  wrapped  in  wet cloths.
The remedy acted like a charm, did not weaken my system,
but on the contrary, indirectly made me strong.   When the
pain was on, I was in the  greatest distress, and  could  not,
without the  greatest difficulty,  walk, stand, or sit.  When
it  was off again,  I could run,  jump, and  do any thing I
pleased.   I was a part of the time where nothing could be
done ; but in every instance, when I could have the bricks,
I at once drove off the pain, and was very soon cured.  We
all  know that heat, as a general fact, is weakening, so  also
is cold, if used to excess.   We should always  use as little
of artificial warmth as may be, but if we can relieve  pain
without debilitating the general system,  we do  well.   Per-
haps in  my case, I could  have used some better means.
  Priessnitz would, at least, as a  general  thing in these
cases, depend upon frictions, with the wet hand, wet cloths,
&c, to excite a general circulation to the surface of every
part.  This certainly is most excellent treatment.  I would
not be dogmatical  in giving my opinions.  I conversed with
Priessnitz about this matter, and if I  rightly  understood
him, he preferred the frictions with water, tepid or cold, ac-
cording to the patient's strength.  He feared the debilitating
effects of heat, but considered the hot applications as second
best.  There  is philosophy in  these frictions, which do, in
fact,  produce a " blood-letting" for the  inflamed part; the
blood being drawn to the  surface by the rubbings, the part
affected is unloaded and relieved.  If I  differ slightly  from
Priessnitz, I do it with the  most profound respect.  No one
can have a more  exalted  opinion of his ability and worth
than I have.   If one year hence, or ten, I  am permitted to
write for water-cure, I care not  how much my opinions may
vary from what they now  are, so  that  I  may stand firm
upon the rock.  God giveth to  those who seek the truth.
   Hot and warm fomentations  have, in some form or other,
been long resorted to in the healing art.   The French, more 
WET SHEET.
87
particularly, have for many years  adopted this simple re-
medy.  The principal part of medical treatment in France,
is  that called the expectant,—the watching mode, as it may
be called.   Medicines are  not depended  upon for specific
effects.   Almost no medicine is given.  Cooling or warming
and  diluting drinks,  topical applications, injections, &c,
together with great care in  diet,  are among the principal
means.   In fevers, and  in cases attended with visceral irri-
tation, i. e. slight inflammation or uneasiness of the internal
organs,  the warm or hot fomentation is much used.
   Dr. Gully,  of England, very  strongly advocates this
remedy, and, in following the French, gives the following
directions for its use :   " A piece of flannel, thrice folded,
is  placed into a dry basin, and very hot or warm water is
poured on it, sufficiently to soak it.   The flannel is then put
into  the  corner of a  towel,  which is twisted  round it and
wrung until the flannel  is only damp.  It is taken out of the
towel, and  immediately  placed over the part to be fomented,
and upon it is  placed  a  double fold of thick flannel, dry, or
a part of a light blanket.   The patient, then, if it be the ab.
domen which is  fomented, draws the ordinary  bed-clothes
over him, and  remains  quiet five  or eight minutes,  when
another flannel, freshly  wrung out, is applied, the former one
being withdrawn.   And this goes on for the whole time pre-
scribed  for the fomentation."
   Dr. Gully praises this application in the strongest terms,
thus :   " Often  and again, I have seen it procure sleep to
adults, and to children especially, when opiates only fevered
and irritated.   I have seen  it, applied at night, procure re-
laxation of the kidneys  and bowels by the morning, when all
diuretics and purgatives had failed.   I have seen it arrest
the most violent  bilious and nervous head-aches.  I have
seen it stay fits of the asthma, of tic doloreux of the face, of
tooth-ache, of  sciatica (hip disease,) of  spasms of the blad-
der, of universal convulsions in infants, both from teething
and  indigestion.   I have seen it stop the most  violent and
long-continued  vomiting, and relieve, even during the ap-
plication, extreme acidity and flatulence of the stomach."
   We should remember, things, we all know now to be inju- 
88
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
rious, have been as strongly recommended as this.   At the
same time, be it observed, warm water does not poison, irri-
tate, or inflame  the system.  The application is made  only
to a part of the surface.   Pains and uneasiness are removed,
and  the  patient at once  gains  much in comfort and in
strength.   Yet, for one, I wish to speak with extreme cau-
tion in this matter.  I respect greatly the opinions of a man
of experience and success so immense as Priessnitz's.
  The Wet Girdle.—This application, which all hydropath-
ists so much esteem, is more or  less used in almost  every
case.  Patients should generally wear it, at least, a part of
the day.   Three yards of strong towelling make a good and
convenient girdle.   If a  person  is  very sensitive, a  half-
yard only, enough of  one end to cover the front of the body,
is wet.  It is girded just above the hips, and drawn quite
tight about the lower part of the abdomen, but at the  upper
part, it should  be  left loose  enough for breathing easily.
In cold weather, those who are very sensitive, and cannot
exercise  enough to keep warm, may use only one or two
yards about the body, covered with flannel to secure warmth.
People are too apt to  fear cold, and  should  practise  them-
selves, always,  to bear as much as  they can.  Some wear
the girdle night and day.   It should be wet every few hours,
at most, and not be allowed to get dry, although there is no
danger in that.   It is best, I believe, to wear it not all of
the twenty-four hours.  Some have it by night, when busi-
ness does not admit of it during the day.  If arranged  by
the person's self, it should first, after being  wet, be  rolled
like  a scroll,  as surgeon's bandages are, and thus it may be
readily applied.
  To attempt a physiological  explanation of all the effects
of the wet girdle, would involve  much space, and accom-
plish, probably,  no good.  Medical men vary as much con-
cerning the mode of operation  of water upon the living sys-
tem, as of calomel, blood-letting, or any thing else.  If we
cannot, however, know all causes,  certain  effects we can
learn, and thus in water, as in every thing else, are we gui-
ded  in our practice.
   If one  is sensitive and weak, and the girdle is too heavy, 
WET BANDAGES.
89
too much wet, or the person too inactive, some form of a cold
may then be brought on ;  but this does not often take place.
If too much covering is used, or the girdle not sufficiently
wet,  or. is too light in texture, too much  heat may  then be
retained.   The body becomes feverish,  and some injury is
done.  If every thing is properly arranged, it has a power-
fully strengthening effect, as those who have adopted its use
well know.
   Oil and India Rubber Cloth Bandages.—I do not like the
general effect of these articles over the wet cloths.   Evap-
oration should be allowed,  so that effete and morbid may be
driven off.  These coverings  protect  the  clothing  from
moisture, which is sometimes a convenience.  In some ca-
ses it may be best to use  them.  They certainly appear to
make the bandages more powerfully drawing in their effects,
but,  on the whole, I do not much like their use.
   Water Dressings for  Wounds, Cuts, Sj-c.—Many of  the
first  surgeons and physicians of Europe have recommended
the German water dressing, as it is called, in preference to
any  other.   I  am not  entirely  certain, but  have no doubt
that  Priessnitz has been the principal meansof this improve-
ment.  Dr. Billing, of London, one  of the first and most
experienced physicians of the day, in a late work, says :
" The German water dressing has much  the advantage over
the poultice ;  the  piece of lint  dipped in water is lighter
than the poultice  ; the oiled silk over all retains the mois-
ture ;  and the  whole does  not  spoil the sound skin, as the
poultice often  does.  If poultices be too  long applied, proud
flesh will form, either from a superfluous growth of healthy
granulations, or of such as are  weak or spongy."  Profes-
sor  Mutter, of Philadelphia,  in notes to a recent  work of
Professor Liston,  one of the first surgeons of Europe, agrees
with the latter in  the superiority of the water  dressing in
wounds and injuries.   " In lacerated wounds, to which Mr.
Liston refers in the text," says Dr. M., " no dressing is
comparable to water, in some form or other, and for several
years I have employed as a first dressing, nothing else.   In
summer, I  use  cold, and in winter, warm, and apply it as
recommended  by  Liston  and McCartney,  viz :  after 
t)0
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
cleansing the wound and approximating its edges, whenever
this is proper, pledgets of patent lint, dipped in water, are to
be gently laid upon its surface,  and the whole covered with
a piece of oiled silk, (flannel is quite sufficient,) to prevent
evaporation.   In summer I have found  it best not to apply
the oiled silk, as it keeps  the part too hot, and in its stead
apply two thicknesses of wet  lint, which will  retain the
moisture much longer than one.  An assistant should, also,
about every half hour, pour a spoonful  of water over the
dressings, but without removing them.  Thus treated, I have
seen the  most terrific lacerated wounds from machinery or
gun-shot, heal most rapidly by  the first  intention.   Only a
few weeks since, I treated the son of a professional friend,
who  had received a severe lacerated  wound, with the loss of
a portion  of  two fingers, from the bursting of his gun,
by the cold water dressing, and nearly  every  fragment of
skin that could be placed in a proper position, united by the
first intention."  Water, to promote  animal growth in any
part, is as serviceable as in the vegetable productions of the
earth.   I have said elsewhere,  that it is  through the medi-
um of water  all  vital processes, whether animal or vegeta-
ble, are  carried on.  It is not strange that the virtues of
water to heal incomparably the best of all substances, was not,
until of late,  becoming generally known,  since there is, in
the human mind, such  a tendency to the marvellous and
mystical.
  Proud Flesh.—By whatever means this may occur, very
cold  applications should at first be made, to constringe, or
pinch up, so to say,  these  flabby  and  unhealthy parts.
A stream of water poured upon  the place, or from a syringe,
is good.   Afterwards, the simple dressings  are to be ap-
plied. 
AIR BATH.
91
                   CHAPTER VII.

              THE COOL OR COLD AIR BATH.

  It  was  observed  by Franklin,  as is also understood
by  all who practise bathing to any  considerable  extent,
that the cold bath is, under certain circumstances, too pow-
erful in its effects, even for persons in  health.  As we have
before explained, it can  do no possible  good, but  always
more or less harm, for a person, of any age or condition of
health, to become so chilled that the body does not readily,
and in a  short time, take on a natural and comfortable de-
gree of warmth.  It is by  far too  common for persons to
persist in performing baths in such a  way that the body is
chilled, the lips and nails remaining blue, showing the effect
of internal congestion, resulting always in more  or less
harm  to the constitution.   The cool or  cold air bath may
often,  under such circumstances, be made a hygienic means
of health and  pleasurable  enjoyment.   Franklin's mode
was to sit of a morning, reading or writing for half an hour
or an hour, according to  the season,  without any clothing
whatever.  If he afterwards went again to bed, as he tells
us,  to make a  supplement  to the night's rest, he experienced
an hour or two of the most pleasing sleep that can be ima-
gined.  At another time, in describing  the modes  of pro-
curing pleasing dreams, Franklin recommends the exposure
of the surface of the body,  by walking the room of a night,
in case restlessness and inability to sleep soundly is expe-
rienced.   Students, and those following literary pursuits, as
well as sempstresses, artisans,  &c, who are  in the habit
or necessity of occupying their evenings in their employ-
ments, will, during the hot season,  find  it a practice con-
tributing much to comfort and power of endurance, if they
are so situated that they can pass their later evening hours
with the body in a state of nudity, or at most with a light
and flowing dress of such  form  and material that  will ad- 
92
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
mit of a free circulation of air, and radiation or throwing
off animal heat about the whole surface.   It  is of course
not to  be inferred, that the cold  air bath, as described, can
be taken at all times and  by all persons,  especially in a
country subject to such  extremes of cold  as that  of  the
northern part of our natal soil.   As a general rule, to  be
carefully observed in the employment of all physical agen-
cies, no great changes are to be made suddenly.   Every
new practice, however salutary it may be, must  be com-
menced cautiously and gradually; and it  is surprising to
what an extent cold air may be borne, after sufficient hard-
ening.   Every one will recollect the story  of the Athenian
going  about the market-place  of Athens, in  the  winter,
naked.  On being asked by a Scythian, if he were not cold, he
asked of the other if his face were cold.  Being answered
in the negative, he rejoined, then imagine my body to be all
face.   Casually,  I will here mention, there  is, in particular,
one class of persons  who will find  it  much more difficult
than any other, to accustom their bodies to  the influence of
the cool air bath,—I mean  those whose systems have been
saturated, so to say,  with mercurials,—mercury,  whether
in its ordinary  drug form,  blue pill, corrosive  sublimate,
pill, nostrum, ointment, or wash.   Such persons will often
find that a slight  change of air,  or a trifling application of
cold water, or cold in almost any form, will cause them to
experience a rheumatic pain.   Such must  accustom them-
selves gradually to these changes, and those who have been
so unfortunate as to have been  brought  into this condition,
may be very thankful if there is yet enough of vitality in
their systems to accumulate strength upon, that the terrible
poison  may be  expelled.   Iodine in  all its preparations,
bromine, opium and other narcotics, arsenic, tartar emetic,
quinine, all render  the system more  susceptible to cold,
particularly those drugs of the mineral kind.
  The cold air bath  may be used with advantage after pas-
sive sweating,  or after lying, and  becoming thoroughly
warmed in the  wet sheet.   It is true that we generally  use
and prefer some form of water bathing  after the wet sheet
application, and the different modes of sweating; but  the 
AIR BATH.
93
 prevalent notion that  it is  dangerous in any case to omit
 taking a bath by means of water, after the modes mention-
 ed, is founded in error.  I  do  not  say that a  person may
 not so sweat himself that a cold would result from  the air
 bath, but 1 do affirm, that if the air bath with the same pre-
 cautions we  would all  observe in taking the  cold water
 bath, as going quickly from the one to the other, practising
 at the same time, as much as practicable, muscular exertion,
 and especially excitation by friction upon the surface, and
 avoiding the secondary chill, the same as we always should
 after the water bath, the cold air bath  is comparatively safe.
 I have somewhere read of an English clergyman, who re-
 sided near  Antwerp, and for a  long time  put Franklin's air
 bath in operation after sweating, for the purpose of throwing
 off colds and other attacks.  He had in fact so much confidence
 in the remedy,  that he believed that  almost every  disease
 might be expelled  by the skin.  His mode, whenever  ill,
 was to sweat himself in blankets, expose the body awhile
 to the cold  air, and return again to bed to expel the enemy
 by renewed  perspiration.   This  gentleman,   following
 Franklin's  directions, no doubt did  not omit the  drinking
 freely of cold water, to aid in the operation.
   Every practitioner who takes upon himself the  duty
 carefully to observe facts, must  have noticed the  good effects
 of cool air  upon the surface of  the body, in all  febrile  and
 inflammatory  diseases.   You move a fever patient from a
 small and confined  room to one that  is spacious and airy,
 and  how often it happens, that, in a few hours, a wonderful
 change for  the better takes  place!  I well recollect an ex-
 periment I made with one of my first patients, if, indeed, an
 experiment it may be called, by opening  the window in the
 night-time,  in the coldest of  winter ; the clothing was mostly
 removed, the patient being in fever, when, on watching the
effect upon the pulse,  the improvement, naturally enough,
was strikingly perceptible.   The patient was, by this simple
means, permanently benefitted.   The  fact is, that a  part of
the good effect, in all such cases, comes from the inhalation
of the fresh air,  as well as from its effects upon the surface.
The sagacious Dr. Adam Clark (I speak  from memory,) 
94
THE  WATER-CUKE  MANUAL.
gives an instance, in his autobiography, of the good effects
of fresh air. It was, in his time, the prevalent mode of the fa-
culty, to treat  inflammatory diseases upon the heating plan,
putting  patients  between feather  beds, in close and heated
rooms, and the like modes,—barbarous enough, truly, and
exceeding even the barbarism of any barbarous nation in the
world.  He was, himself, when  only a boy, suffering with
the burning fever of small-pox.  He managed, in the height
of it, to escape from his attendants, and rushed into the open
air, when there was snow upon the ground, experiencing, as
he tells us, the greatest relief, and  the violence of the dis-
ease being broken up.
   I find that estimable writer, Dr. Currie, gives an interest-
ing case, showing the good effects of cool air, as follows:
"In the month of May, 1801,  1 was  desired to visit a patient
ill of a fever, in  Spading street (Liverpool.)  I found him,
on the tenth or eleventh day of  the disease,  delirious and
restless; the surface of the body  dry, and his  heat  104° F.
The room was close, and I desired the only window in it to
be opened.  The wind, from the north-west,  blew  directly
into this window ; and the bed being situated between it and
the chimney,  a  pretty brisk  stream of air passed  over it.
The patient had just thrown off  a considerable part of his
bed-clothes, and  was exposed  naked to the breeze.   I sat by
him, with my  finger on  his pulse, watching the effect.  In a
little while, the  pulse fell from 120 to 114, in the  minute.
He became more tranquil,  and soon after sunk into a quiet
sleep, in which he remained, when the water for an  affusion
was prepared  ; of course, we did not disturb him.   When
I left him, I desired the attendants to  suffer him  to remain
in this situation all night,  unless he  became  cold; but to
take care to administer the proper  nourishment.   Once or
twice in the night, the attendants placed the bed-clothes on
him ; but  he  soon became hot and restless, and they took
them off again.  While naked, he slept tranquilly, and had,
generally, a gentle moisture on his skin.   In the morning, I
found  him  perfectly collected, and  considerably refreshed,
his  pulse about  100,  and his heat  101° F.   He coughed,
however, a little;  and we covered  him with a sheet, which 
AIR BATH.
95
he now found agreeable to his feelings.   The cough pro-
duced no serious inconvenience, and, in a few days, the pa-
tient recovered, under  the common treatment."  Similar
results to these, obtained and  put forth' in  so scientific a
manner by Dr. Currie, may be obtained by the same simple
means, whenever the opportunity offers.   And why medical
men have not more generally profited by such examples as
the above, and many others, published to the world more
than a half century ago by Dr. C, is, I confess,  more than
I can find wherewith to account for.
   I was told, at one time, by a friend, that one of the Messrs.
Harpers, publishers in this city, having suffered for a length
of time from an attack of rheumatism, after having tried a
variety of remedies without  effecting  a  cure,  found that
walking in the open winter air, in the  yard, with a loose
gown on, so that the cold air could not be  received upon the
heated and painful parts, was  the best means of relief he
had  found.    One way and  another,  through  ignorance,
recklessness, instinct, or a knowledge of the true principles
of medical science relating to these matters,  experiments of
this kind have often been made.  And the  rule will be found
to hold always good, the same with cold air as with cold
water, that whenever parts are hotter  than is natural, and the
application of cold is agreeable to the sensations, they are al-
ways safe.
   Persons in  the frenzy, or delirium,  of disease,  insanity,
&c, have, at times, broken away from  their keepers,  re-
maining naked a whole night, perhaps, in the cold air, and
have thus been greatly benefitted, and, in  some instances,
have entirely recovered, when all other means had failed. 
96
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
                   CHAPTER VIII.

         THE VAPOR BATH AND SWEATING PROCESS.

  About two and a half years ago, I wrote, substantially,
as follows :
  " Among  those who advocate and practise  water-cure,
there seems  to be a general opinion that the vapor bath  is
injurious.  The objection  most commonly  made,  is,  that
it too much  excites the circulation,  causes a  rushing of
blood to the head, and that, by this undue excitation or stimu-
lation,  the body becomes weakened.   It is an easy matter to
cause injury by the vapor bath. " If it is made too powerful,
or is too long continued, severe head-ache, and even faint-
ing,  may ensue.  But this  is the abuse.   If.a patient is
wrapped in a dry blanket or a wet sheet,  to perspire,  pre-
cisely the same injurious effects may easily be caused. With
a good apparatus, there is  no difficulty in  regulating the
vapor bath so. that it will  be as mild  as one  pleases,—as
mild in temperature, even, as the  wet-sheet in the way or-
dinarily used.
  " It  has been objected, that in  vapor baths the heat  is
foreign, and that, therefore, it must  be  debilitating  and
weakening.   But the  same objection may  be made respect-
ing  the sweating blanket  or the wet sheet.  The  natural
heat of the body being 98°  F., there is constantly passing
off,  in  every direction, a  considerable amount of caloric,
unless  it be in some way obstructed ; but if it be obstructed,
as by the non-conducting blankets, as used in the wet sheet,
or sweating envelopement,  and be retained at  or thrown
back upon the surface, the effect is not materially  different
from what it would  be, were the  same amount of caloric
from any other source applied.
  " In  many cases, we are  confident from experience,  that
a vapor bath, suitably arranged, with  a cool or cold bath
after it, is better than to lay for hours in  an envelopement. 
VAPOR  BATH.                  97
The time gained by the vapor bath is very valuable for ex-
ercise in the open air, and is often  better than for the pati-
ent to remain in a room perhaps not over-well ventilated, as
is generally the case.
  " To  prevent too much blood passing to the head, a cold
wet cloth,  or frequent washing the face and temples in cold
water,  is  very useful.  Head-ache and faintness  are  the
first symptoms denoting that the bath is too powerful.   The
vapor bath should never be used in such a way as to cause
these  symptoms.  Such  effects are never needed, and  are
always  more or less  injurious.
  "The Thompsonians,  or 'steam doctors,' as they  are
sometimes called, have been unmercifully  and  ignorantly
vilified for their use of the vapor bath.  . Who does not know
that the Thompsonian has often relieved patients in a most
remarkable manner,  when the ' scientific'  practitioner had
been compelled to ' give  up.'  A good vapor bath, and a
thorough cleansing of the skin, will often cause such speedy
relief, that it is reckoned an accident, rather than otherwise,
that such  relief is  obtained.  The remedy appears too
simple to cause any marked  result.
  " Physicians  generally seem to think  it  a thing of little
consequence to  pay any regard to the skin.   Day after day,
week  after week, and month after month,  patients are al-
lowed to lay suffering for want of  a cleansing of the skin ;
and in cases, too, where the simple operation would  cause
more  sudden relief than anything  else that could be done.
We knew a physician of very extensive practice who had
under treatment a person with obstinate  fever.   After hav-
ing done his utmost, without any good success, he thought
he would try vapor,  'to  get up an  action,' as he said.  To
do this, some common barrel-hoops were  cut in two, and the
half hoops were placed over  the patient in bed, to elevate
the  clothes, and then, by hot stones or  bricks wound in wet
cloths, placed  under the  bedding  thus elevated, a genial,
pleasant vapor was generated all about the  body, and thus,
by this simple means, the patient was at once greatly bene-
fitted.   It was the thing needed.   The woman  rapidly  re-
covered. 
98
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
  " We lately had  a patient  who had been treated many
months, and who, on leaving home, was given, by his phy-
sician, written  directions.   It was recommended, that by
all means, he should take vapor baths, should he be where
they could be obtained—as if a vapor bath could not be had
anywhere.   He had been treated all this  time without any.
It is  easy to give a bath of this description in the following
way: A  number of bricks or stones are heated red hot.
The  patient is to sit upon a cane-bottom, or open-work chair,
(the  clothing being  removed,) with a couple of woollen or
other blankets pinned about  the  neck.  A vessel of water
(a common tin pan is as good as any thing,) is placed under
the chair, and into this  water the hot  bricks or stones are to
be dipped, little by little, so  that the  vapor rises from the
surface of the water.
  " The ancient Romans frequently used the vapor bath,
and the cold one immediately following.  The Russians go
from vapor baths, even at 150° F., and plunge in very cold
water, or roll in the snow.   Wm. Penn saw the vapor bath
and  the  cold immersion  used  with remarkable  success
among the Indians of our own  country;  and at the present
day, among the red men of the forest, the vapor is  an im-
portant agent in the treatment of a variety of diseases."
  I wish now again to repeat, that the arguments against
the use of the vapor bath  can only  be brought against  its
abuse.  Every  objection, as the debilitating effects of heat
and the determination of blood to the head, comes, with equal
force, to the  wrong  application of the sweating blanket or
wet-sheet.   I am well enough aware that, as the vapor bath
is generally administered, it is liable  to cause harm, and
often does.   Without  any  unpleasant effects,  it may  be
taken as long as the wet sheet, provided the temperature is
properly graduated.  The wet sheet  is, in fact, only a con-
venient form of vapor bath, preceded by a cold one.   The
sheet is  first cold,  the heat of  the body warms  it, the
warmth is thrown  back upon the surface, and thus a moist
vapor is formed.
  The wet sheet is, of course, generally much  more con-
venient of use  than the vapor bath ; and for  that reason, 
VAPOR  BATH.
99
if for no other, it will be more generally used.  A simple
apparatus, however, is quite  sufficient for  giving the best
of vapor baths.   From  a small covered boiler, a  tin,  or
other pipe, is made to pass to the  lower part of a  box, or
under a chair, when the  patient wishes to sit.  By  having
a  hole and fastened funnel in the  cover of the boiler, the
vapor may be diminished or increased, as may be required.
The head  is left out in the  cool  air, the  cooler the bet-
ter,  and  water may  be  put  upon the part.  Rushing  of
blood is  thus prevented, if the vapor is not  made too hot.
Some dexterity is needed in  these matters,  and then every
thing acts like a charm.
   Many  think the  vapor bath must always cause  one to
sweat.  The simple warming of the surface is highly ben-
eficial, preceding the cold bath.   The warmer the surface,
if the system be not weakened thereby, the more salutary is
the action of the cold, and the better it is borne.  In cases
where real sweating is needed, the vapor bath,  properly
used, is one of the best possible modes.
   By alterations from  cold  to warmth, and the reverse,
strong and salutary impressions upon the  system may be
made.  Thus, if a cold bath is taken, then instantly a vapor,
and then again, a cold one, to be followed by exercise, strong
work may be done.  Boils  and eruptions  are thus  often
made to appear.   We need more  scientific experiments of
this kind before  we can  determine accurately  how much
good may be done in this way.
   Why does the vapor bath act only  skin deep, as has been
said by objectors  ?   Because it is made  too violent,  and  is,
therefore,  necessarily continued  but a very short time.
Make it moderate in temperature, and you  may " parboil "
and blanch the system as effectually by the vapor bath as by
the wet sheet.
   I trust I shall now be understood on the subject of the va-
por bath.   It is a warming means, a sweating means, and a
killing means, not more than  the sweating blanket or the
envelopement in the wet sheets.  Persons have been made
to swoon in the vapor bath, and so, also, in  the blanket and
the sheet.   The  improper use of, or  the remaining too long 
100
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
in either, good as they are, may be easily made to kill.  Let
us see what the experience of future years will  bring forth
in this matter.
   The Sweating  Process.—This is not so much  resorted to
as formerly, by Priessnitz.  In fact, he now seldom  allows
actual perspiration, that is, to become so heated as to cause
perspiration to stand in drops  upon the surface.   The wet
sheet always produces more or less of the derivative effect
upon the  system.   It bleaches, or poultices the  skin, but
should not, as a general thing, be allowed  to cause actual
sweating.   There is much error abroad upon this subject, in
this country.  A great many seem to think that  sweating is
the only mode by  which  disease is to be removed.  They
appear to imagine that disease is a tangible thing that may
be brought out.  This is upon  a par with the drug modes.
Artificial sweating is an unnatural and debilitating means.
It acts upon the  principle of  blood-letting  and  cathartics.
The passive sweating, whether produced  by hot air, hot va-
por, the retained amount of  heat in the wet sheet  or dry
blanket envelopement, is, in  principle, the  same, and is a
debilitating means.   Without  understanding any of the the-
ories of books upon this matter, Priessnitz had the sagacity
to discern this fact,  and has modified his practice accord-
ingly,  He says, " Sweating is a debilitating process, and
should, therefore, be avoided, and that nature expels disease
by the invigoration  of the general health."   He found that
striking results could be brought about  in connexion with
sweating,  but more extended  experience  proved to him that
these so-called cures were not as permanent and  effectual
as they should be.   He has found  decidedly better  results
to follow the more tonic course.   Those, then, who speak of
" Priessnitz's sweating  by wet sheets," do not  accurately
understand his later mode.  Moreover, if I understand the
matter rightly, he never was in the habit of using the wet
sheet for sweating, only the dry blanket.
  How does Sweating operate  ?—Sweating,  whether  active
or passive, operates  upon  the same general principle.   In
hot weather and  in fatigue, as well as in the artificial appli-
cations of heat to the body, perspiration  bursts  forth as a 
VAPOR  BATH.
101
 relief to the system.  Water is thrown out of the pores, as
 we say,  and evaporation takes place.  Evaporation is a
 cooling process of nature.  Hence the system becomes re-
 lieved of its extraneous heat.   This is a most beautiful ope-
 ration of nature, and one from which we should learn very
 important lessons of practice.
   Although  sweating is  to be regarded as  being, for the
 most  part, a debilitating process, yet there is one kind very
 essential to health, namely, that caused by exercise, not too
 violent.  Except those who perform, regularly, daily labor,
 few perspire by exercise.  " In the sweat of thy brow, shalt
 thou eat bread," is  as much a law  of nature as of revela-
 tion.   If a person does not  habitually labor  or exercise so
 that at least  moderate perspiration  is experienced upon the
 surface, then good  and  uninterrupted  health cannot  long
 last.  There are, it is true, some  who have not perspired
 for years, and whose skin is of a sallow, dry,  and unhealthy
 look,  and yet enjoy what some would call good health ;  but
 this is far short of  what  health should be.  A moderate,
 genial perspiration should, as a rule, be caused daily.
   There are many invalids, however,  whose strength of
 body  will not allow of this.   The system must, if possible,
 be invigorated  by a tonic, general course ;  and,  in a ma-
 jority of cases, this can be so far carried on as to bring the
 body  at  last  into such  a state as  will admit of moderate
 perspiration,  by exercise which is not so great as to induce
 too much fatigue.   In order to enjoy good appetite for food,
 and a desire  for the duties and  amusements of life, the na-
 tural  and daily waste  and replenishment of the system must
 be kept up.
   Sweating in Blankets.—This envelopement  is made in the
same  way as the wet sheet,  the latter being omitted.   In
case  this mode  is practised,  the  individual should  drink
freely of water, in small quantities at a time, but  not until
after  the  perspiration commences.   The  windows should
 be thrown open, to admit the cool,  fresh air.   A moderate
 warming  of  the body  in this way, as well  as in the  va-
 por bath, is sometimes a good preparation  before  the cold
 bath. 
102
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
  In the dry  blanket, as also in the wet  sheet, wrongly
applied  with  the  view of causing  perspiration, patients
have been made to remain  so long, while in the sleeping
state, as to  be thrown into night-mare and  most frightful
dreams.  Such modes are always to be deprecated, and
inevitably do harm.
  Tepid, Warm,  and  Hot Applications  of Water. — One
great objection to  the new system, is  the supposed chilling
effect of the treatment.  It  is supposed by  many that the
new mode consists wholly of horrible applications of cold wa-
ter.  Physicians themselves are not always over-particular
in avoiding exaggeration on  this point.   It is found to be
quite a good " bug-bear," with which  to frighten people, by
basely stating  that weak  infants, children  and old persons
are all to be subjected to the one horrible thing—cold water.
  In many cases no cold  water at all is used, unless it be
a little in the way of drink.  It may be laid down as a rule,
that whenever warm or hot  applications are  more agreea-
ble to the feelings of the patient in subduing severe pains,
as in severe colics, certain inflammations of the bowels,
cramps in the stomach and bowels, pain in the spine, pleuri-
sy, or pain within the  ribs or chest, &c, &c, the best rule
we know of is to consult the feelings of the patient.  If there
is high inflammation, cold applications will be the most agree-
able, and the best;  but when there is  pain without the heat,
warm or hot applications are to be used.  Let the follow-
ing case illustrate :
  An  individual had  eaten too  heartily at dinner, and of
food in his case indigestible.   Very improperly, a full sup-
per was taken upon this indigestible dinner, which soon
caused, in  the stomach and bowels, an  excruciating colic
pain.  In similar cases, the man had removed the difficulty
by  clysters and vomiting, caused by lukewarm water.  At
this time, however, these means failed, giving only partial
relief.   The author being called, he directed that the pati-
ent have warm bricks to his feet, and at once large  towels
folded over, to  be slightly  wrung out of water as hot  as
could be borne, and applied  all  over the  abdomen  and a
part of the  chest.  These changed  unremittingly, as hot 
VAPOR  BATH.
103
and as often as the  patient desired, after a reasonable time
brought relief.   The bowels were also again freely purged,
and the acid and indigestible  substances removed from the
stomach by much drinking of tepid water.  After all pain
was  removed, and the  stomach  and  bowels were well
cleansed with pure  clean water, it would have been well to
have  applied the tepid wet sheet to sleep in.   This not being
convenient, and not being strictly essential, it was omitted.
A good night's rest was obtained.  The  individual lived
nearly  fasting  the next day, drinking,  however,  a large
quantity of water,  mostly with  the chill off, and then re-
turned gradually and cautiously  to a more full diet, and
thus avoided all pain.  In inflammation of the stomach and
bowels, in almost every case where those frightful relapses
take place, impropriety in food is the cause.  In this case,
had not relief been  soon given, there would inevitably have
resulted a very violent  inflammation—in  the stomach and
bowels, always a most formidable disease.
   A medical friend whom we  highly esteem—a  man who is
never afraid to break away from old  usages, provided he
can see a  better way—lately  informed the writer, that in a
case of the most excruciating  colic which fell under his
treatment, when ordinary means had failed to bring relief,
he caused the man  quickly to be wrapped in a blanket wet
in hot  water, and this simple  application caused immediate
relief.   It is astonishing to witness what can be often done
by so simple a means to relieve pain.   The same principle
was used by the ancients to some extent, and has been more
or less through all periods of time.   The relief caused by
applying the warm skin  of an animal  just slain, or by put-
ting the patient into the warm carcass of an animal, an an-
cient  mode, is upon the principle of warmth and moisture
to soothe.
   To propose a warm  or tepid sheet would perhaps only
excite the ridicule of some who advocate water-cure.  But
it is certain that these appear  to be sometimes the best.  We
now and then prescribe warm wet sheets, for there are cases
in which it would not be safe to apply the cold one.   It is
not productive of any good for a weak person to lay shiver- 
104            THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
ing in a cold wet sheet an hour or more, hoping afterwards
to get warm.  Injury has been done  by such means.   It
may be  laid down as a rule, that when the body is cold, it
should not be made colder, but, instead, warmer; and if this
cannot be done by natural means, as by exercise, then arti-
ficial should be used.   Still the direct  effect of heat is  al-
ways weakening.  The question, then, in warm or hot  ap-
plications, is, whether they are not,  on the whole, of evils
the least.
   Warm and hot foot baths  are often very useful.   But in
such uses of water, a cold application  following, should be
made, to counteract the weakening and relaxing effect of
heat.
   On the same  principle  that we cause the  animal heat
to raise  somewhat  above the natural  standard in the wet
sheet or the sweating blanket, it  is beneficial  so to do by
means of the warm bath, provided  that we do no violence
to the system.   I have hundreds of times prescribed mode-
rately warm baths, to be followed instantly by a cool or cold
one, and apparently with  the- best effects.   I  have myself
remained in the warm bath very nearly at 98° F., the tem-
perature of the blood,  for a full half hour, finishing with the
cold.  I  did this at one time when the fever of varioloid
was coming upon me.  The weather  was warm and plea-
sant, in October, a fine Indian summer time.   Although the
thermometer placed under the tongue indicated an increase
of heat in my system, yet, before going into this bath, I felt
constantly most severe chills.  The bath broke them up ef-
fectually, and  apparently did me much good.
  Since writing the foregoing chapters, a case has come to
mind  in which the vapor bath appeared to be very benefi-
cial.  About one  year ago, a young man, by the name of
Rogers, of this city, experienced a severe attack of quinsy,
or inflammation  of the throat.   He  sent for  me, and I at-
tended him,  I think, a part of two days.   He ate nothing,
drank, bathed, and used wet bandages,  according to the 
VAPOR 1UTII.
105
 means that were at hand; and this kept the feverishness
 of the  general system  much  subdued;  but the throat
 grew  worse.  He now  concluded to come to  my house
 for treatment, and was accordingly helped into a carriao-e,
 and brought to us.   By this time, the throat had become°so
 bad that he  could not swallow even a drop of water.  I at
 once had him placed in  the vapor box, so arranged that he
 could sit very comfortably, with the face out as much of the
 time as he chose.   The vapor was let on so as very gradu-
 ally to warm the system.  He remained in the bath, in all,
 upwards of an hour.  The vapor was made  to pass well
 upon the  neck,  as also over  the whole system.   The
 throat grew very much easier, and, towards the latter part
 of the time, he became able to  drink freely, swallowing
 with comparative ease.   Moderate perspiration was caused ;
 and, on coming from the  vapor, instantly a cold shower bath
 was given.   He remained much more comfortable, and, in
 a short time, the swelling broke internally, and in two days,
 with moderate treatment, he was quite  recovered.  If the
 throat  swells so much that a patient cannot swallow, it is a
 bad  case,  to say the least.  I did not use  the wet  sheet in
 this  case, it is true, or the sweating blanket;  but, as much
 as I  prize  those modes, especially the wet sheet, I  have no
 idea that either it, or anything else, could have  relieved
 Mr.  Rogers's throat so wonderfully, and in so short a time,
 as the vapor bath.
   An enthusiatic  friend  just now hands me the following
 account of his use of the vapor bath, a few days since:
   " Did the reader  ever  have  a severe cold ?  Certainly.
 Well, then, he must have suffered from head-ache, stiff neck,
 sore throat, and a general soreness of the whole body, and, up-
 on applying to a physician for relief, may  have taken, by his
 directions, calomel  and jalap, or rhubarb, and afterwards se-
 veral doses of castor oil, to work off the effects of the mercury,
 as is said,  and supposed  himself to be cured.  Now, this
was precisely the condition of the  writer about four weeks
ago.   He had caught cold, he does not know how, and was
confined to his room three days.  By the advice of a friend,
who  was a physician, he physicked himself according to the
             5* 
106
THE WATER-CUKE MANUAL.
above directions, and, at the expiration of twenty-four hours,
went about his  business,  apparently a well man.  He had
not been out of doors six hours before one of his teeth be-
gan to ache.  Tooth-ache had never troubled him up  to that
time.   It was Saturday, at 6 o'clock P. M.  That day and
night he could get no rest.  He was almost delirious.   The
pain continued  to increase until Sunday  evening, and then
it suddenly ceased, and his face began to swell.  On Mon-
day, the swelling had increased, and become inflamed.   He
then suffered as much from his swelled face as he had pre-
viously suffered from his  aching tooth.   He resorted to hot
bricks, bread and  milk poultices, and spirits of camphor,
but all to no good purpose.  At last he thought that he would
try a vapor bath!  Tuesday morning he applied to a wo-
man in Fulton street, who administers the vapor bath;  took
two of them that day, one at 8  o'clock A. M., and the other
at 1 o'clock P. M.  The inflammation in his face was at
once reduced.   The swelling no longer gave him pain, and
it gradually diminished, until,  on Wednesday morning, no
traces of it could be discovered.  On Wednesday, he took
one more vapor  bath, and sweated the  mercury out of his
system, and has enjoyed the  best of health  since then.
From this  time henceforward, he will sing the praises of
the vapor bath, and advocate water-cure !"
   In this case, no ablution was taken after the bath, and the
warm vapor was breathed.   This certainly is  not the best
mode; yet persons are every day being cured apparently
by such modes.
   To certain hot springs in Arkansas,  the people of New
Orleans and other parts resort.   Bath-houses have  been
erected over the running hot water, and thus sweating is re-
sorted to.   There is no physician at that place, as a  patient
of mine, who was himself upon the spot, tells.   People go
to those springs expressly for  the sweating.   They seldom
perform any ablution after the sweating, except it be merely
to cleanse the surface  with warm water.  It  is a  saying
among patients there, that not  only boils and eruptions, but
all the old  bruises and difficulties they have ever had,  come
out upon  the  surface, very  much  like  crises in water- 
VAPOR  BATH.
107
cure.  By the  powerful  sweatings there  practised,  many
reckon themselves cured ;  but not a small number, we are
told, leave their bones at that place.
  For one, I acknowledge that we need more experience in
this matter before we can determine precisely to how great
an extent sweating is salutary or  admissible.   But it may
be safely predicted, that none should, without the advice of
those possessing judgment and experience,  practise  more
than a  very moderate  amount  of sweating;   and as the
process is generally administered, there is much m )re harm
than good done.
  Temperature  of Baths. — Sensations  from  water  alter
very considerably, according to the temperature of the at-
mosphere,  and the state of health.   Hot baths  are  from
98°  F., the temperature of the blood,  upwards.  Warm
baths are generally reckoned from 92° to 98° ;  tepid,  below
92°.   A tepid  bath to one, may appear  cold  to another.
As a rule, the colder the bath,  if well borne, the better.
The  direct effect of warm baths is to weaken.   Whenever
they are taken, the time should be very short,  and they
should be  immediately  followed  by a  cold  plunge,  dash,
shower, or at least rubbing with a cold wet cloth.   It is well
known by some housekeepers, that " washing-day" can be
borne with much less fatigue if most of the water used be
cool or cold.
  As to different sensations,  here is a curious fact. Atmo-
sphere 55° F.; body comfortable.  Took  three basins of
water at 60°, 70°, and 80°.   Placed one hand in the  water
at 60°, and the other in  the water at 80°.  Let them re-
main thirty seconds, and then placed both hands in the wa-
ter at 70° ; to  one it was cold, to the other warm.
  It  is said that in a road over the Andes, at about half-way
between the foot and summit, there is a cottage, in which
the ascending and descending travellers meet;  the former,
who  have just quitted the sultry valleys at the base, are so
relaxed  that the sudden diminution of temperature produces
in them a feeling of  intense  cold ;  while the latter, who left
the frozen summits of the mountain, are overcome by dis-
tressing sensations of extreme heat. 
108
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
   Cautions in the use of Water.—Every one knows water
may be made the means of great mischief.   According  to
the celebrated Dr. Currie, water may be safely used at any
time when there is no sense of chilliness present, when the
heat of the  surface is  steadily above what  is natural, and
when there is is no general or profuse perspiration.   For a
full bath, general affusion  and drinking, these rules were by
Dr. C. deemed  fully sufficient for safety; and yet we are
often told, that such men as Dr. C. and Priessnitz can man-
age water safely, and with it  do wonders, but  that practi-
tioners in  general would not be able to make those nice dis-
tinctions, and would consequently do much  mischief.   Bet-
ter by far, had  it been  if drugs were  not more dangerous
than water.
   To the above may be added, as a rule, no strong-impreS-
sion should be  made  with water, externally or  internally,
within about  three hours after a meal.  A bath upon a full
stomach may be very  injurious.   But if there is severe in-
digestion, colic, or inflammation,  water should  be used at
once,  in a way suited to  the case.
   Perspiration  caused by the envelopement, or by vapor
baths, does not come within Dr. Currie's rules.   It is well
known that a cool or cold bath, rightly taken, is not danger-
ous immediately after sweating,  if this is  not caused by
over-exertion or exhaustion. 
CRISIS.
109
                      CHAPTER  IX.

       CRITICAL SYMPTOMS AND CRISIS IN WATER-CURE.

            Most blessed water!  Neither tongue can tell
            The blessedness thereof, nor heart can think,
            Save only them to whom it hath been given
            To taste of that divinest gift of heaven.
            I stopped and drank of that divinest well,
            Fresh from the rock of ages where it ran:
            It had a heavenly quality to quell
            All pain.  I rose a renovated man,
            And would not now, when that relief was known,
            For worlds the needful suffering have foregone.
                                             Southey.

   Hippocrates and the earlier physicians were much in the
habit of observing critical symptoms in diseases; so in all
periods of time, such appearances have been observed and
depended upon  to  a greater or less extent;  more, however,
anciently than in  later times.
   A crisis may be said to be a visible effort on the part of
nature or the natural powers  of the system, to rid it of some
morbid matter or matters in it, or expelling  them at some
of the natural outlets of the  system, as the  skin, bowels
and  kidneys.   These appearances occur  in the form of
boils, eruptions, sweatings, diarrhoea, mucous and bloody
discharges, high-colored urine, feverishness, and the like.
   That these symptoms  are frequently caused by water, has
often been observed.   When  sailors first go to sea, and are
considerably exposed to  wet, it is common for boils to make
their appearance.   This is particularly true in  those parts
of the world where there is much  rain, causing more than
ordinary exposure to moisture, as, for instance, in doubling
the Cape of Good Hope.  Sailors are there much exposed, and
it has been observed that they are here very subject to boils.
Fishermen, in like  manner, are often affected, especially upon
those parts most exposed to the water, as the  hands.  Boils 
110
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
upon boys that resort frequently in the summer to the water,
for swimming exercises, every  one must  have observed.
Children accustomed to warmth and the so-called comforts
of home, when sent away to school, where exposure to cold
and a rigorous diet is enjoined, have been known to be af-
fected  in  the same way.   In  animals,  also, eruptions and
changes upon  the skin  have been seen to take place  when
they were first exposed to wet.
  Boils.—In the water treatment,  the  more  common ap-
pearance of crisis is by boils upon  the  skin.  These vary
much in size, from the smallest to the largest that are ever
seen;  carbuncles, as they  are called,—a carbuncle  being
only a great boil.  Crop  after crop  of  them  may appear,
and, in some  instances,  last for months.  They are often
troublesome affairs,  but  may  be kept tolerably free from
pain,  by being well  covered with wet compresses.   These
also aid in bringing them sooner to a head.
  Boils sometimes, though not often, occur in very inconve-
nient  places, as the eye-lids,  nostrils, lips, ears, &c.  A
' sty' in the eye is nothing but a boil upon the part.  Large
ones sometimes occur in water treatment; and those in the
ear are apt to  cause a good deal of pain.  Upon whatever
parts they occur, the principles of treatment to be observed
are the same.
  The more freely the boils suppurate  the better are they
considered to be.   Those that appear first are  usually most
tardy; the core, as it is called, is tough or thick, and does
not run freely.  Those that come later  run better, and are
considered  more friendly in their effects.  Various means
have been tried,  with the  view  to  hasten the suppuration of
boils, when they  are painful and tardy.   Poultices of differ-
ent kinds,  and plasters  of pitch, and coblers' wax,  have
been used.   In orthodox  and more heroic practice, leeches
are applied, or the  boil is freely laid open with a  lancet.
The best treatment, however, as  far as the  boil is concern-
ed, is,  as before mentioned, to keep it wet, and covered with
wet  compresses.   These produce all the  good effects of
poultices, are  more cleanly and  convenient, lighter to the
part, and in every respect better.  A stream of cold water 
crisis.
Ill
directed every now and then upon the boil, is an excellent
mode.
   It is a singular fact, that in  many of the best treated
cases of small-pox, by water,  boils come out freely as  the
patient begins  to recover.   I have not  seen this fact men-
tioned by any writer upon the subject, and speak only from
observation  in  my own practice.  I  am  certain it will be
found that whenever persons are  treated in this disease  by
water, boils  will be found frequently to appear.
   In order to bring on crisis by boils, it has been considered
necessary that  the water  used should be  very cold.  But
this is not so, as I  have learned by experience, in the city
of New York.   As freely and frequently  as I have  known
boils to occur,  under any circumstances,  they have come
upon  my  patients, in  the summer season, when  no water
colder than the Croton (river water,) was used externally at
all.   In fact, these appearances have been  considerably
more frequent,  as near  as I  can  observe,  in  the summer,
than at any  other time.
   There seems  to have been, for a long time, a prevailing
idea, that boils  are good for the system ;  that they cleanse
and purify the humors,  and  improve the general health.  It
was the opinion of Jenner, the far-famed discoverer of vac-
cination, " Every pimple  with a vesiculated head has an
errand  to perform, for the  benefit  of the  constitution."
Boils  are doubtless generally followed by, or attended with,
improvement in health; yet there can scarcely be a doubt
that they sometimes result from debility of the system.
   Diarrhoza as a Crisis.—Diarrhoea not unfrequently comes
on as a crisis.   If it is purely of the crisis kind, and is  not
caused by improper food, medicines, too great an amount of
treatment, &c, there is little or no pain attending it.  It is
a singular fact, too, that very little weakness is caused, al-
though it may last many days.  Sometimes there is slight
debility brought on in this  way,  but the sense of ease and
general comfort experienced in the system more than coun-
terbalances.
   Feverishness and Sweating.—Attacks of general pyrexia,
or feverishness, sometimes come on as  a crisis symptom. 
112
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 Sweatings likewise take place in the same way.   These
 are sometimes very offensive in character.
   There  is much room for fancy and  speculation in this
 matter of crisis.   There are,  no doubt, many notions con-
 cerning it that are purely hypothetical,—mere guess-work.
 It would seem, however, that,  often,  almost every former
 ache, pain, and bodily difficulty, of whatever kind, is again
 experienced while undergoing  the water-cure.   Old bruises
 re-appear;  ulcers that had been cured, as was believed,
 come out in the same place as at first; salivation is brought
 on; skin diseases  that  had apparently been repelled, ap-
 pear again upon the surface.  Patients  tell  us, too, that, at
 times,  some peculiar symptoms  which  drugs  had caused
 years before, and which had been forgotten, are again ex-
 perienced.   This I have known to happen with individuals
 who knew nothing whatever of the theories  concerning cri-
 sis in water-cure.   That the wet bandages  at times bring
 out medicinal odors,  is beyond dispute.
   Patients should be warned, that in undergoing a vigorous
 course of water treatment,  their feelings will at  times  be
 very variable.   Not  unfrequently a decided improvement is
 felt for a while, at first.  Then  again  the sensations change.
 The pleasant exhilaration of the baths is no more felt, and
 the original symptoms return with perhaps redoubled force.
 Some are discouraged,  and refuse to go on.  Still, if per-
 sons will have patience to observe how they are progress-
ing from week to week, they may generally notice decid-
ed amendment, in some respect or other.   I, however, never
knew a successful cure in any case of bad chronic disease, in
which the individual was not tried, as if by fire.   The health
becomes invigorated, it  is true, and  the  spirits improved;
but, with all this, there are experienced,  by times, very un-
pleasant symptoms, indeed.  This is true, even if there be
not the slightest visible crisis.
  The true  philosophy  of these  apparent aggravations of
disease is probably this : as the living power, or that which
we call nature, becomes invigorated, a greater antagonism
against disease is set up;  the disease then  makes  a more 
CRISIS.
113
desperate effort  to  remain;  and  in  the  commotion thus
caused, there appears to be an increase of the same.
  The Treatment in Crisis.—As crisis is an evidence that nature
has set vigorously about doing her work, we should,  when
this appears, pursue only a very mild course.   The  treat-
ment should now be expectant, or watching.   Manage to
soothe the system, and, as well as may be, keep down irri-
tation.   Nature is now doing her work well.  Do not thwart
her by undue interference.   Let her go on.  If she falters
by the way, and fails of accomplishing her work, it is easy
again to increase the treatment, and again to bring on crisis.
I am certain there has often been too great  an amount of
treatment practised while patients are in crisis.
  It will be remembered, that  even in the best cases of cure
there are some who have no visible crisis.
                    CHAPTER IV.

