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Lorsqua la document est trop grand pour Atra reproduit en un seul clichA. il est filmA A partir de I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A droita. et de heut en baa. an prenent le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Las diagrammes suivants iiiuatrant le mAthode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wt M0DSR3I ST. MOJtlQUJS 8TBBBT, NBAS eKntJLh PALAIBS .^•^...... 10 a.m. to 1 pwm. Except Mondav tmd Saturdav* flagl* U& Tidnr - - - Px n^kets - - . • - fUrtMB nttoti - - - • '0AVID B. A, MACBEAN, M.D., ' JPraprieior, •• '1 $1.00 Si 16.00 110.00 IS THE HOT-AIR BATH AN ARTICLE TAKKN FROM THl Dublin University Magazine^ August, 1873. That direful scourge, the Asiatic cholera, is reported to be oil its march westward, and the newspaper press is beginning to warn local authorities of their duty with respect to the inforcement of proper pre- cautionary measures. It is only when some epidemic rages, tnat matters affecting pubUc health excite general attention. Then, in- deed, our municipalities seem keenly alive to the emergency ; committees are appoint-^ ed and elaborate reports prepared, public meetings are held, flowing speeches joiade, and promising resolutions passed by accla- mation. Parliament even catches the sani> lary fervour, and Bills are hastily drawn up, and as hastily placed, as Acts, od the statute-book — in short, a virtuous, patriotic sense of duty appears to have seiz^ the;na- tion at large. But a sense of duty that is created only by a panic, is not likely to be permanent, and seldom, inde6d, survive^ the cause that vivified it. Hejice, we al- ways find that, however earnestly sanatary measures may be discussed during the pi:e- valence of an epidemic panic, interest in them gradually fades away as the panic subsides, and the measures enacted are suf- .•i I- i 1 Tl V ■f fered to remain, for Ihe most pjM^t, a dead letler. That, at the present moment, in how very few cities and towns in Ireland or Great Bntain, do the great mass of the people en- joy the advantages of those prime essentials of healthful existence — pure water to drink, and pure air to breathe m their habitations? Then how shamefully imperfect is our gen- eral diainage, without which a proper sani- tary condition is impossible. Bat yet more shameful is the want of aa adequate system for the utilization of sewage, which is per- mitted to exercise a most pestiferous influ- ence on public health. It is little to the pur- pose to lament the existence of thene evils, and say that the neglect with which such matters are treated is not in keeping with our boasted civilization, and the scientific enlightenment of oirr age ; the truth is that the ravages of an epidemic alone can scourge national apathy into actipn. It is not our intention, however, to dwell on such sanitary matters at present, our purpose is to draw attention more particu- larly to one great, cheap, and easy means of promoting public health, the value of which is fully acknowledged by the medi- cal profession, and also by Parliament — ^we allude to the establishment of public bath«. Properly constructed and conducted baths are, in truth, admirable sanitary institu- tions. This is admttted on all hands, but the question we desire to consider is one about which a good deal of diversity of opi- nion fjxists, viz., What form of hath is most II ■' f suitable foi* the general public? in olher words — What is the best bathing merlium, water or air ? This is a question of great social impor- tance, and we think a calm consideration of the merits of water and air as bathing mediums, will lead to the conclusion that there ^8 no form of bath so well adapted to meet the bathing wants of the population of all classes— but more particularly of the in dustrious hardworking classes — 'as the hot air bath, commonly known as the ^* Tur kish." We b6lieve the more closely and impartially this matter is examined, the more clearly will it appear that the habitual use of the hot-air bath would be an inestim- able blessing to the working classes, though, at first si ghi, prejudices may be active in i-epelling such a conclusion. / No question can now arise respecting the general merits of the hot-air baili. Its great sanative and sanitary influences are undisputed. Since its revival among us, its salutary action — so highly app.reoiated. in ancient times — has been am pi/ tested by experience, and the incomparable benefit's ' derivable from its judicious use, hav^ been acknowledged and eulogised by medieval authorities, of the highest eminence. But, while its action admittedly exercises a direct and potent agency in preserving health and guarding against tne approaches of disease, — more especially in the case of persons whose constitutional debility, sedentary , occuT)ations, or over indulgence in artificial habits of life indisposes them for active ft ft V, ti. physical exertioQ,— an opinion largely pr«. vails that the bath is not equally applicable to the working classes, with the vast maior- ity of whom, the daily expenditure of bodily energy is a necessity of existence. This opinion, though plausible at the first blush, has its origin in a total miscon- ception of the influence of hot air on the human economy. Because it produces perspiration, it is erroneously supposed that the action of the bath is exhaustive and debilitating, and, therefore, the very leverse of what is required by the condi- lion and necessities of the working man. At the^ame time, water-bathing meets with more general approval, because, according to a sort of traditional popular belief, it is considered safe and refreshing. Now both tbese opinions are erroneous. The hot-air bath is not debilitating, but the very reverse ; and water-bathing is not ne- cessarily a salutary process, in whiph the population generally can safely indulge. We can readily understand how the idea originated which attributes to the hot-air bath an exhaustive and debilitating effect;, In the popular mind, profuse perspiration is associated with bodily fatigue, because perspiratioii is naturally produced by bod- ily exertion, and bodily exertion is neces- sarily accompanied by, more or less, bodily fatigue ; hence, as hot air excites copious perspiration— which is the visible and va- luable result of its action — it is illogically assumed that such perspiration is similar, as regards cause and effect, to the perspira- lion produced by an expenditure of physi- cal vitality. Such an assumption is a physiological heresy. It altogether ignores the essential difference that exists between the two modes in which perspiration is excited. In the case of bodily labour, there is ne- cessarily an active expenditure of vital energy, and the perspiration that oozes from tne pores of the skin is evidence of so much physical vitality expended, the natural effect of which is, to induce bodily fatigue that may, be carried to any endura- ble amount of bodily exhaustion. On the other hand, perspiration excited by a bath of pure hot air is, in all respects, the exact reverse as regards both cause and effect. In producing such perspiration no bodily labour whatever takes place, no vital energy is put in motion ; hence, as there is no physical action of any kind, there can be no consequent exhaustive wear and tear— no expenditure of physical vitality — no w^ste whatever of what is ordinarily called our ''strength." The bather, oa the contrary, remains in a state of quiescence, and the pleasurable repose he enjoys is heightened by the