FOWLERSS AND WELLS'
embracing 
^-  ALL THE MOST POPULAR WORKS    e
ON THE SUBJECT:
INCLUDING:
INTRODUCTION TO THE WATER-CURE;      CURIOSITIES OF COMMON WATER;
HYDROPATHY, OR THE WATER-CURE;       WATER-CURE MANUAL;
EXPERIENCE IN THE WATER-CURE;        WATER-CURE IN EVERY DISEASE;
THE CHOLERA, AND BOWEL DISEASES;     WATER-CURE IN PREGNANCY;
WATER AND VEGETABLE DIET;            HYDROPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE;
THE PARENTS' GUIDE;                  ERRORS IN TIE WATER-CURE;
TOBACCO: ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS;     WATER-CURE IN CONSUMPTION.
IN SEVEN VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
HYDROPATHY, OR THE WATER-CURE.
NEW  YORK:
FOWLERS AND WELLS, PUBLISHERS,
CLINTON IALL, 129 AND 131  NASSAU STREET.
1850.








HYDROPATHY,
OR
THE WATER-CURE:
ITS
PRINCIPLES, PROCESSES, AND MODES OF TREATMENT.
COMPILED IN PART FROI
THE MOST EMINENT AUTHORS, ANCIENT AND MODERN, ON THE SUBJECT:
TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE
LATEST METHODS ADOPTED BY PRIESSNITZ.
ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS CASES OF CURE.
BY JOEL SHEW, M. D.
FOURTH EDITION, IMPROVED AND ENLARGED.
NEW  YORK:
FOWLERS AND WELLS, PUBLISHERS,
CLINTON HALL, 129 AND 131 NASSAU STREET.
1850.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849,
BY JOHN WILEY,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.
BANER & PALMER, STEREOTYPERS,
201 William st. corner Frankfort, N. Y.




PREFACE
TO TIIE FIRST EDITION.
IT will at once be observed, that in the following pages there is no
claim to originality. The compiler has for a time had his attention
directed to the water-cure, and has with interest witnessed its progress.
Having been perfectly convinced of its value, and of its superiority as a
system for the treatment of disease, he has been engaged in writing
with a view to publicity; but as different works upon the subject have
from time to time appeared in Europe-works of merit-some of which
are of very recent date, he has thought best to adopt the maxim that
" amidst counsellors there is safety," to substitute in a great measure
portions of those works in such a way as it is hoped will render the
present work one of value. The writings of the several authors will
show for themselves.  Let it be understood, however, that the compiler does not intend that it shall be inferred that he agrees with all
that is said.
Various have been the objections urged against hydropathy.  By
high authority, we have it classed among the various delusions that
are, and that have been, and of which it is said, they
"In turns appear, to make the vulgar stare,
Till the swoll'n bubble bursts, and all is air."
So it has been ranked in this country; but nearer the retired spot
of the " primitive philosopher," Priessnitz, it is different.  There, in
abundance, are to be found the "hard tellingfacts."  The actual cures
have been performed. There has been raised the cry of danger! danger! instead of delusion. As to the dangers in the practice of the
water-cure, what are they?  Precisely not greater than are to be
found elsewhere-not greater than to open a vein or an artery, and to
draw out that fluid upon which life so much depends; or to introduce
into the stomach, or the circulation, the most virulent and deadly
poisons in nature-things of every-day practice. The administration
of pure clean water cannot certainly be attended with more danger.




iv                          PREFACE.
That, by thousands, astounding cures have been performed in the
treatment, no one can question. And so was it in tractoration. But
there the mistake was as to the how. The objector who would class
the water-cure with that delusion, has not examined the subjectdoes not even know what the water-cure is. In the case of tractoration, in which the cures were performed, the subject exercised unbounded faith in the mysterious agency of the tractors. It is true,
too, that Priessnitz inspires his patients with confidence and courage,
and so must any and every practitioner of the healing art, to obtain
success. But more: let the objector, professional or non-professional,
get a little way into the secrets of the water-cure (for to him as yet
they are secrets). If he be an invalid, let him awhile leave, of every
kind, his vile narcotics and stimulants-in every respect, his hours
keep regularly.  Let him "daily wash and be clean," and be throughout regular and temperate in his meals, and in all his habits. Let him
diminish, if need be, the amount of fluids in the body, by most profuse
perspiration; or, by the wet sheet, reduce the temperature of the
body, and the velocity of the circulation and heart's action, to any required extent. Let him purify the blood, not by any of the thousandand-one of the nostrums of the quack, or of the multitudinous forms
of drugs innumerable, but by the cleansing effect of Nature's own best
pure fluid. Let him, if he can command courage, go to the bath, to the
douche; climb among the hills, and breathe freely the pure mountain
air of heaven, and all in proportion to his increasing strength; let him
be cheerful always; and at evening, according to his inclinations, let him
join in some of the social exercises-the music and the dance; and
when in time he finds his body has become amazingly strengthened,
and his mind active, cheerful, vigorous, and blithesome, and that his
old ailments inveterate are cast off, it will be a thing not easy to convince him that all is delusion-a work of the imagination. By this
time he finds that though he will, as if to bring spirits from the "vasty
deep," against the effects of the water-cure, it would be willing in
vain. There is at least something of physical truth in it. A greater
mistake cannot be than to class this with Tractoration, Sir Kenelm
Digby's sympathetic powder, or Hahneman's decillionth grain doses of
charcoal, flint, silica, or cuttle-fish juice, made too potent by ten shakes
instead of two. A wider difference cannot be.
The unprofessional manner in which the water-cure is introduced,
has been a matter of objection by some. According to Dr. Rush, a
medical man should be a student his life long. He should gather
information from any and every source-should even lay under contribution the experience of the old woman, whom he might meet in a
stage coach or elsewhere, to add to his stock of facts in the healing art.
" Life is short, art is long," said Hippocrates, "the old man of Cos."




PREFACE.                            V
Should an old woman, or any one, discover a drug of which it should
be said, on good authority, that it was capable, in one dose, of producing
the most powerful sweating; and in another, of reducing the temperature of the body most efficiently, and of retarding the velocity of the
circulation to any required extent, and which consequently could be
made to fulfill every intermediate indication, the student-like physician
would most certainly set to work and test fairly and fully the power of
the old woman's drug.  Yet who is there at all willing to do it?
The great physiologist and physician, Magendie, makes the strong
assertions, that "the science of medicine is almost the only one characterized by uncertainty and chance"-that " the existing system of medical study confers trifling good on society"-that " there is scarcely a
sound idea on physiology abroad"-that " the plan hitherto pursued in
the study of medicine, has been too narrow ever to lead to those happy
results that dignify an age by improving the condition of humanity"and that " the prevalent mode of treating disease, harmonizes admirably with, and is quite as senseless as, the method of reasoning in
pathology.  The practitioner mixes, combines, and jumbles together
vegetable, mineral, and animal substances; administers them right or
wrong, without for a moment considering the cause of the disease, and
without a single clear idea on the why and wherefore of his conduct."
Another says, " all things considered, it were better for mankind if not
a particle of medicine existed on the face of the earth;" and the
learned Hoffman of the seventeenth century said, " avoid medicine
and physicians, if you value your health!"
However strong and sweeping these assertions may at first appear,
if we carefully examine, we shall find that there is vastly too much of
truth in them. The study of the mere relation between symptoms
and remedies, without sufficient reference to the removing of the
causes of disease, has been too much the case in medicine. Hippocrates used but little medicine, and his remedies were few and simple.
His principal business was to discover and remove the causes of disease.
Medicine has likewise been followed too much as a mere businessa means of livelihood, or a source of emolument. And then again, if
we may hazard the opinion, it is too true that the existing system of
medicine is often found going in direct opposition to its fundamental
principles.  This it is claimed cannot in truth be said of hydropathy.
The practice in the water-cure is consistent, rational, and explainable.
Let us not be misunderstood in this matter.  Far be it from us to
depreciate, in any way, the value of the profession. It is error, and
not men, or any class of men, that we have to contend with. The
noble profession of our choice we esteem-a profession, than which
there is none of more importance to society and the race. But we
could sooner doubt our very existence, than that the healing art comes




Vi                          PREFACE.
far short of doing its best work-of conferring its best good upon society.
That the profession is a body of worthy and intelligent men, and that
of this body are those who are ranked among the highest benefactors
of the human family, society fully acknowledges. It is therefore the
height of folly for any one to act against the profession. The watercure, and improvements of whatever kind, wherever they may originate, must be introduced to the public generally through this profession.
As if perfection were to be found, and as if all medical men, unlike
those of other professions, were to be perfect moral beings, we hear in
glowing colors, by some, not a little said about the persecutions in medicine. We hear the grave questions, "Who denounced Harvey, the
glorious discoverer of the circulation of the blood?"     Who ridiculed
vaccination, and persecuted its discoverer, Jenner?"  And then, again,
when Lady Mary Montague inoculated her child with the matter of
small-pox to mitigate the severity of the disorder, it is said that on the
part of some there was manifested such an unwillingness to have the
experiment succeed, " that she never cared to leave the child alone
with them one second, lest in some secret way it should suffer from
their interference."
Admit this all true, and more, and we have that which will but
poorly compare with the witch manias, and the violent persecutions
elsewhere.  And be it remembered, too, that among the ignorant
traducers of the profession, are to be found those who are ever most
ready to lend their names and influence to quackery of every form, but
when any thing serious comes upon them, they are equally ready to
avail themselves of the gratuitous services of the insulted profession.
The water-cure presupposes that all due attention be given to the
removal of the causes of disease-to the prevention as well as the
cure. The great ignorance that exists as to the causes of disease,
the means of prevention, and the best methods of curing, is an ever
fruitful source of quackery of every kind. Teach people to understand
the laws of life, health, and disease, and then they are incapable of
the imposition of the mercenary and villanous quack. And then, and
not till then, will the profession attain its true dignity. And then will
the labors of the true physician be rightly valued. Then will the
physician's pay be more than now, like that of Boerhaave, when he
practiced among his best patients, as he called them-the poor.
The writer has high hopes in reference to what will yet result in
this country from the introduction of the water-cure. If he is mistaken in his enthusiasm, in this new world, in the healing art (for
Captain Claridge says, Priessnitz, like Columbus, discovered a new
world), so it is: he will trust to the intelligence of his country and the
profession-to time and mature experience-to convince him of his
error. He is young, and can improve. When a better way is shown,




PREFACE.                           Vil
he will follow it. But from what he has heard, seen, and knows, as
yet he must be in his humble way an advocate of the water-cure;
and, in doing this, he has incomparably more regard for the good
which it is destined to bring about in society, than for fame, reputation, or emolument.
As a matter of course, that always convenient word, " quackery,"
will, by some, be applied to the water-cure treatment. But let it be
remembered that it is not Priessnitz, or any one, that such are to contend with, but the thing itself. A method of treatment of itself in
perfect accordance with the laws of nature. A natural remedy, only
intensified by art. Real quackery will have but little to do with hydropathy. There is in its very nature too much of primitiveness and
simplicity-not enough of mysticism-of the wonderful and marvelous. Besides, the practice is too laborious, often severely so, both for
patient and practitioner. Let the water-cure be generally understood
and practiced, and the very considerable firm of " Messrs. Humbug,"
professional and non-professional, will turn bankrupt forthwith.
If the water-cure treatment is quackery, we have quackery unique.
With his vile preparations, and specifics infallible, the quack may
delude the ignorant, and, villain-like, drug mankind to death-employing in every direction his compeers to practice upon his thousands of
patients, whom he never sees or cares for if he can but cheat them
out of their substance; but to stand by the sufferer in disease, to guide
the remaining energies of life in accordance with its own laws, in such
a manner as to relieve pain, " remove obstructions, relieve oppression,
subdue diseased action," and strengthen and invigorate the system,
thus "placing the body under the most favorable circumstances for
resisting disease," remains for another besides the quack to perform.
And this we contend can best be done, when in competent hands, by
the primitive natural treatment, the water-cure. Than this to quackery, nothing can be more perfectly, more specifically antipodal.
The simplicity or oneness of the remedy will be with some a matter
of objection. It should be understood, that nothing is easier than by
the water-cure to produce, to any given extent, directly opposite results; therefore its simplicity is greatly in its favor. Why have drugs
been multiplied without number? Precisely because not one of them
is to be depended upon. Not so in hydropathy. It is contended that
the remedy here can be relied upon, and is always, in competent
hands, not only safe, but will always do some good-which is not true
of drugs.
To the non-professional inquirer, let it be said, no remedy can be
powerful for good that may not be made powerful for evil. It may
appear a simple thing to " wash and be clean," but even this must be
done rightly. Although the " sleeping in wet sheets is by no means




v111                        PREFACE.
the disagreeable thing that it is usually conceived to be," yet it must be
done in the right way, or most disastrous may be the consequences.
The Russians find their snow bath exceedingly delightful after their
sweating, but they know that it can be continued but a few minutes.
The Englishman, finding it at once pleasant, remained too long, and
thus sacrificed his life to his ignorance.
The water-cure implies temperance in detail. Those who wish to
adopt the better plan, prevention rather than cure, may be assured,
that in changing habits, mere feelings must not be taken as a guide.
If they do, a blind leader of the blind it will prove. The invalid mendicant, while asking alms, declared that as long as God should let him
live, be would drink every day a dram, because it gave him strength.
The minister of the Gospel (not a physiologist) said he would enjoy his
tea and coffee and his pipe, even if they did cut short his life, rather
than be deprived of the good things which God gives us. But whenever the drunkard reforms, however uncomfortable at first he may
feel, we soon find nature is true to herself. He feels like death, but
yet he does not die. Soon like life from the dead he is a new and
renovated man.                                             J. S.




PREFACE
TO THE  SECOND  EDITION.
THE compiler will here state, that since the first edition of Hydropathy, or the Water-Cure, was published, he has had numerous opportunities of testing the efficacy of the new system; and that his former
confidence in it is not in the least diminished. That confidence is, if
possible, growing more and more strong. The system, consisting, as it
does, of an endless variety of applications of water, internal and external, warm, hot, or cold, as the case may require, together with the
agencies of air, exercise, diet, clothing, etc., etc., is, if the writer is not
altogether mistaken, incomparably more effectual than any other, for
speedily relieving pain, subduing inflammations and fevers of every
kind, strengthening the body to the greatest possible extent, thus enabling it in the most effectual manner to resist disease. The new system is entirely without parallel-a significant fact, to be pondered by
the " scientific" objectors who decry Priessnitz as being an " illiterate
hind of the Silesian mountains." Let those improve upon his work
who can.
The writer commenced his experiments and investigations in the
new system, as indeed he did his first medical studies, with an inflexible determination to ascertain truth. Long before he had ever heard
of the new system, and both before and after he had commenced the
study of the healing art, he was at a loss to know how " setting one
poison to catch another" was to be reconciled with reason; —how
bleeding a person already nervous and debilitated-a thing often donewas any more rational than the letting down of the strings of a musical
instrument whose tones already failed for want of sufficient tension;how it was reasonable to excite the liver by mercury, causing a certain
weakness and derangement of the organ already weakened and deranged-a thing of every-day occurrence in common practice-or how
it was possible for a patient in a sinking state to be kept alive, as was
so often believed, by alcoholic (poisonous) stimulants. In short, the
writer fortunately early learned to distrust the existing symptoms of
medicine, and was on the constant look out for something better. He
has not been disappointed.
If the old allopathic or common practice of medicine were at this
1*




X                            PREFACE.
day wholly set aside, there would immediately be a diminution of disease, suffering, and premature death; and far better still even than
now would it be if all drug medicines were at once wholly abandoned,
and people were compelled, with pure clean water, right food, fresh
air, and invigorating exercise, to help themselves as they best could.
There would at once be less of sickness and unnatural death. But it
is said quackery is tht cause of the mischief. Is there not quackery
" scientific," as well as unscientific? Do not the different sects, even
in the established practice, at least hint that the other sects kill their
patients?  " Who shall decide when doctors disagree?"
In the present edition of this work it was thought best to vary to
some extent the arrangement and matter from  the former edition.
Contrary to the ordinary mode, a collection of well-ascertained facts,
in the form of cases treated mostly at Graefenberg, are placed first in
the volume. First let us have facts-afterward theories. The volume,
it is hoped, will not prove uninteresting.                   J. S.
PREFACE
TO THE THIRD EDITION.
THE following work having passed through two large editions, and
the publisher desiring still to continue its sale, the author has deemed
best to make numerous alterations and additions in the present issue.
This edition will be found to contain about one third more matter than
the last, while, at the same time, the price remains the same.
There is one feature of the present edition which, it is believed,
will render it a much more acceptable one than either of the former.
While on a second visit at Graefenberg, in the winter of 1847-8, the
author was careful to obtain of Priessnitz his methods of treating the
princil)al diseases to which the human system is subject. These were
not trusted to memory, but were written down on the spot. These
methods, simple as they may appear, are the results of this great
man's experience, gained through many years of persevering toil.
His opinions must necessarily have great weight with all who have
confidence in the new system of water.
It will doubtless appear evident, from a perusal of the following
pages, that the writer has had as an object the production of a work
of usefulness, rather than one of brilliant authorship.      J. S.
NEW YORK, 1849.