      EXERCISE, AIR, CLOTHING, LIGHT, AND SLEEP, AS
                   AFFECTING  HEALTH.

  It does not require much shrewdness to see that those who
exercise much are the most healthy.  Without this, perfect
health is impossible.  What are we to  think of the physi-
cal condition of those  young ladies at boarding-school who
lake one hour's  exercise per day, and  that by couples arm-
in-arm together,  and only when the weather is fine ?  Is it
at all a  matter of wonder, that, after  being a  year or two
at school, scarcely a healthy one among  those can be found,
and that the  majority of such are  more  or less crooked ?
How many of pale faces, and sallow and unhealthy appear-
ing complexion ; how many of thin  flesh, or of puffy, feeble
muscle, that give forth  no strength ; how many of so feeble 
114
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 and  irresolute step,  that  they  can  scarcely mount a single
flight  of  stairs,  without  the  heart beating  violently;  how
 many  who suffer constipation, loss  of appetite, depression of
 spirits, nervous  tremblings, palpitation,  hysterical symptoms,
 night-mare,  troublesome dreams,  and  ills too numerous  to
 mention;  how many  are there  who suffer such  an array of
 evils as these, and,  in great  part, for  the  want of daily
 exercise !   Kind  parents,  guardians, teachers,  philanthrop-
 ists, shall  evils like these exist  always ?
   If we understand  the laws  that govern the human  sys-
 tem, it is indelibly written, as if by the  finger of God, that
 MAN MUST EXERCISE IN THE OPEN AIR HABITUALLY, OR HE CAN-
 NOT ENJOY HEALTH.
   With Priessnitz,  one of the greatest jj>arts..of the treat-
 ment  is exercise in the open  air.   Exercise, he  says,  pro-
 motes  the cure  of  disease  by its invigorating the general
 health.  There are many invalids who need  little else than
 to be  made to labor  in the open air,  and  live hardy, to en-
 sure health.   Take  your over-fed, indolent gentry, and  do
 with them as Frederick, king of Prussia,  did with his indo-
 lent subject,* and you give them health.   Nothing short of
 a hardy course throughout will accomplish  the work.
   Priessnitz's patients, who are  able,  take a large amount
     * The following anecdote is related of Frederick, king of Prussia:
•  One day, while walking through the public gardens of Berlin, he met
   with a stout, well-fed gentleman, one of his subjects, who complained
   to the king, whom he did not know, of the misery of his bad  health,
   which made him spend half his fortune in constant travelling to water-
   ing places,  without any relief. The king told him that he would recom-
   mend him to an excellent  physician at Spandau, (the next station and
   fortress,) who would undertake  his cure for a trifle, and that he would
   answer for the success.  The gentleman accepted  this offer with great
   pleasure, and took a note from his kind adviser to Spandau, when, on
   delivering it, he was, by mistake, as tie thought, taken into the fortress,
   and obliged to work hard, with very scanty food.   He complained bit-
   terly of this mistake, wrote to Berlin to his friends, but had no answer,
   till, six months after his arrival at the fortress, the king came himself, to
   inspect the prisoners,  and was very glad to see  his patient in perfect
   health, but rendered to a shadow of.what he had been before. He con-
   gratulated him on his recovery at so cheap a rate, and sent him home
   cured forever. 
EXERCISE—AIR.
115
of exercise.  Eight or ten hours, daily, many are busily
engaged in climbing the hills, shaded by forest, going to the
several springs, drinking of water, and bathing.   All who
are able to harden themselves to such a course,  can  but
grow  stronger and firmer in  health.   Food is relished, di-
gestion goes on healthfully, rest and sleep are enjoyed,  and
the whole existence becomes changed.
   The amount of strength that may be gained  by well re-/'
gulated and  persevering practice in physical exercise, is
truly  astonishing.  From  being  very feeble, many persons
may>  by constant and regular exercise, gain an amount of
strength they had never before experienced.  Rheumatisms
and other old ailments are thrown off.   Riding upon horse-
back  long journeys has often cured  that dire disease, the
consumption; and long  journeys upon foot have often  ac-
complished that which physic, diet, and bathing alone could
not bring about.
   For the present purpose a few general directions may be
given.  Be the weather what it may, exercise daily and  fre-
quently in the open air,  but never so much as to cause  too
great  fatigue.   Practise moderate exercise always after a
meal, as this is  proved to be a means of promoting diges-
tion and increasing the  strength.  Perform, however,  the
greatest feats, when the stomach is  free from  food.   En-
deavor to take such exercise as will also interest agreeably
the mind ;  and of all exercise, that  which is directed to-
wards some honest industrial pursuit is the best that can pos-
sibly  be taken.   The  laboring man or woman exercises the
muscular frame too much, rendering the mind dull and stupid,
while the indolent and unoccupied suffer more from the op-
posite cause.  *
   Weak persons, who are not able to exercise, must have a
good deal of frictions, rubbings, kneading the flesh, bathing,
&c, to answer as well as may* be the same end.
   Air. — The advantages  of the cool or cold air  bath  we
have  spoken of eSewhere.   The same  general  principles
apply in the breathing of air, except  this is the more  im-
portant consideration of  the two.  One of the greatest of all
physical evils is the breathing of impure air ; so, also, is the 
116
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
breathing fresh, pure air, one of the most important influ-
ences in the prevention and  cure of disease.   The impor-
tance of a due supply of fresh air may be seen from its ef-
fects upon infants and children.   Those that are carried out
of doors  regularly  and often  are well known to be much
more healthy than  such as  are constantly  housed up  and
confined.  In the city of London one half of the deaths oc-
cur before infants and children  arrive at three years.   In
New York there is nearly a  like proportion.  But any one
who will take the trouble  carefully to ascertain facts, will
find that of those children that are taken daily and often in-
to the open air, and are kept likewise in well ventilated rooms,
are seldom  found to suffer  from ill health.  There are, I
know, but very few children served in this  way—very few
indeed ; but among this few, the  result will  be  found as I
have stated.
  How very little is there known in society  generally, com-
pared with what should be,  concerning  the importance of
breathing fresh air.   People go to churches, halls, lecture
rooms, concerts, the theatre and other places of amusement,
and breathe the atmosphere again and again, rendered im-
pure by many causes.   These places and  buildings gene-
rally are constructed as if with the view to prevent the ad-
mission of fresh air.  As a consequence, there occur very
frequently, faintings, swoonings, hysterics,  sighing,  cough-
ing, head-ache,  and a  multitude of symptoms,  indicating
the presence of something injurious.   All these things have
been explained over and again, and yet the evils are allowed
to go on.
  There is, perhaps, no one circumstance in which so much
harm is  done in reference to the  breathing  of air, than
in  sleeping  apartments.   Every one  has  observed, on
entering a sleeping  apartment of a morning,  having come
from the pure open air, how  rrrypure and offensive  the air
has become.  Let any one begin by opening  the window a
very little at first, and more  and  more as he  becomes ac-
customed to the change, avoiding, of course, direct draughts,
and he will not be a little surprised to find how much pleas-
anter, as well as more salutary, the change will prove to be. 
SLEEP.
117
 Instead of languor and weariness in the morning, there will
 be a feeling of rest and refreshment, and incubus and hor-
 rid dreams are avoided, especially if, in connexion, the oth-
 er habits  are correct.  There are now  parents  in  New
 York who  practise regularly the admitting freely of  fresh
 air into -the sleeping rooms of their children, even to the
 youngest infant.
   The article of Franklin's on procuring pleasing dreams,
 so well illustrates the whole subject under consideration, I
 shall here give it place, hoping that it may be studied and
 practised upon as it merits :
   " As a  great part of our life  is spent in  sleep, during
 which we  have sometimes pleasing and  sometimes  painful
 dreams,  it becomes of some consequence to obtain the one
 kind  and avoid the other; for whether real  or  imaginary,
 pain  is pain, and  pleasure  is  pleasure.  If we  can  sleep
 without dreaming, it is well that painful dreams are avoid-
 ed.   If, while  we sleep,  we can have any pleasing dreams,
 it is,  as the French say, tant gagne, so much added to the
 pleasure of life.
   " To this end it is, in the first place, necessary to be care-
 ful in preserving health, by due exercise and great temper-
 ance ; for in sickness,  the  imagination  is  disturbed ;  and
 disagreeable,  sometimes terrible  ideas are  apt to present
 themselves.  Exercise  should  precede  meals,  not imme-
 diately follow them :  the first promotes, the latter, unless
 moderate,  obstructs digestion.   If, after exercise, we  feed
 sparingly,  the digestion will be easy  and good, the  body
 lightsome,  the  temper cheerful,  and all the functions per-
 formed agreeably.   Sleep, when it follows, will be natural
 and undisturbed;  while indolence, with full feeding, occa-
 sions  night-mares and horrors inexpressible.  We  fall  from
 precipices, are assaulted by wild beasts, murderers and de-
 mons, and  experience every variety of  distress.  Observe,
 however, that the quantities of food  and exercise are rela-
tive things : those who move much, may, and indeed ought,
to eat more; those who use little exercise, should eat little.
In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eat
about twice as much as nature  requires.  Suppers are not 
118
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
bad, if we have  not  dined; but restless nights naturally
follow hearty suppers after full dinners.   Indeed, as there
is  a difference in constitutions,  some will rest after these
meals ;  it costs them only a frightful dream  and an  apo-
plexy,  after which they sleep  till  doomsday.   Nothing is
more common in the newspapers, than instances of  people,
who, after eating a hearty supper, are found dead in bed in
the morning.
   " Another means of preserving health to be attended to,
is  the having a constant supply  of  fresh air  in  your bed-
chamber.  It  has been  a great mistake, the sleeping in
rooms exactly closed, and in beds surrounded by curtains.
No outward air, that may come into you, is so unwholesome
as the  unchanged air, often  breathed, of a close chamber.
As boiling water does not grow hotter by longer boiling, if
the particles that receive greater heat can escape ; so living
bodies do not putrify,  if the  particles, as fast as they be-
come putrid,  can be  thrown off.  Nature  expels them by
the pores of the skin and  lungs, and in a free open air, they
are carried off; but, in a close room, we receive them again
and  again, though they  become more and  more corrupt.
A number of  persons crowded into  a small room, thus spoil
the air in a few minutes,  and even render  it mortal, as in
the ' Black Hole'* at  Calcutta.   A single person is said to
spoil only a gallon of air per minute, and therefore requires
a  longer time to spoil a chamber-full; but it is done,  how-
ever, in  proportion, and many putrid disorders hence have
their origin.   It is recorded of Methuselah, who,  being the
longest liver,  may be  supposed to have best  preserved his
health, that he slept always  in the  open air;  for, when he
had  lived five hundred years, an angel said to him,  ' Arise,
Methuselah, and build thee a  house,  for thou shaft  live
yet five hundred years longer.'   But Methuselah answered
  * The Black Hole is a close dungeon in Fort William, Calcutta.
" One hundred and forty-six  individuals were imprisoned in a room,
twenty feet square, with only one window, and before the next morning
all but twenty-three died under the most dreadful of tortures, that of
slowly increasing suffocation." 
SLEEP.
119
and said, ' If I am to live but five hundred years longer, it
is not worth while to build me a  house—I will sleep in the
air as I have been  used to do.'   Physicians,  after  having
for ages contended that the sick should not be indulged with
fresh air,  have at length discovered that  it may  do them
good.   It is therefore to be hoped, that they  may in time
discover likewise, that it  is not hurtful to those who are in
health; and that we may then be  cured of the acrophobia,
that  at present  distresses weak minds, and  makes them
choose to  be  stifled  and poisoned,  rather than  leave open
the windows of a bed-chamber, or  put down the glass of a
coach.
  " Confined air, when saturated with perspirable matter,*
will not receive more ;  and that matter must remain in our
bodies,  and occasion diseases :  but it gives some previous
notice of its being about to be hurtful,  by producing certain
uneasiness, slight indeed at first, such as, with  regard to
the lungs, is a trifling sensation, and to  the  pores of the
skin a  kind of restlessness which it is difficult to describe,
and few that feel it know the cause  of  it.   But we may  re-
collect, that sometimes, on awaking in the night, we have,
if warmly covered, found it  difficult to get  to sleep again.
We turn  often, without  finding repose in  any  position.
This fidgettiness, to use a vulgar expression for want of a
better, is  occasioned  wholly by an uneasiness in the skin,
owing to the retention of the perspirable matter—the bed-
clothes having received their  quantity,  and, being saturated,
refusing to take any more.   To become sensible of  this by
an experiment, let a person keep his position in the bed, but
throw off  the bed-clothes, and suffer fresh air to approach
the uncovered part of  his body ;  he will then  feel that part
suddenly  refreshed;  for  the air will immediately  relieve
the skin, by receiving, licking  up, and carrying off,   the
load of perspirable matter that incommoded it.  For every
portion of cool air that approaches the warm  skin,  in  re-
  * What physicians call  the perspirable matter, is that vapor which
passes off from our bodies, from the lungs, and through the pores of
the skin.  The quantity of this is said to be five-eighths of what we eat. 
120
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
ceiving its part of that vapor, receives therewith a degree
of heat, that rarefies and  renders it lighter,  when it will
be pushed away, with its burden, by cooler and therefore
heavier fresh air ;  which, for a moment, supplies its place,
and then, being likewise changed and warmed, gives way
to a succeeding quantity.  This is the order of nature, to
prevent animals being infected by  their own perspiration.
He will now be sensible of the difference between the part
exposed to the air, and that which,  remaining sunk in bed,
denies the air access, for this part now  manifests its un-
easiness more distinctly  by the comparison,  and  the seat
of the uneasiness is more plainly perceived than when the
whole surface of the body was affected by it.
   " Here then is one great and general cause of unpleasing
dreams.  For when the body is uneasy, the  mind will  be
disturbed by it, and disagreeable ideas of various kinds will,
in sleep, be the natural consequences.  The remedies, pre-
ventive and curative, follow :
   "1. By eating moderately  (as before advised for health's
sake,) less perspirable matter is produced in a given time ;
hence, the bed-clothes receive it longer before they are sat-
urated ; and  we may, therefore, sleep longer, before we are
made uneasy by their refusing to receive any more.
   " 2. By using thinner and more porous bed-clothes, which
will suffer the perspirable matter more easily to pass through
them, we are less incommoded.
   " 3. When you are awakened by  this uneasiness, and find
you cannot easily sleep again, get out of  bed, beat up and
turn your pillow, shake  the bed-clothes well, with at least
twenty shakes, then throw the bed open, and leave it to cool;
in the meanwhile, continue undrest, walk about  your cham-
ber, till your  skin has had time to discharge its  load, which
it will do sooner as the air may be drier and colder.  When
you begin to feel  the  cold air unpleasant, then return to
your  bed; soon you will fall  asleep, and your sleep will be
sweet and pleasant.  All the scenes presented to your fan-
cy will be of the pleasing  kind.  I am often as agreeably
entertained with them, as by the scenery of an opera.   If
you happen to be too indolent to get out of bed, you may, in- 
SLEEP--CLOTHING.
121
 stead of it, lift up your  bed-clothes with  one arm and leg,
 so  as to draw  in a good deal of fresh  air, and by  letting
 them fall, force it out  again ; this  repeated twenty times,
 will so clear them of the perspirable  matter they have im-
 bibed, as to permit your sleeping well for some time after-
 wards.  But this latter method is not equal to the former.
   " Those who do not love trouble, and can afford  to have
 two beds, will find great luxury in  rising, when they wake
 in a hot bed, and going into the cold one.   Such shifting of
 beds would also be of great' service to persons ill of fever,
 as it refreshes and frequently procures sleep.  A very large
 bed, that will admit a removal so distant from the first situ-
 ation as to be cool and sweet, may  in a degree answer the
 same end.
   " One or  two  observations more will conclude this little
 piece.  Care must be taken when you lie down, to dispose
 your pillow so as to suit  your manner of placing your head,
 and  to be perfectly easy ; then place your limbs so as not
 to bear inconveniently  hard upon  one another ; as for in-
 stance, the joints of your ancles ; for though a bad position
 may at first give but little pain,  and be  hardly noticed, yet
 a continuance will render it less tolerable, and the  uneasi-
 ness may come on while you are asleep,  and disturb your
 imagination.
   " These are  the rules of the art.  But though they will
 generally prove effectual in producing the end intended, there
 is a  case in which the most punctual observance of them
 will  be totally fruitless.  I need not mention the  case to
you, my dear friend ; but my account of the art would be
imperfect without it.   The case is, when the person who de
sires to have  pleasant  dreams, has  not taken  care to pre-
serve, what is  necessary above all things—A  good con-
science."
  Clothing—It is no more  than a common  maxim, that
those who accustom  themselves  to  go thinly clad  are the
most hardy, vigorous,  and free from disease.   The question
then arises, how far is  it safe, in each  individual case, to
diminish the amount of clothing  worn ?  It is very evident,
that no great change should be made all at once. By prac-
             6 
122            THE AVATER-CURE MANUAL.
tising the various means for hardening the system  and in-
vigorating the general health, a much less amount of cloth-
ing than is generally worn, almost any one may become ac-
customed to.   At Grafenberg, many wear very thin cloth-
ing, even  when the weather is  frosty and snow upon the
ground.  According to the rules of etiquette there, no cra-
vat of any kind is to be  worn upon  the neck.   The neck
and breast must be left exposed,  to receive the invigorating
effect of the cool, fresh air.  It is amusing,  often, to  see
even old  men,  who have become so hardy that they brace
up against the snow-storm with uncovered breast, and per-
haps without a vest.
   Wearing Hats and  Caps.—At Grafenberg,  it  is more
the fashion to go in  the open  air bare-headed.   The brain
becomes thus cooled, and  a tonic effect is produced.  Keep
the head cool, is a wise old maxim, the importance of which
the sagacious mind  of Priessnitz could not  overlook.   A
vast amount of harm arises from hot and air-tight hats  and
caps upon the head.   That calamity, baldness, which comes
upon so  many men, is caused much  by hats  and caps.
Women, whose heads are more  of the time uncovered,  and
whose head-coverings are  generally lighter and  more airy,
for the most  part retain their hair.
  The best possible treatment for loose  and diseased hair,
is that which invigorates the general health.
  Flannel.—There has been a great deal, and particularly
of later years, said  in favor of wearing flannel  next to the
skin, but scarcely more than for the use of tea, coffee, to-
bacco, opium, calomel, and castor oil.   Howard, the philan-
thropist, learned, after much experience,  that mankind were
in the habit of inverting the remedies to be used.  So, also,
it may be said, they are in the habit of avoiding things they
should use,  and of  using things that cause the  greatest
harm.
  As to flannel, the sum total of the matter is, it should, as
far as possible, be avoided, because of its weakening effect,
in retaining  too great an  amount of  the animal heat.  As
fast as possible, the  system should be so hardened, that  it
may be thrown off.   Old  persons and the feeble may need 
CLOTHING.                    123
 it, but never next the skin.   It irritates too much the  sur-
 face, retains too much warmth, and thus destroys the pow-
 er to resist cold, and impairs the generating of heat.   If it
 must be worn, let a muslin or  linen garment be kept next
 the  skin.  Those whose systems have been saturated with
 mercury, must not be surprised, if they feel symptoms of
 rheumatism  when  they  first make  the change,  but even
 here a  little perseverance, and every thing well  managed,
 will work wonders in a short time.
   Too small, as well as too great, an amount of clothing is
 injurious to the health ; but, in this country of  abundance,
 there is little to be feared from wearing too small a quantity.
   Irregularity in  wearing Clothing.—Ladies,  more particu-
 larly,  are  apt  to suffer from too sudden  changes in the
 amount  of clothing.   Generally,  too  great  an amount is
 worn.   Then, to  attend the theatre, a ball, party, or wed-
 ding, a great change is made.   Their stockings  and deli-
 cate shoes are exchanged  for  less substantial ones; the
 same general change is  made in the dress; the individual
 is thus exposed.   And how often,  in this way, is a cold
 taken, that lasts for  months, or  becomes the foundation of
 an incurable disease, and, in some instances, ends soon in
 death.  Mothers are greatly in fault in this matter.  Great
 and  sudden changes, in regard to dress, must never be made,
 even with persons  in  health.  So impressed with the  im-
 portance of this rule was one great physician, that he laid
 down, as a  maxim, that  those who wore flannel should, in
 the  warmest of the summer, throw it off one day, and re-
 sume it the next.   Now, I repeat again, there is, generally,
far too much clothing worn ;  but all changes should be  made
in connexion with cool or cold bathing, and always gradually.
 Many a cold is received, when  if, at the making a change,
a cold bath, with exercise,  had been practised, the indivi-
dual would have been safe.
  There is another practice of females that sometimes does
injury to the health,—that of wearing  dresses very low at
the neck.  About the waist there is worn  a half dozen or
dozen  thicknesses of cloth,  and then  low  about the neck
there are none at all.  At other times, the same  person will 
124
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
have the  neck warmly clothed.   These  changes are  not
good, and clothing  should be as evenly as  possible  distri-
buted over the whole system.
   As to the moral effect of wearing low-necked dresses,  I
will not pretend to decide.  I will, however, venture to give
an opinion,  that if a wife  wishes  to please her.  husband, or
a young lady her lover, she will better succeed by not wear-
ing dresses of that kind.
   Clothing of Infants.—There is one practice that has long
prevailed in this country,  as well  as in Europe, and for how
long a time we know not, that of swathing or binding close-
ly and tightly with bands  and  rollers, the  body of the new-
born infant.  Whether such were the  swaddling clothes in
which the Saviour was bound, we cannot, perhaps, determine
positively.   We have,  however, every reason to believe that
such they were not, since  the clothing used at the East was
of a very flowing and  loose kind.
   This exceedingly injurious practice originated, no doubt,
in two ways: First, the parent, proud, ignorant,  and super-
stitious,  believed that the form  of the  infant's abdomen would
be improved.  Secondly, physicians believed that swathing
would tend to  prevent rupture ;  but this  idea was as mis-
taken as could be, for the application  made is one  of the
most certain means of causing  the difficulty mentioned.  The
bowels are crowded downward,  and the  rupture is  more
apt to be caused ; besides, from the heat retained about  the
surface, and the uncomfortableness and irritation caused by
the bandage, the evil is much more likely to occur.  Besides
all this, " Let a person put the hand  on the abdomen, or re-
gion of  which the navel  is  the centre, and feel the rising
swell of this part, during  every inspiration, or  drawing of
the breath, and it must be very obvious,  that to compress
this region by a bandage passed round  and round the  body,
cannot but interfere with the freedom of respiration, by pre-
venting  the  complete enlargement of the chest  and the  de-
scent of the lungs.   The  viscera, or organs, contained in
the great cavity itself,  being thus  pent in by the bandage in
front, and all round, and pressed upon above by the midriff,
in its descent, at  each inspiration, will  greatly suffer, and 
CLOTHING.
125
be forced into new situations, or kept in forced  contact,  ir-
ritating and inflaming each other."
  One time in a thousand, there may be a rupture at the na-
vel that requires a very light, cool bandage, but never one
that is so tight as  to crowd the bowels downwards, or im-
pede,  in any manner, the motions  of respiration, or become,
in any degree, a source of discomfort to the infant.
  From the first of my practice, those mothers whom it has
been my lot to attend in child-birth, have obeyed my injunc-
tions as to omitting the bandage.  The best of results have
always followed this mode, and there cannot be  infants and
children anywhere found  of health and form  superior to
those  treated in this way.  Who  would think of swathing
an animal, to give it a  better form than God directs ?
  Dr.  Andrew Combe quotes a writer, who, in describing
the Caribs  one hundred and seventy  years ago, says, in a
tone of regret,  " They do not swaddle their infants, but
leave  them to tumble about at liberty  in their  little ham-
mocks, or on beds of leaves spread on the earth  in a corner
of their huts; and, nevertheless, their  limbs  do not be-
come crooked, and their  whole body is perfectly well made."
And again, " Although the  little creatures are apt  to roll
about on the ground, in a state  of nudity,  they,  neverthe-
less, grow marvellously well; and most of them  become so
robust as to be able to walk without support at  six months
old."
  " The naivete of this expression of surprise at the little
Caribs growing marvellously well with the assistance of Na-
ture alone, and without  the use of stays and bandages im-
ported from Europe," says Dr. Combe, " is extremely amus-
ing, and shows to what  extent prejudice  and custom, once
established,  will continue to prevail, even when we have be-
fore our eyes the strongest evidence of  their being hurtful.
Our excellent author  seems  never  to have allowed the
thought to enter his head, that the Europeans produced the
deformity, by means of swaddling and bandages, and that
the Caribs escaped  it,  simply by avoiding its causes, and
giving liberty to both limbs and trunk of the body."
  Mr. Stevenson says of the Araucanian Indians of  South 
126
the water-cure manual.
America, " The children are never swaddled, nor their bo-
dies confined by any tight clothing.   They are allowed to
crawl  about  nearly naked, until  they can walk.   To the
loose clothing which the children wear from their infancy,
may doubtless  be attributed the total absence of deformity
among these Indians."
  Bed-Clothing  and Sleep.—In  order that  sleep be sound
and refreshing, the bed should be a hard one,  as cool and
with as little clothing as may be.  Be a little too cool, rather
than too warm.  Feather beds  and feather pillows should
not be  allowed, except,  possibly, for very aged  and infirm
persons, and such  may  soon, with advantage, accustom
themselves to hair or cotton mattresses.
  Light.—The  importance of light  has  been generally
overlooked.  Light is as essential to the growth and healthy
developement of all animal bodies as of plants.   Every one
knows  how poorly flowers, and the like, thrive, if they have
but a  small amount of light.   Vegetables become feebly
pale and watery in the absence of this agent;  and, in like
manner, those who live in mines and other dark places pre-
sent a pale, sallow, and feeble look, which contrasts strongly
with the ruddy freshness of those who are much in the open
air.  There is, it is true, a less supply of pure,  fresh air in
dark places, so that a  part of the good effect obtained in
the light is owing to the air ;  but  much  is also to be attri-
buted to the influence of light.
  Those who visit European cities, have  an unpleasant op-
portunity to witness the injurious effects of the want of light.
In the crowded,  dark lanes and alleys of those  cities, it is
impossible not to notice the squalid paleness and depression
of the poor inhabitants residing in them.   Healthy children
are found always to be exceedingly fond  of going into the
light.
  Ladies in our cities have a very unpleasant mode of dark-
ening their parlors.   In making a friendly call, one often
feels as if he  were  emerging from a  dungeon,  when  he
again comes to the light.  Those who desire to enjoy good
spirits and fine  health, must go much and often  in the open
air  and light. 
PART   SECOND.
                     CHAPTER I.

    DESCRIPTION AND TREATMENT OF DISEASE.

THRliNITIS,  INFLAMMATION  OF THE  BRAIN,  OR BRAIN FEVER.

  Symptoms.—Great heat, throbbing and violent pain in the
head, a sensation of severe  tension or  constriction  in the
forehead, throbbing at the  temples and of the large vessels
(carotid arteries) of the neck, and throbbing at the back of
the neck : violent  pyrexia  or general  fever,  restlessness,
extreme excitability,  dread  of noise and light ;  the eyes
are red and suffused, face  flushed, pulse generally full and
hard, the stomach  often disordered, the  urine high colored,
and generally watchfulness  and  sleeplessness are experi-
enced.
  This disease, like all others, varies  much in degree.   It
varies from a mere head-ache or giddiness to the  most in-
tense inflammation and violent delirium.   It affects persons
of all ages.  It may be either acute or  chronic, the latter
often  following the former.  It may be  primary, or secon-
dary in connexion  with some other disease.
  The causes of this disease are those of inflammation gen-
erally, exposure to great heat or cold, cold  and moisture,
sun-stroke, too much mental application, undue excitement,
intoxication,  habitual  drinking of spirits,  too  much and
stimulating food, blows upon  the head, and other mechani-
cal injuries.   The poisonous narcotics, opium, hyosciamus, 
128
THE WATEIt-CUKE  MANUAL.
stramonium, &c, given as medicine, sometimes cause the
disease.  Blood-letting likewise  may bring it on, as  also
surgical operations.
  This disease, when severe, is exceedingly dangerous, and
must be treated with promptness.   The  first indication is to
cool thoroughly the head, and to reduce the general fever-
ishness.  It is seldom, if ever, necessary to shave the head,
as is often done.   The part may be effectually cured with-
out  resorting to that practice.  If the treatment is commenced
sufficiently early, the head kept thoroughly cooled, the gene-
ral feverishness reduced,  the bowels open, and the stomach
free, there  will be little difficulty  in  subduing the disease.
Having the patient's head projecting a little over the edge of
the  bed, supported by two persons, holding at each  end of a
linen towel, for the head to rest upon, so that a large quantity
of the coldest water can be poured upon the head and neck, to
be caught in a  tub or bucket below, is a good mode.   At the
same time wet towels are to be placed about the surface of
the  body, and changed  as  often  as they become  warm.
These  answer all the purposes of the wet sheet, and  pre-
vent the  necessity of moving the patient, which it is better
to avoid.   Bladders of pounded ice,  or pounded ice placed
between wet linen cloths, laid upon the head, are very use-
ful.  Silence  must be enjoined, and the room should be
darkened until light  is borne.   As in all dangerous disea-
ses, when recovery begins to take  place, the greatest care
must be observed in diet.   Both after and at the time of the
disease, the bowels must be kept free by frequent injections
of tepid water.  By perseverance in these simple means,
easily understood, many  cases, that  under ordinary treat-
ment are lost,  will in a very short  time  become  effectually
cured.

  A Case.—This was the case of one of my bathing assistants,
John Dean, colored, a native of Ceylon,  having very straight
hair and good features, of strong make, about 20  years old, and
accustomed to both hot and cold climates.  The  summer  of
1845, a very hot season, he was with me at Lebanon Springs.
On  one of the  warmest days, he was for some hours exposed to
the heat of the sun, his head being protected only by n small 
BRAIN  FEVER.                   129
cloth cap. This brought on brain fever: he was, in short, " sun-
struck."  His health, besides, was not very good  at the time.
He had not been sufficiently careful in diet, and had, moreover,
too much care, night and day.
  The symptoms were those usually found in this disease : great
heat and pain in the head, with  high general fever;  redness
and suffusion of the eyes, intolerance of light and sound, and a
strong tendency to muttering delirium.  From the importance of
the organ affected, a severe attack of this disease is always ex-
tremely dangerous, and requires  the most prompt  and  efficient
treatment.   I had him immediately placed in the wet sheet, and
arranged upon a cot bed in such a way that the head extended
a little beyond the end.  In this posture, it could be easily held
for the more convenient affusion of water upon that part.  A
tub was placed underneath, containing a sufficiency of ice-wa-
ter.  With this, constant affusion was kept up,  the water pass-
ing over the whole head, and also freely down  upon the neck,
thus cooling the mass of blood passing through the carotid ar-
teries,  (large arteries of the  neck.)   Instead of changing the
sheet often, as is usually done in  high general  fever, I  adopted
the plan of frequently sprinkling ice-water upon it, and leaving
it uncovered, that evaporation (always a cooling process) could
the more effectually go on.   As the fever  became  considerably
reduced, a slight shivering would now and then  take place.  To
prevent this, a blanket was placed loosely over the sheet.  In the
course of some two  hours he fell asleep, while the  affusion was
yet being practised upon the head and neck.  The head was then
made to rest upon hard pillows, with cooling bandages kept up-
on it.  I watched him closely, and whenever the heat began to
return, the affusions and sprinklings were again  and again prac-
tised.  With such means at hand, we could, of  course,  cool the
system as effectually as a blacksmith could  a  hot iron.   The
treatment was commenced early in the morning,  and  he was
kept in the wet sheet until towards evening.  A half bath, with
a good deal of friction upon the surface, together with affusion
upon the head, was then given.  The fever being by this time
quite subdued, water was used at about 70° F.   A large injec-
tion was now  given; after which he rested some time,  hav-
ing scarcely any return of the symptoms.  In  the evening, it
was thought best to resort again to the wet sheet and half bath.
He took no nourishment that day, and rested tolerably during
the night.  He drank water as  he desired.   In the morning,
the haTf bath was again used at the mild temperature, and he
was. to all appearance, entirely free from the disease, being, of
course, a little weak.  He went about moderately during this
6* 
130            THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.

day, took light nourishment, and the next day went, as usual,
about his duties.
  In the  treatment of this  most formidable  disease, what are
the great engines of the old school,—the modes that are honest-
ly believed in, and by which not only ordinary  patients, but
practitioners tliemselves, and wives,  and children, are treated 1
Bleeding ad libitum, or at least ad deliquium ; bleeding large-
ly, copiously, leeching, blistering, and powerful purging with
calomel, antimony, and colchicum, together with cold applica-
tions to the shaved head.   " Get the mouth sore (that is, sali-
vate) as soon as possible."   These are the means, the horrible,
barbarous means, sanctioned by ages, and used in this nine-
teenth century of ours.  Thanks to Priessnitz, thanks to science,
and the fast spreading light of this day, we have other modes !
   Water  upon the Brain of  Children.—Inflammation  of
the brain, ending in  affusion, or what is termed water upon
the brain, steals on often imperceptibly,  and with  most
frightful  rapidity.  If the child becomes stupid,  with the
head too hot, the warming must be taken, and the part should
be kept constantly cool.   The  general means are to be used
as the symptoms demand.  Large  injections of water, as
cold as the strength will admit, should be  often given.
  Head-Ache.—There  is  a  great  amount of head-ache
now-a-days,  caused solely by improprieties  in food  and
drink and the use of medicines.   There  is the  tea  head-
ache, the coffee head-ache, the head-ache arising from indi-
gestion, and the head-ache caused by narcotic and other
medicines.  If the causes of these complaints  are removed
for a sufficient length of time, as a natural  consequence
they become cured.   Scarcely a case can be found but that
may be cured in this simple way ; but there are some who
would prefer to suffer all  these difficulties than take up their
cross.   Such  are welcome alike  to their  enjoyment  and
their aches.
   When there attends the head-ache a too great amount of
heat, chilling the head drives it away  at once.   Whether
it arises from excessive mental application or from too much
• food, the same means are to be used.   If the  head-ache is
nervous, and is attended  with little or no increase, or if it
is caused by tea, coffee, or any other medicinal substances,
then cold will generally cause it to become worse. 
APOPLEXY.
131
   Sick Head-Ache.—This occurs over the eye-brows, and is
called "sick," because there is nausea attending it.  Right
or wrong, the  poor stomach always gets the blame in these
cases.  Professor Elliotson, of London, calls this a most n-
tractable complaint.  He had known it to affect many  per-
sons in whom  all the remedies that were  employed,  failed
of accomplishing any  material  good.  He  had tried iron,
sulphate of quinine, arsenic, and any medicine that suggest-
ed itself to his mind,  or that had  been  recommended  by
others, but it was all in vain.   Let a person be made to fast
twenty-four  hours, taking only  water, and then proceed
with the brown  bread and water  diet, and  that  only, and
the sick head-ache will soon become cured, I  will venture
to affirm.   As a means of immediate relief, vomiting, and
a good cleansing out of the bowels by injections, are famous
means.   So, also,  the general bath.

                       APOPLEXY.

   Persons most liable this disease  have a large thick head,
a short and  thick neck, circular  breast, and  are not. very
tall.  It takes  place most commonly  after the meridian of
life, and generally comes on suddenly, though not always so.
   Causes.—The more frequent are indolence, drunkenness,
and excess of food.  What  is termed moderate drinking,
with high living, often brings it on.   Too great mental or
physical exertion, great anxiety, exposure to severe heat or
cold, as, also, poisonous and narcotic medicines,  the use of
opium, belladonna, &c, may cause it.   Mechanical  inju-
ries, forcing pieces of bone upon the brain, the bursting of
a blood-vessel  or vessels, or the softening of the brain, may
likewise cause the disease.   It occurs oftener after a glut-
tonous meal.
   Symptoms.—The person falls down suddenly, and often
dies at once; if  not, the pulse is slow and  full, the face is
swollen, livid  and flushed, and  the breathing difficult, the
eye is insensible, dull and glassy, and sometimes blood-shot.
   Treatment.—To manage this  disease to the best possible
advantage  requires decision and  experience.  There are
certain things  that every one can do.   The head and shoui- 
132
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
ders should be raised, the clothes loosened, especially about
the nock and chest, and fresh, cool air in abundance is to
be  admitted  to the room.  If alcoholic liquors, improper
food, or any other substance in the stomach, are supposed to
be the cause, no time should be lost in thoroughly cleansing
the stomach and bowels.   Large  draughts of  water, luke-
warm,  and large and repeated clysters of cold water, should
be administered.  Fomentations to the stomach, as well as
kneading that organ, and placing the finger in the  throat,
will aid in causing vomiting.   A very thorough and brisk
rubbing of the whole surface with wet cloths or frictions in
the half bath, to set the blood in  motion, will  be, perhaps,
the best means that can be used.   If  the surface is as warm
or warmer than natural, the wet sheet, arranged  from the
arm-pits down, so as not to  confine too much the upper part
of the  body, should be applied.  In the most favorable is-
sue, the wet sheet  should  bo taken  daily for some time,
being always cautious not to let the body  become too much
heated.   If depression of a part of the skull is the  cause,
of course the surgeon must be called, but, even in  such a
case, the treatment mentioned will be useful as a preparative
means.

                  PARALYSIS, OR PALSY.
   This  disease sometimes  attends apoplexy : it may  like-
wise precede or succeed it.   It may affect the  whole of one
side vertically, or the lower half of the  body horizontally.
It may also affect only some particular part or organ of
the body, or some particular sense, as of smelling, hearing,
or tasting.   The disease varies greatly in degree.
   Treatment.—This disease  sometimes  ceases spontane-
ously, but very often all that can be done, is only palliation.
In the European water-cure establishments, have been some
very striking cures of this  disease.   A long course of the
most powerful processes only, are sufficient.  To palliate,
a great amount of wet rubbing of the parts affected is good.
Regulating the stomach and bowels is of  great importance
here as elsewhere, and the  use of water must be persevered
in daily, and for a long time. 
EAR-ACHE--TOOTH-ACHE.
133
                       EAR-ACHE.
  This disease, although considered a small affair, is  not
always free from  danger, and is more liable to be attended
with serious results than tooth-ache.  It has the same causes
as inflammations in general.
   Treatment.—As in all other aches, arising from inflam-
mation, the patient should practise perfect and entire absti-
nence from all food,  (even though  it should require days,
although that would seldom be necessary,)  until all pain is
gone.  Water of course is to be drank as  thirst  demands.
The great  poultice, the wet  sheet, is here good.  Vapor
baths and sweating are, in the severe cases, likewise bene-
ficial.  The  moist  compress over the  whole  side of  the
head  and neck is useful.  Then having this  covered  by
flannel, with a warm  brick or bottle of water against  it on
going to rest, seems in many cases to  be one  of the best
things that can be done, and sometimes better than the cold.
Washing and rubbing the side of the face, neck, and back
of the ear, violently, will be found serviceable.   A general
bath will often arrest this disease.

    TOOTH-ACHE, AND THE PRESERVATION  OF THE TEETH.
  Cold water, taken in the mouth, every  one knows, some-
times causes the tooth-ache ; especially with those who are
in the habit of using hot and stimulating food and drinks.
So, likewise, it is known that holding very cold water in
the mouth for a  continuance", changing  it  frequently, will
often arrest the tooth-ache, for the time at least.
   Priessnitz's usual mode is as follows:  Tepid  water is
held in the mouth until it begins to grow warm, when it is
changed  ; at the same time the face, cheeks, neck, and parts
behind the ears are rubbed violently with the hands, which
are dipped frequently in very cold water.  It  is  well also
to rub the gums till they bleed  smartly.   Sometimes it is
necessary to add.cold shallow  foot baths.   Captain Claridge,
of London, who was  long at  Grafenberg, says that, while
there, he never saw tooth-ache  resist this treatment.  Those
who are accustomed to cold water, will  find that  a power-
ful douche,  or any very cold general bath, will be service- 
134
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
able.   Walking thinly clad in cold air is.likewise a  good
means.
  In these times of depraved health  and bad teeth, people
should consult the dentist at least quarterly.   I  am sorry to
be under the necessity of saying that there are in our cities,
and the  country generally,  numbers of ignorant  and un-
principled quacks in this much needed and invaluable pro-
fession.   On the other hand, it is acknowledged throughout
all Europe, that the skill of American dentists is unequalled
in the world.  Still a  great  amount  of mischief is done
among us, leaving out of account the pecuniary part of the
matter.
  There has been  much controversy  among  the professors
of this art, as to whether  it  is allowable, in  any case,  for
the  plugging or stopping of decayed teeth, to use an amal-
gam containing, as one of its ingredients, a portion of quick-
silver.  I have known a number  of instances in which it
appeared to me there could  be no  doubt of the mischief
thus caused.  On no consideration  whatever, would I  al-
low of its use in my own family,  or in any case under my
medical care.
  As a  general rule, teeth that are troublesome,  and can-
not be remedied by the skill of the dentist, should be care-
fully extracted.  Those in  pregnancy must be careful  re-
specting operations upon the teeth at this time.
  The  teeth should always, if  possible,  be  thoroughly
cleaned by means  of pure soft water and a stiff brush, im-
mediately after each meal.  If persons must persist in tak-
ing food prepared with lard, animal oil, broths, &c, it will
be necessary, at times, to make use of soap.   Tooth-pow-
ders of  a very fine  and mechanical nature only are allow-
able.   There is no danger of brushing the teeth  too hard
or  too  much.   Quill  tooth-picks  are the  only ones that
should be used.  Tea and coffee blacken the teeth by their
color; and all hot substances  injure these useful and natu-
rally beautiful parts of our frame.   Cows that are fed upon
hot.still  slop about our cities, like human  beings who  use
hot food, lose their teeth.  It  is not so, as every one knows,
with  those that are fed upon natural food. 
       TEETHING OF CHILDREN—STOMATITIS--QUINSY.    135

  Every thing that deteriorates the general health, injures
the teeth.
  The water-cure is destined to do the greatest good in the
preservation and  improvement of the teeth.

                 TEETHING OF CHILDREN.
  The time of teething is often a serious one for the child,
as things are; but among those reared in a well regulated
water-cure way, there is seldom anything to be feared from
teething.  If there is general fever,  this must be reduced.
The child is to be kept sparingly, as to nourishment; water,
plenty to be given ; cooling bandages are to be used about
the face and neck, and the gums are to be rubbed with cold
water, but never cut with a knife.   This is not dangerous, or
very painful ;  but there is no need of the mode, and it is a
relic of barbarism that  ought to  be  done away.  Children
that are old enough, may  be taught to sit upon the floor, be-
side  a basin of cold water, and, with the finger dipped often
therein, rub the heated and inflamed  gums by the hour at a
time.  This is the most comfortable, as  well  as effectual,
means that can be adopted.

          STOMATITIS, OR CANKER OF THE MOUTH.
  This is apt to occur in children's asylums, and wherever
there is not attention paid to ventilation and the laws of
health.  It is  owing  to a wrong condition of the general
system, hence  the  treatment must  be general, as well as
local, and everything to invigorate the general health,  and
wash the mouth often with very cold water, the  best of all
liquids for this purpose.

        QUINSY, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
  This is an inflammation, or swelling and florid redness of
the  internal part  of the throat.   The tonsils and adjacent
parts become  affected.   There is also painful deglutition
and general fever.  The disease oftener goes off by resolu-
tion, but not unfrequently ends in suppuration.  It is quite
a common affection,  and is  not generally attended with
much danger.   Sometimes, however, the patient becomes 
136
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
suffocated from  the  swelling, or  the  disease  and general
fever of the system take such deep hold of the frame, that
the patient sinks.  I have known no case to be lost under
water treatment, commenced while there was any hope.
   Causes.—The disease is generally ascribed to cold, but
an impaired state of the general health and neglect of the
rules of health are the true sources of such  attacks.
   Treatment.—This  must be, in its general principles, the
same as for other severe inflammations.   The fever must be
kept down constantly, the stomach and  bowels free; band-
ages upon the throat, and gargling much with cold  water,
are, by no means, to be neglected.   The vapor bath, judi-
ciously managed, has a most excellent effect in this disease.
See a case of the kind in another part of this work.
   Tonsilitis.-—The tonsils often become chronically inflamed,
and  it is very common, under such circumstances, to re-
move them with  the knife.   It is doubtful whether  this be
the better mode ;  but yet there are many who have not pa-
tience  and perseverance  enough to  remove the swelling by
general treatment.   If the health is preserved as it should be,
this disease will never take place.

   INFLAMMATION OF  THE  THROAT--LARYNGITIS AND CROUP.
   Inflammations of the throat are among the most danger-
ous  diseases.  Laryngitis  is inflammation  of the  larynx,
or upper part of the throat ;  and croup, or tracheitis, of the
trachea, or wind-pipe.  The first attacks principally adults ;
the latter, children.   These diseases are not easily mistaken.
In  the first,  there is great soreness of the  throat,  hoarse-
ness, and often loss of voice.  The patient soon becomes
either  better or worse,  and may die  very suddenly.  In
croup, there is the dry, hollow, barking, whistling, ringing,
or stridulous cough.   Death may occur very suddenly, by
spasm  or closure of the throat;  and so also amendment may
take place as quickly.  The child may also linger for days.
I do not  believe any child  need die of either of these dis-
eases,  if the  proper means are used.
   Causes.—These are the same as of inflammations in ge- 
INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
137
neral,—exposure to damp and cold, over-eating at night,
neglect of bathing, exercise, cleanliness, and fresh air.
   Treatment.—In both of  these diseases, the treatment must
be very active, and in  both very much the same.  A good
pouring of cold water over the body, often  gives, instantly,
the most astonishing relief.   The child may be held  stand-
ing in a Wash-tub, or the adult can sit or stand, as the case
allows.   A  quick affusion  of water, cool  or very cold, if
the patient is plethoric and robust, will always give  relief,
and, in  many cases, cause the breathing at once to be per-
fectly easy,  whereas, a moment before, the patient was ap-
parently suffocating.  Well-wrung bandages from cold wa-
ter, are then to be placed about the whole neck and  chest,
and the night-dress wet from the arms down, or a wet sheet,
in the same  way, is to  be applied.   If the body becomes
the least too hot, the surface not perspiring, the bathing, wet
sheet and bandages must again be renewed.  Warm  bricks
may be placed about the  feet and body,  if the weather is
very cold.   The general feverishness in these diseases must
be watched.   If there is anything in the stomach, and very
often a hearty supper, or too much suckling, has caused the
disease, vomiting  should be  practised.  Purge  the  bowels,
keep the stomach free, keep down the fever, and little need
be feared in  this dangerous disease.  It often happens  in the
night, when there is no fire.  The cold bath  may then be
given, the wet sheet applied, and the  patient should then be
placed  between  two persons,  to be kept warm in bed.   In
children, the croupy symptoms often keep on for days.   In
such cases,  let the wet sheet be applied morning and even-
ing, and the child be kept nearly fasting  for some  days.
Fasting, let  it be remembered, removes  inflammation and
the tendency thereto.
  I have treated numbers  of cases of croup by water, and
have not, in  any instance,  lost one.
   Common Sore Throat.—This is a matter of no great im-
portance, but is  sometimes  troublesome.   Every one has
heard of the stocking remedy, and whether physicians or
others sneer, every  woman  knows that the dirty stocking 
138
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
will benefit the sore throat.  The longer the stocking  has
been worn, and the more moist it has become by perspira-
tion, the better does it act.   Turned  inside out, the moist
part is placed over the sore part of the neck, and it is then
wound round  and  round.   Here  we have a kind of poul-
tice effect, which some are getting to prefer to bring about
by means of wet napkins  and  flannel  bands.   In  either
case, wash and rub well the neck, in cold  water, especial-
ly in the morning,  and frequent  gargling should  not be
omitted.  Attend, also, to the general health, and  particu-
larly the diet.
   Clergyman's Sore Throat.—This is owing, in most instan-
ces, more to ill general health than  to excess of speaking.
Many who speak more, and longer at a time, than clergy-
men, and yet,  whose habits are  more active,  are  not often
troubled  in the same way.   The wet bandages, the wash-
ing the throat, externally often, and the oral bath, are excel-
lent local means, but the great object to be sought is to rec-
tify the general  health.  In many cases it will  be found
necessary to discontinue public speaking for a time.

   PLEURITIS,--PLEURISY, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE INNER
                MEMBRANE OF THE CHEST.
   There is general feverishness,  commencing usually, at
first, with shivering and chills, and a very severe, sharp, or
stabbing  pain, situated generally  low in the  chest  and to-
wards the side.   This pain is  increased by pressure, or by
attempts  at coughing,  speaking, sneezing,  &c.  Often the
patient can scarcely speak.
   Causes.—Mechanical injuries sometimes  cause the dis-
ease, but, in most cases, the patient takes a cold, as we say.
Exposure to wet and cold causes the inflammation.
   Treatment.—The general treatment is  the same as for
other inflammations ; cooling  the  general  system so as to
reduce the pulse, purging, drinking, with fasting.  The best
thing, I have  thought,  first to  do,  is  thoroughly to  foment
the whole chest and  bowels,  with wet  flannels or towels,
wrung out frequently from water as hot as  can be borne,
so as almost to blister the surface.  This, rightly practised, 
PNEUMONIA--BRONCHITIS.
139
is very effectual to remove the pain.  Strange as it may ap-
pear, these hot applications often  reduce the pulse, instead
of increasing it.   Cold applications to the chest seem to in-
crease the pain.   After making the  hot applications to the
chest, the rest of the body may advantageously be rubbed
with  wet cloths, to  cool  and refresh the  general system.
Use the  wet sheet, cleanse the bowels and stomach if need
be, after which good nursing will  generally be sufficient.
   Since writing the above I have conversed with Priess-
nitz concerning the  best mode of treating this disease.  He
prefers the rubbing wet sheet, cold, to be practised very thor-
oughly,  with the  cooling wet bandages, wet sheet, &c.  If
all this can be done thoroughly, I am not prepared to say
but that  it is the best mode.

