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 I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. % 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $ 
 
ANALYSIS 
 
 OF 
 
 SHARON WATERS, 
 
 SCHOHAKIE COUNTY: 
 
 ALSO OF 
 
 AVON, RICHFIELD, AND BEDFORD MINERAL WATERS. 
 
 WITH DIRECTIONS FOR INVALIDS. 
 
 By SEBASTIAN F. FONDA, M.D., 
 
 RESIDENT PHYSICIAN. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 JOHN J. SCIIROEDER, MEDICAL BOOKSELLER, 
 
 75 THIRD AVENUE. 
 
 1854. 
 
pA 
 
 2<w 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1854, by 
 S. F. FONDA, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for tl 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
 R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER, 
 
 53 Vesey st„ N. Y. 
 
TO THE REV. DR. DUMONT. 
 
 Dear Sir: — 
 
 To no other friend can I inscribe this volume more 
 cordially and appropriately than to yourself. It is due to 
 you not only on account of the agreeable associations con- 
 necting your name with the subjects of which it treats, but 
 as a token of gratitude for many acts of kindness. 
 
 Your much obliged and grateful friend, 
 
 S. R FONDA. 
 
SRRATA 
 
 By an accidental omission th* item* „f +i, t ■ 
 
 of th+ Pi.ni i i . ' item & of the analysis 
 
 One gallon contairis : 
 
 Sulphate of Magnesia ^" 
 
 :; f° da -..'." i-oo 
 
 111116 •■• . 16-36 
 Iron • • . . 86-00 
 
 Also, Section III. should be supplied on page 42. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 General Description of Sharon Springs, - 9 
 
 L- — The Operation of Eliminative Medicines, - 19 
 
 II. — Mineral Springs, — Analysis, History, Medicinal 
 
 Effects, --------- 29 
 
 III. — External Use of the Sharon Water, — Anatomy 
 
 and Physiology of the Skin, - 42 
 
 Functions of the Skin, 50 
 
 Baths, -------- 65 
 
 Vapor Bathing, -------62 
 
 IV. — Internal Use of the Sharon "Water, - - 81 
 
 Analysis of Different Springs, - - - - 90 
 
 Professional Advice before Leaving Home, - 95 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the treatise now presented to the profession and the 
 public, the author has endeavored to exhibit a view of the 
 mineral waters of Sharon Springs. In so doing, it appeared 
 necessary to enter into some detail on the anatomy and phy- 
 siology of the human system, in order to give a clear exposi- 
 tion of the beneficial effects of bathing, and of the elimination 
 of excrementitious substances from the blood. It is not ex- 
 pected that all the readers of the following pages will look 
 upon their contents with equal interest, or derive from them 
 an equal amount of information; but everything relating to 
 the preservation of health by baths and auxiliary processes 
 must be regarded as property common to all The author 
 hopes that his labors will be instrumental in promoting the 
 frequent use of the bath ; as he is convinced that if it once 
 becomes general, it will be found not only to contribute 
 greatly to individual comfort and pleasure, but also to pro- 
 mote the health of the community at large. It would be a 
 step in the advance from physical to moral amelioration and 
 progress. 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SHARON SPRINGS .* 
 
 When, over the wide-spread plain, the weary- 
 traveller sees rising into view the dim outlines 
 of shade-producing trees, his spirits are enli- 
 vened, and his pace is quickened. But when 
 the well defined forms have chased away all 
 uncertainty, then the anticipated pleasures of 
 refreshment and rest in the shade are scarcely 
 inferior to the actual realization. And this plea- 
 sure is heightened into joy when the faint and 
 thirsty wayfarer suddenly beholds crystal foun- 
 tains forcing their sparkling waters from among 
 the rocks beneath the far-spreading forest screens. 
 
 * For this introductory description of the Springs, the 
 author is indebted to the kindness of Samuel Meet, Esq., of 
 New York City. 
 
 1* 
 
10 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 He drinks, and finds the waters restorative of 
 long-lost health ; and with a heart swelling with 
 gratitude to the Giver of all Good, he gazes with 
 delight over the beautiful, varied, and extended 
 landscape. 
 
 Leaving the Delavan House at Albany, you 
 step into the cars, cross the pine lands to Sche- 
 nectady, and thence continue along the banks 
 of the Mohawk to Palatine Bridge, a distance 
 of fifty-three miles. You then take stage, and 
 travel southerly, over country enlivened by well 
 cultivated fields, and pleasantly broken into hills 
 and deep water-worn ravines. 
 
 You approach the village of Sharon Springs 
 by a romantic road, cut beside a highland ridge 
 covered with dense and lofty forest. Below the 
 road, and overshadowed by evergreen and de- 
 ciduous trees, some of which are venerable for 
 their age, runs a babbling stream. Passing over 
 a bridge, by which is a mill protected and half 
 concealed in the embrace of the trees, you ascend 
 to the level of the main street. On the left, 
 twelve hundred feet above the Hudson River, 
 stands the Pavilion, with its columns and out- 
 buildings. Some five or six other hotels, and 
 some thirty or forty dwellings are on that street, 
 
SHARON ei KINGS. 11 
 
 and constitute the main portion of the village. 
 This street, parallel with the stream, winds over 
 the elevated grounds at the foot of which issues 
 the fountain. The stream runs along the base of 
 the mountainous ridge lying west of the main 
 street, covered with a forest that is universally 
 admired, and possessing in a high degree the 
 elements of venerableness and grandeur. 
 
 These woods afford extensive, varied, and plea- 
 sant walks. A few Indian families, who here 
 take up their summer residences, impart to the 
 scene a forest wildness of other days. They em- 
 ploy their time in making baskets, fans, and 
 similar articles, which are sold to the visitors. 
 The Indian boys display their expertness in 
 shooting, with bow and arrow, at pennies that 
 soon find their way to their pockets. 
 
 At the base of this ridge, streams of clear, 
 sparkling, medicinal waters boil up and gush 
 out of the soil and rocks, diffusing a sulphurous 
 smell for some distance around. As they flow 
 they deposit on the rocks their sulphurous and 
 magnesian combinations, forming a light yel- 
 lowish incrustation, and where arrested by dams 
 they assume a milky blueness. The rocks, crop- 
 ping out of the side and at the base of the ridge, 
 appear to be sedimentary deposits of the waters. 
 
12 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 If the waters pass over moss or other vegetable 
 growths, they incrust every fibre, leaf, and 
 branch, producing beautiful specimens of petri- 
 faction. 
 
 These springs are within the very shade of the 
 forest. Walks of easy and varied grades lead at 
 once into the midst of the primitive and undis- 
 turbed wilds. The lover of nature may sit and 
 luxuriate, now in the stillness and grandeur, and 
 now in the roar and strength of the forest ; or he 
 may prolong his rambling, ascending the crooked 
 cattle pathways until he reaches an elevated 
 clearing, whence he can look down on the Pa- 
 vilion, and enjoy a prospect as extended as it is 
 delightful. Woods and cultivated fields join on 
 to woods, fields, and orchards, until they are lost 
 on the face of the distant mountains, which, 
 rising in succession, blend their blueness with 
 the clouds. The sight is cheering and healthful. 
 How many ages have passed away in converting 
 seemingly so large a portion of the stubborn 
 forests of the earth into fruitful fields ! Whence 
 the giants that aided our fathers in labors so 
 great ! 
 
 Breaking away from the enchanting scene, 
 and continuing on northerly through the woods, 
 the visitor suddenly finds himself at the extreme 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 13 
 
 end of the mountain, and there, from an observa- 
 tory not of human erection, is a scene that tasks 
 all power of description. In addition to the 
 easterly view, the eye looks away, north and 
 west, over a chequered expanse that stretches 
 far, — where the Adirondack mountains com- 
 mune with the clouds, and where the motherly 
 queen of the British Isles claims sovereignty. 
 As the eye comes back it traces out the silvery 
 course of the Mohawk, — the pathways of its 
 successful competitors, the great Erie Canal and 
 Central Railroad, — measures village with vil- 
 lage, and marks with complacency the steeples 
 rising here and there out of the rural neighbor- 
 hoods. As the rambler sits feasting on the 
 vision, the atmospheric agencies unite in adding 
 new charms to the scene ; the winds come with 
 varied speed and power, and the trees and 
 ripening fields gracefully wave their arms in 
 deference and respectful gratitude ; the shadows 
 run over the landscape in pursuit of the clouds 
 like pleasing drqams ; the sun varies its silvering, 
 gilding, and bronzing processes, ever trying the 
 effects of streams of direct rays and volumes 
 of reflected light and shade from clouds, and 
 whether displeased with its attempts, or un wil- 
 ling to translate the beholder from earth, it 
 
14 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 brushes away its gilding, draws its curtains of 
 clouds, and retires. 
 
 Descending from the highland, you may ex- 
 tend your walk along the confines of the great 
 basin of farm lands, and return up the ravine, 
 following a path beside a restless brook, over- 
 shadowed by dense foliage. Thence you may 
 turn towards the east, and ascend the eminence 
 on which stands the Pavilion Hotel, a large and 
 imposing structure, commanding a prospect on 
 which the eye, never tiring, travels over field 
 after field, till the dividing lines are lost on the 
 side of the distant mountains. For airiness from 
 every point of the compass, for beauty, richness, 
 and extent of rural scenery, this spacious sum- 
 mer retreat is surpassed by few from Maine to 
 the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Strolling to the east, you enter other beauti- 
 ful woods, held sacred from the woodman's axe 
 probably during the years of the independence 
 of these United States. Continuing south for a 
 mile you strike the turnpike roa<J from Albany 
 to the shores of Take Erie, well known in the 
 days of our fathers as the great western avenue 
 of travel and trade. Its glory has departed. 
 The canal and railroad have unhinged its toll- 
 gates. The tens of thousands of fat cattle have 
 
SHARON SPKINGS. 15 
 
 deserted it for the more easy, rapid, and modern 
 mode of locomotion to the great slaughter-houses. 
 Wherever you direct your footsteps, you find 
 variations in the scenery before and around you. 
 In one minute you can leave the main street, 
 and plunge into the solemn forest. When you 
 have taken your draught of the health-giving 
 waters, in a moment you may return to the 
 social and gay circle, or gain a solitude among 
 the lofty and venerable trees, whose leafy tops 
 drink in all the rays the great sun can pour out. 
 In a walk of a few minutes you may exchange a 
 circumscribed vision for an extended and cheer- 
 ing landscape. In this respect there is a great 
 contrast between Sharon and Saratoga. In the 
 latter there is almost one level sameness. Art, 
 however, has lent its aid, and here and there 
 touched up the scene into the beautiful. To the 
 former nature has been lavish of its rural gifts, 
 but art has been dilatory and niggardly. With 
 a moiety of the outlay expended at Saratoga, 
 Sharon would be considered one of the most 
 lovely and romantic spots in our whole country. 
 Its capabilities are almost unlimited. A ride to 
 Cherry Yalley is buoyant and inspiring to the 
 soul. Otsego Lake, embosomed among lovely 
 hills, celebrated for its salmon-trout and other 
 
16 SHAEON SPRINGS. 
 
 fish, as excellent in flavor as its waters are pure, 
 is further south, but within a morning's airing. 
 Cooperstown, looking northerly, commands a 
 view of its whole nine miles. In whatever 
 direction you walk or ride you meet with sour- 
 ces of enjoyment. Howe's wonderful cave can 
 be reached with comparatively little exertion. 
 
 This whole region of country comprised the 
 frontier settlements during the Revolutionary 
 war. Almost every rood of land has a tale of 
 heroism, suffering, cruelty, and blood. A large 
 volume of local thrilling incidents of the times 
 that tried the souls of men can be found at the 
 public houses. 
 
 Sharon Springs are in Schoharie county, near 
 the lines of Montgomery and Otsego counties, — 
 in a healthy, rich, agricultural region. Board 
 can be had in private families at from three to 
 eight dollars, and in hotels at from five to fifteen 
 dollars per week. The hotels are spacious and 
 airy, and are well conducted. The unfavorable 
 circumstances in which much of the property of 
 the village has been situated, are in a great de- 
 gree removed. Its growth and prosperity will 
 doubtless be commensurate with the increasing 
 reputation of the waters. The number of visit- 
 ors has for several years pressed on the accom- 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 17 
 
 modations, which, in 1853, were sufficient for 
 upwards of seven hundred at a time. During the 
 season, probably more than three thousand per- 
 sons took board in the village. This influx of 
 strangers affords a cash market for almost every 
 article grown on the neighboring farms. 
 
 Although I had limited opportunities for in- 
 formation, yet from facts obtained from visitors, 
 physicians, and others, I was much impressed 
 with the preventive and restorative effects of 
 the waters on the human system, in reference to 
 many diseases. Since my return to New York 
 city, I have found that there is scarcely any 
 knowledge of the Springs ; and that some phy- 
 sicians are not only unacquainted with the me- 
 dicinal properties of the waters, but are even 
 ignorant of the locality of Sharon. 
 
THE OPERATION OF ELIMINATIVE MEDICINES. 
 
 Before entering upon the anatomy and phy- 
 siology of the cutaneous system, I purpose to 
 explain the operation of Eliminative Medicines, 
 and also the beneficial effects of mineral waters. 
 