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
TIE  MORE  ANCIENT  USES OF  WATER.
Authority of Hippocrates.- Galen.- Celsus.-. Boerhaave.-Hoffman.-Hufeland.- Zimmerman.-Hahn.-Father Bernardo.-Hahn the Elder.-Sir John Floyer.-Dr. Elliotson.
-Dr. Baynard.-Dr. Dover.-William  Penn.-Indian methods.-Dr. Currie.-Rev.
John Wesley,......                              Page 17-47
CHAPTER II.
HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
Hydropathy.-Definition of the Term.-Water as a remedial Agent has been used in all
Ages.-Priessnitz's Discoveries the result of Accident.-Curious Anecdotes.-His number of Patients.-Testimony of Dr. Edward Johnson.-Sir Charles Scudamore.-Rev.
John Wesley.-R. Beamish, Esq.-Priessnitz's phrenological Developments.-The simplicity of his Theories.-A Remarkable Case of Cure.-A. J. Colvin, Esq.-His excellent
Account of Priessnitz's Discoveries.-The Umschlag, or Wet Bandage.-Leintuch, or
Wet Sheet.-The Douche.-Sweating Process.-The Plunging Bath.-Abreibung, or
Rubbing Wet-Sheet,.....   48-64
CHAPTER III.
HYDROPATHY, OR  THE  MODERN  WATER-CURE-(CONTINUED.)
Why the Profession look Unfavorably on the New Mode.-The true Medical Philosopher
receives Truth from any and every Source, however humble.-Cold Water merits at
least a fair trial in Legitimate Practice.-Distinct Hydropathic Establishments best for
giving full effect to the Treatment, but many parts of it may be applied at Patients' own
Homes.-What a Water Establishment should be.-Water an old Remedy.-Lanzani's
Method.-Sir John Floyer and Dr. Baynard's.-Extracts concerning Life.-Dr. Currie's
Practice.-Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine.-The ancient Romans.-The modern Russians..-Remarkable Revivifying effect of the Cold Plunge Bath after Sweating.-Priessnitz's Mode not only embraces those of previous Authors, but also New and Powerful
Processes.-Description of Priessnitz.-The Water Process, although simple, may be
much varied.-Priessnitz's Mode of commencing with a Patient.-Water drinking.-Exercise, general Routine, Packing, etc.-The various Baths.-Compresses.-Mode of
Sweating.-Flannel not to be worn next to the Skin.-Drugs never to be taken at Graefenberg.-True Mode of arriving at the Results of Hydropathy.-Civilized Life, in many
respects, productive of Disease.-Advantages of the Hydropathic Diet.-Value of Means
applied to the Surface.-Evil effects of too oft-repeated Internal Remedies.-The Hydropathic Treatment as a Counter-irritant.-The Crisis.-Effects of cooling the Body
ofttn.-Sympathy of the Surface with Internal Parts.-Stimulating effect of the Hydropatlhic Treatmnitr t.-Sedative effect of Cold Water.-Water as a Febrifuge.-Rules of Dr.
Clurri. and Dr. laen.-Safety of Cold Water in Fevers.-Cold Bathing a Tonic Means.lErroneous notions of Medical Men.-Boldness of IIydropathists.-Douche and Shower
Baths.-Remarks on the Sweating Process.-Its Safety and Efficiency.-Water as a Purgative and Diuretic.-Tranquilizing Influence of the Hydropathic Treatment.-Remarks
on Medical Habits, in reference to Chronic Disease.-Ill Effects of Over-drugging.Conclusion,.                                                               65-107
CHAPTER IV.
THEORY  OF HYDROPATIIY   DR. BILLING S THEORY  OF DISEASE.
Dr. Billing's First Principles of Medicine.-Liebig and Billing.-All Diseases caused by Impressions made on the Nervous System.-Congestion and Inflammation.-Tonicity.The living Body composed of Capillary Vessels.-Functions and Offices of these Vessels.-Action of the Arteries.-Momentum of Blood in Inflamed Parts.-Difference between Congestion and Inflammation.-How Morbid Growths are formed. —Irritation.Nervous Disorders.-There is properly but one Disease and one Cure.-Worms in the
Bowels.-The Inefficiency of Drugs has multiplied their Number.-The active Bleeding




Xii                                CONTENTS.
and various Medicines.-Weakness or exhausted Nervous Energy the cause of all Dis
ease.-Illustration of the Hydropathic Treatment.-Operation of Cold Water and Cold
Air.-The Cold or Tonic Treatment in Consumption.-The true Principle of treating
this Disease.-Various medical Hobbies point to the same End.-Not a single Drug in the
whole range of the Pharmacopoeia that can be relied on.-Cold Water as a means of
unloading and constringing the Capillaries.-Value of cold Applications to the Head.The general applicability of the Hydropathic Treatment.-Testimony of Analogy and
Experience.-Mischief of Drugs.-A fatal Case from  Mercury.-Strychnine and its
Eflects.-A Case of Paralysis.-Hydropathy may be made to do Harm.-Opium  and
Mercury.-Their Effects.-The Cold Bath and Sweating.-The sudden checking of Perspiration a chimerical Danger.-Facts in Proof of this Statement,.   Page 107-125
CHAPTER V.
PROPOSITIONS ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF THE WATER-CURE.
The Applications of the Water-Cure are in strict Accordance with the Facts and Phenomena of the living Organism.-A Knowledge of these of the greatest Importance to the
Physician.-What constitutes Disease.-All Disease Originally Acute.-Acute Disease a
normal Effort of Nature.-In this Effort the Body may die from Exhaustion.-What
constitutes a Chronic Disease.-Of Accidental Injuries and Skin Diseases.-How Organic
Disease occurs.-When a Disease is Curable and when Incurable.-There is necessarily
an unnatural quantity of Blood in Diseased Organs.-Preventing or removing this Condition necessary to be kept in view by the Physician.-The Nervous System controls the
Circulation of the Blood.-Curative Treatment to be made through this System.-It
must not be too Violent.-How this Treatment is to be Applied.-Air, Diet, and Water.These are the Agents used in the Cure of Disease.-Alcoholic and Medicinal Stimulants.Their evil Effects.-The true Principle of the Water-Cure,....   126-130
CHAPTER VI.
THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.
Definition of "Water-Dressing."-Mode of Application.-Water-Dressings used by some
in place of Poultices.-Ill Effects that are sometimes caused by the Latter.-WaterDressing a better Application.-Water as a Remedy for Wounds and Inflammation of
ancient Date.-Doctrines of HIippocrates.-This simple Practice was set aside by Celsus
and the Arabian Physicians.-Ambrose Pard.-Religious Superstitions concerning the
Effects of Water.-Gabriel Fallopius.-Pallazzo.-Laurent Joubert, Martel, and Denis.Van Helmont.-Lamorier.-Caldani and Danter.-A Miller of Alsace.-Baron Percy.Baron Larrey.-Professor Kern.-Water not a Specific or Medicinal Remedy.-Necessity of paying Attention to the Temperature of the Water-Dressing.-Its Use in Lacerations, Punctured Wounds, Contusions, and Strains of Joints.-Gun-Shot Wounds.-The
Division of Varicose Veins.-Boils.-Piles.-Gonorrhcea.-Chronic Affections of the
Skin.-Corns and Callosities.-Water as a Preventive of Lock-Jaw.-Great Power of
Water in preventing Pain.-Cases,.                                         130-140
CHAPTER VII.
PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
Water Drinking.-Quantity recommended by Priessnitz.-Enormous Quantities some,
times ])rank.-Advantages of Water in Fevers.-Erroneous Notions concerning the
Treatment of Fevers.-Rule to be Observed.-Water Drinking in Poisoning.-A Case.Advantages of pure Water in New York.-Effect of Water taken at Meals.-Water
Drinking for Indigestion.-Vomiting by Water.-Advantages of Drinking at Meals.Living without Drink.-Water to prevent Vomiting and Hickup.-Some Laborers drink
freely at Meals.-Water probably undergoes no chemical Change in the System.-Quality of Water.-That which is Pure and Soft the best.-Effects of Croton Water in New
York.-How to obtain pure soft Water every where.-Injections or Clysters.-Their
good Effects in various Diseases.-How they shall be Applied.-The Rubbing Wet
Sheet.-lts Application and Uses.-The Leintuch or Wet Sheet.-Mode of Application.Its Uses.-Compresses and Wet Bandages.-Their Object and Uses.-Warming or Stimulating Bandages.-Sweating Process.-How Sweating is Accomplished.-Rules for the
Process.-It is little used by Priessnitz at the present day,....   141-152
CHAPTER VIII.
PROCESSES  OF WATER-CUIRE (CONTINUED.)
Modes in which the Bath should be taken. —The Cold Bath not to be resorted to when the
Body is Chilly.-Necessity of keeping in Motion while in the Bath.-Those who have
weak Chests must be careful in their use of the Cold Bath.-Exercise beneficial after
Bathing.-Full Baths should sometimes be discontinued for a period.-The Half Bath.Its Uses and Effects.-Long-continued Hip or Sitz Baths.-Priessnitz's Mode.-The Bath
is sometimes taken after the Packing Sheet.-Means of reducing Feverishness.-Foot




CONTENTS.                                    Xiil
Bath.-Used to counteract Pains in the upper Part of the Body.-Headache and Tooth
ache.-The Feet should be Warm  before they are put into Cold Water.-Exercise
to be taken immediately after the Foot Bath.-This is much better than going to the
Fire.-This Bath good in Fatigue.-To be used cautiously by the Gouty.-Head Bath.Its use in Headache, Inflammations of the Eye, Deafness, and loss of Smell and Taste.Rush of Blood to the Head.-Mode of taking the Head Bath.-Finger Bath.-Mode of
Treating Whitlow or Felon.-Eye Bath.-How  and for what Used.-Leg Bath.-Its
Uses.-Sitz Bath.-Mode of Administering it.-Its Importance.-Douche Bath.-Its Effects.-Douches at Graefenberg.-Mode of taking the Douche.-It should be used with
great Caution.-Length of Time for taking this Bath,....   Page 153-161
CHAPTER IX.
PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE-(CONTINUED.)
Shower Bath, an excellent Mode of taking it.-Its great Value in a variety of Diseases.A Bath for every One.-How often should we Bathe.-Daily Bathing advocated.-The
Vapor Bath.-Alleged Objections to its Use answered.-The Vapor Bath in some cases
a better Mode than the Wet Sheet.-The Thompsonians are often Successful.-Great disregard of the importance of making remedial Applications to the Skin.-A Case.-Practice of the ancient Romans, the Russians, and the American Indians.-Tepid, warm,
and hot Applications of Water.-Many suppose, erroneously, that nothing but cold Water
is used in the new System.-Cases in which warm or hot Water is useful.-A Case.-A
Mode of Curing the Colic.-Caution in the Use of warm  Water.-Temperature of
Baths.-Curious Facts regarding the Sensations caused by Water.-Cautions in the Use
of Water.-Important Rules.-Air and Exercise.-These are important Adjuncts in Water-Cure.-Clothing.-Diet.-Principles of Digestion,...   162-172
CHAPTER X.
THE  CRISIS OF WATER-CURE.
The Crisis a remarkable Feature of the Water Treatment.-This is sought much at Graefenberg.-Symptoms preceding the Crisis.-Meaning of the Term.-In some Cases of
Cure there is no perceptible Crisis of any kind.-Priessnitz's Doctrines concerning Crisis.-It often happens on the part originally Diseased.-Sir Charles Scudamore's explanation of the Crisis.-Boils do not occur in healthy Subjects.-Crisis, Boils, and Rashes,
act as Counter-Irritants, as well as by Purifying the Blood.-A Water Patient must often
be Worse before he can be Better.-Too active Treatment should not be Practiced with
a view of causing a Crisis.-A case of Injury by too severe Treatment.-Priessnitz's
Skill and Prudence should not be lightly called into Question.-Does Water cause Dropsy?-The real Cause of this Affection,...                              173-179
CHAPTER XI.
DISEASES TO WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS MORE ESPECIALLY  ADAPTED.
Water a Remedy applicable in all Diseases.-The true Nature of this Means.-The great
benefit of Water in Acute Diseases.-Neuralgic, or Painful Disorders.-Indigestion.-Its
Nature, and the proper Principle of treating it.-Leucorrhoea, or Fluor Albus.-Nature
of this Affection.-Gout and Rheumatism.-These are often Cured at Graefenberg.-Epileptic Fits.-Spinal Irritation.-Difficult Menstruation.-Influenza.-Concluding Remarks,....                          179-185
CHAPTER XII.
GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
Acute Rheumatic Fever.-Inflammation and Swelling of the Breasts, with general Fever.Paralysis.-Sciatica.-Constipation.-Dyspepsia.-Dyspepsia  and Rheumatism.-Gout
and Rheumatism, complicated with Venereal taint.-Gout in the Hands and Knees.Rheumatism, with Psoriasis.-Case of Psoriasis communicated by George Anthony,
Esq., an English Surgeon, now at Graefenberg.-Skin Disease.-Psoriasis.-Skin Disease
following Gonorrhoea.-Fistula in Ano.-Urinary Fistula.-Gonorrhcea.-Consumption.Cough, Weakness of the Chest, and Injury of the Back.-Deafness.-Hip Disease. —
Scarlet Fever.-Symptomatic Fever (related by the Mother).-Catarrh, or Cold.-Baldness. —Ieadache, with Giddiness.-Secondary Syphilitic Symptoms.-Another Case of
Secondary Syphilis.-Third Case of Secondary Syphilis.-Fourth Case of Secondary
Syphilis.-Impuissance, complicated with Gout.-Contracted Joints.-Hernia.-Haematuria, or Voiding of Blood from the Urinary Organs.-Cerebro-Spinal Disease.-Suppressed Measles.-Deafness.-Epilepsy.-Hypochondriasis, Psoriasis, Sciatica,  185-221
CHAPTER XIII.
GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE-(CONTINUED.)
Nervous Headache, Deafness, and Constipation.-Indigestion, severe Headache, etc.-Indigestion, Nervous Debility, and Hypochondriasis.-Nervous Debility from  excessive




X1V                                 CONTENTS.
Study.-Indigestion and Pain in the Side.-Great Suffering from Nervous Weakness.General Fever.-Indigestion and Sore Throat.-Inflammation of the Stomach and Bowels.-Nervous Debility, with frequent Cramps.-Nervous Debility and Sieeplessness.Indigestion, Distress, and Depression of Spirits.-Gout and Rheumatism.-Syphilitic
Eruption, Hernia, Sciatica, Biliousness, Indigestion, etc.-Indigestion, Rheumatism, and
Spitting of Blood.-Gout.-Gout and Rheumatism. —Iereditary Gout.-Cutaneous Eruptions and Universal Pains.-Great Nervousness.-Urinary Fistula, or Opening.-Hemiplegia, or Paralysis of one Side.-Catalepsy, or Trance, general Debility, and Indigestion.-Seminal Weakness, with great Nervous Debility.-Debility, Nervousness, and
Baldness, following the use of Mercury.-Does Water bring Mercury from the System?
Defective Hearing and Smelling, with general Debility.-High Fever, with Delirium.Dyspepsia, Sleeplessness, and Nervousness.-Rheumatic Neuralgia.-Gout.-Menorrhogia, or excessive and debilitating Menstruation.-Great Debility and Depression of Spirits,
following Nervous Fever.-Insensibility following an Improper Bath.-Insensibility following Over-drinking.-Secondary Syphilis.-(A Horrible Case).-Inflammation of the
Brain, with Delirium.-Dyspepsia, Headache, and Fullness at the Head.-Debility, Sleeplessness, Depression of Spirits, etc., from excessive Mental Application.-Scrofulous
Disease of the Knee Joint.-Scrofulous Enlargement of the Knee Joint.-Skin Diseases.Leprosy, Tetanus, and Hydrophobia,......      Page 222-262
CHAPTER XIV.
THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
General Remarks on Fevers.-Boerhaave's Theory.-Ill effects of the Heating, and good
effects of the Cooling modes.-A great Change has been wrought within a few Years.Animals instinctively go to Water in Feverishness from whatever Cause.-Curious cases
of Fever, from  Dr. Baynard, one hundred and fifty years ago-Water the best of all
Remedies in Fevers and Inflammations of whatever kind.-Water the Invigorator of
Nature-.Remarkable Facts from Howard the Philanthropist.-A singular case of Resuscitation.of a Child supposed to be Dead.-Priessnitz's Modes.-Typhus, Jail, and
Ship Fever.-Priessnitz is never known to fail in curing Fevers of whatever kind, if he
commence at first.-Detail of the Treatment of Ship or Typhus Fever.-Advantages of
pure fresh Air.-The great general Principle of treating all Fevers.-Ague and Fever.Prevention always better than Cure.-Detail of Treatment in this Disease.-The Cold
Stage. —he Hot Stage.-The Sweating Stage.-Object of the Treatment in each Vapor
Bath recommended in the Cold Stage.-Cold Water at the beginning of the Cold Stage.
-Treatment on the "Well Day."-Diet.-Fasting and Water Drinking.-Their probable
Effects,..   263-272
CHAPTER XV.
THE GRAEFENIERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
Pricssnitz's Views of Small-Pox.-Vaccination.-This often fails of its Object.-It is often
very Injurious to the Constitution-Priessnitz's mode of treating the Small-Pox.-Fresh
Air and Diet.-Malignant Small-Pox.-A Case at Graefenbera.-Thirty-six Cases at Sea
cured by Captain Johnston.-Testimony of Dr. Iahn in 1738.-John Hancock, D. D.,
1700.-Dr. Baynard, 1706.-Dr. Currie, 1797.-Scarlatina, or Scarlet Fever.-Remarkable success of Dr. Corson, of Pennsylvania.-General Remarks on the Treatment of
this Disease.-Dr. Elliotson quoted.-Dr. Burns.-Dr. Dewees.-Dr. Currie. —Measles.
-Remarkable success of the Water Treatment.-Priessnitz's Mode.-A Case.-Cases
from the Water-Cure Journal.-Skin Diseases generally,...   273-298
CHAPTER XVI.
TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  CONTINUED.
Erysipelas.-General erroneous Notions concerning this Disease.-The great principle of
Treatment to be observed in this Disease.-Great success of the Treatment.-Case of Mrs.
Goss.-Case of Mr. \Vetmore.-A second Case.-The great benefit of Fasting in this Disease.-Scalds and Burns.-l)ifferent classes of Scalds and Burns.-Principles of Treatment to be followed in Scalds and Burns.-Blisters cannot rise under Cold Water. —
Danger from Burns.-Treatment of extensive Burns.-Treatment in sinking, or collapse
from Burns.-The soothing effect of Warmth and Moisture.-Advantages of Water, even
in fatal Cases.-lnjurious effects of Opium in Burns.-Deformities caused by Burns.Common remedies for Scalds and Burns.-Convulsions.-Frictions with Cold Water
Priessnitz's main reliance in this Affection.-Hippocrates and the earlier Physicians.Dr. Currie's Mode.-Cases.-Dr. Elliotson.-Hysteria, or Hysterics.-Cold Water a famous Remedy for this Disease,..                                            299-310
CHAPTER XVII.
TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  CONTINUED.
Apoplexy.-Value of Cold applied to the Head, and Frictions with Cold Water over the
Surface generally in this Disease,-Cold Injections in the Bowels.-Many are killed,