   PNEUMONIA, OR INFLAMMATION  OF  THE SUBSTANCE OF
                       THE LUNGS.
   This is one of the  most dangerous of all diseases.  There
is general feverishness, pain in the chest, rapidity, shallow-
ness and difficulty of breathing,  no pulse, coughing,  with
expectoration, at  first difficult, but afterwards more free.
   Treatment.—The first and  most important object is to pre-
vent the  general fever.   This often runs very high, and for
the first twenty-four  hours, great perseverance must be prac-
tised in the use of the various modes of treating general fever.
Cold applications must not be made so  as to shock very much
the system.   By gentle means, the wet sheet often repeated,
sitting the patient in  a half bath or wash-tub,  with the chill
taken off the water,  and rubbing the body a long time, will
be useful.   Wet bandages  are to be constantly  worn all
about the chest.  While there is  danger no  food is to be
given, and for some time after none but the lightest kinds.
Ventilation  must be carefully  attended to, and no sudden
changes  are to be allowed.

BRONCHITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE AIR TUBES OF THE LUNGS.
   The breathing is quick, shallow, and difficult.   There is
constriction about the chest, particularly in the larger tubes
of the lungs; there  is,  also,  head-ache and general fever. 
140
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
The symptoms are, in fact, very much like those of pneu-
monia, and the treatment precisely the same, and similar to
that of all inflammations.
  Chronic Form of Bronchitis.—This is very common, and
is apt to  follow the acute  form.  It occurs often from the
taking of a  cold.   In all its varieties there is cough, and
more  or less expectoration.  It  is a troublesome disease, and
often ends in consumption of the lungs.
  Treatment.—This should vary, according to the intensity
of the disease.  Every possible natural means  should  be
taken to  invigorate the  general health.  Wearing wet fo-
mentations upon the chest, covered with flannel, so as not to
be too cold,  will  be  useful, as well as all  the means  of
strengthening the general health in chronic diseases, pure
air, exercise,  attention  to  food, &c.   When there is a se-
vere fit of coughing, the cool or cold bath is very useful to
give relief.

                        ASTHMA.
  This disease is  often mistaken for  chronic  bronchitis.
True asthma is a  spasmodic disease, and generally comes
on in the night, especially when a late and hearty meal has
been  taken.  In  severe  cases, there is  a loud wheezing
respiration,  and severe constriction of the chest.   Some-
times we hear the patient breathing  as for life.   As cough
and expectoration  come on, the difficulty of breathing  di-
minishes.  The disease is sometimes very troublesome.   A
person with this disease is sometimes pale and cold, with the
features pinched, and in such agony for the want of breath,
that to those unacquainted with the disease, he  would ap-
pear to be dying, and  yet very seldom indeed  is death the
result.
   Causes.—Confined and damp air is often a cause.  By
far the most frequent cause, however, is abuse of the sto-
mach.   Severe indigestion not unfrequently precedes  an
attack.  The odor and dust from new-made hay  are also
causes.
    Treatment.—In the paroxysm, if the patient is robust, a
good plunging bath would be one of  the most speedy means 
HEMOPTYSIS.
141
of relief.   The  wet sheet, too,  is very beneficial.   If the
patient  is much  weak, he may be set in a wash-tub,  naif
full of water, (for convenience, the feet being  left outside,)
and with a good  stiff brush, or  coarse towels, the skin be
rubbed  until it is thoroughly reddened and in a glow. Warm
applications, it will be remembered, are most  excellent for
relieving spasm.   Large  hot fomentations  may  be  put all
about  the chest ; but sometimes  we must " blow hot and
sometimes cold."  The cold  ones should  be tried, if the
warm ones do not cause the desired effect.   Heat and cold,
used alternately, are often beneficial.
   The stomach  and  bowels  should  be well cleansed.  If
the stomach contains a mass of indigestible food, the  bath
may cause vomiting, and this will  be attended with the  most
beneficial  results.   Drinking  a large quantity of warm
water  will be  useful, not only sympathetically, to allay
spasm,  but to cause vomiting.   In old cases, a long course
of treatment may  be  necessary.   Wet sheets should be
used at  least daily,  and the diet regulated in the  most care-
ful manner.  As far as possible, all causes of the disease
should  be avoided,  and every possible means  of invigorat-
ing the  general health  should be resorted to.

        HAEMOPTYSIS, OR BLEEDING FROM THE LUNGS.
   This disease  may be confounded with  hemorrhage, or
bleeding from the  stomach.   In  general,  the  blood  that
comes from the stomach is dark, and much more in clots,
than from the lungs.   From the latter, it is thrown up clear
and  red.   The amount of discharge varies exceedingly,—
from a  mere  tinge in the saliva  to the most  frightful  he-
morrhage.   Persons of fine, soft skin  and hair, such as are
most disposed to consumption, are most liable to this disease.
   Treatment.—In a case that is at all  alarming, the quick
and  thorough chilling of the  system,  and particularly the
chest, should  be practised.  The whole chest  should, as
quickly as possible,  be  covered with thick linen cloths, drip-
ping wet in the very coldest water that can  be obtained.
Pounded ice, or snow, if these can be had, are more effec-
tual.  They should  be placed immediately upon the skin. 
142
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
Thoroughly chilling the neck  is good, at the same time.
Professor Elliotson, of London, a man of very great expe-
rience, observes, that it is surprising how patients bear cold
in this disease.  He had never known a case to be injured
in this way.
  The patient must be kept as comfortable as possible, after
the bleeding is arrested.  Food  must be very light.  Drink-
ing freely of the coldest water  should be practised  at the
first of the attack.
  By physicians of the  ordinary or old practice,  bleeding
is much relied upon, in  cases that will bear it.   But, gene-
rally, the  symptom occurs in those of frail,  weak  systems.
Such can  poorly withstand this formidable means.  Many
are killed by it, and, in not  a  few cases, a severe relapse
is caused by the  so-called remedy.

                    WHOOPING  COUGH.
  This disease is too well known to need any particular de-
scription.   It is often astonishing to witness how children in
this affection, will  at one moment be upon the  floor unable
to stand, and apparently about to be strangled by the cough,
with the face almost black, and in a  few moments go again
about their play, apparently as well  and merry as ever.
  The danger in this disease consists  principally in sym-
pathetic affections of the head and lungs.  With good nurs-
ing, it would seldom, if ever, cause  death.   The younger
the child, the greater the danger.  On the whole, it is to  be
regarded as a dangerous disease.
   Treatment. —In  this disease, medical men generally  re-
gard that  but little can be done, except to moderate inflam-
matory action.  As in all cases, good nursing is all impor-
tant.   Infants and children are generally fed so irregularly
and improperly, that disease is often  caused,  aggravated,
and sometimes rendered incurable.   In all diseases, infants
and  children should be fed with the greatest  caution and
regularity.   The youngest should never be  nursed oftener
than once in four hours, and many times, in inflammatory
diseases, all  food  must  be discontinued for a day, or even
days.   When there is  general  feverishness, this, as in  all 
            HEART DISEASE—ACUTE  GASTRITIS.        143

other cases, must be  combatted.   Wet sheets that enclose
the arms will not be admissible, because the child  must be
moved when the paroxysm is present.  The wet dress can
be used, since this will not prevent moving the child.   The
main treatment in this disease may be included in the term
" good nursing."
   If the head or lungs become seriously affected by inflam-
mation, these symptoms must be treated as we would in any
other case  of the same disease.

                     HEART DISEASE.
   There is sometimes severe inflammation of the heart, and
there are a variety of chronic diseases of the organ; but
real heart disease is by no means so common as people  of-
ten suppose.  Palpitations, and a feeling of  sinking at the
heart, very often arise  from indigestion, too much and too
rich food,  as every one  can  notice for himself after eating
too much or too  rich  food.
  Treatment.—In case of enlargement,  the treatment  must
be only mild,  and such as tends to  invigorate the  general
system.  By such means only is good to  be  done.   If the
attack be  acute, and the inflammation run high,  the most
vigorous treatment, as in other severe inflammations, must
be adopted.

    ACUTE  GASTRITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
   In this dangerous disease  there is a constant acute and
burning pain at  the stomach, especially at that part  called
the " pit of the  stomach."   There is often vomiting,  some-
times very severe, being attended with terrible  retching
and sickness.  The burning sensation may  extend up the
oesophagus to the throat and into the mouth.  General  fe-
verishness, a quick pulse and intense  thirst, are generally
present.   The inflammation often extends at the same time
to the bowels.
   Causes.—The causes of inflammation in general, as cold
and moisture combined,  acting upon  the body, either ex-
ternally or internally, especially when the system is much
exhausted, may  bring on the disease.   It is, however,  far 
144
THE WATEK-CURE  MANUAL.
 oftener brought on by some improper substance or substances
 taken into the stomach, poisons, &c.
   Treatment.—In this disease, physicians generally depend
 more upon cold water  and pounded ice, than any thing, or
 all other things  put  together   The  sensation of  thirst is
 most urgent.  The patient should bs allowed as much pure
 water  and of such temperature as  he wishes.  Largely
 drinking of water, in  many  cases, causing vomiting.   This
 is favorable, especially if there is any irritating substance
 in the stomach.   In cases of  poisoning, patients sometimes
 drink and vomit gallons of  water before  the  disease is re-
 moved.  Animals,  as cats and dogs,  that become  poisoned
 by getting at the  baits set for  rats and mice, quickly  take
 to lapping cold water,  and in this way are often cured.
   When  indigestible   food is  the cause,  the  stomach and
 bowels must be thoroughly cleansed as  soon  as  possible.
 Large and  repeated  clysters of  such temperature as best
 suits the feelings  of comfort should be used ;  fomentations,
 over the whole trunk,  should  be used.  In some few cases,
 perhaps, it will be best to wash out thoroughly  the stomach
 with a pump and pipe for that purpose.  But if water drink-
jjig is well persevered  in, with the purging,  we believe the
 tube will very  seldom and perhaps never be needed.  But
 there must be the most thorough  work in treating this dis-
                            cs                O
 ease, for if not arrested it may end fatally in a very short
 time.  This disease often becomes chronic.

                 SPASM OF THE STOMACH.
   This often precedes or attends  inflammation  of the stom-
 ach.

  A  Case.—The following case is of no very great importance,
 but will serve to illustrate the power of simple means, such as
 may be resorted to with entire  safety by any one, in  cases of
 emergency, and when a physician is not at hand.  Cramp in the
 stomach is sometimes dangerous, and not unfrequently proves
 very troublesome to manage,  and is, moreover, in some instan-
 ces, the cause of great suffering to  the patient.
  At sea, on our homeward passage from England, 29th No-
 vember, 1846, I was  informed  that Mrs.  W----, a very worthy 
SPASM  OF THE STOMACH.
145
 English lady, with a young infant at the breast, wished me to
 see  her in the steerage.   I found her  writhing and groaning
 with cramp in the stomach; the extremities were cold, and the
 surface pale.  She could not lie, but was in a sitting posture,
 held by assistants.  T he wind was howling through the shrouds,
 and the motion of the vessel so great that  one was compelled
 to lay hold of any thing near in order to  stand.  I  inquired
 whether Mrs. W----had been eating any thing that disagreed,
 when I was told that her bowels had been out of order for some
 days.   She had lately taken her meals irregularly, and this day
 particularly her food had gone badly.  She  ate about evening,
 and this had  made her worse; then, in about  an  hour, a kind-
 hearted old gentleman prepared a nice dish of coffee, with spi-
 ces in it, which he thought would do her good.  This of course
 only made her the worse.
  The treatment in such cases is simple and easily understood.
 According to the old mode of practice, some would adopt the
 plan of giving an emetic, tartarized antimony,  ipecac, the sul-
 phates of copper or zinc, flour  of mustard, or perhaps what
 would be least harmful, and most efficient, of all these, lobelia
 inflata.   By such means the patient may often be relieved; but
 it is  always at the expense of  injury to the  stomach,—an evil,
 greater or less, that should, if possible, be avoided.  If the pa-
 tient is  a  short,  thick-necked,  fat person,  and  something ad-
 vanced  in years, bleeding would be practised before giving tk&
 emetic, with the view of preventing apoplexy.   Others, again,
 would give large doses of some opiate, solid  opium, or what
 would act more quickly, laudanum in very large closes, as forty,
 fifty, or  even sixty drops, often repeated until the effect is pro-
 duced.  Those who have undergone any of these, (to us terri-
 ble modes,) and have also tested the effects of water treatment
 in like cases, can judge as to which are best.
  I told Mrs. W----I should treat her differently from what she
 had  been accustomed to, but would do  precisely  as if myself
 were in her case.   I at.  once ordered  an abundance of water,
about blood-warm, to make it as mawkish as might be.  She
then drank, at my direction, as quickly as possible, a number of
tumblers, and instantly copious vomiting took place.  A large
amount  of acid and undigested substance was thrown off.  She
drank and vomited again and again, till the stomach became
thoroughly cleansed.  The pain subsided, and she went to rest:
the feet  were rubbed, and a bottle of moderately warm water
was  placed to them, and  she  soon  slept.  Next day she
nearly fasted,  taking only a little water-gruel.  She had no 
146
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
pain, grew stronger, and in every respect better.  She omitted
tea and coffee, and was careful in diet, exercised on deck in the
open air, and thus grew better and better the whole passage.
  In some cases of this kind it is necessary, besides the vomit-
ing, to give  injections.  There is  no  danger of vomiting and
purging too much, provided the water is pure, and used neither
too cold nor hot.   Q,uart after quart of lukewarm injections may
be given, until  the alimentary canal  is thoroughly cleansed,
and the pain removed.  Frictions upon  the bowels,  woolen
cloths, or towels, wrung out of warm water, and the like, may
be resorted  to.   I have never in  one instance failed soon to
bring relief in these cases.  Once in a hundred, spasm may be
so severe that the wet sheet will be needed before complete re-
lief can be  obtained.   Mark well the very small amount only
of food allowable for some days after attacks of this kind.

     HjENATEMERIS, OR HEMORRHAGE FROM THE STOMACH.

   This is not an unfrequent disease.   The blood " spit up,"
as is said, is of a dark  color, generally in clots.   By this
character we distinguish the blood coming out of the stom-
ach, from that of the lungs, which generally, though not al-
ways, appears bright red.   Large quantities are sometimes
thrown out  of the stomach, without any dangerous symp-
toms.  The disease  is not usually dangerous.   There is
nausea and vomiting with the disease.   The blood some-
times passes the bowels as well as the mouth.
   Causes.—Any causes that debilitate the system, may in-
duce bleeding from the stomach.   Suppressed menstruation
sometimes  causes it.  It occurs oftener  in  females  than
males.
   Treatment.—Ice and iced water taken freely are incom-
parably the best things to arrest  the blood.  Cold cloths to
the pit of the stomach, are likewise to be  recommended.
The stomach should be allowed repose,  and then only the
lightest nourishment  to  be  taken.   The patient's mind, as
well as the  body, should be kept  quiet  and easy, and with
good nursing and care in every thing,  all  will go  on well
in the generality of cases.   Do  every thing  to benefit the
general health. 
DYSPEPSIA,  OR INDIGESTION.
147
               DYSPEPSIA, OR INDIGESTION.
  To describe  at length this very common and distressing
difficulty would require much room.  One of the most com-
mon symptoms is pain or uneasiness at the stomach, after
meals.  Head-aches, giddiness and drowsiness after eating,
indicate this disease.   Vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, a
sinking or fluttering at the stomach, heart-burn, acidity and
eructations, a sense of something rising  in the stomach, bad
taste  in  the  mouth  in  the  morning, alternations of heat
and cold of the surface  and extremities, disrelish for  the
ordinary business and pleasures of life,  languor,  lassitude,
head-ache, and a desire often to make away with one's self,
unpleasant dreams, night-mare, wasting of flesh, &c, &c,
are all symptoms of this hydra-headed monster, dyspepsia.
  Eating  Chalk, Coal, and other disgusting articles.—Those
persons who have the habit of eating coal, chalk,  and other
disgusting articles of the kind, all  have indigestion,  and if
they  have any regard for comfort and health, will at once
break up  these habits.   They never can become well with-
out.
   Causes of  Indigestion.—These are innumerable.   By far
the most common cause  is gluttony.   Gluttony has killed
more than rum, pestilence, or the sword.   It  has been said,
a drunkard may live to be old, but a glutton  never can.
   Greasy Food.—It was a wise command in the Jewish laws,
" Thou shalt eat no manner of fat, of ox, of sheep,  or of
goat."  It had reference partly, no doubt, to the  fact  of
the unhealthiness of this substance.
   Too rich food.—Much of the food that is eaten by people
in general, is too rich, as, for  instance, all preparations of
superfine  flour.  No one can long have  good  digestion, if
they  do  not  use coarse food.  A dog  lives but fifty days
upon fine bread and  water,  but thrives  perfectly well if the
bread is  coarse.   Animals at sea must have something
coarse, or they famish.  It  is a law in the living economy
that innutritious particles must compose a part of the food,
or the animal dies.
   Taking food loo hot.—This  is a common cause of indi- 
148
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
gestion.  Food and  drinks  should be taken  quite cool or
cold.   The general tendency of heat is to weaken the
system.
  Eating  too fast often causes indigestion.  Meals should
never be made in a hurry, and the food should be masticat-
ed and insalivated thoroughly.
  Eatmg irregularly is  a frequent cause.  If one cannot
make  the  meal at the regular hour, it  is by far  better to
wait until  the next regular meal time.   After this rest, the
stomach will be found to act the more vigorously.
  Eating too often causes a great deal of indigestion. Three
times a day for adults and young children that are weaned,
and once in four hours  for the infant at the breast, are as
often as food should  ever  be taken.  If a person has not
much active exercise in the  open air, two  meals only in the
twenty-four hours is by far better than  taking three.  I
have often omitted the third meal, and never without benefit.
This rule  is most excellent for sedentary  persons.  People
cannot trust themselves without having a  rule.
   Taking too many kinds of food at a time, may, and  often
does, cause indigestion.   If one enumerates the number of
kinds of food often taken at a meal, he will not wonder that
the stomach is unable to manage the quantity of things
brought together.   Two or three kinds at a meal are  quite
sufficient.   The tempting the appetite with many  kinds, is
really suicidal.
   Stimulating Condiments.—Salt,  pepper, spice,  mustard,
ginger, cloves,  &c, all  tend  to cause indigestion.
   Tea and Coffee.—These articles, so much and so univer-
sally esteemed,  the 'cost of which is no small item in the
expenses of those who have hard work " to make the year
come  round,"  are the cause of  a great amount of indiges-
tion.   Pure cold  water  is the best drink that God ever gave
to man, and foolish are they who do not avail themselves
of the blessing.
   Indolence, of either body or mind,  often causes  indiges-
tion.   We were made to lead active lives, and he who does
not engage in the pursuits of industry, is  sure of suffering
from indigestion. 
DYSPEPSIA,  OR INDIGESTION.            149
   Too great activity, as well as too little, may cause indi-
 gestion.   Generally, those who take upon themselves to be
 industrious, or are from circumstances compelled to be,  of.
 ten do a great deal too much.  Society is composed mainly
 of drones and  over-workers.  It is painful to  witness how
 much of useless care, anxiety and labor, females often have
 to undergo.  The cares of a large family, the making and
 mending of clothing, the daily  and  constant  preparing of
 complicated  meals;  the ten thousand duties of both  night
 and day, that devolve upon the mother in the present  state
 of society, tend powerfully to the destroying of good diges-
 tion, and consequently of health.
   Discontent, or home-sickness, causes bad digestion. There
 is nothing like contentment for health.   A really contented
 man or woman,  is the happiest that can be.
   Over-taxing the  mind, is a common cause of indigestion.
 So little  is known concerning health,  that in our larger sem-
 inaries and institutions of learning, almost every  member
 becomes dyspeptic.   Our  muscles and limbs, as  well  as
 brain, were given  for daily action, and unless we follow the
order of nature  we inevitably suffer.
   Treatment.—It hardly need be said, that as far as possible,
all the causes of the complaint must be removed.   This, in a
great number of cases, will be all that is necessary, and in
 fact, amounts to a cure.  But in others,  a  long  course  of
the most persevering  treatment will   be  indispensable.
 Whether we expect organic disease of the  stomach or not,
the treatment must be the same, and  must be graduated ac-
cording to the strength.   Thus,  in treating for  cancer of
the stomach, the  general  health  is to be invigorated  by
 moderate and frequent baths, by exercise, such as can  be
safely borne, by the breathing of pure air, and above all,
the stomach should not be overtasked.
  In the  treatment  for indigestion,  the  person,  who,  by a
long course of abusing the stomach, has brought  upon  him-
self weakness of that organ, must remember that a few
days, or  weeks, or even months, will  not suffice to give him
again the digestion  of a ploughman or a pavier.  Nature
works in her own slow and  certain ways,  and time  must 
150
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
 elapse  before  the stomach can again become vigorous and
 strong.
   Some have  an  idea that the severe craving for food ex-
 perienced by dyspeptics must be answered.  Almost as well
 might we give the reformed inebriate the dram he so much
 craves.  The  craving for the increased amount of food is
 as good proof that it is needed, as the craving for the dram
 that it is needed.   A  weakened stomach can manage only
 a small amount of food, just as a weaker horse can draw
 only a lighter load.
   The food of dyspeptics should be of such kinds as are
 digested with  the least expenditure of vital power.   Of all
 varieties of food, that  which bears the name farinaceous is
 the most easily digested.  It is true, some forms of animal
 food are digested more quickly than  the farinaceous, but
 there is yet a greater  expenditure of vital power.   There
 attends the digestion of animal food, much more of what is
 termed the " fever of  digestion,"  than in that of vegetable
 food.  The circulation and heat of the body is more excited,
 the system is permanently less vigorous, fatigue more last-
 ing, and sleep less refreshing.
   As a general thing,  no great change should be made sud-
 denly in diet.   The most objectionable articles should grad-
 ually be got rid of.   As to animal food,  a little only of the
 plain preparations of cream, milk, or buttermilk, with good
 farinaceous food and  fruits, is all that is necessary to en-
 sure the best of health.
   Constipation  should  be  removed if that symptom is pre-
 sent.   The best means of all is so to regulate the diet and
 all the habits,  that the bowels act naturally.  Coarse wheat-
 en bread, cracked wheat mush, are perhaps of all substances
 the best that  can be  used to regulate the bowels.   Use a
 full injection of cool or cold water in the morning  before
 breakfast, and exercise to  become warm.   Take  also a
 small injection, as a tumbler of cold water on going to rest,
 to be retained  in the bowels.   This aids in procuring sound
 and refreshing sleep, and a better movement of the bovvels
 in the morning.  The  long continued use of the water in-
jections does not, as is  often imagined, cause an increasing 
A CASE.
151
necessity for their use.   Cold water,  properly used,  is
strengthening to the bowels internally, as to the skin exter-
nally.  Fail not here to do every thing to benefit the genera]
health.
   In constipation, some have an idea that the bowels alone
are at fault;  others, that  the  bowels are not at all con-
cerned, but that the blood is out of order.  The truth is, in
chronic constipation, the whole system, the  blood,  fluids,
and  every part, in short, the general health, is not good, nor
can  it be, as long as constipation remains.
   The following case of one of my patients, whose name
I shall take the liberty to use,  Miss Ann Copcutt,  of Tar-
rytown, New-York, is one  of a remarkable kind, and inter-
esting in various  particulars.   It  shows the good effects of
due  care and perseverance in observing  strictness  in diet,
without which the best of other treatment avails  but little
in the end.   Since this case was written  and published in
the Water-Cure Journal,*  Miss Copcutt  has continued to
improve in health and spirits.   In consequence of the effects
of water and  attention  to  general regimen  upon herself,
she  has  been  often  prevailed upon to prescribe for poor
persons and others who desired her advice.   I am glad she
is about to publish a small work concerning her experience,
and observations in her  peculiar modes.
     Indigestion, Nervous Excitability, and Melancholy.
   A  Case.—Dear Sir:—Having, for many years, been afflicted
with indigestion, nervous excitability, and that most distressing
of all diseases, melancholy, I was induced, as a last resource,
to try the vegetable system, both with and without abstinence;
together  with exercise, bathing, abstinence from all alcoholic
drfnks, &c.  And as I had  frequently been told that it was
most  conducive to health, to abstain as much as possible from
drinking any thing, 1 imprudently avoided even water, except
when I was completely overpowered with thirst, which rarely
  * The Water-Cure Journal is a semi-monthly periodical, by the au-
thor of this work.  It is designed to give  general and practical infor-
mation on the subject of Hydropathy, and is published at the very low
price of $1,00 per year. 
152
THE  WATER-CUKE  MANUAL.
occurred, as my diet was not  stimulating.  I continued  this
course for three years; but the absence of water, and the  con-
sequently increased appetite for food, though the plainest, had
such an effect, upon my system, that, to my great surprise, and
still greater disappointment, instead of recovering, I gradually
grew worse.  I was more nervous  than ever, though less  mel-
anchoiy, and could not eat the simplest food without discomfort.
I could not endure the thought of applying to the faculty ;  for I
knew that,  in reality, they would injure my constitution, though
they might afford me temporary relief.
  At length, hearing  that you were a practising physician of
some value, hope once more  revived, and I determined to apply.
I was then  laboring, as you well  remember, under the painful
effects of severe indigestion, a deranged nervous system,  pal-
pitation of  the  heart, extreme debility, distressing heat in the
head,  and  various other  parts of the body, particularly about
the region  of the heart;  inward exhaustion, inability to walk,
to study, or even  to read;  shortness of breath, aching of the
limbs, sleepless nights, &c, &c.  You immediately advised me
to wear the body bandage, to bathe freely, to  drink plentifully
of cold water, to take as much exercise  as possible without fa-
tigue ;  and, as I had no appetite, to fast rigorously.  I was faith-
ful to your  injunctions, and soon perceived that my health  was
slowly improving.  However, when my appetite returned, my
ailments returned also, and a most painful conflict ensued.  You
then proposed that, in connexion with bathing, drinking, &c, I
should frequently lose a meal; and you warned me to use judg-
ment in all things, and to avoid extremes.   With these instruc-
tions, we parted.
  But I was so bent on restoring  my health, that, whatever I
did, I did it with all my  might; consequently my  zeal again
led me astray ; and as I felt great  heat and fulness in the head,
palpitation of the heart, and  various symptoms of indigestion,
even when I fasted, I thought I certainly must be drinking too
much water.  I also reasoned with myself that, as my stomach
was too weak to digest a small quantity of the plainest food, it
was unreasonable that it should be able to absorb so muoh wa-
ter healthfully.  I therefore  diminished the quantity to eight
tumblers daily, which I drank with my meals: and, with absti-
nence, I soon found relief. From this I  never deviated, wheth-
er it distressed  me or not, unless I  was thirsty ; and, even then,
I carefully  avoided distension, especially after  a meal.  Indeed,
I could not drink so much as one  tumbler without discomfort,
even when I did not eat; but I found  water so strengthening 
DYSPEPSIA, OR  INDIGESTION.
153
an agent, that I had sufficient encouragement to persevere, and,
as this difficulty was gradually removed, as my health returned,
I attributed it to disease, rather than to any deleterious effect of
the water.
  Finding that I was  never so well as when 1 abstained from
food, I resolved to lose my breakfast regularly ; with this excep-
tion, however, that 1  substituted milk and  water,  (about one-
third milk,) for pure cold water, simply  because it  afforded me
more satisfaction; and I rejoiced to find  that, during the morn-
ing my ailments were considerably subdued, and  that  I was
able to read a little.   This encouraged me to hope that, by still
greater abstinence, I might, in time, subdue disease entirely, and
resume my studies without inconvenience ;  to do which was the
height of my ambition.   Therefore, as  I always felt very un-
comfortable after dinner, I gradually diminished the quantity of
food at that meal also, until at length, for a few days, I reduced
it to nothing but water.  This was painful in the extreme ; but,
by attentive observation, I  perceived  that I could read and
study the best, and that my  ailments were  the  most subdued,
when I was the  most  abstemious.
   However, as I despaired of reconciling my mind to total ab-
stinence during the day; I concluded, that for  the sake of a lit-
tle satisfaction, I would take, in connexion with two tumblers of
water, a very small quantity of the most innutritious food, or that
which contains the least sustenance, and the most water; for I
shuddered  at the idea of eating solid farinaceous food more than
once a day.  I then thought that I  might, with perfect  safety,
eat a hearty supper, though I never fully satisfied my appetite.
But no;  I was compelled to be very careful; and,  by drinking
three  tumblers of water,  and avoiding distension. I was com-
paratively comfortable through the evening.  Indeed, it was ab-
solutely  requisite that the whole of my food during the day
 should constitute but  one  moderate  meal.   I particularly dread-
 ed distension, because it was always attended with palpitation
of the heart, involuntary sighing, sleepiness, and other unpleas-
 ant symptoms;  all of which were  prevented by avoiding the
cause.
   As my health returned, 1 gradually increased  my aliment,
and as gradually  I relapsed, until, at length, I was obliged to
lay aside my books ;  and my ailments returned with such viru-
lence, that I was driven, with an aching heart, and, as it were,
 with a rod of iron, to  my former abstemious course.  However,
 I was immediately relieved;  and I  returned to my  studies with
 comfort and delight.  This entirely removed from my mind  the
               7* 
154
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
impression that study injured me, although it seemed unreason-
able that one moderate meal a day should be sufficient to sup-
port nature  healthfully.  My appetite  often led me  to repeat
the attempt;  but it was always attended with the same unfa-
vorable results.  I learned at last that, however hungry, or
however weak I  might be, more  than the above mentioned
quantity was invariably hostile to my system.  I finally attribu-
ted the hunger to disease, because the more 1 abstained the less
craving I was, and the debility I ascribed to the heat of the
weather; because the same amount of nutriment supported me
well when it was cool.
  I often felt very  unpleasant sensations just before a meal;
and, as eating sometimes afforded me relief, I naturally conclu-
ded that it must be beneficial when  this was the case.  How-
ever, after I had tried the experiment a great many  times, and
found that it never failed to cause a return of the same unpleas-
ant sensations, with increased vigor, I relinquished forever the
idea of having recourse to food as a remedial means. I  was
also strengthened in this  idea by  observing that, when I omit-
ted a meal entirely, or when  circumstances caused it to be de-
layed beyond the usual time, I frequently felt perfectly  well,
and continued so until I again disturbed my system by eating.
However, I  was determined to have one meal a day, whatever
I might feel.  Thus refuge failed me, and I had no  hope from
anything but starvation; and I thought that if it really is true,
that when a  person is starved to death,  the system preys upon
disease until it is  entirely eradicated, before it touches vitality,
or that which is essential to  life,  there  was no danger that I
should  starve to death, while I was so encompassed with dis-
ease.  In this manner, painful experience proved the truth of the
assertion of Hippocrates—" The more  you nourish a diseased
body, the worse you make  it."
   Finding that all my bathing, exercise, plain  diet, &c,  were
not perceptibly beneficial without the most rigorous abstinence,
in a fit of desperation, I threw off the body bandage, dispensed
with all baths, except a daily  shower bath, which I never omit-
ted unless it  was intensely cold; I took as  much exercise as
suited  my convenience, and was less particular in my diet than
I had been since I first turned my  attention to physiology.  I
took milk and water for my breakfast, a very little  innutritious
vegetable,  or fruit  and water, for my dinner, and for my sup-
per, I ate any thing that 1 fancied, if it  agreed  with my stom-
ach ; and being very fond of milk, I exchanged pure water for
milk and water, which in the winter I  preferred warm.   I ate
animal food occasionally, though I did not consider  it best for 
DYSPEPSIA, OR INDIGESTION.
155
me ; however, it was requisite that it should be very tender
I dreaded the lean, if it was hard, more than the fat.  I made
use of butter, and other oleaginous substances, in moderation,
with no apparent inconvenience.  I ate no bread but that wh'ch
was made of the best unbolted wheat meal, ground  very fi ie.
As I found it quite as beneficial as the coarser,  I  gave it the
preference.   Nothing could have induced me to eat bread made
of superfine flour ; it is of so astringent a nature, that I consid-
ered  it perfect poison.  1 carefully avoided all  crude and hard
substances.   I dared not  eat nuts, nor any fruit too heavy for
my stomach; rather  than dispense  with  it entirely, I merely
took the juice of it.   I could not digest  new bread, hot cakes,
&c, comfortably; therefore I rejected them.   I found no diffi-
culty from unripe fruit, if it was cooked, though I did not choose
it. Nothing ever caused me so much distress as hard fruit; and,
as nothing ever excited my nervous system so  sensibly as  in-
digestion, I studiously avoided every thing that had a tendency
to cause it.
  I pursued this course successfully for eighteen months ; and
I know several individuals who did the same  with equal suc-
cess.   I have also seen it  successfully tried by  a child for diz-
ziness in  the head.  The  child willingly and cheerfully acced-
ed to the  proposal, delighted  at the thought of a  remedy; and
in one day the dizziness was entirely removed.   Indeed, I have
never seen it attempted  by  any  one, in any  degree, without
beneficial results.  As my disease was chronic, a great length
of time was necessary to  restore my health.  It is true, that I
frequently departed  from  the rigor of this discipline ; and it is
also true, too true, that as frequently I relapsed.  However, I
soon  ceased to give myself any uneasiness  respecting my
health ; for I knew that nature, ever faithful to  her trust, would
always afford me relief, if I gave her an  opportunity.  And I
was very sure that, physiologically,  I was  in the narrow road
that leads to life, while, with a bleeding heart,  I  beheld  such
numbers  of my fellow creatures running the broad road to ruin
and destruction.   " O ! that they were wise !"
   By degrees, my nervous system became stronger than it had
been for  years.  Gloom  and melancholy  fled, and  were suc-
ceeded by uniform cheerfulness  and serenity.   Indeed, I felt a
buoyancy of spirits,  and an  elasticity of motion, that I  never
experienced before.   My  sleep was  sound and  almost dream-
less.   The heat in my head,  and other parts of the  body,  to-
gether with palpitation of the  heart, entirely left me.   I felt
no inward exhaustion, no  inclination to sigh, no  shortness of
breath, no aching of the limbs.  My  physical strength waa 
156
THE  WATER-CURE MAM UAL.
greater than ever.   I had a healthy hue, and my skin was free
from all cutaneous eruptions,   I gained ten pounds in weight,
and was able to read and study as well as ever, although I had
been deprived of that pleasure for ten long years.   However,
as soon as I was fatigued,  I abstracted my thoughts  entirely
from my books, and turned them into another channel.  I never
felt sleepy in the day-time ; and, during all the intense heat of
the summer, I did not once feel any desire to lie down ;  it would
have been irksome to me ; whereas, I never remember to have
passed through a summer without lying down very frequently.
I walked two or three miles every day, unless the weather, or
domestic duties prevented ; and I  was able to walk  a much
greater distance, particularly when it was cool. I  frequently
regretted that the habits of a female are necessarily so seden-
tary.   However,  it was my consolation,  that  abstinence, to
which I  gradually became more  reconciled, sets  all things
right.  Whenever I was absent from home during the dinner
hour, especially if it was on business,  I took nothing  but  two
or three tumblers of water, even though I walked six or seven
miles,  and I returned feeling no need of  food,  and  frequently
no fatigue.   The water prevented  all craving.  Persons often
remarked, '■' How healthy you look !"  " I never saw you look
so well!"   " You  formerly looked so thin, and too sallow for a
person of your age."  " I wish I could walk so far," &c.  I  said
but  little, because I know that it  is always offensive to inter-
fere with the appetite.   However. I felt persuaded, that if they
had ploughed with my heifer, they  would have found out my
riddle.
   When my body was in so diseased a state, a  fast  of twenty-
four hours  caused  head-ache, trembling, and such debility,  that
I was obliged to lie down; but after I became accustomed to it,
and my health  was  restored,  I felt perfectly well in every re-
spect, during so long a fast; nor did I perceive the least dimi-
nution of strength.   Indeed; I never had a pain, nor  an ailment
of any kind,  that  I  could  not subdue by abstinence and  cold
water.  Even the tooth-ache, to which  I had formerly been
much subjected, never troubled me.
   I chose to  eat at the close of the day, because it seemed to
me more rational  that  my intellectual and physical  faculties
should be clear and free from all obstructions during the time
appointed for labor, whether of body or mind;  and I thought
that, if I must  be heavy and sleepy,  it should  be at night, the
time appointed for repose.  Besides, I could not desire to sleep
better than  I did;  and, unless I  transgressed, I  was rarely 
DYSPEPSIA, OR  INDIGESTION.
157
sleepy in the evening.   It also afforded me some pleasure to
have a meal in anticipation at the close of the cares and duties
of the day.   I had likewise tried the loss of the third meal,
and every  thing  else that I  thought calculated to restore my
health, until my heart sank within me with grief and disappoint-
ment, because nothing answered my expectations.
  I am still careful in my diet, and whatever  ailment I may
feel I immediately return to my former course—my  never-fail-
ing remedy—which I continue as long as I find it  necessary,
and never use any other medicine.   Surely, I cannot too highly
appreciate this knowledge, notwithstanding all  the pain that it
has cost  me to acquire it; especially when I  see so many sal-
low and  worn-out countenances, and listen to the dismal com-
plaints of those who are ignorantly and unconsciously bringing
upon themselves  misery, disease, and death.  I  would  fain di-
rect them to the right path;  I would fain proclaim the  remedy
that they all possess ; but my efforts, though sometimes  effec-
tual to a certain extent, are oftener, alas  ! of no avail.  My ad-
vice is not official, or rather, not palatable.
   I often think of these words, '• Put a knife to thy throat, if
thou be  a man given to appetite."  " Blessed art thou, O  land!
when thy  princes eat  in due season, for strength, and not for
drunkenness !"  And I feel no more respect for myself, or any
other person who  is prostrated by sleep or stupidity, in conse-
quence of excessive aliment, than I do for one  who has  taken
spirituous liquors too freely.
   I hope I have forever done with  medicine, and I  trust that
with the blessing of Providence, without which our best efforts
are ineffectual, I shall be able to preserve my  mind and body
in  a healthy condition,  until  the appointed time come,  when 1
must put off this  tabernacle of clay.
   But I fear I shall exhaust  your patience.  I am glad to hear
 of your  success  in  the practice of water-cure; and I hope
 you will accept this long epistle as a token of respect, from one
 who will never cease to be your grateful and sincere friend,
                                           Ann Copcutt.
   I will mention, that  Miss Copcutt used injections freely,
 a circumstance  omitted in  the foregoing account.   These
 she finds still occasionally  necessary,  and prescribes  them
 much to those who seek her advice.   This lady  is  not, let
 it be remembered, a  practitioner of the healing art, except
 as a  matter  of gratuity or charity to those who stand in
 need. 
159
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
        HEPATITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER.
  This disease may be seated either in the peritoneal cover.
ing, or in the substance of the liver, and often in both.   It
may be either acute  or  chronic.   In  acute inflammation,
there  is constant pain in the  right side,  below the ribs.
The greater part of the liver is on the right side ; hence the
pain is chiefly in that part.   Sometimes pain in the right
shoulder and  back.   The  pulse  varies  accordingly, as
there  is inflammation.   There is  difficulty in breathing,
arising from the motion of the  liver in respiration.   There
is a sense of great weight in the region of the  liver, and
the patient can lay best  upon the right side.  The disease
comes on, at times, in the most  violent and  painful manner.
  Chronic disease  of the liver is often  brought on by the
use of calomel.  That abominable medicine always does
this organ much harm. The liver is torpid;  the patient takes
blue pill, or some other form of calomel, and thus the liver
is goaded on in its action more vigorously  for the time, and
the feelings are better ; but then, again, follows  the old
difficulty, in an increased form; the remedy is used again
and again;  at last loses  its  power, even to bring about ap-
parent good ; and the patient sinks into an incurable state.
  Treatment.—If acute,  the treatment must be of the most
vigorous kind,  as  in  any   severe  inflammation.   If it  is
chronic, it is to be treated  like indigestion, or any  chronic
disease of important internal organs.   The wet girdle  is
here particularly useful.

                        JAUNDICE.
  This term is derived from a French  word, jaune,  signify-
ing yellow.   The bile, a yellowish fluid, which in health
passes off by the bowels, is absorbed, and becomes  diffused
throughout the general system.  The excrementitious mat-
ter  from the bowels generally becomes pale in this  state of
the system, not being  yellowish, as in health.
   Treatment.—This must be upon general principles.   If
there  is pain,  endeavor  to  remove this by means of band-
ages.   Use injections, practise the drinking freely of water, 
BILIOUSNESS--ENTERITIS.
159
daily bathing according to the strength, and all the means
of renovating the general health.   Patients must exercise
patience in this disease.
                       BILIOUSNESS.
   What is meant by the term so often used, being bilious ?
Bile becomes diffused throughout the system.  It also finds
its way up to the stomach,  although it  naturally passes
downwards to the bowels.   The liver is the great filter of
(he blood.   The blood passes in a crude state to  this organ,
and there  the bile is filtered out.   If the filter gets out of
order, of course  the fluid is not well cleansed.
   Butter and  oily substances cause  the bile to ascend to
the stomach, where  it does not belong.
   If a powerful  emetic is given, bile is thrown up.   The
person then says, " How bilious I am."  According to this
idea, every  person  is  bilious, since every  person can be
made to " throw  up" bile.

       ENTERITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.
   Inflammation of the substance of the bowels, or  intes-
tines, is known  by  the following symptoms.   " In  simple
enteritis, supposing  it  to  be  active  and violent, there is
icute deep-seated pain;  and this  may occur in various
oarts of the  intestinal  region.  Although  the pain is con-
stant, yet it is aggravated at  intervals;  and it is increased
>n pressure.  It  differs from  'a fit of the gripes,' as it is
called,  ' pinching and purging,' in this, that in common
' pinching,' there are  intervals of  ease, and  when the
 pinching' is over,  the person is comfortable ; whereas,
in enteritis, although the  pain comes on at intervals, yet it
h  constant;—although it is not of uniform intensity, yet it
is  always present."   There  is  general  fever  and usually
very obstinate constipation.   The pulse is small and  what
is  termed wiry.   The pain is most severe about the umbili-
cus.  Hernia or  rupture,  it should  be remembered, is not
unfrequently the  cause of this disease.  It may then be-
come necessary to call the surgeon.
   Treatment.—Professor Elliotson  gives us  the  following 
160
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
.mode of treatment in the ordinary way.  " The first thing
 which we have to  do,  is to bleed the patient well.  We
 should  set him as upright as he can be, and bleed  from a
 la*ge  orifice,  without  any  mercy.   We must of  course
 consider the patient's strength ; but we should bleed on till
 we make a decided  impression : till  we knock down  the
 pulse, and make  him  faint.   After this has been  done, a
 very large dose of calomel should be  exhibited."  It is not
 the strangest of all things, that patients often sink under the
 above  and other complications of old routine modes.
   This disease  is to be treated on the general principles of
 all severe inflammations.   Keep down the fever, especially
 in the  bowels; use half baths or  hip  baths of temperature
 suited  to the strengh; wet sheets, fomentations come well
 in play.   Give injections  almost  blood-warm, again and
 again—if need be, fifty times in a day; keep the bowels com-
 pletely " soaked."  Give no food until the disease is quell-
 ed, and then begin with a half tea-spoon portion ; if this does
 well, double or treble the quantity, but be very careful or
 you get in trouble from food.  Most  frightful relapses  are
 caused in these bowel difficulties by food.
   The following case I published in the Water-Cure Jour-
 nal about two years ago :
   Inflammation of the Bowels.—Some months  ago the editor
 was called to visit his brother, Truman B. Shew, of Philadel-
 phia, suffering under a severe attack of enteritis, or inflamma-
 tion  of the bowels.  The disease, always dangerous under the
 ordinary modes, is, generally, easy to manage with water, if
 taken in season.   In  this instance it took on a very obstinate
 form.  The symptoms, as physicians would say, were  fast be-
 coming typhoid, or sinking.   Besides the pain  and swelling of
 the abdomen there was severe pain in the  back, the thighs, in-
 jection of blood in the  eyes, thick fur upon the tongue, and men-
 tal disturbance.  The sleep under powerful opiates, was dreamy
 and restless, attended with all manner of troubles and visions,
 and was any thing but refreshing.  We  saw our brother for the
 first  time, on the sixth day of his disease, a little past the middle
 of the day.  His worst night was the one previous.   He had
 been kindly visited a number of times each day, his physician
 residing in the same house, and had certainly been treated *vith
 much skill and good judgment according to the common mode. 
ENTERITIS.
161
Yet the disease was exceedingly obstinate.  Our first applica- **•
tion was to pass freely of tepid  water into the bowels, with a
good injection instrument.  It may be asked, why use tepid wa-
ter  instead of cold in inflammation 1   We answer, when there ia'
great debility, as there was in this case, it is not wise  to make
too  great and sudden a change.  The remedy should not be too
violent.   Water, which, in the cold season of the year, feels to
be bloodwarm  is always fifteen, twenty, or more degrees lower
than the heat of the body.  In this case,  the water was proba-
bly  about 20° F. lower than  the heat of the bowels.  It was
astonishing how perceptibly this application cooled the body.
By  the hand being placed upon the abdomen, it was easy to per-
ceive  the cooling effect of the water; just as if an inanimate
substance were being  cooled.   In a few moments a large evac-
uation took place, notwithstanding the constipation had been ob-
stinate.
  The second application was that of the wet girdle, four yards
long and one and a half feet in width.  This  was  also  taken
from tepid water,  enough of one end being wet and wrung out
of the water to pass once around the  whole body.  The com-
bined effect of the clyster and bandage was soon to remove  all
pain from the bowels and the back.   Wet bandages, similar to
that about the body, were put about the thighs, and strange as
it may appear, in  less  than half an hour all pain was removed.
About a wine-glass half full of water at  a time was taken fre-
quently.
  After our brother had been permitted  to rest  awhile,  being
free from pain, a wash-tub was ordered,  in  which was  put a
bucket or two of  tepid water.  In this he sat, and was quickly
rubbed all over the surface, and the water was dipped up and
poured over the body.  The face, neck, and temples were not
omitted.  Then the upper part of the body was quickly rubbed
dry, and well covered, and afterwards  the lower limbs were
freely washed, and the bandages re-applied.  All this was done
quickly  within about five minutes, and then he was replaced
in a warm,  dry, and  comfortable bed, with warm applications to
the  feet, there being some coldness in these parts.  In the even-
ing, the same operations were gone through with, such as em-
phatically makes one  " feel  clean."  After this, a  sound and
refreshing rest was experienced, incomparably more so than
had been since the sickness.   The clyster was again used in
the evening.  Not a particle of medicine was taken after com-
mencing with the water.  It  had  been administered hourly.
No  food was given until the second day,  and then a very  small
quantity.  Food is almost always the cause of the relapses so 
162
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
common in this disease, and should be given with the greatest
caution, and only of the farinaceous kind, a spoon-full or two of
water gruel only at a time, -and this will cause mischief, if given
too soon.
  The result of the treatment was most astounding to all  who
witnessed it.  The second day's proceeding was similar to that
of th? first; and on this  day, our brother walked  about the
house.  Still he was very weak, but yet free from all pain.  One
striking effect of the treatment, particularly  noticed by our
friend, the physician, was that of the coating being so soon re-
moved from the tongue.
  On the morning of the  third day of the treatment, we  had
the satisfaction of walking in the street with our brother, and
the next morning again, before leaving him, we walked a con-
siderable distance with him in the  city.   All this time, the
strictest care was taken in regard to food, he taking only a  very
small portion of rice, mealy potatoes, and the like, twice a  day.
with water as the only drink.

      PERITONITIS, OR INFLAMMATION  OF THE  LINING
               MEMBRANE  OF THE  ABDOMEN.
   This is known from inflammation of the substance of the
bowels  by there  being  no constipation, and the pain is not
so much fixed, but more  diffused.   The treatment should be
quite the same as in the first mentioned disease.

                          COLIC
   This is so called from the " colon," or lower  large bowel.
It may precede or succeed  inflammation of the  bowels, or
it may occur alone.  There is constipation and much flatu-
lency.   The pain is much  the same  as in enteritis,  but
there is no tenderness.   Pressure  upon  the abdomen is not
only well borne,  but is often very agreeable.   The disease
is caused like other internal inflammations,  by dietetic im-
proprieties, exposure to wet and cold when over-heated  &c.
   Treatment.—This should  be  much the same as in enter-
itis, or inflammation of the bowels.   There  is  not general
fever, and the  injections seem  to  act  better  quite  warm.
Whether it be the  best  or  not,  the vapor bath, warm bath,
&c, act like a charm in removing  these  spasmodic  pains.
So also is cold useful.   When every thing else had  failed, 
PILES.
163
Professor EUiotson,  before quoted, had known the best of
effects to come from taking the patient out of bed and dash-
ing two or tree buckets of cold water  upon the abdomen.
The spasm  became  instantly reduced.  Injections alone,
sufficiently persevered in, will cure most cases.

                         PILES.
  Very nearly akin  to, and  often in connexion with,  indi-
gestion, is the disease called  piles.   This affection, in its
various phases, is too well known  to need  any particular
description.    In all its forms, it is caused in the same  way,
—by the  weakening of the alimentary canal and the gene-
ral  health.  The stomach has been overtasked, the bowels
neglected, and the general health has been allowed to be-
come impaired.
  Treatment.—As a matter  of course, to obtain a perma-
nent cure, the causes of the disease must be removed.   Use
every rational means for invigorating  the  general health,
and for local  treatment, take two, three,  or, still better, a
half dozen sitz baths of short duration, (five or ten minutes,)
each day.   These and one or two full clysters of cold wa-
ter, daily, will be found to cause most astonishing results.
There are hundreds of men, to-day, in this city, who would
give almost  any sum of money for the effectual relief which
water will cause in this disease.   Query !  Why do they not
read, think, and practise  for themselves ?  The  remedy
appears too simple.
  If there is falling down of the bowel, it may,  in  some
cases, be found the better mode to omit the injection  until
on going to rest at night.   The protrusion of the part is some-
times attended with a great deal of inconvenience and pain.
In this, as in all affections of the bowels, a very small injec-
tion of cold  water, to be retained, on  going to rest, is very
soothing  and healing in  its effects.   Even if the large injec-
tion is taken in the evening, the small one should not be omit-
ted.  If  for a few times, at first, the water comes away, no
harm is done.
  In many  cases of long standing, a continued  course of
well-directed treatment will be required to effect a cure, and 
164
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
persons must not be discouraged if they  at times feel worse.
I never saw an old case cured, in which the  symptoms did
not, at times, appear to be aggravated.   In many of these
cases, large boils will appear upon the body, and after this
the good effects of the treatment begin to appear.
  In all recent cases of this disease, the water treatment will
be found to act like a most perfect charm.   Bleeding piles
are to be treated as other cases.
  Hemorrhoids are about the same  thing as piles, and need
precisely the same treatment.
  Itching at the lower bowel,  a very troublesome  symptom,
often precedes or attends piles.  The clysters and sitz baths
will be found effectual to  remove it.
  The following complicated case, written out by a medi-
cal friend,  as given by the patient himself, will not here be
out of place:

    INDIGESTION, CONSTIPATION, PILES, AND  SCIATICA, OR
                NEURALGIA  OF THE LEG.