giateful in- iluence of the bath, the salubrious action of which necessarily relieves the system by the exudation of burthensome impurities. In this state with profuse perspiration teem- ing from every pore, cold water — to drink which when in such a condition, produced by bodily exertion, would be almost certain death-^— can bo imbibed freely, not only hi ii I i fi' i .: without any danger, but with sanitive ad- vantage and positive enjoyment. In the one case, the sudden introduction of cold water into the stomach produces a conges- tive effect — *' shoots to the heart and numhs the seat of life,"— consequent upon which usually follows general paralysis and death. In the other case, the water imbibed goes to supply the craving wahts of nature created by the expulsion of blood impuri- ties, and the depuration generally of waste matter from the system by the salutary ac tion of the perspiratory apparatus, which it is the peculiar merit of hot air to power- folly, enjoyably, and yet safely stimulate. Thus, what is dangerous even unto death in the one case, is potently promotive of health in the other, and this demonstrates most conclusively that the perspiration pro- duced by hot air, so far from being a cause or evidence of debility, is a most salubrious process by which the whole system is strengthened and invigorated. Dr. Carpenter, an eminent authority, ob- serves — ''That perspiration has no weaken- ing effect itt itself, — except by the diminu- tion of the water in the blood, which may be re-supplied from the stomach — appears from the fact that if persons exposed to high heat make no bodily exertion^ they ex- perience no loss of vigour if copiquslg sup- plied with cold water. Such exposure .may induce very much to invigorate the sys- tem.'* ^ To the same effect is the testimoiiy of Dr. Balburnie, who has had considerable ex- perience.on Iho subject. He says— '*The allpgalion that pprspiration is a weakening . procpfw, i« a fallacy thai hardly needs de niolition. Swearhing, as accomplished by drugs (sudorillcs), we admit, is a debilitat- ing drain. So is the vapour-bath, as used in the bungling way common in our old bath establishments. But properly evoked, and followed by tepid and cold ablutions, it is, on the contrary, highly tonfc and in- vigorating. In the Turkish bath the patient lies full-stretched, in perfect repose, on couch, ben<;h, or dureta, Nothiug of the normal constituents of the body is abstract- ed, cave the saline and watery portions of the blood. The water is replaced by absorp- tion from the stomach as rapidly as it is given out ; for when the drain becomes ex- cessive, the supply is proportionate.'* Thus the supposition that the bath debi- litates by exciting copious perspiration, is alike inconsistent with experience, and re- pugnant to the conclusions of sound phy- siology. It is indeed, to the very copious action of the perspiratory apparatus which the bath induces, that a large portion of its incomparable merit is attributable ; for while poisonous waste matter is freely eli- minated from the body by perspiration, the sys'.tem is, at the same time, prepared to receive an invigorating supply of oxYgeti from the air. As Dr. Shenpard expresses it, an invigor- ation takes place, " arising from the con- tact of the unsca,rfed skin with particles of caloric,, and ivomthe tiewly acquired poiver ii of drinking in oxygen through channels pre- viously closed up, ^' that is; through the pores of the skin ; and the vast importance of maintaining the skin organism in healthful action, may he understood from the remark of so high an authority as Rolt, *' that three fourths of the disease to which civilized man is subject are attributable to the pores of the skill becoming stopped up,^^ * It is this douhlH function of the skin — its breathing capacity so to speak — at once an excretory and an absorbent organ, that ena- bles the hot air bath to act^o generally and so powerfully as a therapeutic or curative agent. ^'It will," says Dr; John Armstrong, '' balance the cir<5ulation sooner than any other means I know. The patient is raised^ as by the touch of a magic wand, from weakness to strengh.^' No doubt, like every other good thing, the bath may be injudiciously employed, but assuming, as we have a right to do, its proper administration under competent su- perintendence, then, indeed, so far from having a tendency to impair vitality, its de cided effect on the system is highly tonic and exhilarating. Instead of causing weakness, one of its most beneficial effects is to ^relieve the system of the distressing weariness which follows fatiguing bodily exertion, and this undoubted merit renders it peculiarly applicable to the condition of the working classes. The evidence on this point is of the most conclusive Character. It is unnecessary, 'however, to do more than refer to the de* lim €i«iv€ testimony of a few medical authori- ties, among whom Dr. Millmgen is entirled to coiisiaeration. as he resided at Gonstan- tinop'e for some years, in the capacity of physician to the Sultan, and enjoyed an ex- tensive personal experience of the bath in the East Adverting to its use by the labouring po- pulation, he says: — ** The working classes among the Turks-— /or stieh classes do exist, and are as numerous and fully more hard-working than elsewhere — know of no other means of prevention, on feeling iadisposed, but the hath. It is looked upon so much in the light of a panacea by the lower orders,. that they hardly ever dream of consulting a physician when taken utiwclL If the bath fail to cure them, nothing else will suc- ceed. This prevailing conviction accounts, in a giT at measure, for the Hdal absence of dispensaries and civil hospilalSi not only in Ihis large cUy, but throughout the whole empire. Yet, I apprehend, from the tiibles of mortality monthly published^ that the mortality is not greater than it is in countries blessed with those institutions. The higher classes, and women especially, do not, as wuh us, know much about regular exercise, so that were it not for the amp/s compensation afforded by the bath, they would not enjoy the excellent heal'h they generally possess. " I musf remark that intemperance, of late years, is much on the increase ; and, moreover, th^t it is <;arri^d on to an extent which, if statdd, might#be looked upon as fabulous. Yet the gout is not more prevalent, nor delirium tremens either. This immu- nity I can attribute to nothing slse but to the expul- sion of the alcohol, circulating in the lungs snd sKin, during the stay in the bath*" Such is Dr, Millingen^s testimony respec- ting, the practical value of the bath to the workiim population^ and as a sanitive insti- m If' n tutiofl. Evidenee equally strong is sup- plied by ei«^i^ c6mpp«feBt JMathority who has had expe»rl!^m;e of th« Mtb in the East, but happily siacfe its revival acbong oursel- vesy xnany distinguished inedical men, from a co&vielloik oliia great merits^ no^ habi. tually use it, and on no point is theiir testi- mony more nimnimous ai>d decided than with respect to the powerful influence it exercises in charming away the depressing effects of bodily latigfije, and rcjftreshing alike both iriind aDdlS>dy' "After exces- sive fatigue, mentally or bodily,'^ observes Surgeon ivloore, ** I hive mvttriably found the most sodthmg and '^e(resking effects " If ydu go into tie J5ath weary and jaded," ji^tys Dr. BTeretony ''even though you have been up and working all night, you come oiat reireshed j if friom grief or ' care you are deypondiBg "wlieri yoa enter, youi* iea:rt U Bghteiied befoi*e you leave, for %t is> i^^ii^ssiiie te^ re$nt the exhilavatmg effeets of oaci^en ; if, on the other band, fron» the reaction of over^xcitemeiit^ you are rest- less snd unable to sle^p, tike bath becomes^ a narcotic^ it is^ ofiJy the expeneaced pby- sifaan who knows how maniy forms of di- sease originate i& these so common, bui now so easily obviated (^atises.