CONTENTS.                                     XV
doubtless, in the old Practice in this Disease.-Best means of applying C old to the Head
-Inflammation of the Brain.-This is to be treated on the same great Principle of all
Inflammations.-Cold to the Head.-General Treatment, etc.-Quinsy, and other acute
Inflammations of the Throat.-Croup a very dangerous Disease.-Prevention better
than Cure.-How to prevent the Disease.-How to treat it.-Inflammations in the
Chest, Lung Fever, and Pleurisy.-How to be treated.-Case of Priessnitz's Daughter.
-Sore Throat, Weakness of the Chest, Lungs, etc.-Priessnitz's Advice.-Remarks on
Consumption,.....  Page 311-318
CHAPTER XVIII.
TREATMENT  OF DISEASES  CONTINUED.
Inflammations of the Abdomen generally.-These are all to be treated on the same general
Principles.-Enteritis, or Inflammation, with obstinate Stoppage of the Bowels.-How
to be treated according to Priessnitz.-This very dangerous Disease sometimes needs
much and powerful Treatment.-Colic.-Priessnitz's Mode of Cure.-Dysentery, Diarrhoea, and Cholera Morbus.-How to be Treated.-Erroneous Notions as to the Effect
of Water.-Causes of these Diseases.-A Case of Dysentery, with Remarks.-Chronic
Diarrhcea, Dysentery, etc.-How to be Cured.-Nausea, Vomiting, and Pains of the Stomach.-C urious Remarks of John Smith.-How to allay Vomiting,..   319-327
CHAPTER XIX.
TREATMENT  OF DISEASES  CONTINUED.
Meaning of "Cholera," "Contagion," and "Infection."-Is Cholera contagious?-Causes of
Cholera.-Manner of an attack of Cholera.-Symptoms of Cholera.-First Stage.-Second Stage.-Stage of Collapse.-Nature of Cholera.-Orthodox Practice unsuccessful.Water Treatment of Cholera.-Ice and Water Drinking.-Vomiting by means of Water.
-Rubbing Wet Sheet in Spasm.-Priessnitz's mode.-Rationale of the Processes.-The
Persian Treatment of Cholera,....                                 327-340
CHAPTER XX.
TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONCLUDED.
Haemorrhages.-General Principles of Treatment.-Bleeding from the Lungs.-How to
be Treated.-Bleeding from  the Bowels.-Mode of Treatment.-Haemrorrhage from
the Womb.-This is to be Treated on the same general Principles as all Heemorrhages.-Nose Bleed.-Modes of Curing it.-Paronychia, Whitlow, and Felon.-Causes
of the Disease, and Treatment.-Earache.-How  to be Treated.-Toothache, and its
Cure,.. 340-344
APPENDIX.
Chronic Rheumatism.-Case of Col. Rolph.-lygienic Habits and Opinions of Howard
the Philanthropist.-Hydropathic Laconics,....   345-358








THE WATER CURE.
CHAPTER I.
THE MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
Authority of Hippocrates.-Galen.-Celsus.-Boerhaave.-Hoffman. -Hufeland. -Zinr
merman.-Hahn.-Father Bernardo.-Hahn the Elder.-Sir John Floyer.-Dr. Ellison
-Dr. Baynard.-Dr. Dover.-William Penn.-Indian methods.-Dr. Currie.-Rev
John Wesley.
HIPPOCRATES, the great father of medicine, "the old man of
Cos," who lived to about ninety years of age, we are told was accustomed to use water in his treatment of many of the most serious diseases. He observed, that it was the general nature of warm
water to produce a chill, while cold water produced warmth. His
method of effecting a sweat was exceedingly simple, and at the
same time most effectual; far more so even than those modes of
stimulating and rasping the internal organs by means of drugs.
His plan, as we have seen elsewhere, was to pour water over the
body, and then to place sufficient warm clothes upon the patient,
so that the desired effect was produced.  In a work which he
wrote on Air, Water, and Situation, when about to speak of water,
he says, " Let us see which are good and which bad; it is a point
on which health mainly depends."  He considered water the best
drink. He laid down as an important law, that a bath enfeebles,
every time that its heat exceeds that of the body immersed in it.
The truth of this Hippocratic precept has often been verified. He
said that the affusion of water cures cramp, convulsions, and tetanus; that the gout was to be cured by a large affusion of cold
water; for it was certain, holding the foot a long time in it, abates
the swelling, redness, and pain.
Galen, who lived in the second century, and who, next to Hippocrates, was called prince of the Greek physicians, said that he




18            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
had cured many cases of burning continued fever, by giving his
patients nothing but cold water to drink, and that not one of his
patients died who had recourse to this simple remedy sufficiently
early.  He had seen many cured of a severe pain in the stomach
in a single day, by drinking cold water. He also recommended
cold bathing in fevers, and to persons in health, for fleshy ones,
and those that use due exercise. According to his directions, the
body was to be prepared by exercise in the gymnasium, by friction
with coarse cloths, and sometimes by the prior use of the warm
bath. The baths were to be taken before eating. After the bath,
much friction and rubbing the surface was to be used until the
skin was well warmed.  He said that the duration of baths is too
long, when after coming out of the bath, the body is very pale,
and is not soon heated again by friction, and does not recover its
natural heat and color thereby. Galen, like Hippocrates, lived to
a very great age.
Celsus, a physician and philosopher, styled the Cicero of doctors, employed water for complaints of the head and stomach. He
said that nothing is of so much service to the head as cold water.
He recommended such as were weak in the head to plunge it into
cold running water; and also in cases of weakness of sight, accompanied with a prevalent discharge from the eyes, and in enlargements of the glands.  He said that slight cuts or wounds
may be healed by applying sponges squeezed out of cold water;
but that in whatever way the sponges may be applied, it is only
of benefit as long as it retains the moisture.
The illustrious Boerhaave recommended the use of water to
render the body firm and strong. Cold water, when limpid, light,
and without smell or taste, and obtained from a clear running
stream, he declared to be the best drink.
Hoffman, a cotemporary of Boerhaave, and professor of physic
at IIalle, and physician to the king of Prussia, wrote on the subject of water.  He recommended it as the best preventive and
cure of a large number of diseases. He said those who drink
water, are observed to have much whiter and sounder teeth. They
are brisker and more alert in all the actions both of mind and
body, than such as use malt liquors. In reference to the use of
mineral waters in chronic diseases, he said it was not owing to
the light, sparkling air, or to the saline, or other mineral substances combined with the water, so much as to the medicinal proper



MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                    19
ties of common water with which they are mixed, and which is
drank in great quantities. "Water proves agreeable to persons of
all ages," and " The drinking of water is serviceable in every complexion," are sayings of Hoffman. But his confidence in the power
of water is best shown in the following quotation: " If there exists
any thing in the world that can be called a panacea (a universal
remedy) it is pure water; first, because it will disagree with nobody; secondly, because it is the best preservative against disease;
thirdly, because it will cure agues and chronic complaints; fourthly, because it responds to all indications." By objectors to the
exclusive, or nearly exclusive use of water, it is often said that
water is most excellent in its place, and that it is good for a great
variety of cases, and has been greatly neglected in the treatment
of diseases; but that it will not respond to or answer all indications; that is, it cannot be made to answer all the good purposes
of medicines. Hoffman, all will agree, is good authority; but the
best proof of all, is actual experiment. Priessnitz, during the last
twenty years, has cured diseases with greater success than any before him. His only medicine from the beginning of his accidental
career, has been pure clean water.
Hufeland, who was also a distinguished professor, and editor of
a medical journal, mentions the case of a Mr. Theden, veteran surgeon general, who ascribed his long life (more than eighty years)
chiefly to the daily use of a large quantity of water, which he
drank for upward of forty years.  Between his thirtieth and fortieth year, he was a most miserable hypochondriac, oppressed with
the deepest melancholy, tormented with a palpitation of the heart,
indigestion, etc., and fancied that he could not live six months;
but from the time he began this regimen all these symptoms disappeared, and in the latter half of his life, he enjoyed better
health than before, and was perfectly free from his hypochondriac
affection.  He said, "The element of water is the greatest promoter of digestion; an excellent reviver of the stomach, and
strengthener of the nerves, and assists all the secretions of the
body, and that it purifies, not merely the skin, but freshens and
exhilarates both the soul and the body; it strengthens and preserves
against the changing influences of air and weather, keeps the solid
parts supple and the joints pliable; it preserves the vigor of youth
and keeps up the vigor of old age.  It is a powerful preventive
of bile and putrefaction."




20           MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
Zimmerman, the author of a well-known work on Solitude, and
physician to Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, strongly recommended water.  "Water," he said, "does not chill the ardor of
genius," and then mentioned the instance of Demosthenes, whose
sole drink was water.
Hahn, a German physician of note, wrote a work on the effects
of water in 1738.  "Water," he says, "does not, as some suppose, weaken the stomach, but on the contrary increases the appetite, as may be seen by the larger quantity of food taken at meals.
Those who make this assertion contradict themselves; for a debilitated stomach requires a less, and not a larger quantity of food.
Others imagine that by drinking water they lose their color and
flesh. Even if such were the case, and they did become a little
paler and thinner, such a loss is not to be compared to the general
improvement of health which is obtained thereby.  It yet remains to be shown, whether a protuberant stomach, with swollen, flabby, puffed-out cheeks, is to be preferred to a more slender
shape, and thinner face; or whether the rude country glow of
health, with rosy cheeks, is not to be preferred to that pale and
sickly hue, so much admired by people of fashion.  But waterdrinkers generally retain their flesh and healthy color. A few,
however, who had swollen, flabby, or spongy flesh, and therefore
unhealthy, have in appearance become thinner, and lost their puffiness, having exchanged it for a firm and compact flesh, therefore
healthy.  Those who, from the use of ardent spirits and thick,
glutinous beverages, as beer or brandy, have got reddened, violet,
copper-colored faces, have not, by drinking water, become pale,
but have exchanged their violet or purple redness for a more natural color. Every man ought, I think, to be satisfied with such
a change."  This writer says that perspiration, caused by cold
water, is more salutary than that by any other known means; and
although warm water will produce perspiration, yet it chills the
body much more afterward than cold.  He mentions that a physician relieved the viceroy of Sicily, Johannes de la Vega, by the
use of water, and received from him as a reward, the golden cup
out of which water had been drank.  He said, that cold water
was better to remove impurities from the skin than warm, because
warm water dries up the skin, and injures its fine vessels; while
cold strengthens it, and renders the body hard and insensible to
cold, like that Scythian who went naked about the market-place




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 21
of Athens, to the great wonder of the people. On being questioned by one of the philosophers how he could go about naked
in the cold, asked in reply, why the other did not cover his face
up in winter. Upon the Athenian answering that it was accustomed to the cold, the Scythian rejoined, "Then consider my
whole body as being all face."
Hahn recommended a woman who had the itch, to get into a
tub of water, and remain in it several days, to eat, drink, and
sleep therein. This being attended with too much inconvenience,
she washed herself several times during the day, and wrapped
herself up in wet sheets during the night, and then became cured
in a very short time. There was, he says, mixed with this treatment, a little superstition, as it was thought the disorder could
only be cured by bathing on Good Friday.  Some persons who
suffered severely with this disorder, went on a Good Friday, and
bathed in their under-clothes, then returned without changing or
drying, went to bed, and were entirely cured. A gentleman of
his acquaintance had an ulcer on his foot, which he cured by frequently bathing in a pond; and whenever it threatened to reopen,
speedily re-established the cure by the same means. A fisherman
had a large ulcerated abscess in his thigh, which had continued in
spite of every remedy, for the space of two years. The fear that
water would aggravate the evil. had caused him to abandon his
pursuits, but the prospect of starvation compelled him again to
fish. On coming out of the water after two hours, he was agreeably surprised to find the sore much less painful. This induced
him to go daily into the river, and in a short time he became
perfectly cured.  He had ordered his patients to let their sores
soak in water, as tanners do their skins, to remove their putridity,
for several days and nights. Running streams were more efficacious than washing in tubs, and the more so when the patient wades
against the stream, as the water thus enters and cleanses the part
more effectually. He had witnessed the good effects of water in
St. Anthony's fire, which was removed in the course of a few
days, without the slightest injury to the skin; whereas, on the
other hand, the application of rose pink and white lead in powder,
or of fat and oily pomades and plasters, impede the perspiration,
increase the pain, and frequently cause ulcers. Spirituous lotions,
in some measure, burn the skin, so that it peels off in large pieces;
in like manner, other applications only aggravate the disease, and




22            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
render it more difficult to cure. In speaking of cancerous ulcers,
he says they bear the application of cold water very well. It refreshes and cleanses them, corrects the corrosion and mitigates the
pain. He had met with cases where the most bland, innocent, and
advisable remedies having proved irritating and painful, the patients had not only obtained great relief, but eventually were cured
by cold water. He says, in the acute diseases the fire burns with
the greatest violence in the interior of the body, but as may be
seen by the thermometer, the skin is also affected in a great degree. Where the fire is, there we must also quench. Cold water,
though taken in large quantities, does not relieve the burning skin;
but washing the body with cold water, the patient feels immediately refreshed, and scarcely are the sponges applied before
instant relief is obtained. So luxurious is the sensation, that many
are unwilling that this washing should be discontinued, but like
the rustics Latona changed into frogs, would prefer to remain in
cold water. Infants who have eruptions on different parts of the
body, like to be rubbed with cold water, and are by this simple
remedy speedily cured. In exanthematous diseases, as small-pox,
measles, scarlet fever, and other rashes, we may freely wash with
cold water from the first to the last, during the whole course of
the disease, in order to prevent the fever from becoming too violent. The skin is thus rendered more soft, so that the acrid matter can more easily pass through it. In small-pox, the corrosive
quality of this acrid matter is rendered milder, so that it does not
eat into the skin, leaving scars behind, and very few patients who
have been treated in this way, have been marked by the disease.
The Africans, he says, wash all their small-pox patients. A captain, having a cargo of slaves, among whom  this disease made
its appearance, treated them according to the European mode of
putting the patients between two mattresses, and otherwise heaping clothes upon them, in order to bring out the disease. In great
distress they cried and begged to be allowed to treat themselves
according to their own mode.  Being permitted, the other slaves
tied ropes round the bodies of those that were sick, and dipped
them frequently during the day into the sea, drying them afterward in the sun, and in this manner they were cured, and scarcely one died. As in small-pox, it is equally beneficial in measles
and other rashes, and of a variety of cases he gave, scarcely any
one died of measles, and in small-pox not one fourth of the num



MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                   23
ber die that usually perish under the hot regimen.  Out of 156
small-pox patients, which a neighboring physician had treated in
this way, only eight died, although the disease raged in a virulent
manner. In 1737, during the prevalence of a malignant epidemic,
accompanied with petechice (small flea-bite spots occurring spontaneously, and under such circumstances, that is, in severe fevers,
denoting great prostration of strength), very few died who were
submitted to this treatment, although they were washed until they
became very cool, even during the continued and debilitating
sweats.
Speaking of certain late raging epidemics, he had frequently
observed that ice, tied up in a cloth, and applied to the head, in
case of inflammation of the brain, produced a most visible salutary
effect, and in the course of a few hours permanently restored the
intellects. He had never known a patient to die in consequence of
such treatment.
Again: " Those who are obliged to walk or run a great distance,
by which violent or long-continued action the veins of the legs become swollen, and accompanied with great fatigue, will find their
pains relieved, and themselves refreshed, by taking a cold foot
bath. This is made mention of in the Old Testament, and it was
considered an indispensable mark of attention, to present the newly
arrived guest with cold water to wash his feet."
Father Bernardo, a Sicilian Capuchin monk, he says, performed
many surprising cures in the island of Malta, in the years 1724
and 1725.  His practice was to order his patients to drink iced
water, and sometimes to take the same as a lavement.  He kept
them  almost fasting for one or two months; and pursued this
treatment in winter as well as summer. He cured the Grand Prior
Ferretti, aged 92, when at the very point of death, giving him
iced water to drink. It is stated that none of his patients perished,
either from starvation or otherwise. Thus, by means of ice and
cold water, he performed a great number of wonderful cures, in
cases which had been given up by physicians, so that he was called
"the water doctor."
In cases of cramp, contraction, and paralysis, in addition to
washing the parts with cold water, it is advisable to wash the head,
and particularly the back of the neck; also to use the douche
bath to the head, covered with a sponge cap, and the parts diseased, either exposed or covered with a cloth. The action of the