  A Case.—Mr. Amsa Smith, of Southbury,  Ct., aged 54, a
shoemaker by trade, in consequence of his sedentary avocation,
became in  early life  a victim of dyspepsia, and was afflicted
with the usual symptoms of that complaint, such as constipa-
tion, low spirits,  loss of appetite, furred tongue, acid stomach,
pain in the bowels,  with occasional spasms, knotting up the ab-
domen as it were.  He had also been troubled with the piles,
and such was the torpor of the intestinal canal, that, for a pe-
riod of ten months  at a time, he could obtain no movement from
it without the aid of lavements or medicine.
  After suffering thus  a  long while,  he  resorted some years
since to the Thompsonian system for relief.  During the steam-
ing, &c, to which he was subjected, a severe pain in the small
of the back, of which he then  complained, seemed to be trans-
ferred to one of his limbs, and a course of sweating for twenty-
one days being persisted in, which brought no  relief, resulted
in the shifting of the pain to a spot on  the outside of the other,
the right leg.   Soon the cords of this limb were drawn up, the
knee remained flexed, without power to extend, while the hip
and lower  part  of the  abdomen, in the vicinity of the groin,
shared in  the  suffering.  This became so severe that he was
obliged to give up his business, and could get about only by the
aid of a crutch.  In the  affected part there  was  a eons tan t 
INDIGESTION, PILES,  AND SCIATICA.         165
numbness, with a sensation of pricking, as if from ten thousand
needles, and occasional attacks of agonizing pain occurring in
spasms  half a dozen  times a day, and oftener, from which he
could only gain relief by such desperate resorts as half-roasting
the limb by thrusting it under a hot stove, &c.—Once, while on
a visit to New-York, a spasm attacked him as he was hobbling
about the street, and so excruciating was the pain, that he was
compelled to  lie down on the sidewalk, and there writhe and
groan in the greatest agony.
  Opiates were tried,  but  they gave only temporary relief, if
they relieved at all.  A thorough  steaming, according to the
most approved  practice  of the Thompsonian school, for three
nights in succession,  over hemlock  boughs, ("  the awfullest
steaming" he ever took.) brought no manner of alleviation.
  In this pitiable condition he was induced to  give the water-
cure system a  faithful trial.  Having consulted  Dr. Shew, of
New-York, together with perusing his treatise on the subject,
he commenced on  the 1st of January. 1845.  by using the cold
foot bath for half an hour before breakfast, drinking during that
time a  quart of cold  water, and taking what exercise within
doors the crippled state of his limb would allow him.  Besides
this he made use of the cold sitz bath, twice in the day, for half
an hour at a time,  and had  the affected limb douched by pour-
ing cold water on the hip.  This last caused a singular sensa-
tion, as if millions of insects were driven down the leg towards
the feet.  He also  wore constantly  an umschlag around his ab-
domen, and cooling bandages around the seat of the pain, which
was confined  to a  space  not much larger than a silver dollar
would cover.
  These processes at first increased the pains—he had horrid
feelings for one or two nights.  However, he said nothing of
this to his family, lest they should more earnestly beg him  to
desist, from what seemed  to  them  folly and  madness—but
bravely persevered in the course he had marked out, making use
occasionally of the rubbing wet sheet, and lying all one night
in wet drawers, (sleeping well, however, and feeling better for
it.)  and  in the latter stages  of his cure, even trying the effects
of the cold effusion, having buckets of cold water dashed over
him.
  And now came the reward of his  perseverance.   In one week
he found the pain had very considerably remitted, and in a fort-
night he was able to walk without crutch or staff. By spring,
he could go about  pretty well, and work some on the farm on
which he now lived—and  in the summer he did considerable
labor.  In the  month of August last, he assisted a carpenter 
166
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
who was repairing his buildings for him ;  and during this pe-
riod, in consequence of the fatigue to  which he was exposed,
he plied the cold water with double diligence.   This brought
on a crisis, in the form of a general eruption of little pimples.
exuding serum, and roughening the skin—attended with very
great itching, which nothing but the application of the coldest
water would alleviate.  Ere two months, however, this had all
passed away, and his skin became smooth.
  Is now healthy and strong: has done more work this spring,
(April 10th, 1846,) than for  ten years past.  Once could not
mount a horse, or climb a fence, but with the greatest difficulty,
even when he had assistance—now can jump over a fence as
he could when a boy.   His old complaint, the piles, has scarce-
ly troubled him at all for a year  past.   Has hardly had any ail-
ment for months, save a slight cold, which  he took on his jour-
ney to the city; and this he " would have  had off before now,
had he been at  home," where he could resort to his favorite
means.   His  tongue now is clean, though the coat he used to
have upon it could never be removed by medicine. For the
last  fifteen months, he has never lacked  an appetite for his
meals.  In regard to diet, it ought to be stated, that, from the
first, Mr. S. " docked off his tea and coffee and the use of grease."
He breakfasts on potatoes, the coarse bread, fried pudding, &c.;
eats meat but once a day; and  is confident that he can work
longer without weariness upon  brown bread and potatoes and
cold water, than he could when he took beef-steak and coffee
for  his  morning meal.  Indeed, he has tried  a different diet,
while in  all  other respects continuing  the hydropathic treat-
ment, and found that then he did not feel so well or gain so fast.
  Mr. Smith, in concluding the  account of his case, (which we
have given above,  substantially as we  took it down from his
lips,) observed: " There is one thing about it, my cure has cost
me nothing, only my labor,—I have had nothing to pay for medi-
cines."  Health, however, he regarded as a blessing worth la-
boring- for; and going to work in the right way, his faithful-
ness has had  its recompense, in  his perfect recovery from a se-
vere and obstinate neuralgic affection, of a class in which the
medical profession are in most cases compelled to confess the
impotence of all the resources of their art.

                        DIARRH03A.

   This name has, in the common acceptance, no very defi-
nite meaning.   It is often, though not always, to be regard-
ed as a salutary effort of nature to remove from the system 
DIARRH03A.
167
some offending cause.  In the water treatment, it not un-
frequently becomes a  crisis.  The patient is not then weak-
ened, but feels soon the better for it.   When it is in reality
a disease, as  is easily known by pain, weakness, &c, it
should be promptly treated.  This is a disease in which the
good effects of remedial means can be shown very quickly.
   The causes of this  state of the system are very numer-
ous.  The most common is improper diet.  Rich and fatty
food is  very apt to cause it.  Irregular meals, irregular
hours, too little sleep, fatigue either of mind or body, stim-
ulants in food and drink, sudden fright and emotions of the
mind, and in short, every thing that acts to deteriorate bodi-
ly or mental health, may become a cause of diarrhoea.
   Treatment.—In a great many cases, one or two, or if ne-
cessary, a half dozen  good injections of lukewarm water,
will suffice quickly to arrest the disease.  As in all diseases,
the causes as far as possible must be removed.  Wet body
bandages, covered to keep them comfortably warm, are ex-
cellent, and  should not be omitted.  In general, in this dis-
ease,  no  great  shock should  be caused  by  cold.   Sitz
baths, tepid, if one is weak, or  cooler, if there is power of
reaction, are very  useful.   Thorough rubbing the whole
surface in a mild half-bath, with wet cloths, &c,  as well as
all the milder means of causing a good action upon the skin,
and of strengthening the general  health, can, according to
the conveniences,  be resorted to.   If I had this disease, I
would depend simply upon injections  and drinking,  rather
than any or all the drugs in Christendom, for relief.  Cleanse
well the  stomach  and bowels, and  then cease  making a
" soap-vat"  of the stomach, and little is to be  feared.
   Cholera Infantum of the  United  States, or the  Watery
Gripes of England,  is a  continued  diarrhoea of children,
and  should  be treated accordingly.   The  stomach  and
whole alimentary canal becomes affected.   It is a very fatal
disease in cities.   It may generally be readily managed in
the first stages, but by far  the better mode is to avoid the
disease.   When will mothers and nurses learn properly to
rear children 1
   Cholera Morbus is what  may be called very severe diar. 
168
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
rhaea, and is usually attended with bilious vomiting.  Cleanse
well the stomach and bowels  with  water of such tempera-
ture as may be borne well, (for if there is much pain and
griping, the warm temperature is often best,) keep down all
morbid heat, leave for a day  or two the stomach at rest, be
most scrupulously careful then  as to  diet, and in almost
every conceivable case, all will go on well.

              DYSENTERY, OR BLOODY  FLUX.
  This disease occurs oftener during  the summer  and au-
tumn, and in hot climates more  than  in cold.   Upon  ship-
board, when passengers are much  crowded together, among
sailors, in camps and prisons, in crowded cities and  other
places of impure air, this disease, often so destructive, takes
place.   It occurs sometimes as an epidemic, and is then of-
ten very  malignant  and fatal.
   Causes.—These appear to  be principally impure air, im-
proper food,  and irregularity in meals.  Panic is often the
exciting cause: as upon ships,  if  passengers begin to die,
more and more begin to have the disease.
   Symptoms.—The disease is mostly an inflammation of the
mucous  or lining membrane of the colon, or  lower bowel.
The discharges are mucous or bloody, and there is severe
tormina,  (acute griping, or colicky pains,)  and  tenesmus
(frequent and painful, and yet unavailing desire to evacuate
the bowels.)   As in other severe inflammations, there is al-
ways general  feverishness.    When the  discharges are
white, the disease is called dysenteria alba, or white dysen-
tery.
   Treatment.'—This is very easy to understand.  We must,
of course, quell the general  fever.  The disease  being in
the  lower bowel,  we can get at that  directly by injections.
Use these always as cool as the patient desires.  If it is an
infant, that cannot  speak for itself, use  the injection  tepid,
quite lukewarm, so as to be comfortable, but never so high
quite as  98° F., the heat of the blood.  The injection should
be persevered in so long as there is pain and bearing down,
and as often as a  discharge  takes place.  Sitz baths,  not
too cold,  are very useful.   There cannot be too many in- 
              DYSENTERY, OR  BLOODY  FLUX.          169

jections used so long as the pain  or discharge continues.
Not a particle of nourishment should be  given until  the
disease is arrested,  even if it require  days.    Water in
small quantities is to be drunk to the full extent of thirst; and
as in all affections of the stomach and bowels, food must be
commenced with the greatest caution, in tea-spoon quantities,
or even less at a time,  and  gradually  increased as the sto-
mach is found able  to bear.

  A Case.—At a time during  the hottest of the past summer, 1
was called to attend the little son Aaron, of Mrs. Potter's, a very
worthy and industrious colored woman, residing in the basement
story of the  house of Professor Ives,  No. 417 Houston street.
Not having kept any notes of  the case at the time, I give it from
memory.
  The lad. eight or nine years of age, was taken with dysentery,
commencing, as it often does, with bilious vomiting.   His health
had been poor and the bowels irregular, for some time previous-
ly.   The tormina,  (griping pain in the bowels,) and tenesmus,
(bearing down of the lower bowel,)  were very severe   There
was also high  general fever, and much heat in the abdomen.
The discharges frequent, and  pains and desire almost constant.
  It was already the  second day, and the boy was quite emaci-
ated and weak.  He had  been unwell for  some time.   I com-
menced by giving a tepid bath in a wash tub, he being support
ed the while by assistants, and frictions practised over the body
as well as he could bear.   The bath being  considerably cooler
than the body, removed much of  the general fever and the pains.
Fomentations were to be kept about the body, and injections of
Croton wafer,  a little tempered,  as often as  the pains and bear-
ing down were severe, and as often as  the general fever should
rise he was to be placed again in the half bath as at first.  As
much cold water was to be taken as could be conveniently, in
small quantities at a time, and no nourishment was to be given.
These means caused at first a good deal of amendment, still the
disease did not give way, as such cases generally do very soon
under such treatment, and, after about the third  day, he  be-
came worse and worse.  I saw  the  little patient a number of
times every day, and  according to the general  course men-
tioned we  did the best we could.   However, at about the end of
the first week we had succeeded in mastering the disease, when,
in the absence of the mother,  she having many  duties to per-
form, the little fellow could not resist the temptation, and took an
amount of food that again brought on the attack  more violent
              8 
170
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 than at first.   We then set to work again, treating him upon the
 same principle as before, of keeping almost entirely without
 nutriment.  We found, as before, that by placing him  in the
 wet sheet, two or three double, from the arm-pits to the  knees,
 and wrapping him up so  that he was neither too warm or cold,
 he could often sleep for two or three hours quite well, and then
 again, in spite of our best efforts, the gripings  and bearing
 down would return, and the discharges become worse.  In just
 two weeks from the first  attack, of a Sunday morning, the dis-
 ease was at its worst pitch, the discharges taking place almost
 constantly, and the pains, if possible,  greater than  they  had
 been.  From care and anxiety, and constant toil among the sick,
 I was at this time completely worn out.   I called upon a medical
 friend in whose skill I had  confidence,  and whose treatment I
 knew would be very simple.   I  said to him, " I have  a case
 thus and so, the most obstinate I have ever had  of the kind."  I
 expected soon to be in a  state I could not possibly attend th»
 boy.  I desired him to go with me and I would make one des-
 perate effort, and  if I became so sick  that I could not keep on, 1
 wished  him to study the  case, and be ready to attend it.  Ac-
 cordingly we went, and as before said, the disease was  at its
 highest pitch.   The little sufferer was, by this time, of course,
 very weak.  I took a force pump syringe, and with my own
 hands, the mother aiding, commenced giving injection after in-
jection, using the  water quite lukewarm, or warm, as it  would
be called, m)r medical friend and myself judging it, from the sen-
 sations, to be at 95° F.  Without having the boy rise, Ave gave
 injection after injection, keeping the  bowels  all the time  as full
 of water as we possibly  could do.  It was not long before the
 pain began to  give way, and the pulse to grow less frequent.  I
 continued thus giving the injections for about an hour and a
 half, and during  this time the pajns and profuse  discharges
 had all ceased. Hard round balls of excrement were passed, and
 finally, a quite natural movement, and the pulse had come down
 many beats to  about its natural standard.  Very greatly to my
 satisfaction, he, from this moment, rapidly recovered.  Now it
 may be doubted whether water of so mild a  temperature could
 possibly  produce  such results.   I have given the facts as they
 occurred, and  for one,  in the weak state in which the patient
 was, I dared not use the water any colder than I did.
  Every medical  man well understands that this disease is every
 now and then exceedingly obstinate; and  runs on for weeks,
 passing often into a very bad chronic form.  Severe attacks of
 this disease are always dangerous, whatever be the treatment
 adopted.  This is particularly true in city practice.  As a gen- 
THE CHOLERA.
171
eral thing, we are able, by water treatment, to arrest attacks of
this kind in a very short time, and I never yet, in any instance,
had the misfortune to lose a case of the  kind.   The disease
should be attended to at the very first onset, especially if it be
epidemic.  If this is not done, it may soon pass to ulceration of
the bowel, in which there  could be but little hope.
  If the disease has passed into a chronic form, the principles
of treatment are the same, and must be longer continued.

                      THE CHOLERA.
   This dire disease, it is said, is again on its way from the
East.   Whether this be  true, or whether it may ever again
reach our country or not, some  remarks concerning it may
prove not without value.  It is a sad truth to dwell on, that
so little was learned of  the true nature of the cholera, or
Ihe proper modes of treating it.   As in most, if not all,
other maladies of a prominent character, the modes adopted
by the profession were as heterogeneous and  contradictory
as could be.   Professor  Elliotson, of London, says,  " We
are not, in the least,  more informed as to the proper reme-
dies,  than we were when the first case of cholera occurred ;
we have not  been the least instructed  by those who  have
had the disease to treat.  Some say that  they have  cured
the disease  by bleeding ; others,  by calomel; others,  by
opium ; and others, again, say, that opium does harm.  No
doubt many poor creatures died uncomfortably, who would
have died tranquilly, if nothing  had been done to them.
Some were placed in hot water, or in hot air,  and had opi-
um, and calomel, and other stimulants, which, altogether,
were more than  their systems  would bear, and more than
would have been borne,  if they had been so treated even in
perfect health."   It has indeed become a fashion with medi-
cal teachers and authors to assert, that nothing is yet known
as to the true mode of treating the cholera.
   In another place,  I have cited the opinion of  Professor
Chapman, of the University of Pennsylvania, that  he  re-
commended the giving of ice and  the coldest drinks  to the
full extent of the patient's thirst, the best mode he had seen
adopted.   The thirst in  this disease is greater than in any
other known.  The serum, or  watery part of the blood, is 
172
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
passing off by the bowels in the most terrible manner, and
this is the cause of the great thirst.
  The notions concerning  the causes of the cholera, were
as contradictory as the modes of treatment employed.   As it
first  originated among the Hindoos,  where  rice is eaten
freely, therefore rice must be a cause.  Accordingly, it has
had with some  the name of rice disease.  But this conclu-
sion concerning rice  is as short-sighted  and unsatisfactory
as are many of the conclusions in the so-called science of
healing.   That was  taking a very small and one-sided view
of the matter.  The great  facts, that the Hindoos have,  for
centuries, been among the most ignorant, degraded, sen-
sual, drunken,  and licentious people of the globe, were lost
sight of.   Nor is it at all surprising, that the disease should
sweep off such numbers, and cause such frightful ravages
among a people degraded and debased  to an extent rarely
equalled  even  upon  the face of the earth.   These things
are not understood.  It is often preached to us, that disease
comes upon the human family arbitrarily, through  the
agency of an  inscrutable  Power.  Causes and  effects  are
not sought out.
  Not less satisfactory than  the modes of treatment, were
the modes of prevention recommended.   In London, there
was much tea drank, but not so in Paris.   In  the latter city,
there was more  cholera ; therefore, the  drinking  of  tea
must be a good preventive of the disease.   Here is the same
loose  reasoning, if it may be called reasoning, as in attri-
buting the disease to the use of rice in India.
  It may appear strange, that the use of alcoholic drinks
was recommended as a means of prevention,  when, at  the
same time, it was discovered  that  drunkards were the per-
sons,  of  all  others,  most  liable to the  disease.   Yet,  in
this  country, and  in Europe, generally, the habitual   use
of alcoholic drinks was recommended,  as a means of pre-
vention of the cholera.
  In this country we have  had two examples, most conclu-
sive and  satisfactory, as to the best modes of preventing the
disease.   There is in  the city of Philadelphia a body little
known, the Bible Christians.   The members of this sect ab- 
THE CHOLERA.
173
stain religiously from all intoxicating  substances and from
flesh.  They aim  to live  temperately and soberly in all
things.   The  Rev.  Mr. Metcalf,  of  this sect in Philadel.
phia, gives us  the  following account of their  experience
during those fearful epidemics, the yellow  fever  and the
cholera :
  " When the yellow fever broke out  at the foot of Market
street, in the autumn of 1818, my  residence was in the im-
mediate vicinity of the  infested district, namely, in Front
near Market  street.  There I continued  with my  family,
while most.of our neighbors fled from the site for fear of
being affected with that dreaded  malady : yet  we  all con-
tinued to enjoy excellent health.   The following year  our
experience was similar.   During the period of the  cholera,
I am not aware that any of our members were  in the least
affected by that disorder.   My duty as a  minister frequent-
ly led me to the bedside  of the  sick and  dying poor, and
often to  perform the last  obsequies  over the  dead;  yet
amidst all these painful  duties, the same kind and merciful
Providence which  " tempers the winds to the shorn  lamb,"
protected  and preserved  me in the  enjoyment of  uninter-
rupted  health.  You doubtless remember there  were many
conflicting rumors of opinions among eminent  physicians
and others, about the propriety of avoiding vegetables and
fruits during the continuance of the epidemic.   I  have no
knowledge that any of our members made the least altera-
tion in their accustomed mode of diet  during that time, and
yet they  all escaped suffering from that fatal contagion. In
my own family, vegetables and fruits  were as  freely used
as in former seasons, without suffering any inconvenience."
  The experience of those in this  city who adopted a sim-
ilar course as the Bible  Christians, was  not less striking.
It will be  recollected, that Mr. Sylvester  Graham was  the
means of  inducing a considerable number to follow his pe-
culiar modes.   Mr. Graham  says, in his work  on  the Sci-
ence of Human  Life:  " The opinion had been imported
from Europe, and generally received in our country, that
a generous diet embracing a large  proportion of  flesh meat,
flesh soups,  &c,  with a  little  good wine, and  a strict ab- 
174
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
stinence from most fruits and vegetables, were the very best
means to escape an attack of that terrible disease.  Nearly
four months before  the cholera appeared in New-York, I
gave a public lecture on the  subject in that city, in  which
I contended that an entire  abstinence from  flesh-meat and
flesh-soups, and from all alcoholic and narcotic  liquors and
substances, and from every kind of purely stimulating sub-
stances ; and the observance of a correct general regimen
in regard to sleeping, bathing, clothing, exercise, the  indul-
gence of the natural passions,  appetites, &c. &c,  would
constitute the surest  means by which any one could ration-
ally hope to be preserved from  an attack of that disease.
I repeated this lecture after the cholera had  commenced its
ravages in the city,  and notwithstanding the powerful op-
position to the opinions which I advanced, a very consider-
able number  of citizens  strictly adhered  to my advice.
And it is an important fact, that of all  who followed my
prescribed regimen uniformly and consistently, not one fell
a victim to that fearful disease, and very few had the  slight-
est symptoms of an attack."
   Mr. Graham adds also in a note :   " During the preva-
lence of the cholera  in New-York in 1832, it was most ex-
tensively, clamorously,  and continually asserted that the
' Grahamites' were  dying by  scores  with the  epidemic,
and this opinion has gone  abroad through the country, and
is  perhaps generally believed.  Yet I solemnly declare that
I made  the most diligent search  in every  part of the city
where  any  such case  was  reported,  and called on every
physician who I heard had made such assertions—and in
the newspapers of the city, publicly called for  the specifi-
cation and proof of such cases, yet I could not find a single
instance in  which an individual who had adopted and con-
sistently observed the regimen I had  prescribed,  had died
of the  cholera or any other disease, and but two or three
instances in which there had  even been a slight attack ; and
in  each of these cases there had been decided imprudence."
   How  is it possible to account for the fact, that such over-
whelming testimony  as that of the Bible Christians and the
Grahamites, so called, has not yet found  more favor with 
THE CHOLERA.
175
the world than  it has ?  Shall it be said that the mode of
life that is best to enable the system to resist those terrible
diseases,  the  yellow  fever  and the  cholera, is not the best
for all periods and times ?   Most assuredly it is.  And were
it not for the all-pervading power  of appetite over reason,
such lessons as the above,  so  invaluable  and  convincing,
would have  been long ere this heeded.  If the cholera again
comes, let us see what may  be  brought about.
   Dr. Smethurst,  of England,  in  his very excellent work
on water, gives us the following account of what the great
Priessnitz accomplished in the cholera in  his country :
   " When the cholera  raged some  few years ago in Ger-
many, Priessnitz saved a great many from death  in Gra-
fenberg ;  he did  not lose a single case.   In slight cases,
tepid  sitz baths of long duration,  (up  to  two hours,) were
sufficient, with constant rubbing of the abdomen and lower
extremities ; cold  water  being  drank in small quantities ;
injections aided  the cure.  In  more serious cases, where
convulsions  and paralysis had already supervened, the pa-
tient was  put  into  a  half bath, and rubbed until  the body
got warm and steamed.  After being dried,  and resting
awhile, the patient was wrapped in wet sheets and sweated
in them.   Besides this, frequent tepid  injections  and sitz
baths, of an  hour and a half long, cold water being of course
administered all the while.
   Diet should  be very strict; fish, (eels particularly,) fruits,
salads, and fresh beer are injurious; it should be light and
nutricious ;  cleanliness  must  be particularly observed,
fresh  air inhaled, dwellings  and bed-rooms well ventilated.
   Dr. Casper, in Berlin, was also  very successful in curing
cholera ;  his plan was this: the patient,  if his  skin be dry
and withered,  is placed in a  dry tub  ; if soft, with a clammy
perspiration, in a lukewarm water bath, the water reaching
up to  the navel.   Then four to five pailsful of quite cold
water are thrown over head, chest, and back,  downwards;
at the same time two pailsful of cold water are thrown ho-
rizontally against the  chest,  from  the  end of the bath.
Every thing must  be  done quickly, and  the patient then
put to bed ;  the bath being repeated  in three or four hours. 
176
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
In the interval, ice-cold bandages  are  placed on  the chest
and abdomen, and renewed when warm ;  the head  is cov-
ered similarly with  ice-cold  compresses, to prevent an ac-
cess of nervous fever, which often succeeds  an attack of
cholera.   Cold water  for drink, by which the disposition'to
vomit is much diminished, but increased  by warm drink.
Frequent  baths and frictions will  diminish, if  not  always
prevent, the extension  of the ravages of this epidemic."

                 WORMS IN THE BOWELS.
   Many symptoms  have been enumerated as being caused
by worms.   None of these  can be much depended upon,
except the actual expulsion of them.  Decidedly ill gene-
ral health precedes worms, in most cases.   Some, however,
have discharged several feet of tape worm, the  worst of all
kinds,  without having had the least idea of anything being
the matter with them.   Still it must be admitted, that, as a
general fact,  worms  occur  in proportion as the general
health becomes bad.   The more weakness there is of the
body, the  more they thrive.
   Causes.—Irregularities and improprieties in  food are
prolific causes of worms.  Rich and concentrated food, im-
pure air, neglect of cleanliness, and want of light,  may be
said to be the principal causes.
   Treatment.—This is,  then,  plain  enough.   Do every
thing to better the general health.  Children  are mostly af-
fected.  Give them only of the plainest  food,  no meat or
butter, no sugar, and  as little salt as possible, and better,
none ;  give  baths three times per day, proportioned to the
strength ;  use the wet girdle at least half the  twenty-four
hours,  the wet sheet  once per day ; a large injection, cool
or cold, in the morning, and  a cold one, not so large, to be
retained at night.   These are the means,  the best and most
effectual that can be used.

      NEPHRITIS,  OR INFLAMMATION OF  THE KIDNEYS.
   There  is  burning  heat, acute  pain, and  a sensation of
weight in one or both of the kidneys  ;  scanty urine and
constipation ; also  general fever.   The  disease  is known 
DIABETES--GRAVEL.
177
from " lumbago," (rheumatism in the back,) by the latter
extending over a larger surface and down to the hips, and
by the absence of all urinary difficulties in rheumatism.
It is to be treated  actively upon the same general princi-
ples as any acute inflammation..

          DIABETES, OR CHRONIC EXCESS OF URINE.

   " Diabetes," is derived from a Greek word, that signifies
to stream through.   The affection  has also been called hy-
drops  ad matulam,—" chamber-pot dropsy."  A tremen-
dous quantity of urine is,  in  some cases of this disease,
discharged.   There has  been known to be, on an average
per day of more than twenty quarts.   In a single day as
many  as twenty-six quarts have been known to pass.  The
usual quantity, however,  may be stated at from six to twen-
ty pints per day.  This disease often proves fatal, and, in
many cases, is followed by consumption.  It always denotes
a  very bad state  of the general  health.   Those who use
intoxicating drinks seem to be most predisposed to this dis-
ease.   Solitary  vice and sexual abuses are often its causes.
   Treatment.—This should be mostly of a general and tonic
kind.   The whole system is at fault.   The skin is dry and
inactive, and there is great thirst.   No water but the soft-
est and best should be drank or used in preparing the food.
The thirst should be gratified freely, but by small quanti-
ties of water often repeated.   Frequent rubbing wet sheets,
and towel  baths—a half  dozen or more in the  twenty-four
hours, will be  found useful.   Hip baths are excellent.  The
greatest care  must be paid  to the  diet.   Go much into the
cool fresh air.

                        GRAVEL.

   About two years after the Croton water had been brought
into this city, the physicians of the City Hospital published
as an evidence of  the good  effects of the  pure  water, that
there had not been a single  case of the gravel among the
patients of that institution  within that time.   There is noth-
ing in  the world like pure water and a general hydropathic 
178
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
course for this disease.   Vegetable diet has been mentioned
by physicians as being peculiarly favorable for its cure.
  Stone in the Bladder.—If this really exist, there is no cure
except by a surgical operation.   Fortify the general health
to the greatest possible extent before submitting  to this last
resort.
  Urinary  Difficulties.—All of these are better managed by
water than  by any medicine.   Hip baths, often repeated,
and wet bandages, are very useful.   Placing the  feet in cold
water, upon ice, a cold stone or iron, the hip bath, general
cold bath, &c, will generally cause the urine to flow in such
cases as when forcible means by instruments are resorted to.
  Bleeding from the Kidneys and Bladder.—Bleeding here,
as elsewhere, is to be treated upon the same general princi-
ples.   Chill right well the parts  from which the blood comesj
and strengthen the general health.

       THE VENEREAL AND OTHER PRIVATE DISEASES.
  I am not disposed  at all to particularize upon  these most
loathsome of all diseases.   It is often supposed, even by the
friends of hydropathy, that water is not sufficient for  their
cure.  But there are no diseases in which the  power of wa-
ter is better proved than in the  treatment of these.  Under
a judicious treatment the system becomes again  free  from
its uncleanness, and  there are left none of those terrible con-
sequences, or secondary effects, now-a-days so common.
  It would be, perhaps,  a difficult matter, to decide precise-
ly how  much of these effects, such  as the loss of the nose,
portions of the skull, and other parts  of the system, the
foulest of ulcers, wasting away of the flesh, tremors, despon-
dency, and  imbecility of mind—I say, it would  be difficult
to determine how much of these effects  are to  be attributed
to the modes of cure adopted.   Mercury has, for centuries,
been used  as the principal means, and it  is a well established
fact, which every well informed physician will admit, that this
drug is  capable of producing all these loathsome  effects, called
the  secondary forms  of the  venereal disease.   Besides  all
this, we know that persons who have contracted this com-
plaint, and have taken to the brown bread and  water  diet 
FEVERS.
179
exclusively,  and observed the rules of bathirig and other
means of general health, have escaped those terrible rava-
ges so often found under the ordinary mode of drug treat-
ment to follow  in the track of such disease.   1 read lattly
an authentic account of some one, a priest I think, who was
said never to fail in curing the disease by restricting the pa-
tient for weeks to water gruel  only  for  food, and water to
drink.   Whatever may be true in all this matter, one thing
is certain : Every one. who becomes thus affected, learns by ex-
perience, "that the way of the transgressor is hard."

                        FEVERS.
  Not many distinctions of fever are strictly necessary, since
the general  principles  of treatment are the  same  in all
cases.
   Typhus and Typhoid Fever ;  (called  also nervous fever,
putrid fever, ship  fever, jail  fever,  hospital fever,  camp
fever, spotted fever, and malignant fever.)   Some endeavor
to make a distinction between typhus  and typhoid  fevers ;
but it is doubtful if there is  any real difference.    Typhoid
means at least like typhus.   The  treatment is  the same in
either case.  A patient may pass into what is called a ty-
phoid or sinking state, from almost any other disease that is
of much consequence.
  Remittent and Intermittent Fevers.—Remittent fever is such
as has decided remissions, but not intermissions.  In  the
former,  the  fever keeps on constantly, but is much less at
one time of the day than another.  In  the  latter, there is
intermission when there is no fever.
   Yellow fever is only typhus of a severe  form,  complica-
ted with jaundice.  Hence the name, yellow  fever.
  Prevention of Fever.—I have elsewhere cited  the won-
derful facts in regard to the  prevention of the yellow fever
among  the Bible  Christians of Philadelphia.  My worthy
and very intelligent friend, Captain E. Knight, of this city,
has been in almost every part of the world.  He has sailed
often to the West Indies and to New Orleans in the worst
times of yellow fever.   He  says nothing  is easier than to
ward off this disease,  if a man will but take up his cross. 
180
the water-cure  manual.
Plain food, bread, fruit and vegetables, water the only drink,
and daily bathing—these  are  the  means.  Years ago, at
one time of his going to  Havana,  when near  arriving at
that place, he was  necessarily exposed much to the sun in
getting his  ship into port.   Immediately on arriving, he
found the yellow fever coming upon him.   He had not, pre-
viously to that  time,  had  such  opportunity to witness the
disease.   His good sense, however, led him  to adopt a dif-
ferent course of treatment from  the  ordinary one.   The
English and American physicians, he knew, pursued the old
modes of calomel, bleeding, stimulants, &c.  He sent for a
Spanish physician, who  directed him first to take a moder-
ately  warm bath to remove the pains of the general sys.
tern.  He was to be placed in a  large airy  room, was to
have as much cold drink as he wished ;  to take no nourish
ment but orange juice, and to resort to bathing as the symp-
toms might require.  The physician told him that, under
such modes, the fever could not possibly remain three days.
His prediction proved true.   Preventing the  disease entire-
ly, however, is by far the best plan.
   Treatment of Fevers.—This, I have said,  is in all cases
to be  conducted upon general  principles.  No  one  need
perplex himself as to the name of the disease.  Manage the
case as the symptoms from hour to hour occur. Keep down
feverishness by cool or cold ablutions, spongings, wet sheets,
half baths, &c.  Do no great violence to the system.   So
long as there is excess of heat, it is almost impossible to do
harm by  cold water.  Sometimes  the patient  feels chilly
while the skin is hot.  The tepid half bath, with  much wet,
hard friction, is then most excellent.   The vapor bath, pro-
perly managed, is  a good  mode.  Use many injections ;
keep on the wet girdle ;  give plenty of cold drink ; give no
food until the fever is quelled ; observe the strictest clean-
liness, and have a constant supply of cool fresh air, and
make the patient as comfortable as may be,—these are the
natural means,—these as the principles  upon  which we
are to treat febrile and inflammatory  diseases of whatever
kind.
  Ague and Fever.—The water treatment,  properly  man- 
FEVERS.                     181
aged, is a sovereign remedy for this  disease.  The follow-
ing cases will suffice to give some idea of the treatment :
   Case of Ague and Fever.—Through reading the mode of
water  treatment  for  ague and  fever in the  Water-Cure
Journal  of last  year, Mr. J. W.  Bonnell,  of Camptown,
N. J.,  informs us that he was the means of directing the
following cure :  A young lady, a sempstress in his employ,
had the ague last fall.   A regular physician was employed,
and she was detained one month from labor.  In  the latter
part of last month  (January),  she was  again attacked as
before.   After  the chill  was off, (the third  one,) she was
placed in the wet  sheet, and remained about two hours,
and had a tepid bath.   By  these she was improved.  She
took water injections daily.   The next  ague day, the at-
tack came on earlier and lighter than  before.   She had
taken the sheet the well day.  She now took it again after
the chill  was off, and this time free perspiration  came  on.
The tepid bath was taken as before, and she felt now much
better.  She rested  well  at night;  the next day went about
light labor, and  took  the wet sheet again in the afternoon.
She ate nearly nothing for nearly three  days of treatment,
and  the next day, the one in which to expect an attack, no
symptoms appeared, and she has been entirely free from the
disease since.
   Remarks.—Many cases of this  disease may be at once
arrested in the simple way,  as above.  Some cases, espe-
cially old obstinate  ones,  will need a more powerful and
longer continued treatment.   The better mode is,  while the
chills are on, to give a long  continued tepid bath, nearly
cold, with a  great  deal  of friction.   Use then, after this,
the wet sheet.  Do not attempt to cause sweating.   Prevent
as far as may  be,  the  chills  and the  subsequent fever.
Regulate the bowels by injections,  and wear  the wet girdle.
Eat little, go in the open  air, and drink freely and often of
soft water.   Act  resolutely  in this matter,  and  in a few
days at most, all will go on well.
   Nearly three years ago, the following case of ague and
fever of an infant was  published  in  the Water-Cure  for
Ladies, by Mrs. M. L.  Shew.   She adopted the  child, it 
182
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 being an orphan.   On receiving it she directed the treat-
 ment as is given in the quotation :
  " This case was that of a child seven months of age.  The in-
 fant having lost  its  mother at its birth, a wet  nurse was  pro-
 cured, such as was considered by the physicians to be a healthy
 one.  The  child  was removed to a plantation,  where ague and
 fever was  common. After  remaining awhile, the nurse was
 taken with  the ague, and subsequently the child.  Both had the
 disease severely.  At the commencement, the nurse (a  young
 woman, lately from Germany,)  was healthy and strong.  Her
 diet and general  regimen were,  however, as bad as could  well
 be,—consisting of much bacon, superfine bread, butter, gravies,
 very strong tea and coffee, wines, &c, which  things,  also, the
 child was taught to take.  The usual anodyne and purgative
 medicines were taken by the nurse, and given freely to the child.
 At birth, the little one was the picture of health and  cheerful-
 ness.  At seven months of age, in an almost dying state, it was
 necessary to take it from the nurse.  Its eyes  were glassy, its
 head languidly dropping upon the shoulder, and  its naturally
 clear and white skin had changed to a uniform yellow,  almost
 like that of a mulatto.  Its lips were compressed, and of nearly
 the  same color as the face.  It was of course much emaciated ;
 its cheeks were hanging  down,  and its whole expression  was
 one of continual suffering.   For weeks, it had  not been seen to
 smile.  It was now put under the water-cure treatment,  and at
 the  same time weaned.  The chill and  fever took place every
 other day.   At  first, on  the  ' well day,'  a wet  sheet  was
 given, accompanied  by various  bathings.  Never before  had
the  child been given a drop of water.  Now it took it  greedily,
 and soon rejected its accustomed drinks. On the  'sick day,' it
 being the second of the cure, persevering treatment prevented
 the  chill and fever, and it was never allowed to return."
  This little  girl is  now nearly four years old,—as perfect a
cpecimen of health,  apparently,  as  can be found in the wide
world.   She is very plump, and  has an abundance of flesh, and
that which  is firm and  hard, different enough from the loose,
puffy flesh  which many children deemed very healthy have.
Her complexion is as clear and  beautiful as can be imagined.
 She has been given the plainest of food, as coarse  bread, ho-
miny, rice, potato, apple, &c, with very little milk or sweeten-
ing.  She has had no illnesses but that could  be easily nipped
in the bud,  except last spring, at three  years  of age, she had
the  genuine small pox.  The fever  was kept down  by water;
she  was confined two or three uays.  Her face swelled  much. 
SMALL  POX.
183
and she was a singular looking object;  but she seemed to care
little more for the disease than if the pustules had been only so
many musquito bites.   The pustules were large and full,  but
yet not a single mark was left permanently upon the face or
any part.  She has continued in the most perfect health since.

           VARIOLA—VARIOLOID, OR SMALL POX.

   Varioloid is only  small pox  modified  by  vaccination.
This is proved from the fact, that matter taken from a vari-
oloid pustule, will communicate genuine  small pox  to  one
who has never had the disease naturally,  or by inoculation,
or who has never been vaccinated.  Varioloid  may be said
to be mild small pox.
   Symptoms.—There are at first symptoms of approaching
fever, languor, drowsiness, pains in the head and loins, and
pain at the pit of the stomach.   There is despondency and ri-
ritableness of temper.  The pulse quickens, and the general
fever comes on.  With adults there  is sometimes  profuse
sweating, and  children often  have fits.   It has  been  said
that one fit forebodes a mild attack, but several a severe one.
But  we may conclude that  no fit at all forebodes some-
thing better than even one.
   Appearance of the Eruption.—After the premonitory symp-
toms have prevailed  a day or two, " there appear, first on
the face, and then successively  throughout  the  body and
extremities, small red spots,  and these rise into elevated
pimples, and these again into hard tubercles, in the common
acceptation of the word.   So that, first of all, there are mere
red spots on the skin; these spots rise  into what are  com-
monly  called  'pimples;' and these pimples become very
hard.   They  become pellucid ;  and on the first day, (count-
ing from the first attack  of feverishness, head-ache, &c.,)
they  become  pustules.  From being  pellucid,  they  have
purulent contents, opaque and white;  and those which are
large, are at first generally depressed in the centre.   They
are not  perfectly filled at  first, but are filled in the circum-
ference more than in  the centre."
  It  is impossible for  any one to determine for the first day
or two, or even at  the first of  the eruption, whether the at- 
184
THE WATER-CORE MANUAL.
tack be really one of the small pox; but this is not impor-
tant, since the treatment should  be precisely the same in
all such attacks.
  Period of Maturation.—The ordinary course of matura-
tion  of the pustules is as follows:  " On the eighth  day,
counting always from the first, if there be much  eruption,
the face swells from the  inflammation.   If the disease  be
pretty  severe, the cellular membrane beneath  falls into
more or less irritation, and secretes abundantly ; so the face
swells  on  that account.   The same circumstance  causes
the eyes to close ; and the continued extension of the irri-
tation causes the mouth to ' run,' and the fauces (parts of
the throat) to inflame.  On the eleventh day, the pustules
are at their  height, as full  and as numerous as  they will
be ;  and  the swelling of the face, the  ' running' of the
mouth, and inflammation of the fauces, subside, and then the
hands and feet swell; first the  hands, and afterwards the feet.
The spots spread down  the  body  and arms, towards the
hands and feet;  and, as these parts suffer the least, so they
swell the least; and when the swelling commences in them,
the irritation  is already begun to  subside in the parts ori-
ginally affected.  The pustules are then said to ' maturate,5
that  is to say, they grow ripe and perfect."  Such is the
ordinary  cause  of small  pox ;  but  cases  often  occur in
which  there is considerable variation from the foregoing des-
cription.
  This formidable disease may end  in  death at any time
from the first attack of the general fever, up to the thirtieth
or even fortieth day.   It, however, very rarely proves fatal
before  the appearance of the eruption, and from the observa-
tions of the writers of all countries, it  would seem that the
eighth day is generally  the  one of the greatest danger.
The second week exhibits the greatest amount of mortality.
  Small pox  often comes upon  persons having other dis-
eases at the time.   Those who have poor health are indeed
much  more liable to an attack, and it is much more apt to
go hard with those who have  already a serious malady to
combat.
  Two years since, the author wrote,  for the Water-Cure 
SMALL POX.
185
Journal, the following case with observations on the small
pox :