 The mode of operation of eliminative medi- 
 cines is a matter of much importance, and its 
 consideration will render necessary some inquiry 
 into the character and functions of those impor- 
 tant glandular organs which they are said to 
 excite to action. 
 
 The rational explanation of the process of 
 elimination, or secretion, has been, in all ages of 
 science, a favorite topic with speculators and the- 
 orists, — sound or unsound in their views accord- 
 ing to the light that was given to them. With 
 regard to its essential nature, and its immediate 
 bearing on the cure of disease, the subject has 
 been generally understood with tolerable clear- 
 ness. From the time of Hippocrates down- 
 wards, the use of evacuants, in the treatment 
 
/ 
 
 20 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 of fevers and other disorders, has been recog- 
 nised, and their efficacy usually explained by 
 supposing that they caused the passage out of 
 the body, through the glands, of certain matters 
 that were formed in the blood, but ought not to 
 remain in it. This view was more particularly 
 insisted on, towards the close of the seventeenth 
 century, by Dr. Thomas Sydenham ; and again, 
 at the commencement of the eighteenth, by Dr. 
 A. Pitcairn, in an essay on the use of evacuants 
 in fevers. Both these writers had observed that 
 fevers and other disorders had generally a ten- 
 dency to pass off with an increase in one or more 
 of the secretions ; and they inferred from this, 
 and from the results of their experience, that in 
 stimulating and urging this secretion, the physi- 
 cian would be doing his best to promote a cure. 
 More recently the same idea has been followed 
 up by Cullen, Hamilton, and others. This the- 
 ory is not in our immediate province. Though 
 based upon reasonable grounds, it has perhaps 
 been too universally applied. It will suffice 
 now if we assume that remedies whose action is 
 to increase the amount of secretion have often 
 an important bearing on the cure of disease. 
 "We have only to inquire into their mode of ope- 
 ration. 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 21 
 
 As a preliminary step, there is one general 
 law of secretion which it is of importance that 
 we should clearly lay down, viz. it is the spe- 
 cial object of each gland, or set of glands, tc 
 secrete from the blood particular materials, and 
 to expel them from the body. It follows from 
 this law, that when any morbid substance or 
 product, or anything which is in the system, but 
 cannot naturally remain there, has to pass out, 
 it prefers to pass by some glands rather than by 
 others. 
 
 It must be remembered that the glands afford 
 the only means by which a substance can make 
 its exit from the blood ; but we are still much in 
 the dark as to the rationale of this force or ac- 
 tion, by which particular matters are drawn 
 towards each gland. 
 
 Dr. Pitcairn, a great man for the age in which 
 he lived, — a man of original thought and natu- 
 ral genius, — gives us, in his essay on the circu- 
 lation of the blood, a learned account of three 
 theories on this subject, which were in vogue in 
 his time. They are of importance as showing 
 that the fact was then very clearly recognised, 
 however uncertain the explanation of it may be. 
 One party supposed that there was stored up 
 in each gland a certain material which prevented 
 
22 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 the passage through to itself of any dissimilar 
 substance: just as when a sheet of paper is 
 steeped in oil, oil only will pass through it, and 
 not water. A second party, called the " chemi- 
 cal party," supposed that there must be, in the 
 immediate neighborhood of each gland, a subtle 
 fluid whose office it was to form and separate 
 from the blood the materials which that gland 
 was designed to secrete. A third set of physi- 
 cians armed themselves with mathematics, and 
 with the newly discovered principle of Newton, 
 and actually worked out formulae and equations 
 to support their arguments. They had settled 
 and perhaps reasonable ideas as to the definite 
 shapes of atoms. They averred that each gland 
 was to be compared to a sieve or strainer, having 
 pores of a particular size, and of a certain geo- 
 metrical shape, and that each secreted atom 
 could only pass through a pore that exactly 
 coincides in size and figure with itself. 
 
 The two former of these theories Dr. Pitcairn 
 rejected with high disdain; the third he accepted 
 in a modified form. He supposed that the ves- 
 sels in the glands terminated in small open 
 mouths, always circular, but differing in diame- 
 ter in different glands, so that each would not 
 admit the passage of a particle above a given 
 
SHARON SPEINGS. 23 
 
 diameter. Thus lie supposed that each secre- 
 tion would consist only of certain peculiar par- 
 ticles. Possibly Dr. Pitcairn forgot that small 
 particles would seldom hesitate to pass through 
 large ducts. 
 
 We may perhaps feel inclined to ridicule these 
 crude speculations of the philosophers of the 
 eighteenth century ; we may be disposed to 
 smile at the idea of vessels with open mouths, 
 and of glands which are riddled with holes, like 
 the buckets of the Naiades ; but we must con- 
 fess, that if at the present clay we have swept 
 away these notions, we have certainly added 
 nothing in their stead : nor can we explain this 
 matter a whit more clearly than our predeces 
 sors a century and a half ago. 
 
 The fact nevertheless is plain, however vainly 
 we may seek for the explanation. It is an es- 
 tablished rule, to which there are few excep- 
 tions, that every substance which is formed in 
 the blood and must be removed from the body, 
 tends to pass out through some particular gland. 
 Thus, it is the particular function of the kidneys 
 to excrete water, urea, uric acid, and certain 
 salts ; of the bowels, to excrete effete matter and 
 gases ; and of the liver, to excrete fatty mat- 
 ters, tannin, cholesterine, and chlorate of soda. 
 
24 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 Water, being the necessary solvent of the solid 
 matters in all the fluid secretions, is secreted, in 
 greater or less quantity, by all the important 
 glands. The kidneys are the chief emunctories 
 of water, — i. e. it is their province to separate it 
 from the blood when it has entered in an unnatu- 
 ral amount. But in the excretion of water there 
 exists a compensating relation between the skin, 
 kidneys, and bowels, and particularly between 
 the two former ; so that when it is not properly 
 excreted by the kidneys, it may pass out by the 
 skin and conversely. It is well known that this 
 change may be determined by several circum- 
 stances, particularly by the conditions of heat 
 and cold, or moisture and dryness. The relation 
 between the functions of the skin and kidneys 
 applies also to other fluid and solid substances, 
 as will be seen when we consider the medicines 
 which act upon these glands. 
 
 Now this law of selective secretion applies not 
 only, as it seems to me, to substances which, in 
 the course of nature, are formed in the blood, 
 and require to be excreted from it, but also to 
 other matters, w T hich have been, as it were, ac- 
 cidentally introduced from without, and which 
 cannot properly remain in the system. Thus it 
 would apply to all medicinal bodies which have 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 25 
 
 passed from the stomach into the blood, and 
 which, not being natural constituents of that 
 fluid, must be removed. 
 
 By way of summary, the preceding observa- 
 tions may be resolved into the following propo- 
 sitions : — 
 
 1. That eliminatives are medicines which en- 
 ter into the blood. 
 
 2. That they cannot remain there, but must 
 pass out of the body. 
 
 3. That in so doing they have a tendency to 
 pass out by particular glands. 
 
 4. That the result of their passage through a 
 gland is to increase its secretion. 
 
 5. That they are of use when the state of the 
 system requires that the function of a gland 
 should be restored or promoted. 
 
 "What I wish to prove is, that a medicine in- 
 creases secretion simply by being itself secreted ; 
 that while passing through a gland it stimulates 
 the secreting cells, and rouses them to a proper 
 performance of their natural functions ; that 
 every eliminative medicine has a tendency to- 
 wards a particular gland, and increases the 
 secretion of that gland ; that thus, as far as our 
 information on the subject extends, we find that 
 cathartics are excreted from the blood by the 
 
 2 
 
26 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 glands of the bowels, and pass out with the 
 fseces; that diuretics are to be discovered in the 
 urine, diaphoretics in the sweat, and volatile 
 expectorants may be detected in the odor of the 
 breath. 
 
 Any material which is naturally eliminated 
 would act as an eliminative medicine. Thus, if 
 a drachm of urea be dissolved in water, and 
 injected into the veins of a dog, it causes copious 
 urination, which continues until the whole is 
 excreted. This well illustrates the argument. 
 
 Further, we find that when an eliminative 
 medicine is diverted from the gland by which 
 it usually passes out, it no longer augments the 
 secretion of that gland. Dr. Ward gives an 
 interesting case of a woman who was never 
 purged by castor oil, but in whom the oil ex- 
 uded from the skin, and acted as a diaphoretic. 
 And it is, as I have said, well known that the 
 conditions of cold and exercise will cause a 
 diaphoretic, in most cases, to act on the kidneys, 
 because it is then excreted by them. For the 
 same reason, warmth, confinement, and rest will 
 induce a diuretic medicine to act on the skin. 
 
 Now, if it be shown on the one hand, that 
 eliminative medicines themselves pass through 
 the glands whose secretions tljqy augment ; and 
 
SHAKON SPRINGS. 27 
 
 on the other hand, that when they do not pass 
 through them, they do not, as a general rule, 
 augment their secretion, it may fairly be pre- 
 sumed that they operate by so passing through. 
 
 I assert then, that medicines which stimulate 
 secretions are themselves- secreted. But the 
 converse of this, — L e. that all medicines which 
 are secreted at the same time increase secre- 
 tion, — though it holds good in the main, is not 
 invariably true. There are two chief exceptions 
 to it : these are astringents and hyperemics. 
 When an astringent passes through a gland, it 
 tends, by its natural force, to check secretion, 
 and to cause constriction of the ducts. Thus, 
 uva ursi may reduce the amount of the urine, 
 although it sometimes increases it, in which case 
 the eliminative may be said to overpower the 
 astringent tendency. So also catechu, kino, and 
 sulphuric acid diminish the secretion of the 
 i&testinal glands. But general astringents are 
 not always glandular astringents ; thus, the 
 mineral acids act as diuretics. 
 
 By hyperemics, I mean medicines which pro- 
 duce congestion. Powerful eliminatives do this 
 when given in excess, simply by exciting imme- 
 diate action. Now, it is a general rule that 
 congestion, however caused, diminishes the se- 
 
28 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 cretion of a gland. Thus congestion of the liver 
 produces jaundice ; congestion of the kidney, 
 ischuria. After scarlatina, when the kidneys 
 are suddenly called upon to eliminate a morbid 
 material from the blood, congestion of the glands 
 may be caused, the urine is diminished, and 
 dropsy results. 
 
 Cantharides and turpentine are diuretics. 
 They increase the urine when taken in mode- 
 rate doses; but an overdose will diminish it, 
 and may cause painful strangury, with an al- 
 most total suppression of the secretion. The 
 explanation of such a result is obvious. Con- 
 gestion is caused by the excessive action. In 
 the same way, we find that a large dose of 
 mercury, naturally a cholagogue, may produce 
 jaundice by causing congestion of the liver. 
 This fact has been observed by Dr. Graves, of 
 Dublin. 
 
 In all cases, then, in which observations have 
 been made, we find that an eliminative medi- 
 cine is secreted by the gland which is stimu- 
 lated by it ; and in most cases, that a medicine 
 which is excreted by a gland tends to increase 
 its particular secretion. 
 
n. 
 
 MINERAL SPRINGS. 
 
 ANALYSIS, HISTORY, MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 After the preceding general statement of the 
 case, we are prepared to direct our attention to 
 the Mineral Springs at Sharon. And first, of 
 the analysis ; secondly, of the medicinal effects 
 of each substance. 
 
 SHARON WHITE SULPHUR SPRING. 
 Analysis by Dr. J. R. Chilton. 
 
 One gallon contains, 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 42.40 grains. 
 
 Sulphate of lime, 111.62 " 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 2.24 " 
 
 Chloride of magnesia, - 2.40 " 
 
 Hydro-sulphuret of sodium, and hydro-sulphuret 
 
 of calcium, 2.28 " 
 
 Solid contents, - - - - 160.94 grains. 
 Sulphureted hydrogen gas, - - - - 16 inches. 
 
30 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 SHARON MAGNESIA SPRING. 
 
 By Prof. Lawrence Reed, of New York. 
 
 Bicarb, magnesia, - - - - - - 30.5 grains. 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, ----- 22. 7 " 
 
 Sulphate of lime, - - - - - - 76. " 
 
 Hydro-sulphurets of magnesia and lime, - 0.50 " 
 
 Chlorides of sodium and magnesia, 3. 
 
 Solid contents, 132.7 grains. 
 
 Sulphureted hydrogen, 3.3 inches. 
 
 Mineral waters have been known to mankind 
 from the most remote periods of antiquity, 
 They were employed medicinally, both as ex- 
 ternal and internal agents, for the prevention, 
 alleviation, and cure of diseases. Homer speaks 
 of tepid and cold springs. The Asclepiadge, or 
 followers of JEsculapius, erected their temples 
 in the neighborhood of mineral and thermal 
 waters. Hippocrates speaks of mineral waters, 
 though he does not prescribe them when treat- 
 ing of particular diseases. Pliny also notices 
 their medicinal properties. 
 