24            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
water is found to produce a warmth in the skin, and penetrating
deeper than the cold bath (i. e., producing a more powerful reaction), operates more quickly and effectually. A woman who
had for a long time suffered pain in the back, neck, shoulders, and
arms, obtaining no relief from the remedies employed, at last applied to me for advice. I ordered a stream of cold water to be
poured over the body, in a cool room. I had her wrapped up in
sheets dipped in cold water, and which, from time to time, were
renewed. She fell into a moderate perspiration, and in a few days
was perfectly cured.
The father of Hahn, in his Psychrolusia, laid down the following excellent rules for morning ablutions: "On getting out of the
bed in the morning, the face and whole body should be washed
with cold water, first with the naked hand, and afterward with a
sponge, pressing the water out of the sponge into the eyes and
ears; then rubbing the body dry, rinsing out the mouth, and drawing the water through the nostrils, and finishing by taking a hip
bath. The trouble thus taken will be amply repaid by the agreeable sensation of warmth and freshness. Sick patients cannot do
this; but the attendant should wash them  over with a sponge
dipped in cold water, and applying bandages, also dipped in cold
water, especially to the diseased parts, suffering from heat, pain,
swelling, eruptions, etc., not merely once a day, but oftener, as the
greater or less intensity of the disease may require."
"A man of seventy-five years of age was seized with a violent
fever, and treated in the usual way, according to the hot regimen.
A rash made its appearance, while his strength became gradually
more and more exhausted.  Lying constantly on his back, the skin
at the lower part of the spine became inflamed and ulcerated.
The patient remained in this state for six weeks, when a hardness
and swelling was observed about the knees. The lower extremities had become stiff and immovable, and the muscles shriveled
up. The stimulating treatment was now abandoned, and cooling
emulsions, and water mixed with the juice of lemons and raspberries, ordered to be drank. Linen rags, dipped in cold water,
were frequently applied to the inflamed and ulcerated parts of the
back. The same were also applied to the thighs, notwithstanding
the rash on the thighs and other parts of the body, and continually renewed, night and day. After a few days, cold foot baths
were used, and moist napkins were applied to the feet. This cool



MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                    25
ing treatment gave immediate relief. The feverish heat left him,
and the rash disappeared. He recovered the use of his limbs, and
in three weeks was perfectly restored to health, and declared, that
after this water treatment, he enjoyed better health than he had
done for the last thirty years."
Hahn cured many cases of insanity, by causing the patients to
drink largely of cold water. Such as would not drink he chained
up, and gave salt herrings to eat. By thus exciting thirst, they
were caused largely to drink the water before them.  One of them,
who ate, for several days in succession, from eight to twelve herrings, and drank eight quarts of water, was cured in three weeks.
Of the earlier English writers upon water, we may notice Sir
John Floyer, a practitioner of eminence in his day. His directions
for bathing are as follows: "Not to bathe when hot and sweating
(meaning, no doubt, the heat and sweating brought on by exercise;) not to stay in the bath over two or three minutes, or as long
as the patient can easily bear it, and to go in and out immediately,
on the first bathing, after an immersion of the whole body.  To
use the cold both, before dinner, fasting, or else in the afternoon,
toward 4 or 5 o'clock: it is dangerous to go in after great eating
or drinking.  To use sweating with cold bathing, in palsies and
rickets, and several diseases of the nerves with obstructions." He
mentions how cold-water sweating was used to diminish the weight
of a horse-jockey: " Dip the rider's shirt into cold water, and after
it is put on very wet, lap the person in very warm blankets to
sweat him very violently, and he will lose a considerable weight."
This observation of Sir John Floyer reminds the author of a case
he lately had, a clergyman, to whom he is permitted to refer as to
the effects of water treatment. By great excess in mental labor,
and at the same time, like the generality of mankind, taking too
much food, and of improper kinds, he had brought on a complication of difficulties, particularly in the head and nervous system
generally.  He had also become too fat.  During the first week
of the treatment, copious sweating, with various other means, being resorted to, he said on weighing that he lost seven pounds.
He was at the same time gaining rapidly in strength and improving in every respect.
Washing the feet, this writer says, cures corns, and the hip bath
cures haemorrhoids.  His advice upon regimen was very much
like that of Priessnitz: " To abstain from excess in animal food, to
2




26            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
use much of fruits, and to drink only water: not to use hot things,
high sauces, brandy, spirits, fermented liquors, salt meat, spices,
tea, coffee, and chocolate; not to wear too warm clothing; flannel
renders the person very tender, and subject to the changes of
weather, and too much perspiration; not to sit much by the fire,
but to take exercise in the open air, riding or walking, and that
down beds are very injurious."
This writer mentions the following case: "Mrs. Watts, of Leicester, went to the cold bath at London about Michaelmas in 1699.
She was troubled with continual vomiting and wandering pains in
her limbs and head, convulsive motions or twitchings of the muscles, violent hysterical fits, colic, flatulency, sweatings, loss of appetite, an emaciated state of the body, extreme tenderness, sensibility to slight changes in the weather, chilliness, vapors, and pains,
especially in the teeth. Tonics, as bark and iron, emetics and opiates, were tried in vain. Under the advice of Dr. Baynard, she
had recourse to the cold bath, and used two-and-twenty baths in
the space of a month, dipping herself under water six or seven
times every morning, without staying in the water any longer than
the time of immersion, and went warm from her bed to the water.
By this bathing, the skin became healthy, and she was not subject
to colds as before. She recovered her strength and appetite, and
became more plump.  Her weakening sweats, pains, flatulency, and
convulsions, ceased."
Sir John quotes another writer, Dr. Ellison, of Newcastle, showing the results of people going to St. Bede's, Hanwick, or St.
Mungo's wells, which were extremely cold springs.  "People of
all ages resorted to these two wells, for various complaints.
Adults remained in a quarter, or near half an hour, the back or
other diseased parts being well rubbed all the time. They used
no preparative physic. The sick went to bed immediately afterward, and sweat for two hours or more.  The healthy went in
for pleasure, and immediately on coming out experienced a warmth
all over, and were more nimble, and their joints more pliant.
" These springs were very celebrated for the cure of rickets in
children.  They were dipped in the water quickly, left only long
enough for the clothes to become thoroughly wet.  The children
were then quickly wrapped up in warm  blankets, which caused
powerful perspiration. After being left a suitable time, the sweating clothes were taken off gradually, so that they cooled by de



MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 27
grees, and then dry clothes substituted. The children were not
debarred their usual play; care was taken that their necks were
kept warm, to secure them from catching cold."
Dr. Baynard was also a writer upon the effects of water. He
is quoted as having said, in view of remarkable cures done by
water, which had fallen under his observation, "I always (I thank
God) looked upon it as most impious, and one of the worst of
wickednesses, in serious things to impose upon the living, but
much more to banter, and hand down a falsehood to posteritya fault (I doubt not) too many of our physic observators have
been guilty of."
Among other cases of his are the following: " A young man
was seized with the rheumatism in every joint, which had become
enormously swollen, and had continued for at least six weeks. He
was wrapped up in flannel, and unable to move without assistance.
He was therefore put in a chair, and thus let down into a bath,
and brought up before three minutes were over. He was able
immediately to walk up stairs, and in an hour's time walked back
to his lodgings. In less than a fortnight his joints were reduced
to their natural size. He fully recovered his health, and continued
to follow his occupation."
A man with chronic catarrh, by accident fell to the neck into
water frozen over. He went home, got warm clothes, slept soundly, and the next day was nearly free from his cough. Sir Henry
Covingsby, he said, when a young man, suffered severely from the
gout.  He is now in his 88th year.  He drinks spring water.
Formerly his fingers and toes were full of chalk-stones, which had
now become entirely dissolved and dissipated, and the joints were
reduced to their natural size by the use of the cold bath, which
the old knight was positive would cure the gout in every person.
He had been under the care of celebrated physicians for a numbness of the lower limbs when 30 years of age. All sense of heat
and feeling were lost, so that nettles would not sting him, or
clothes make him warm. After some years, he was still worse.
Tired in mind, body, and purse, he at last resolved upon another
mode of cure.  He used all the cold means, and was bled once a
month.  He went into a cold spring water bath, at all times of
the year, but commenced intthe summer. The first bath blotched
him (that is, brought out an eruption), and so more and more
every day, by pimples rising and then dying away. The pores




28            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
were opened and the natural heat restored. He ever afterward
for forty years continued his own doctor.
A learned doctor of laws informed Dr. Baynard, that being lightheaded of a fever, and most intensely hot and thirsty, he got from
his nurse and rushed into a horse-pond, and stayed for more than
half an hour. It brought him presently to his senses, and allayed
both his heat and thirst. He went to bed, fell into a profound
sleep, and when he awoke (in a great sweat), he found he was
quite well, but had afterward some headache, which he thought
proceeded from not wetting the head.
Dr. Dover, of Bristol, related a case of a waiter at Oxford, during
the small-pox, who went into a great tub of water, and sat there
at least two hours, yet recovered and did well. The servant of
Sir Thomas Yarborough, during the delirium  of small-pox, got
from his bed and plunged into a piece of water, but was presently
got out. The small-pox seemed to be struck in, but upon his going to bed the disease came out very kindly, and he safely recovered. A countryman, of Harrow-on-the-Hill, suffering from
severe rheumatic and spasmodic pains for nearly six months, lost
the use of his lower extremities, so that he was unable to stand.
He tried various remedies in vain, and had been salivated with
mercury.  He was entirely cured by cold bathing.
Dr. Baynard said no men live so long and so healthy as the
dabblers in cold water. An old fisherman said that little sleep, a
cool diet, and thin clothes, were the only means to live healthy and
long, and that the water air made him eat heartily. He had known
many old watermen and fishermen, full or near a hundred; and
those who worked at Witney, in Oxfordshire, at the blanket mills,
carrying wet blankets in their arms, next their breasts, winter and
summer, not only never catch cold, but live to an extreme old age.
Dr. Baynard also related an anecdote of a countryman, who, during a discussion as to the best means of getting an appetite, said
he had tried the ways proposed, but nothing was like going a-fishing, up to the chin in water for an hour or two; " that will get
you a stomach, I'll warrant you; nor am I dry."
Dr. Baynard received a letter from William Penn, as follows:
"As I find the Indians upon the continent more incident to fevers
than any other distempers, so they rarely fail to cure themselves
by great sweating, and immediately plunging themselves into cold
water, which they say is the only way not to catch a cold. I once




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 29
saw an instance of it with divers more in company. Being upon a
discovery of the back part of the country, I called upon an Indian
of note, whose name was Tennoughan, the captain-general of the
clans of Indians of those parts. I found him ill of a fever, his
head and limbs much affected with pain, and at the same time his
wife preparing a bagnio for him. The bagnio resembled a large
oven, into which he crept by a door on the one side, while she put
several red hot stones in at a small door on the other side thereof,
and then fastened the doors as closely from the air as she could.
Now while he was sweating in this bagnio, his wife (for they disdain no service) was with an axe cutting her husband a passage
into the river (being the winter of 1683, the great frost, and the
ice very thick), in order to the immersing himself after he should
come out of the bath.  In less than half an hour, he was in so
great a sweat, that when he came out he was as wet as if he had
come out of a river, and the reek or steam of his body so thick,
that it was hard to discern any body's face that stood near him.
In this condition, stark naked (a body cloth only excepted), he ran
to the river, which was about twenty paces, and ducked himself
twice or thrice therein, and so returned (passing only through his
bagnio, to mitigate the immediate stroke of the cold) to his own
house, perhaps twenty paces farther, and, wrapping himself in his
woolen mantle, laying down at his length, near a long but gentle
fire, in the middle of his wigwam or house, turning himself several
times till dry, and then he rose and fell to getting us our dinner,
seeming to be as easy and as well in health as at any other time.
" I am well assured that the Indians wash their infants in cold
water as soon as born, in all seasons of the year."
An Indian cure for rheumatism is mentioned by a recent writer,
in a quotation from Cox's Columbia River. The writer had suffered much annoyance from acute rheumatic attacks in the shoulders and knees; an old Indian proposed to relieve him if he would
follow the mode of cure practiced by him in similar cases among
the young warriors of his tribe.  On inquiring into the method, the
Indian replied it merely consisted in getting up early every morning for some weeks and plunging into the river, and leave the rest
to him. This was a most chilling proposition, for the river was
most firmly frozen, and an opening was to be made in the ice preparatory to each immersion. The Indian was asked if it would not
do equally well to have the water taken to the bed-room.  But he




30            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
shook his head and replied that he was surprised that a young
white chief, who ought to be wise, would ask so foolish a question.
On reflecting, however, that the rheumatism was a stranger among
the Indians, and that such numbers of whites were subject to it,
and above all that he was 3000 miles from any professional assistance, he determined to adopt the disagreeable expedient the following morning.  The Indian first made a hole in the ice, large
enough to admit both, upon which he made a signal that all was
ready. Enveloped in a large buffalo robe, he proceeded to the
spot, threw off the robe, and both jumped into the frigid orifice
together. The Indian at once set to rubbing the shoulder, back,
and loins, while, meantime, the hair became ornamented with icicles; and while the lower joints were being rubbed, the face, neck,
and shoulders became incased with a thin covering of ice. On
getting released, a blanket was rolled about the body, and the patient went quickly back to the room, in which a fire had been ordered. In a few minutes, there was a warm glow over the whole
body. These ablutions were found so beneficial, they were continued twenty-five days, at the expiration of which, the old Indian
was pleased to say that no more was necessary, and that he had
done his duty like a wise man. He was never after troubled with
a rheumatic pain.
An old Canadian, according to the same writer, who had been
laboring many years under a chronic rheumatism, asked the old
Indian if he could cure him in the same way.  The Indian said it
was impossible, but that he would try another process.  He accordingly constructed the skeleton of a hut, about four and a half
feet high, and three broad, in shape like a bee-hive, which he
covered with deer skins.  He then heated some stones in an adjoining fire, and having placed the patient inside, in a state of nudity, the hot stones were thrown in, and water poured over them.
The entrance was then quickly closed, and the man kept in for
some time, until he begged to be released, alleging that he was
nearly suffocating. On coming out he was in a state of profuse
perspiration. The old Indian ordered him to be immediately enveloped in blankets and conveyed to bed. The operation was repeated several times, and although it did not effect a radical cure,
the violence of the pains was so far abated, that the patient could
follow his ordinary business, and enjoy his sleep in comparative ease.
These, and like applications in rheumatism, which have been




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 31
mentioned, will naturally enough seem to many as extremely hazardous. In the second case of the old Indian, he knew very well
that the old Canadian did not need the same treatment as in the
other case, nor could he bear it. The old man could have been
safely and far more benefited by having had washings and rubbings after his sweatings, and sweating bandages applied to the
diseased parts. The writer lately cured a very severe case of rheumatism, so much so, that the man could scarcely move, and was
wholly confined to his bed, unless lifted out. He had been well
treated, according to the common practice, for nearly three months.
The ninth day, he was out walking, with his cormmon-sized boots
(his feet having been much swollen), and has been well ever since.
Prof. Elliotson, of the University College, London, in speaking
of this disease, says, "With respect to the parts themselves, we
shall find it of great use to apply cold water, or cold lotions (co!d
water is the best), as long as the temperature is higher than it
ought to be, and they are comfortable to the patient. There is no
danger of applying cold, with these limitations. If the patient
should be timid, and yet long for cold evaporating lotions (water
is the best lotion), they may be applied tepid, as in the case of
gout; but I never saw any injury arise from cold in rheumatism,
where the parts were hotter than they should be, and the patient
felt hot."
DR. CURRIE S REPORTS.
One of the very best works ever written on water, is that of
James Currie, M.D., F.R.S., of Liverpool, published 1797.  His
experiments had been more extended, and made with far more
scientific precision, than any other before him. They were made
with great perseverance, notwithstanding the prejudice and opposition in the use of water, and with a candor that does him great
honor.
His work was not intended merely for the profession; for he
says, in an introductory communication to the Rt. Hon. Sir Jos.
Banks, " He had guarded against the unnecessary use of technical
as well as general expressions; that it were better that medicine,
like other branches of natural knowledge, were brought from its
hiding-place, and exhibited in the simplicity of science, and the
nakedness of truth. He had every where endeavored to make his
steps so plain that they could be distinctly traced. He hoped that




32            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
his work would be read by men of general science, and that it
would on certain occasions prove useful where medical advice was
not at hand."
"Ablution with cold water in fever had been so long employed
at the Hospital in Liverpool, and in private practice by his friends
and colleagues, Dr. Brandreth and Dr. Gerhard, as well as by
himself, that it had become general in Liverpool and the county of
Lancaster.  He had frequently exhibited the mode of practice by
water to those from a distance; but a method so bold and contrary to the common prejudices, made but slow progress.  The
mode of operation had been misapprehended, and the proper
period for using it had not been understood; and on some occasions, it having been resorted to improperly, the consequences had
brought it into disrepute."
Dr. Currie commences by giving an account of some cases by
his friend, Dr. Wright, known as a medical writer:
"On the 1st of August, 1777 (says Dr. Wright), I embarked
in a ship bound to Liverpool, and sailed the same evening fiom
Montego Bay. The master told me he had hired several sailors on
the same day we took our departure; one of whom had been at
sick quarters on shore, and was now but in a convalescent state.
On the 23d of August we were in the latitude of Bermudas, and
had had a very heavy gale of wind for three days, when the abovementioned man relapsed, and had a fever, with symptoms of the
greatest malignity. I attended this person often, but could not
prevail with him to be removed from a dark and confined situation
to a more airy and convenient part of the ship; and as he refused
medicines, and even food, he died on the eighth day of his illness.
"By my attention to the sick man I caught the contagion, and
began to be indisposed on the 5th of September, and the following is a narrative of my case, extracted from notes daily marked
down.  I had been many years in Jamaica, but, except being
somewhat relaxed by the climate, and fatigue of business, I ailed
nothing when I embarked.  This circumstance, however, might
perhaps dispose me more readily to receive the infection.
"Sept. 5th, 6th, 7th.-Small rigors now and then-a preternatural heat of the skin-a dull pain in the forehead-the pulse
small and quick-a loss of appetite, but no sickness at stomachthe tongue white and slimy-little or no thirst-the belly regular