  Robert B. Hughes, son of Mr. Hughes, 15 Desbrosses street,
sickened on the 30th of January, 1845, with a severe and  con-
tinued pain in the region of the stomach; had chills alternating
with high fever; tongue thickly coated.  He ate nothing the
next day  and drank only lemonade.  At noon of the  second
day after the attack, the editor  was called.   In addition to the
above symptoms, there was obstinate constipation.  Pulse 112
in the minute.
  The treatment recommended was simple, and as follows :  Two
full clysters of tepid water were to be given, the one immediate-
ly following the other.   These caused the bowels to act freely,
giving at once considerable  relief.  The  young man was  then
allowed to rest for a few minutes, while water was being pre-
pared for an ablution, or as Professor Elliotson would say. for
giving the patient " a good sousing in a wash tub.'"  A  bucket
of water put  in an ordin'ary tub, the water having the extreme
chill  taken off.  The head, neck, and body were quickly washed
over, the water being freely poured upon the different parts, and
the whole surface being rubbed briskly  and constantly  with a
wet brush, until the  surface was completely red.  This wet
brush rubbing is a better means of exciting quickly the  skin
than  rubbing merely with the  wet hand.  The operation
was  performed quickly, yet it caused  considerable  shiver-
ing and chattering of the teeth.   With a view of preventing the
severe pain in the stomach and  side, a large  wet  towel  wrung
out of moderately warm water, was put about the body, so as
to act as a fomentation or poultice, and  this was  well covered
with a bandage . of dry muslin cloth, one foot and a half in
width, and four yards long.   For the  comfort of the patient, as
well  as to prevent  shivering,  moderately warm bricks were
placed at the  feet and the region of the stomach.
  The effect of this purging, washing, and bandaging was stri-
king.   The time occupied from the commencement until the pa-
tient was warm and comfortable in bed, was  about thirty min-
utes.   Yet in this short space the severe  pain had almost en-
tirely subsided, and indeed in a  short time after, it was entirely
gone.  The pulse had fallen from 112 to 85  in a minute, and a
refreshing sleep soon followed.   The same applications were di-
rected to be made in the evening,  and the patient was thus en-
abled to obtain a very good night's rest.  The next day the
washing, bandaging and clysters were repeated  morning and
evening, and  the washing and bandaging at  noon.  It was, be- 
186
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
lieved that by this means, the patient drinking at the same time
as much water as he could conveniently bear, and taking only
a little water gruel for  nourishment, the fever would soon sub-
side.  Still the complaint seemed to be hanging about him.  On
the morning of the third day of the treatment, an eruption ap-
peared  upon different parts  of the body.  The  patient was
questioned as to whether he had been exposed to any of the
eruptive diseases, which he had not, knowingly.  It was stated
to him and the parents,  that whatever the disease might prove
to be, the  indications of treatment were plain and the same—to
wash the body as often as necessary to keep it cool, or, in other
words, to keep down the fever, to apply wet bandages on every
part  of the body where there was any pain, smarting or discom-
fort from the eruptions; to abstain  from nutriment, except a lit-
tle water gruel two or three times a day. and to drink not only
as much Croton water  as the thirst  craved, but as much as could
be taken without decided discomfort, and daily to open the bow-
els by clysters.   Through such treatment the young man was
kept quite free from pain, and  comparatively comfortable.  In
the course of a day or two more, there  was no difficulty  in de-
termining the case to be one of real small pox.  The same gene-
ral treatment was continued, and  at  the middle of the  second
week from the appearance of the eruption, the young man was
so far recovered as to be able to walk out in the city, and was,
in fact, quite well.  He has continued to grow firmer and strong-
er in health  continually since.
  Few constitutions are in so bad  a  condition as was that of
the young man before  this  attack.  Within four or five  years
past, he had been taken ill apparently in the same way as at this
time, except that each  attack was  more severe than  the one
preceding; and, indeed, the one next  previous  to  this last was
of such severity,  that  medical  attendance  was necessary for
three months.  In consequence of  these attacks and the medi-
cines taken,  together with laboring habitually in a cotif ned at-
mosphere, and the habitual use of  the ordinary pernicious diet
of civic life,  the constitution was brought into a condition high-
ly susceptible to disease, and such  as, under the ordinary drug
treatment, would, to say the least, be in a very unfavorable con-
dition to combat this terrible disease,  small pox.
  A  remarkable fact in the effects of water in this disease is
this: If every thing is  well managed,  the  body kept cool by
bathing, drinking, and cool air to breathe, and if every part up-
on which eruption exists is kept covered with clean, moist cloths,
of temperature to suit the feelings  of comfort, as  a rule, not a
mark is left by the disease.   This fact was established long ago; 
SMALL POX.
187
and yet the coofing treatment so grateful, as well as efficacious,
is yet so contrary to the generally received opinions, that it has
seldom been adopted.  In reference to the use of water, there
has been as much error  in the world concerning this  disease
as concerning other inflammatory and febrile affections.  It is,
however, fortunately, now beginning to be well understood, that
in all inflammations and fevers, whenever there is thirst, this
dictate  of nature should  be  freely and  fully answered; that
whenever the whole body or any of its parts are hotter than
natural, it is perfectly safe with cold  water  to cool the whole
body or any of its parts;  that cold  water is incomparably the
best febrifuge in nature.   Comparatively a few years ago only,
in this country, as well as in most parts of Europe, it would be
considered the height of madness to use cold water in burning
fevers and inflammations.
  Dr.  Currie used water very largely in  the  treatment of a
great variety of diseases, and with remarkable success.  In his
work on the Effects of Water, he says, " The singular degree
of success  that, on the whole, attended the affusion  of cold
water in typhus, encouraged  a trial of this remedy in  some
other febrile  diseases.   Of these the  small pox  seemed  more
particularly to invite its use.  The great advantage that is ex-
perienced in this disease by the admission of cool air, seemed to
point out the external use of cold water, which, being  a more
powerful application, might be more particularly adapted to the
most malignant forms of small  pox.  The result corresponded
entirely with Dr. C.'s  expectation.  Of a number of cases in
which he witnessed the happy effects of the affusion of cold
water in small pox, he gave the following one: " In the autumn
of 1794, J. J., an American gentleman, in the 24th year of his
age, and immediately on his landing at Liverpool, was placed
under my care; the prevalence of the small pox rendering  it
imprudent to wait  till the usual preparations  could be  gone
through, or  indeed  till the fatigues  of the voyage could  be in
some degree removed.  He sickened  on  the seventh day, and
the eruptive  fever  was very considerable.  He had a rapid,
feeble pulse, a foetid breath, with pain in the head, back, and
loins.  His heat rose in a few hours to 107°,  and his pulse beat
119 times in the minute.   I encouraged him to drink largely of
cold water and lemonade, and threw three gallons of cold brine
over  him.*   He was  in  a high degree refreshed  by it.  The
  * Lemonade is, in such cases, at most, only admissible in a weak
and very slightly sweetened form.  Dr. C. generally used fresh water,
and preferred it to salt. 
188             THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
eruptive fever abated in every respect,—an incipient delirium
subsided, the pulse became slower, the heat was reduced, and
tranquil sleep followed.  In the course of twenty-four  hours
the affusion  was repeated three or four different times,  at his
own desire,—a general direction having been given him to call
for it as often as the symptoms of fever returned.  The erup-
tion, though more numerous than is usual from inoculation, was
of a favorable kind.  There was little or no secondary  fever,
and he recovered rapidly."
  In reference to the safety of the affusion of water, incidental-
ly it may be here remarked, in answer to  the objection  some-
times made,  that a man with  the  skill of a Dr. Currie,  or a
Priessnitz, may safely direct when and how to practise affusion
of water, but that practitioners in general would not be able to
make the nice distinctions necessary, and that much harm would
thus be done by the general introduction of the practice, that
the distinctions are in reality easy, and can be made by any
person of ordinary capacity.  Dr. C.'s rules were made as the
result of long and careful experiment, and are these: that" The
safest and most advantageous time for using the aspersion, or
affusion of cold water,  is when the exacerbation, (increase of
the fever,) is at its height, or immediately after its declination
is begun:  and this has led me almost  always to direct it to be
employed from six to nine o'clock in the evening; but it may
be safely used at any time of the day, when there is no sense
of chilliness present, when the heat is steadily above what is
natural, and  when there is no general  or profuse perspiration."
  It would be difficult to  conceive how any one of common
sense could be at a loss in proceeding according to these plain
rules, laid down by Dr. Currie.   By this simple means, Dr. C.
succeeded in curing a  great variety  of cases of disease, and
often where  the ordinary means had failed.  He  afterwards
found  that drinking of water was also a powerful means  of re-
ducing fever, and after making many careful experiments, he
determined that the same rules were to be observed  in  drink-
ing as in bathing or affusion.
  But to return to the small pox.  Many cases are on record,
showing the great superiority of the cooling, above that  of the
stimulating,  treatment.  Hahn, a  German physician  of note,
who wrote in 1738, ascertained from experiment,  that in  small
pox, as well  as in measles, scarlet fever, and other rashes, " we
may freely wash with cold water, from the first to the last, dur-
ing the whole course of the disease,  in order to prevent the
fever from becoming too violent.  The skin is  thus  rendered
more soft, so that the acrid matter can more easily pass througk 
SMALL POX.
189
 it.   In small pox, the corrosive quality of this acrid matter is
 rendered milder, so that it does not eat into the skin, leaving
 scars behind, and very few patients who have been treated in
 this way have been marked by the disease."  This writer gives
 a somewhat amusing account of the African mode  of treating
 this disease.  " The Africans wash all their small pox patients'.
 A captain having  a  cargo of slaves,  amongst whom this dis-
 ease made its appearance,  treated them according to their own
 mode.  Being  permitted,  the other slaves tied ropes around
 the  bodies of those that were sick, and dipped them frequently
 during the day into the sea. drying them afterwards in the sun,
 and in this manner they were cured."
   But. of all that has ever transpired  in the healing art,  the
 work of Priessnitz  stands pre-eminent.  His success has never
 been equalled.   He has treated in all manner of diseases, al-
 though we are often told the  contrary, and in no disease has his
 treatment been more successful than in small pox.   An Ameri-
 can  gentleman, after having  been  at  Grafenberg six months,
 lately, writes concerning Priessnitz's  treatment of  small pox:
 11 We  have had it here in the establishment, some eight cases,
 within six  months,  and not one death; one of them°a case of
 black confluent small pox,  complicated with measles, and  the
 patient was out in fourteen days."
   By those who have confidence in the new treatment by wa-
 ter,  it  is often inquired, " Is vaccination necessary ?"  To this
 it may be answered, it is now well known that vaccination fre-
 quently fails to protect the system from small pox ; besides, it
 is an  important fact,  not generally understood,  that obstinate
 and  long continued skin diseases often follow vaccination,  and
 many  children seem never to enjoy firm health after the intro-
 duction of this  poison into the system.  The writer has been
 surprised on questioning parents, to find how frequently evils,
 apparently from  this source, arise.  After  due consideration
 upon the subject, we have  come tQ the conclusion that no child
 of ours, or of whom we may have the charge, shall be vacci-
 nated.   In our estimation, it is not wise thus to poison the sys-
 tem  ; besides, if children are reared as they should be, (which,
 by the way, unfortunately,  very few understand,) they will sel-
 dom be attacked with the disease, and  if it should be taken, it
 is easily and safely cured by means of water, and this without a
mark being left.   Such an assertion as  this, we are well aware,
will  be a cause of sneering and ridicule ;  yet we have one sa-
tisfaction : facts are as stubborn as ever, and truth must finally
prevail.  The  Jews, because of the hardness of their hearts,
were permitted  to put away their wives; so those who cannot 
190
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
do better, should resort to vaccination.  In this view, and this
only, is vaccination a great improvement.
  Since writing  the above, I have had two long years in
which to look over this whole matter more extensively.  I
think those who are best acquainted with me, will give me
the credit of being a  lover of truth,  wherever I find  it,
even though it conflict with previously formed opinions. I
will  now state what appears to  me true in  regard to  the
treatment of small pox, and the true merits of vaccination.
  During the last two years, about fifty cases of small pox
and varioloid, so called, have come under my immediate ob-
servation, most of which  were treated  by myself.   Some
of the  cases were of infants, and the rest of persons  be-
tween  infancy  and fifty  years of age.  Of  all these  but
one died, a young man whom it was thought best to remove
from the  city, in consequence  of the weather becoming
warm, and the small room in which he had been confined.
He was decidedly convalescent at the time.  As things
turned out, drug treatment was practised, (not by myself,)
and the  man finally died of inflammation of the stomach,
as was said by his physicians.
   A number of these cases, indeed the larger part of them,
occurred in the heat of summer.  The past summer, Mrs.
Weeks, of 278 Third street, my patient, was attacked, if I
recollect rightly,  within three days  after child-birth, it be-
ing  her first.  She had  practised  bathing  for about  one
year, regularly, and lived  plainly.  She got along with
little indisposition, and in a few days her infant was attack-
ed.  This seemed to have very little effect upon its health.
It was  bathed often, and  kept cool,  and every thing went
on  very well.   In fact, in all  the cases of infants and
young children, there seemed to be no difficulty at  all, and,
after a sufficient time, the marks seem all to disappear.  Of
older persons, some may become slightly marked, so that
it may  be discovered by close inspection.  Some who had
very depraved health may remain marked, in a slight de-
gree, permanently; but as a general  rule,  it  is not too
strong  an assertion to state, that water patients  have no
permanent marks. 
SMALL  POX.
191
  It will seem to the world, that a man must be most fool-
ishly and ridiculously radical, to decry vaccination.  All
agree, that every now and  then  a life is destroyed by it,
and that not unfrequently ill symptoms are found to follow
the practice.  But it is believed that, on  the whole, thou-
sands of lives have been saved by it; and this is, no doubt,
true.  Priessnitz is  decidedly opposed to vaccination.  I
asked him if it had not saved many  lives.  He answered,
it no doubt had, and added, but how much better is it for
people so to live as to be in  no  danger from the disease.
This, I believe, is the true  ground.   Priessnitz  also said,
the best that could  be, vaccinated persons would be con-
stantly liable to attacks of disease, in consequence of the
poison having  been introduced into  the system.  He re-
garded, that the healing and sanative power of nature would
be thereby decidedly injured.
  It should  be understood,  that vaccination often fails of
its object.   We constantly find  persons  having  the small
pox who had been previously vaccinated.  Indeed, so well
is this understood, that, according to  the highest authority
in medicine, it should  be practised, the oftener the  better,
at least every year.   Keep trying to see if it can be made
to take.
  Many persons have  desired me to refer to  the  case of
Mrs. Shew,  and I have promised so to do.  Early in May
last she experienced a very severe  attack of  this disease,
and  some have been led to remark, that the fact of her hav-
ing the disease so severely,  was rather an argument against
the  water-cure  and vegetable system of living.  She had,
to all appearance,  been most  wonderfully  benefitted by
some years of bathing and attention to diet.  It was there-
fore said, how  could  she possibly have the  disease so se-
verely.  In order to give a correct view  of her case, it will
be necessary to take into consideration some other circum-
stances besides those of the immediate attack.
  The parentage of Mrs. S., as well as  the relatives gen-
erally, on both sides, are of frail  constitutions.  Her mother
died  some years since of the consumption ; so also others
among the uncles and  aunts upon both sides of the family 
192
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
connexion.  Her father, a well known physician in the re-
gion in which  he resides, is convinced that he himself has
within him the germs of consumption, and  that  he  must
sooner or later fall a victim to its ravages.   Mrs. Shew has
had weak lungs for years,  and is  withal  strongly predis-
posed  to  that  fearful disease.    Again and  again,  before
commencing bathing, she had had attacks  of inflammation
in the  chest, and she is of opinion that she must have sunk
ere this,  had it not been for the  effects of water, diet, and
the other hygienic means.   At the time of  the attack of the
small pox last spring, she had been nursing her infant seven
months.   It was very large, strong,  and  healthy.   During
the winter,  she had a fall  that debilitated  her system con-
siderably.   One week before the attack,  she met with ano-
ther fall  while in one of  the douche rooms, bathing.  The
small of her back came across a sharp stone, and this affect-
ed that part severely.  On the first day of May, the time
of general moving in the city, she  stood from early in the
morning until  night in the hall of our residence, at 56  Bond
street.   This is a very airy situation.  A bad, raw, damp,
chilling wind  blew all day, and in this hall in which Mrs.
S. stood, overseeing the things that  were  being moved  into
the house, the  doors at both  ends were  open most of the
time, thus causing a most injurious draught.  Owing to this
exposure, and the state of her health at the time, the limbs
and extremities were all day chilled like marble.   The ex-
posure I  was not knowing to at the time, and it proved  a
most unfortunate one.  In  the evening of the  same  day,
Mrs. S. was seized with  the most violent  pleurisy.   This
was of itself dangerous enough for any mode of  treatment.
We combatted it with water, and before  morning had suc-
ceeded in quelling the symptoms, so that there appeared to
be no danger.    Within  twenty-four hours of this, violent
pains came on jnthe back, and other symptoms of approach-
ing small pox.   Such it proved to be, and thus came one
terrible disease upon the very heels of the other.
  It was often  said among  certain friends  and acquaintan-
ces, "  Now we will see if Dr. Shew does not resort to med-
icines.   This  will be a test."   These friends, we  are cer- 
SMALL  POX.
193
tain, would not by any means accuse us of dishonesty ; but
it seems a hard thing for the world to believe, that a physi-
cian can practise as precisely in his own family, as he does
among his patients at large.  As to the matter of Mrs. S.'s
taking medicines,  those who know her will agree with me,
that it would be out of the  power of man to  induce her to
take  them,  provided she could have access to a suitable
water treatment.  In her opinion, no medicine  bears any
comparison to pure clean water,  and her uniform practice
has for years been in accordance with that  opinion.
   Mrs. Shew's attack was, all things considered, a very se-
vere  one.   Her system was greatly depressed by the pleu-
risy,  and the other previous causes mentioned.  The fever
ran very high, or at least would have done so, had it not been
for the cooling means that  were constantly  used.   Great
quantities of ice were eaten, and much cold water drank.
The most free circulation of air was admitted into the room,
and  the strictest regard  paid to cleanliness.  By sponging,
ablutions, the giving of  ice and water to the full extent of
thirst, wet cloths laid frequently upon different parts of the
surface, injections, the cool  air,  ventilation, and the frequent
change of bedding, clothes and linen,  the fever was kept
down as much as might be in  so  terrible an attack.  But
very little nourishment  was given any day for three weeks,
and that of water gruel only.   Some days none  at all was
taken.  Mrs.  Shew had her  senses every  moment of the
whole time.  She  felt that she must very soon  have sunk
under the power of the  disease, had there not been the most
constant and unremitting use of the  means  of water-cure.
   It is a remarkable fact, that  her  young infant, not hav-
ing been vaccinated, although  repeatedly and often exposed
to the contagion, did not at all  receive the disease. It would
be almost impossible for her to have been more exposed in
an airy situation, and well  ventilated  house, than she was.
She was moreover at this time  suddenly weaned,  in conse-
quence of her mother's  sudden attack.  It  should be re-
membered,  however, that  she is a strikingly perfect speci-
men of health.  At  that time, seven  months of age,  she
had been bathed in  the coldest Croton water always twice
               9 
194
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
daily.   In the coldest weather she was taken into the open
air daily,  from three to six hours each day, except now and
then when the weather was very stormy.   It is also to be
remarked, that our hired  help,  some of whom had never
had the disease or been vaccinated to their knowledge, al-
though most of the time with Mrs. Shew, both by night and
by day, did not one of them  receive the disease.*   One  of
the girls had  all the  premonitory  symptoms of the disease,
but no eruption came out,  and she was ill  but two or three
days.  Mrs. Shew's brother, also, had apparently the pre-
ceding symptoms  of small pox,  but  nothing more.  The
same was true, likewise, of her uncle, residing in the same
house.  Every one of these persons, servants and all, were
in the habit of daily  bathing.  I have, in a number of other
instances, known  those who were in the habit of daily bath-
ing, go clear  in the same way, having  only  the  preceding
symptoms for two or three  days, and in a slight form.   I
experienced these myself at one  time, when I was much
exhausted from arduous  duties,  and  had  been  treating
the two young children of Mr. J. K.  Wellman, publisher,
of this city, they having the  genuine small pox.   I had the
feverishness and feelings of stupidity for two or three days,
and there  came some half dozen pustules, and all went on
well.   My vaccination, practised when I was  yet a lad,
took  little  or no effect at the time.
  Prevention of Marks in Small  Pox.—As  far as  my ex-
perience extends,  I know of no case, with  the exception of
one, in which there are any marks that can be seen at all,
except by very close inspection.  If diet, bathing, and a
good deal of daily and frequent  rubbing of the face with
cold  water, after it has healed, are practised,  the discolora-
tion and marks gradually wear away.   For a year, or even
more, there continues to be improvement in this respect.  It
remains yet to be  proved, in Mrs.  Shew's case, whether the
marks remain in part or not.
  * I should have remarked, that Mrs. Shew's friend, Miss Lazarus,
who was with her night and day, and unremitting in her kind atten-
tions, experienced the disease in a slight form. 
SMALL  POX.
195
  It has been found by experiments in hospitals, that unc-
tuous plasters containing mercury,  kept  upon one side of
the face, are, to a greater or less extent, effectual in pre-
venting marks.  This  is a mode, however,  which I would
by  no means adopt.   Mercury is  absorbed and  diffused
throughout the system, in whatever way it may be  brought
in contact with the surface.  Masks of wet linen kept cold
upon the face, by the frequent use of ice or  the sponge dip-
ped  in  the coldest water, appear to have a good effect in
preventing marks.   As to the healing the skin, it should be
remembered  that pure water  is the most friendly of all
known  agents to  promote the growth of living parts, pro-
vided we can use it properly.   Because of the great smart-
ing  in Mrs. Shew's  case, it seemed necessary to use  some
oily substance, to protect the raw surface from  the air.   I
have my doubts, after all, if this were the best mode.   Some
have recommended  fine cloths wet in milk; but I have no
knowledge of their  effects.  Mrs. Shew's  case, I should
have mentioned,  was of the confluent kind, always much
more dangerous than the distinct.
  Cases at Lebanon Spring.—In the winter of 1845-6, the
small pox was taken to this place by some one who had
been in the cities.   It  broke out in a house very near the
water establishment  here, and,  among others, some of my
patients had the disease.  There were, I think, two or three
deaths in the neighborhood, perhaps more.   But none who
subjected themselves to the water treatment suffered much
from their attack.
  Dr.  Schieferdecker, of Philadelphia,  a  practitioner  of
the  new system, received  the  disease, last spring, from a
patient whom  he  was treating.   Although  he had  it  in  a
severe form, the water treatment carried him safely through.
Had the dietetic and other hygienic habits of our friend
the doctor been more in accordance with nature, he would,
to say the least, have had  the  disease much  less severely
than he did.
  The following case of our friend, Mr. D.  D. Spencer, of
Ithaca, I have been  kindly permitted to publish.  It is with
feelings of sadness,  that I cannot find words to express that 
196            THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
I record the death of two of Mr. Spencer's little sons, lost
by the small pox,  under the ordinary modes of treatment.

  Mr. D. D. Spencer, of Ithaca,  in this state, after a visit to the
city of New York, was somewhat affected, the fourth day after
his return home, with sickness at the stomach and feverishness,
which symptoms continued during that day, (Tuesday.) and the
two following days, increasing somewhat in force  As he was
pursuing the water-cure treatment, under the  advice of Dr.
Shew,  of New York, for a rheumatic affection, he took on Tues-
day two shower baths, morning and afternoon; wearing the
wet girdle on that day, and during his subsequent indisposition.
On Wednesday the wet sheet in the morning, followed by cold
bath by affusion, and shower bath at a subsequent hour  of the
day.   On Thursday, the same  as on Tuesday.  On  Friday
morning the wet sheet, followed by cold bath as before.   At this
time, appearances which indicated  an eruption appeared upon
some parts of the body.   The wet girdle was worn during the
night;  and, on Saturday, when the morning  shower bath was
taken, a very full eruption appeared over the whole  system.
Totally unconscious of any exposure  by which he could have
imbibed infection, he was entirely ignorant of the character of
the  eruption; and  a  physician  of considerable eminence and
long experience, who was consulted on this point, thought it pre-
sented the character of chicken pox, but was  not liable to  be
communicated to, or endanger any one else.   The water-cure
treatment was continued ;—a second shower bath on Saturday,
and shower bath on Sunday morning, with the girdle,  night as
well as day.  On Monday morning, the eruption being quite
full and fresh, the wet sheet was taken, with  cold  affusions,  by
pouring cold water over the shoulders, following; the only un-
pleasant effect being slight cramping of the calves of the legs
on the application  of the cold bath, immediately subdued  by
rubbing with a coarse towel.  After this, the wet sheet was dis-
continued, till the eruption disappeared ; but the  other  applica-
tions,  (the daily baths,) were continued, the large douche being
substituted for the second shower.  It should be stated, that, from
the commencement of the symptoms, costiveness ensued,  and
cold water clysters were used on retiring, and full injections of
tepid water  every  morning; and the stomach evacuated, (by
vomiting,) on one occasion, before  the appearance of the erup-
tion, by the use of warm water.   Not  a  particle of medicine
was taken, other than pure soft water.
  During all this  time the patient was not confined to bed, or
room, or house, for a single hour,  by the force of the disease, 
VARICELLA--SCARLATINA.             197
but took his usual daily exercise, and attended to a considerable
extent to business.  And it is a remarkable fact that though
in constant intercourse with friends and the public, in thronged
streets, and on one occasion in a large public assembly, he com-
municatee the disease to no one except the members of his own
family.
  So, here is a case where a patient had the small pox, in
the varioloid  form, (having been vaccinated with kine pock in
his childhood,) with a very general and full eruption from the
crown of his  head to the soles of his feet, and was successfully
treated by  the water-cure, administered by himself, all in total
unconsciousness of the nature of the  disease, till after his re-
covery from it!  The water-cure worked like a  charm, and it is
believed saved a whole village from infection.   The nearly sim-
ultaneous appearance of the disease  in the different members
of his family was the first intimation of its real  character;  and
it should be added, that, under other treatment, in the hands of
skilful physicians, a less amount of eruption was attended with
much more serious consequences.

    VARICELLA--CHICKEN  POX, OR THE LITTLE  SMALL POX.

   It is sometimes difficult to distinguish this from mild small
pox.   There are not so many pustules, and they go through
their course  much faster than those of small pox, and there
is  scarcely  any disturbance of the general  system.  The
treatment  is  of course very simple, and easily understood.

              SCARLATINA, OR  SCARLET FEVER.

   For about two days there is general feverishness, and usu-
ally on the second day the eruption comes  out upon some
part.  But this may not take place  before the third, fourth,
fifth, or even sixth day.   The eruption usually continues
about five days.
   Treatment.—Water treatment  is  peculiarly favorable in
all diseases of the kind.   We here  get directly at the part
affected.   Prof. Elliotson, in following  out the practice of
Dr. Currie,  describes  a most excellent treatment for this
disease.   He says, " The disease  has certainly been cut
short by taking a patient out of bed, and pouring cold wa-
ter upon him.  The heat of the body  is so great, in this
disease, that no danger is to be apprehended from cold affu- 
198
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
sion.  It is true, there are cases in which the patient is more
or less chilly ;  but  if, in this affection, the general rules
which I laid down in the case of common fever be followed,
there is no danger whatever,  but the greatest advantage, in
taking a patient out of bed, however  hot  he may be, and
pouring cold water  upon him.  Those rules are,  that the
temperature is  steadily  above  98°  F.; that there are no
profuse  general sweats ;  that there is  no chilliness ; and no
inflammation of the chest or abdomen.  I presume that this
would be done oftener than it is, were it not for its appearing
a violent measure to take a person in  fever out of bed, put
him in a washing tub, and souse  him  well with cold water.
But, at  any rate, no friends will object to washing a patient
with cold water. It is a great comfort to the  individual;
and, as  long as  it is comfortable, it  should be had  recourse
to.  Sponging the hands, arms, face,  and trunk with cold
water, is grateful to  the patient; and is  an excellent prac-
tice in the disease."
  An ablution in tepid water with a good share of friction
is often  sufficient to bring out  the eruption at once, when
otherwise, it would  have been much more tardy in making
its appearance.  The wet  sheet, and large fomentations,
act also in the same way.  Gargling  the throat  often with
cold water is to be practised, and fomentations  constantly
used.    All the means, as abstinence from food, water drink-
ing, injections, &c, are to be used in this as in  all inflam-
matory  diseases.
                        MEASLES.
  This  disease  is too well known to need  any particular
description.   It is to be treated on the general principle of
all inflammatory diseases.  The wet  sheet, properly man-
aged, has a most salutajy effect  in bringing out the erup-
tion.  So also the tepid  bath.  Keep  down the fever ; give
little nourishment;  keep the bowels  open;  and  allow an
abundance of fresh air.  Keep up the treatment  for some
days, to prevent bad consequences.
  SALT RHEUM, ITCH,  RING-WORM, AND OTHER SKIN DISEASES.
   These are all to be treated on  the  same general princi- 
SCALDS AND BURNS.
199
pies.   Reduce inflammation and fortify the general health.
If the  disease be chronic, as the salt rheum, a  long course
of the  most rigid perseverance in diet and bathing  will be
necessary.

                    SCALDS AND BURNS.

   Were it only for  the wonderful effects of cold water  in
scalds and burns that we advocate this remedy, we could
hardly say too much.  If there can be any thing  the one
hundredth part as good as cold water for burns, I shall lose
some faith, I confess, in the new mode.   A few cases will
serve to illustrate the treatment of scalds and burns.   1 will
extract two remarkable cases from the Water-Cure Journal,
of 1846.

    The apparently miraculous effects of Cold Water in
                    Scalds and. Burns.
   l: The cold water case mentioned in  the first number of the
Regenerator*  is a much stronger case than  there stated.  It
came to my knowledge in this wise :  In the 12th month of 1843,
as I was going to Piqua, I met a waggon with a sick person in it,
lying upon a bed.  He seemed to be travelling in much pain.
I inquired the  cause of his suffering, and was told that he was
Ecalded by the bursting of steam works, in a tan-yard near Pi-
qua, about fourteen days before—that he was an apprentice to
Mr.  McTurnahan, a tanner, and that Mr. Mc Turnaham was
also scalded, with two of his sons.  But the old man, who was
the most  scalded of  any, jumped immediately into  the pool,
which  was slightly frozen over, and came out entirely well.
   ' This tale appeared so marvellous, that I concluded to call at
the residence of Mr.  McTurnahan, and make farther inquiries.
I did so; and  was informed by the old man,  that he, his two
sons, and apprentice, were standing near the boiler of heating
water  when it  burst.   He stood in such a position  as to take the
strongest  current of  water and steam.  This is the only evi-
dence  that he  has, that he was scaTaed as the others, for  he
jumped immediately  into the pool, and directed the boys to fol-
low him.  On  coming out, and feeling the pain continue, he went
  * A semi-monthly paper, published at Fruit Hills, Warren county,
Ohio, by Orson S. Murray.  The case given is to be fully relied on as
being true and correct. 
206
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
in again.  The skin peeled off a little from  the lower part of
his arms and a little from his breast.  This was all the mark he
had upon him. and it had not hindered him from his work at all.
He supposes he was not in the water more than five minutes.
  " His  oldest son came to the brink of the pool, and stepped in
about half way up to his knees.   He then stopped to unbutton
his clothes, and see how badly he was hurt.  Finding the skin
peel off with his clothes, as he took them down, he concluded to
go into the house, and send for the doctor.   It was within three
or four  days  of six months before he was able  to  go about
again.  But so far as he went into the pool, there was no mark
of hot water upon him.  The youngest son was  scalded  only
upon his legs.  He went immediately into the pool, as his father
had directed.   The only mark left upon  him was a small  sore
on one of his heels.
  (; The apprentice went into the house and was doctored accord-
ing to custom.  It was two weeks before  he could be taken
home upon a bed, and four  months before he could go about.
  '• I have called several times at McTurnahan's, once in compa-
ny with Samuel Jay, and Walter D. Jay, members of the So-
ciety of Friends, who lived  in Miami county.  The  statement
he makes is uniform, and I think may be relied upon.
             Thine,  &c.             Augustus  Wattles.
  "Mercer county, O., 5th mo. 1st, 1846."

  To those who have never witnessed the effects of cold water
in scalds or burns, statements like the above appear  like mere
idle fiction; but those who have witnessed such effects, recog-
nise, at  once, upon the face of such narrations, their truth.  We
will add a case of our own. illustrative of these effects.
  A few weeks since, we were sent for, in  great haste,  to visit
the infant child of Mrs. Campbell, a sempstress of this city,
whose case of child-birth was some time  since given  in the
Journal. The message was, that the child was severely scald ■
ed.  We hastened to the woman's residence, and there  learned
the following particulars .  The little fellow, (being ten  months
o'd, and a cold water child, so called ) was, as usual,  running
about the room playfullj^when he drew upon himself  from a
bench, or low table, a large pitcher full of hot water.   The fluid  -
passed  upon his  neck, shoulder,  down  the arm, upon the side,
abdomen, over about one-third of the back, and upon one foot.
The  whole extent, of these parts was  scalded,  and in places
blisters rose, apparently as  thick as one's finger.  In conse-
 quence of the wonderful effects of water, which the mother had
herself experienced before the birth of her infant, as well as at 
SCALDS  AND BURNS.
201
that time, and subsequently, and what she had witnessed in
rearing, thus far, the child,—he never having had an hour's
sickness from the first, or taken a single particle of medicine,—
she had very naturally the greatest confidence in the new treat-
ment.  She preferred, in fact, rather  to treat the case herself,
than have a physician  of the ordinary practice,—such  a one
haying been called, through mistake  of the messenger, and ar-
riving very soon after the accident.  The mother said there was
a mistake, he was not the right doctor:  so he took a look at the
little patient, well wrapped up in a wet sheet, (it being, no doubt,
the first time he  had ever witnessed the "bugbear" applica-
tion.) and then turned upon  his heel and left.
  Immediately after the accident, the little sufferer began to
collapse,  as  the term is; he  grew pale  and cold, and  had a
severe chill.  The  mother  instantly wrapped  him  in a folded
wet sheet;  but his appearing to be cold,  led her quickly to
place about him  an abundance of warm blankets, outside the
sheet.   It was not long before what is called, in such cases, re-
action, began to take place; the circulation and heat increased,
and, at the same time, the pain.  All these symptoms were in
themselves favorable, but demanded at once the most prompt
treatment.  The mother had  already,  before we arrived, very
properly commenced cooling  the affected parts, by frequently
changing the wet cloths.  We told  her to have the child held
over a tub of water, and to pour cold  water  constantly upon the
cloths, these remaining upon the scalded parts, and to continue
this process as  long as  the pain remained. She kept on thus
cooling the scalded surface,  until her suffering child  ceased his
piteous moaning, and went to sleep.  This must have taken
place  between two and  three hours after the accident.  He
slept awhile, and awoke apparently  as bright as usual.   Still,
so much of the surface was  either blistered or abraded, that he
could  scarcely move without causing much distress.   Those
parts were directed  to be kept constantly covered with fine linen
cloths, wet.  and these to be  covered  with dry ones, so that the
system might not become too much chilled.  The child was to
have as much water as he chose to ^ink,  to be fed very spar-
ingly, and the windows were to be left open both night and day,
for the admission of fresh air.   The  mother followed the direc-
tions faithfully, and, in a very short  time, the  parts were per-
fectly healed.   During  the  first afternoon, every trace  of the
inflammation, where  the surface was  not actually destroyed,
was removed.  The fire,  as some would say, was completely
drawn out.
<>* 
202            THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
   The cure, in this case, might properly be  divided into  two
 more prominent parts:  first,  the cooling means used until the
 abnormal heat was removed; and  secondly, the  soothing or
 poultice effect of the moist  applications that were continued
 until the healing of the parts was fully accomplished.   What
 is there that will at all compare with the pure element in caus-
 ing animal as well  as vegetable growth ?  Throughout all na-
 ture,  in both vegetable and  animal  bodies, water  is the great
 fluid through which the vital processes are carried on.
   We think the medical friend who saw this case, in connexion
 with  us, will  agree that burns of apparently not more than
 one-third of the severity of  this,  frequently cause death in  a
 few hours.
                            " New York, Jan. 26th, 1847.
   " Dr. Shew: The following is a case of scald that occurred in
 my family a few days since.   It was just at evening, when my
 son, in the absence of others of the family, was assisting to fry
 some  doughnuts.   A few of these were dropped into the fat,
 which was very hot.   The  dough, being cold and moist, be-
 came instantly crusted  over.  Through  this, or some other
 cause, one of the cakes bursted with such violence that a large
 quantity of the hot  liquid was thrown into my son's eyes, caus-
 ing, necessarily, the most intense pain.  I immediately had his
whole face  immersed in cold water; but finding  it difficult to
breathe in  this position,  a basin of water was put upon  the
floor, and his head placed in such a position as to have the eyes
covered with water, and leaving at  the same time freedom to
breathe.  The water was changed  often.  He became more
and more easy; but lifting  his head from the water, the pain
returned.  This treatment was continued for about two hours,
when  a wet bandage was applied to the parts, and changed as
often as they became warm.  We feared  that he would lose
his eye-sight;  but  upon washing  his eyes the next morning,
we found but little injury done, and he suffered but little  incon-
venience from  the burn; and in a few days  no trace of scald
was to be seen upon his person.   No other remedy was used
except water.            fj&Tours,  &c,
                                   E. B. Cunningham."
                      ERYSIPELAS.

   There seems to be a general impression  in this country
that the use of cold water in erysipelas is dangerous  in the
extreme.   The disease  is  attended  with  perhaps  greater
heat than any other to which the system is subject.   From 
ERYSIPELAS.                   203
 this fact, no doubt, the delusion arose.   So in high fevers,
 it was long believed  that no remedy more dangerous than
 cold water could be  used; and the greater the heat,'  the
 more danger there was supposed to be.   The best author-
 ities in the healing art now all agree that the treatment of
 erysipelas, as well as of all other inflammatory diseases,
 should be of  the cooling kind;  and that cold applications,
 to arrest both the general and the local fever in this disease,
 are always entirely safe, provided  they are made in accord.
 ance with well-ascertained principles.   The more heat there
 is in the system, or any of  its parts, the more salutary and
 grateful are  the means.   Common sense, as well  as sci-
 ence, dictates, that any means, however  good, must not be
 carried to extremes.   A medium  is always to be observed.
 If there is anywhere a sensation of too great heat,  un-
 attended  with fatigue, use the cooling means sufficiently
 often and long to remove that condition ; not, however, to
 cause much  chilliness, which, if protracted,  might end in
 harm.
   The author has repeatedly cured cases of erysipelas of
 the face and  head by water treatment.   He has failed in no
 single instance.   In  one case, a  medical man took upon
 himself to affirm, that the lady's constitution must have been
 one of a thousand, or she would have been killed.  Some have
 not sense enough to refrain  from judging of a matter before
 hearing it; and we find this truth   verified in  the opposition
 so often set up to the  water-cure by those who know not the
 first lesson concerning it.
  The following  account, written by our brother and assist-
 ant,  Mr. La  Morte Barney,  who,   in  connexion with Dr.
 Peirson, treated the case,  exhibits,  in  a striking light,  the
 power of  water to mitigate suffering, when all other means
 fail.   Does it not afford every humane heart  satisfaction to
 be the means of relieving, in some  degree, however small,
sufferings at approaching death ?

  " Saturday, Dec. 9, 1846, I was  called, with Dr. Peirson, to
visit  Mr. L----, of 66 Liberty street, with erysipelas of the
head.  On Monday of  the same week the disease first appeared.
An allopathic physician was called early, but Mr. L----grew 
204
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
worse and worse.   The head and neck were enormously swol-
len, the eyes were closed, and the nose appeared as if buried in
the flesh, and the features were lost.   No one could recognize
him, except possibly by the voice.  There was great heat and
pain in the head, and high general fever.  He was "delirious al
times, and had  not slept  for three days and nights.  Anions?
other means used, the face had been rubbed over with moistened
nitrate of silver, and wheat flour sprinkled upon the surface,
which formed a dark-colored coating, hot, dry, and hard, like ce-
ment.  The tongue, niou^h, and lips were parched and swollen,
and the system  seemed as if literally  burning up.  What the
object could have been in putting  on  the nitrate of silver  and
flour, we cannot comprehend.   It could  not have been the in-
tention of the man of medicine to keep in the disease, or drive
it inward, as that is the main objection urged against the use of
water in cases of this and a like kind.   That dangerous  and
troublesome symptom, hiccup,  we should mention, had com-
menced about three days before.  Counsel had been called in
the case ; and it was believed that he could not survive the night.
Such was the state of Mr. L----on the above named evening of
our visit.  We plainly saw there was  no prospect of his survi-
ving more than  a very short time.  All had been  done by the
attending physicians that could be ; and the friends were anx
ious that we should relieve, if possible, Mr. L----of this terri-
ble hiccup, that appeared to be so rapidly wearing him out.
  " At 8 o'clock we commenced sponging the head and neck with
cold water,  and  applying cloths wet in snow-water to the same.
The cloths grew quickly hot. and were as often changed.  These
applications produced a most soothing effect.  At 9 o'clock he
was wrapped in the wet sheet, and warm applications put to
the feet, these parts being cold.   The hiccup had intermitted be-
fore this, but on wrapping him in the  sheet it ceased  entirely,
and he passed into a quiet sleep.  He slept soundly nearly half
an hour, the latter part of which time it was necessary to open
the blankets somewhat, to prevent the body becoming too warm.
Slight muttering occurred at this time.   The cloths upon the
head and neck were changed every five minutes.  The body
appeared now to grow too warm, and the hiccup again returned.
We at once removed him from  the sheet, and, by the aid of four
persons, administered  a cold half bath.  Pouring water upon
the head and back, as well as the rubbing and sitting in water,
gave him great  relief.   Immediately on commencing this bath,
the hiccup  again  left him.  After about ten minutes He  was
conveyed to bed, made dry, and rubbed with the dry hand.   Mr.
L----appeared delirious when we commenced, but now seemed 
ERYSIPELAS.
205
rational, and conversed with ease on different subjects, and was
rather jocose  than otherwise.  He said he felt much  better.
The alteration in his breathing, speech, and whole appearance,
plainly bespoke to us that he was greatly relieved of pain and
refreshed by sleep*  He now fell asleep again, and so continued
nearly three quarters of an hour,  when the  hiccup recurred.
We at once gave the half bath, as before.  The hiccup was
again stopped.  At times, and as  often as practicable, small
quantities of water were given.  At first it was with the great-
est difficulty he could swallow, but  could  now  do so more and
more easy.   No more general baths were given during the night,
but the wet cloths upon the head and neck were changed  as
often as necessary to keep down the  heat.  During the latter
part of the night the hiccup  ceased  entirely.  Mr. L---- ap-
peared to grow better until about ten the following morning,
when it appeared as if phlegm were collecting in the  throat,
and. in a short time, quietly, and in his senses, he breathed  his
last."

   In  1845, I  treated the following cases, and about one
year since published them in  the Water-Cure Journal:
   Case of Mrs. Goss.—About one  year ago we had the honor
to prescribe for our friend, Mrs. Goss, of 26 Vesey street, then
suffering from  a severe attack of  erysipelas  of the face and
neck.   The heat and swelling had gone on to a very consider-
able extent before we commenced.  We directed that the face
and neck should, as far as practicable, be immersed in cold wa-
ter, and this as frequently as was agreeable.   By kneeling  at
the side of a chair, and having upon  it a large bowl of water,
the object  could be tolerably well effected.  At other times,
wet cold cloths were to be kept upon  the parts.   Two general
baths per day were to be taken.  Only a little water gruel, and
perhaps an apple or two, daily, were to constitute the food. By
these  means, perseveringly carried out, a radical cure  was ef-
fected in about  three days, so that  Mrs. Goss was about  as
usual.  Awhile after, a friend  of hers had the same disease.
She recommended  her  to have water  treatment, as  she had
done.   Her physician, learning what  treatment Mrs. Goss had
had, said, very confidently, that her  constitution was one  of
hundreds, or she could not have endured it; but the fact is, Mrs.
Goss  has  naturally a feeble frame.  The treatment was the
safest possible  that could be adopted.

   Case of Mr.  Wetmore.—In the month of September, 1845,
Mr. Wetmore,  a gentleman residing in the boarding-house kept 
206
THE  WATER-CUKE MANUAL.
by Mrs.  Goss above mentioned,  was violently attacked with
erysipelas of the head.  The general fever had already become
very high, and the swelling large  and very hot.  By the use of
wet sheets, baths, cold applications,  and immersions of  the
parts affected, together with fasting, Mr. W. was enabled to
walk out each day, and quite cured in four days.   He was di-
rected to take a thorough cold bath as often as the fever came
up, even if it were twenty  times in a day.  The night in which
the disease was the worst he took four long continued Croton
shower baths, between ten at night and six in the morning.
The fever raged; he took  a thorough cooling in  the  shower,
slept soundly then awhile, and as  the fever again arose, repeat-
ed the bath, and  thus obtained a tolerably good night's rest, and
was quite  himself in the  morning.  Such are the modes of
treating this often dangerous affection, erysipelas.   It  is a dis-
ease attended with great heat, and always the more  there is,
the more charm-like the cold water acts.

                 GOUT AND RHEUMATISM.
   It has been my lot to prescribe in many cases of these
diseases, especially of rheumatism.   These maladies are
too well  known to need here any lengthy description.
   Gout.—It is pretty well understood who are the most sub-
ject to gout.   It would seem that most  persons who have it,
would prefer to keep on in their old ways with the gout, than
to deny  appetite and go free.  Indeed,  some are proud of
the disease.   It seems to be a proof to society, that  such
persons  and their ancestry  have  been independent in cir-
cumstances, and have gone to the full  extent in the good
things of food and drink.
   Rheumatism.—This, like all other diseases, varies almost
infinitely in the intensity of its  attacks.  It may be a very
trifling affair, or a most formidable disease, that distorts the
limbs and renders the subject a cripple for life. It also comes
on as a  most acute disease, and  one  of the  most difficult to
manage  that we have.  It is often caused  by mercury, as
is well known, and is always preceded by more or  less de-
rangement of the general health.
   Treatment of  Rheumatism and Gout.—This must be upon
general  principles.   If the  attack  be acute,  the patient
should be denied food for  a day or  days,  and  the  general 
GOUT  AND RHEUMATISM.
207
 fever must be kept down.   All suitable means for removing
 high inflammation and fever in any case, may here be well
 brought to bear.
   Many cases of rheumatism I have known to be cured by
 perseverance in a moderate course  of domestic treatment
 by patients at home.  Simple ablutions, exercise, and brown
 bread and water diet, persevered in, will do wonders in this
 disease.
   The following case I  have  before published,  but  deem
 that it  deserves here a place :

   This is the case of Mr. Ives, of the Musical Academy, Hous-
 ton street, a well known  author and teacher in music.   The
 facts concerning his case  are known to our friend, Dr. Crane, of
 Leroy Place, to Park Benjamin,  Esq., who was then residing in
 the same house with  Prof. Ives, to the Rev. Wm. H. Channing,
 to Mr. Osborne Macdaniel, who also rendered efficient aid in the
 treatment of the case, and to a large number of Prof. Ives's pu-
 pils and friends.
   Towards the close of the past winter, (1845,) Mr. Ives was
 seized with a most  violent attack  of rheumatic  fever.   His
 health, as is usual in  such cases, had for some time been grow-
 ing poor.   The hands, wrists, elbows, feet, ancles,  and knees,
 soon became exceedingly swollen, hot, and painful,  and the
 whole system,  at  the same time, deeply affected with general
 fever.
   Previously to my being called  to attend Prof. Ives, a variety
 of means had been resorted to by the two attending physicians.
 Gum guiacum, a powerful stimulant, diaphoretic,  and cathar-
 tic, and repeated and powerful  doses of colchicum, a violent,
 acrid; narcotic medicine,  had been  administered.  Two  days
 previous to my first visit,  the  rheumatism went to the heart.
 This happens not unfrequently, and if the attack be severe, the
 symptom is always to be looked  upon as a very dangerous one.
 There  is reason  to believe that  it is often caused by the mis-
 chievous medicines administered.  The mucous membrane of
 the stomach and bowels become exceedingly irritated and in-
 flamed, and the heart, having strong sympathy with those inter-
 nal parts, becomes affected.   That such a result is caused by
 the too free use of powerful medicine is not merely an opinion
 of hydropathists, but of some of the most experienced in the
old practice.  In this  case, the attack of the heart was so
severe as to cause delirium.   It seemed, the patient said, as if
a girablet were being bored  through the heart. 
208
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
  Mr. Ives, from the first, had an inclination to use water.  On
asking the attending physicians, (there were two,) whether this
remedy could not be advantageously used, be was  answered,
" What!   Use the  very thing to cause  rheumatism, would
you ?"  At length, finding no relief, growing constantly worse,
and not being able to get any rest, and suffering more than can
be described, I was  sent for soon after the middle of the night,
two weeks after  the  attack.  Considering the bad work  that
had been done, fearing more,  by far,  the effects of the  medi-
cines that had been administered than  the disease, I was re-
luctant to proceed.  I knew full  well, however, that the body,
all in fever and suffering as it was, and those swollen, inflamed,
and painful parts, could  all speedily  be cooled to the natural
temperature; and that in so doing, the pain would at once sub-
side, and thus  the sufferer would be brought into the condition
the most favorable for recovery that the  case would admit of.
  A lengthy detail of  the  treatment cannot here be given.
Thick woollen shirts, that had been left upon the body  since
the first  of the attack, were cut  into shreds,—this mode being
the only  one by which they could be  removed.  Mr. Ives had
been charged  to  avoid the  slightest change of air.   The gar-
ments, therefore, could not be  removed.   It is not easy to con-
ceive of the great amount of acid, fetid perspiration with which
these garments were saturated, and the whole surface covered.
The body was   kept well  guarded  from cold.  A thorough
cleansing was given by means of towels wet in tepid water.
During this operation, a most loathsome stench filled the room.
So grateful and cooling was this process, (for tepid water as
well as cold, is cooling.) that it was with difficulty that Mr. Ives
could remain awake till it was finished.   Observing the  great
relief so quickly given, Mrs. Ives said, " If you cure that  man,
never shall I forget you /"  She had considered his case en-
tirely  hopeless,  and  it was generally believed by Mr.  Ives'
friends that he could not possibly recover.  The swelled joints,
and almost the  entire body,  were then, after  the cleansing,
bandaged in wet  cloths, arranged so as  to cause a soothing or
poultice  effect.   The  treatment  was persevered in; three and
four ablutions daily were given.  A  variety of modes in the
use of water were resorted  to, as the symptoms from time to
time demanded,  the object of  all of which was  to cause in the
whole system  and each of its parts the natural degree of cool-
ness, to keep the  bowels open  and the stomach free from irrita-
tion, and to prevent, as far as possible, all pain, to insure sound,
quiet, and refreshing sleep, and by all natural means to invigo-
rate the  whole system.  The directions were fully and faithfully 
GOUT  AND RHEUMATISM.
209
 carried out, and the ever assiduous attention of Mrs. Ives was
 no small item in the success of the cure.  In three days' time,
 Mr. Ives was able again to stand upon his feet, and  in  two
 weeks was able to walk about, and in two or three days more,
 went about the city.  He has been well ever since.
   1 am confident that  in Mr.  Ives'  case, the treatment of his
 first two physicians had. according to the ordinary modes, been
 judicious.   They, without doubt, managed  precisely as they
 would have done were they in a similar manner afflicted. Like
 results can, hy judicious management, easily be caused in every
 case of acute rheumatic fever.  Every  trial of the kind serves
 only the more strongly to convince me that  all other modes of
 treatment  now or ever known, in point of efficacy, are mere
 child's play, compared with this of water.
   Further Remarks.—We deem it necessary that, concerning
 the treatment of a case so important as  the above, some  further
 explanations be given.  The notes were written very hastily,
 and without sufficient exactness.  The general principles of the
 treatment adapted  to all cases of a similar kind, we think,  we
 can make plain to all.
   1. We are  to observe that Mr. Ives had had for fourteen
 days a very high general rheumatic  fever, which also invaded
 all the larger joints.
   2. That about the eleventh day the disease attacked also the
 heart, always a dangerous symptom.
   3. That energetic means had been resorted to without any
 apparent degree of success to arrest the disease.
   4. That Mr. Ives had been growing  constantly worse, until
 the water treatment was commenced.
   5. That  at the time of commencing this treatment, the suf-
 ferings were such as wholly to prevent sleep.  There  was a
 constant desire to change, and yet with  the aid  of two or three
 strong men, the greatest difficulty was  experienced in being
moved.
   6. That the affection of the heart was constant, and at times
so painful as to cause delirium.
   7.  That  among other,  so-called,  remedies,  coichicum, the
great dependence in the old mode for curing this disease, was
given to the utmost extent that was thought safe.
   The reader then can  imagine the state of the patient. It is
in the  night time,  toward morning.   The night thus far has
been spent sleepless and in groans; the  limbs remind one more
of an elephant's limbs, so much are they swollen.  Without
causing the greatest pain, it is impossible to move.  The whole
system is, as it were, burning with fever, the pulse being above 
210
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
100, full, tense, and throbbing.   What is to be done in so form-
idable a case 1  Surely, there stands a large centre table, well
covered with vials, potions, and a magnetic apparatus.  If all
these have been tried, under the care of two physicians well
skilled in their use, what is to be expected of pure, clean water?
It  is proper to mention,  likewise, that, as in houses  generally,
except those recently built, there is no bath-room, no apparatus
for bathing,—certainly it falls to our lot sometimes to do good
work, if such we can, with very poor means to do it with.
   The first thing that nature demands of us in  such  a case, is
to  relieve the pain.   The  woollens  were at once cut  to pieces,
as this was the only mode by which they could be  removed.
The acid, fetid perspiration  peculiar to the disease,  was quite
as much as one could bear without fainting.  The body was, as
before said,  well cleansed piece-meal, by rubbing with towels,
being at the same time well  guarded from the air.  The disease
had  proceeded so  far that  cold water  would have  been too
powerful; it would  have caused spasms,  which might have
proved dangerous.  The wet bandages were  at first cooling
and soothing, and were  often changed before becoming too hot
or dry.  A large wet bandage, extending from  the arm-pits to
the hips, for the purpose of drawing outward, poultice-like, was
kept constantly applied.  Things being thus arranged,  the ex-
cess of heat in the whole system, and particularly of the painful
parts, being removed, and the pulse being correspondingly low-
ered, and some cold water drank, it  was the most natural thing,
that sweet and refreshing  sleep should be enjoyed; still, under
such circumstances, it would be but comparatively a short time
before the feverishness and pains would begin to return, when
the same processes would again  be necessary,  within three or
four hours at least.
   From four to six times per day, these bandages were chang-
ed, and the swollen, painful parts were well rubbed with the
wet hand, and the whole  body washed three and four times in
the twenty-four hours.   Forever, in gout and rheumatism, there
is  not the least danger of applying the  cooling  means, so long
as they are agreeable, and the parts are hotter than is natural.
It  is altogether absurd to  suppose, as is often done, that these
diseases are some mischievous sprite, which the  least applica-
tion of cold is liable quickly  to transfer to some internal organ
or part.   It would be  well nigh, if not  quite, impossible to
cause an occurrence  of the kind, and a well authenticated case
cannot be found on record, we will venture to say.
   As the feverishness becomes reduced,  less and less  of the
cooling means are demanded.  In Mr. Ives's case, the difficulty 
GOUT AND RHEUMATISM.
211
of moving was so great for the first two days, that the wet sheet
was  not  used.  The bandages,  however, covered  the larger
part of the surface, causing the same effects.  After two or three
days the wet sheet was applied at nights at about 10, in which Mr.
Ives  slept very soundly in a half-raised position,  until  waking,
which was four or five hours,  when an ablution was performed,
and some hours more of good rest were experienced.  Tne first
two or three days of the treatment, at  least two-thirds of the
whole time was spent in refreshing sleep.  The bowels were
regulated daily by clysters of tepid water; water as much  as
was desired was drank ; and a very important thing not to  be
omitted, is, that not a particle of food was taken until the third
day.   Why add fuel to the fire, so  long as any  general fever
remained 1  Food would only increase it.
  In about two weeks, as we have said, Mr. Ives was out; but
still,  as is always the case in this disease, the  remnants of the
disease for a while remain. The daily baths were kept up as dur-
ing the treatment after the first two or three days, by sitting in
a tub of water, the  water being poured upon the body, and the
body well rubbed ;  but still more  efficient  means  were needed.
According to our advice, it was not long before Mr. Ives had a
Croton shower bath arranged, which being taken daily, in a few
weeks expelled wholly the disease.   He has taken the cold bath
ever since, and now, in the midst of winter,  is as well, if not
better, than ever in his life.