^"^ L ThiTS ■' the bath," as Dr. thudicbum ob- serves, " is an engine for the production and maintenance of health,^' Without, therefore, accumulating fiirther evidence on this point, we may, witli some eonfiidenee, rely en t&e eoneiusion dictated by common I ri sense -that what tends with suchpotencjy to restore and maintain health, cannot pos- sibly ha^ e, at the very same time, a direct contrat', effect. If the admitted action of the bath, pro* perly employed, indubitably is to produce and preserve health — as all competent au- thorities unanimously testjfy-^— surely it is needless to occupy time in proving so self- evident a proposition, that such action is wholly incompatible with another action diametrically the reverse — that is, with im- puted tendencies to weaken and debilitate and impair vital functions. The two quali- ties, actions, or tendencies^ eould^not possi- bly coexist- It would be absurd beyond expression to suppose ttiat, at one ^iid the «ame time^ the bath could weaken and sti^engtheu, preserve health and impair it-* operate^ at once^ as a debilitating drain on vitality and prove a source of Recuperative energy and enjoyment Yet this prepose terous couclusion would be imposed chi us by those who, unacquainted with the sub- ject, allow prejudice to override reason, and without judgment, aUrm that the bath ]gro- cess has a del^ile effect. Equally unsupported by science and ex- perience is the supposition that water ba- thing is better calculated to prove of advan tage to the woiiiing classes tihan ike hot-air In contrasting the merits of cold water and bot air as best adapted to supply a ^eathful medium for bathing, we must re- member it the outlet that heat is a physio- •H l| logieaf necessity of animal life, and is natu- fj rally promotive of animal growth,^wbereaa I cold is antagonistic to both. This accounts, in some degree, for the fact that cold ba- thing is fraught with extreme danger to many constitutions — cold affusion or im- mersion causing; a sudden deiermination of blood frbm the surface, the consequeni congestion of vital organism, the toss of vo- luntary motion by cfatnp— spasms, asphy- xia, and too firequently, death. Hot air, on the contrary^ as already shown, diuuses, a genial influence over the whole $ystem. is incontestably safe and sa- lubrious, while it is of universal applicabi- lity ; for there are very few constitutions indeed,^ if any, to whicn it is not adapted when used properly. The cold water bath has undoubtedly a peculiar merit, and in certaic^ cases, when skilfully employed, is capable of becoming a povverfnl therapeutip agent, but is nei-^ ther so efficacious and safe, nor so univer- sally applicable as hot air. " Like all powerful and valuable remedies, its em- ployment,'' as Dr. Sir John Forbes decla- red, '' requires great caution and discrimi- nation — first, whether it should be used at aU; and secondly, as to the form and mod& of using it." This caution and discriminatibn is ren- • dered necessary, simply because the cold- water bath is equally potent forevil as for good, and therefore,* not adapted to be sia- f* ly indulged in by the population gene- rally. Hence, in condemnation of its iiv^^ discriminate use, the same high autJiority says : — " It will not be doubted by any physician resident in the vicinity of the sea, that in the case of no other remedy are greater mistakes committed and greater mischief produced than in the use of the cold hath' . Now, this liability to produce mischief is inseparable from the very nature of the cold-water bath, and when we consider the character and extent of the mischief that arises from its promiscuous use — such seri- ous mischief as follows from an undue shock to ihe system; the inducing of excessive chill and nervous derangenient; the dis- turbance of the circulation ; the conse- quent torpidity of reaction, and exposure of the internal organism to congestion — wheawe reflect on these mischiefs to which indiscriminate bathers are necessarily, more or less, exposed, surely it is not con- sistent with sound judgmentto recommend such a bath for general use by the work- ing classes, or population generally. Nor is the warm-water bath more suit- able. So far from it, indeed, its use ij> es- pecially unsuitable for those who are ex- posed to fatigue as the result of bodily la- bour. A different opinion is prevalent, because, at first,, the sensation of warnth received from, the heated water is grateful ; but this feeling soon begins to subside, and gradually vanishes with the falling tempe- rature o'f the bath, and is followed by an acute sense of discomfort, which can only be relieved by a frtsh supply of vvater at a il 11 11 i '■'^ F i^ i.'M^. ^vfM ' W-.'- riiir''1w Ill '8 ■'■ ajr t\, ^,*« '■■.. m^' ' ' «6 ^ VKJ '■■ ^ a^ ^ ]M ||M- higher tempei^^atiire. This process must be continued while the bather remains in the bath, and such repeated changes of tempe- rature — water being the medium — is ex- haustive, excites drowsiness, and is attend- ed frequently with unpleasant conseqences. But the great objection to the warhi- water bath, as adopted for general use by working men, is, that it has unquestionably a relaxing effect. Instead of being tonic and bracing, and exciting feelings of vigor- ous buoyancy, which is what working men more especially require ; it has a decided sumniflc tendency, induces lassitude, un- tunes thq system, and renders it highly susceptible to the influences of cold. Now, in €ivery respect, the hot-air bath possesses a totally different ^character. It is decidedly tonic and bracing. It elevates the spirits and excites a pleasurable sense of exhilaration arid buoyancy, while It so strongly invigorates the system, and forti- fies it against the influences of cold, that bathers may leave the hot room with its temperature at 160 deg., or far higher, and, reeking with perspiration, plunge into the coldest water, or -roll in snow, without the slightest apprehension of injurioua conse- quences. - In fact, as every one knows who has in- dulged in the luxury of the cold plunge, after having passed through the process of the hot-air bath, the rapid transition from the extreme beat of the one to the extreme cold of the other is most enjoyable, and fraught with no danger whate^rer. The IS conse- immediate effect is highly tonic, and the very reverse of the lassitude and fatigue caused by warm-water bathing, while there is no susceptibility to cold induced, To catch cold indeed, under such circum- stances, is -simply impossible, for as Eras- mus Wilson, one of the ablest writers on the subject, says : — *' the bath properly con- ducted cunnot giv6 cold." In truth it is one of the great recomiji^endations of this form of bath, as particuliarly suited to the con- dition of the working man, that by no other- means can tbe human body be so well for- tified against the iiijuiious effects of cold and the vicissitudes of our humid climate* Dr. Armstrong has observed that: ^^The fatigue from hot-water baths u frequently^ fatal^^^ while, at the same time, he bears testimony that ^^the hot-air bath does not fa- tigue.