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 33
-the urine pale, and rather scanty-in the night restless, with
starting and delirium.
"Sept. 8th.-Every symptom aggravated, with pains in the loins
and lower limbs, and stiffness in the thighs and hams.
" I took a gentle vomit in the second day of this illness, and
next morning a decoction of tamarinds; at bed-time, an opiate,
joined with antimonial wine; but this did not procure sleep, or
open the pores of the skin.  No inflammatory symptoms being
present, a drachm of Peruvian bark was taken every hour for six
hours successively, and now and then a glass of port wine, but
with no apparent benefit.  When upon deck, my pains were
greatly mitigated, and the colder the air the better. This circumstance, and the failure of every means I had tried, encouraged me
to put in practice, on myself, what I had often wished to try on
others, in fevers similar to my own.
" Sept. 9th.-Having given the necessary directions, about three
o'clock in the afternoon, I stripped off all my clothes, and threw
a sea cloak loosely about me till I got upon the deck, when the
cloak also was laid aside. Three buckets full of salt water were
then thrown at once on me: the shock was great, but I felt immediate relief. The headache and other pains instantly abated,
and a fine glow and diaphoresis succeeded.  Toward evening,
however, the febrile symptoms threatened a return, and I had
again recourse to the same method as before, with the same good
effect. I now took food with an appetite, and for the first time
had a sound night's rest.
"Sept. 10th.-No fever, but a little uneasiness in the hams and
thighs-used the cold bath twice.
"Sept. 11th.-Every symptom vanished, but to prevent a relapse, I used the cold bath twice.
" Mr. Thomas Kirk, a young gentleman, passenger in the same
ship, fell sick of a fever on the 9th of August. His symptoms
were nearly similar to mine, and having taken some medicines
without experiencing relief, he was desirous of trying the cold
bath, which, with my approbation, he did on the 11th and 12th of
September, and by this method was happily restored to health."
The doctor proceeds:
"On the 9th of Dec., 1787, a contagious fever made its appearance in the Liverpool Infirmary. For some time previously the
weather had been extremely cold, and the discipline of the house,
2*




34            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
owing to causes which it is unnecessary to mention, had been much
relaxed. The intensity of the cold prevented the necessary degree of ventilation, and the regulations for the preservation of
cleanliness had been in some measure neglected. These circumstances operated particularly on one of the wards of the eastern
wipg, employed as a lock-hospital for females, where the contagion
first appeared. The fever spread rapidly, and before its progress
could be arrested, sixteen persons were affected, of which two
died. Of these sixteen, eight were under my care. On this occasion I used, for the first time, the affusion of cold water, in the
manner described by Dr. Wright.  It was first tried in two cases
only, the one in the second, the other in the fourth day of fever.
The effects corresponded exactly with those mentioned to have
occurred by him in his own case; and thus encouraged, the remedy was employed in five other cases.  It was repeated daily, and
of these seven patients, the whole recovered.  In the eighth case,
the aspersion of cold water seemed too hazardous a practice, and
it was not employed. The strength of the patient was much impaired by lues, and at the time of catching the contagion, she
labored under ptyalism.  I was not then aware that this last
circumstance formed no objection against the cold affusion, and, in
a situation so critical, it was thought imprudent to use it. The
usual remedies were directed for this patient, particularly bark,
wine, and opium, but unsuccessfully; she died on the sixteenth
day of her disease.
" From this time forth, I have constantly wished to employ the
affusion of cold water, in every case of the low contagious fever,
in which the strength was not already much exhausted; and I
have preserved a register of 153 cases in which the cure was
chiefly trusted to this remedy."
Before proceeding to explain particularly the manner in which
Dr. Currie used water in fevers, he describes a fever which broke
out in the 30th regiment, and the treatment adopted.  It conmenced about June 1st, 1792.
"Such men as were sent to the guard for misbehavior, were
confined in a dark, narrow, and unventilated cell.  Several men
were put there for drunkenness, and suffered to remain twentyfour hours.  The typhus fever made its appearance among these
men, and spread rapidly among the rest. The Liverpool Infirmary
being full, a temporary hospital was fitted up at the fort. In two




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 35
low rooms, each about fifteen feet square, were fourteen patients
laboring under the fever. One was in the fourteenth day of the
disease, two in the twelfth, and the rest from the ninth to the
fourth day. In every case there was cough and mucous expectoration. Those who sustained the disease eight days, had petechima
on the skin (spots resembling flea-bites, denoting great prostration). The debility was considerable from the first, and, as Dr. C.
says, had been increased in several cases by bleeding, before the
nature of the disease was understood. The pulse varied from 130
to 100 degrees.  The heat rose from  101 to 105 degrees Fah.
There was great pain in the head, and in several instances low delirium.
" Our first care was to clean and ventilate the rooms, which
were in a high degree foul and pestilential. Our second was to
wash and clean the patients themselves. This was done by pouring sea-water over the naked bodies of those who were not already
greatly reduced: the whole heat was steadily above the temperature of health.  In those more advanced, whose debility was great,
we sponged the whole surface with vinegar, a practice that, in
every stage of fever, is most salutary and refreshing.
"Our next care was to stop the progress of the infection. With
this view, the guard-house was first attempted to be purified by
washing and ventilating, the greatest part of the furniture having
been burnt or thrown into the sea. All our precautions and exertions of this kind, however, were ineffectual. The weather was
wet and extremely cold for the season. The men on the guard
could not be prevailed upon to remain in the open air; and from
passing the night in the infected guard-room, several of the privates took the infection. In several of these the fever ran its
course, and in others it was immediately arrested by the affusion
of sea-water.  No means having proved effectual for the purification of the guard-room, it was shut up, and a temporary shed
erected in its stead. Still the contagion proceeded. On the morning of the 13th, the whole regiment was drawn up at my request,
and the men examined in the ranks.  Seventeen were found with
the fever upon them. It was not difficult to distinguish them as
they stood by their fellows. The countenance was languid-the
whole appearance dejected, and the eyes had a dull-red suffusion.
These men were carefully separated from the rest, and subjected
to the cold affusion, always repeated once and sometimes twice a




36             MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
day. In fifteen of the number, seventeen, the contagion was extinguished: the two went through the regular disease.
" On the same day, the commanding officer, at my request, issued
an order for the whole of the remaining part of the regiment to
bathe in the sea; and for some time they were regularly mustered
and marched down at high water, to plunge into the tide.  These
means were successful in arresting the epidemic. After the 13th
of June no one was attacked.  In all, fifty-eight had the disease,
of which twenty-two went through the regular course of the fever,
and in twenty-six, the disease seemed to be cut short by the cold
affusion. Of the thirty-two, two died. Both of these were men
whose constitutions were weakened by the climate of the West Indies; both of them had been bled in the early stages of the fever;
and the one of them being in the twelfth, and the other in the fourteenth day of the disease, when I first visited them-neither was
subjected to the cold affusion."
This fever is generally termed, in popular language, the nervous
fever, and when particular symptoms appear, the putrid fever. It
is usually caused in situations where there is want of cleanliness,
and more especially of ventilation; and when once cured, it is
propagated by contagion. This is described by Dr. Currie as the
common fever of England.  It had usually one exacerbation (augmentation), and one remission or abatement in the twenty-four
hours.  The exacerbation was usually in the afternoon, and the
remission toward morning.  According to Dr. C., the safest and
most advantageous time for the affusion of cold water, is when the
exacerbation is at its height, or immediately after the declination
is begun; and this had almost always led him to adopt it from six
to nine in the evening; but it is perfectly safe to use it at any
time of the day, according to Dr. C., " when there is no sense of
chilliness present; when the heat of the surface is steadily above
what is natural, and when there is no general or profuse perspiration."*
These rules are really so plain, that it is difficult to see how any
one could be at a loss in knowing how to proceed, at least safely,
in the affusion of cold water in typhus fever; and yet Dr. C.'s
method has been considered as being one which required a great
amount of skill to determine when it should be used.
* This rule relating to perspiration, as we have seen elsewhere, relates
only to that caused by too much exertion.




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                   37
Dr. C. afterward says in reference to this fever, when epidemic,
"that a great number of cases occurred in which the disease was
suddenly cut short by the use of the cold affusion, on the first and
second day of the disease. The good results were so uniformly,
so precisely similar to what had been related, that a detail of cases
would be unnecessary."  He says, also, " that when an epidemic
is spreading, and the danger is known, patients will take the alarm
on the first attack, and the power as well as the utility of such a
remedy as the cold affusion, in such situations of general danger,
will be easily imagined. It cannot be employed too soon after the
first attack, provided the original chill is over, and the hot stage is
firmly established."
In cases in which the affusion was not employed till the third
day of the fever, he had seen several instances of the same complete solution of the disease. He had even seen this take place
when the remedy had been deferred till the fourth day.  Some
cases are given to show the effect, on the third and fourth days.
" Jan. 17th, 1790, A. B., aged 19, a pupil of the Infirmary, caught
the infection in attending the fever ward. When I saw him, in
seventy-eight hours, the fourth day of the disease, he had all the
usual symptoms, headache, thirst, furred tongue, pain in the back
and loins, with great debility. Heat 101 degrees, pulse 112 in
the minute.  A  bucketfull of salt water was poured over him, as
usual, at noon. His heat sunk to 99 degrees, and his pulse to 98.
A profuse perspiration followed, with the cessation of all his feverish symptoms.  This intermission continued for several hours, during which he enjoyed some comfortable sleep, but at five in the
afternoon, was again seized with feverish rigors, followed by heat,
thirst, and headache, as before. An hour afterward, the hot stage
was established. Heat 100 degrees, pulse also 100 degrees. The
same quantity of cold water was again thrown over him, with similar effects.  His pulse fell immediately to 80 the minute, and became more full.  The heat became natural.  The following night
he took twenty drops of laudanum, and slept well. On the 18th,
the second day of treatment, at noon the pulse was 96 and soft,
skin moist, but a little above the natural heat. The tongue a little
furred, and the head ached. He also complained of thirst. The
same remedy was again applied.  He was greatly refreshed by it.
The pulse fell to 90, the skin became cool, the thirst went off, and
all the feverish symptoms vanished.  On the 19th, the third day




38            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
of treatment, his pulse was 88, his heat natural, the thirst and
headache gone, and appetite improving.  The ablution was repeated for the last time at six in the evening. On the 20th, he
was farther improved.  On the 21st, had some debility.  On the
22d, was free from complaint. This patient, during his fever, took
no medicine but an effervescing mixture, the dose of laudanum excepted. The affusion was used four times."
Another case we cite: " Feb. 2d, 1792, S. C., a healthy man,
44 years of age, about 72 hours after the attack, came under treatment.  Pulse 100 degrees; heat 104 degrees; other symptoms as
usual, but the pain in the head and back particularly severe. Two
minutes after the affusion, pulse 90 degrees, heat 100 degrees.
The patient felt great refreshment, and was entirely relieved of the
pain in the head and back. In the evening, however, the exacerbation of the fever was severe, and the headache returned with
violence. He passed a restless night. At four in the morning
the affusion was repeated by his request. At nine, a gentle perspiration covered the surface of the body, the pulse 84, the tongue
moist, the skin cool, and the pains of the head and back entirely
gone. In the afternoon the fever returned, though in a less degree. The affusion was repeated the fourth time, with the same
happy effects; after which there was no return of the disease.
" Thus it appeared," says Dr. C., "that the cold affusion, used
on the third and fourth days of fever, does not immediately produce a solution of the disease, but that it instantly abates it, and
by a few repetitions brings it to a happy termination in two or
three days."
The cold affusion Dr. C. also used in intermittent fevers, and
with signal success, as he had found by many repeated trials.
The cold affusion was used in the hot stage of the paroxysms of
intermittents, and almost always with the immediate solution of
the fit. In general, however, Dr. C. depended also upon other
remedies in the intermission between the paroxysms; but in some
instances the succeeding paroxysm was wholly prevented by using
the cold affusion, about one hour previously to the period of the
expected return, and the disease wholly removed by the continuance of the practice.
According to the modern practice by water, nothing is more
easy than to break up these intermittents, without the aid of any
medicine other than water, together with sweating.  Under the




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                    39
restrictions mentioned, Dr. C. always found that in any case, however advanced the stage, that cold affusion moderated the violence
of the symptoms and shortened the duration of fever.
Patients are often startled at the thought or proposal of dashing
cold water over the naked body. There has been a vast deal of
prejudice respecting the use of water in fevers. It has been exceedingly common to deny fever patients the use of water, and this
when they most needed it. It should have been understood by all
practitioners, that pure cold water is the very best, incomparably
the best febrifuge in nature. How often persons given up to die,
have been cured by getting at water, when it was supposed that it
was the very thing to kill.  It is a singular fact, that in the affusion
of water, however much patients may have dreaded it, the effects
are so grateful and refreshing to the sensations, that they strongly
desire to have it repeated.
In these experiments of Dr. Currie, he at first used fresh water,
afterward fresh water mixed with vinegar, and at last salt and
water, and sometimes the water of the river Mersey, which is salt,
containing about 33 per cent. of the mineral.  It is now generally
well known that a person can endure the effect of salt water much
longer than that of fresh, at the same temperature.  The reason is
plain. The salt produces something of an inflammation of the skin,
and where there is such inflammation there is always increased heat.
The body is therefore preserved in some degree from the effects of
the cold.  Some barbers act according to the same principle.
They wash the head with stimulating washes and forcibly brush
the head, so that a partial inflammation is caused, and the part is
thus protected from the action of cold, and the individual is safe;
whereas, without such precaution, the taking of a cold would be a
sure consequence.
Among other cases, Dr. C. gives an account of the following
curious incident: "It occurred," he says, "about three years ago,
to Capt. S. of this port, in the Irish Channel.  He sprung out of
his cabin window  in the height of delirium, and was upward of
twenty minutes in the water. He was taken up perfectly calm and
speedily recovered."
To illustrate the power of the cold affusion in fever, where the
ordinary means had failed, we cite another case from Dr. Currie.
It was of a boy, 8 years of age, in whom the doctor says he was
much interested.  " On the 3d day, the pulse rose to 130 and 140




40            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
beats in the minute, and his heat to 106 and 107 degrees Fah.
His thirst was very great, and delirium commenced on the 2d day
and continued without intermission.  Various methods had been
employed to abate the fever, and particularly to excite perspiration, but unsuccessfully. His heat was not lessened by repeatedly
sponging the surface of the body with cold water and vinegar; and
after a copious bleeding, all the symptoms were as alarming as before.  It seemed hazardous to repeat this operation.  The patient
had taken antimonials without any apparent effect, and after watching the state of the thermometer in the arm-pit for more than an
hour, though the mercury had sunk a single degree in that interval, it stood at the end of the time, at 106 degrees. In this state
of things, we resolved on trying the cold affusion, and every thing
being prepared, he was stripped naked, and lifted out of bed. As
we were about to throw the water upon him, it was observed that
a perspiration had broken out all over him, but the heat being so
great, we persisted in our purpose, and four gallons of fresh water,
at the temperature of 60 degrees, were thrown upon him.  The
effects were altogether surprising.  On replacing him in bed, the
thermometer (the bulb in the arm-pit as before) rose to 98 degrees, and the burning heat of the extremities was converted into
a coolness that was rather alarming. The pulse had sunk to 90,
but was full and steady.  Gentle frictions were applied to the extremities, but not long continued, as the general warmth speedily
returned.  The heat in the trunk of the body, in about an hour,
rose to 100, and the pulse 100. His delirium went entirely off;
the fur on his tongue speedily disappeared, and twenty-four hours
afterward, he was found free of every complaint but debility."
This case affords something of an exception to the common directions laid down by Dr. C., in reference to performing affusion
while there is perspiration. Still the heat was great, and it was
for this reason that the application was safe and salutary.
It may be asked, "Did not Dr. Currie find cases of fever that
he could not cure by means of water?"  There were cases where
water, as well as every thing else, failed. At the same time it is
important to note, he cured many persons by water, where other
means wholly failed, while he did not cure any with drugs, when
water had failed.
In all the experiments yet noticed, Dr. C. had not attempted
any thing by way of the internal use of water in fevers.  The use




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                    41
of cold water internally in burning fevers, was recommended and
used by-Hippocrates, Galen, Celsus, and most, if not all of the ancient authors, of whom  we have any knowledge.  But in more
modern times, as physicians began to be more speculative, and less
practical, it was argued that cold drinks were dangerous. The
very learned and celebrated Boerhaave promulgated the doctrine
that a lentor, a siziness or glutinous principle in the blood, was the
cause of fever. This led him to insist upon warm drinks in fever,
as this would be more effectual in diluting this sizy principle in the
blood than cold, notwithstanding the precepts of Hippocrates,
Hoffman, etc., to the contrary. The prejudice against cold drink
in fever, had become very general in the time of Dr. Currie.
The wonderful effects of cold water externally applied very naturally led the discriminating mind of Dr. C. to the consideration
of its effects internally. It seemed to be a principle with Dr. C.,
that he would be satisfied with nothing but actual facts of experiment.  Notwithstanding he came to the conclusion, that the same
general rules were to be observed, in order to determine when it
was safe to use cold water internally, that were to be observed in
its use externally; he did not do this by reasoning from  analogy
alone, but from actual experiment.
Dr. C. says, in reference to cold drink in fevers, "that while the
different modes of applying cold water to the surface are employed, it ought also to be poured into the stomach, in large quantities, when the patient's heat will permit it; and the presence of
nausea and vomiting is no objection to this practice, if a chilliness
of the stomach is not produced."
"The salutary effects of the cold bath, and of cold drink in
fever, strongly recommend the adoption of these remedies in the
plague.  Morendi, a physician at Venice, observes, that some
sailors at Constantinople, in the phrensy of the plague, have
thrown themselves into the sea; and it is said that, on being taken
out, they have recovered.
"Savary, in his letters on Egypt, observes, that if heat were
the source of their disorders, the Said would be uninhabitable.
The burning fever (the Causus of the Greeks) is the only one it
gives rise to, and to which the inhabitants are subject. They soon
get rid of it by regimen, drinking a great deal of water, and bathing themselves in the river. A captain of a ship (a man of credit)
having some sailors on board affected by the plague, caught the