  We  have known numbers of  cases  in which  the daily
shower bath, with, at the same time,  suitable practices  in
food  and  drink, has completely  broken up old  chronic lum-
bagos and other rheumatisms, so that not a vestige remained.
  The vapor bath, rightly managed, in connexion with the
cold  bath, is one of the most effectual  means that ever has
been or can be devised for the treatment of rheumatism, and
rheumatic as well  as other fevers.   It  is an old Indian
mode ae  well  as Russian,  and was used likewise by the
ancient Romans.   The Thompsonian, as he is called, if  he
understand  well his system, will  cure  more rheumatisms,
ten to one, than any drug practitioner, allopathic or homoeo-
pathic, without the baths.   We shall speak again of rheu-
matism hereafter.
  By the daily use of  the shower bath, Mr. Ives has  kept
perfectly free from the disease  now about two years.   He
has enjoyed most excellent health ever since the cure,  with 
212
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
scarce an hour's exception.   He feels that his system has
been very materially benefitted by the water treatment and
the course he has pursued.
  The case of Captain Prindle, of this city, I treated about
three years ago, and some months after published it, as fol-
lows :
  A Strong Case.—Some months since we were called upon to
direct the treatment, in a severe  case  of rheumatism, then of
near three months standing.   The case was that of Captain
Prindle, of this city.   He had been attended by a very reputa-
ble practitioner, but without any permanent mitigation of the
symptoms.   He was fully as bad, if not worse, when we were
called than at any time previous.   The disease was worst in the
knees, ancles and feet.  There was  considerable of it in the
shoulders, and the whole system was more or less affected.   The
joints were painful and swollen, so that the Captain could scarce-
ly move in bed.   Pulse regularly well nigh 100, and the bowels
constipated.   The hot, swelled and painful  joints were covered
over with leech bites, but the " leeching" in this case had done
apparently no good.
  The treatment in such a case is easy to understand.  First,
he was to have the joints bandaged, over and beyond the swell-
ing, with thick,  wet  bandages, and these  were to be covered
with dry ones, so that they were comfortable.   All that we have
to observe in these cases of bandaging is, to keep the parts wet,
and yet perfectly comfortable.  There being heat in the parts,
the coolness of wet cloths was grateful.  By repeating the ban-
dages, in less than 24  hours the pain was reduced.   Twice, dai-
ly, the joints were to be thoroughly rubbed in tepid water  and
the bandages renewed and kept wet night and day.  A rubbing
bath, (the patient, sitting in a wash tub, with water nearly cold,)
was taken morning and evening, and the  bowels were daily,
once or twice, opened  freely with full clysters.   Body banda-
ges were also used, and sweating was produced by warm cov-
erings and drinking water.  The wet sheet was used but once.
From twelve to twenty tumblers of  water were  taken every
day.  Food of the plainest kind, as  rice, mush, coarse  bread,
toast without butter,  was  taken  in very small quantity—the
amount of one common lea saucer full only twice a day.  The
effect of low diet, drinking, bandaging, and bathing, was soon
manifest, in relieving all pain, and in bringing the pulse to its
natural state.  Soon the Captain was able, little by little, to ex-
ercise in his room, and, incredible as it may appear, on the ninth
day he walked with his tight boots on, and on the  tenth day 
GOUT  AND RHEUMATISM.
213
walked about the city, and has continued well ever since.  He
has had the disease in different parts of the world, and has had
all varieties of treatment, but, as he declared, never any thing
that would at all compare with this.  He continues his daily
bathing, and remains perfectly free from the disease.

   Mr. John H.  Gray, of Boston, a gentleman who has done
much for the new system in this country, gives us the fol-
lowing experience of  his own.

  Here, at the above named establishment, (at Laubbach,) I
reposed my rheumatic limbs, and devoted them for three months
to the blanket and the cold water,  under  the direction of Dr.
Petri an excellent physician, who continues his usual medical
practice at Coblentz. and visits Laubbach twice every day, to
give his advice, but here he never administers medicine.  I will
now give the details of the  manner  an invalid passes a day at
Laubbach, and the treatment is quite similar  at all  the other
water-cures.  I was awoke at half past four in the morning by
the bath servant, and tightly enveloped in a thick dry blanket,
the face only left uncovered, and a comforter or thin feather bed
over the blanket.  The window was opened to admit the pure
air to the lungs,  and  occasionally  the servant offered me  cold
water to drink.   After being in the blanket about two hours,
and  perspiring for the last half hour very profusely, and being
asleep most of the time. I was pronounced " done," as a cook
would say of a pudding.  A chair upon wheels was brought in,
the servant  lifted me  up enveloped in a blanket, and in  this
chrysalis state placed me in the chair, and wheeling it along the
entry, fastened it to a trap door in the floor; this gradually sinks
down, and I find  myself two stories below, in the bath room.
Here two bath servants receive me, take  off my  blanket,  and
dash six or eight pails of water over me, or sometimes I  dive
into the large cold bath.  A sheet is then thrown over me, I
am wiped dry, and I go to  my room to dress, walking upstairs
with a flannel gown on, and greeting my fellow boarders, whom
I meet all in fine spirits.  The sensation produced by the morn-
ing's process is exhilarating and delightful.  Nearly all the pa-
tients, and with almost  every disease, submit to this once,  and
many twice a day, for many months,—and I did not hear of an
instance of one being injured by it, or even of one complaining
of it. I then drank a few tumblers of water during the next
hour, while walking  and taking exercise, and then  went to
breakfast, which  consists of milk, bread and butter, and fruit.
At twelve, I took the German  shower bath from three to  five 
214             THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
minutes, or the douche, and the  same again in the afternoon.
The dinner, at two o'clock,  consists  of very little meat, but
many vegetables, and no stimulants of any kind.  For supper,
milk,  with enough bread  and butter, and fruit, and all retire
at half past nine.   The expense, including the Doctor's fees and
servants, was about nine of our dollars per week.   I wore wet
bandages upon my limbs  all the season, and 1 have left my
chronic rheumatism on the other side of the Atlantic.

                    Case  of Mr.  Rolph.
                         Huntington, February 3d, 1847.
  Dr. Shew: Dear sir—Having been long afflicted with dis-
ease, and feeling  that hydropathy, with the blessing of God, haa
been  the  means of affording me more relief than any  other
mode of treatment to which  I have ever resorted, I am induced
to add to the multiplied  cases of relief which  the water-cure
is effecting, my testimony  as to its results in my own case.
  For the last fifteen years I have been almost constantly dys-
peptic, and being a farmer of slender frame but laborious habits,
I was attacked four  years since, after a  season of uncommon
toil and exposure, with rheumatism.   This had been manifest-
ing itself slightly  for some months,  but  not so severely as to
cause any alarm until midwinter, when it became so severe that
for several days  I  was hardly able to get from one  room to
another.   This was from home.  In about ten days 1 was able
to get home, and as I was  slowly improving, no physician was
called in.   I continued to  recover,  so that in the spring  I was
able to resume  my occupation.  I  soon found, however, that
my rheumatic disease was manifesting itself in other parts of
the system, and it continued  to spread until I was unfit for  labor,
yet I  did not yield to the dictates of prudence,  but persevered,
not merely in active  exercise, but in hard labor,  until by the
close  of the season, instead of exhibiting  the sprightliness of a
man of thirty years, I presented the decrepitude of  approaching
old age.   I now made up my mind to rest from labor for a while
and try the effects of ease upon my complaint.  For two  years
more I remained much as I had  been for the year past, the
enemy  seeming to  have  complete  possession of my joints,
but sometimes showing himself by affecting only the muscles,
and often  my  lameness  would be  manifested  in the  most
distant  and opposite parts at the same time, and often, as if
by  sympathy, the corresponding  joints or parts of my  limbs
would be affected exactly  alike at the same time.  During this
time I often conversed with and frequently called in my  family
physician, a man whom I shall ever love for his  candor and 
GOUT  AND RHEUMATISM.
215
honesty of purpose in treating me.  He having been long ac-
quainted with my  system  and habits, was frank to admit his
opinion as to the inefficacy of taking much medicine.  I, there-
fore, confined myself principally to  the  application of domestic
treatment, such as bathing  the parts with warm lotions, wear-
ing warm  flannel, bandages,  plasters, &c,  and  occasionally
when my attacks were severe, with his advice, I  applied blis-
ters, which usually appeared  to produce good effects.   Upon
the whole, my system appeared to be sinking.  I was constantly
dyspeptic, had  an increasing  sallowness of countenance, and
my energies seemed to be on the decline. I have ever been slow
to fall in with what so many stand ready to call  the delusions
of our day.  I had heard and  read of Priessnitz's new  mode
of treatment, and it appeared at first like a mere chimera, but
feeling that ordinary medicine was not  to give me relief, I gave
the water treatment a little serious  investigation,  and after the
strong recommendations of  friends, and two or three consulta-
tions with yourself upon the subject, I concluded to make atrial
of it, which I commenced at home.  I almost immediately be-
gan to feel the  good effects of it.  But not  believing that  in
this  treatment every man might be his own doctor, I resolved
to put myself under the care of some practitioner of the water-
cure, and the time being in the extreme heat of midsummer,
when a residence in cities is almost intolerable to  countrymen,
I resorted to an establishment in the country, where I remained
five weeks under almost constant improvement of my lameness,
and correction of my dyspeptic habits,  after  which I returned
home, and have kept up  the treatment with  great success, fol-
lowing up the system of diet usually practised at the establish-
ments, which I consider an important aid to the treatment, and
would go far towards preserving those  who are already healthy
from the  need of medical treatment.   Although  I am almost
entirely free  from any symptoms  of rheumatism, yet I do not
consider myself well.   I have some trouble yet from dyspepsia,
increased perhaps by over-eating.   My appetite  is uniformly
good, my strength is constantly increasing, and I think it must
be said, to the praise of water treatment, I have  not had the
slightest cold this winter, although  I have exposed myself to
the weather  every day  without exception,  and  my clothing
being much thinner than what I have ordinarily worn in winter.
Since my return home,  which is near six months, I have dis-
missed my cane, which  had been my constant companion for
months previous, and  am  happy  to  say that I have not once
felt the need of its assistance.  My treatment has consisted of
sitz baths, the douche,  the rubbing sheet, the wet sheet,  wear- 
216
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
ing bandages constantly on the body and parts mostly affected.
and the morning wash of my whole person never once omitted,
The forms of crisis in my case have been various and repeated,
and I have even at present one which water-cure patients hail
as a harbinger of good.  I  cannot find terms to express the
gratitude I feel for the confidence in the water treatment which
1 obtained from consultations with you, and for the strength of
purpose which your advice has given me to persevere in it.
                              Yours, &c.      J. R. R.
   I will remark, that Mr.  R.  commenced  the treatment
only a few months since.   He is not  one of those  who are
in the habit of exaggeration, but speaks the facts as they
are.   Although  having received so  great benefit, Mr. R.
has but just entered upon the threshold of  what he will yet
experience.
                     HYDROPHOBIA.
   Hydrophobia  has  been cured  by water.   Priessnitz's
mode is to douche the animals (dogs  he  has practised upon)
much and repeatedly with cold water.  After this they are
covered  warmly, and made as comfortable as may be.   A
druggist in this  city tells me he has  repeatedly cured this
disease, by putting  dogs under a pump and the like means.

                      CONVULSIONS.
   Convulsions may often be prevented by the cold bath.
If the patient is weak, and especially if much and powerful
medicine has been given, we must be  careful; use then tepid
water with much friction.  I have repeatedly been begged
of to do something, if possible, for infants and children that
had been  given up in convulsions.   In many cases,  all  we
can hope to do is to prevent in some measure those terrible
symptoms.  Generally the convulsions may be arrested, and
thus the little sufferer dies more quietly and with less pain.

                        DROPSY.
   It has been a question with  some, whether the  drinking
freely of  water may not be a cause of dropsy.  Dropsy, it
should be remembered,  is a  disease of debility, and never
takes place  until there has been, for a long time, depraved 
PARONYCHIA.
217
general health.  It would be a difficult matter, we think,
to prove that water drinking injures the health.  Certainly
there are not many who believe that it does, although, if
we were to judge of men's opinions from their habits, we
should suspect that there was an almost universal dread of
cold water, as a drink.
   The  fluid  in  dropsy is not so much one of water as is
generally supposed.   It is of course watery, but is often so
thick that it burns like oil.
   Treatment.—Do every thing  that may be to benefit the
general health.   Begin moderately, and do no sort of vio-
lence to the system.

    OF PARONYCHIA--WHITLOW OR FELON, AND ITS CURE.
   The word paronychia  is  derived from two Greek words,
signifying " near" " the nail."   This name  was given an-
ciently  to an inflammation seated near this part, generally
of the fingers, but sometimes of the toes.   It may be seated
quite near the  surface, but is generally deeper, and often
between the  periosteum,  or enveloping membrane of the
bone, and the bone itself.   The disease is  generally known
by the name of  whitlow, or felon,  the latter being the  more
common name, especially when it  is severe.
   Causes.—Mechanical injuries appear sometimes to cause
the  disease.   It comes on oftener, however, apparently
without any exciting cause.  As far as the writer's obser-
vation extends,  the  disease attacks only persons whose
general health  is  not good.  Such, at least,  appears  to be
the general rule.
   Treatment.—As this is one of the most painful  affections
to which we are subject,  the treatment is no unimportant
matter.  There is an old woman's remedy which we will
first mention,—one which is said sometimes to have effected
a cure, especially if it  is taken early.   A vessel of weak
ley is placed upon embers or a  hot stove.  The part affect-
ed is immersed  in the liquid of a moderate  temperature,
which is gradually raised to as high  a heat as can possibly
be borne, so that the part is quite "par-boiled."   We do
not doubt but that such a mode will, in some  cases, at once
               10 
218
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
destroy  the  inflammation.  Probably pure  water, used
without the ley, would be fully as good.
  But, sometimes the inflammation may go on in spite of
all ordinary means.  What then is to be done 1  The mode,
according to surgery, is freely to open  the  part.   Lay it
open for some  distance beyond the tenderest  part, deep
down to the very  bone.   Thorough work must be made of
it the first time, for patients never let us make  the second
attempt.   In some instances, at the urgent request of  pa-
tients, we have resorted to the knife,  but we  confess we
would not allow it to be used upon ourselves ;  we should
prefer keeping the part  free from pain,  and letting it take
its course.  We believe keeping  it constantly immersed in
ice-cold water would form the  most effectual  means of ar-
resting the  inflammation  and preventing its raising to a
head ; and that this mode is certain to quell down the pain
most effectually, every one who has the  opportunity may
test for himself.   This is an affection in which we  have a
perfect  demonstration of the  great power of cold water to
quell pain.  Severe  as  it may be, we immerse the part in
very cold water, when, all at once, the pain  grows less and
soon dies away.   Keep it thus  immersed, taking care to
keep the water very  cold, and the pain does not return. We
lately had a case in  which a physician's skill had been  ex-
hausted, and for days the patient could  get no sleep.  But
by having a large bowl of cold water at  his bed-side, and
keeping his hand immediately therein,  he could sleep  as
well as any one, and keeping the bad finger thus constantly
cool, he soon got well.  Stranger is it, that the world  has
been so misled  in the use of remedial means.  The reme-
dy, of all others the  most powerful  for good, rains down
upon all,  and is yet rejected.   Thus it shall not always be.

                 TETANUS, OR LOCK-JAW.
  This  disease, as  is generally understood, arises from
wounds and injuries.  It is a most formidable and danger-
ous affection.
   Treatment.—I have never yet had occasion to treat teta- 
TETANUS.
219
nus, only to prescribe when there has  been danger of its
coming on.  I have at this time, (Feb. 22d, 1847,)  a case
like this.   Mr. Perry, of Orchard street, cut his hand one
week ago.   He is a machinist  by occupation,  and  thinks
his health has been injured by gases, and by verdigris fly-
ing off from copper in  the  form of dust.  He has taken
colds very  easily.   He  took a  cold  in the wound,  and it
swelled prodigiously.   He used poultices of different kinds,
but  it grew  worse and worse.   Very severe  pain  was
experienced in the hand and up the  arm, (a nerve was no
doubt wounded,) and there was also constant  pain  in the
back.  He was very feverish and could get no rest.   Last
evening he had  himself placed  in  a  wet sheet, put on a
large wet girdle, wet bandages all about  the arm, and the
hand in water.  This stopped  the pain  completely  in the
hand, and he appeared better  in  every respect.   He sent
for me, and I directed him to use, in addition  to the hand
bath and the wet girdle, the  half bath quite cold, but not
the coldest, to  renew his bandages often upon the  arm, take
the elbow bath, drink water  very often, eat no food for some
days, or at most not until all pain and  fever has  subsided,
and to  take the half bath  as often  as the pain in the back
returns.  The  hand to be kept in  cold water most of the
time, enough to prevent all pain in that part.   This  morn-
ing, I  find Mr. Perry decidedly better, the pulse at 80 in-
stead of 100, as when I first saw him last night.   The hand
is  yet much swollen, and some  days will be required for
this to  be thrown off.
   In cases  of  considerable debility,  when there is danger
of lock-jaw, or  when the disease is already  present, we
must be careful  not to make too short  and  sudden  an im-
pression  by means of cold.   This  caution is  particularly
needed when powerful medicines have been given.   Warm
baths  which have  been recommended,  it is now acknow
ledged do harm.  The half  bath  is  an invaluable means,
and must be persevered in.   If we conclude to dash  on the
cold water, we must be sure that the patient has consider
ble strength, and that the paroxysm is at a high pitch, other- 
220
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
 wise we may do harm.  The dashing of the coldest water
 upon horses  in  this disease, has  been known  to  cure it.
 The water must be continued for some time.
   In speaking of the effects of refrigeration  in this disease,
 Professor Elliotson gives the following cases : " There is a
 case mentioned  by Sir James McGrigor, in the sixth volume
 of the ' Medical Chirurgical Transactions,' and also in his
 reports of the diseases of the Peninsular war.   It proceed-
 ed from  a  slight wound in  the finger.  The patient (a sol-
 dier, of  course,) was carried in a  bullock-car after the bat-
 talion to which he  belonged, in a state of severe  tetanus,
 in the midst of pouring rain,  which completely drenched
 him in the early part of the day—the  heat  being fifty-two
 degrees; and then  they ascended the highest mountain in
 Gallicia, the snow on the summit  of which was knee-deep !
 And there the temperature was only thirty degrees.  He was
 exposed  in this  condition from six  o'clock till ten o'clock at
 night,  and arrived  at his journey's end, half starved  from
 cold, but perfectly  cured of his tetanus.   Whether  such  a
 mode would  succeed, if it were put into practice intention-
 ally, I do  not know.  I stumbled on a similar case, pub-
 lished  in 1827: a  horse, which was in a state of tetanus,
 happened to  be  in a wet park, and was drenched with rain
 —precisely as was the case with this unfortunate man, and
 the horse also did perfectly well.   Whether the depressing
 power of cold and  wet, regularly kept up, for a  certain
 number  of hours, has a tendency  to cure  the disease, I do
 not say; but I think that,  in  a disease of  violent  excite-
 ment*as this is, the constant—not sudden, but constant re-
 frigeration (by  means  of a low temperature, united with
 moisture,)  is likely to be of great service.  There are at
 least two such cases on record,  and it  is surprising to find
'a soldier, so  exposed from morning to evening,  recover,
 and especially in so short a time as one day."

                         CORNS.
   It is a singular  fact—one that  shows  well the  healing
 power of water—that patients in the new system all  become
 cured  of their corns.   A corn, whether hard or soft, is an 
          FROST-BITES--CRUSHINGS  AND BRUISES.       221

inflammation,  and  needs the  cooling  effects of  water.
" Soak" the feet often in  cold water, and pour water from
a height upon the  part.   Chill the corns  sufficiently and
long enough, and they  all go.   If  you have walked a long
way,  so  that the  part becomes inflamed and painful, im-
merse the foot  in cold water, and then  tell us if you can
find any thing as good as water to  relieve pain.

                      FROST-BITE.
  If a part  has  become  frozen, why do  we  use  snow  or
cold water instead of warm ?   Is it to " draw out the frost V
This is the common notion, but an  incorrect one.   Violence
has been done the tissues, and as  a secondary result, the
part affected becomes swollen and hot.  Consequently, pain
is experienced.    Too much blood is allowed to come to the
part,  and the little capillary vessels that  have been  so
" pinched up" with the cold, have  not now power to con-
tract  upon the  blood.  It, therefore, does not flow back.
Every one must  have  noticed, when they have  walked a
long way, on a  hot day, and  the veins of the feet and hands
become swollen, how quickly these veins are made smaller
again by immersing the part in cold water.   Its  constring-
ing effect causes a contraction of their coats.   The same
effect follows in the case  of frost-bite, and thus the pain is
prevented.

                 CRUSHINGS AND BRUISES.
   A few days ago, the little daughter of my esteemed friend,
Mr.  Wellington, placed her finger,  as children are  apt to
do, in the crack of the door at the side  upon which  are
the hinges.   The  door  was hastily  closed,  and the first
joint of her little finger was pinched to  the space of quite
a small crack.   The bone caused considerable indentation
in the wood, but still the finger  was  crushed a good deal.
Her mother instantly pressed it into as good a shape as she
could, and then immersed it in the  coldest water, to benumb
the pain.  After a little  while, the  child  became easy.   A
wet towel was wrapped about the whole hand, and she soon
went to sleep.   The part healed in a short time. 
222
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
   In crushings and bruises, then, as in scalds, burns, frost
 bite, benumbing from cold, corns, &c, we have an example
 of the wonderful power of water to reduce inflammation and
 prevent pain.

                   INVERTED TOE-NAIL.
   In consequence of too tight shoes,  the toe-nail becomes
 inverted, as  we say,  or grows into  the flesh.   This has
 often been  a most troublesome affair.   The use of water is
 very effectual to remedy this.  Cut out the part of the shoe
 over the nail, to prevent pressure, or wear one that is very
 loose.   Trim the nail  well, and hold  the foot several  of
 times a day in cold water.   Attend well also to the general
 health.  Follow up the treatment  sufficiently  long, and all
 comes right again.

               WEAK AND  INFLAMED  EYES.
   There is nothing like water for weak and inflamed eyes.
 Wash the eyes often in pure cold water, and open and shut
 them in it.  In some  instances, they will  appear  to  be
 worse  at first.  Persevere,  however.   Some old  and  weak
 persons had perhaps better commence at first with  tepid
 water.  Do all that may be to invigorate'the general health.
 The affection called amurosis,  in which the eye appears
 to the observer to be not in  the least diseased, a cure is sel-
 dom effe.cted by any  means—in  real  amurosis, perhaps
 never.

               BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE.
   A general cold bath is a good means.  A piece of ice,
 or a cold wet towel at the  back of the neck, will often ar.
 rest  this.   Some sniff  very cold water repeatedly up  the
 nostrils, until it stops.

                PAINFUL MENSTRUATION.
   How many are there in these times of luxury  and ease,
who  suffer monthly more than tongue can tell.   The daugh-
ter must be educated in  the fashionable mode.   She  must
not walk out, unless the weather is just so fine.  She musl 
MENSTRUATION--COLDS.             223
 hold her arms in a peculiar manner, and must walk in just
 such a way ; otherwise she is very rude.  She must drink
 tea and coffee,  and partake of very fine food,  so  as  to be
fashionable.  She must not  labor the least, as  that would
 soil her  hands.  Any amount of care and  expense is paid
 the appearance of the external dress, but the daily chang-
 ing of the under-clothes at morning and at night, and the
 daily ablutions of the surface—these  are  of no  account.
 Considering, then, all  these things,  is  it any wonder that
 more is suffered  at every monthly period than should  be at
 childbirth !   How many a wife, too, is  rendered perfectly
 miserable  by the husband's excesses in.the marriage  bed?
 When,  alas! will it be learned that " temperance in all
 things" is the  only way to happiness and health ?

             SUPPRESSION OF  MENSTRUATION.
   Use here no violent means.  Attend well to  the general
 health.   Nature then does  her own work.   In  some cases
 of water treatment, this function  is for a time arrested, but
 no unpleasant consequences result.  This  I have known to
 take place for a whole year, and  in some of the best cases
 of water-cure I have known.

                         COLDS.
   Cold bathing, together with plain dieting and  avoiding
 overheated  rooms, generally prevents colds.  Most wonder-
 ful effects  are  often brought  about in this way.  One of
 the  best possible means  of breaking  up the inflammation
 called a cold is to go to a warm bed and drink a very  large
 quantity of soft  water, to bring on  a " sweat."  Bathe on
 rising.   Practise moderation in food a  few  days.   A mode-
 rate but long continued vapor bath, drinking at the same
 time a good deal of water, is an excellent mode.   Some lay
 in a wet sheet all night, and this often throws off a cold.
   Cold in  the  chest.—Those  who have weak  lungs  often
 take cold in the chest.  Such should use no severe means.
 Better to have patience, and let nature have time to do her
 work.  Such  should  wear the wet jacket, covered with
 flannel all  about  the chest.   Live plainly, drink a good 
224
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
deal of water, and go much in the open air,—these are the
simple and natural means.

            HABITUAL COLDNESS  OF  THE FEET.
  Here the  general  health  is always at fault.  Pursue  a
regular  course of daily treatment  suited to the strength.
Take cold foot baths when  the feet are warm, and exercise
to promote circulation.  As the health becomes invigorated
the  feet will become warm.  The warm foot  bath,  except
perhaps rarely, taken before the cold one, is here worse than
useless.

               SCROFULA,  OR KING'S  EVIL.
  What is termed scrofula, or king's  evil, is  to be treated
on  general  principles.  All the  means  of  improving the
general  health are to be adopted.  Much  can be done in
the  way of prevention, if persons commence in season.

                        CANCER.
  Cancer is owing to ill general health, consequently the
treatment must be principally of a general kind.  Remov-
ing cancers by surgical operation,  it is  now  well  under-
stood, does seldom, if ever, any good, as the disease re-
turns with redoubled violence.   Do every thing possible to
benefit the general health.   Use wet bandages to the parts
affected.

                     CONSUMPTION.
  Consumption, true developed consumption,  can seldom,
very  seldom be cured  by any means earthly.   Now and
then cases of cure happen.   Ulcers in the lungs may heal,
but such cases can  only  be  the exception, not the  rule.
The water  treatment,  bathing, of temperature tepid, cool
or cold, suiting the patient's strength,  exercise in the cool
fresh air, riding  on  horseback, plain diet—these are the
modes which, if pursued with decision and long continued
perseverance, will accomplish the most that can  be in this
dire disease.  Air and horseback exercise alone seem to
have been the means of curing some persons.  Some  have 
CONSUMPTION.
225
gone long journeys upon horseback,  and have founa that
day  by day they gained strength remarkably.  Wonders
will  be accomplished by judicious management in the pre-
vention of this disease.  If every child were  reared from
the first day of its existence, and onward, according to  the
dictates of nature throughout,  few would die of this dire
disease.
   As to the treatment of consumption,  two or three cases
of cure may be given to illustrate.

Quick consumption case of Miss Lydia Mott, of Albany, N. Y.
           [From the Water-Ciire Journal of Dec. 15th, 1845 ]
  About the first of October last,  my friend, Sidney Howard
Gay, of this city, called to confer with  me concerning the case
of Miss Lydia Mott, of Albany, given up by her physicians, as
he was informed, in a hopeless state of consumption.  I said to
him  in substance,  as  I  always do in reference to this disease,
that water treatment is altogether more powerful to  save than
any other  known mode, and that  in case a cure is necessarily
impossible, the treatment, incomparably more  than  any other,
will prolong life and render the sufferings less.
  In two or three days after this conversation with Mr. Gay, I
received a letter from the sister of Miss Mott, asking my opin-
ion of her case.  The sister  informed  me that the  physicians
declared Lydia's case to be one of tubercular consumption,  and
that they despaired of medicines reaching her case.  She said
furthermore, " for the week past we have  tried the  wet sheet.
and bandages during  the  day, with no other result but an ap-
parent suspension of the disease."
  In one week from this time, I had the  pleasure of seeing both
the sister and Lydia at my house in this city.   I  had advised
her to continue  the  treatment which appeared to be doing so
much good, and that  as soon as possible, for a change of air, it
would be one of the best things she could do to make a journey
down to the city.   They remained two or three days, Lydia
feeling decidedly better of the journey, and having obtained
my directions for  future  treatment,  then returned home to
Albany.
  Concerning the true nature of Lydia's disease, there may be
some doubt.  I am myself not fully satisfied what it was.—Up
to the  time of her commencing water treatment, she had been
under the Judicious care of Drs. Ward  and Paine,  of Albany,
and  Dr. Bryan,  of Troy,  as  counsel.   I have not yet had the
              10* 
226
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
satisfaction of conferring with  either Dr. Ward or Paine.   I
met with Dr. Bryan, who told me that when he saw the patient,
she had, without any mistake,  hepatization,  as it is called,
(hardening) of the  right lung.  As to his opinion concern-
ing ulceration, I do not recollect.  He considered her case  a
very dangerous one, and he should watch  the  progress of the
disease  under  the water  treatment with much interest.  Drs.
Ward and  Paine, as  I am  informed,  declared  that there was
actual ulceration  of the lung.   Not  having seen Lydia until
she had considerably recovered, I cannot give any  positive
opinion of my own.—There  could not have been any mistake
as to  the hardening of the lung; and this alone is dangerous
enough  without ulceration, which did probably  exist.   If ulcer-
ation did exist, it was caused  either  by  the inflammation and
breaking down of tubercles,  or it  was the result of inflamma-
tion of the  substance of the  lung, causing hardening,  and the
hardening resulting in ulceration.  This, however, seldom takes
place, although it sometimes  does.  The ulceration is by far
oftener caused by the inflammation of tubercles, than by in-
flammation resulting  in hepatization or hardening of the part.
Whatever was the state of the lung, I am confident there was
likewise severe  rheumatic  pains in the chest, which amounted
to a good deal of suffering.
  It is proper  here to state more of the history of this case.
The patient is  a person of very active habits, and during the
last spring took a severe  cold, which settled  upon the lungs.
This caused a serious illness at the time, and which continued
to trouble  her  very  considerably during  the  whole summer.
She did not, as  she usually has done, spend a  part of the hot
season in the country air, but remained actively engaged dur-
ing the whole of the past hot summer.   About the first of Sep-
tember, she took again a very severe cold, settling, as before,
upon the lungs, and resulting in the dangerous  illness described
above.
  Beginning now again at the  time when Lydia returned home
from visiting New-York, she continued to use water nearly two
weeks longer, at which time I was at Albany, and called, ac-
cording to promise, to see  her.  Before  commencing at all the
use of water, Drs. Ward  and  Paine very  candidly said that,
notwithstanding they considered  the case now entirely hopeless,
they would be glad  if water treatment  could  be fairly tested,
but that thomselves,  not having given the  subject sufficient at-
tention, could take no responsibility in its use.   In making this
statement, these gentlemen exhibited a degree  of candor which
we too seldom find.   How many physicians ar« there yet of 
CONSUMPTION.
227
 our country who have ever seen the application of the wet
 sheet 1 and yet very generally  they assume to  know as much
 about it as if they had administered it as often as they have
 doses of calomel.  This is not as it should be ; and if they do
 not choose thoroughly and impartially to  investigate the new
 mode, patients will practise upon themselves, as in such case
 they should.  But to return to the treatment in this case.
   The wet sheet, as  has been said, was used each day.  It
 was wrung from  water that was rather mild of temperature,
 and applied according to the usual mode.  It produced a sooth-
 ing and relieving effect, and was followed by  an  ablution in
 water of a moderate temperature.  Four Avell wrung wet tow-
 els were arranged about the chest, to meet at the side, making
 two  thicknesses  of  wet linen  upon every part of the  chest.
 Over these towels still another  moist bandage was placed, and
 over the whole an abundance of flannels, to retain the warmth.
 These were worn at first,  I  believe, only during the day.  It
 would have  been still  better to have continued them at night
 also.  The effect of the sheet, the ablutions, and the bandages
 in removing pain, preventing general fever, cough and  night-
 sweats, was indeed wonderful.   She improved astonishingly in
 strength, and, as  before said, was able to journey to New-York
 in two weeks.
   During  a part  of the following two weeks, she is now of the
 opinion, that she used  too much of cold applications; or that,
 as the general feverishness of the system, and  particularly of
 the chest,  was at this time considerably removed, the same ap-
 plications  as before made, were not now well borne.  The sys-
 tem did not, as before, react sufficiently against the cold. JDu-
 ring the most of  this second two weeks, the patient thinks she
 rather lost ground than otherwise.
   In four  weeks she came again to the city to remain with  us,
Jto undergo a more thorough treatment  than could be conveni-
 ently carried  on at home; besides, she felt that  she  needed
 special advice, as new symptoms might arise.  The right lung
 was at this time  still very weak.  I should have said,  that on
 first seeing her, that is, two weeks from the commencement of
 water  treatment, the hardening  of the right lung  had given
 away considerably, so that the air penetrated some distance
 downward.  At  the end of the  four weeks, there was  still much
 pain, through the chest, particularly the right side,  and extend-
 ing to the right shoulder, and under the right shoulder blade.
 The right arm could only be used with great difficulty.   In  the
 most comfortable situation it could be placed, two or three days
 were required to finish a single letter.  The treatment by the 
228
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
wet sheet once daily, and ablutions and bandages, was kept up.
In two or three days, she was able to bear a mild shower-bath,
and in two or three days more, a small douche.  This proved
very strengthening, and was powerful in removing pain.  At
Albany, she  could scarcely* go in the open air at  all.  The
milder air of this city agreed much better, and she was, day by
day,  able to take more exercise in the open air, and in less than
two weeks she could walk at one time some  miles without  in-
convenience,  and with benefit.  After  a few of the first days
she took two shower or douche baths daily, besides the one fol-
lowing the wet sheet, in all three general baths daily.
  After remaining nearly three weeks, she  thought, as a mat-
ter of experiment, feeling now so much improved, she would
make some friends a visit on Long Island.  She remained about
one week, continuing the daily use of  water, and returned still
more improved.   She could now undergo as much exertion as
she had been able to do for  years, and has  now (Nov. 26th,)
returned  to Albany, after having used water in all about eight
weeks, to remain, I hope, in the  enjoyment of good health.
With the good care she will now observe, there is reason  to be-
lieve that no recurrence of the disease will take place.  Still it
must be remembered, the chest is contracted  and weak, and
that this  will be the part most likely to give way first
   Food,  it should be mentioned,  was taken very  sparingly.
During the first two weeks, it consisted  almost entirely of grapes.
During the second two weeks, friends had urged that flesh meat
should be taken,  to promote strength  ; as her health was, if it
had  been said, to promote  pain, inflammation, coughing,  ex-
pectoration, and weakness, the fact would  have been stated.
While with us, she partook of farinaceous food, as coarse bread,
milk, toast,  buckwheat  cakes,  potatoes,   squashes,  turnips,
stewed fruit, &c, using of animal food only what little was con-
tained in the preparations in which milk was used.   No butter,
or food in any way prepared with butter, was taken.   Salt was
almost entirely abstained from.  We  care not what chemical
physiologists tell us from theory about the necessity of salt. We
go for facts.   Salt,  like other  medicines and medicinal stimu-
lants, we choose to abstain from.  Miss Mott partook of food
but twice a day, and on the whole, the  regulation of diet had
no small share of effect in her remarkable cure.
   She is now able to endure nearly or quite as much exertion
in the open air as she ever has been, and more than most la-
dies in good  health.  Time will determine how permanent hei
cuje may be. 
CONSUMPTION.
229
  It should have been mentioned, that while upon Long Island,
Miss Mott. feeling quite strong, thought she would try  the ex-
periment of discontinuing the bandages upon the  chest.   She
found, in less than one day, that she could not yet do  without
them.  A sensation of sinking and weakness in the chest was
experienced.  It will be best, for a time at least, that the band-
ages be continued  both night and day, as they have been.
   Miss Mott remains yet very well.   It should be remem-
bered, that in all these cases, of so-called cure of consump-
tion, the lungs  remain the weakest part of  the system, and
that  such  persons are, perhaps, of all others, the  most sub-
ject  to colds.  In  every chronic  disease of important or-
gans, the best possible cure that can be effected, yet leaves
the part that has  been affected in  a condition susceptible  to
the disease.  This remark  applies particularly to diseases
of the lungs.   And those who may have the fortune to be-
come cured of such disease, should  remember that the
greatest care and perseverance will be required, in order
to enable them to  keep tolerably free from colds and  fresh
attacks, and that, in  the end, they must in all  probability
sink with that fearful disease, consumption  of the lungs.
   Since making the above remarks on Miss Mott's case, she
writes, (March  4th, 1847,) "You  will be gratified to learn,
that my health is good, although I  still perceive  a  little
difficulty  in my chest.   I have not had any colds this win-
ter.   They have been very prevalent with us."
    Case of Mr. Waterman Roberts, of Hartford,  Conn.
   It is due  Mr. Roberts to state, that he is only willing that
his name appear in public,  because of his belief that some
one  in the  condition he has been,  may be similarly  benefit-
ted as himself.  I give Mr. Roberts' own account.
   I am now forty-five years of age.   My habits of life have
been decidedly  active.  My health,  until about five years ago,
was usually good.   My grand-parents  were long-lived.  My
father died at the age of forty-seven. My mother at fifty-seven,
of consumption. One of my brothers; younger  than myself.
died a few  years ago, at about forty, decidedly of the same dis-
ease. My mother had  the disease some eight years; my brother
about three years.
   Five years ago last November, I was attacked with  the lung 
230
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
fever.  For  a while before that time, my health had not been
as good as usual, but I still kept about.  For this attack, I  was
bled, according to the usual modes in such cases, freely.   The
bandage became  disarranged  in the evening that same  day,
soon after the bleeding was practised.  1 awoke and found my
arm in a puddle of blood, as it were.  I immediately undertook
to rise from my bed, but fell in the attempt, and fainted.   The
loss of blood made me exceedingly weak, but I appeared to be
in a measure free from the fever.  However, at the end of about
two days, my lung fever returned with increased violence,  and
I became delirious.   Various means were resorted to, and after
some days I began to mend so as to be about the  house a part
of the time.   I was, however, very weak and highly suscepti-
ble to cold,  and could not  undertake  business until late in the
spring.   I never again became so strong as before until after I
resorted to the use of water.  An obstinate cough followed this
attack, and was very bad.   I raised, first and last, a good  deal
of matter, apparently from my  lungs.  Food also disagreed
with me, and I lost  much flesh.  About two  years  after my
attack, I had become much reduced  and had frequent  night-
sweats.
   About this time,  (Feb. 1844,) I was advised by my physician
to take a voyage to the  West Indies.  I sailed  to St. Domingo,
and was absent some three  months.   The  voyage, appeared to
be  of benefit during my absence.  My  cough was less, the
raising less, and I became a little stronger. But on returning
to Hartford, my difficulties  soon returned, but  not so formida-
bly until cold weather again set in.  Warm weather appeared
then to agree with me best.
  In December, of the same year, I became much debilitated
and discouraged.   By the advice of some of my friends, one in
particular, I  was led to examine the water  system, and, as you
will recollect, called upon you for advice.  You left it optional
with me whether to go home and be treated, or  to return to you.
The first I concluded to do.  I was very thin,  and susceptible
to cold.  You advised me to begin cautiously with tepid bath-
ing and a good deal of friction.   The wet jacket upon the chest,
to be covered with flannel,  I was  to commence at once.  After
a few days, I was to commence showering  with cool water im-
mediately after the tepid  bath.  My health was such that I
frequently took colds.  You recommended,  that at such times.
I should  lay awhile in the dry blankets, to cause warmth, and
that I might the better endure  the  baths.   Occasionally,  I
sweated in the blanket, and perhaps, in a few instances, became
weakened thereby.
*• 
CONSUMPTION.
231
   For a time, I bathed  twice daily.  The cool  towel  bath  at
 evening aeted most beneficially in arresting the night sweats.
 The wet application worn over the chest night and day, changed
 three or four times in the twenty-four hours, seemed to allay
 irritation in the lungs, and to prevent the cough.  The  effect
 was very soothing, as well as warming.   After  some weeks, I
 at times left off the wet jacket  for a day, and was surprised to
 find that the surface was warmer where the wet  cloth had been
 than elsewhere.   Still I felt the need of it for its tonic and sooth-
 ing effect.   You directed me to have no more fire in my  sleep-
 ing room, and to have it well aired by day.   I was also  to ex-
 ercise  in the open air daily, and to be out as  much  as I could
 possibly bear.  It was better for me,  you said, to go out even
 when it was stormy and inclement, than hover over the fire in a
 hot room.  I asked if I had not  better take some syrup or me-
 dicine  for my cough.  These I had taken by the quart.  You
 said, '- Nonsense; the cough will  take care of  itself, as your
 strength becomes improved."
   I was  to partake only of plain,  coarse food,—brown bread,
 especially; the less meat the better.  The coarse bread has
 been my i: staff of life."  Until I became  strong, I used plain
 fresh meat but once a day.   I left off tea and coffee, drank only
 soft water.  My appetite had been  by turns very poor, but now
 increased wonderfully.   Digestion improved also much.   From
 that time to the present, now two years and two months, I  have,
 with some little drawbacks, been growing firmer in health and
 strength.  For the past eight months, I seem to have been able
 to accomplish  as much and undergo as great bodily fatigue as
 for the same space at any time within the last ten years.
   I feel yet that the lungs are the weakest part; and I some-
 times take colds;  but I have each time succeeded in throwing
 them off by renewed treatment, the blanket, baths, wet jackets,
 injections, &c.  The tepid bath, taken usually at from 70 to 75° F.,
 followed by a slight shower, cold, has seemed to be, of all baths.
the most beneficial.   For the  past seven or  eight months, I
have, as a rule, used the water cold.   I have good reaction, and
the cooler the air now, the more  am I  invigorated.  Differently
from before, I now enjoy the cold weather decidedly the best.
  And  now, after having followed the  water treatment for more
than two years, although my lungs  are not yet free from weak-
ness, and I am liable to serious pull-backs, yet  I feel grateful
to God, that 1 have received such wonderful benefit.   And I do
herein  add my testimony, that I  have unwavering confidence in
the water-cure. 
232             THE  WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
               Case of Mr. Jacob Campbell.
  The case of this gentleman is certainly, all things consider-
ed, a very remarkable one.  Mr. Campbell is a resident of this
city, engaged (principally at the desk.) at the bank in the Bow-
ery.   He  is of very  fair, delicate complexion, blue eyes  and
auburn hair, a most perfect subject for consumption.  The dis-
ease is also hereditary in the family, on the father's  side.  His
father's brothers  died of it, and he has lost already a brother
and sister by consumption.
  Mr. C. is now thirty-one years of age.  About one year ago,
the present time (15th March, 1847,) he called to consult  me.
He had had a pain, at times  severe, in the  left lung, for  two
years.  For eighteen months he had raised blood, but in large
quantity.  He expectorated a good deal, apparently from the
lungs.  This exhausted him very much ; he was indeed so de-
bilitated that it was with difficulty he could go to and from his
place of business, or attend to his labors at the desk. He took
colds  often and at the most trifling exposures.  He had suffered
also a good deal from constipation, and appetite was poor.
  Mr. Campbell could not at  the time  come to my house, nor
could he  leave his business.   Accordingly, he was under the
necessity  of doing what  he might at home.   I directed him to
commence bathing, once a day for  three or four at first, and
then twice per day,  with wearing the wet jacket about 'the
chest, to observe  strictly the  rules of diet, and gradually to go
more  and more  in the  open air.  There was an  immediate
amendment in all of his symptoms, and he pursued the regular
course for months, continuing business, however, all along.  He
grew stronger and stronger, and the appetite  improved; the wet
jacket removed all pain from the chest, the expectoration grew
less and less, and the spitting of blood entirely ceased.  Mr. C.
says now he has been as strong all winter as he ever was in his
life.   Appetite perfectly good for the plainest food, and the
bowels regular.  The expectoration is not all gone, but he says
there is not now more in a whole month than formerly in  one
day.
   Whether there were actually tubercles that had gone to sup-
puration or not, it is impossible to say.   Mr.  C.'s former physi-
cian,  a man of respectability and experience, declared that tu-
bercles did  certainly  exist.   The  result of  the. treatment has
been entirely beyond  my most sanguine expectations.   It is to
be observed, however,. that Mr. Campbell persevered in the
treatment with a diligence that deserves great credit.
   It seems, then, that this was a case  in which the patient fled to 
         INDIGESTION, DEPRESSION OF  SPIRITS, ETC.      233

the water treatment, just in time to save life.  No one acquaint-
ed with  that dire disease,  could believe that Mr. Campbell
would  long hold  out  as things were going.  Generally,  con-
sumptive patients come to us after all other means have failed,
and then it is too late,  only they can be  invigorated  somewhat,
and kept incomparably more comfortable (if we may  use that
term.)  than by any other known means.  There is probably a
point  at  which,  if water treatment were commenced, almost
every one could be saved.   But after the  disease has become
deep-seated, we must tell our patients frankly that in all pro-
bability they must sink.
              MISCELLANEOUS CASES.

 INDIGESTION, DEPRESSION OF SPIRITS, AND GENERAL DEBILITY.
  Dr. Joel  Shevj :  Dear Sir,—Having perused  your work
called the " WaterdCure,"  and tried your  prescriptions upon
myself, I will give you a few  particulars relative  to my case,
and the happy result of the water-cure treatment.
  I am twenty years of age.   My occupation is school-teach-
ing.  In June last, my health was miserable.   I  was troubled
with pain in my stomach  and depressing lassitude of the whole
system, so that a short walk fatigued, me extremely, and made
me very " nervous."  All my labors, whether mental or phy-
sical,  were forced.   I concluded that I should have to relinquish
school-teaching, and resort to some of the '; cure-alls" (kill-alls.)
At  this time your u Water-Cure" came  into my hands;  I read
it and took courage.  I immediately commenced the water-cure
treatment, by going to the adjacent bay, and bathing, washing,
and rubbing my whole body, till a glow was produced,—dress-
ed,  walked to my room, undressed, and  used a stiff flesh brush
from five to twenty minutes over my entire body, with  all  my
might.  I drank from six to fifteen tumblers of cold water daily;
mostly before breakfast and dinner, and always before my meals.
Occasionally, after commencing school in the morning,  I felt a
dullness,  caused by not  taking sufficient exercise, and  then I
took a draught of cold water and walked briskly till I perspired
freely, and felt well the rest of the day.   I find it absolutely ne-
cessary to take active exercise  (the more the better,) after bath- 
234
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
ing or drinking cold water; and  that, immediately.   Now for
effects.  The pain in my stomach left me in about a week from
the time  I  commenced  the treatment,  and my legs began to
itch, and smart, and burn, and purple spots and blotches ap-
peared and discharged, so that I was a horrible sight to behold.
For about two weeks I suffered much from the burning and
itching, yet felt much better in body and  mind.  Every morn-
ing when 1 got to the bay I rubbed and scratched myself till
my whole body was covered with discharges from the blotches,
arra. horrible was the sight!  Then I bathed and washed tho-
roughly, and the burning and itching was  allayed, and did not
trouble me  till the next morning.   I treated myself the same
every morning, and felt better and full of  courage.  In a few
days several boils appeared,  which discharged freely.   The
blisters  began  to disappear,  and  the itching  subsided.  My
health improved and strength increased, so that in a few weeks
I could run, and jump, and ride on  horseback  without fatigue,
which I could not do before.  In the course of two months, a
great change was wrought in my system and spirit.  A regene-
ration  was fairly begun.  But my diet was not right.   I believe
man is constituted a fruit and vegetable eater,—is not carniv-
orous.  Am" where I cannot  live strictly on fruit and vegeta-
bles ;  mean to go where I can, soon.      «
   I will here mention,  that I had the measles in 1843, and did
nothing to purify my system.  My eyes have  been weak ever
since ; have also been more nervous.  I had the same taste in
my mouth when I began to break out, through the water-cure
treatment, that I experienced when I had the measles, showing
that the impurities generated by the measles were secreted in
the system for years, inducing diseases more virulent and en-
ervating.  I have practised  the inspiration of air daily,  until
my lungs were full, then  drumming on  my breast, so that in
two months' time I  have increased the circumference around
my chest two or three inches.  During the years 1833—40,  I
was about three-fourths a Grahamite.  My health was the best
then that  it ever has been.  I was stronger, and could endure
much  more hardship than when  I used flesh-meat, tea, coffee,
&c.  Since  then my diet has been irregular and improper.
Some  tell me, when I mention daily bathing, "You'll kill your-
self; the doctors say it is not good  to bathe during dog-days,"
&c, &c.:  but I have  been  firm, and am  reaping a glorious
harvest.  Those who  cried down  the " water-cure," are now
enjoying the ague and fever, cold chills, bilious fever, &c, and
still say to me, " You'll be sick by and by, don't boast too soon, 
SPINAL DISEASE.
235
&c.  I think the " Water-Cure" a valuable work.  Can cheer-
fully recommend it to all.  But let all who read, understand
and practise judiciously.  Happy am I,  that I had courage to
depart from the old way,—from fashion's and cuslom's fooleries;
for I am enjoying uninterrupted health, without a pain or an
ache.                  Your's, &c,
                                       G.  W. Rollins.
  St. Mary's Co., Maryland, Sept. 7, 1844.
                     SPINAL  DISEASE.
  Case of Miss Potter.—A little upwards of a year since, Miss
Elizabeth Potter, of North Brookfield,  Mass., was  brought to
our institution, in this city, to undergo a course of water treat-
ment.  She had been, for seven years, afflicted with a most se-
vere and painful  spinal disease, and was, for a larger part of
the time, confined to  her  bed.  She had, literally, " suffered
many things of many physicians, and was nothing bettered, but
rather grew  worse."  For some months Miss Elizabeth had
been using water, under our directions, at home, and  had re-
ceived some benefit; still, when she was brought to us, accom-
panied by her mother and family physician, her weakness was
such,  that she could not at all be raised in the sitting posture,
and could be conveyed only upon a feather bed. She remained
with us about four months; and, by very praiseworthy perseve-
rance on  her part, as well  as that of her mother, she became,
little  by little, able to  sit and  stand, and, finally, to walk; and
now, (January 1st, 1847) is up and about, attending to reading,
drawing, painting,  light work,  &c.   Though an excellent
scholar, she had not been able  to read or write for years.
  Miss Isabella  Thompson.—This  young lady,  daughter of
the late Judge Thompson, of Burlington, Vermont, suffered si-
milar to Miss Potter, but not for so long a time.  She had been
occupied in teaching music, French. &c. and had not, for about
two years, (speaking from memory,) been able to read or write
a word.  Her system was so sensitive, that she could be carried
into the light only by having over her face very thick veils. Scarce-
ly any light could be borne in her room, and her voice was
hardly above a  whisper.   It  was supposed necessary, before
she was brought to us, to administer, daily, powerful opiates.
  Miss Thompson was with us some four months, before we
left home for Europe.  Under a very diligent treatment, she
improved, from week to week; and in  about two months, she 
236
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
was able to correspond,  by letter, with her  friends.  She be-
came able, again, to walk her room ; went, from time to  time,
to the parlor,  to enjoy society, and  partook  meals at the  table
with others.   She rode,  gradually, in  the open air, and could
go miles in the city, before we left.   She had continued to im-
prove, when we last heard  from her, and will, we have reason
to believe, yet enjoy, for many years, good health.
  Mrs. Richards.—This lady (resident of this city,) was  pros-
trate, for a number of months, with spinal disease, that had re-
sisted all ordinary  modes.  A number of physicians had at-
tended her;  but she, on the whole, grew worse.  Under a mo-
derate treatment  at Mr. Richards' own house, (he then resid-
ing in Brooklyn,) and finally a rigorous one at our establishment
she was restored  to health.  For a number of months, she has
now been industriously attending to household duties, and en-
joys what may be termed good health.