 The principal source of mineral waters is the 
 atmosphere, from which water is obtained in the 
 form of rain, snow, hail, and dew, and which, 
 after percolating a certain portion of the earth, 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 31 
 
 and dissolving various substances m its passage, 
 re-appears on the surface, at the bottom of de- 
 clivities — spring water. But springs are some- 
 times observed under circumstances which are 
 inconsistent with the supposition of their atmo- 
 spheric origin. The boiling springs, which well 
 up on the verge of perpetual snows, at an alti- 
 tude of 13,000 above the level of the sea, as in 
 the Himalayahs, cannot be derived from the 
 atmosphere ; neither can the Icelandic Geysers 
 have an atmospheric origin. Other sources, 
 therefore, have been sought for, and the writer 
 last referred to enumerates three, viz. the focus 
 of volcanic activity, the great mass of the ocean 
 or other masses of salt water, and subterranean 
 reservoirs. 
 
 Considered with reference to their tempera- 
 ture, mineral waters are divided into cold and 
 hot. The hot or thermal waters are those which 
 possess a temperature more or less elevated above 
 the mean of the latitude or elevation at which 
 they are found, and the changes of which, if any, 
 observe no regular periods coincident with the 
 revolutions of the seasons. Three causes have 
 been assigned as the source of the heat of mine- 
 ral waters, viz. volcanic action now in existence ; 
 volcanic action now extinguished, but the effects 
 
32 SHAEON SPRINGS. 
 
 of which still remain; and a central source of 
 heat which increases as we descend from the 
 surface to the interior of the earth. The origin 
 of the saline and other constituents is another 
 interesting topic of inquiry connected with the 
 natural history of mineral springs. As water, in 
 its passage through the different strata of the 
 earth, must come in contact with various sub- 
 stances which are soluble in it, we refer certain 
 constituents of mineral waters to solution and 
 lixiviation merely, — as chloride of sodium, car- 
 bonates of lime and magnesia, iodides and 
 bromides of sodium and magnesium, iron, silica,. 
 &c. Chemical action must, in some cases, be 
 the source of other constituents. Thus, sulphu- 
 reted hydrogen is probably produced by the 
 action of water on some metallic sulphuret (es- 
 pecially iron pyrites) ; sulphurous or sulphuric 
 acid, from the oxidation and combustion of sul- 
 phur, free or combined. 
 
 Classification. — Mineral waters may be ar- 
 ranged according to their temperature, their 
 chemical composition, or their medicinal pro- 
 perties. But hitherto no satisfactory classifica- 
 tion has been made by any of these methods, 
 nor perhaps can it be effected. 
 
 We will now consider the individual medici- 
 
SHAEON SPRINGS. 33 
 
 nal substances contained in the White Sulphur 
 Spring of Sharon, premising some observations 
 on sulphurous waters in general. 
 
 These waters are impregnated with hydro- 
 sulphuric acid (sulphureted hydrogen), in conse- 
 quence of which they have the odor of decayed 
 eggs, and cause black precipitates (metallic sul- 
 phurets) with solutions of the salts of lead, sil- 
 ver, copper, bismuth, &c. Those sulphurous 
 waters, which, after ebullition, retain their power 
 of causing these precipitates, contain in solution 
 a sulphuret (hydro-sulphuret), usually calcium 
 or sodium, which is the case with sulphur water 
 at Sharon. 
 
 All the British sulphurous waters are cold, 
 but some of the continental ones are thermal. 
 The most celebrated sulphurous waters of Eng- 
 land are those of Harrowgate ; of Scotland, those 
 of Moffat and Eothsay. 
 
 Dr. Pereira observes: "The general opera- 
 tion of the sulphurous waters is stimulant, and 
 is adapted for chronic complaints. They are 
 supposed to possess a specific power over the 
 cutaneous and uterine systems. They are em- 
 ployed both as external and internal agents in 
 chronic skin diseases (as lepra, psoriasis, scabies, 
 pityriasis, herpes, &c.) 5 in derangements of the 
 
34 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 uterine functions (amenorrhoea and chlorosis), in 
 old syphilitic cases, in chronic rheumatism and 
 gout, and in other diseases in which sulphur and 
 its compounds have been found serviceable. 
 On account of their stimulant effects, they are 
 contra-indicated in all plethoric and inflamma- 
 tory conditions of the system, and their employ- 
 ment requires caution, especially in weak and 
 irritable constitutions." 
 
 1. Let us now advert to the physiological 
 effects of the medicinal agents contained in 
 Sharon sulphur water. And as sulphate of 
 magnesia stands at the head of the list in the 
 analysis, I shall examine its physiological effects 
 first, which, by the by, is all I design to do at 
 this time. 
 
 In moderate doses, sulphate of magnesia is a 
 mild and perfectly safe antiphlogistic purgative, 
 which promotes the secretions as well as the 
 peristaltic motion of the alimentary canal. It is 
 very similar in its operation to sulphate of soda, 
 and is less likely to nauseate or otherwise disorder 
 the digestive functions, while it acts somewhat 
 more speedily on the bowels. It does not occa- 
 sion nausea and griping, like some of the vege- 
 table purgatives, nor has it any tendency to give 
 rise to febrile disorder or inflammatory symp- 
 
SHARON SPKESTGS. 35 
 
 toms ; but, on the other hand, it has a refrige- 
 rant influence, — hence it is commonly termed a 
 cooling powder. In small doses, largely diluted 
 with aqueous fluids, it becomes absorbed, and 
 slightly promotes the action of other emuncto- 
 ries. ^Thus, if the skin be kept cool, and mode- 
 rate exercise be taken, it acts as a diuretic. To 
 state all the cases in which it is administered 
 would be to enumerate nearly the whole cata- 
 logue of known diseases. 
 
 2. The sulphate of lime, the second ingredient 
 in the analysis, has no effect upon the animal 
 economy unless it is absorbed by the veins of the 
 stomach before it is precipitated from the other 
 substances which cause it to be held in solution. 
 I have reason to believe, that as soon as the 
 temperature of the water is raised by the sto- 
 mach, the sulphate of lime is precipitated, and 
 passes down with the faecal matter, producing no 
 effect whatever. Many persons have an idea 
 that the sulphate of lime has an injurious effect on 
 the kidneys and urinary organs, but I can assure 
 them that this supposition is entirely fallacious. 
 
 2. Chloride of sodium, or common salt, the 
 third ingredient, serves some essential ends in 
 the animal economy. It is employed on ac- 
 count of its agreeable taste by the most refined 
 
36 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 as well as the most barbarous nations ; but the 
 qnantity taken varies with different individuals. 
 It is an invariable constituent of the healthy- 
 blood. Dr. Stevens has shown that in certain 
 states of disease (as cholera) there is a deficiency 
 of the saline matter in the blood, which in those 
 cases has a very dark or black appearance. Some 
 of the characters of the sanguineous fluid, such 
 as its fluidity, its stimulating qualities, and its 
 conservative properties, are probably more or 
 less connected with its saline constituents. The 
 chloride of sodium found in some of the secre- 
 tions, as the bile and tears, doubtless serves 
 some important purpose. It is said that persons 
 who take little or no salt with their food are very 
 subject to intestinal worms. Lord Somerville, 
 in his address to the Board of Agriculture, states 
 that the ancient laws of Holland ordered a diet 
 of bread alone, unmixed with salt, as the sever- 
 est punishment that could be inflicted upon 
 criminals in their moist climate. The effect 
 was horrible. These wretched victims are said 
 to have been devoured by worms engendered in 
 their stomachs. Mr. Marshall tells us of a lady 
 who had a natural aversion to salt: she was 
 most dreadfully affected with worms during the 
 whole of her life. 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 37 
 
 In some diseases the moderate use of salt has 
 the effects of a tonic. It acts as a stimulant to 
 the mucous membranes, the absorbent vessels 
 and glands. In its endosmotic action on the 
 tissues and on the blood-corpuscles, common 
 salt agrees with other saline substances before 
 mentioned. 
 
 Hydro-Sulphuret of Calcium and Hydro-Sul- 
 phuret of Sodium. — Sulphur, sulphureted hy- 
 drogen, and the alkaline sulphurets produce 
 similar effects. By the inhalation of sulphu- 
 reted hydrogen gas, or the vapor of hydro- 
 sulphuret of ammonia, as well as by the inges- 
 tion of the alkaline sulphurets, the blood as- 
 sumes a dark color, — an effect which, in the 
 case of sulphureted hydrogen, Liebig ascribes 
 to the action of this gas on the iron in the 
 blood. When the alkaline sulphurets are swal- 
 lowed, a portion suffers decomposition by the 
 acids of the stomach, and consequently an evo- 
 lution of sulphureted hydrogen takes place. 
 The undecomposed portion is absorbed and 
 eliminated by the kidneys ; but during its pas- 
 sage through the system a certain quantity 
 undergoes oxidation, and is converted into a 
 sulphate. Sulphur taken into the stomach is, for 
 the most part, evacuated by the bowels; but 
 
38 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 some portion is absorbed, and may be detected 
 in the secretions. In the urine it is found as 
 sulphate and sulphuret. It is probable, there- 
 fore, that by the mutual action of sulphur and 
 the soda of the bile, sulphuret of sodium and 
 sulphate of sodium are formed, and that these 
 are subsequently absorbed. The different pre- 
 parations of sulphur, when employed medici- 
 nally, promote the action of the secreting or- 
 gans, their influence being directed principally 
 to the skin and mucous membranes. They have 
 been supposed to possess a specific stimulating 
 influence over the pelvic venous system. Their 
 influence over the skin is undoubted, and their 
 efficacy in chronic cutaneous diseases has long 
 been established. 
 
 SHARON MAGNESIA SPRING. 
 
 Bicarbonate of Magnesia — Physiological Ef- 
 fects. — When taken internally, magnesia neu- 
 tralizes the free acids contained in the stomach 
 and intestines, and forms therewith soluble mag- 
 nesian salts. In full closes it acts as a laxative ; 
 but as it occasions very little serous discharge, 
 Dr. Paris ranks it among purgatives which urge 
 the bowels to evacuate their contents by an 
 
SIIARON SPRINGS. 39 
 
 imperceptible action upon the muscular fibres. 
 Part of its laxative effect probably depends on 
 the action of the soluble magnesian salts, which 
 it forms by union with the acids of the alimen- 
 tary canal. Magnesia exercises an influence 
 over the urine analogous to that of the alkalies ; 
 that is, it diminishes the quantity of uric acid in 
 the urine, and when continued for too long a 
 period occasions the deposit of earthy phos- 
 phates in the form of white sand. On account 
 of its greater insolubility it requires a longer 
 time to produce these effects than the alkalies. 
 As an antacid it is as efficacious as the alkalies, 
 while it has an advantage over them in being 
 less irritant and not caustic, and therefore is not 
 apt to disorder the digestive organs. Hence it 
 is administered to relieve heartburn arising 
 from, or connected with, the secretion of an 
 abnormal quantity of acid by the stomach. Its 
 efficacy is best seen in persons of a gouty or 
 rheumatic diathesis, in which the urine contains 
 excess of uric acid. It often relieves the head- 
 ache to which such individuals are not unfre- 
 quently subject. It is most efficacious in dimi- 
 nishing the quantity of uric acid in the urine in 
 calculous complaints ; and, according to Mr. W. 
 T. Brande, it is sometimes effectual where the 
 
40 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 alkalies have failed. It will be found of great 
 value in those urinary affections in which alka- 
 line remedies are indicated, but in which potash 
 and soda have given rise to dyspeptic symp- 
 toms. 
 
 The Magnesia water owes its cathartic pro- 
 perties to the bicarbonate of magnesia combined 
 with the sulphate of magnesia, which renders 
 the Magnesia water more laxative than the Sul- 
 phur water. "Whilst the Magnesia water is more 
 laxative, and better adapted to acute diseases 
 requiring antiphlogistic remedies, the Sulphur 
 water is stimulating and alterative, and hence 
 more serviceable in chronic diseases. 
 
 As the other ingredients in the Magnesia 
 water have been described when speaking of 
 the medicinal ingredients contained in the Sul- 
 phur water, I shall say nothing more concerning 
 them under this head. 
 
 CHALYBEATE SPRING. 
 
 Situated upon the property of Leroy Eldredge, the propri- 
 etor of the Union Hall. 
 
 This spring has been recently discovered, and 
 has been properly curbed by the intelligent and 
 accommodating proprietor. 
 
SIIAKON SPRINGS. 41 
 
 Analysis. — Sulphate of magnesia. 
 Sulphate of soda. 
 Sulphate of lime. 
 Sulphate of iron. 
 
 The use of chalybeate waters is indicated in 
 cases of debility, especially when accompanied 
 by that condition of the system known as 
 anemia. They have long obtained a high ce- 
 lebrity for the relief of complaints peculiar to 
 the female sex. Their employment is contra- 
 indicated in plethoric, inflammatory, and febrile 
 conditions of the system. Iron exists naturally 
 in the hematosin, or coloring matter of the blood. 
 It has been maintained by some that the red 
 color of hematosin does not depend upon the 
 iron which it contains. "Without iron, hemato- 
 sin could not exist, any more than albumen 
 could continue to be albumen when deprived 
 of nitrogen. 
 