42            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
infection.'I felt,' says the captain,'an excessive heat, which
made my blood boil; my head was very soon attacked, and I perceived I had but a few moments to live.  I employed the little
judgment I had left to make an experiment. I stripped myself
quite naked, and laid myself, for the remainder of the night, on
the deck; the copious dew that fell pierced me to the very bones;
in a few hours it rendered my respiration free, and my head more
composed.  The agitation of my blood was calmed, and after
bathing myself in sea water, I recovered.'"
Dr. Currie also found the use of cold water strikingly successful
in small-pox.  He says:
"The singular degree of success that on the whole attended
the affusion of cold water in typhus, encouraged a trial of this
remedy in some other febrile diseases.  Of these the small-pox
seemed more particularly to invite its use.  The great advantage
that is experienced in this disease by the admission of cool air,
seemed to point out the external use of cold water, which, being
a more powerful application, might be more particularly adapted
to the more malignant forms of small-pox.  The result corresponded entirely with my expectation.  Of a number of cases in
which I witnessed the happy effects of the affusion of cold water
in small-pox, I shall give the following only:
"In the autumn of 1794, J. J., an American gentleman, in the
24th year of his age, and immediately on his landing in Liverpool,
was inoculated under my care-the prevalence of the small-pox
rendering it imprudent to wait till the usual preparations could be
gone through, or indeed till the fatigues of the voyage could be
recovered.  He sickened on the seventh day, and the eruptive
fever was very considerable.  He had a rapid and feeble pulse, a
fcetid breath, with the pain in the head, back, and loins. His heat
rose in a few hours to 107 degrees, and his pulse beat 119 times
in the minute.  I encouraged him to drink largely of cold water
and lemonade, and threw three gallons of cold brine over him.
He was in a high degree refreshed by it.  The eruptive fever
abated in every respect-an incipient delirium subsided, the pulse
became slower, the heat was reduced, and tranquil sleep followed.
In the course of twenty-four hours, the affusion was repeated
three or four different times, at his own desire; a general direction
having been given him to call for it as often as the symptoms of
fever returned.  The eruptions, though more numerous than are




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 43
usual from inoculation, were of a favorable kind. There was little
or no secondary fever, and he recovered rapidly."
In tetanus, or lock-jaw, and other convulsive disorders, Dr. C.
found cold water highly useful. The case of Charles Gardner is
thus given:
" The head was pulled toward the left shoulder, the left corner
of the mouth was thrown upward, the eyes were hollow, the
countenance pale and ghastly, the face and neck bedewed with a
cold sweat; but his most distressing symptom was a violent pain
under the ensiform cartilage, with a sudden interruption of his
breathing every fourth or fifth inspiration by a convulsive hickup,
accompanied by a violent contraction of the muscles of the abdomen and lower extremities. He felt, on this occasion, as if he had
received an unexpected blow on the scrobiculus cordis (pit of the
stomach).  Before I saw him, he had been bled, and vomited repeatedly, and had used the warm bath, not only without alleviation, but with aggravation of his complaints.
"Opium, mercury, and the cold bath were used in succession.
At first, a grain of opium every other hour, afterward, a grain
every hour, and at last, two grains every hour; but he grew worse
and worse during the two days this course was continued. Being
no longer able to swallow the pills, on the night of the 22d
February, general convulsions came on once or twice in every
hour.  The tincture of opium was now directed to be given, and
an ounce of the quicksilver ointment to be rubbed in on each
thigh.  In twenty-four hours he took two ounces and a half of
the tincture, without sleep or alleviation of the pain. The dose being increased, in the next twenty-six hours he swallowed five ounces
and a half of the laudanum.  He lay now in a state of torpor.
The rigidity of the spasms was indeed much lessened, and the
general convulsions nearly gone; but the debility was extreme; a
complete hemiplegia had supervened; the eyes were fixed, and the
speech faltering and unintelligible. Intermitting the opium, which
had relieved the pain, but brought on general paralysis, small
doses of camphor were given in a liquid form, and gruel with a
small quantity of wine to support the strength. For the next six
days he seemed to revive; but on the night of the first of March,
he was seized, during sleep, with a convulsion as severe as ever:
the jaws were more completely locked than before, deglution was
become impossible, and the pain under the ensiform cartilage was




44            MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
so extreme, as to force from the patient the most piercing cries.
At this time the effects of the quicksilver ointment were apparent
in the fcetor of the breath, and in a considerable salivation.
"All other remedies being in vain, it was now resolved to try
the cold bath.  Gardner was, therefore, carried to the public salt
water bath, then of the temperature of 36 degrees Fah., and thrown
headlong into it. The good effects were instantaneous. As he
rose from  the first plunge, and lay struggling on the surface of
the water, supported by two of his fellow-soldiers, we observed
that he stretched out his left leg, which had been for some time
retracted to the ham: but his head did not immediately recover
the same freedom of motion, and therefore he was plunged down
and raised to the surface successively for upward of a minute
longer, the muscles of the neck relaxing more and more after
every plunge.  When taken out we felt some alarm; a general
tremor was the only indication of life; the pulse and the respiration being nearly, if not entirely, suspended. Warm  blankets
had, however, been prepared, and a general friction was diligently
employed.  The respiration and the pulse became regular, the
vital heat returned, the muscles continued free of constriction, and
the patient fell into a quiet and profound sleep. In this he continued upward of two hours, and when he awaked, to the astonishment of every one, he got up and walked across the room,
complaining of nothing but hunger and debility. The convulsive
hickup, indeed, returned, but in a slight degree, and gave way to
the use of the cold bath, which he continued daily a fortnight
longer; and in less than a month, we had the satisfaction of seeing
our patient under arms, able for the service of his country."
The doctor continues: "Soon after this I was sent for by a
poor woman, who, in consequence of difficult labor, and, as she
imagined, of local injury in some part of the uterus, was seized
with locked-jaw and other symptoms of tetanus. She was immediately taken to the cold bath, and thrown into it in the same
manner of the former patient, and with similar good effects. The
spasms disappeared, and though they afterward returned to a
slight degree, they gave way entirely to a second immersion."
"In the convulsions of children," says Dr. C., "I have found
the cold bath a useful remedy, whether the disorder originated in
worms or other causes.  I have seldom known it to fail stopping
the paroxysms, at least for some time, and thereby giving an op



MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                   45
portunity of employing the means fitted to remove the particular
irritation."
The following curious narrative is taken from the work of Dr.
Currie, and was given on the authority of Dr. Robertson, a surgeon-general of the naval hospital in Barbadoes, and can be relied
on as being true. On returning a second time to Barbadoes, Dr.
Robertson, according to the request of Dr. Currie, investigated the
particulars of the case, which were given in his own words:
"A  gentleman of this island, whose name was Weeks, a great
votary of Bacchus, was in the practice from  fifteen to twenty
years, of plunging into cold water when he rose from his bottle,
and actually going to sleep in a trough of water, with his head
supported on a kind of wooden pillow, made for the purpose,
above the surface.  When he dined abroad, and had not the convenience of his own trough, he used to strip off his coat, waistcoat,
and shirt, and sit exposed in the open air, and in that situation go
to sleep, whether it rained or not. And sometimes he went and
bathed in the nearest adjoining pond, to which he generally required assistance to be conveyed.  The effect of this practice was,
that instead of experiencing debility, lassitude, headache, and
nausea, he found himself on awaking, cheerful and refreshed, and
free from all the effects of intoxication. In the year 1789, dining
one day abroad, he got alternately drunk and sober three several
times before midnight, each time recovering his sobriety by immersing himself, and sleeping in cold water; and on awaking returning to the company.  The last time, after supper, he was so
immoderately intoxicated, that he insisted on his companions undressing him, and carrying him  themselves to the pond.  They
carried him accordingly in the chair, and set him up to the chin in
water, where he continued upward of an hour, a person supporting him.  I had this last circumstance from  a gentleman, one of
the party, whose veracity may be entirely depended on.
"At home, however, he used, as I have already mentioned, a
trough made for the purpose, with a bench in it as a pillow, having been nearly drowned when sleeping in his pond, from  the
negro, who was appointed to watch him, having himself fallen
asleep.  In this watery bed he would sleep, one, two, three, or
even more hours, experiencing always the greatest refreshment.
His wife and family, when they wished him to change his quarters,
used to draw out the plug, and let the water run off, when he




46             MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.
awoke, and humorously complained of the loss of his bed-clothes.
At length this expedient began to lose its effect in rousing him,
and one time he continued to sleep in his empty trough. In consequence of this, he was seized with extreme rigors and chills, followed by a fever and attack of rheumatism, which affected him a
long time, and made him desist from the practice in future. But
to the end of his life he was in the habit of sitting, when intoxicated, with his clothes open, and sometimes quite naked, exposed
to the wind and rain. This extraordinary character died of apoplexy, about three weeks ago, aged sixty-three."
TESTIMONY OF THE REV. JOHN WESLEY.
The Rev. John Wesley, well known as a shrewd observer, and
an eminently good man, published a work in 1747, on water, which
went through thirty-four editions, called "Primitive Physic, or an
Easy and Natural Method of curing most Diseases."
After exposing and condemning the prevalent system of drugging and quackery, and the mysteries with which the science of
medicine is surrounded, and the interested conduct of medical men,
Mr. Wesley gave a long list of diseases (following), for which
he recommended the use of water, as the only true and safe
remedy.
Mr. Wesley recommended the use of water in the following complaints of children: convulsions; coughs; gravel; inflammations of
the ears, navel, and mouth; rickets; cutaneous inflammations; pimples and scabs; suppression of urine; vomiting; want of sleep.
"Water," says Mr. Wesley, " frequently cures every nervous and
every paralytic disorder; particularly asthma; agues of every sort;
atrophy; blindness; cancer; chin cough; coagulated blood of
bruises; complicated disease; consumption; convulsions; convulsive pains; coughs; deafness; dropsy; epilepsy; violent fever; gout
(running); hectic fever; hysteric pains; incubus; inflammations;
involuntary stools; lameness; leprosy (old); lethargy; loss of
speech, taste, appetite, smell; nephritic pains; palpitation of heart;
pain in the back, joints, and stomach; rheumatism; rickets; rupture; suffocations; surfeits at the beginning; sciatica; scorbutic
pains; swelling in the joints; stone in the kidneys; torpor of the
limbs, even when the use of them is lost; tetanus; tympany; vertigo; St. Vitus's dance; vigilia; varicose ulcers; the whites.
"Water prevents the growth of hereditary apoplexies; asthma;




MORE ANCIENT USES OF WATER.                 47
blindness; consumption; deafness; king's evil; melancholy; palsies; rheumatism; stone.
"Water-drinking generally prevents apoplexies; asthma; convulsions; gout; hysteric fits; madness; palsies; stone; trembling.
To this, children should be used from their cradles."
Mr. Wesley gives the following prescriptions:
" For Asthma.-Take a pint of cold water every morning, washing the head in cold water immediately after, and using the cold
bath.
"Rickets in Children.-Dip them in cold water every morning.
"To prevent Apoplexy.-Use the cold bath, and drink only cold
water.
" Ague.-Go into a cold bath just before the chill.
" Cancer in the Breast.-Use the cold bath.  This cured Mrs.
Bates, of Leicestershire, of. a cancer in the breast, a sciatica, and
rheumatism, which she had nearly twenty years. N. B.-Generally, where cold bathing is necessary to cure any disease, waterdrinking is so, to prevent a relapse.
"Hysteric Colic.-Mrs. Watts, by using the cold bath two-andtwenty times in a month, was entirely cured of a hysteric colic,
fits, and convulsive motions, continual sweatings and vomitings,
wandering pains in her limbs and head, and total loss of appetite.
" To prevent the ill effects of Cold.-The moment a person gets
into a house, with his hands and feet quite chilled, let him put
them into a vessel of water, as cold as can be got, and hold them
there until they begin to glow: this they will do in a minute or
two. This method likewise effectually prevents chilblains.
" Consumption.-Cold bathing has cured many deep consumptions.
" Convulsions.-Use the cold bath."
"Mr. Wesley, in this little work, prescribes for almost every
complaint; and the reader of it will be struck with the great similarity of his treatment with that which is recommended in Hydropathy; for in the majority of cases he recommends the use of
that element which we are so strongly contending for, namely,
cold water."




48       HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN  WATER-CURE.
CHAPTER II.
HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
Hydropathy.-Definition of the Term.-Water as a remedial Agent, has been used in all
Ages.-Priessnitz's Discoveries the result of Accident.-Curious Anecdotes.-His number of Patients.-Testimony of Dr. Edward Johnson.-Sir Charles Scudamore.-Rev.
John Wesley.-R. Beamish, Esq.-Priessnitz's phrenological Developments.-The simplicity of his Theories.-A Remarkable Case of Cure.-A. J. Colvin, Esq.-His excellent
Account of Priessnitz's Discoveries.-The Umschlag, or Wet Bandage.-Leintuch, or
Wet Sheet.-The Douche.-Sweating Process.-The Plunging Bath.-Abreibung, or
Rubbing Wet-Sheet.
THE word Hydropathy, as used to denote the Water-Cure, has
been objected to, as not being etymologically correct in signification.  It is derived  from  two  Greek words, together meaning,
water-disease. It is, however, a term well understood. Hydrotherapeutics-which means, healing with water-has been substituted, and is decidedly a better term, as far as etymological correctness is concerned.  Hydriatics has also been used.  The best
term  is the plain English one, the water-cure.  But whichever term
is used, it is not less correct than many others in common use
among the best speakers and writers.
That parts of the water-cure have, to some extent, been practiced in the healing art, no one will pretend to deny. As a general thing, water was used to a greater extent as a remedy, in the
earlier periods of the history of medicine, than in later times.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, determined that, in certain
kinds of baths, warm water would produce a chill, while cold water
would produce a contrary effect.  We are also told, that to produce diaphoresis, or sweating, he did not resort to the use of internal remedies, but merely poured warm water over the head and
body, and then heaped clothes upon the patient, which would produce the desired effect, without the irritation of the internal organs
consequent upon the administration of powerful diaphoretics. This,
as will be seen hereafter, somewhat resembled the sweating process of the water-cure.  He also recommended the use of water




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.              49
in various ways, and in the most serious diseases. Celsus and
Galen also recommended the use of water, both in sickness and
health; and many similar examples might be quoted.
The honor of making certain various discoveries in the application of water to the human body as a remedial agent, is due Vincent Priessnitz, a peasant and native of a small colony called Graefenberg, situated two miles from the town of Freiwaldau, and about
half way up one of the mountains of the Sudates in Austrian Silesia, Germany.  This has always been his place of residence, and
was also that of his father before him.
His discoveries were at first the result of accident.  He was, in
the common acceptance of the term, " unlearned," having at most
only a very limited education, but possessed naturally a strong and
observing mind.
He tells us it was in the year 1816, when he crushed one of his
fingers, and, as it were, by instinct plunged the injured part into
water until it ceased bleeding. He felt the coolness agreeable to
the benumbed part, and found that by repeatedly holding it in
water, without the least inflammation or suppuration, after secreting only a little white mucous matter, it healed in a very short time.
Then he was told, as he says, by some old men of the neighborhood, that they could relate many instances where cold water had
been used in similar cases, and had always proved salutary above
every other remedy. In the year 1819, he met with the misfortune to break the ribs upon one side, by a loaded wagon.  The
physician, called from the nearest town, declared the injury incurable thus far: that there would be lumps formed, which, on the
least exertion, would cause pain, and thus continue through life.
He prescribed some herbs, a decoction of which, in wine, was to
be laid upon the injured parts. These fomentations gave him so
much pain that he was obliged to tear them off. Recollecting his
cured finger, he commenced using swathings of cold water, and
thus obtained immediate relief. Then, to press out his ribs to
their natural position, he stretched himself, with the abdomen over
the edge of a chair, thus leaving the upper part of the body free;
and then, by repeatedly holding in the breath, he was able to extend the ribs toward the natural position. He persevered in this
way, and with the wet sheets, and in a few days, without having
any wound fever, he was able to walk, and finally effected a perfect cure.