^^ Surely, no more need be said in proof of the immense superiority of hot air in comparison with warm- water as a bath-, ing medium, for is it not self evident that a mode of bathing which produces fatigue^ relaxes the system, causes an enervating lassitude, and induces an unnatural suscep- tibility to atmospheric changes^ cannot, with any semblance of reason, be consider- ed as adapted for general use, much less as calculated to prove beneficial in the case of working men ? If we now consitter for a moment the contrast between hot-air and water, when employed for purposes of healthful recrea- ^tion and cleanliness, for which the public generally resort to bathing, the immeasur V ; l-ip able advantages derivable from hot-air will become more apparent. Both water and air, as bathing mediums, act directly on the skin, bnt in ways essentially different and with results equally so. To make this per- fectly clear, it is necessary to consider for a moment the structure oi the skin and its peculia^r functions. It is a law of all or- ganized matter that thaconstituent particles of which it IS composed should exist in a state of incessant motion, and of perpetual mutation. Thus, the existence of mere or- ganized animal life necessarily implies con- tinual action and change, in which are in- vofved two vital processes, the incessant wear and tear — decomposition, and decay — that the very existence of life necessitates in every part of the human organism ; and simultaneous therewith, in order to re pie- nish the waste, the assimilation by those parts of a nutritive supply derived from the food we eat and the air we inhale. These vital processes call into action several sepa- rate organs, among which are notably those of digestion, secretion, absorption, and ex- cretion. It is from the organs engaged in the digestive process that the nutrient supply is obtained by which our bodily mechanism and animal life are sustained, while it i,s the peculiar duties of the organs of excre- tion to f r^e the system from the deleterious waste matter caused by the action of life, as well as from the excrementatious products of digestion. Now, the blood is the me- dium by which nutrition is conveyed to every part of the hunian body. The sup- pb derived from the digestive process first errors the blood, aud then, for the purpose of repairing waste and sustaining life, is carried to every part of the system by means of the wonderful organism of arteries ca- pillaries, and veins, the combined ramifi- cations of which vCxtehd with micro8COi>ic minuteness over the whole body, in its marvellous and healthful course tfaie blood, while it conveys a nutritive supply for the reparation of waste by the mysterious pro< cess of assimiliition, also collects the pro- ducts of decomposition and deposits them for Expulsion through the (i>rgans of excre- tion; for if this delet6rio^Ud matter was per- mitted to remain in the system, blood-pois- oning would necessarily ensuOvand inevit- able death, iwu! : , y f:M,-i\y.i^r : Now, besides othiBr offices, with which we are not concerned at present,) the skin is a principal Organ of excretion^ and so vitally* important are its duties in this respect, that their nOn-perfOrmance is incompatible with the continulinoe of life. ^^ The skih consists of separate layers. Un- derneath the inner layer, or true skin, iire situated an umaziag number/ of little glan- dular organs, in which are coUeoled the impurities for excretion. Communicating with these organs internally, and extend- ing from them externally over the whole surface of the body^' are mt innumerable quantity of minutei tubes about a quarter of an* inck lonjg^aeh, when stretched out, the apertures ofwhiim open thi*ough thie outer If ■ W 4 or scarf skin, and are popularly known as ^< the pores of the skin/' Now, the deleterious matter secreted by the vast network of glandular organs that he beneath the true skin is eliminated through these pores, and this excretory or ganism is so wonderful in extent, simplici- ty, and adaptation for its purposes, that it forms one of the many marvels observable in the constructive desigo of our bodily system which bears the unmistakable jm~ presse of omniscience* By means of the microscope, Erasmus Wilson, the first authority of the day on the skin was enabled to count the numbeir of pores in a square inch of bodily surface, and hence to estimate with a close approach to accuracy the total number in the whole body of an average^sized pei*son. These he found to be not less than seven millions, and as each pore represents a little tuioe^a I quarter of an inch long, it follows that the 1 total amountof excretory tubing in the skin / organism is little short of menty-^eight miles. in length* Such, briefly, is the wonderful system of cutaneous sewerage which nature has pro- vided to eliminate from the body impuri- ties that otherwise would not only derange healthi but destroy life. In addition^ how- ever, the skin has other most important du- ties to perform. It has been called ^^ the assistant apparatus of the lungs,'' because it performs analogous respiratory functions to the lungs, |t is also a medium for the reception of impressions on the nerves, its whole surface being one vast network of those mysterious organs, hence the intima- te relationship and dependence between the healthy skm action and mental equili- brity. At the same time, the skin anordk a ready and pleasant medium hj which, in the case of disease, the whole internal or- ganism can be promptly reached and power- fully acted on ; and, since study and exper- ience have elevated and systematized hydro- pathic practice, it has been found a far safer and surer — and, beyond comparison, a mo- re agreeable — medium, than the long suf- fering stomach, into wnidi it has been the wisdom of ages to pour every nauseous abomination pharmaceutical ingenuity could discover, or skill compbund. Thus, the skin is at once an o^an of secretion, of absorption, and of sase, as well as of excretion; and, such^being the all-impor-^ tant character and extent of the functions it has to perform, it will reauire but slight examination to determine whether the pur- poses its organism is designed to serve can be better aided by employiiig hot air or water as a bathing medium. Warm water, applied to the surface of the body, can, at best, produce mere sur- face cleanliness. The dead scarf skin,which impedes sanative action, is only very par- tially^ if at all, removed { the internal or- ganism is not directly reached, nor is it act^ on, even indi^ctly, to any apprecia- ble extent* It iB evident, thereford^ that such bathing is not calculated to afford much aid to the skin in the performance of V i m bmy- iv-n its vital functions, and perhaps the most sensible )>eneflt derived from such a process is the temporary sensation of surface clean- liness that is obtained. With hot air the case is very different in* deed. The immediate action on the skin is at once stimulating and toothing. Perspir- ation is gently excited, without oodtly fati- gue, and poisonous impurities are rapidly exuded through the twenty-eight miles of tubing that compose the perspiratory sys- tem, while simultaneously a genial exhi^ larating influence is shed over our whole being. In this way the skin is assisted i^ the performance of its functions, and the whole organism is benefited thereby Not only are the apertures of the pore-tubes opened and freed from the encumBirance 01 accumulated ttad scarf skin, but the tu- bes themselves are^ flushed,^^ as it were, throughout^ aild thi^ highly sanative action is materially increased by the stimulus