 In a case which came under my own obser- 
 vation, the blood of an anemic girl was found, 
 before the use of iron, to contain only 50 parts 
 of globules in 1000, instead of 120, the normal 
 average. The ammonio-citrate of iron was pre- 
 scribed, in five doses, three times a day. After 
 it had been continued for a month, the blood 
 was again analysed, and the amount of cor- 
 
42 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 puscles found to have increased to 76 parts. 
 After another month, they had reached 100. 
 
 When treating of eliminatives, I spoke of the 
 cutaneous system, and intimated my intention 
 of considering the anatomy and physiology of 
 the skin before coming to the subject of baths. 
 I propose now briefly to describe the skin and 
 its functions. 
 
 Anatomical Divisions of the Shin. — The skin 
 consists of two main layers, — the external, called 
 epidermis, cuticle, or scarf skin ; and the inter- 
 nal, called cutis vera, or true skin, which con- 
 tains the perspiratory and sebaceous or oil- 
 secreting glands. 
 
 The Trice Shin. — The dermis, or true skin, 
 consists of a dense elastic tissue, with numerous 
 openings for the transmission of blood-vessels 
 from its under surface, and of an intricate net- 
 work of minute blood-vessels, sensory nerves, 
 and lymphatic or absorbent vessels distributed 
 over its upper surface. This network is some- 
 times called the papillary layer. The dermis 
 also contains in its substance the sebaceous fol- 
 licles, and transmits the ducts of the sudorife- 
 rous or sweat glands that lie beneath it. The 
 papillary layer of the dermis consists of minute 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 43 
 
 conical prominences, very irregularly distribut- 
 ed. The papillae are sometimes collected into 
 masses, and arranged in parallel rows, giving 
 rise to the ridges and furrows seen upon the 
 palm of the hand and sole of the foot. The 
 dermis, or true skin, varies in thickness in differ- 
 ent parts of the body, being most dense on the 
 back, outer sides of the limbs, palms of the 
 hands, and soles of the feet ; and contrasting, in 
 this particular, with the inner side of the limbs, 
 the breast, and the back of the hands, and the 
 eyelids. The thickness in these cases sometimes 
 arises from the dense substratum of the true 
 skin, or corion proper, and sometimes, as where 
 great delicacy of touch and sensation is required, 
 from increase of the substance of the papillae 
 themselves. Of the profuse supply of blood to 
 the true skin, by the interweaving of innumera- 
 ble fine blood-vessels or capillaries, and of the 
 nervous tissue on which sensitive impressions 
 are made, we can form an idea from the fact, 
 that in no part of the surface can the point of 
 the finest needle penetrate without blood being 
 drawn, and pain felt. 
 
 The Epidermis or Cuticle. — The external layer 
 of the skin, called epidermis or cuticle, is formed 
 by the exudation of cells from the papillary layer, 
 
44 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 which is at first soft, but afterwards becomes hard 
 and horny in its texture, and disposed in a scaly 
 or imbricated form. It consists of several la- 
 minae, the outer of which exhibit the usual cha- 
 racteristic features of the epidermis, being hard 
 and unorganized; while the inner, or those in 
 contact with the papillary layer, are soft and 
 cellular. The latter was for a long time described 
 as a separate layer, and was called the rete mu- 
 cosum, and considered as the seat of the color of 
 the skin. It is now ascertained, however, that 
 the pigment cells are scattered through the ordi- 
 nary epidermic cells in the under laminse of the 
 epidermis, and contiguous to the papillary layer 
 of the dermis. On the presence of this pigment 
 in the cells of the epidermis depend the different 
 tints of color of the skin, observable in different 
 races and nations. Owing to the peculiar tex- 
 ture of the epidermis, its superficial laminae are 
 continually removed by attrition, and new ones 
 are as continually formed on its internal surface. 
 This outer layer of the skin is accurately modelled 
 on the papillary layer, and each papilla has its 
 appropriate sheath in the newly-formed epider- 
 mis. 
 
 The epidermis is pierced by the excretory 
 ducts of the sweat glands and sebaceous folli- 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 45 
 
 cles, which, as already remarked, lie in the true 
 skin, and immediately beneath it, and also by 
 the shafts of the hair. The number of its la- 
 minae is increased, or in other words it becomes 
 thicker, in proportion as the surface is rubbed 
 and exposed to pressure, by which the true skin 
 is excited to increased secretion in order to pro- 
 tect the parts most subjected to attrition and 
 pressure, — as the soles of the feet and palms of 
 the hands. It is thinnest on the tips of the 
 fingers and on the lips, — parts in which sensi- 
 bility is required. The obvious use of the epi- 
 dermis is to protect the true skin, which is 
 extremely sensitive to impressions from foreign 
 bodies or extremes of temperature. Of this 
 every one has had experience in cases where 
 the epidermis has been accidentally peeled off, 
 or removed by disease or by a blister. As 
 normally constituted, it allows of a closer con- 
 tact with the substance to be examined, by a 
 greater pressure and firmer grasp and diversi- 
 fied handling, so that a more definite perception 
 of its properties is obtained without any sensa- 
 tion of pain. 
 
 The Sudoriferous or Sweat Glands. — The su- 
 doriferous, or perspiratory, or sweat glands are 
 small, oblong, rounded bodies, in some cases 
 
46 SHAKON SPRINGS. 
 
 sacs, situated on the tissue beneath the skin. 
 Under the microscope these bodies present the 
 appearance of a solitary tube intricately coiled, 
 one end of which is closed and usually buried 
 within the gland, the other emerges from the 
 gland and opens on the skin. The outer end 
 passes through the dermis, and opens obliquely 
 by a pore upon the surface of the epidermis, or 
 scarf skin, so that the orifice is covered by a 
 minute valve of this outer layer of the skin. 
 The convoluted tube of which the gland con- 
 sists, forms a kind of knot ; it is copiously sup- 
 plied with blood-vessels, and lined by a pro- 
 longation of the epidermis. The pores are visi- 
 ble to the naked eye upon the palm of the hand, 
 the sole of the foot, and the extremities of the 
 fingers. They are ranged along the little ridges 
 of sensory papillse, and give to the latter the 
 appearance of being crossed by transverse lines. 
 
 Perspiration^ and Extent of the Perspiratory 
 Tubes. — From these glands the watery and sa- 
 line fluid of perspiration is constantly secreted. 
 The following minute estimates by Mr. Wilson, 
 in his Practical Treatise on Healthy Skin, are 
 curious and interesting : — 
 
 "Taken separately, the little perspiratory tube, 
 with its appended gland, is calculated to awaken 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 47 
 
 in the mind very little idea of tlie importance of 
 the system to which it belongs; but when the 
 vast numbers of similar organs composing this 
 system are considered, we are led to form some 
 notion, however imperfect, of their probable 
 influence on the health and comfort of the in- 
 dividual. I use the words ' imperfect notion' 
 advisedly ; for the reality surpasses imagination, 
 and almost belief. To arrive at something like 
 an estimate of the value of the perspiratory 
 system, in relation to the rest of the organism, I 
 counted the perspiratory pores on the palm of 
 the hand, and found 3,528 in a square inch. 
 Now, each of these pores being the aperture of 
 a little tube of about a quarter of an inch long, 
 it follows that in a square inch of skin on the 
 palm of the hand, there exists a length of tube 
 equal to 882 inches, or 73J feet. Surely such 
 an amount of drainage as 73 feet in every square 
 inch of skin, assuming this to be the average for 
 the whole body, is something wonderful; and 
 the thought naturally intrudes itself, — What if 
 this drainage were obstructed ? Could we need 
 a stronger argument for enforcing the necessity 
 of attention to the skin ? 
 
 " On the pulps of the fingers, where the ridges 
 of the sensitive layer of the true skin are some- 
 
48 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 what finer than on the palm of the hand, the 
 number of pores on a square inch a little ex- 
 ceeded that of the palm ; and on the heel, 
 where the ridges are coarser, the number of 
 pores on the square inch was 2,268, and the 
 length of tube 567 inches, or 47 feet. To ob- 
 tain an estimate of the length of tube of the 
 perspiratory system of the whole surface of the 
 body, I think that 2,800 might be taken as a fair 
 average of the number of pores in the square 
 inch ; and 700 consequently as the number of 
 inches in length. Now, the number of square 
 inches of surface in a man of ordinary height 
 and bulk is 2,500 ; the number of pores, there- 
 fore, 7,000,000 ; and the number of inches of 
 perspiratory tube, 1,750,000, — that is, 145,833 
 feet, or 48,600 yards, or nearly 28 miles." 
 
 Sebaceous or Oil-Forming Glands. — The seba- 
 ceous or oil-forming glands, which are included 
 in the above calculation of Mr. Wilson, are small, 
 oblong bodies, closely resembling the perspira- 
 tory glands; and sometimes they are short, 
 straight follicles or pouches, seated in the sub- 
 stance of the dermis. Their excretory or termi- 
 nal ducts open, in the largest numbers, in a hair 
 follicle. In the hairy parts of the skin, we 
 usually find a pair of sebaceous follicles open- 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 49 
 
 ing into the passage through which every hair 
 ascends. In general the sebaceous tubes are 
 straighter and wider than the perspiratory ones. 
 They are absent in the palm and sole, but 
 abound in the face and nose, the head, the ears, 
 the borders of the eyelids, the armpits, and the 
 natural outlets of the body, &c. The purpose 
 of the sebaceous secretion is to keep the skin 
 soft and pliable, and to prevent its being dried 
 and cracked by the influence of the sun and air, 
 and also to protect parts much exposed to fric- 
 tion. This oily fluid is much more abundantly 
 formed in the races of mankind that live in warm 
 climates than in those that inhabit cold ones. 
 Its presence on the skin causes the water, when 
 a person is bathing, to form itself into separate 
 drops or globules on the surface of the body ; 
 and it imparts also a certain degree of greasi- 
 ness to a garment that has been worn for a 
 length of time next the skin. 
 
 The sebaceous tubes are frequently the seat 
 of a curious parasite or animalcule (Entozoon 
 folliculorum), which Mr. Wilson represents to be 
 present in great numbers on the inhabitants of 
 cities and large towns, whose skin is more or less 
 torpid in its functions. lie has found it in all 
 periods, from youth to old age ; more nnmeronsly. 
 
50 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 it is true, in the latter than in the former period, 
 and in great and remarkable numbers during 
 sickness. He is disposed to regard it as answer- 
 ing a salutary purpose, by helping to keep open 
 the over-distended cells and tubes, which, in the 
 persons referred to, become impacted with hard- 
 ened sebaceous matter, and which are in this 
 way irritated and sometimes inflamed. 
 
 FUNCTIONS OF THE SKIN. 
 
 1. Continuity of the Shin with the Mucous 
 Membranes. — In order to be able to appreciate 
 fully the nature and importance of the functions 
 of the skin, we ought to be. aware that it is 
 continuous with the membranes which line the 
 internal cavities of the body, on and through 
 which the functions of digestion, respiration, and 
 nutritive absorption are performed. These mem- 
 branes are called mucous on account of the se- 
 cretion of the mucous fluid by which they are 
 lubricated. One division, after lining the mouth, 
 passes down and lines the stomach and the whole 
 tract of the intestinal canal, giving out prolonga- 
 tions in its course to the excretory ducts of the 
 liver and pancreas, as, in the mouth, it had done 
 to the excretory ducts of the glands which fur- 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 51 
 
 nisli saliva. Another division passes from the 
 nose and back part of the throat into the wind- 
 pipe, and thence into the cavities of the lungs, 
 to which it gives a lining as far as their minut- 
 est divisions. The system of the mucous mem- 
 branes, or the mucous system as it is generally 
 called, is not only directly continuous with the 
 skin at the various orifices, mouth, nose, &c, 
 but it also resembles the latter closely in struc- 
 ture, consisting of an investing membrane (Epi- 
 thelium), analogous to the epidermis externally, 
 and of a reticulated tissue of blood-vessels, nerves, 
 and follicles, bound up in areolar tissue, and rest- 
 ing on a denser tissue of the same nature as the 
 areolar, which takes the place of the corion of 
 the skin. Another but smaller division of mu- 
 cous membranes lines the urinary and genital 
 organs, and is, like the other divisions of the 
 mucous system, continuous with the skin, which 
 it also resembles in structure, and with which it 
 has a close sympathy both in health and disease. 
 Absorption ~by the Shin. — The skin is, more- 
 over, an apparatus for the performance of the 
 functions of absorption (by which various sub- 
 stances, gaseous, fluid, and solid, are introduced 
 into the body), and also of those of secretion and 
 exhalation, by which various matters are elimi- 
 
52 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 nated, either for special uses, or because their 
 retention would be prejudicial to health. In 
 virtue of its first or absorbent function, it be- 
 comes an organ of supply for the wants of the 
 animal economy : and in this way it allows of 
 the entrance of oxygen gas, and of water, and of 
 numerous saline substances when they are held 
 in solution by water. Nitrogen gas and car- 
 bonic acid are also absorbed by the skin. Most 
 of the articles, indeed, of the materia medica 
 may be introduced in this way into the blood, 
 and produce their distinctive effects on the dif- 
 ferent organs in the same manner, although 
 with not so much certainty of operation, as if 
 they had been taken into the stomach. In cer- 
 tain cases, as of sailors in open boats, when fresh 
 water cannot be procured, the pangs of thirst 
 have been assuaged by keeping the skin wet 
 with sea water. In other cases, in which, owing 
 to obstruction by disease, as in the instance re- 
 lated by Dr. Currie, the patient was unable to 
 swallow, the emaciation has been arrfested and 
 the thirst removed by the use of nutritive clys- 
 ters, and prolonged immersion in a tepid bath 
 of milk and water. Immersion in the warm bath 
 causes both cutaneous absorption as well as ex- 
 halation from the skin ; but as, notwithstanding 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 53 
 
 the loss by the double exhalation, the weight of 
 the body is increased by the bath, there must be 
 a real gain by absorption. The hard and scaly 
 epidermis, or cuticle, retards the introduction of 
 fluid into the general system ; but after a while 
 it is permeated by the latter, as in the instance 
 of the feet being soaked in warm water, when 
 the thick cuticle of the sole becomes whitened 
 and opaque, and allows a quantity of fluid to 
 exude if pressure be then made upon it. 
 