  The above are three successive cases of spinal disease, that
have come under our care.
                    FEVER AND AGUE.

  In the spring of 1845, I wrote the following case for my
Water-Cure Journal :
  A few days since, the editor was called to attend the case of
his  esteemed friend, Henry Degroot, Esq , a lawyer, of 52 John
street, New-York.
  The symptoms of this disease it would be perhaps useless to
dwell upon.  The  patient was first seen at the evening of the
sick day,—was directed to wash the  whole body thoroughly,
beginning  at the head, using at the same time a good deal of
friction with the flesh brush, to  drink plentifully of cold water,
to eat little or nothing until appetite returned naturally, to use
large clysters of tepid water daily, to repeat these if necessary
to insure a free action of the bowels.  The bath was to be ta-
ken at least  twice daily—oftener if necessary.  By these sim-
ple  means  it was  believed that  the  fever would at once be
broken up.
  The second day, Mr. Degroot feeling quite well, proceeded to
transact business that required his personal attention.  Becom-
ing considerably fatigued, and yet feeling comparatively little of
the effects of the disease, without thinking  particularly of what
he did, took a supper later than usual.   This very soon proved 
FEVER AND  AGUE.
237
troublesome, and prevented refreshing sleep.   In the morning
early, a severe chill came on, which probably  would not have
taken place, or at most very slightly, had the supper been omit-
ted.   The chill, severe as it was, would have  been prevented,
had the wet sheet envelopment,  the dry sweating blanket, or
the vapor bath, been resorted to sufficiently early to have caused
thorough perspiration before the  chill could  take place.  From
the state of the previously favorable symptoms, this was not
deemed necessary, or it would have been recommended.   As
tDe rigor was now already present, the question was  how best
'o manage.  As is  common in  our practice,  when  no better
means are at hand, a wash tub, partly filled with  tepid water,
was procured.   The head, face and neck was washed ; the pa-
tient then sat himself  in the tub,  having the water dipped up
and poured over the body, while  at the same time brisk friction
was practised over the surface with a stiff wet brush.  With
these operations it was not five minutes before the chill was well
nigh broken up.  But at the same time, distressing nausea came
on, approaching considerable towards fainting.  These symp-
toms indicated the foul state of things in the  stomach.  The
patient took immediately to bed.   Large draughts of tepid wa-
ter were quickly taken, to cause vomiting  and  cleansing of the
stomach.  This took place very effectually.  Warm bricks were
put to  the  feet—a  large  bandage, wet.  about the  body and
thighs, to remove the pains in those parts, and the wet bandage
to the head.  The patient was directed to go  through similar
operations twice each day, and if necessary, according to the
symptoms oftener,—to rest quiet, yet to go out little by little in
the open air,—to take  food, of the farinaceous  kind, once or at
most twice  per day for two or three days ; but not to eat at all
until the appetite returned; and  by pursuing this simple course,
our friend was told he need not fear the return of the fever.  He
persevered  in the mode, had only the slightest symptom of a
chill on the next day but one, and  has continued to grow stronger
day by day since.  For some days shower baths have been ta
ken with great benefit, usually  twice each day, early  in the
morning and towards  evening.
  Before we had an opportunity  to test the new system in inter-
mittent fever, or ague and fever,  we came to the conclusion that
it would be an easy matter to arrest at once the disease by suit-
able applications of  water.   It did not appear to us possible that
a severe chill  could take place, provided a good "sweat" was
brought on, and especially if this was followed by a  thorough
and judicious washing.  It is indeed singular that the simple 
238
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
means of sweating had not long ago been resorted to by physi-
cians ioforestal  the chill.  Almost every imaginable form of
drug treatment, for centuries,  has been tried, from the mildest
to the most Herculean that men  dared to adopt, and yet this
simple and most effectual treatment, as far as we know, until of
late, has been universally neglected, Dr. Currie of England on-
ly excepted.  In the multiplicity of drugs with which medicine
has been  burdened, physicians have  been  led to neglect the
simple means, ever wandering in the regions of speculation, or
plodding along in the old routine of medical  practice, spreading
death and destruction too often in their course.

  In  reference  to the  above mentioned case,  we gave the
following statement of Mr.  Degroot:

  " In August last I was attacked with intermittent fever.  My
physician, reputed one  of the most skilful in Western Virginia,
treated me after the manner usual in such cases: I was bled so
freely as to cause fainting; the whole surface of the bowels
was then covered with a blister, and mercury given in  large
quantities.  This kind  of treatment was  pursued through my
whole sickness, which  continued about two months, with an
occasional use  of quinine,  morphine, and  other strong medi-
cines.  During  all  this time my sufferings were terrible, both
from the effects  of medicine and the disease itself. I  became
greatly reduced, and it was  several weeks  after getting about
before I regained my usual health and strength.
  " About two  weeks  ago I was again attacked in the same
manner, and with all the symptoms as in August last.  Dread-
ing to undergo the treatment usual under the old practice, I
concluded to try the water-cure.   I have done  so under  Doct.
J. Shew, of this city, and the result has convinced me of its su-
perior efficacy and  safety as a remedial agent.   He found me
with a violent fever upon me.  In a few days  it was entirely
removed, and I was restored to  my ordinary health; and this
without taking  a particle of medicine of any description, but
simply through the use of pure  water alone, and that applied
in a manner most grateful to one suffering from fever.  Of the
few days  that I was  under the treatment of Dr. Shew,  there
was none but what I took exercise in  the open air.
  " I make the  above statements  simply because I think  it due
to a system from which I have  derived so  signal benefits, and
with a view to induce others to make  a trial for themselves.
                " H. Degroot, 52 John street,  New-York." 
CASES AMONG  THE SHAKERS.
239
                 CASES ^MONG THE SHAKERS.
   An intelligent and very worthy member of the Society of
 Shakers, at  New Lebanon, Columbia Co.,  N. Y., gave us the
 following cases,  a part of which have been  published in the
 N. Y. Daily Tribune.

   Constipation.—A young man about twenty five years of age,
 had  obstinate constipation from childhood.  Had undergone
 various kinds of treatment without any permanent benefit.  The
 coarsest kinds of food wholly failed of removing the evil.   The
 treatment was commenced by remaining in the wet sheet dur-
 ing the night for some days'.   Cold clysters daily, two  at a
 time, for three or four days, at two different times, within about
 two weeks.  From twelve to eighteen tumblers of soft water a
 day were taken.  Stimulating body bandage was worn.  In
 four weeks, bowels had become regular.

   Scrofula.—This case is of the narrator himself.  He  had
 been  very scrofulous from infancy, and was considered incura-
 ble by different physicians of note.  The scrofulous ulcers had
 been  extremely bad, particularly at the neck.  The disease
 latterly was called scrofulous chronic catarrh.  He had taken
 much medicine from different regular physicians, regular courses
 of mercury,  &c.  The disease  had by thus doctoring,  been
 driven to the chest and stomach,  and from thence  to the head,
 where it  remained fourteen years constantly growing worse.
 He thinks the vegetable system was all that kept him alive.
   This man has practised  medicine latterly in the Society.  He
 commenced water-cure upon himself about the 1st  of June  last.
 He used the cold  wet sheet, arranged to become quickly warm
 by the heat of the body, with head bandages,  about one week.
 The sheets he remained in all night and took two or three baths
 daily, and  drank from twelve to fifteen tumblers  of perfectly
 soft water daily.  He had  by this time a crisis in the form  of a
 feverish excitement of the whole system.  He then moderated
 the treatment somewhat, and in about one month had another
 crisis  in the form of a very large boil on the thigh, and also a
 large  swelling in the groin, which a physician told him would
 never get well, and would  be likely to kill him.   He being well
 acquainted with the system, determined to persevere, although
 the opposition was great among his friends.  In another month
he had another crisis in the form of boils, some fifteen in num-
ber, on the right leg. One was as large as the " fist,"  and
which, at every dressing,  on turning upon the side, emitted
three  streams of purulent matter at once.  Different physicians 
240
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
declared he would certainly kill himself.   The result is,  that
now the boils,  all but one, are healed; he has gained in flesh
and strength, and is  much  better than he has before been for
twenty years.  The pains from which he had suffered so much
in the head, are all gone.   He takes no cold, whereas, before,
he did not pass a single week without it.
  Hereditary Syphilitic Disease.—Another case he gave of a
boy in their Society, of fourteen years of age, with the most
loathsome constitutional hereditary taint in the system.  They
had treated this boy allopathically for twelve months, and had
despaired of saving him.  He commenced with a wet sheet
sweating two months ago.  He gave him two wet sheets daily
and one all night.  He used tepid baths at first.   The boy was
so crippled that  he could but just hobble.  The odor from the
body was so offensive that it was almost  impossible to stay in
the room.  He  had  a severe crisis in the form of ulcers the
most loathsome  imaginable,  one of which, in the thigh, bur-
rowed in the flesh  several inches.   The boy is now apparently
well.  Hundreds of similar  cases have been cured by water.
  The gentleman, while  treating the boy, tore from his own
finger a hang-nail, causing a  small sore.   He accidently got
some of the poison from the  boy's crisis bandages  upon it,
which caused a severe stinging like  that of a bee.   The finger
soon became purple,  and the swelling extended to the arm-pit.
He never suffered so much  in forty-eight hours as then.  His
friends were so importunate that he should poultice the finger,
that he  tried  it, which only made  it worse.  He then took to
the water bandaging, and got relief.  He had nearly made up
his mind at first  to amputate the finger, so much did he loathe
the virulent poison.  Simultaneously with  the finger  and  arm
getting better, the  last and  most severe crisis above mentioned
came on.   Dr. Whitlaw, the celebrated botanist, was with them.
He said water was a good thing, but it would not cure that—he
must take his  vapor  baths  and purifying salts  to cleanse the
blood—as if there was anything better than or as good as pure,
clean water for such  a purpose.  The pain and swelling were
off in one week.  He kept the finger perfectly wet night and
day, for three weeks.  The treatment in these cases required a
courage, perseverance, and  knowledge possessed by few.
  This  gentleman has treated parallel cases of children with
canker  in the  throat and stomach, a part with water, and the
others with drugs.  He accomplished  the  same  with water in
forty-eight hours as with drugs in two weeks.
  This very worthy individual, of as worthy a Society, doubt- 
CASE OF  AMOS  ALLEN.
241
less believes, as do many others, that the systems of poisonous
drugging are destined yet to become reckoned only as being
among  " the immense variety of things that are not, and can-
not be," but that have been imagined and believed.
  The above cases and remarks were written two and a half
years ago.  The  narrator of the cases had been, when we last
heard of him a few months ago, in good health all  along  from
the time of his cure.  All who are acquainted with the Lebanon
Shakers will know who was the subject of this most  remarka-
ble cure.  Knowing the extreme reluctance of this  friend to ap-
pear before the public, I am not at liberty to give his name.
             Case of Amos Allen, of Troy, N. Y.
                  [From the Water-Cure Journal.]
  The following letter was not designed  for publication,  but
we are sure that Mr. Allen will forgive us for thus " dragging"
him into public, since his case is so  important a one.  The let-
ter is to the point, and speaks for itself.
                                   Troy, Dec. 29th, 1845.
  To Joel Shev>, M.  D.: Dear Sir,—You will recollect that 1
have been troubled with dyspepsia, continual constipation, piles,
erysipelas, awful depression of spirits, &c.  for more than thirty
years, and no one knows vjhat I have suffered, both bodily and
mentally.   My nerves and mind became much affected: I have
tried various kinds of medicine without any relief.  I called to
advise with you about a year ago.   I have since been drinking
eight or ten glasses of water daily,  and washing, by ablution,
every morning.  My food  has  been principally brown bread,
milkand apples; my only drink water,  and have  quit the  use
of tobacco  and every other stimulant.  My health has greatly
improved, is better than it has been for twenty years.
  I  have obtained  and disposed of twelve of your books on
Hydropathy, in various  directions,  by gift and otherwise;  am
taking your Water-Cure Journal, lending and recommending it
and your books to others.  I have  obtained but three subscri-
bers  but I enclose the money, and wish you to send ten copies
according to direction.   Some of them  are sent to friends gra-
tuitously.             Yours. &c.
                                           Amos Allen.
  P. S. My cure has been a remarkable cne.  My friends gave
me up for lost, being 59 years of age; but 1 nave gained thirty
pounds in  flesh within  one year,  and bid fair to continue in
               11 
242
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
health.  My morning practice of washing has become a luxury
and pleasure as well as benefit.  I could not be prevailed on to
desist on any consideration.                         A. A.
  Friend Amos Allen of Troy writes us, that, if he had known
that we should publish his case, (given in No. 5, p. 71,  1846,)
he would have been more particular in his statement.  He used
wet sheets a few times at first, and has made much use of clys-
ters.   These  last have been  invaluable in his cure.  These,
although in our sense unnatural means, should always be used
so that the bowels move daily, rather than to allow  of consti-
pation in the least,  and so also if the bowels act too freely,  the
same  are to be resorted to.  The bowels may be strengthened
by water taken internally, as well as other parts by applications
made externally.

   March 4dh, 1847.—Mr.  Allen says he never felt so well
in his life as now.   He continues his daily baths.   Takes
also a hip bath, and injections  of one pint, to be retained on
going to bed.  He has  obtained well towards  one hundred
subscribers for the Water-Cure Journal, and the people of
Troy, generally, can testify  as to his earnestness  and suc-
cess in  gaining converts to the good cause.
               Cases from the Rev. Mr. Butts.
                             New-York, Feb. 26th, 1847.
   Dr. Shew.  Dear Sir,—I have been induced to state the fol-
lowing cases, somewhat in  detail, hoping that some who may
read  them, particularly those laboring under  disease, may be
induced to try the efficacy of that great remedial agent, which
the Author of our being has so bountifully placed within our
reach.  If any will give this agent a fair trial, we fear not the
result.                Yours truly,
                                       Joshua Butts.
                           87th street, near  Third avenue.
   On the 4th day of July, my  son, not quite  two years old,
was very violently attacked with the scarlet fever. I was then
but partially  acquainted  with the water-cure system, having
merely heard a part of the course of lectures,  delivered by Dr
Graham, the winter previous.
   Such, however, was  my faith in it, that my child was taken
to the bathing room and put in the wet sheet, and immediately
wrapped in  a large rose blanket.  In this  he continued  two 
            CASES FROM THE REV. MR.  BUTTS.        243

hours, the sheet was then changed for another.  In this he re-
mained about one half-hour.
  During most  of this time, he  lay  perfectly unconscious.
About fifteen minutes after  he was put into the second sheet,
perspiration appeared, and soon became very profuse.
  He was then taken  and washed off with cold water, which
revived him so much, that he soon began to notice those around
him, and even  became quite playful.
  During the  early part of  the evening, the fever returned
pretty badly, we then sponged his body several times over, and
he slept for half an hour.
  The skin again became very hot  and feverish, he awoke and
said in pitiful  tones, '• Papa, cold  water,  cold  water."  The
sponge was used as before, with the same result.  Perhaps he
awoke ten times during the  night,  with more  or less fever, al-
ways asking for " cold water," and what was strange to me,
did  not seem inclined  to drink much, but preferred its outward
application.
  I  had  the satisfaction of observing that  the fever was less
violent at each return, when about 2 o'clock A. M.  it entirely
left  him,  and he  rested well for three hours.  When he awoke
he appeared cheerful, happy, and playful, but extremely weak.
The third day, he was out on the pavement, playing as merrily
as any of those around him, and was no more trouble.
  I  will just add, that when taken  from the second sheet, his
whole body, nearly, was covered with small white blisters, very
much resembling a rough grater.
  A little girl,  boarding with me, had  the same  disease at. the
same time, no  worse in  appearance, at first;  but  she had a
" drug doctor ;" was confined, I think,  about three weeks, and
was quite lame for many more.
  My son was  taken a few months after, with what is  termed
the  slow croup.   An eminent physician who happened to come
in at the  time,  said to a friend that he did  not  think it possible
for  him  to live but a short time.   A pitcher of ice-water was
brought,  Mrs. B. held a towel to his throat, and he was placed
in such a position, that while I poured the water, in a small
stream, upon the back  part of the neck, the towel became per-
fectly saturated,  which was gradually extended down on the
chest.  In less than four minutes he vomited copiously—-in se-
ven  minutes he was in a sweet sleep,  from which he did not
awake till morning, when he was  as  well as  usual, except
weakness.
  He has had  two attacks since, which we have treated in the
same manner, with like success. 
/
244             THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.

  It should have been mentioned, that before he went to sleep,
a wet bandage was bound around his  throat,  covered with
flannel.
  During the month of June last, I went, with my family, on a
visit to an uncle of Mrs Butts', Richard Mott Underhill, Esq.,
of Yorktown, Westchester Co., N. Y.
  Mr.  Underhill had, about ten  days  previous  to  our  visit,
bruised  the end  of the middle finger on his right hand.  At
first, he paid  little attention to it, as the skin was not broken.
In the course of three or four days, it began to swell, and be-
came very painful.   Various remedies were tried, without any
relief.  He applied to an eminent physician, who said, that the
finger must be cut to the bone, from the palm of the hand to
the end; that he thought nothing else could save it.
  The second morning after our arrival, he came from his room
looking as though just recovering from  a severe  attack of ill-
ness, his finger very badly swollen, also his  hand, with severe
darting  pains to the shoulder and up the side of his  neck and
face.  He  came to Mrs. B., and requested her to  nurse his
finger.  She replied, she would, if he would let her follow the
cold water system.   He assented.
  She wet a  cloth, and put it around his finger; then a towel,
and bound it  around  his hand; over these  a  flannel blanket.
Changed the cloths and washed the whole hand and arm about
every fifteen minutes through  the day, giving him  about one
third  of a  tumbler of water to drink every time the bandage
was changed.                             \
  About 10 o'clock in the evening, the swelling had diminished
very much, and all inflammation entirely disappeared.  The
bandage was changed before  retiring to rest.  He slept well
all night.  In the  morning,  when we  entered the breakfast
room, he was at the desk, writing a letter, the swelling gone,
and no pain or soreness, except when opened and shut quickly.
  It required some little care for a day  or two. when it was as
sound and good  as ever.   He  stated that he  felt a very sensi-
ble relief after the bandage was changed the third time.
  This wonderful cure converted him to the cold water doctrine;
and  in  him  you will find a  firm  and  staunch  advocate,  in
spreading  and  defending the principles  you yourself have so
widely disseminated through our country.
             Yours, &c,                Joshua Butts,
                         .     87th st, near Third avenue. 
PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH.            245
               PREGNANCY  AND CHILDBIRTH.

   Possibly some one  may doubt the propriety of giving
 cases  of the  following  kind in a  popular work.   Do we
 not all buy our  bibles, circulate  them among all readers,
 and make them tokens of friendship  to those we hold  most
 dear on earth ?  And yet,  with all  its allusions to delicate
 subjects, who would think  of objecting to  the Bible on this
 account ?  " To the  sun,  all  things  are pure," so also to
 the impure, are all things impure.   There  is, then, no  need
 of an  apology for  introducing matter of this kind.
   Out of numbers  of cases  of  most marvellous  kind, I
 select  here only one.   I will take the liberty, however, of
 referring the  reader who may be interested, to a work now
 in preparation by myself, designed more especially for the
 perusal and study of Females, on the water  treatment, as
 applicable  in  pregnancy,  childbirth,  and the rearing  of
 infants  and children.   A  work of the kind is,  I  believe,
 needed not less than any other at the present day.   Water
 cure is destined yet to accomplish untold, unheard-of won-
 ders, in childbirth, and the rearing of children.

   Case of Mrs. Shew—On the  16th of  September, 1845, Mrs.
 Shew  gave birth, under peculiar circumstances, to a child.
 Her ancestry on both sides  are consumptive, so that  she in-
 herits a strong predisposition to that disease,  and has,  in fact,
 for years, had  much to contend with, in reference to the condi-
 tion of the chest.  Pleurisies, inflammation of the lungs, cough,
 and hemorhages, she had had at different times, and is con-
 stantly liable to affections of this kind.   She is likewise natu-
 rally of very delicate frame  and extreme nervous  sensibility,
 and it  has been only by exercising great care in every thing
 that pertains to health, that she has now, for a number of years,
 with two or three exceptions, kept free from  the outbreaks of
 disease, and has enjoyed what would ordinarily be termed re-
 markably good health.
   The  summer of 1845, it will be recollected, was very tedious
 and hot.   The whole season  the drought was  severe, and there
 was scarce a single shower to refresh the earth.  It was there-
 fore very depressing to  the  health.   However, by means of
 daily bathing, and being much  in  the  shade in the open air,
wearing usually a part of each day the wet girdle, to  refresh
the sysiem, using the cooling hip bath and injections now and 
246
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
then, as occasion  required, and partaking lightly of food but
twice a day, Mrs.  S. passed  through the summer remarkably
well; but more than once during the season, certain things
transpired that were very much against the quietude, peace of
mind, and mental  repose, so necessary in the condition she was
then in.
  At length, her expected time drew near.  By the exercise of
great prudence and care, she was enabled, up to  the very last,
to discharge the ordinary  duties of overseeing the  household
affairs of her family, and to walk and ride daily and frequently
for exercise or as business called, in the open air.
  I must here mention, that  one of my respected preceptors in
medicine, and a man who is  scarcely second to any other in his
thorough acquaintance with  medical lore, gave it  as his decided
opinion, that from the  extreme  smallness of the pelvis, Mrs.
Shew could never give birth to a full-formed living child. The
expedient of causing premature birth, or the  still  more horrible
one, of destroying the child, seemed to him inevitable,  either
of which  Mrs.  S. could not  for an  instant listen to.  That
the labor must be exceedingly severe, was evident enough
to all.  But she was resolved to let nature take her qwn course,
whatever it might be.
  Labor came on at evening,  of the 15th September, the weather
being yet hot and sultry.  Mrs. S. would not listen to the pro-
posal,  to  have medical aid besides myself; nor would she
consent to have  any nurse  or female attendant  of any kind.
Ordinary servants only were to bring water, and do whatever
of like service was necessary.
  The labor pains went on,  becoming exceedingly severe, and
continued until three o'clock  in the morning, at which time
she gave birth to a large,  healthy,  and well-formed female
child.  Almost  immediately  the after-birth  was  expelled, fol-
lowed  by most frightful flooding. The night was, I confess, a
long, dark, and dismal one to  me.  There was, I knew,  in my
wife's system, and always had been, as well  as in her family, a
strong tendency to hemorrhages.  I understood  perfectly well
the different modes resorted  to in these dangerous extremes.
Cold applications are, the world over, the means relied upon.
As to  the mode  of applying  the cold, I had resolved, in this
case, to take a different course from any I had ever heard of.
I had procured  a  large hip bath, with a good back, in which a
person could be placed in a sort of half-reclining  position, with
the head supported upon pillows. Instead of applying the cold
water by the stream from a pitcher, by wet cloths, and the like,
I had resolved, that if flooding came on, I would take Mrs. S. 
PREGNANCY  AND  CHILDBIRTH.           247
 in my arms, and instantly place her in this hip bath ; and thus,
 as I believed, I could more quickly chill the whole of the  pelvic
 viscera, than  by any other means.  Be it remembered, that
 wherever there is hemorrhage, whether from the lungs, sto-
 mach, bowels, or womb, there is great heat  in and about  the
 part  from  which the blood  issues; and the quicker and more
 effectually this heat can be abstracted and  the parts chilled,
 the more certain are we to arrest the flow, by the constringing
 effect of cold  upon the  open vessels.   As for the shock of the
 douche, or pouring of water from  a height, so much in vogue,
 I believe that, so far as the shock is concerned, it is better avoid-
 ed.   If I am not mistaken, that only tends to keep up the flood-
 ing.  The cooling should be passive and not violent.
  Having every thing in readiness, I took Mrs. S. in my arms,
 and before she had time to  faint entirely, I placed her in this
 hip bath of cold water.  The water covered from near  the
 knees over the whole abdomen, and no sooner had these parts
 come in contact with the water, than it seemed, as if by magic,
 the flooding ceased.  The water revived her, and a very few
 minutes before she had become much chilled, I raised her care-
 fully  and  laid her in bed, put wet cloths about the abdomen
 and wrapped her warmly in blankets.   The feet were cold, as
 they generally are in severe-hemorrhage.  These  parts, and
 from the knee  down,  I rubbed briskly, with the warm hand, to
 restore the natural warmth.   I kept good watch that she should
 not become too warm, as in that case flooding  would be apt to
 return.  It was not long before Mrs. S. fell into a sound  sleep,
 in which she rested for some time.
  I have regretted much that I did  not, at the  time, write down
notes of this case; that is, of the remaining part of the  treat-
ment to be spoken of.  From  the severity of the labor and the
loss of a large  amount of blood. Mrs. S. said she felt a greater
degree of  weakness than she had  ever before experienced, a
sense of sinking of the vital powers, and an oppression at the
heart, with which she was before wholly unacquainted.  The
sleep I  have spoken of.  did her much good,  and was,  of all
things, the most desirable.  Still she was very  weak, and  after-
pains set in. growing more and more severe.  Her system  being
so highly sensitive, I expected this, and resolved upon the use of
the hip bath.   I would  here  remark, that the objection that
would be  raised by almost any practitioner to this procedure,
here as well as in the flooding before spoken of. would be, that
 the position, the raising up  a  person in this weak state, and
placing the trunk -of the  body in an upright position, would be
likely to cause a return of the flooding.  This objection, I ad- 
248
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
mit, would have great weight, were it not for the fact that the
water acts so powerfully to check  that symptom.  Still there
is  nothing like the danger  feared, even  without the  use of
the water, that there is  supposed  to  be.  And  persons are
found everywhere, in fact,  it is  almost a universal  thing in
childbirth, that females are  required to lie. day after day, in
too warm beds, thus debilitating the body by the heat caused
by the fatigue of remaining  much  in  one position, and by the
unnatural position of the brain.   Females  thus become debili-
tated, nervous, restless, and are kept back  day after  day,  and
often for weeks, and all for the want of what may well be called
good nursing; and then in this debilitated  state, when they do
begin to get about, after the ninth  day, as superstition has it,
the opposite extreme is practised ; too much is done at once, a
cold is taken, inflammation of the breasts occurs, or falling of
the womb takes  place, or perhaps a powerful hemorrhage. I
repeat, that in my practice, as a rule to which there can seldom
be any exception, my patients of this kind sit up, even if it be
but one minute or five at a  time, the first day of the confine-
ment and onward.   This sitting up  to rest the patient, that is,
to rest from the fatigue of the lying, position, is one of the best
means that can be adopted.  The bed is at the same time aired
and becomes cool, so that when she returns  to it, the change
back again is salutary and the reclining posture  becomes  one
of rest.   The patient should be  taught not to overdo  in  this
matter, for every good thing has i«s abuse as well as use.
  I had now, in Mrs. Shew's case,  a good opportunity to test
fully the  powers of water  and good nursing.  There were in
her mind no prejudices to overcome—no lack of confidence, no
superstitious, yet good-meaning, old women about us to whisper
their fears, and prognosticate evil.   There was nothing in the
way, and what was better than all the rest, Mrs. S. had herself
a good knowledge of the principles that should guide us in the
management of such cases.
  After Mrs. Shew had slept as before mentioned, and the after-
pains  had commenced, I administered the  hip bath.  These
pains, as well as hemorrhages, are attended with internal heat;
but, as regarded the general system, Mrs. S. had now a feeling
of dread  of cold water.  The objects in view in the use of the
hip bath and frictions, were to lull the pain, and to invigorate
the system by the tonic effect of the water and friction.  I laid
a folded blanket in the bottom of the bath, in which was put a
small  quantity of tepid water,  of such  temperature as would
produce no unpleasant sensation.  Blankets  were  also used to
wrap about the feet and limbs, and the whole surface,  except 
                  PREGNANCY  AND CHILDBIRTH.         249

 the parts  exposed to the  water.  Reaching my hand under
 these blankets, I commenced rubbing the spine, abdomen, and
 other parts; and as the surface became accustomed to the wa-
 ter, I dipped the hand into that which was of a little lower tem-
 perature, and at length lowered the temperature of the water
 in a bath gradually, by adding to it cold water.   In a short time
 the pains  ceased.  The bath was  continued  some fifteen  or
 twenty minutes, possibly a little longer,  and then  Mrs.  S. was
 placed  comfortably in bed.  It  was indeed truly wonderful  to
 behold  the change produced by this bath.  Besides  the remo-
 val of all pain, it seemed as if the strength was increased ten-
 fold, all in the space of less than half an hour.
   The  after-pains returned frequently during the day, and as
 frequently they were  combatted with the hip bath and frictions.
 At least as many as ten times, and I think  more,  through the
 day and evening, I  administered these  baths, every  one of
 which appeared to do an astonishing amount of good.  Besides
 the removing of after-pains and  the tonic effect of the baths,
 there was another palpable one: at times, sharp, cutting pains
 were experienced in  the  bowels, caused by flatulency? The
 bath removed them like a charm.  The urine was found to pass
 freely, in consequence of the bathing and  drinking; and the
 soreness so much felt  in these cases was all removed.
   As Mrs.  S. grew stronger, the water  was used somewhat
 colder,  but all the time of moderate temperature.  She slept
 very well during the night, having little or no more  of the after-
 pains.   In the evening, she sat up, bore her weight, and walked
 a little about the room.
   In consequence of more than usual fatigue, I did not  awake
 the  next morning until between six and seven o'clock.  I con-
 fess I was not a little surprised, on awaking, that  Mrs.  Shew
 had left the room.  This  was only twenty-six  hours from the
 birth ; and  she had taken her child in her arms, and gone down
 to the kitchen.  She felt that she was perfectly able to do this,
 and  acted  accordingly, on her own responsibility.  She was,
 however, very careful this  day; took  but little nourishment;
 and in three days' time, we moved to the large house, 56 Bond
 street, Mrs. S. walking up  and down  stairs numbers of times
 during the day, overseeing things, as they were moved, and
 so every day onward.  Bathing was kept  up, as usual, daily,
and  she partook now,  as was her usual habit, of the plainest
food, and but twice per day, using no other animal food, except
a trifling quantity of milk,  and no other drink except pure
water.
  The second day after the birth of our child, a worthy old
              11* 
250
THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
gentleman, one of our patients, from New England, called upon
us.   He inquired, kindly, respecting Mrs. S.'s health, he having
seen her much in  the summer, and in a few minutes she met
him in the parlor.  He raised his hands, and, in astonishment,
exclaimed, " This is indeed bringing things back to nature!"
  In conversation with one of the first medical men of our city,
or of  the  world,  I described this case of Mrs. Shew's, and
also others of like results.  He said that he could not conceive
it possible for a woman to  get up and go about,  with anything
like safety, in twenty-four,  or even forty-eight, hours after child-
birth.  I admitted,  that as  a rule, women could not, under ordi-
nary modes of treatment,—but, at  the same  time, asked him
how it was that the Indian women were so little troubled with
these matters.   I then said, our patients practise daily bathing
continually; drink  no tea or coffee, to weaken the powers of di-
gestion, constipate  the bowels, destroy the relish for  food, shat-
ter the nervous  system, and  impair the soundness  of natural
and refreshing sleep; their  modes of dress do not distort and
debilitate their frames, and, instead of remaining mostly within
doors, according to the foolish customs of  civil life, they go  re-
gularly and often in the open air, thus gaining  strength upon
strength, by means of these natural and  powerful  tonics, ex-
ercise,  pure air, and light.  He admitted  that  such modes
persevered in,  must  produce powerful effects  of some kind,
and  added, that he intended always to sustain  good health
by means of the shower bath,  the daily use  of which he had
adopted  with the  greatest benefit.
  I  hold, that strong  and enduring  as are the Indian wo-
men, the generality  of females of  the  present  generation
even,  may, if they commence in early life,  become more
hardy  and strong  than  are  those  daughters of  the  forest,
whose habits are, in many respects, unnatural and detrimental
to health.  But all this  requires an amount of  knowledge
that few yet possess.
  I could  add numbers of  cases  of  child-birth scarcely less
striking  than that of Mrs. Shew; and if the reader has any
doubts of the authenticity of such  narrations, I ask him to
take the names and residences of my patients, and hear their
stories for himself.   Persons who have experienced the inval-
uable,  untold, and  apparently miraculous effects of cold water,
will not hesitate to make known the blessings of the new system. 
DIET AT GRAFENBERG.              251
                    CHAPTER II.

       DIET AT GRAFENBERG AND REMARKS ON FOOD.

  It appears to me that the relative value of the diet at Gra-
fenberg has not generally been well explained, or under-
stood.   It has been  represented to us as  being, to say the*
least, of very objectionable  kind,  in many respects, and
such  as  should be  improved.   If I mistake  not, the  food
furnished at Priessnitz's table, is, on the whole, plainer, and
less objectionable than  can be found anywhere  else in a
large establishment.   Priessnitz contends, that brown bread
and water, alone, are entirely sufficient to sustain man in the
best  health.   " Live  upon brown  bread and water, if you
desire  the  best cure," says Priessnitz.  Accordingly, he
furnishes  an abundance  of bread of this  quality.  Two
kinds are used ; to wit, coarse or brown  rye, and brown rye
and barley bread.  There are, perhaps, about equal quan-
tities of these eaten, and the quality of each appears to be
considerably coarser than that used by  the  poorest classes,
even.  All  of  the brown  bread  in Germany seems  sour.
This is the case at Priessnitz's, and  strange as it may ap-
pear, it does not seem  to  disagree with any one.   I  have
never  seen the injurious  effects that have generally been
supposed to be the  necessary result of mere sourness  in
bread.  Whatever  may be true in this matter,  a person
very soon comes to  relish these kinds of bread  at Grafen-
berg.  Especially is this true if he climb the mountains and
hill sides, and  drink freely of  the very pure soft  water  so
abundant there.
  Some writers have left their readers to infer, that Priess-
nitz cared nothing for  the bread being of a coarse quality,
or  brown, except that  it is more  economical.  They have
said, in describing the modes of living  at Grafenberg, that
white bread must be paid  extra for, and that Priessnitz does
not object to it.   The fact is, he permits some things that he 
252            THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 does not consider  the best ;  nor  is he at all  unwilling  to
 converse upon those matters.   He allows the fruit-women
 at the door of the  establishment to sell small  rolls of very
 excellent white bread.   Occasionally, a patient buys one of
 these for a change, and carries it with him as he goes to
 the table.  There is, however, but very little of this used,
 and it is there well enough understood, that Priessnitz re-
 commends the brown instead of the white.   The morning
 meal  the year  round,  is composed of bread, butter, and
%nilk, with the addition,  perhaps, of fruit at  certain seasons
 of the  year.   There  is  sweet  milk and  sour buttermilk,
 and we believe, at  times, sour milk that has not been churn-
 ed.  It is very common in Germany to use  these sour arti-
 cles.   Sweet milk is strained into sour  to curdle it.  This
 is something similar to the first part of digestion in the sto,
 mach.   At all events, it appears  to be more healthful and
 less liable to cause feverishness,  head-ache, or drowsiness,
 than sweet milk.   Farmers tell us, that the milk and whey,
 with which  swine are fed, is much better  sour.   Indeed,
 some go so far as to assert, that if  these animals are  kept
 upon the sweet articles  altogether, they are certain to be-
 come  diseased,  and,  perhaps, die.   Sour  milk,  slightly
 sweetened, sour buttermilk, and sour pot-cheese, (Dutch
 cheese, as some  call it  in this  country,) are famous dishes
 with the Germans.
    Butter is very moderately used in Germany.  At Priess-
 nitz's table, I doubt if six patients, as a rule, use more than
 one in this country.   There is but very little upon the ta-
 ble.   A very  thin small roll of it is  seen here  and there.
 Some of the patients appear to take none.   As is the case
 in Germany generally,  the  butter is salted but very little.
 Perhaps this  is  one reason why so small  an amount is
 taken.  And if a larger quantity were used, it being nearly
 saltless, the effect  would be decidedly less  harmful than  if
 it were salted, as in this country, for salt is in every sense
 a drug, and one that should be  avoided.   With this doc-
 trine, and for  the same  reason, Priessnitz agrees.
    The supper the year round,  is precisely the same as the
 breakfast, except  at  times, boiled  potatoes, unpeeled, are 
DIET AT GRAFENBERG.
253
brought upon the table.   These may be slightly warm, but
with this exception, the breakfasts and suppers are entirely
cold.   It will, perhaps, appear strange, that such meals are
relished highly as they are, but every one can call to mind
times when he has been compelled  to lose a meal, or when
he has wandered in the woods, picking berries, hunting, or
fishing, and has returned home with an  appetite that would
cause him  to relish most keenly any cold thing he might
chance to lay hands upon.  This is a natural healthful ap-
petite,  and such as is enjoyed  at Grafenberg, for the  pa-
tients there make, as  all patients must, the matter of cure
one of work.   It is a  law of nature, that health can by no
possible means be attained without  this.
  Dinner.—Some, in  advocating the diet generally recom-
mended at  water-cure establishments, have  spoken as if it
were not important that the dinner  be cold.   It is  superflu-
ous to say that the same rules apply at one time of day as
another.   No doubt at  these establishments,  generally, the
dinner is  not cold, like the  breakfast  and  supper,  as it
should be.   In the hurry of such a  place, things are crowd-
ed together, and the dinner comes  upon the table  smoking
hot.   This can,  and should, be avoided.
  Objectors to Priessnitz's dinners, have not sufficiently,
we think, considered  the difference  between two courses of
dishes and  many.   In the  European higher  circles, as is
well known, dish after dish  is  brought, so  that if a little
only be eaten of each, the many littles would  be  found  to
make a large whole.    Persons  would be astonished  often
to see what quantities they eat, little by little, if they could
see  the whole meal upon one  plate.  Now,  at Priessnitz's,
there are, properly speaking, only two courses.  The brown
bread is always upon the  table.  At  dinner, each person
has two plates, one upon the other.   The first dish usually
oonsists of  boiled,  lean  meat,  with potatoes, carrots or  tur-
nips, made into what  would be,  in this country, understood
as a sort of a stew, a very plain dish.  There is also some-
times cabbage, or sour-krout, and  roast meat of different
kinds,, but  this is intermingled with a large  proportion of
vegetables, bread, dumplings,  and  the  like, and  is not in 
254
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
those huge masses that we see roasted meat in this country
and England.   After the first comes a kind of dessert dish,
as it may be called ; rice pudding, so plain and free from
sugar, or sweet, as hardly to deserve the name; apple pud-
dings, or ample dumplings, plain griddle  cakes, with milk
or cream sauce,  slightly sweetened.  Such are the dishes
ordinarily furnished  at the table of Priessnitz.  Consider-
ing the fact, then, that  there are but two courses, and  that
these two consist  of very plain and uncomplicated forms of
food, the Grafenberg dinner, it must be  acknowledged, is a
very plain one;  and we  affirm, that any individual  who
has an appetite at all natural,  if he be not set and obstinate
in his own way, may, at  any time, sit down at the table of
Priessnitz, and make a most excellent repast—one that will
undergo  the   process of  digestion  in  an  infinitely more
friendly  and  pleasant manner  than those large  dinners
which Americans and  Englishmen are so fond of.   If  food
is of very plain character, containing never more than a
very small amount of sugar,  or  other  saccharine  matter,
no eggs,  spices, or salt, and is sufficiently free from  con-
centration of  every  kind, there  is little danger of active
water-drinking people taking too much.   If invalid persons
will try this mode of partaking of  but one or two very  sim-
ple articles, avoiding the rich and concentrated substances,
sugar, molasses,  butter, &c., they will  be  astonished to ob-
serve what a  difference  there will be experienced  in the
feelings and comfort of digestion.   The rule of the  world,
however, is that persons study how near the line of actual
destruction they can go, and yet for the time escape.
   Innutritious  matter in food  necessary to health.—It  is a
well ascertained  law of the animal economy, that food, to
be healthy, must contain  a considerable portion of matter
that is wholly indigestible and innutritious. Thus, Magen-
die, the physiologist, found that dogs, fed  upon sugar,  gum
arabic,  butter, olive oil, and some  other articles of  rich or
concentrated  nature, each given to the animals separately
with pure water,  they very soon lost their  appetites, began
to droop, became emaciated, were attacked  with  ulcers,
and died, invariably, within the space of four or five weeks. 
DIET AT GRAFENBERG.              255
Fed upon superfine flour bread  and water, they lived uni-
formly  about seven weeks,  varying only a  day or two.
When fed upon coarse or military bread, such as contained
either the whole or a considerable portion of the bran, the
dogs thrived  perfectly  well, and were  found  in  no respect
to suffer.   The same truth has often been illustrated upon
ship-board at sea.  In  many cases, where  the hay and
straw were swept overboard, it has been found that the ani-
mals, in a  few days,  famished, unless  some innutritious
substance, and the shavings of wood, was  mixed with the
grain given them.  The animals have  been observed to
gnaw at the  spars and timbers, or whatever  wood they
could lay hold of; and  thus the idea was suggested, that
the  grain alone was of too rich a nature for their suste-
nance.
  The same principle holds good in reference to the health
of the human body, and as a  general fact, food, in civilized
life, is of too concentrated a quality.  This is particularly
true in  those parts of the world where  an abundance can
be had; in other words, in the more civilized and enlight-
ened  parts of the world.  A host  of diseases,  both acute
and  chronic, are either  caused  or greatly aggravated by
concentration  in food.   Indigestion, with its immense train
of evils, constipation, loss of flesh, corpulency, nervous and
general debility, torpor, and sluggishness of the general
system, are the principal roots of all disease  in the human
family,  and these are among the difficulties caused  by too
great richness in food.   Children are often injured in this
way.   Mothers, in their kindness,  think nothing too good
for  their little ones.   In many  parts of our country, the
infant at the breast is taught to suck at its piece of pork, or
other fat meat.  Sugar, sugar candy, sweetened milk, su-
perfine bread, and rich pastries,  are all given for the same
reason,  by  mothers and nurses in their-mistaken kindness.
Children reared in this way, can never be healthy for any
considerable  length of time, are  generally very puny and
weak,  and often  die within  two or three years of birth.
Scrofulous and  other  ulcers  are frequently  thus caused,
and so also those derangements of the stomach and  bowels, 
256         •  THE  WATER-CURE MANUAL.

which so often, in spite of the best remedial means, sweep
these little sufferers  from their  earthly existence, and this
at the very time when their growing mind begins to glad-
den  the parent's  heart.  There is great and  prevailing
error upon this subject, and happy are those parents who
take it upon themselves to gain  wisdom in this most impor-
tant  matter of food.
  Sedentary and studious  persons, and  especially young
ladies at seminaries and boarding-schools, suffer much from
the effects of superfine bread, and  other  forms of concen-
trated food.  Constipation, which is always attended with
unpleasant results,  is very common among this  class of
persons, one of the greatest causes of that  state of health
being wo great richness in food.
  The effects of superfine flour were strikingly illustrated
in the case of a crew of seamen belonging to Providence,
R. I. The narrative we quote  from Graham's Science of
Human Life, and is as follows:
  " Captain Benjamin Dexter; of the ship Isis, belonging to
Providence, R. I., arrived from China, in December, in 1804.
He had  been  about  one hundred and  ninety days  on  the
passage.   The sea-bread, which constituted the principal
article of food for his hands, was made  of the best of  su-
perfine flour.  He had not been  long at sea, before the men
began to  complain of languor, loss of appetite,  and  de-
bility.  These difficulties continued to increase during  the
whole voyage, and several of the men died  on the passage
of debility  and inanition.   The ship was obliged to come
to anchor  about thirty miles below Providence ;  and such
was  the debility of the hands  on board, that they were  not
able to get the ship under way again ; and the owners were
under the  necessity of sending men down from the city of
Providence to  work her up.  When she  arrived, the own-
ers asked Capt. Dexter  what was  the cause of the sick-
ness of his men, to which he answered, ' The bread is too
good.'?'
  Cases of a similar kind have elsewhere been known to
occur.   Sailors, the world over, are  generally  furnished
with brown sea-bread, much  to the advantage of this use- 
EFFECTS OF DIET, BATHING, ETC.         257
ful class of men, did they but know it; and their  health is
proverbially good, while they are  away from  the  tempta-
tions upon land.'  These hardy, weather-beaten  men are
subjected to many healthful  influences  other than the use
of coarse bread, but, on the whole, their dietetic and other
hygienic  habits need  greatly to be improved  ; still, com-
pared  with the mass  of mankind, they  are  remarkably
healthy.
   Every one who is aware of the importance of a certain
degree  of innutritiousness  in food, must  lament many of
the so-called improvements  of  modern  times.  Who can
think of the good  dishes our New England  mothers used
to prepare., homely and plain, as the fastidious would now
consider them to be, and not desire  earnestly that such days
of simplicity might again return to us ?   As things are,  if
a person travels from home, or visits among friends, almost
every dish that  is set  before him is of a form  so  concen-
trated as to be positively injurious.  At the best hotels and
boarding-houses, upon  the floating palaces that glide upon
our waters, and in our  splendid ships that traverse  the seas,
the evil we speak of is generally prevalent.   But, thanks
to the day in which we live, a  better way  is fast progress-
ing.   Hydropathy, in  all its simplicity and primitiveness,
goes forward ;  and a  knowledge, never  before arrived  at,
of the  importance of simplicity in food, is destined hence-
forward to prevail.
The Albany  Orphan Asylum.   An experiment  illustrating
  the effects of a judicious diet, in connexion  with bathing,
  ventilation, 8fC.