given to the skin secretions, and' it caDi also be further facilitated by drinking cold water, for which a healthful and pleasurable de- sire is generally created, i td V ' Thus, the conclusiolD which Bcience and experience warrants respecting the com- parative tnerits of water and hot-yr bath*^ is, that, for all purposes, sanati . . ;, jauatary, a^id recreative, hot air is iiicomparably sn- p<)rior as a bathing mediutn. But if we conrider which is tnost Buitable for general use^ it wi)M)e aOtind that the hot-air bath is singularly well adapted to meet the condi- tion and wants of the working population. s the most ch a process rfaoe clean- flifferent in- the skin J8 ^ Perspir- bodUy fall- |re rapidly ht miles of ratory sys enial: exhi. Our whole assisted in w, and the eby Not pore-tubes *uinKrance but the tu- 3 it were, tive action ^hIus given i^ also be old water, urable de- Jienceand the com- ^fr bath'^ ^auatary, W'ably sn- iut; if we I'geueral ir bath is be condi- pu Ration, to become, in Tact^ a great national sauatary institution — the true people's bath. It will be understood, from what has been already said, that, in addition to its own peculiar merits, sirch as are inherent in the use of hot air as a i)p thing medium, the bath so composea, combines, at the same time, whatever is benedcial in the mere water bath, whether cold or waim. In fact, it is only as water is applies, in hydropathic jiactice that its full hygienic virtuesibe- tone developed, and are made available ; so it is that the hot-air bath, properly ad- ministered, has the singular advantage of combinmg, with its own peculiar merits, all that is valuable in water bathing ; be- cause, practicp.lly, while, it is a hot air bath, it is abo a warm and cold water bath — the virtues of all the forms of baths com- bined in oiie. The process is briefly this.: — this skio^ is first brought into L^althful action under the, benign iofluence of pure heated' air, after which a thorough soap- washing, with or without shampooing, takes place ; then follows copious douching with water, ranging in temperature from warm to cold, which may be followed at pleasure by a cold plunge ; and this, with proper' friction in drying, and cooling suf- ficiently before dressing, completes the pro- cess of ordinary hot-air balhing. All the biaeAl therefore, that is derivable from water bathi^; is to be found in the use of the hot-air bath, and a vast deal more be- sides ; an4 that, too, without incurring any risk of injurious consequeiices, such as it 'M m-i would be almost impossible to guard against were water-bathing indiscriminately resort- ed to by, the public at large. It is this singularly happy characteristic of universality which attaches to the hot- air bath that renders it so well adapted to become a truly national institution for the use of all. No other form of bath is com- parable with it. Equally applicable to the healthyyand, with rare exceptions; to the infirm, neither youth nor age circumscribes its utility, and few, indeed, are the indivi- duals whose constitutional peculiarities would fender its beneficial use at all dubi- ous. Contemplating it in this lights as ca- pable of being made an inestfmable boon to humanity. Dr. Thudichum declared-^- *^' It is for vke benefit of all men.''* At the same time adding — 'ithe sick will have a large share of its blessing.^' And, withou t dou^bt, the bath is truly caleulated to be a solace in sickness to all classes, but more espe- cially to the poor ; for, when skilfully em- ployed, it is a most powerful and comforting th<;rreapeutic agent, and it wil^ indeed^bea blessed boon to the suffering poor when it becomes an established institution in every dispensary district throughout the country. At present the want of free bathing is a great, and by no meana a creditable anoma- ly in the aaministration of our medical charities. The neglect in the treatment of the poor of a remedial agent so simple and safe, economical and salubrious, ^s the hot- air bftth incontestibly is, beoomes the more anomalous and repirehensible when we con sider to what an extent free drugging is allowed to prevail. No matter how desirable a dispensary practitioner might consider a hot-air bath for a ^tient, either as an active therapeutic agent in the treatment of disease or as an emci^nt auxiliary, he is powerless to em-, ploy it He may be thoroughly persuaded that, in many cases, bathing would be far preferable to drugging^ yet^ by the consum- ate wisdom that regulates the administra- , tion of our medical charities, he is abso- lutely precluded from availing himself of the batn agency, while drugs he can ad- minister at will. Apart from its remedial utility, it is sur- prising that, on the mere ground of econ- omy, dispensary baths have ndt been estab- lished, for unquestionably they would tend to relieve the rates, by materially diminish- ing the cost of sicknes. A gentleman who has had extensive ex- perience as a dispensary and hospital prac* titioner, and whose high opinion of the hot- air bath is based on his knowledge of its \ medical virtues, says :— '' 1 am aii ardent I advocate, from medical principles and prac- / tice, of hot dir baths^ and quite concur in / the statement of the British Medical Asso- ciation that f^efe ought to he baths of hot- air in every eity^ town^ and village. No medi cal institution can be worthy of the name \ without baths, for disease is not to be cured by mere drugsalone." It must be adknitted^ however, that a great deal of the apathy that has hitherto ■^^B^^Ha ' iMj OjSt HKI J ma 'ihI^^^^b 4 N'3 ^^^^^^^Hlv; 1 ^Kf^ m 1 ISHiir.)! ^K Bfl fi 3^^^^^^' ^ 1 ^^M^ 9^^^B^ ' ^'rijBL 'nH H^^^^' '' MB ^^K'^ 1l' / ■1 existed on this subject has arisen, not so much from an indifference to the interests of the sick poor, as from a want of know- ledge concerning the great therapeutic and prophylactic properties of hot-air which is to be found prevailing in all classes of so- ciety. This can only be remedied by the gradual enlightenment of public opinion ; and it is something that, during the few years the hot-air bath has had a revived existence among us, its high sanitive merits have been amply tested, and gladly recog- nized, by many able medical gentlemen connected with our hospitals^ lunatic asy. lums, workhouses, and other public insti- tutions, and thusv although its use has not become as general as it ought to he, its pro- gress must be so far regarded as highly encouraging. , " Indeed, when we consider : how very hard it is to contend against the pride of professional dogma, which clings with su- perstitious reverence to old habits of thought and practice, and also how exceeidt ingly difficult it is to surmount opposition that arises from popular ignorance and pre- judice, as well as to overcome official in^r- tia, we are much less inclined to lament the tardy progress of the bath towards becom- ing a national institution for the relief of the sick poor than to rejoice that, without any adventitious aids and in defiance of all impediifients, it has made its way so suc- cessfully ; if slowly, yet surely, and more especially that4 amon^ the rising genera- tion of medical practitioneirs, its great re- medial virtues are now frankly admitted to be incomparable. It is not, however, with the merits of the " bath in sickness that we are now chiefiy concerned, but more particularly with its transcendent value as affording the means of healthful recreation for the great mass of our industrial population, who supply the bone and sinew, the intelligence and skill, that constitute