 A further example of nutritive absorption by 
 the skin is exhibited by the experiment of tying 
 a bandage round the hind leg of a puppy, and 
 then keeping the limb for twenty-four hours in 
 tepid milk. At the expiration of this time the 
 lymphatic vessels are found full of milk. I do 
 not deem it necessary in this place to inquire 
 into the relative parts performed by the veins 
 and lymphatics respectively in the function of 
 cutaneous absorption. Frogs, whose skins are 
 thin, and lizards, which have a cuticle thicker 
 than that of man, after having lost weight by 
 being kept for some time in a dry atmosphere, 
 are found to recover both their weight and 
 plumpness very rapidly when immersed in wa- 
 ter. An immersion of even a part of the body 
 will be followed by the absorption of the water, 
 
54 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 and its distribution throughout the entire sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Endermic Medication. — When the epidermis 
 is raised by a blister or by hot water, and the 
 true skin or dermis is exposed, substances ap- 
 plied to the surface of the latter are readily 
 absorbed. Advantage has been taken of this 
 fact by the introduction, in this way, of various 
 medicines into the general system, constituting 
 what is called endermic medication. This me- 
 thod is especially useful when, owing to me- 
 chanical obstruction, the medicine cannot be 
 swallowed, or in the case of an inflamed and 
 irritable stomach which prevents its being re- 
 tained. 
 
 Secretion and Exhalation by the STcin. — 
 Equally conspicuous with the function of ab- 
 sorption or supply is that of secretion, and of 
 exhalation, depuration, or waste, as performed 
 by the skin. Its appropriate secretions have 
 been already mentioned. Some of these are for 
 the formation of parts or appendages of the skin, 
 as the epidermis or cuticle, and the nails; one 
 is indirect, as the hair ; another, the sebaceous, 
 contributes directly to the healthy state of the 
 skin ; while the secretions of perspiration and of 
 carbonic acid serve both to purify the blood by 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 55 
 
 the elimination of effete matters, and to exert 
 an influence on the equalization of animal heat. 
 We may infer that the oleaginous jnatter se- 
 creted by the sebaceous glands and follicles, 
 besides its immediate purpose of lubricating the 
 skin, and protecting the borders of the eyelids 
 and the ear-passages, at which parts it is thick 
 and abundant, is also an excretion, the removal 
 of which from the blood is necessary to health. 
 But the chief depurating processes are, the 
 elimination of the perspirable fluid or sweat, 
 and of carbonic acid. 
 
 Mention has already been made of the im- 
 mense extent of the tubes of the sudoriferous or 
 sweat glands, from which a secretion is con- 
 stantly going on. Commonly the fluid is formed 
 so gradually that the watery portion escapes im- 
 perceptibly, in the form of vapor, as fast as it 
 reaches the surface. It is then called insensible 
 perspiration. But during violent exercise, ex- 
 posure to great external heat, in certain cases 
 of disease, and when the air is already so loaded 
 with moisture as to be incapable of receiving 
 more, or when evaporation is prevented by the 
 application of oiled silk or plaster, the secretion 
 becomes sensible perspiration, and collects in 
 drops on the skin. Insensible perspiration con- 
 
58 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 sists, besides watery vapor, of carbonic acid and 
 acetate of ammonia. The fluid of sensible per- 
 spiration, or sweat, holds in solution various sa- 
 line substances, viz. phosphates of soda and lime, 
 carbonate of lime, chloride of sodium (common 
 salt), sulphate of soda, muriate of ammonia, 
 and some potash, and lactic and acetic acids. 
 Traces of iron and an animal matter have also 
 been met with. These substances, however, are 
 not all present at the same time. The acid re- 
 action and sour smell of sweat are due, it is 
 said, to lactic acid. In the above is included 
 the secretion from the sebaceous glands, which 
 is necessarily mixed with the sweat, — at any 
 rate, it is absorbed by the clothing in common 
 with this latter fluid. One of the experiments 
 made by Mr. Thenard was on the perspiration 
 collected in a flannel shirt which had been 
 washed in distilled water. 
 
 Perspirable Matter given out ~hy the Shin. — 
 It is not necessary that I should repeat here the 
 details of the experiments of Seguin, of La- 
 voisier, and others, nor those of Sanctorius at an 
 earlier date, in order to determine the quantity 
 of perspiration, and mainly that in the form of 
 watery vapor, in a given period. The two great 
 surfaces for the exhalation of watery vapor from 
 
6HABQH SPRINGS. 57 
 
 the body, are those of the skin and of the mu- 
 cous or lining membrane of the lungs, — the 
 pulmonary mucous membrane, as it is generally- 
 called. The entire loss by exhalation from the 
 lungs and skin, during twenty-four hours, seems 
 to average about three pounds and a half ; and 
 as the pulmonary exhalation is usually some- 
 what less than a third, and the cutaneous some- 
 what more than two thirds, the average daily 
 loss from the skin may be estimated at two and 
 a half pounds. Of this quantity not more than 
 a sixth, however, is furnished by the vital pro- 
 cess of secretion from the perspiratory glands ; 
 the greater part is the product of the simple 
 evaporation of moisture which exudes from the 
 skin, unaccompanied by the saline and animal 
 matters and acids of the glandular secretion. 
 
 The discharge from the skin, or cutaneous ex- 
 halation, is less active when the digestion is 
 impaired. It is most abundant during the pe- 
 riod of digestion, and least so immediately after 
 food is taken. This exhalation is influenced 
 both by the state of the atmosphere and by that 
 of the body itself; being promoted by a dry 
 atmosphere and by active muscular exertion, 
 and diminished in a moist atmosphere and by 
 repose and indolence. The organs whose func- 
 
 3* 
 
58 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 tion most influences the skin are the kidneys, 
 There is a direct reciprocity between cutaneous 
 and urinary excretions, the deficiency of one 
 being compensated by the increased action of 
 the other, and this not merely in regard to the 
 amount of fluid which they carry away from the 
 blood, but also in respect to the solid matter 
 which they eliminate from it. 
 
 It appears that at least one hundred grains of 
 effete azotized matter are daily thrown off from 
 the skin ; and any cause which checks this ex- 
 cretion must increase the labor of the kidneys, 
 or produce an accumulation of noxious matter 
 in the blood. Hence attention to the functions 
 of the skin, at all times a matter of great impor- 
 tance, is peculiarly necessary in the treatment 
 of urinary diseases ; and. it will often be found 
 that no means is so useful in removing the lithic 
 acid deposit as copious ablution and friction of 
 the skin, combined with exercise. The same 
 observation applies also to Bright's disease or 
 albuminuria, to the accession of which sup- 
 pressed perspiration and intemperance so pow- 
 erfully contribute. 
 
 The Shin a Respiratory Organ. — The skin, 
 by absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere and 
 secreting carbonic acid, is, in fact, a respiratory 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 59 
 
 organ, and as such it aids the lungs in producing 
 that change in the blood on which the arterial 
 color and other characters of this vital fluid, 
 and the evolution of animal heat, mainly de- 
 pend. In some of the inferior animals, respira- 
 tion is performed by the skin alone ; and in 
 others, as in frogs, excision of the lungs is borne 
 better than removal of the skin, although the 
 quantity of carbonic acid exhaled by the cuta- 
 neous and the pulmonary mucous membranes 
 is exactly equal. The importance of the re- 
 spiratory function of the skin, even in the higher 
 animals, is further manifested by the fact that if 
 its surface be covered with an impermeable var- 
 nish, or if the body be inclosed in a caoutchouc 
 dress, leaving the head exposed, they soon die 
 as if asphyxiated, — the heart and lungs being 
 gorged with blood, and their temperature during 
 life gradually falling many degrees, sometimes 
 as much as 30° F. below the ordinary standard. 
 If the knowledge of these facts could be im- 
 pressed upon the vast multitude of both rich and 
 poor who neglect proper ablutions, they w T ould 
 surely feel some alarm at their danger. They 
 would reflect that their own skins must be 
 thoroughly coated and the pores obstructed by 
 a dense investing layer, the residue of perspira- 
 
60 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 ble and sebaceous secretions, mixed witli de- 
 tached scales of the cuticle, dust, and other 
 matters floating in the atmosphere, all of which 
 have been allowed to accumulate for years ; and 
 they would seriously apply themselves to avert 
 the consequences of their former neglect. 
 
 Diseases from Interrupted Fitnctions of the 
 Skin. — Every organ of the body is liable to 
 inflammation, or some other form of disease, 
 in consequence of disturbance or suspension of 
 the cutaneous functions. This interruption is 
 usually superinduced by the sudden or pro- 
 longed impression of cold and moisture, and- 
 especially by their partial application, as in a 
 current of air. To this agency we may refer 
 anginosa or throat affections, catarrh followed 
 by acute bronchitis, pulmonary consumption, 
 pericarditis, inflammation of the stomach and 
 bowels, uterus, &c, rheumatism and gout, and 
 not unfrequently fevers. Dyspepsia, with all its 
 painful concomitants, is often kept up by the 
 same cause. The operation of cold and moist- 
 ure on the skin is rendered much more noxious 
 when the impression suddenly alternates with 
 either high solar or artificial heat, and when the 
 skin is bathed in sweat after labor or other ex- 
 hausting exercise. 
 
6HAR0K SPRINGS. 61 
 
 Sympathy between the Skin and the Internal 
 Organs. — The sympathy between certain por- 
 tions of the skin and the internal organs is 
 worthy of attention. "When the latter are dis- 
 eased, the skin of the extremities is sometimes 
 morbidly cold, and at other times burning hot, 
 while the rest of the cutaneous surface preserves 
 its normal temperature. , In certain fevers the 
 skin of the epigastric region conveys to the 
 hand of another person a sensation of great 
 heat, while that on the limbs is little changed 
 in this respect. The skin of the inside of the 
 limbs, of the chest and abdomen, and along the 
 spine, is warmer and more delicate and suscepti- 
 ble than that of other parts. But there is no 
 invariable connexion between temperature and 
 tactile power or touch, since we find that the 
 skin of the extremities is generally a few de- 
 grees cooler than that of the trunk, though the 
 delicacy of touch is incomparably superior in 
 the former. As an organ of sense, and as con- 
 nected with general sensation and volition, the 
 skin is most powerfully affected in the portions 
 covering the extremities ; hence the benefits 
 derived from stimulating and irritating appli- 
 cations to these parts when we desire to rouse 
 the nervous system, and restore it to its accus- 
 
62 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 tomed tone, as in cases of fainting or insensi- 
 bility, stupor, and the like. 
 
 The connexion between the organs in the 
 cavity of the chest and the skin is such that 
 impressions made on the portion of the latter 
 lining the arm and covering the side below the 
 armpit, have a strong influence on the lungs 
 and heart. Exposure of this portion of the cu- 
 taneous surface, common in children and fe- 
 males from the absurd style of dressing, is a 
 frequent cause of catarrh, croup, and affections 
 of the pleura. * 
 
 There is also a very intimate sympathy be- 
 tween the skin of the inside of the thighs and 
 that covering the inguinal regions and the lower 
 bowels and uterus. Where there is much sus- 
 ceptibility of these organs to disease, the skin 
 should be well protected, in both sexes, by 
 warm clothing. Every intelligent physician is 
 aware of the effects produced on the genital and 
 digestive apparatus by the application of blis- 
 ters and other counter-irritants to the inside of 
 the thighs. We meet with numerous evidences 
 of active sympathy between the skin and mu- 
 cous membranes, including the organs lined by 
 these latter — the lungs, digestive apparatus 
 with its glandular appendages, the salivary 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 63 
 
 glands, the liver and pancreas, and the uri- 
 nary organs ; and consequently of the influence 
 which it exerts over them, both in health and 
 disease. 
 
 A knowledge of the various and important 
 offices performed by the skin in the animal 
 economy must awaken our attention to the 
 means by which they can be best preserved 
 from disturbance or interruption. The primary 
 organic conditions for this purpose are, a certain 
 degree of activity of the circulation of the blood 
 in the extended network of vessels, and of ful- 
 ness of the nervous tissue, and especially of the 
 papillae of the cutis vera, or true skin. Unless 
 the first of these be secured the requisite secre- 
 tions cannot take place ; the blood will fail to 
 be purified by the removal of effete matter, and 
 the whole system will in consequence suffer 
 from disorder of all the functions. 
 