50      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
Having thus gained a little experience, he afterward, from time
to time, found opportunity for performing cures among his neighbors and kinsfolk, until he had finally adopted all the various forms
of applying water to the human body, and which has enabled him
to practice the healing art with greater success than any other individual that has ever lived in any age.
Gaining thus at first a kind of celebrity among his immediate
neighbors, it gradually spread until his house began to be frequented by considerable numbers of sick persons from  adjoining
parts. And although his cures were often of the most astonishing
kind, and generally performed gratuitously, there were not wanting
those who were anxious to put an end to the " mischief," as it
was called. The laws of the country are particularly severe upon
quackery of every form; and no one is allowed to sell medicines
of any kind except those who are regularly certificated for that
purpose.
One physician alleged that the sponges used by Priessnitz contained some remedial property, which, if true, would have placed
him under the jurisdiction of the law. His sponges were accordingly dissected and examined, and of course nothing found.
Another prosecuted him for quackery, pretending that he, and
not Priessnitz, had cured a certain miller of the gout. Accordingly both the physician and Priessnitz, together with the miller,
were summoned before the court.  The miller, in answer to the
question, who had relieved him, answered, " Both-the doctor of
my money and Priessnitz of my gout."  And thus Priessnitz was
acquitted from  this charge.  His government afterward sent a
commission of medical inquiry to Graefenberg, and finding that
there was no quackery about the establishment, that the only agent
used was pure water, with attention to air, exercise, and diet, and
that his practice was not only entirely safe, but highly beneficial,
he was, on their favorable report, allowed to continue his operations.
He has thus continued to go on, using only the simple agent,
pure water, for the treatment of all curable diseases, and the relief of those that are incurable. Persons of all ranks, grades, and
professions, have placed themselves under his charge; a large proportion being such as had failed by every attempt to get relief in
any other way.  At present, says Captain Claridge (1841), there
are under his treatment an archduchess, ten princes and princesses,




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                51
at least one hundred counts and barons, military men of all grades,
several medical men, professors, advocates, etc.-in all about five
hundred.
At first his numbers were comparatively small. In 1829 the
number was only 45.  In 1840, it was 1576. Between 1832 and
1842, he had treated in all 7500 patients, and of this number
Captain Claridge informs us he lost but 36.  This will appear remarkable, when it is remembered how large a proportion of the
whole number go there only as a last resort, and whose diseases
had withstood every other kind of treatment, and, in many instances, for a great length of time.  Since 1840 his numbers have
been a little lessened, by the numerous similar establishments that
have been formed in different parts.  Austria and Prussia have
afforded him the largest number.
The water-cure has now stood the test of more than twenty
years' experience.  Some ten years ago the establishment of
Priessnitz was the only one of the kind in existence.  Since that
time they have increased in all to about one hundred. They are
scattered all over Germany, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Belgium-all have their water-cure establishments. The government
of France, like that of Austria, sent an efficient medical officer
to the Graefenberg establishment to inquire into its merits, and
accordingly they are rapidly  multiplying  there; and, latterly, England is following the example of her continental neighbors.
Of the correctness of the reports respecting the cures at the
Graefenberg establishment, and of the great power of water, there
can be no sort of question whatever.
Dr. Edward Johnson, for years a pupil of Sir Astley Cooper, a
practtitioner of more than twenty years, in which time he has had
occasion to write, at different times, as many as twenty thousand
prescriptions in a single year, a man well known as an author as
well as a practitioner, after remaining at Graefenberg during a whole
winter, trying the various processes upon his own person, and after
having abundant opportunity of witnessing the cures performed
there, says, "Priessnitz in his practice has met with an amount of
success perfectly unparalleled in the history of disease and its
treatment."  And he further says, "I am perfectly convinced that
I can cure a greater number of diseases, and in a shorter time, by
the hydropathic treatment, than I can by the exhibition of drugs




52      HYDROPATHIY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
and that there are many diseases which I can thus cure which are
wholly incurable by any other known means."
Again: Dr. Johnson says, "There is no well-educated man in
England who dare, for his reputation's sake, refuse to admit that
a remedy which can produce (at will) the most profuse perspiration, and which can also (at will) lower the temperature, and the
velocity of the heart's action, to any given degree, even to the extinction of life-I say there is no well-educated man in England
who dare deny that such a remedy must possess an immense power
over diseases of every kind."
Sir Charles Scudamore, in his valuable work on Hydropathy,
says, "The principles of the water-cure treatment are founded in
truth and nature, and rest, therefore, on an immutable basis. The
practice may be occasionally abused, and then evil, instead of good,
will result. If I could think that such a consequence was necessary, I would not for one moment be its advocate. But convinced,
as I am, that we have in our power a new and most efficacious
agent for the alleviation of disease in various forms, and in proper hands safe and effectual, I should be no friend to humanity,
nor to medical science, if I did not give my testimony in its recommendation."
The Rev. John Wesley, A. M., published a work in 1747, which
went through thirty-four editions, called " Primitive Physic, or An
Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases." After deprecating the manner in which drugs were employed in the healing
art, he proceeds to speak of the healing virtues of water; and it
would seem, by the list of diseases given by him as curable by
the use of water, that his observations were strikingly correct as
to its powers as a remedy.
Of medicines, he says, "The common method of compounding
and decompounding medicines, can never be reconciled to common
sense. Experience shows that one thing will cure most disorders,
as well as twenty put together. Then why do you add the other
nineteen?  How often, by thus compounding mediaies of opposite qualities, is the virtue of both utterly destroyed?  Nay, how
often do those joined together destroy life, which, singly, might
have preserved it?"
This occasioned that caution of the great Boerhaave against mixing things, without evident necessity, and without full proof of the
effect they will produce when joined together, as well as of that




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                53
they produce when asunder; seeing that several things which, separately taken, are safe and powerful medicines, when compounded, not only lose their former powers, but become a strong and
deadly poison.
As to the merits of the discoveries of Priessnitz, there seems to
be some difference of opinion, even among those who admit his
great and unexampled success in the treatment of disease. Some
would appear to inculcate that he is only wisely, ingeniously, and
energetically carrying out principles and practices which have been
understood and practiced from the time of Hippocrates down.
On this point, Sir Charles Scudamore holds the following language: "I think that some writers on hydropathy have not expressed sufficient praise and acknowledgment to Priessnitz, as the
inventor of a treatment constituting a complete, systematic plan.
To follow in a path, is always comparatively easy. It is quite true,
that parts of the whole plan, and the principles, have been known
and practiced since the time of Hippocrates, and by none more
ably and scientifically than the late Dr. Currie, of Liverpool. But
ill that can be quoted from history bears no comparison with the
regular and systematic whole which Priessnitz has so happily constructed, and by which he has raised himself an imperishable
fame."
Of the abilities of Priessnitz, all are agreed that, for good judgment, clearness, and decision of character, he is peculiar. To the
phrenologist, a few admeasurements of his head will be interesting. As given by R. Beamish, Esq., they are as follows:
Circumference across brows.................... 22 inches
Circumference across Causality................. 211  "
Lateral arch from root of nose to occiput.........  131  "
Transverse arch, from ear to ear....".,..... 14   "
Anterior arch, from ear to ear......... —.......  12   "
Posterior-...............................   11H    "
Anterior lobe..........,.....,........ 7    "
Height from root of nose to Comparison -........... 3    "
No line divides the perceptions from the reflecting powers, markmg rapidity in forming a judgment on what the perceptions take
cognizance of.  The middle line is well developed, viz.: Individuality, Eventuality, and Comparison. The perceptions are large;
so, also, Constructiveness and Acquisitiveness; reflecting organs
full. Of the sentiments, Firmness, Benevolence, and Hope, are




54      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
large; Conscientiousness is full, but Veneration only moderate.
Self-esteem and Approbation are large, Concentration full, the domestic groupe moderate, Secretiveness very large, Destructiveness
large, Combativeness and Caution moderate. The eyes are small,
and are in constant motion; the lips are frequently compressed.
The temperament is highly nervous.
Priessnitz, notwithstanding his accumulation of wealth (upward
of ~50,000), his astonishing success, and the manner in which he
is courted and respected by the first nobles of Germany, is said to
retain the humility of his former station of life, that of a peasant.
"Some complain that he says too little," says Captain Claridge;
"and some who go there merely to learn the treatment, complain
that he never explains any thing to them." " It must be evident,"
he continues, " that a man who has the whole year round from 500
to 600 patients, besides the peasantry of the neighborhood that
may require his aid, cannot have much breath to throw  away.
Let any person speak to him of his own, or of his family's case,
and they will find his reply that of a man of profound sense-a
reply which he never wishes to retract, and for which he will give
his reasons in the most unaffected manner possible. But in respect
to the second complaint, it must be avowed that he has no very
great regard for medical men, because no one has suffered more
from their vindictive feelings than himself; besides, he has ever
found it a work of supererogation to endeavor to dispossess them
of their prejudices; nor has he time or inclination to enter into disputes upon a mode of treatment which he knows, as directly emanating from nature, to be always true to herself."
As to theories respecting the action of water upon the system,
it cannot be expected that Priessnitz would be able to give them
in a very scientific form or mode of expression. He deals more in
facts than in theories.
His assertions are short, comprehensive, and full of meaning.
He says that the application of cold water cures diseases by
strengthening the general health and fbrtifying the system; and
this is precisely in accordance with Liebig, when he says that the
abstraction of heat cures diseases by exalting and accelerating the
transformation of tissues.  And again, when Priessnitz declares, as
he does, that cold water has a tendency to bring " bad stuff" out
of the system, it is in exact accordance with Liebig's declaration,
that it promotes the union of certain matters with oxygen, by which




HYDROPATHY, ORl THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                  55
they are carried out of the system, and which matters, if not so carried ouit, become causes of disease. And the same kind of reasoningl on the nature of things has taught Priessnitz, as it has Liebig,
and all other medical philosophers, that all diseases must be cured
by the inherent energies of the living system itself. According to
Dr. Gregory, "all remedies are merely to be employed with the
view of placing the body under the most favorable circumstances
for resisting diseases."
According to Scudamore, he has "one single theory of disease,
which serves for all persons and all disorders; that, viz., of the
humoral pathology, upon a general principle, not attempting any
division of the humors, according to the ancient physicians, but
contented to believe that in every disease the blood is more or less
charged with morbid matter; and which nature is always ready to
throw out of the system, if properly assisted in her efforts.  He
considers that the use of medicine of every kind is a false interference with nAlture, and tends to interfere with her efforts; and
that, on the other hand, if fortified and assisted by the agency of
water, internally and externally, in conjunction with good air,
abundant exercise, and the avoidance of hurtful stimulants, she
will acknowledge the help given, and will, in a longer or shorter
time, throw off disease; usually rendering a proof of such salutary
operation, by the production of some kind of crisis."
Respecting this doctrine, the Humoral Pathology, by which all
diseases are attributed to a diseased state of the fluids of the body,
it may be said physicians are beginning to admit that there is more
of truth in it than has generally been admitted.
The simplicity of the remedy in the water-cure is a matter of objection by many, and may be the means of leading those into its
practice who are in every way unqualified. The agent being one
of great power for good or evil, it will in such hands be liable to
the most disastrous consequences.  Priessnitz never treats two
patients precisely alike. This shows the necessity, not only of understanding all the various applications of water, but also of possessing a thorough knowledge of the human system, both in health
and disease.
Priessnitz, by his doings, has proved to the world two things:
first, that the water-cure is the most natural and best system of
treatment; and second, that he is a man possessing a genius most
remarkable.  As an example of the power of the remedy, of his




56       HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
skill, and of the necessity of understanding well the treatment, take
the following case from Captain Claridge:
A person who had recently lost his wife and two children, was
attacked with brain fever. Priessnitz ordered him a tepid bath, in
which he sat and was rubbed by two men, who were occasionally
changed.  The man became so deranged, that it was with difficulty that he could be kept in the bath. In ordinary cases, this
disease succumbs to the treatment in two or three hours; but the
patient in this case became speechless at the end of this time.
Priessnitz, with that coolness which is so leading a feature in his
character, said, "Keep on until he either talks much or goes to
sleep." The latter the man at last did, but not until he had been
in the bath for nine hours and a half, when he fell asleep from exhaustion at half past ten at night. He was then put to bed, and
the next day the fever had left him, and, though weak, he was
able to walk about.  If, in this case, Priessnitz had become
alarmed, after the first two or three hours, and had discontinued
the mode of treatment, to try some other experiment, the consequence might have proved fatal.
After the above account had been published in the former editions of this work, our friend, A. J. Colvin, Esq., of Albany, who
was himself under treatment at Graefenberg nearly a year, furnished the author the following account of Priessnitz's discoveries,
which is the most full and perfect that has ever been given.
"ALBANY, Feb. 1st, 1847.
" DR. SHEW: DEAR SIR-You apprise me of your safe return from Graefenberg, and your intention to publish another work
on the water-cure. Anxious to accompany it with a history of the
discoveries of Priessnitz, you ask me to furnish mine, which you
are pleased to say is probably more accurate than any, or all else.
I had intended to prepare my notes for publication, but the length
of time which has now elapsed since they were made, will prevent,
unless in the shape of detached articles. I with pleasure, therefore, extract what you desire, to print or burn, as you may prefer.
" I was at Graefenberg, you are aware, upward of nine months.
I arrived there in the autumn of 1844, in a state of health which
might be considered desperate. The water-cure was my last hope
for restoration; if that failed me, I had but to look forward to a
brief life of misery and the grave.




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.               57
"I shall never forget my drive up the mountain, from the little
village of Freiwaldau to Graefenberg. It was on the morning of
the 25th of September, through a driving shower of rain. Although the day was so cold and windy that the teeth chattered in
my head, I met on the road numerous persons dressed in light
summer clothing, without cravats, the shirt open, and thrown wide
over the coat, and the only covering for the head an umbrella. I
supposed them the insane of Priessnitz's establishment, but soon
ascertained my mistake; for it was the common habit of the
patients, while taking exercise, preparatory to the baths.
" I was ushered into the presence of Priessnitz by his secretary,
as forlorn and sad a looking object, perhaps, as ever solicited his
skill. Priessnitz's dress was of the plainest kind; his coat, a gray
frock, loosely and badly cut, pantaloons of the same material, vest
double breasted, and buttoned up to the throat; his complexion
was fair, and slightly pitted (I afterward heard him say that he
had the small-pox before he had a knowledge of the water-cure,
or he would not have been marked), hair light, and shortly cut,
the forehead expansive and well formed, expressing high perceptive and intellectual power-moral sentiments well developed-eye
restless, brilliant, and strikingly penetrating-nose prominentmouth large and square-lips firmly and handsomely set together
-the figure erect and manly-all together, his appearance was
impressive. I felt that I was in the presence of no ordinary man.
A member of the Aulic Council, who spoke English indifferently,
was present, together with several other persons.
"A  letter from ex-President Van Buren, which I was careful
to have translated into the German, was the means of a ready and
favorable introduction. Priessnitz rapidly inquired the history of
my malady, passed his hands quickly over mine, said I was curable, and that on the following day he would accompany me to the
bath to determine the treatment.    *            *       *
*        *        *       *       *       *        *       *
*        *        *       *       *       *       *
*        *        *       *       *       *        *       *
"Having experienced in my own person the efficacy of the practice, and witnessed its extraordinary success in the persons of
others, I naturally felt a lively interest to obtain from Priessnitz,
not only a connected account of his discoveries, and the mental
process by which he arrived at them, but also a sketch of himself
3*




58      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE
and family.  I accordingly, a few days before my departure, apprised him of my wishes.  So many unfounded and contradictory
versions of his discoveries had made their way into books, pamphlets, and newspapers, that he was the more willing to oblige me.
"Vincent Priessnitz, then, was the youngest of six children, and
was born on the fourth day of October, 1799, at Graefenberg, the
family residence, which has since become so celebrated by his discoveries. Although often stigmatized as an unlettered peasant,
and of ignoble parentage, yet his father was a respectable landed
proprietor. In virtue of the laws, whereby the real property descends to the youngest son, Priessnitz, on the death of his father in
1838, became possessed of the family estates and residence. He
received the rudiments of education at the Catholic school, in the
neighboring village of Freiwaldau, and was as well instructed as
the majority of farmers' sons in our own country. His mother
lost her life in the year 1821, on the same field where himself, not
many years before, had received an injury, the cure of which had
contributed very greatly to extend his reputation, and lay the foundation of his future system. His only brother, and the eldest born,
is a distinguished Catholic priest, and is now at the head of the
principal cathedral in one of the neighboring provinces.
"At the age of thirteen, Priessnitz sprained his wrist, which
caused much pain and inflammation; he instinctively applied it to
the pump.  Finding that the water cooled the part, and assuaged
the pain, but unable to keep it constantly there, it occurred to him
to apply an UMSCHLAG, or WET BANDAGE.  He applied one accordingly, which he re-wet as fast as it dried. He found that this
was entirely successful in removing the inflammation, and relieving
the pain, but that it induced a rash; and as this was a phenomenon
new to his youthful mind, as unaccountable, it led to much reflection.  Was it favorable, or the reverse, that such a consequence
should flow from such a cause?  Could it be that his blood was
impure? He persevered in the application, and the wrist speedily
regained its strength.  Shortly after, being in the woods, he
crushed his thumb. He again resorted to the umschlag, and with
like success: but again the rash made its appearance. He thought
his blood must be bad; yet he could not decide without further
evidence.
" The success which had attended the application of the umschlag in his own person, filled his mind with delight. He was




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.             59
impatient to see it tried upon others. Whenever, therefore, he
heard of a neighbor who had received an injury, or had enlarged
or swollen joints or parts, or was afflicted with pain, he urged,
and generally prevailed upon him, to use the umschlag: but he
remarked that the rash did not uniformly appear; and in such
cases the process of healing was rapid, while in those wherein it
did appear, the cure was more obstinate.
This convinced him that in one the blood was healthy, while in
another it was mixed with peccant matter, and that water possessed
the property of extracting that matter. In cases of chronic ulcers,
and where there was no inflammation, it occurred to him to cover
the wet umschlag with a dry one, for the purpose of creating heat,
or a return of inflammatory action, without which, he discovered,
a cure could not be effected.
" In the sixteenth year of his age, the accident occurred to which
I have alluded, nearly depriving him of life, and the world of the
embryo system.  Priessnitz was engaged in driving a young horse,
with a load of hay, down the mountain.  It became necessary to
cog the wheels, to prevent the too rapid descent of the cart. He
was standing before the horse, holding him by the head, while
others were performing the work of chaining; the horse got
frightened, and rushed down the hill. Unwilling to allow him to
destroy himself, Priessnitz held on, and was dragged down between
his feet. While in this position, three of his teeth, two of them
upper front teeth, were broken, and his arms and body severely
bruised by the horse's hoofs. He could hold out no longer; the
cart passed over his body, crushing three of his ribs. He was
taken up senseless, and while in this state, the surgeon of Freiwaldau being summoned, probed his wounds, and pronounced
them incurable. With a return of consciousness, Priessnitz bethought himself of his never-failing resource.  He tore off the
bandages of the surgeon, and applied the umschlag.  How grateful, and how soothing the application! The inflammation was subdued, the pain alleviated, and he felt persuaded that he should get
well.  He replaced the broken ribs by pressing his abdomen
against the window-sill with all his strength, and inflating the lungs
so as to swell out the chest.  He then reapplied the umschlag,
and finally recovered, although to this day he bears in his side a
deep impress of the wheel by which he received the injury.
" The accident, as is usual in country places, created quite an