  It is understood  by most persons in this country that Mr.
Sylvester Graham, now of Northampton, Mass., caused a
considerable degree of interest, some years ago, in giving
popular lectures upon  the  subject  of health.   Mr.  Gra-
ham's writings, setting forth his peculiar views, have  also
circulated quite  extensively.  As is well known, he advo-
cated strongly the importance of  attention  to diet, but, at 
258
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
the same time, not less the paying due regard to  bathing,
cleanliness, air, and  exercise,  and, in short,  to each and
every particular and circumstance that tends in anyway
to affect health.   Mr. Graham was  often enough  vilified,
misquoted, and misrepresented, as is true of all reformers.
Still, not a small number of persons have  become, as it
were, his followers, and most of these affirm that they have,
by so doing, been greatly benefitted  in health. A few we
have known, who have thought the experiment not a good
one ;  but in cases of this kind it has not been difficult to
discover that  the individuals have erred in some important
particulars, and proceeded contrary to the teachings of Mr.
Graham,  and  in, perhaps,  a still larger  number of in-
stances, persons have been driven back to their old modes,
by the  want of  self-denial  and  control.   It  is not every
one that has mental  and moral strength sufficient to enable
him to forego the whole  farrago of spirits, tea, coffee, to-
bacco, and improper articles of diet, at one  and the same
time, although he is well convinced at the great advantages
to be derived  in so doing.
   Many suppose that Mr. Graham's system,  as it is called,
simply refers  to  anti-flesh and brown-bread  eating, a sup-
position that could not be  further  from the truth.   He has
always, at  least, admitted  of the moderate  use  of milk,
which is, essentially, animal food.
   It will be observed that the leading opinions of Mr. Gra-
 ham and Priessnitz are  precisely the same. Both have
 been, as it were, co-workers, without any  knowledge of
 each' other, until of late.  Both were insisting  upon the
 necessity of simplicity in food, the avoidance of all stimu-
 lating  substances and drugs, of  bathing, exercise, air, and
 all  the natural   means of fortifying the general  health.
 Both affirmed (although some meat is eaten at Grafenberg,)
 that brown bread and water  alone are sufficient to sustain
 an individual in the firmest health.
   The following account  of an  experiment made some
 years  since,  in  the Albany Orphan Asylum, according to
 Mr. Graham's  directions, but few, at least of my readers,
  are acquainted with, and  I therefore give it.  In the changes 
             EFFECTS OF DIET, BATHING,  ETC.         259

such an institution  undergoes, in the election of new offi-
cers, superintendents  and matrons, and  with the lack of
accurate knowledge concerning the subject of health, it is
doubtful if this experiment has been continued.  Whether
this be true or not, we are not aware.  It is indeed lament-
able that  results  so valuable should not  have  been more
generally appreciated.
  " The  Orphan Asylum of  Albany, N.  Y., was founded
in December, 1829.   Orphans and other  destitute children
of the city were  gathered  into it, to the number of from
seventy to a hundred  and thirty.  The house at first occu-
pied was  too small for the good accommodation of so large
a number ; but great pains were taken to keep it clean and
well ventilated.   One room was set apart for a nursery or
sick room, and a woman, with sometimes  one or  two as-
sistants,  employed to nurse  the  sick and  feeble.    Drs.
James and Green were the  attending physicians.   Great
attention was paid to  the personal cleanliness of the child-
ren, and their regimen  generally as to  bathing, clothing,
air, exercise, &c, was  intended  to  preserve and promote
health.   The diet consisted of fine bread, rice, Indian pud.
dings, potatoes, and other vegetables, and fruit with milk;
and to these was  added  flesh  or flesh soup once a day.
  " A large and  commodious house having  been built for
the purpose,  the  children  were  removed to it, in   April,
1833.   In September, 1833,  a change was commenced in
the diet of the children, and in the course of three months,
they were brought fully into  what is popularly called ' the
Graham system of living.'  In August, 1836, the following
account of the institution was published :—
  "' It is now more than six years since this -institution was
established, and  about  three since the new regimen was
adopted,—so that the time has been nearly  equally divided
between the regimen  which embraced animal food and that
which excluded it.  From the commencement to the present
time, new inmates have been occasionally received into the
asylum from the almshouse and from the city, and most of
these children have been in very  poor health, and some of
them  exceedingly  diseased.  During the  whole  period, 
260            THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.

also, children have  from time to time been  placed out in
families, when they  had arrived at a proper age.
  " ' The average number  of children in the asylum, has
been  about  eighty.   During  the  first  three years, the
changes were somewhat more frequent than they have been
during the last;  but during the last three years,  there has
been a larger proportion of very small  children.  Under
the first regimen the  children were washed  all over  once
in two or three weeks;  under the new regimen, they have
been washed all  over every morning in  the summer, and
three  times a  week in the  winter.  Under the new  regi-
men, the  house has  been much larger  and more airy and
convenient than that which was occupied most of the time
while under the old  regimen.   Now, then, let us look at the
general results.  During the first three years, or  while the
first regimen was observed, from four to six  children  were
continually upon the sick  list in the  nursery, and a nurse
constantly employed to  take care of them, and sometimes
the  number of the sick was greatly increased and one or
two assistant nurses rendered necessary.   The attendance
of a physician was found necessary once, twice, or  three
times a week uniformly, and deaths were  frequent.   In the
summer of 1832, the  epidemic cholera  made  its appear-
ance among the children of the asylum and carried off six
or eight of them :—and let it be observed, that during the
cholera season, the  proportion of flesh and flesh soups was
considerably increased in the diet  of the children.   Dur-
ing the whole period of the first three  years there  were
twenty-eight deaths.
  " ' The new regimen, it has  been stated, was gradually
introduced at the close of 1833.  While this change  was
taking place, a  child  was  received  into the asylum, dis-
eased with  the scald-head.   This disease, when  once in-
troduced into  such  an institution, is rarely arrested till
every inmate has had it, and it sometimes takes years to
expel it; but in this instance it was so promptly and vig-
orously met by a  salutary regimen, that  it was wholly ar-
rested and driven from the institution before it had extended
to half the children.   The  nursery was soon entirely va- 
EFFECTS OF DIET, BATHING, ETC.         261
cated, and the services of the nurse and physician no longer
needed,—and for more than two years following, no case
of death nor of sickness took place in the asylum?  Within
the last twelve months there have been three deaths in the
institution.   One of them was an idiot child received some
months before from the almshouse ; this child was of ex-
tremely imperfect organization,  and low order of vitality ;
its bones were soft  and flexible,  and in all respects it was
so miserable a mass of organic existence, when brought to
the asylum, that no one  expected  it would long survive.
It however  continued to  live  on for several  months, and
then died suddenly.  The  second  case was also an  idiot
child, received from  the  almshouse in a bad state of dis-
ease, and died soon after it was brought to  the asylum.
The third case was a child which likewise came from the
almshouse in an advanced stage of disease, and died very
soon after it was received into the  asylum.  At the  same
time two or  three other children were received from  the
almshouse  wretchedly diseased,  but they have  been re-
stored to health.
  •"'We  see,  therefore,  that  excepting  the  scald-head
brought into the asylum at the very commencement of  its
new regimen, and the few cases of disease imported from
the almshouse  within  the  last year, and excepting  the
death of the  two  idiots  and one other child, all of which
came to the institution with the grasp of death upon them,
there has been no case of death nor of disease in the asy-
lum during  the last three years, or since the new regimen
has been adopted.   And  therefore,  it is speaking  truth
most strictly, to say, that not a single case of death nor  of
disease has  taken place in the  institution within the last
three years, from causes  existing in the  asylum ; on  the
contrary, (to use the language of the Report of the Board
of Managers), ' under  this system  of dietetics, the  health
of the children has  not only been preserved, but those who
came to the  asylum sickly and weak  have become healthy
and strong, and greatly increased in  activity,  in cheerful-
ness, and in happiness.'   It may be said by some that most
of this remarkable  improvement is  attributable mainly, if 
262
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
not wholly, to the change of situation ;  but let it  be re-
membered, that the old regimen was continued five months
after the children were removed  to the new  house  which
they have since occupied, and that but little apparent im-
provement in the  health of the children took place  before
the new regimen  was adopted: up to the very period at
which  the change was  commenced, the  nursery was con-
tinued, and on the day when they began  to adopt the new
regimen, there were  six  children  on  the  sick  list.  But
almost from  that very day, there  began  to be  a manifest
improvement in the health of the children, and  in a short
time, the nursery was wholly vacated, and has ever since
been entirely unoccupied, except  temporarily, by the few
cases of imported disease, already mentioned.
  " ' Miss Grimwood, the superintendent, and Miss Clark,
the principal  teacher, state that since the new regimen has
been adopted, there  has  been a  remarkable increase of
health,  strength,  activity, vivacity, cheerfulness and con-
tentment among the children.  Indeed, they appear univer-
sally to be perfectly  healthy and  happy, and the strength
and activity which they exhibit are truly  surprising.
  " ' That an airy situation, and a clean and well ventilated
house,  are of prime  importance to the health of such an
institution, no one who understands the subject  can enter-
tain a doubt; but in  order to arrive at correct conclusions
in matters of this kind, every particular  and  circumstance
should  be carefully  examined and justly estimated.   In
the case before us, it is fully evident that the change of
situation was neither the sole nor  the principal cause of the
astonishing  improvement in the  health  of the children.
Nor  can we  justly consider  the substitution of  the coarse
for the fine bread, nor the abandonment of animal food, the
sole cause of such an improvement;  but the improvement
resulted from the co-operation of  all these  causes ;  it was
the effect of a correct regimen throughout, embracing the
diet, sleeping, bathing, clothing, exercise, and intellectual
and moral discipline.   And such a regimen, adapted to the
physiological  laws of  human nature, constitutes what  is
called  ' the Graham system.' 
EFFECTS OF DIET, BATHING, ETC.         263
    ' Miss Grimwood and Miss Clark  also state that the
change in the temper and disposition of the children, since
they have adopted their new regimen, is very great;  they
have become less turbulent and irritable  and  peevish  and
discontented, and  far  more  manageable and gentle  and
peaceable to each  other;—and this, say the  superintend-
ents, is not the result of a want of spirits and energy, but
of a healthy state of the whole system—a general serenity
—an  absence of morbid irritation.
    '  The effect  of the  new  regimen on the intellectual
powers of the children,' says Miss Clark, < has been too ob-
vious and too striking to  be  doubted.   There has been  a
great increase in their mental  activity and power :—the
quickness and acumen of their perception, the discrimina-
ting energy of their comprehension, and the power of their
retention, daily astonish me !' "
  " From August,  1836,  at which time the foregoing ac-
count was written,  until  November following, the children
of the asylum  all continued in  excellent  health.  In No-
vember, two of them were somewhat indisposed for  two or
three  days, and then recovered their usual health, and all
continued well until March, 1837.   In the second week of
March, the small  pox  appeared  in the  asylum,  and  in
twenty-four hours,  six of the children exhibited  symptoms
of that disease: or, as the event proved, three  of them had
the  genuine small  pox, and  three  of them the varioloid.
These children were  from three to twelve years  of  age.
Alarming as this  disease is considered, it was  here nearly
stripped of its terrors ;  for it was so mild as scarcely to
interrupt  the regular proceedings of the institution.   One
little  girl was remarkably full of the genuine small  pox,
yet  she was scarcely ill at all, and did  not complain in the
least,  nor did  she  take  any medicine.   All  she  wanted
was brown bread.   Indeed, this was the only thing that any
of  them  seemed  to crave while  the  disease was  upon
them.   A little boy four years of age, who had been about
nine months in the  asylum, and who came there in very
full habit, and had evidently  been accustomed to gross
living, and was, from the  first, much afflicted  with worms, 
264
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
 had the small pox far more severely than any other  child,
 and the disease left him much more exhausted than  it did
 any of the others.  This little fellow had scarcely thrown
 off the small  pox before  he was taken, in  his  feebleness
 and exhaustion, with the whooping  cough, and in spite of
 every care, sunk under his complicated difficulties and
 died.   Another little boy had the small pox very full, but
 he hardly seemed to mind it at all,  and soon threw off the
 disease  as a  light and harmless  thing.   By an untimely
 accident, however, he was exceedingly exposed at the mo-
 ment  he began  to  recover, and  took  a  violent  cold ;  the
 lung fever  set in, and after four or five days' sickness he
 died.   The three children which had the varioloid were
 so  slightly affected that  their indisposition  was  scarcely
 perceptible.  In  fact, except in the case of the little boy
 troubled with worms, the disease was so  light and mild in
 all the children, that it hardly made any change in their
 diet, studies, or amusements and play ;  and the disease did
 not seem to impair  their constitution in  the  least;—they
 rose from it at once, and went on as if they had  not been
 sick.
  " Almost immediately after the small pox  had left the
 asylum, the whooping cough made its appearance  there,
 and eight or  ten  of the small children had it.   Excepting
the little boy already named, whom  it  found afflicted with
 worms and extremely exhausted from  small pox, none of
them minded  this last disease at  all.  They continued in
school as usual—ate and played as usual.  They occasion-
ed no trouble  during the  night;  nothing was  given  them
 but their usual food  and drink ; and nothing extra was done
for  them.   Their cough was very  light and easy; and
none of them  complained.
  " After the whooping cough had left  the asylum, all its
 inmates remained in good health for about six weeks or two
months.
  " About the first of June, 1837, wheat being very scarce
and high-priced, and those who provided for the asylum not
 being  aware of the  importance of the children's being sup-
 plied with the unbolted wheat meal bread, furnished the in- 
EFFECTS OF DIET, BATHING, ETC.         265
stitution with fine flour made cf foreign wheat, which had
been a little heated during  the  passage.   When the chil-
dren commenced eating bread made of this flour, they were
all in fine health: but they had not continued to eat it more
than four weeks, before fifteen or twenty of them began to
have sore eyes ; and in  the course of three or four weeks
more, there were thirty cases of scarlet fever, and, of these,
two terminated  in death.  Still, however, this disease was
so modified by  the general regimen of the institution, that
not more than three or four out of the thirty subject to  it,
were confined to their beds by it, nor did they require much
extra attention.
  " That there was a very  close relation,  as to cause, be-
tween the sore eyes and the  scarlet fever, was  strongly in-
dicated  by the  fact, that  no child which had sore eyes had
the scarlet fever.
  " About the first of September, the asylum was again
furnished with a small supply of unbolted wheat meal, and
from this time till the  first of January, 1838, all the inmates
of the institution enjoyed excellent  health.  At the com-
mencement of the present year, some changes took place in
the board of managers, and a new caterer was appointed,
who supplied the institution with fine flour of second quali-
ty,  but sweet and  good.   In  the course of three  or four
weeks from the time the children commenced eating the
bread made of  fine flour,  a number of them began to have
sore eyes again.  The superintendent,  now feeling confi-
dent of the cause of  this  complaint, stated  her convictions
to the managers, and told them  the children must have the
coarse wheat meal bread, or their health could not be pre-
served.  In  the mean time, she endeavored to make the
evil as light as possible, by  giving the children very little
of the fine bread,  and sustaining them principally on good
potatoes and apples.   Very soon after this, however, a full
supply  of the coarse flour came  ; and from  that time to the
present, (now about five months,) the health of all the  in-
mates of the asylum has been excellent and uninterrupted.
   "Albany, June 12, 1838." 
266
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
  Let  those  upon whom devolves that most  important,
most interesting duty of guarding the health of the young,
pursue the judicious and well  regulated modes that were
pursued at the Albany Orphan Asylum ; and if the results
do not accord with the above, then does not Priessnitz, or
Graham, or any one, understand the effects of diet, air, ex-
ercise, and water.
                    CHAPTER  III.

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DISCOVERIES OF PRIESSNITZ.

  [All who have read the subject of water-cure, must have
noticed that there were discrepancies in the accounts of
the different authors, concerning the  discoveries of the im-
mortal founder of the new system.   My friend, A. J. Col-
vin, Esq., of Albany, the able and talented District Attor-
ney of that  city,  was  nearly one  year  at Grafenberg.
Being on very friendly and intimate  terms  with Priessnitz,
he availed  himself  of the opportunity  of writing  down a
full account of his discoveries and progress in his method
of cure.   Much credit  is due Mr. Colvin, for the service
he has so  faithfully  performed for  hydropathy.  As for
myself, my stay was very  short at Grafenberg,  and al-
though Priessnitz devoted to  the answering of my inquiries
more time than I could have asked, yet I could not, in that
short time, converse with him concerning the history  of his
discoveries and improvements, without too much encroach-
ing upon other matters  of more practical  importance.   I
knew,  moreover, that  Mr. Colvin  had  already  obtained a
correct account of  these discoveries, and that they would,
through him, come before  the American  people.  I feel
under  the greatest  obligation  to  that gentleman,  and am 
DISCOVERIES OF PRIESSNITZ.
267
certain, that the facts and information he has furnished for
this  work will  be duly appreciated by the friends of the
system generally in this country.
  Concerning some apparent discrepancy between Mr. Col-
vin and  Dr.  Smethurst, as  quoted  in the  former  part of
this work, and the authenticity of every part of his state-
ment, Mr. C. writes as follows :

  "The 2d of October,  1842, may have  been a  day of
'great rejoicing at Grafenberg, being kept as the forty-third
anniversary of the birth-day  of Priessnitz."   The reason of
which probably  was, because the 2d fell  upon a Sunday,
which is always  selected in Germany for such purposes,
if it fall within a day or  two of the true time.  A look at
the almanac  will  determine how this is.   I,  too, was at
Grafenberg in Oct. 1844,  and the  3d  was  kept as the an-
niversary, because the 4th was a Saint's day, and you know
it won't  do to dance in Catholic countries  on such days—
and this  was the  reason assigned to me  for not keeping the
anniversary on the 4th.
  " You may depend implicitly upon all the facts which  I
have furnished you—they were obtained from  the lips of
Priessnitz himself.  I wrote  them down  as  he gave them to
Capt. Moore,  of the English army, a  thorough German
scholar, educated at one of  the German Universities, and
speaking the language just  as well as  his native tongue.
To be certain that there were no mistakes,  I read my notes
to Mr. Niemann, Priessnitz's interpreter, who, at my re-
quest and in  my  presence,  asked  Priessnitz  if they were
correct, and Priessnitz said they  were, with few exceptions,
which, of course, I  corrected on the instant.   To satisfy
me of the injury made by  the cart-wheel, in his side, Priess-
nitz unbuttoned his vest and shirt bosom,  and  placed  my
hand upon  the  spot.  In  regard to  his age  I was very par-
ticular, I am not mistaken.
  " Being a lawyer myself,  I was aware how likely one is
to be deceived,  unless he be particular in  his cross exami-
nation.   I was particular, and I again repeat, that my state-
ment  may  be implicitly relied on."] 
268
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
                              Albany, Feb. 1st, 1847.
  Dr.  Shew: My Dear Sir,—You apprise me of your safe
return from  Grafenberg, and your  intention to publish
another work on the Water-Cure.   Anxious to accompany
it with a history of the  discoveries  of Priessnitz, you  ask
me to furnish mine, which you are pleased to say, is proba-
bly  more accurate than any or all else.   I had intended to
prepare my notes for publication, but the length of time
which  has now elapsed since they were made, will prevent,
unless  in the shape of detached articles.   I with pleasure,
therefore, extract what you desire, to  print or burn, as you
may prefer.
  1 was at Grafenberg,  you are aware, upwards of nine
months.  I arrived there in the autumn of  1844, in a state
of health which might be considered desperate.  The Wa-
ter-Cure was my last hope  for restoration ; if that  failed
me, I had but to look forward to a brief life of misery and
the grave.
  I shall never forget my drive up  the mountain, from the
little village of Freiwaldau to Grafenberg.  It was on the
morning of the 25lh of September, through  a driving show-
er of rain.   Although the day was  so cold and windy that
the teeth chattered in my head, I met on the road numerous
persons dressed in light  summer  clothing, without cravats,
the shirt open, and thrown wide over the coat, and the only
covering for the head, an umbrella.  I  supposed them the
insane of Priessnitz's establishment,  but soon  ascertained
my mistake, for  it  was  the common  habit of the  patients
while taking exercise preparatory to the baths.
  I was ushered into the presence of  Priessnitz by his sec-
retary, as forlorn and sad a looking  object, perhaps, as ever
solicited his skill.  Priessnitz's dress was of the plainest
kind ;  his coat a gray frock, loosely and badly cut, panta-
loons of the same  material, vest  double-breasted, and but-
toned up to the throat; his complexion was fair and slight-
ly pitted, (I afterwards  heard  him say, that he  had  the
small pox before he had  a knowledge  of the water-cure, or
he would  not have been  marked,)  hair light, and  shortly
cut, the forehead  expansive  and well formed, expressing 
DISCOVERIES OF PRIESSNITZ.
269
high perceptive and  intellectual power—moral sentiments
well developed—eye restless, brilliant, and  strikingly pene-
trating—nose  prominent,  mouth large  and  square—lips
firmly and handsomely set together—the figure erect  and
manly—all  together, his  appearance was  impressive.  I
felt that I was in the  presence of no ordinary man.  A
member of the Aulic Council, who spoke English  indiffer-
ently, was present, together with several other persons.
   A letter from  Ex-President Van  Buren, which I  was
careful  to have translated into the German, was the means
of a ready and favorable  introduction.   Priessnitz rapidly
inquired the history of my malady, passed his hands quickly
over mine, said  I was curable,  and that on the  following
day he  would  accompany  me to  the bath to determine the
treatment.  ******
        *******
     *******
        *******
   Having experienced in  my own person the efficacy of the
practice, and  witnessed its extraordinary success in the
persons of others, I naturally felt a  lively interest to obtain
from Priessnitz, not  only a  connected  account of his dis-
coveries, and  the mental  process  by which he  arrived at
them, but also a  sketch of himself  and family.   I accord-
ingly, a few days before my departure, apprised him of my
wishes.  So many unfounded and contradictory versions of
his discoveries had made their way into books, pamphlets,
and newspapers, that he was the more willing  to oblige me.
   Vincent Priessnitz, then,  was the youngest of six  child-
ren, and was  born on the fourth day of October,  1799, at
Grafenberg, the family residence, which has since become
so  celebrated by his  discoveries.   Although often stig-
matized as an unlettered peasant,  and of ignoble parent-
age, yet  his  father  was  a  respectable landed proprietor.
In  virtue of  the laws,  whereby  the real property de-
scends  to the youngest son,  Priessnitz, on  the death of
his father in 1838, became  possessed of the family estates
and residence.   He  received the  rudiments  of education
at the Catholic school,  in the neighboring village of  Frei- 
270
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
waldau, and was  as well instructed as the majority of
farmers' sons in our own country.  His mother lost her life
in the year 1821, on the same field where himself, not many
years before, had  received  an injury, the cure of which
had contributed very greatly to extend his  reputation,  and
lay the foundation  of his future system.  His only brother,
and the eldest born,  is a  distinguished Catholic priest,  and
is now at the head  of the principal cathedral in one of the
neighboring provinces.
  At the  age  of  thirteen,  Priessnitz  sprained  his  wrist,
which caused  much pain and inflammation; he instinc-
tively applied it to  the pump.  Finding that the water cool-
ed the part, and assuaged the pain, but unable to keep it
constantly  there, it  occurred to  him  to  apply an  UM-
SCHLAG, or Wet bandage.   He applied one accordingly,
which he re-wet as fast as it dried.  He found that  this
was entirely successful in removing the inflammation  and
relieving the pain, but that it induced a rash; and as  this
was a phenomenon  new to  his youthful  mind, as  unac-
countable,  it led to much reflection.   Was it favorable or
the reverse, that such a consequence should flow from such
a cause ?   Could it be that his blood was impure ?  He per-
severed in  the application, and the wrist speedily regained
its strength.  Shortly after,  being in the woods, he crushed
his thumb.  He again resorted to the  Umschlag, and with
like success : but again the rash made its appearance.  He
thought his blood  must  be  bad ; yet he could not decide
without further evidence.
   The success which  had attended the application  of the
 Umschlag in his own  person, filled  his mind with delight.
He was impatient to see it tried upon  others.   Whenever,
therefore, he heard of  a  neighbor  who had received  an in-
 jury, or had  enlarged or swollen joints or parts, or  was
afflicted with pain, he urged, and generally prevailed upon
him, to use the Umschlag : but he remarked that the rash
did not uniformly appear ; and in such  cases the process of
healing was rapid, while in those wherein it did appear, the
cure was more obstinate.
   This convinced him, that  in one the blood was healthy, 
DISCOVERIES OF PRIESSNITZ.          271
while in another it  was mixed with peccant  matter, and
that water possessed the property of extracting that matter.
In cases of chronic  ulcers, and where there was no inflam-
mation, it occurred to him to cover the wet Umschlag with a
dry one, for the purpose of creating heat, or a return of in-
flammatory  action, without which,  he discovered, a  cure
could not  be effected.
  In the sixteenth year of his age, the accident occurred to
which I have alluded, nearly depriving him of life, and the
world of the embryo  system.  Priessnitz was engaged in
driving a  young horse, with a load of hay, down the moun-
tain.   It became necessary to cog the wheels,  to prevent
the too rapid  descent of the cart.  He was standing before
the horse, holding him by the head, while others were per-
forming the  work of chaining ; the  horse got  frightened,
and rushed down the hill.   Unwilling to allow him to des-
troy himself, Priessnitz held on, and was dragged down be-
tween his feet.   While in  this position, three of his teeth,
two of them upper  front teeth, were broken, and his arms
and body  severely bruised  by the horse's hoofs.   He could
hold out no longer; the cart passed over  his  body, crush-
ing three  of his  ribs.   He  was taken up  senseless,  and
while in this  state,  the surgeon of Freiwaldau being sum-
moned, probed his wounds, and  pronounced them incurable.
With a return of consciousness, Priessnitz bethought him-
self of his never-failing resource.  He tore off the band-
ages  of  the  surgeon, and  applied the  Umschlag.   How
grateful, and how soothing the application !   The inflamma-
tion was subdued, the pain alleviated, and he felt persuaded
that he should get well.   He replaced the broken ribs by
pressing his abdomen against the window-sill with  all his
strength, and inflating the lungs so as to swell out the chest.
He then re-applied the Umschlag, and finally recovered, al-
though to  this day he bears in his  side a deep impress of
the wheel  by which he received the injury.
  The accident, as is  usual in country places, created quite
an excitement, but the cure far greater.  The simplicity of
the means, and that  a mere  stripling had evinced such
boldness and fortitude, were matters of astonishment.   The 
272
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
reputation of the  Umschlag was not only increased,  it was
established.
   From this period, the mind of Priessnitz was directed to-
wards the curative  power of cold  water.   He felt  that he
had entered  upon a mighty field of discovery, and  he was
resolved  to know the extent of it.  He now  began to use
the Sponge, in connexion with the Umschlag, and with such
marvellous success, that  the peasants believed him a wiz-
ard ; to test  which, he frequently found, in the morning,
a broom-stick  placed across  his  door-sill.   This credulity,
natural, perhaps, to the ignorant, who are prone to attribute
to supernatural power every occurrence which passes their
comprehension, encouraged him in his experiments.
   What  was  he  to do where disease was  general, not lo-
cal ?  The Umschlag and Sponge were found insufficient.
Why not envelope the whole body ?   He was transported
with the idea ; and the LEINTUCH, or Wet Sheet packing,
sprung into existence.
   Of all his discoveries, this may be esteemed the most im-
portant, considered with reference to the extent and  variety
of diseases in which  it  is employed ; and would alone have
embalmed his  memory in the  recollections  of a grateful
posterity.   The old and  the young, the  feeble and  the
strong, are alike submitted to its soothing and  revivifying
influence.  Priessnitz was elated !  And well he might be,
for he had  made a discovery which  entitled him to the
homage of the world.
   But he did not stop here. Finding some local chronic af-
fections resisting as well the Leintuch as the  Umschlag, he
conceived the idea of partial baths, for a long time continued,
to produce perturbation and reaction deep beneath the sur-
face.   Hence the foundation of head, eye, arm, sitz, leg,
and foot baths.  Still, there was a class of  these cases so
obstinate as to resist  this  united treatment.   What  was to
be done ?  Was there  no way in  which the water  coulu
be here made effective ?   He had experienced the potency
of falling water.  Why  might  it  not be the agent which
he desired ?   He erected  at  once, in one of  the beautiful 
DISCOVERIES OF PRIESSNITZ.
273
dells of the mountain, a DOUCHE, and the object was at-
tained !
  The SWITZEN, or packing in the woollen blanket, was
suggested by observing that perspiration frequently relieved
pain, and was efficacious  in many diseases, and, as unlike
the vapor and hot baths, it  did not accelerate the circulation
and debilitate  the system ; and as sweating in it, after a
proper time, would voluntarily terminate, he did  not hesi-
tate to give it the preference over all other known modes of
promoting perspiration, and adopt it in practice.  The pati-
ents who were obliged, occasionally, to  remain in  it some
time, on  complaining of  a sensation  of  faintness, he re-
lieved, by opening the windows and washing the face.   The
relief thus afforded, induced  him  to sponge  the body, and
no ill consequences following,  he directed the whole person
to be  immersed .  Hence he was led to the WANNEN
BAD, or Plunge  bath.
   There was still a  class of cases,  such as apoplexy,
paralysis,  tetanus, lock-jaw,  hydrophobia,  insanity,  poi-
soning, &c, and some cases  of determined  colds, inflam-
mations,  and fevers,  to which none  of the treatment yet
devised, except in some stages,  perhaps, the Leintuch,  was
adapted.  Here  was  a trial  for the  new system.   Could
it be overcome, the triumph was complete.  In all the cases
mentioned, a speedy cure  was hoped for, in the judgment of
Priessnitz, if a marked changecould beproduced. His genius
did not desert him in this extremity.  He designed ABGES-
CHRECTES, or tepid shallow bath, to meet the emergency.
Containing but a few inches of  water of a temperature of
from 60° to 70° F., the patient could  be kept in it, exposed
to active friction, until the object  sought for was  effected,
(and he has been  known to keep a patient in for nine hours.)
And here we have the chef d'ceuvre of Priessnitz's discov-
eries.   It is his favorite resource in these and in all cases
of extremity : and it  is not too much to say, that without
it, many of his  most splendid  achievements must have been
unrecorded.
   The  ABREIBUNG, or dripping wet sheet, was a much
              12* 
274
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
later addition to his practice, and was suggested by wash-
ing with  the hands and  a towel.   It is used, generally, as
preparatory to other and stronger treatment, although it is,
in some instances, continued to the termination of the cure.
  After his reputation became somewhat extended, Priess-
nitz visited patients at their houses ;  but he  remarked that
such were not cured  as  rapidly as those who took the trou-
ble to come to him.   Hence he was led to conclude, that to
make mankind  appreciate a  benefit, they  must pay for it,
either in  belief, in trouble, or in pocket; and as he charged
nothing for his services, the system would have died  a na-
tural death, had he discouraged the idea, that there was not
something supernatural  in it, and permitted it to rest  on its
simple merits.   He  also remarked, that  as  soon  as  he
adopted the plan of calling on the patients, instead  of their
coming to  him, they fell off from hundreds to tens in the
year.   He therefore declined to go out at  all, and  refused
to prescribe,  unless personally  solicited at  his own resi-
dence.  And this was the  germ of  the present establish-
ment,  the fame of which has spread throughout the world.
  The Medical Faculty were not slow to perceive the tend-
ency of these discoveries to  the overthrow of their unpro-
gressive system, which  had for centuries,  like a pall, cov-
ered the earth.  As  early as 1821, the  three  practising
physicians of Freiwaldau,  Dietrich,  the brother-in-law of
the Burgomaster, and two brothers by the  name of  Gunter,
formed the nucleus of a plot to destroy him.   Every person
to whom he  had administered  was  secretly inquired  of,
whether the Umschlag, the Sponges,  or the baths, were not
medicated, or whether Priessnitz did  not make use  of some
agent than water, or some herb or drug, in connexion with
the  water.  Could such a fact  have been established, the
overthrow of  Priessnitz  had been certain, for in no country
are the laws  against empiricism  more stringent  than in
Austria.   He  was thus constantly upon his guard, and  his
utmost ingenuity and invention were  required to make wa-
ter  alone supply the place of every other  remedy.   Be-
tween the years 1821 and 1828, these  physicians had him
brought several times before the Syndic,  or Chief Justice 
DISCOVERIES  OF PRIESSNITZ.
of the town, to answer for  unlawful practice;  but he was
always acquitted.   In the  year 1828,  however, the most
determined effort was made to crush him.  The country
was scoured for  witnesses, and a  large number were ex-
amined, to prove he had done them injury.   Not one, how-
ever,  but acknowledged he had received  benefit.  One, a
miller by occupation, who had  been  cured of gout,  as one
of the Gunters declared, by him, on being  asked, " Who
had helped him ?" replied, " Both :  Gunter helped me out
of money, Priessnitz out of my disease."   On being again
asked " What he paid Priessnitz ?" he replied,  " Nothing:
I still owe him thanks, which I  now return him  for the first
time."  But what availed testimony ?  The Syndic was in
the interests of his persecutors, and  Priessnitz  was impo-
tent against their wealth and influence.   He was declared
to be illegally tampering with the public  health, and ordered
to be arrested.   From a sentence so manifestly  partial and
unjust, Priessnitz appealed to the tribunal of Brunn.   This
judicature  reversed  the judgment  of the  Syndic, and de-
cided, that as  it  appeared Priessnitz made use of nothing
in his practice except water, he  was at liberty to pursue  it.
His persecutions did not terminate here;  the faculty still
followed him; their ancient and cherished  system was  in
danger; and the arrogant innovator must be silenced.   He
was complained  of  before the tribunal of Wiedenau,  a
neighboring province.  His accusers, however, unable to
bring any proof, other than  such as  they had  before pro-
duced, the complaint was dismissed  ; but he was forbidden to
treat any patients out of his own  district.   Priessnitz  re-
plied, with spirit, that water was free to  all,  and he would
not  inquire whence the patients came.  But the malevolence
of his enemies was sleepless.   They resolved that the mat-
ter should be brought to the notice  of the Court at Vienna.
For this purpose, the Medical Faculty there were appealed
to.  They interfered, and succeeded in  bringing the sub-
ject before the Emperor Francis.   Baron  Turckheim, of
the Aulic Council, together with a commission of District
and Staff Surgeons,  was appointed to proceed  to Grafen-
berg,  to make investigations, and report the result.  They 
276
THE WATER-CURE  MANUAL.
went  strongly prejudiced, both against Priessnitz and  his
system.
  At  this time Priessnitz had at his establishment quite a
number of patients, or cure guests, as they are universally
termed at Grafenberg ;  and his success in curing disease,
which had baffled the arts of the most eminent of the Faculty,
was decisive.
  The commission examined his baths,  his leiniuchs, his
swilzens, analyzed  the water  and interrogated  the Bade-
dieners or bath  servants  and patients.  But  nothing  was
elicited to convict  the audacious  peasant.   The bath tubs
were  made of wood, the  leiniuchs of linen, the  switzens of
wool,  the water was pure and unadulterated, gushing from
the  thousand springs  of the mountain  : and to the  interro-
gatories, the badedieners and patients replied, that no agent
except water was employed  in the  treatment.   So favora-
ble were the  reports made by the commission, that  he  was
permitted not only to continue his  practice, but he  was
authorized  to give certificates of inability for service to
military  officers, who might place  themselves under  his
care,  with the like effect as staff surgeons : a  result of the
efforts of his accusers as unexpected as it was galling to
them.   Instead of  his condemnation, which they had confi-
dently anticipated, behold! he was  exalted to an equality
with themselves.   This was too much  for endurance.  He
must  be  deprived at least of the countenance of the govern-
ment.   In  1834, therefore, after the  death of the Emperor
Francis, the  head  of the Department of Brunn was pre-
vailed upon to withdraw it.   Priessnitz was advised strong-
ly to  make  an appeal to Vienna, but, disgusted with  this
exhibition of petty envy, he refused.  It was not long before
the  military, numbers of whom from  all  parts of Europe,
were  now his patients, assailed the  invidious interference
of the authorities  of  Brunn.  The  ambassadors from the
different courts  at Vienna were induced to interpose, and
Priessnitz was restored to the favor  of which he had  been
so unjustly deprived.   But  it is a significant  sign of the
apprehensions entertained of the ultimate  triumph of the
Water-Cure, that,  to  this day, all publications in favor of 
DISCOVERIES OF PRIESSNITZ.
277
 it, and the establishment at Grafenberg, are expressly for-
 bidden in the Austrian dominions, through the influence of
 the Medical fraternity.
   Thus terminated in  disaster, after thirteen  years of op-
 position, the  attempts to destroy the new system.  Hence-
 forth, its disciples  have only to be true to it, to witness  its
 final consummation.
  Priessnitz was married in the year 1828, to  Miss  Sophia
 Priessnitz,  a distant relation, the daughter of the chief jus-
 tice of the adjacent village of Bochmishdorf.   By her  he
 has had eight children, the eldest of which only was a son.
 This son, while an  infant, died  from a spasm  induced  by
 the administration of a dose of medicine :  the  mother and
 friends insisting that water was not calculated for the case.
 Priessnitz with reluctance yielded to their prejudices.  Not
 anticipating so rapid a  termination, he thought he might
 interpose in  time to save, but  the fatal dose had sped  its
 errand, and the little sufferer was  beyond even the  power
of water.  From that day to this, no medical  practitioner
has darkened  his threshold, except to  study his system,  or
 become his patient.
  But  I have  spun  this  letter, I  fear, to an unreasonable
length.   In the  sincere hope that  the  blessings of the
Water-Cure may be disseminated, and that it may eventu-
ally, as I feel  firmly persuaded it should, take  the place of
all other methods of curing disease,
       1 am with sincere esteem, very truly yours,
                                  Andrew J. Colvin. 
278
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
                   CHAPTER IV.

  EFFECTS OF  WATER  IN INTOXICATION--A CURIOUS AND
                   REMARKABLE CASE.

  The following  narrative is taken from the work of Dr.
Currie,  published  about fifty years  since.   The  account
was given on the authority of Dr.  Robertson, a surgeon-
general of the naval hospital in Barbadoes, and can be re-
lied on as being true.   On  returning a second time to Bar-
badoes,  Dr. Robertson,  according to the  request of Dr.
Currie, investigated the  particulars of the case, which were
given in his own words :
  " A gentleman of this island, whose name  was  Weeks,
a great votary of Bacchus, was in the practice, from fifteen
to twenty years, of plunging into cold water when he rose
from his bottle, and actually going to  sleep in a trough of
water, with his head supported on a kind of wooden pillow
made for the purpose,  above the  surface.   When he dined
abroad,  and had not the convenience of his  own trough, he
used to strip off his coat, waistcoat, and shirt, and  sit ex-
posed in the open  air, and in that situation  go to sleep,
whether it rained or not.  And sometimes he went and bath-
ed in the nearest adjoining  pond, to which he generally re-
quired assistance to be conveyed.  The  effect of this prac-
tice  was, that instead  of experiencing debility,  lassitude,
head-ache,  and nausea, he  found himself,  on awaking,
cheerful and refreshed,  and free  from all the effects of in-
toxication.   In the year 1789, dining one  day abroad, he
got alternately drunk  and sober three several times before
midnight, each time recovering  his sobriety by immersing
himself, and sleeping in cold  water;  and on  awaking re-
turning  to the company. The last time, after supper, he
was  so  immoderately intoxicated,  that  he  insisted on his
companions undressing  him and  carrying  him  themselves
to the pond.   They carried him accordingly in  the chair,
and  set him up to the chin in water, where  he continued
upwards of  an hour, a person  supporting him.  I had this 
BOILS IN  WATER TREATMENT.
279
last circumstance from a gentleman, one of the party, whose
veracity may be entirely depended on.
  " At home, however, he used, as I  have already  men-
tioned, a trough made for the purpose, with a bench in it
as a pillow, having been nearly drowned when sleeping in
his pond, from the negro, who was appointed to watch him,
having himself fallen asleep.   In this watery bed he would
sleep, one,  two, three, or even  more  hours,  experiencing
always  the greatest refreshment.   His wife  and family,
when they wished him to change his quarters, used to draw
out the plug, and let the  water run off, when he awoke, and
humorously complained  of the loss of  his bed-clothes.   At
length this expedient began to lose its effect in rousing him,
and one time he continued to sleep in  his empty trough.
In consequence of this,  he  was seized with extreme rigors
and chills,  followed by  a fever and attack of rheumatism,
which affected him a long time, and made him desist from
the  practice in future.   But to the end of his life he was in
the  habit of sitting,  when  intoxicated,  with his clothes
open, and sometimes quite naked, exposed to the wind and
rain.    This extraordinary  character died  of  apoplexy
about three  weeks ago, aged  sixty-three."
     '   Do Boils occur often in Water Treatment ?
  Drs. Wilson and Gully, of Malvern, England,  in con-
sidering  the  alleged " dangers of  the  water treatment,"
make the following  remarks: " Let it be understood, how-
ever, that we by no means class ourselves  with those prac-
tisers of the water-cure who appear to consider a crisis of
boils  essential, and who, therefore,  are  much given to sti-
mulate the system, without precise measurement of its ca-
pabilities.  Let it further  be understood, that were we bent
upon such coarse practice, there is scarcely more than one
case in  twenty in which it is possible to induce the crisis in
question.  Of upwards of five hundred  patients  who have
been under treatment at Malvern, not one more than twenty-
two  have had an eruption of boils, large, small,  or conglo- 
280
THE WATER-CURE MANUAL.
merated."   Bulwer  makes  also a  similar assertion.   In
stating the fact, that the cure does not really begin  until
after there has been some crisis disturbance of the system,
he adds,  " not that the  peculiar ' crisis' sought for so ve-
hemently by the German water-doctors, and usually under
their hands manifested by boils and eruptions,  is at all a
necessary part of the cure ;—it is,  indeed, so far as I have
seen, a rare occurrence."
  Whether these remarks of Drs. Wilson and Gully and
Bulwer exhibit something of  spleen towards their German
neighbors,  I  will not pretend to determine.   One thing is
certain ;  the results  of their observations concerning the
frequency of boils is very different from my own in the city
of New  York.  Instead of  there  being scarcely one  of
twenty of my patients that have boils, there is  scarcely one
out of twenty but that has those " comforters."   Persons
that  have  very feeble  health,  and cannot be cured, will
seldom have boils or eruptions  to any considerable extent.
The  systems of such  have not power to expel the morbid
matters to the surface and less vital parts.  But those who
are able  to go about, and gradually accustom themselves
to a large share of exercise and vigorous treatment, have
experienced boils.  Some who had never a symptom of the
kind  before, and believed that such a result could not pos-
sibly be caused in their systems, have had boils, crop after
crop.   Some who have practised no more treatment than a
very mild shower bath once or  twice daily, have had  very
large, and  at the same time  troublesome, boils.  The old
notion that our  grandfathers  and grandmothers have, that
boils are  healthy, and purify  the blood, seems  to be proved
by the fact, that our  patients all grow  better  after having
had them.   Among the very best  cures I have known  by
water, are those who have had an abundance of boils.
   Should Bathing be practised at the Menstrual Period ?
  Bathing  should not be discontinued  at  the time of the
menstrual  period.  Rather, there should be more  bathing 
             BATHING DURING MENSTRUATION,         281

than less.  If there is  debility at this time, then the baths
should be of a milder form, but oftener repeated.   I have
elsewhere stated, that in some cases of the best results of
water  treatment, the menstrual function  stops for  awhile.
Perhaps it is from the fact, that so vigorous an action of the
skin, bowels, and other excretory organs, is set up, that this
apparently purifying function does not for a time go on. 
INDEX.
Arm bath..........................................p. 75
Air bath, cool or cold.................................. 91
Air.................................................115
Apoplexy............................................131
    "    Causes...................................131
    "    Symptoms.................................. ib.
    "    Treatment..................................ib.
Asthma..............................................140
    "   Causes......................................ib.
    "   Treatment................................... ib.
Ague and Fever.....................................180
    "      "   Causes................................181
    "      "   Remarks............................. ib.
    "      «   Case of Mr. De Groot..................236
Albany Orphan Asylum experiments....................257
Bandages, wet....................................... 85
Bathing,  and description of baths.......................55
    "  In drunkenness...............................60
    "  In obstinacy.................................ib.
Baths, directions concerning...........................ib.
Bath  by affusion.....................................61
Bandages, Oil-cloth, &c. over..........................89
Baths, temperature of.................................107
Boils...............................................110
Bed clothing and sleep................................126
Bronchitis, or inflammation of the air tubes of the Lungs.. 139
    "    Chronic form of.............................140
    "    Treatment.................................. ib.
Bleeding from the kidneys and bladder..................178
Biliousness...........................................159
Bleeding from the nose................................222
Burns..............................................199
Critical symptoms and crisis in Water-Cure............  .109 
                          INDEX.                     283

 Crisis, treatment  in.................................p. 113
 Clothing............................................121
     "   Irregularity of wearing.......................123
     "   Of infants................................... 124
 Children, water upon the brain of......................130
 Croup..............................................136
 Chalk, Coaf &c. eating of.............................147
 Constipation.........................................150
 Colic...............................................162
   "  Treatment of.................................. ib.
 Cholera Infantum of the United  States, or the Watery
       Gripes of England..............................167
 Cholera Morbus......................................ib.
 Cholera.............................................171
 Convulsions.........................................216
 Corns...............................................220
 Crushings and Bruises................................221
 Colds...............................................223
   "  In the Chest.................................... ib.
 Cancers.............................................224
 Chicken Pox......................"...................197
 Consumption........................................224
    "       (Quick) Case of Miss Lydia Mott. of Alba-
               ny, New-York...............'..........225
    "       Case of Mr. W. Roberts, of Hartford.......229
    "       Case of Mr. Jacob Campbell...............232
 Case of Indigestion, Depression of Spirits, Debility.......233
    "   Miss Potter, Spinal Disease.....................235
 Cases among the Shakers.........-...................239
 Case of Amos Allen..................................241
 Cases from the Rev. Mr. Butts.........................242
Does man naturally drink............................. 40
Do Boils occur often in water treatment?................279
Drinking of Water................................... 35
    "   Philosophy of................................. 41
    "   In Fevers, &c................................. 42
    "   After exercise and fatigue..................... 43
    "   Treatment for injuries from.................... ib.
    "   Rules for  ................................... 44
    "   At meals.................................... ib.
    "   In Acidity of the Stcmach. Heart-burn, and Thirst. 46
    "   In Hiccup....................................47
    1      Bleeding from the Stomach................. ib.
    «     Cholera.................................. ib.
    "     Constipation............................... 48 
284
INDEX
Drinking of Mineral Waters.........................p. 48
    "   For Head-ache............................... ib.
    "   Its effects upon the Teeth.....................ib.
    "   Its effects upon the Skin....................... 49
    "   In Palpitation of the Heart..................... ib.
Douche bath.........................................66
    "       Different kinds........................... 67
Diarrhoea as a crisis..................................Ill
Disease, description of.................................127
Dyspepsia, or Indigestion..............................147
Discontent..........................................149
Diarrhoea...........................................166
    "    Causes.....................................167
    "    Treatment.................................. ib.
Dysentery, or Bloody Flux...........................168
    "       "       "       Causes..........,............ ib.
    "       "       "       Symptoms.....*............ ib.
    "       "       «       Treatment..................ib.
    «       «       "       A case......................169
Diabetes, or the chronic excess of urine.................177
    "     Treatment.................................. ib.
Dtodsv.............................................216
Flannel.....
Food, too rich
147 
INDEX.
285
Food, too hot......................................p. 147
  "   Taking too many kinds at a time.................148
Fevers..............................................179
  "   Typhus and  Typhoid.......................... ib.
  "   Remittent and Intermittent...................... ib.
  "   Yellow....................................... ib.
  "   Prevention of.................................. ib.
  "   Treatment of..................................180
Frost-bite...........................................221
Feet, habitual coldness of..............................224
Food, remarks on.....................................251
Grafenberg. account of................................  9
    "      Festival at................................ 26
Gastritis, or Inflammation of the Stomach................143
    "    Causes..................................'-• ib.
    "    Treatment..................................144
Greasy food..........................................147
Gravel..............................................177
Gout................................................206
  "  Treatment of....................................ib.
How often to bathe................................... 69
Half bath........................................... ib.
Head bath.......................................... 70
Hand bath.........................................- - 76
Hats and Caps, wearing of.......................-.....122
Head-ache...........................................130
    "     Sick.......................................131
Hemoptysis, or Bleeding from the Lungs................141
     "       Treatment...............................ib.
Heart disease........................................143
     "        Treatment.............................. ib.
Hsnatemeris, or Hemorrhage from the Stomach..........146
     «        Causes.....---.........................146
     «        Treatment.............................. ib.
Hepatitis, or Inflammation  of the Liver.................158
     "     Treatment................................  • ib.
Hydrophobia.........................................216
Itch.................................................198
Injections...................-. -......................  51
Inflammation of the Throat............................lp°
     «       "      «      Causes..................... ib.
     «       «      "      Treatment..................137
Indolence.............................- •• - • -.........14°
Indigestion, Nervous Excitability, and Melancholy........lot
     «       A case...................................1D 
286                      INDEX.

Indigestion, Constipation, Piles, and Sciatica or Neuralgia
      of the Leg.  A case..........................p. 164
Jaundice.............................................158
    "    Treatment..................................ib.
Leg bath............................................ 74
Light...............................................126
Mouth or Oral Bath...................:...............72
Mind, overtaxing of...................................149
  "   Treatment.....................................ib.
Measles.............................................198
Menstruation, painful..................................222
    "      Suppression of............................223
Miscellaneous Cases..................................233
Nasal Bath..........................................71
Nephritis, or Inflammation of the Kidneys...............176
Priessnitz's Discoveries................................266
Priessnitz, Account of................................-  9
Plunge Bath.........................................62
Plunge Baths, Priessnitz's.............................65
Proud Flesh.........................................90
Phrenitis,—Inflammation of the Brain, or Brain Fever.....127
         Caseof...................................128
Paralysis, or Palsy....................................132
    "    Treatment of...............................ib.
Pleuritis,—Pleurisy, or Inflammation of the Inner Mem-
          brane of the Chest..................*........138
    "   Causes of...................................ib.
    "   Treatment of................................ ib.
Pneumonia,   or Inflammation  of the  Substance of  the
          Lungs.....................................139
    "     Treatment of..............................ib.
Peritonitis, or Inflammation of the Lining Membrane of the
      Abdomen......................................162
Piles................................................163
  "  Treatment of................................... ib.
Paronychia,—Whitlow, or  Felon.......................217
    "      Causes of...............................ib.
    "      Treatment of.............................ib.
Pregnancy and Childbirth.............................255
    "      "      <•     Case of Mrs. Shew............ib.
Q,uinsy.......................................:......135
Ringworm...........................................198
    "     Causes of...................................136
    "     Treatment of..............................ib.
Rubbing Wet Sheet..................................56 
INDEX.
287
Rheumatism.......................................p. 206
    "      Treatment of..............................ib.
    "      Case of...................................207
    "      Remarks on...............................209
    "      A strong case of...........................212
    "      Case of Mr. Rolph........................214
Sponge Bath.........................................58
Shower Bath.........................................59
Sitz or Hip Bath..............................„.....72
Sweating process..............................v.'.....100
    "      How does it operate ?....................... ib.
Sweating Blankets...................................101
Skin Diseases........................................191
Sleep..............................................117
Stomatitis, or Canker of the Mouth.....................135
Sore Throat, (common)...............................137
    "       Clergyman's............................138
Spasm of the Stomach...............................144
    "      «      "   Case of......................: ib.
Stimulating Condiments...............................148
Stone in the Bladder..................................178
Scarlatina, or Scarlet Fever...........................197
    "      "      "       Treatment of............... ib.
Salt Rheum. Itch, Ring-worm, and other Skin Diseases.. .198
Scalds and Burns............'........................ .199
    "      Apparently miraculous effectsof cold water in. ib.
    «      Caseof..................................202
Should Bathing be practised at the Menstrual Period?---280
Small  Pox...........................................183
Scrofula, or King's Evil...............................224
Spinal Disease.......................................235
    "      "  Case of Miss Potter....................ib.
    "      "      "   Miss Thompson.................ib.
Towel Bath..........................................53
Tooth-ache, and preservation of the Teeth..............138
Teething of Children.......................-..........135
Tonsilitis............................................136
Tea and Coffee.......................................148
Tetanus, or Lock Jaw.................................218
    «      «       Treatment of.........,............ib.
Toe Nail, inverted....................................222
Urinary difficulties.............................-.....478
Vomiting by Water...............................•. - • • 49
    «      "       In Poisoning......................ib.
Vomiting, to check...................................5o 
288
INDEX.
 Vapor Bath........................................P-  96
 Venereal, and other private diseases...................178
 Variola,—Varioloid, or Small Pox......................183
     «      «      "      "   Symptoms of,...........ib.
     «    '  "      "      "   Appearance of the eruption,  ib.
     «      "      "      "   Period of maturation.....184
     «      «      "      "   Prevention of marks in. .. .194
     «      "      "      "   Cases at Lebanon Springs..197
 Varicella,—Chicken Pox, or the Little Small Pox........197
 Wounds..............................................  89
 Water, general description of..........................29
    "   Qualities of...................................  31
    "   In vicinity of Burying Grounds..................  32
    "   Amount of, in Food............................33
.Wave  Bath..........................................  69
 Warm Foot Bath,  Pediluvium........................77
 Wet Sheet, or Lein Tuch........................----78
     "      Discovery of..............................79
     "      Principles of.................,............  ib.
     "•      Poultice effect  of..........................80
     "      Bleaching effect of........................ib.
     "      Soothing effect of..........................81
     "      Mode of applying the......................ib.
     "      Not to be used generally for Sweating........82
     "      In Fevers and other inflammatory diseases---ib.
     "      Bathing after the..........................82
     "      Becoming cold in the.......................83
     "      Heat and Fullness in the Head, from the.....ib.
     "      In Domestic Practice......................ib.
     "      Should water drinking be practised while in the.  84
     "      Is Water absorbed from the................ib.
 Wet Dress..........................................  ib-
 Wet Compresses, Bandages, Fomentations,  &c...........85
     «      "    Cooling,  Warming, and Stimulating ....  ib.
 Wet Girdle...........................................88
 Water Dressings for Cuts  and Wounds.................89
 Water Applications, Tepid, Hot, and Warm.............102
 Water, Cautions in the Use of.........................108
 Whooping Cough....................................142
     «       "      Treatment of........................ib.
 Worms in the Bowels.................................176
     «       "       Causes of.........................">■
     «       "       Treatment  of.....................ib- 
 
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