 Bathing as a Purifier of the Shin. — It may 
 be readily inferred from the description of the 
 functions of the skin, that a large amount of 
 excreted matter will accumulate on its surface 
 in a short period, and give rise to effluvia both 
 offensive to the smell and deleterious to the 
 health of those coming within the range of its 
 emanations, unless regular and thorough ablu- 
 
64 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 tion be practised. To what extent the air is 
 thus contaminated in crowded assemblages is 
 rendered' painfully sensible in theatres, courts 
 of law, public meetings, and in crowded church- 
 es, especially in the evening, — to say nothing of 
 fashionable parties and balls. Even in hospitals, 
 w r ith all their real and imputed discomforts, as 
 now arranged and managed, we rarely find so 
 impure and deleterious an atmosphere as in any 
 of the places of resort just mentioned, when 
 crowded in the evenings. Fevers of the most 
 malignant type have originated from the ani- 
 mal matters thus discharged from the skin and 
 lungs of a number of persons confined for any 
 length of time in circumscribed space, with de- 
 ficient ventilation. 
 
 A peculiarly offensive effluvium radiates from 
 the bodies of individuals who have been thus 
 crowded together, even for some time after 
 bathing has been had recourse to. Individuals, 
 also, who, without being thus confined, have 
 long neglected personal ablutions and change 
 <5f garments, and have been addicted to the use 
 of ardent spirits, are often so many wa]king 
 sepulchres, whose emanations are far less tole- 
 rable than those of the dissecting room itself. 
 Some persons, who would resent the imputation 
 
SIIAEON SPRINGS. 65 
 
 of uncleanliness, deceive themselves into a be- 
 lief that if they overpower one odor by another, 
 and conceal these animal emanations by vegeta- 
 ble extracts and sweet waters, they fulfil all the 
 requirements of the toilet. They have yet to 
 learn the important lesson, that no essences, 
 though each drop should be as costly as the 
 grains of a diamond, can avail either to cleanse 
 or to beautify, without the use of water, — the 
 universal fluid, the true panacea for all bodily 
 impurities. 
 
 BATHS. 
 
 We now come to a consideration of the bath 
 as the third means of securing the performance 
 of the cutaneous functions. 
 
 The most simple and natural division of baths, 
 as far as regards temperature, — that recognised 
 by our sensations, and most applicable to the 
 purposes of hygiene and of medicine, — is into 
 cold, warm, and hot. The intermediate degrees 
 between positive cold and warmth are vaguely 
 expressed by the terms cool, temperate, and te- 
 pid ; but for all practical purposes, it will be 
 sufficient to include the two first of these under 
 
66 SHARON SPEINGS. 
 
 the distinct head of cold, while the third, or te- 
 pid, will be classed among warm baths. 
 
 The cold bath ranges from 52° to 65° ; the 
 tepid bath from 65° to 85°; the warm bath from 
 85° to 97° ; the hot bath upwards of 97°. 
 
 In the language of Dr. Steel, "A b&th at 
 about 95° degrees Fahrenheit, whether of mine- 
 ral or simple water, is a pleasant thing. It is 
 cleansing, refreshing, and soothing; and like a 
 pleasant ride, or the society of a long absent 
 friend, is auxiliary to health." But it is not 
 strictly a medicinal agent at this temperature. 
 Chronic maladies are cured by instituting states 
 or conditions incompatible with morbid action. 
 The patient is conscious of no shock, no impres- 
 sion, no inconvenience, no perceptible change. 
 It is every way desirable in point of health and 
 comfort; though not, at this temperature, effi- 
 cient as a remedy. The invalid who has been 
 forced from his home, and obliged to submit to 
 the inconveniences of a place of public resort, 
 does not come to be amused with remedies. He 
 wants everything to tell on his disease. 
 
 What, then, are the principles which should 
 guide the invalid, or his physician, in the em- 
 ployment of baths ? Will it be deemed a gra- 
 tuitous or unfounded assertion to say that the 
 
SHAHON SPRINGS. 67 
 
 faculty in general entertain very vague and un- 
 settled views upon the application of baths to 
 the removal of diseases. There are fixed opi- 
 nions as to the use of the lancet, emetics, cathar- 
 tics, blisters, anodynes, and tonics. But select 
 a given patient, summon a dozen physicians in 
 consultation, and ask for a decision; and if a 
 majority pronounces in 'favor of the bath, let 
 each assign the exact temperature, the length of 
 time, and frequency of repetition, and you will 
 find ample confirmation of the foregoing state- 
 ment. Perhaps this discrepancy of opinion is 
 only imaginary on the part of the writer. If so, 
 he begs the indulgence of his brethren. Yet it 
 is his honest belief, that if they would express 
 their exact sentiments on this point, they would 
 concur with him. 
 
 This vague apprehension of the principles of 
 baths is by no means confined to the profession. 
 Every man has a creed. The invalid has his ; 
 and the owners and attendants of the baths 
 have theirs. Let a physician here order a bath 
 of the proper temperature, and of such duration 
 as to give a decisive blow to the disease, and 
 the prescription will very possibly have to en- 
 counter a dozen comments and as many con- 
 demnations before the invalid reaches the bath- 
 
68 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 house. And when arrived there great firmness 
 and decision may be needed on the part of the 
 patient, as well as unshaken confidence in the 
 prudence and discrimination of his medical 
 adviser, or these well-meaning and in other 
 respects judicious attendants may obstruct the 
 desired result. It may be necessary, too, for 
 the patient or his friends to see with their own 
 eyes that the thermometer stands at the point 
 described. These intimations would appear 
 unnecessary, but my professional experience has 
 convinced me that they are by no means super- 
 fluous. 
 
 To describe fully the popular notions about 
 baths would transcend my limits. One idea is 
 almost universal, viz. that if a patient, whether 
 feeble or strong, spare or plethoric, feels a glow 
 after the cold or shower bath, it is the proper 
 remedy. The mechanical effect of cold in con- 
 tracting the muscular fibres, and the sensation 
 of warmth, although the animal heat is for a 
 long time actually lower than before the shock, 
 are considered proof enough that the general 
 effect is not only invigorating, but subversive 
 of disease. There is a similar unity of opinion 
 about the hot bath. If a person feels faint or 
 feeble half an hour or an hour after leaving it, 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 69 
 
 or while in it, the measure is condemned, — al- 
 though for hours the skin and cellular substance 
 may contain two or three pounds of blood more 
 than usual, to the great relief of the internal 
 organs; while profuse and general perspiration 
 may continue equally long, the lips and counte- 
 nance become florid, the joints flexible, and a 
 decided improvement be manifest after a few 
 hours. 
 
 The principle is simply this, that in all febrile 
 and inflammatory diseases, whether acute or 
 chronic, in short in all diseases in which the use 
 of the lancet is admissible, there also will the 
 cold, tepid, or shower bath be suitable ; and 
 where the lancet would be injurious, there 
 should the hot bath be used. The simplicity 
 of this rule will probably startle some readers. 
 It may be inquired, would you not take into the 
 account such circumstances as plethoric habit, 
 florid complexion, red tongue, the previous ef- 
 fect of warm and cold applications, and of tonic 
 or debilitating remedies ? Certainly. But I say 
 most decidedly, and from many trials, that by 
 throwing one's whole responsibility upon the 
 exact condition of the pulse, and making this 
 paramount to all other diagnostic symptoms, 
 though not rejecting them as auxiliary guides, 
 
70 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 a physician will be most effectually and infalli- 
 bly aided by the powerful instrumentality of 
 baths in the removal of disease. 
 
 Let us apply this principle to some well 
 known diseases, — for example, rheumatism. A 
 member of Clark's expedition beyond the Rocky 
 Mountains was cured of *an obstinate rheuma- 
 tism, while remote from professional aid, by 
 immersing himself once daily, for twenty-five 
 days, in the river, through a hole cut in the ice. 
 Each immersion was accompanied with sham- 
 pooing and friction before a warm fire. A Mr. 
 E. "W., of Rome, ~N. Y., having lost all hope 
 of recovery, crawled to a river whose edges 
 were covered with ice, and lay in the water as 
 in a bath. The disorder received such an im- 
 pression that he was speedily restored to health. 
 Mr. N., of New York city, was accidentally 
 thrown into the sea in winter, near Stratford 
 Point, and cured of rheumatism. 
 
 The hot bath, likewise, everybody knows to 
 have been wonderfully efficacious in particular 
 instances of this same complaint — rheumatism. 
 The illustration of this principle in the treat- 
 ment of rheumatism must suffice for all diseases. 
 Disorders of the same name require, in different 
 instances, the exhibition of different remedies. 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 71 
 
 As far as baths are concerned, a most scrupulous 
 investigation of the pulse — carefully distinguish- 
 ing when it is hard and wiry, and when soft and 
 impressible — will form a safe guide in all ordi- 
 nary cases. It should not be forgotten, how- 
 ever, that the daily use of hot baths may prove 
 so stimulating as to be inadmissible when the 
 patient attains a certain degree of tone; nor 
 that the sedative effects of cold baths may be 
 carried so far as to necessitate their discontinu- 
 ance. 
 
 This, then, is my rule : If the pulse is hard — 
 demanding calomel, Epsom salts, antimonials, or 
 bleeding — whatever be the color or temperature 
 of the skin, or the muscular strength, I pre- 
 scribe a bath of from 65° to 85°, or cold shower, 
 and have thus far had no reason to be dissatis- 
 fied with the result. On the contrary, if the 
 pulse is soft and slow, I have without hesitation 
 prescribed the hot bath from 100° to 110°, with- 
 out any untoward result, although great languor 
 may have been experienced while in the bath. 
 If the patient had cool, perspirable skin, pale 
 face, pale lips and tongue, the hot bath proved 
 still more clearly beneficial. 
 
 Whatever may be the result of future obser- 
 vations, I can truly say that thus far, since 
 
72 SHAEON SPRINGS. 
 
 adopting this simple criterion, the ordering of 
 baths has ceased with me to be a matter of pain- 
 ful uncertainty ; and, moreover, that I have ex- 
 perienced extreme gratification in finding that 
 when an accurate discrimination is made, and 
 the remedy is boldly applied, from a low tem- 
 perature up to 110°, according to the nature of 
 each case, it has proved a much more efficient 
 auxiliary, and in many cases has been the main 
 promoter of rapid convalescence. 
 
 It will not be inappropriate in this place to 
 append some considerations on the hygienic and 
 therapeutical use of vapor bathing. 
 
 Therapeutical Effects of Vapor Baths. — With- 
 out endorsing the extravagant eulogies of San- 
 chez on the remedial power of the vapor bath, 
 we must admit that it is susceptible of far more 
 frequent and diversified application than it com- 
 monly receives in medical practice. Independ- 
 ent of the different therapeutical results arising 
 from the conditions of dryness or moisture, the 
 bath must be taken into account. In eruptive 
 fevers (Exanthemata) vapor bathing has been 
 practised with considerable benefit, — the tem- 
 perature and duration of the bath being modi- 
 tied according to the stage of the disease, as in 
 fevers generally. Much relief has been obtained 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. % 
 
 from this remedy in the (edematous swelling so 
 common after scarlet fever, and occasionally, 
 also, after measles. Erysipelas, erythema urti- 
 caria, and pemphygus, have also been treated 
 with success by the same means. Rheumatism 
 and gout, in their chronic forms, have long been 
 adduced as diseases in which the greatest relief 
 has been obtained by vapor baths, — both of the 
 moist and dry kinds. M. Rapon speaks of the 
 remedial powers of this agent with a confidence 
 derived from his large experience of its effects 
 in rheumatism, of which, he assures us, he has 
 met with upwards of eight hundred cases in 
 three years. Well may he describe this disease 
 as endemic in Lyons, the city in .which he 
 erected his fine establishment for vapor bathing, 
 and in which he noted the cases that furnished 
 him with his clinic. This writer refers to the 
 early and wide-spread use of this variety of 
 bathing, for the cure of rheumatism, in the 
 north of Europe, — Russia, and Finland, and 
 even in England, especially at Nottingham Hos- 
 pital, also in G ermany and Italy, and more par- 
 ticularly in Naples. 
 
 We quote the following judicious remarks 
 from M. Rapon, to show that, however success- 
 ful in his treatment, he does not countenance 
 
 4 
 
74 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 extravagant expectations from the exclusive use 
 of this remedy : — 
 
 " Most commonly we obtain from the use of 
 vapor baths alone, methodically directed, the 
 effects which were promised ; but it sometimes 
 happens that we are obliged to associate with 
 them certain auxiliary means of more or less 
 energy, which add to or modify their action and 
 increase their efficacy. Thus, for example, by 
 means of general blood-letting and leeches, sim- 
 ple or medicated frictions, shampooing, flagella- 
 tion, or even internal remedies appropriately 
 administered, either preparatory to or conjointly 
 with the vapor, I have succeeded in curing a 
 great many diseases which would have proved 
 intractable to these various means separately 
 employed." 
 