the fo\indation of national prosperity, wealth, and greatness. One hundren years ago, the illustrious Franklin proclaimed the great truth, ^that public h^^alth and public wealth have an inseparable relationship ; yet. so slowly does such truth permeate society, obtain a guiding influence over public opinion, and bear its good fruit in the policy of states- men, it is only now that our* leading public men are beginning to give signs of their minds being enlightened by a glimmering of its vast importance. At a meeting in Manchester last year, 'Mr. Disraeli said : " I consider the health of the people to be the most important subject that can engage the attention of statesmen, [t is a question which really almost comprises every object whrcti we wish and desire- Properly con- ducted, it refers to human habitations, to purity of water, to purity of air, to the non adulteration of food, to all those subjects which, properly treated, may advance the happiness and comtort of men ; I therefore^ impross upon you, above all things, beyond all our party differences, even superior to those great politicai questions which party differences must yield, to consider that the greatness of this country depends upon the maintenance of the integrity and power of the Enghsh race, and that the health of the people is at the foundation of all our great- nes^s and splendour." At the opening of a new hospital near Liverpool, Lord Derby took occasion to re- fer with admirable effect to the same sub- ject. Everything, he declared depends on national health. " It is,'^ he said, '^ by con- tinuous and persevering labou^r alone, hand- work and headwork, that England holds its position against other countries more favoured by nature; but without a high standard of vitality— and that, as you know implies more than a mere lengthening out of life — labour such as we require cannot be kept up. Again, when you have to deal with men in masses, the connection be- tween vice and disease is very close. With a low average of popular healthy you wUi have a low average of national morality^, cmd pro- bably also of national intelkct^ Drunkeness and vice of other kinds will flourish in such a soil, and you eawnot ^et healthy brains to^ grow on unhealthy bodies. Cleanliness and self-respect go together, and it is no para- dox to affirm that you tend to purify men's thoughts and feelings when you purify tlie air they breathe.'^ While giving expression to these valuabte truths Lord Derby had the candour to ad- mit the backwaid state of public intelligence on such subjects. Mr. Disraeli had pre- viously confessed the short comings of the Legislature respecting sanitary matters : — "I am bound to say we are idle on this subject in the House of Commons/' were his words. But why this idleness ? Simply because public intelligence is not sufficient- ly enlightened to compel legislative atten- tion being given to subjects of such trans- cendent importance. As the stream cannot rise higher than its source, so legislation as a rule, must be the reflex of the know- ledge and intelligence Parliament repre- sents. Hence, sanitary legislation is only in its incipient state. It is true thai of )ale years a good deal has been done towards bettering the habitations of the people, and, placing the means of healthful recreation within reach of the dense populations thkt swarm in the hives of manufacturing in- dustry. In this, and some other respects, improvements have been effected, but as yet scientific knowledge has had but little to do with inspiring and directing our sa- nitary policy. The great question of public health, as based on the observance of the immutable laws of physiology, bas received, as yet, scarcely any consideration at all, owing to the ignorance so generally prevalent concerning those laws ; ignorance not con. fined to what are called the " lower/ or- ders," but which, unfortunately, pervades^ all classes, and is equally inveterate, while much more pernicious, in the middle and upper than in the more humble ranks of society. It is needless to complain of popu- lar ignorance concerning the laws of health, and of Ike manifold 'evils their violatioQ causes, while those who may be socially regarded as "fortune's favourites'' are scarcely more etolighteiied. Forty years ago Dr. Southwood Smith, a principal leader among the noble band who pioneered the cause of sanitary re form, complained that general physiologi- cal knowledge, which should form an essential part of an accomplished education, was totally excluded from schools - and colleges. *" Excepting as k qualification for the practice or surorery and medicine," he said, ''in the curriculum of no school «r college in the kingdom is an explanation of the structure and functions of the human body included," Yet this knowledge is most essential to the legislator — to all pub- lic men, irfdeed, and it lies at the root of all valuable sanatary improvement. The acquisition of such knowledge should be deemed necessary to the education of a gentleman. The phenomena of life, the structure and functions of the organs on which those phenomena depend ; the cir- cumstances that are conducive to health, the agents that ordinarily produce disease, the means by which the operation of those agents may be avoided, counteracted, or controlled, the relationship between phy- siological organization and psychological well-being and the immutable laws which influeiTDe, regulate, and govern both — these are subjects of vital moment to the rational human being ; yet respecting them the col- legian is generally not much better in- formed thau the casual attendant at a ragged school. While sucn remains the case, we can have but faint hopes that an effective system of sanitary improvement will he calried out. \Ve must remember, too, that the wisest legislation cannot do everything, for there is a point where, as regards sanatary enactments, the respbnsi* bility of Parliament ends and, as regards sanatary observances, individual responsi- bility begins. Parliamentary legislation can do a vast deal, but not everything — more especially as regards the preventibi- lity of disease, which naturally falls within the sphere of household and individual action. Such Sanatary measures must always largely remain a matter to be dealt with by individual conscience and intelligence ; hence, the urgent necessity for the dis- sipation of popular ignorance, and\ the spread of knowledge on such subjects. This is really preliminary to a true sanatary influence pervading the social and moral life of the nation. As Lord Derby, on the occasion already referred to, truly ob- served : — " The conviction which sanatary knowledge brings with it as to the preven- tibility, in general, of disease, is one of quite incalculable importance. Men are very slow to learn the extent to which their destinies are in their own powder.