 These observations furnish a practical com- 
 mentary on the absurd and mischievous exclu- 
 sivism of those pretenders to the healing art 
 who place their sole reliance for the cure of all 
 diseases on one remedy or therapeutical agent, 
 whether it be the vapor bath or hydropathy. 
 Mr. Rapon, after having recourse to preliminary 
 evacuations when he deemed them advisable, 
 subjected his rheumatic patients, first, in a re- 
 cumbent posture, to the oriental bath, as he 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 75 
 
 terms it, or moist vapor aromatized, and then to 
 dry sulphur vapor, inclosing the body up to the 
 neck in a case. Syphilitic rheumatism has been 
 treated with marked benefit by means of the 
 vapor bath. So, also, has been gouty rheu- 
 matism, and rheumatism in which metastasis 
 occurs. 
 
 Gout, both acute and chronic, has been great- 
 ly relieved by the remedy in question. In the 
 acute form, Mr. Eapon applies lepches to the 
 inflamed joint, and uses other sedative means 
 before he has recourse to the bath. Scrofula in 
 its various forms finds a valuable remedy in the 
 vapor bath. Tumefactions of the lymphatic 
 glands along the neck, especially those of a 
 scrofulous nature, have been discussed by the 
 vapor from salt water. 
 
 In the complications of scrofula with syphi- 
 lis, a condition of things more common than is 
 generally supposed, and which is singularly dif- 
 ficult to treat, vapor bathing, especially by dry 
 and sulphurous fumigations, is unrivalled by 
 any other remedy, as I shall soon have occasion 
 to remark. 
 
 Sulphurous Vapor. — I now propose to offer 
 some remarks on dry medicated vapor, and par- 
 ticularly on the variety in which sulphur is 
 
76 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 sublimed and diffused in the heated air of the 
 bath. The chief mineral substances employed 
 in fumigation are sulphur, cinnabar (deuto-sul- 
 phuret of mercury), calomel (protochloride of 
 mercury), corrosive sublimate (deutochloride 
 of mercury), the protoxide of zinc, deutoxide of 
 arsenic, and sulphureted hydrogen gas (hydro- 
 sulphuric acid). 
 
 Sulphur, when projected upon a metallic 
 plate of the temperature of 230° F., is con- 
 verted into vapor without being decomposed. 
 On raising the temperature to 300°, and di- 
 recting a current of atmospheric air upon it, 
 the sulphur burns with a bluish flame, and by 
 combining with oxygen forms sulphurous gas. 
 It is necessary, therefore, to modify the appara- 
 tus, and regulate the heat of the metallic plate 
 according as we wish to procure the one or the 
 other of these results in the combustion of the 
 sulphur. 
 
 Although sulphurous fumigations had at an 
 early date been recognised as a remedy for dis- 
 eases of the skin, their therapeutic effects have 
 only been ascertained with any degree of accu- 
 racy since the first part of the present century. 
 Passing over antecedent periods, we find Glau- 
 ber, in 1659, making distinct reference to sul- 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 77 
 
 phur fumigations for the itch. To Gales, who 
 was for a number of years apothecary to the 
 Hospital of St. Louis, at Paris, the profession 
 and the world at large are indebted for the 
 introduction of sulphurous fumigations for the 
 methodical and successful treatment of cutane- 
 ous diseases. In 1812 he commenced a series 
 of inquiries respecting the cause of the itch 
 (Scabies), which he demonstrated, as, indeed, 
 others had done before, to depend on the pre- 
 sence of an insect, the acarus scabiei. He *next 
 turned his attention to discover a remedy which 
 would be safe, expeditions, and easy of applica- 
 tion. The result was, not the discovery of a new 
 remedy, but of the means of so applying an old 
 one as to render its use general, and to remove 
 the objections which had hitherto prevented its 
 introduction into practice. His first trials (in 
 the month of August, 1812) were, it must be 
 acknowledged, with a very simple, but at the 
 same time crude contrivance. It consisted 
 merely of a heated pan, in which flowers of sul- 
 phur, mixed with the nitrate of potash, were 
 thrown, and the whole introduced under the 
 bed-clothes, which were tucked in as close as 
 possible about the body of the patient. 
 
 The complication of various obstinate diseases 
 
78 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 of the skin with scabies, and the radical cure of 
 some of these, and the great amelioration of 
 others, by the use of the fumigations instituted 
 for the removal of the itch, gave a wider direc- 
 tion to the inquiries of Gales. Sir A. Clark 
 asserts that the effects of mercury, given for the 
 cure of syphilis, are more prompt, diffusive, and 
 benign, and that salivation is less apt to occur 
 and is less violent, if combined with sulphurous 
 fumigations and the common vapor bath. Ex- 
 perience has now satisfied us, that for the cure 
 of syphilis in its various stages, we may often 
 rely on these adjuvants to the entire exclusion 
 of mercury. In the secondary forms of the dis- 
 ease, when the throat is the seat of ulcerations, 
 or the skin of blotches, or still further, the 
 system of fibrous nodes, syphilitic rheumatism, 
 &c, the treatment by alternate sulphurous fumi- 
 gations and moist vapor will often be attended 
 with complete success. Ulcers, whether scrofu- 
 lous or mercurial, or associated with depraved 
 digestion, will yield to the same course, pro- 
 vided a plain, light diet, and dilution by simple 
 beverages, be observed at the same time. 
 
 Among the numerous cases detailed by Assa- 
 lini, in which he used the vapor bath and fumi- 
 gations with decided success, were those of 
 
SHAKON SPRINGS. 79 
 
 tumefaction of the inguinal glands, with and 
 without syphilitic taint ; inflammation of the 
 parotid gland; acute rheumatism in a joint or 
 limb ; chronic rheumatism ; chlorosis ; ulcers 
 after congelation of a part ; squamae in various 
 forms, sometimes w T ith suppressed hemorrhoids, 
 or with syphilitic or hepatic disorders ; cough, 
 sometimes convulsive, at others with symptoms 
 of incipient consumption ; hemiplegia and other 
 forms of palsy ; gout; hepatic obstructions ; and 
 sciatica (this last complicated with nausea in one 
 case, and in another with hemoptysis). In a case 
 of hypochondriasis with neuralgia, Assalini ob- 
 tained the happiest results by the use of sul- 
 phurous fumigations, and by substituting a light 
 vegetable diet with fruit and milk, in place of 
 aromatic and tonic tinctures, and a stimulating 
 regimen. 
 
 The temperature of the sulphur bath was 
 generally about 100° F. In one instance, in 
 which it was gradually raised from 95° to 104°, 
 the patient, affected with pityriasis, sweated pro- 
 fusely. Dr. Bardsley, in a report on the reme- 
 dial efficacy of sulphurous fumigations, specifies 
 the particular kinds of cutaneous disease in 
 which he chiefly employed them, and with 
 highly favorable results. These are scabies, im- 
 
80 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 petigo, porrigo, prurigo, lepra, psoriasis, ichthy- 
 osis, and pompholyx. 
 
 Sulphureted hydrogen gas has been used by 
 Rapon in the form of bath and douche. He 
 protests against the common opinion of its being 
 an excitant, like the vapor of sulphur and sul- 
 phuric acid ; but on the contrary, it ought, he 
 assures us, to be regarded as a cooling and seda- 
 tive remedy of great value. 
 
 Of the different mineral preparations which 
 furnish materials for medicated vapor baths, 
 the mercurial are the most employed. The 
 fumes of cinnabar produce effects on the skin 
 analagous to those of sulphur. Two drachms 
 constitute the quantity requisite for a fumiga- 
 tion. 
 
IT. 
 
 INTERNAL USE OF THE SHARON WATER. 
 
 We now proceed to offer some directions for 
 the use of visitors on tlieir arrival at the 
 Springs. 
 
 The first inquiry made by the invalid after 
 suitable lodgings are procured, is, of course, 
 " How shall I take the waters ? Where begin ? 
 What springs ; in what quantities ; and at what 
 hours ?" These questions can be solved at every 
 corner. In the language of the late Dr. Steel, 
 " There are numerous persons who flock about 
 the Springs during the season, without any 
 knowledge of the composition of the waters, 
 and little or none of their effects, who contrive 
 to dispose of their directions to the ignorant 
 and unwary, with no other effect than to injure 
 the reputation of the waters, and disappoint the 
 anticipations of the invalid." The public have 
 long since decided, and correctly, that in a vast 
 majority of diseases these waters should be 
 taken with a primary regard to their cathartic 
 
 4* 
 
82 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 properties ; although they unavoidably prove at 
 the same time diuretic, deobstruent, and even 
 diaphoretic. When their effects are exerted on 
 the kidneys or skin they sometimes produce a 
 constipating effect ; yet it is their impression on 
 the bowels which seems to make the most pal- 
 pable inroad on existing disease. 
 
 I know full well the risk I incur, owing to 
 the peculiarities of individual constitution, in 
 submitting a list of those diseases which I deem 
 most fitted to the alterative action of the waters. 
 Yet the reader is entitled to my opinion, such as 
 it is ; ajid I therefore insert the following, with- 
 out much regard to nosological arrangement, as 
 comprising most of the diseases likely to be 
 benefited by an aperient course of the mineral 
 waters : Dyspepsia in all its forms ; constipa- 
 tion; chronic diarrhoea ; hemorrhoids; jaundice; 
 biliary calculi; palsy without inflammation of 
 the brain ; hysteria ; hypochondriasis ; neural- 
 gia, or nerve-ache, whether seated in the face, 
 stomach, liver, bowels, uterus, or extremities ; 
 chronic catarrh ; humid asthma ; nervous palpi- 
 tations ; enlargement of the liver and spleen ; 
 incontinence of urine ; gravel; leucorrhoea; irri- 
 table uterus ; cutaneous eruptions ; rheumatism ; 
 rheumatic enlargement and stiffness of the joints ; 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 83 
 
 diabetes ; prostrate and stationary conditions af- 
 ter acute diseases ; dropsies ; vertigo ; periodical 
 headache ; spinal irritation ; and stricture of the 
 rectum. 
 
 The next question is, What spring shall be 
 selected ? It requires very little knowledge of 
 medicine to understand that two persons who 
 are laboring under the same chronic disease, 
 owing to their individual peculiarities of consti- 
 tution, recover by the use of very dissimilar 
 remedies. Physicians have given the name of 
 idiosyncrasy, or diathesis, to this peculiarity of 
 constitution; and in order that the proner waters 
 and baths should be adapted to the diathesis of 
 each individual, it is necessary to consult the 
 physician acquainted with its therapeutics. By 
 referring to what has been said of the peculiar 
 properties of each spring, it will be perceived 
 that there is a great difference in the stimulating 
 and bracing qualities of the various fountains. 
 The White Sulphur is tonic, stimulating, and 
 alterative, making it serviceable in all chronic 
 and debilitated conditions of the system ; where- 
 as the Magnesia water is antiphlogistic and alte- 
 rative, while the Chalybeate is tonic and hema- 
 tic. Although I wish to be understood as say- 
 ing that chemical analysis can never supply the 
 
84 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 place of a scrutinizing and guarded observation 
 of medicinal effects, I can yet truly assert, that 
 from six years' experience, I have found a most 
 striking coincidence between results predicated 
 on these two modes of discrimination. 
 
 If the invalid is liable to fever, heat, or dry- 
 ness of the skin, and is of a full habit, — if he 
 bears abstinence well, — if bleeding, calomel, and 
 salts are beneficial, — if tonic and stimulating 
 medicines and heating diet injure him, — and 
 above all, if his physician has frequently ob- 
 served that his pulse is generally hard and in- 
 compressible, he may safely conclude his dia- 
 thesis to be inflammatory, and should resort to 
 the Magnesia Spring for his morning draught. 
 On the contrary, if he has a cool, pale skin, — 
 is little irritated by medicines, — bears bleeding 
 and other modes of reducing badly, — takes tonics 
 well, — thrives on a generous meat diet, — and has 
 a soft, slow pulse, he may turn at once to the 
 Sulphur or the Chalybeate Spring. 
 
 Should the waters in either case prove too 
 stimulating, the patient will discover it by gra- 
 dual loss of appetite, sense of fulness, general 
 oppression, feverishness, and sometimes cholera 
 morbus. In such a case the invalid often loses 
 the whole expense and trouble of his journey by 
 
SIIARON SPRINGS. 85 
 
 flying homewards in a panic, when a couple of 
 days' abstinence from the water and from food, 
 saline medicines and antimonials, and, in some 
 rare instances, bleeding, will almost invariably 
 remove the " water storm," and allow the pa- 
 tient to complete a course of treatment at the 
 Springs. 
 
 The proper time to take these waters as a 
 cathartic is in the morning, and in the morning 
 only. The reasons are obvious. A period of 
 sixteen hours has elapsed since the principal 
 meal of the preceding day, and eleven hours 
 from the repast of the evening. In people of 
 weak or irritable stomachs, this is the only time 
 in the twenty-four hours in which the digestive 
 organs are not engaged in the solution or ab- 
 sorption of aliment. This, then, is the precise 
 period to interpose a mild, exhilarating, and 
 efficient cathartic, and this should be taken so 
 early and in such quantities as thoroughly to 
 evacuate all the remains of the preceding day's 
 digestion, and to make so much impression on 
 the mucous membranes of the alimentary canal 
 as to rectify the process of secretion itself. This 
 is the true Abernethean road to health to multi- 
 tudes of bilious and dyspeptic invalids ; and will 
 continue to be the most approved method of 
 
86 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 medication, notwithstanding the numerous and 
 laudable efforts that are made by the fraternity 
 to discover a better way. 
 