* TBey are apt to be astonished if you point out to them that nine-tenths of the calamities that have afilicted the human race are directly and obviously the work w\ I i ' 1'^ ft. ■■ of men's own hands. They are inclined to confound that feeling which we all res- pect — that of cheerful acceptance of the inevitable— wifrh thatt other kind of resi- gnatioii to evils which are not inevitable, which is mostly laziness and apathy, and the prevalence of which is one of the most characteristic distinctions betwen tliu sav- age and the civilized man. And why do I say this ? Because I am deeply convinced that no sanitary improvement worth the name will be effected, whatever Acts you pass, or whatever powers you confer on public officers, unless you can create a real and intelligent interest in the matter among the people at large. In th^ first place, you cannot get laws effectually put in force where they interfere 'with the profits or convenience of individuals, unless they are supported by opinion. In the next place, whatever administrative measures can do for the public health — and they can do a great deal — they can never supersede the necessity for personal and private care." In these sensible observations we have the pith of the whole case. To the enlighten- ment of public intelligence alone can we look for the success of an effective sanatary system. Ignorance at present is prolific of evil, respecting matters of health, in every class pf society ; and, with that ignorance, Ve have the laziness and apathy Lord Derby complained of — that irrational con- tendedness characteristic of savage life, which finds consolation in attributing to an angry Providence calftmities that result Utom our own wilful blindness and stub- ll)orn perversity. To the absence of an epiightened public intelligence alone can we attribute the little progress made in providing for public use such sanitary ii. d- ttitions as baths and wash-houses, though it is now more than a quarter of a century [since the Act 9 and 10 Vic, cap. 74, was passed. In the preamble of that Act the establishment of baths and wash-houses is stated to be " desirable for the health, com- fort^ and welfare of the inhabitants of popu^ bus towns and districts.^' The baths referred to are, of course, water baths ; and, though several have been established in towns and cities, still, considering the national wants, comparativ Jly little has been done towards providing a supply. The Act has not been fairi^ carried out, simply because it was permissive, itot compulsory— the adoption of its provisions was left to the voluntary action of the local authorities, instead of having: been made compulsory, as all pub- lic sanitary measures ought to be- lt is, However, so far satisfactory that the Legislature has declared the establishment of publics baths to be a desirable sanatary measure. This granted, the question then arises— what kind of bath is best calculat- ed to realize the intentions of Parliament by promoting 'Hhe' health, comfort, and welfare of the inhabitants of populous towns and districts?" This is a question not to be lightly decided in accordance with old formulas of prejudiced opinion : it must be considered in the light of physiology. ►'•13 p." "' P Therefore, we must bear in mind that the primary object of bathing is the preventi- tibility of disease— of disease to which the inhabitants of populous towns and districts are more especially exposed. There is. in fact, a constant tendency in the crowded populations of towns and cities to degene- rate — a perpetual gravitation of the stan- dard of vitality towards a lower level— de- teriorating influences continually at work to impair physical organization, and stunt mental growth ; hence the p^reat necessity for some counteracting power capable of arresting such degeneracy by operating on the causes that produce it. Now, one of the most valuable results of sound sanita- ry knowledge is a thorough conviction of the preventii)ility, in a large degree, of the vast mass of diseased conditions which contribute to the deterioration of the inha- bitants of overcrowded towns, cities, and districts. One great meaiis of effecting this is bathing; but, in deciding on 'the form of bath best calculated to produce so desirable a result — to aid in promoting po- pular *' health, comfort, and welfare'' — it is obvious that we mast be mainly influen- ced by the merits the particular form of bath inherently, possesses as a prophylactic agent in preventing disease. This being so, we think, from the evi- deuce already addiiced,nhe reader will be prepared to concur in our conclusion, that the merits of the hot-air bath are, in this respect, such as to admit of no rivalry. The immense advantages it possesses over every other form of bath are attested by gu* h an overwhelming weight of medical evi >nce that the more public inteUijjence is directed to the subject, the more clearly will appear its transcendent superiority. And in no point of comparison is that superiority more remarkable than with respect to its wonderful prophylactic virtue — the inhe- rent power it possesses to preserve health by counteracting the deleterious influences which are always more or less active in their tendency to impair the health of crowded populations. There is much wisdom surely in the proverbial saying, that '* prevention is better than cure," and especially is this the case with respect to disease. Now, as a general rule, all disease is manifested in the incipient stage by slight functional de- rangements, often so slight, indeed, as nei- ther to excite^ alarm, m>r suggest the adop- tion of precautionary measures, yet cer- tain, if neglected, to increase and develop into established disease. It is at this point —this incubating stage, so to speak — that the hot-air bath is all-powerful in arresting the progress of evil by eliminating niorbid matter from the system, and restoring healthful functional action. This is pecu- liarly so with respect to the diseases that are generally prevalent among the poorer classes of the population ; such as are cau- sed by exposure to wet and cold, and by contagious poisons, respectini^ which that emiment auihority, Erasnius Wilsan,^says : — ^" The faculty of preventing disease, as W 'S ib V exercised by the skin, besides beinjr direci and operating on tho general health of the body, is also indirect. The skin repels the depressing effects of cold, of alternations of temperature, of extreme dryness or mois- ture, by virtue of its own healthy structu- re„ by its intrinsic power of generating heat; and it also repels other causes of di sease, such as animal and miasmatic poi- sons, by its emunctory power, which ena- bles it to convey them directly out of the body/' Thus, by stimulating the healthful func- tions of the skin, as already described, the hot air bath exercises great prophylactic power in preventing disease, while it forti- fies the body to resist climatic changes and escape the evils that generally follow from exposure to the morbid influences of mala- ria. Mere ordinary wate^ bathing could produce no such effect on the skin, and therefore has no such remedial and pro- phylactic influence as hot air possesses On this point the testimony of Dr. Shep- pard, the able superintendent of Colney Hatch Asylum, is valuable. " There are," he says,"'" more clean skins (relatively clean), in the ratio of twenty five to one among the artisans of Londoir than there used to be twenty years ago. This is a great move in the right direction. But more remains to be done yet. The true bathMfhot air and then of water, by wJiich the skin is rendered absolutely clean, must become a great national institution. Before it our prejudices will fall, and our ignoran- ct be dissipated. Onr national life be lar- ger, our nu'ans of resisting cli mail'- changes and repnl'ini^ disease multiplied." Such, liien, ii the general character of hot air as a bathing medinin — of the sana- tive and sanatary properties it so largely possesses, and its adaptability to meet the bathing wants of the people at large. That it offers advantages attainable by no other means is adnit^d by all who have tested its merits and are therefore best acquainted with their value; and assuredly (he most