 From two to four glasses is the proper quan- 
 tity. In some rare cases of females, however, 
 the stomach has not the capacity to contain even 
 one glass before breakfast. Many men, on the 
 other hand, can take eight and even ten half 
 pints in the morning with ease and comfort. 
 Whatever be the quantity that is ultimately 
 found necessary by each person, it should be 
 taken in three potions, and with short intervals 
 between, occupying thirty or forty minutes in 
 all. Brisk exercise, by walking or otherwise, 
 is necessary during this time and for a short 
 period afterwards ; and at least an hour — and 
 better, an hour and a half — should elapse be- 
 tween the last potation and breakfast. Many 
 invalids do not see the necessity of drinking 
 the water at the fountain. Yet the invalid 
 shpuld never be deterred by indolence, irreso- 
 lution, or imaginary fears from going to the 
 spring, as it is far better to take the beverage 
 from the fountain, while the spirits are enli- 
 vened by the surrounding influences, and to 
 take it fresh, too, from the bosom of the earth. 
 
 In concluding the subject of the cathertic 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 87 
 
 effects of these waters, it should be added, that 
 in case six or eight tumblers in the morning are 
 found inadequate to produce the desired effect, 
 it will not be advisable to take an additional 
 quantity in the course of the day. Wait till the 
 following morning; and even then do not in- 
 crease the quantity of water; but aid its opera- 
 tion by some thorough cathartic medicine. If 
 the patient be of full habit, blue pills, taken for 
 several evenings before going to bed, may be 
 suitable, or active doses of calomel for two or 
 three days at the same time. A table-spoonful 
 of Epsom salts or a dose of calcined magnesia 
 may be administered at bed-time, or with the 
 first tumbler in the morning. In feeble habits, 
 some of the compound gum-resinous pills or 
 a few grains of rhubarb may be preferable. 
 "Whatever article is selected as an auxiliary 
 remedy, enough should be taken to insure a 
 thorough operation, after which, in general, it 
 will be preferable to continue the water alone. 
 I would state here, before leaving this subject, 
 that salines — i. e. salts of the alkaline and earthy 
 metals — are all more or less purgative when 
 given under certain conditions. In other cir- 
 cumstances they may pass off from the body by 
 the kidneys or the glands of the skin. Suppose, 
 
88 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 then, the sulphate of soda or magnesia which is 
 contained in the Sharon Springs to have ob- 
 tained entry into the blood, it may be excreted 
 by the kidneys or the bowels. The result ap- 
 pears to depend mainly upon the amount of the 
 dose. A small quantity may pass in the urine, 
 and will not produce purging; but a large 
 quantity cannot so pass ; it is excreted by the 
 bowels, and acts as a purgative. 
 
 It is not generally known at Sharon Springs 
 that its mineral water is cholagogue in its na- 
 ture, — i. e. it stimulates the action of the liver, 
 and promotes the excretion of bile. There is no 
 doubt that the function of the liver, regarded 
 simply as a gland, is of great importance in the 
 animal economy. We know that certain mat- 
 ters are excreted from the system by that organ, 
 which, if allowed to remain in the blood, as in 
 the case of jaundice, are found to be hurtful. 
 The great majority of intestinal diseases, as also 
 of chronic blood-disorders, are associated with a 
 torpidity or derangement of the function of the 
 liver. "We find this to be the case with diarrhoea 
 and constipation, with dysentery and cholera, 
 as well as with ague and remittents, gout and 
 rheumatism, and scrofula. I have witnessed in 
 innumerable instances the beneficial effect of a 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 89 
 
 persevering use of the Sulphur water in these 
 complaints. 
 
 The best way to obtain the alterative effect 
 of the Sulphur water on the liver and skin is to 
 take it in such quantities as shall not purge, so 
 that the waters shall be retained as long as pos- 
 sible in the circulating mass, and in this way 
 gradually produce a new condition of the solids 
 and fluids, improving the strength, appetite, and 
 color, and regulating the secretions of the sto- 
 mach, bowels, liver, and kidneys. In the lan- 
 guage of Dr. Steel, " To the long-continued 
 invalid, who has painfully learned the difficulty 
 of escaping from under the hands of disease, this 
 mode of medication will seem at first view as 
 consistent and rational. He has abandoned all 
 hope of being cured by a few powerful doses of 
 any medicine. His thoughts are upon a gradual 
 removal of diseased processes, and restoration 
 of healthy ones ; and if he is true to his own 
 interests, he has come to a settled conviction that 
 time is a necessary ingredient in his recovery, 
 and to an equally settled determination that if 
 a few weeks of hopeful amendment do not es- 
 tablish his health, he will spend months or years 
 in its attainment." 
 
 But to return to the consideration of a perse- 
 
90 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 vering use of the Sharon waters, and particularly 
 as an alterative. This manner of using them 
 consists in taking them in the quantity ordinarily 
 of one tumbler, an hour before or just after each 
 meal, and at the hour of rest. Two tumblers 
 are not too much for an adult, provided they 
 do not prove decidedly cathartic. The object 
 is to keep the whole amount of saline matter, 
 amounting to nearly thirty grains to each tum- 
 bler, in the circulating fluids as long as possible. 
 This method might be useful to very many ; but 
 the cases in which, in my own experience during 
 the six seasons " past, it has proved most happy, 
 are those where the disease is of long standing, 
 and where the system requires a tonic and in- 
 vigorating course. 
 
 RICHFIELD SULPHUR SPRING.— Otsego County. 
 
 Analysis by Prof. Reed, of New York. 
 
 One gallori contains, 
 
 Bicarbonate of magnesia, - - - - 20 grains. 
 
 Bicarbonate of lime, -----10 " 
 
 Chloride of sodium and magnesium, - - 1.5 " 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 30 
 
 Hydro-sulphate of magnesia and lime, 2 
 
 Sulphate of lime, ----- 90 
 
 Solid contents, 153.5 grains. 
 
 Sulphur eted hydrogen - - - - 20.6 inches. 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 91 
 
 AVON SPRING.— Livingston County. 
 
 Analysis by Prof. Hadley. 
 
 Sulphate of lime, - - - - - 84 grains. 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, ----- 10 " 
 
 Sulphate of soda, ------ 16 " 
 
 Carbonate of lime, ----- 8 " 
 
 Muriate of soda, 18.4 " 
 
 Solid contents, - - 136.4 grains. 
 
 Carbonic acid, - - - - - -5.6 inches. 
 
 Sulphureted hydrogen, - - - - 12 " 
 
 17.6 inches. 
 
 BEDFORD SPRING.— Pennsylvania. 
 
 Analysis by Dr. Church, of Pittsburg. 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, - - - - - 80 grains. 
 
 Sulphate of lime, - - - - - - 15 
 
 Muriate of soda, ------ io 
 
 Muriate of lime, ------ 3 
 
 Carbonate of lime, ------ 8 
 
 Carbonate of iron, - - - - . - 5 
 
 Loss, ----.--3 
 
 Solid contents, - - - - 124 grains. 
 
 Carbonic acid, 7.4 in. 
 
 In conclusion I would say, that the family 
 physician should state fully and honestly to the 
 patient the absolute necessity of a thorough and 
 
92 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 extended trial of the waters. Experienced phy- 
 sicians know very well that a complete medicine, 
 which, by internal and external exhibition, can 
 be made to operate as an alterative, deobstruent, 
 antacid, aperient, diuretic, and tonic, should not 
 be abandoned on a slight trial. They know, too, 
 what their patients cannot appreciate, that time 
 is absolutely necessary for the removal of deep- 
 seated and long-continued maladies. How pre- 
 posterous, then, for invalids who have been la- 
 boring under the influence of disease for months 
 or years, to hope that they can eradicate or ban- 
 ish their complaint in one or two weeks ! 
 
 I have been frequently asked by persons 
 taking homoeopathic medicine, whether the use 
 of the mineral water would interfere with its 
 curative effects. To this inquiry I would answer 
 that the homoeopathic doses will not interfere 
 with any mineral water, or with anything else. 
 The doctrine of homoeopathy is so absurd, that 
 any man of common sense who should examine 
 its claims would be disgusted with its doses, to 
 say nothing of its principle — similia simililms 
 curantur. The main facts to be urged against 
 this doctrine may be reduced to four heads : — 
 
 1st. Some of our best and most certain medi- 
 cines cannot be regarded as homoeopathic. 
 
SJIARON SPRINGS. 93 
 
 Thus, substances whicli destroy the itch-insect 
 (Acarus scabiei) and thereby cure the itch, are 
 incapable of producing this malady. Andral 
 took quina in the requisite quantity, but with- 
 out acquiring intermittent fever ; yet no person 
 can doubt the fact of the great benefit to be de- 
 rived from the employment of this agent in 
 ague, — the paroxysms cease, and the patient 
 seems cured. " But," says Hahnemann, " are 
 the poor patients really cured in these cases? 5 
 All that can be said is, that they seem to be so , 
 and it would appear, according to this homoeo- 
 pathist, that patients do not know when they are 
 well. We are also told that whenever an inter- 
 mittent resembles the effects of cinchona, then, 
 and not till then, can we expect a cure. I am 
 afraid if this were true, very few agues could be 
 cured. 
 
 2d. In many cases homoeopathic remedies 
 would only increase the original disease ; and 
 we can readily imagine the ill effects which 
 would arise from the exhibition of acrid medi- 
 cines in gastritis, of cantharides in acute inflam- 
 mation of the bladder, or of mercury in saliva- 
 tion. 
 
 3d. The doses in which these agents are ex- 
 hibited are so exceedingly small that it is diffi- 
 
94: SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 cult to believe they can produce any effect on 
 the system ; and we may infer that the supposed 
 homoeopathic cures are attributable to a natural 
 and spontaneous cure, aided, in many cases, by 
 a strict attention to diet and regimen. What 
 effect can be expected from a decillionth part of 
 a drop of laudanum, or a millionth of a grain of 
 charcoal ? Hahnemann says it is foolish to 
 doubt the possibility of that which really oc- 
 curs ; and adds that sceptics do not consider the 
 rubbing and shaking bestowed upon the homoe- 
 opathic preparation, by which it acquires a 
 wonderful development of power. 
 
 4th. Homoeopathy has been fairly put to the 
 test of experiment by some members of the 
 Academie de Medicine, and the result was a 
 failure. Andral tried it on one hundred and 
 forty patients in the presence of the homceo- 
 pathists themselves, adopting every requisite 
 care and precaution, yet in no one instance was 
 he successful. 
 
PROFESSIONAL ADVICE BEFORE LEAVING HOME. 
 
 The writer has often thought that if invalids 
 who propose to come here would confer with 
 their regular medical attendant previously to 
 leaving home, they might receive directions 
 which would not only prove useful, but save 
 them from unnecessary expense. "Many come 
 here," says Dr. North, " without any professional 
 advice or preparation. Having wearied out 
 their physician, or gone the round of all the 
 nostrums, they resolve to spend two or three 
 weeks drinking and bathing in the pools of Sha- 
 ron." A visit to the Springs is somehow to cure 
 them. Just as if they should say, in an ordinary 
 attack of sickness, " I will go to the druggist's, 
 and procure some medicine." Ah! but what 
 medicine? "No matter : medicine is medicine." 
 But how do you know that your present disorder 
 will be benefited by the medicine you select? 
 " I don't pretend to know ; but I am sick, and 
 there must be something on the shelves of the 
 apothecary, to whom everybody resorts, that will 
 cure me." In the same manner valetudinarians 
 
96 SHARON SPRINGS. 
 
 often visit mineral springs. Without knowing 
 whether their diseases be inflammatory or the 
 reverse, — whether they need the water as an al- 
 terative, diuretic, cathartic, — whether they need 
 the warm, cold, or shower bath, or neither, — they 
 come bent on two simple purposes, — to deluge 
 the stomach with as much water as they can 
 swallow, and to resort frequently to the baths. 
 In this way the hopes of the patient are often 
 blasted, and he departs wondering that such 
 crowds should resort to a place where he has ga- 
 thered nothing but trouble and disappointment. 
 To the healthy and well balanced frame, a 
 tumbler of the sparkling and delicious beverage, 
 although it contains over twenty-eight grains of 
 various saline matters, besides the gases, can do 
 little mischief; and if ten or twelve tumblers are 
 taken, the conservative powers of such a system 
 will usually manage to avert the evil. But 
 when the patient comes with the whole econo- 
 my in a deranged condition, he cannot swallow 
 ten or twelve tumblers of this potent medicine 
 every day with impunity ; and after a few repe- 
 titions he often goes home in despair, with every 
 inflammatory tendency aggravated, and every 
 irritation increased by the very remedy which 
 has restored health to his neighbors and friends.