direct, effective, and eoonomical way to promote the '- health, comfort, and welfa- re" of t)ur industrial population, would be to construct hot air chambers in connection with all the public baths that are already- established^ This would involve little cost, and be a good commencement towards ha- ving proper baths erected in every dispen- sary district, which will yet be done, and' prove an inestimable boon to the people. In an address to the London Medical So- ciety, Dr. Thiidichum said, respecting the hot air bath : — *' A boon to mankir^d^ your nation^ and every indimducd in this room, hot mr^ combined with cM effusion, with sham pooing^ with exposure of the body to light and mr^ await your approval as medical agent s^ ^nd your 'application to those who are under your care, I hope you will seize the oppor- tunity, and secure for this society a share in the merit, similar to that of which Hip- pocrates was proud, of having introduced €he bath in the treatment of diseased When we consider these observations, so 'm m mm \ »■ w m t justly eulogistic of the therapeutic virtues of the bath^ are equally true of its invaluable merits as a powerful prophylactic agent in repelling the approaches of disease^ suiely it cannot be held consistent with the prac. tiqal intelligence and alms of our day, that so potent, so general, so economical, and so salutary an agent for good should he over- looked or neglected by those who are char- ged with the responsibility of attending to the sanatary condition of the people. Health is the working raan'^s capital^ in the preservation of "lyhich society at large is deeply interested ; and by what means can health be better protected than hy the pre- vention of disease ? There is little wisdom in '' locking the door when the steed has been stolen ;'' yet somewhat akin to it is the wisdom that guides the administration of our^medical charities — little is done for the prevention of disease ; but once it be- comes developed and painfully manifest in its victims, then, indeed, ipillions ster- ling are annually expended in maintaining hospitals^ dispensaries, and asylums for its treatment Surely it is the direct interest of every payer of rates and taxes that such an irrational and wasteful system should be changed. In Ireland, the. Baths and Wash houses Act bas remained almost a dead letter,, yet there is no part of the empire in which equal facilites exist for salubrious bathiag. 1'his is owing to Ike enlightened policy fol- lowed by the late Dr. Barter, the reviver of the hot-air bath in western Europe, m whose career as a public benefactor has yet to be aprreciated. The baths he was iiistm mental in establishing in IrelanrI * hnvr' been of great public advantage, yet tlie good they bave done only serves to show how much yet remains to be accomplished. We want cheap baths for the people. The Barter baths are well constrncted and well conducted, but they are more for the weal-, thier classes than for the industrial popula- tion. This can only be remedied by making baths an essentiaLadjunct in every difepen sary district, both in town and country. This would, indeed, b6 a blessmg to the poor. ' ^ , In England, the hot air baths that pass under the name of ''Turkish," are gniie- rally of a very inferior description. We have visited several in various provincial towns, and found some very good, and others very bad ; so bad, indeed, as to be wretched caricatures of what a proper bath ought to be. Even in London, where a better order of things might be expected, there are gloomy, iil-ventilated, noisome cells, called '' Turkish Baths," into the like^ of which we would not put our domestic animals in Ireland. Yet the generally of London bathers know no better, and the consequence is, that such dismal holes get the bath proper a bad name. It is not un- common to hear parties ^yho have been in imperfect baths, declaina against the hot-air baths, because it made them feel sickish, and suffer from the headache. We tavo repeatedly felt .the same ourselves in I^oa- i i n t m ■vfi III II I X tloii baths. It is the natural result of a fou! bath atmosphere. Without an abundant supply of pure bot-ay it is impossible to obtain a salubrious bath. Pure air and pure water are bathing essentials. If you enter a badly-eonstructed bath, you have a fetid atmosphere, reeking with foul mois- ture, because surcharged with excreqienti- tians impurities, the products of perspira- tion, which have not been carried off by a proper system of ventilation. Such an at- mosphere is deeply oppressive instfead of exhilarating. Nausea and headache are na turally caused by it, and ignorant persons attril uj such unpleasant effects to the bath prop / Thus the character af the pure hot- air bath is injured in public estimation; and we are awars that a good deal of the prejudice still existing ao^ainst the use of the true bath has originM-ii u\ this way. We must now bring' our obsei^vations to a close, and shall do so by briefly summing up the reasons which induce us to recora- mand the hot-air bath as, admirably adapted to become the bath of the people : — Becajise, as a general rule, it is congenial to the constitution of almost all men, and, therefore, capable of nearly universal use, without the fear of such injurious conse- quences as too frequently follow from waier bathing. ' Because it does not debilitate nor weaken, but exercises a restorative, strengthening, and invigorating influence over the wearied body, S(iOthes nervous iritability, and im- parts a buoyant, healthful tone to the whole system, with gre-it pleasurable feeling, promptitude, and certainty. And finally, because, independently of Us acknowledged therapeutic merits in the treatment of disease, it is the very best praphylictic agent that has yet been dis- covered for the preservation of health. Its habitual use fortifies the* system to repel deleterious influences that are aqtiye in pro- pagating disease ; — such baneful influences as arise from malaria, epidemic poisons, like cholera, and atmospheric impurity, otherwise engendered — as well as from the more ordinary effects of wet and cold, to which in our variable chmate, the warMng classes more especially are, to a large ex- tent, necessarily exposed. These reasons make tlje hot-air bath, as Erasmus Wilson expressed it — ''^ a boon to humanity;^' but it is lieedles for us to say^ that we have been dealing with its use, in a general sense, by men who ^re weAl, and desire to keep themselves so. In oa^s of actual disease^ the bath, as a remedial jagent, ought never to be employed, save under competent medical directiop. ' / THE SWEDISH MOVEMENT CERE AND i '■'W& w i' IB W' iHraf mi.' m ip i il m m 1 'a«B Bjp!'-. w ■'<■ mBfk W:- m m^ MEAMWM HTGIEiriC MEDICATION OR THE SUOBSSPUL TREATMENT OP lilSEASE Without DRUGS. SPECIAL ATTENTION devoted to the treat- ment of GHRONIO DISEASES, such as DYSPEPSIA, and its complications, TOR- PIDITY of the LIVER, CONSTIPATION, PILES, etc., INCIPIENT CONSUMPTION, WEAK LUNGS, IMPERFECT CIRCULA- TION, NERVOUS DEBILITY, UTERINE DIS- PLACEMENTS, and othar Weaknesses,' DE- FORMITIES, NEURALGIA, RHEUMATISM, PARALYSIS, etc., etc. A limited number of patients accommodated with rooms and board, or other who may desire to learn or to lire healthfully; may obtain board at the Institute. DAVID B. A. MACBEAN, M.D., V Proprietor, ijr SATIOir rT OF IiISKASK UGS. V ted to the treat- lASES, such as lications, TOR- )NSTIPATI0N, ONSUMPTION T CmcULA- JTERINB DIS- eaknesses,' DE- [IHEUMATISM, accommodated 10 may desire to >htmn board at N", M.D..