60      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
excitement, but the cure far greater. The simplicity of the means,
and that a mere stripling had evinced such boldness and fortitude,
were matters of astonishment.  The reputation of the umschlag
was not only increased, it was established.
"From  this period, the mind of Priessnitz was directed toward
the curative power of cold water. He felt that he had entered
upon a mighty field of discovery, and he was resolved to know the
extent of it. He now began to use the sponge, in connection with
the umschlag, and with such marvelous success, that the peasants
believed him a wizard; to test which, he frequently found, in the
morning, a broom-stick placed across his door-sill. This credulity,
natural, perhaps, to the ignorant, who are prone to attribute to
supernatural power every occurrence which passes their comprehension, encouraged him in his experiments.
"What was he to do where disease was general, not local?
The umschlag and sponge were found insufficient.  Why not envelop the whole body?  He was transported with the idea; and
the LEINTUCH, or WET-SHEET PACKING, sprung into existence.
"Of all his discoveries, this may be esteemed the most important, considered with reference to the extent and variety of
diseases in which it is employed, and would alone have embalmed
his memory in the recollections of a grateful posterity.  The old
and the young, the feeble and the strong, are alike submitted to its
soothing and revivifying influence. Priessnitz was elated! And
well he might be, for he had made a discovery which entitled him
to the homage of the world.
" But he did not stop here. Finding some LOCAL CHRONIC AFFECTIONS resisting as well the leintuch as the umschlag, he conceived the idea of partial baths, for a long time continued, to produce perturbation and reaction deep beneath the surface. HENCE
THE FOUNDATION OF HEAD, EYE, ARM, SITZ, LEG, AND FOOT BATHS.
Still, there was a class of these cases so obstinate as to resist this
united treatment.  What was to be done?  Was there no way in
which the water could be here made effective?  He had experienced the potency of falling water. Why might it not be the agent
which he desired?  He erected at once, in one of the beautiful
dells of the mountain, a DOUCHE, and the object was attained!
"The SWITZEN, or PACKING IN THE WOOLEN  BLANKET, was
suggested by observing that perspiration frequently relieved pain,
and was efficacious in many diseases, and as, unlike the vapor and




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.             61
hot baths, it did not accelerate the circulation and debilitate the
system; and as sweating in it, after a proper time, would voluntarily terminate, he did not hesitate to give it the preference over
all other known modes of promoting perspiration, and adopt it in
practice. The patients who were obliged, occasionally, to remain
in it some time, on complaining of a sensation of faintness, he relieved, by opening the windows and washing the face. The relief
thus afforded, induced him to sponge the body, and no ill consequences following, he directed the whole person to be immersed.
Hence he was led to the WANNEN BAD, or PLUNGE BATH.
"There was still a class of cases, such as apoplexy, paralysis,
tetanus, lock-jaw, hydrophobia, insanity, poisoning, etc., and some
cases of determined colds, inflammations, and fevers, to which none
of the treatment yet devised, except in some stages, perhaps, the
leintuch, was adapted.  Here was a trial for the new system.
Could it be overcome, the triumph was complete. In all the cases
mentioned, a speedy cure was hoped for, in the judgment of Priessnitz, if a marked change could be produced. His genius did not
desert him in this extremity.  He designed ABGESCHRECTES, or
TEPID SHALLOW BATH, to meet the emergency.  Containing but a
few inches of water, of a temperature of from 60 degrees to 70 degrees Fah., the patient could be kept in it, exposed to active friction, until the object sought for was effected (and he has been
known to keep a patient in for nine hours).  And here we have
the chef d'ceuvre of Priessnitz's discoveries. It is his favorite resource in these and in all cases of extremity; and it is not too
much to say, that without it, many of his most splendid achievements must have been unrecorded.
"The ABREIBUNG, or DRIPPING WET SHEET, was a much later addition to his practice, and was suggested by washing with the
hands and a towel. It is used, generally, as preparatory to other
and stronger treatment, although it is, in some instances, continued
to the termination of the cure.
"After his reputation became somewhat extended, Priessnitz
visited patients at their houses; but he remarked that such were
not cured as rapidly as those who took the trouble to come to him.
Hence he was led to conclude, that to make mankind appreciate a
benefit, they must pay for it, either in belief, in trouble, or in
pocket; and as he charged nothing for his services, the system
would have died a natural death, had he discouraged the idea that




62     IIYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
there was not something supernatural in it, and permitted it to
rest on its simple merits. He also remarked, that as soon as he
adopted the plan of calling on the patients, instead of their coming
to him, they fell off from hundreds to tens in the year. He therefore declined to go out at all, and refused to prescribe, unless personally solicited at his own residence.  And this was the germ of
the present establishment, the fame of which has spread throughout
the world.
" The Medical Faculty were not slow to perceive the tendency
of these discoveries to the overthrow of their unprogressive system, which had for centuries, like a pall, covered the earth. As
early as 1821, the three practicing physicians of Freiwaldau, Dietrich, the brother-in-law of the Burgomaster, and two brothers by
the name of Gunter, formed the nucleus of a plot to destroy him.
Every person to whom he had administered was secretly inquired
of, whether the umschlag, the sponges, or the baths, were not medicated, or whether Priessnitz did not make use of some other agent
than water, or some herb, or drug, in connection with the water.
Could such a fact have been established, the overthrow of Priessnitz
had been certain, for in no country are the laws against empiricism
more stringent than in Austria. He was thus constantly upon his
guard, and his utmost ingenuity and invention were required to
make water alone supply the place of every other remedy. Between the years 1821 and 1828, these physicians had him brought
several times before the Syndic, or Chief Justice of the town, to
answer for unlawful practice; but he was always acquitted.  In
the year 1828, however, the most determined effort was made to
crush him.  The country was scoured for witnesses, and a large
number were examined, to prove he had done them injury.  Not
one, however, but acknowledged he had received benefit.  One, a
miller by occupation, who had been cured of gout, as one of the
Gunters declared, by him, on being asked,' Who had helped him?'
replied,' Both: Gunter helped me out of money, Priessnitz out of
my disease.'  On being again asked' What he paid Priessnitz?'
he replied,' Nothing: I still owe him thanks, which I now return
him for the first time.' But what availed testimony?  The Syndic was in the interests Qf his persecutors, and Priessnitz was impotent against their wealth and influence.  He was declared to be
illegally tampering with the public health, and ordered to be arrested.  From a sentence so manifestly partial and unjust, Priess



HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.              63
mtz appealed to the tribunal of Brunn. This judicature reversed
the judgment of the Syndic, and decided, that as it appeared
Priessnitz made use of nothing in his practice except water, he was
at liberty to pursue it. His persecutions did not terminate here; the
faculty still followed him; their ancient and cherished system was
in danger; and the arrogant innovator must be silenced. He was
complained of before the tribunal of Wiedenau, a neighboring
province. His accusers, however, unable to bring any proof other
than such as they had before produced, the complaint was dismissed; but he was forbidden to treat any patients out of his own
district. Priessnitz replied, with spirit, that water was free to all,
and he would not inquire whence the patients came.  But the malevolence of his enemies was sleepless. They resolved that the
matter should be brought to the notice of the court at Vienna.
For this purpose, the medical faculty there were appealed to.
They interfered, and succeeded in bringing the subject before the
Emperor Francis.  Baron Turckheim, of the Aulic Council, together with a commission of district and staff surgeons, was appointed to proceed to Graefenberg to make investigations, and report the result.  They went strongly prejudiced, both against
Priessnitz and his system.
"At this time, Priessnitz had at his establishment quite a number of patients, or cure-guests, as they are universally termed at
Graefenberg; and his success in curing disease, which had baffled
the arts of the most eminent of the faculty, was decisive.
" The commission examined his baths, his leintuchs, his switzens,
analyzed the water, and interrogated the badedieners, or bathservants and patients.  But nothing was elicited to convict the
audacious peasant.  The bath-tubs were made of wood, the leintuchs of linen, the switzens of wool, the water was pure and unadulterated, gushing from the thousand springs of the mountain;
and to the interrogatories, the badedieners and patients replied,
that no agent except water was employed in the treatment.  So
favorable were the reports made by the commission, that he was
permitted not only to continue his practice, but he was authorized
to give certificates of inability for service to military officers, who
might place themselves under his care, with the like effect as staff
surgeons; a result of the efforts of his accusers as unexpected as it
was galling to them.  Instead of his condemnation, which they
had confidently anticipated, behold! he was exalted to an equality




64      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
with themselves.  This was too much for endurance.  He must
be deprived at least of the countenance of the government. In
1834, therefore, after the death of the Emperor Francis, the head
of the Department of Brunn was prevailed upon to withdraw it.
Priessnitz was advised strongly to make an appeal to Vienna, but,
disgusted with this exhibition of petty envy, he refused. It was
not long before the military, numbers of whom from all parts of
Europe were now his patients, assailed the invidious interference
of the authorities of Brunn.  The ambassadors from the different
courts at Vienna were induced to interpose, and Priessnitz was restored to the favor of which he had been so unjustly deprived.
But it is a significant sign of the apprehensions entertained of the
ultimate triumph of the water-cure, that, to this day, all publications in favor of it, and the establishment at Graefenberg, are expressly forbidden in the Austrian dominions, through the influence
of the medical fraternity.
"Thus terminated in disaster, after thirteen years of opposition,
the attempts to destroy the new system.  Henceforth, its disciples
have only to be true to it, to witness its final consummation.
" Priessnitz was married in the year 1828, to Miss Sophia Priessnitz, a distant relation, the daughter of the chief justice of the
adjacent village of Bochmishdorf. By her he has had eight children, the eldest of which only was a son.  This son, while an infant, died from a spasm induced by the administration of a dose of
medicine; the mother and friends insisting that water was not calculated for the case. Priessnitz with reluctance yielded to their
prejudices.  Not anticipating so rapid a termination, he thought
he might interpose in time to save, but the fatal dose had sped its
errand, and the little sufferer was beyond even the power of water.
From that day to this, no medical practitioner has darkened his
threshold, except to study his system, or become his patient.
" But I have spun this letter, I fear, to an unreasonable length.
In the sincere hope that the blessings of the water-cure may be
disseminated, and that it may eventually, as I feel firmly persuaded it should, take the place of all other methods of curing disease,
"I am, with sincere esteem, very truly yours,
" ANDREW J. COLVIN."




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.    65
CHAPTER III.
HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE-(CoNTINUED).*
Why the Profession look unfavorably on the new Mode.-The true medical Philosopher
receives Truth from any and every source, however humble.-Cold Water merits at
least a fair trial in legitimate Practice.-Distinct Hydropathic Establishments best for giving full effect to the Treatment, but many parts of it may be applied at Patients' own
Houses.-What a Water Establishment should be.-Water an old Remedy.-Lanzani's
Method.-Sir John Floyer and Dr. Baynard's.-Extracts concerning Life.-Dr. Currie's
Practice-Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine.-The ancient Romans.-The modern Russians.-Remarkable revivifying effect of the Cold Plunge Bath after Sweating.-Priessnitz's Mode not only embraces those of previous Authors, but also new and powerful Processes.-Description of Priessnitz.-The Water Process, although simple, may be much
varied.-Priessnitz's Mode of commencing with a Patient.-Water drinking.-Exercise,
general Routine, Packing, etc.-The various Baths.-Compresses.-Mode of Sweating.Flannel not to be worn next to the Skin.-Drugs never to be taken at Graefenberg.-True
Mode of arriving at the Results of Hydropathy.-Civilized Life, in many respects, productive of Disease,-Advantages of the Hydropathic Diet.-Value of Means applied to
the Surface.-Evil Effects of too oft-repeated internal Remedies.-The Hydropathic
Treatment as a Counter-irritant.-The Crisis.-Effects of cooling the Body often.-Sympathy of the Surface with internal Parts.-Stimulating effect of the Hydropathic Treatment.-Sedative effect of Cold Water.-Water as a Febrifuge.-Rules of Dr. Currie and
Dr. acen.-Safety of Cold Water in Fevers.-Cold Bathing a Tonic Means.-Erroneous
Notions of Medical Men.-Boldness of Hydropathists.-Douche and Shower Baths.-Remarks on the Sweating Process.-Its Safety and Efficiency.-Water as a Purgative and
Diuretic.-Tranquillizing Influence of the IIydropathic Treatment.-Remarks on Medical
Habits, in reference to Chronic Disease. Ill effects of over-drugging.-Conclusion.
IN consequence of the modern water-cure having been originated by a non-medical and'uneducated man, and having been subsequently, for the most part, adopted and professed by lay practitioners, or by medical men  of somewhat equivocal reputation-and
yet more, from  the system  being held out as a panacea or cure for
all diseases, with an exclusive scorn of medicinal aid-the medical
profession, as a body, have naturally enough, and not inexcusably,
treated  it with  much  contempt, not to  say  aversion, and  have
* This very ably written article is quoted from  the British and Foreign
Medical Review, by John Forbes, M. D., F. R. S., F. G. S. It is proper here
to remark, that Priessnitz has quite discontinued the practice of sweating,
not resorting to that practice scarce in one case of a hundred. He regards
the tonic plan as being more permanent, and better in its effects.




66      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
shown a pretty general determination not to admit it into the catalogue of therapeutic means. Exercising a natural influence on the
public, medical men have succeeded in communicating to a large
portion of the intelligent classes the feelings entertained by themselves.  Thus hydropathy has become a tabooed subject, being
either entirely excluded from medical journals and books, or only
admitted into them for the purpose of being ridiculed or utterly denounced.  Indeed, it is regarded almost as a violation of
professional etiquette to mention this subject in the language of
toleration, much more to speak of it with approbation. Accordingly, we think it not unlikely that some of our brethren, and
those even of the most estimable, may regard our present article
as a departure from what is medically proper, and will pronounce us
almost worthy to have the severe sentence of " water doctor" passed
against us. We have, however, been too long accustomed to speak
our opinions openly and boldly, when we believed them to be just,
whether they were in accordance with the current notions or not,
to be deterred, on the present occasion, by any apprehended risk
of offending mere professional conventionalism.  Whatever we
conscientiously believe to be true in medical science, especially if,
at the same time, calculated to promote the great end and aim of
all professors of the healing art-the increase of the means of
lessening the sufferings of mankind-that we shall freely and fearlessly promulgate, careless of personal consequences.
Our purpose, in this article, being carefully and calmly to investigate the real merits of the system now so widely established
under the name of hydropathy, we hold ourselves absolved from
mixing up this investigation with any considerations whatever respecting the merits or demerits, the objects or motives, of those
who practice it.  We regret to think that there is, and has been
from the beginning, not a little quackery and mystification mixed
up with really effective practice, in hydropathic establishments,
and that not a few of the conductors of the water establishments
have been, and are, very ill qualified to indicate, much less to direct and conduct, any therapeutic processes capable of modifying,
in an important degree, the vital conditions and functions of the
human body.  If it shall appear, however, as we believe it will,
on further examination, that the external application of cold water
is capable of being beneficially applied, in the cure of diseases, in
modes of greater efficacy, and to a much greater extent, than has




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                67
been hitherto practiced by medical men, there remains only one
course for the members of the profession to pursue, viz., to adopt
the improvements-if such they be-regardless of their origin, or
their past or present relations.  When the religious reformer proposed to adapt profane airs to church psalmody, saying that he
saw no good reason why the devil should have all the good tunes
to himself, he is generally supposed to have acted as wisely as he
thought shrewdly and spoke quaintly. In like manner, we see no
good reason why the doctors of the orthodox or legitimate school
should refuse to accept good things, even at the hands of the hydropathists.  They have done like things before now, as the pharmacopoeia, in more pages than one, can testify; and we have not
heard that there has been any great reason for that they did so.
For our own parts, we avow ourselves of such a catholic spirit,
and so lowly-minded withal, as to be ready to grasp any proffered
good in the way of HEALING, whosoever may be the offerers, and
wheresoever they may have found it.  Not merely hydropathy,
but even mesmerism-yea, stark-naked and rampant quackery
itself, may, in this sense, be a welcome knocker at the gate of
physic.  It is not the demerits of the donor, or the birth-place of
the gift, that, in such a case, we are bound to look to; but simply
whether it is qualified to aid us in our glorious and divine mission
of soothing the pains of our fellow-men. If it is so qualified, the
baseness of its source will be lost in the glory of its use; and, if
aught of its original impurity still attaches to its application in our
hands, the fault will be in us, not in it.  A saint may sing the
devil's tunes without contamination; a hero may wield the weapon
he has wrested from a robber or a murderer; the medicament or
the formula of the most arrant quack may be hallowed in the prescription of the true physician.
It is in this spirit we enter upon an investigation of the claims
of hydropathy, as propounded and practiced by Priessnitz and his
disciples. And we invite our readers to follow us in a like temper, convinced that they will be benefited by an examination of
the subject, whether they adopt our views or not. Some of our
views we are sure they must adopt, particularly this: that cold
water, applied in the manner of the hydropathists, is a powerful
modifier of the condition of the human body, both in health and
disease, and, when weighed in the therapeutic balance with other
remedies, merits, at least, a fair trial in legitimate practice.




68      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
It will be an after consideration in what manner, or under what
circumstances, this trial can best be made; and, supposing the result of the trial to be satisfactory, it will be a yet further consideration, and one of great importance, how the remedy shall best be
applied in the ordinary practice of medicine.  We ourselves believe that distinct bathing establishments will still be found best
for giving full effect to the hydropathic system, although we believe, also, that many parts of it may be adopted in ordinary prac
tice, at the patients' own homes; and the whole of it certainly bt
conducted at the water establishments under the authority and
general direction of the ordinary medical attendants. If hydropathy is, as we believe, a therapeutic agent of great power and
value, it would be worse than absurd to exclude it from legitimate
medicine; but, if it is to be adopted by the profession, it can only
be adopted in a strictly professional manner. If distinct establishments are found to be requisite for its complete and successful
exhibition, the members of the medical profession can, of course,
sanction and patronize those only which are conducted by legally
qualified and competent practitioners.  And they cannot be expected to show any countenance, even to those which, although
under the superintendence of legally qualified persons, are conducted on empirical or absurdly exclusive principles. A hydropathic establishment should be simply a great bathing establishment, or water hospital, and should contain the means for using
water in all its medicinal forms-hot as well as cold, in the form of
vapor as well as liquid, medicated as well as pure.  In such a
hospital, although drugs would, doubtless, be but in slight requisition, it would be contrary to all rational proceedings to exclude
their use entirely.  The very fact of a case being sent to such a
hospital presupposes the previous failure of drugs, or, at least,
presumes their unsuitableness in that particular instance; and they
would, for the most part, be dispensed with at the commencement
of the treatment, at least: but no unprejudiced or competent observer can assert that drugs should be entirely banished from the
treatment of any case at all times.  The same scientific judgment and the same practical skill that prescribed the water treatment as best calculated to fulfill the indications present at any one
time, could alone determine whether, at any one time, medicaments
might be proper, either as auxiliaries or substitutes. Nothing but
the blindest dogmatism or the wildest empiricism could maintain




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.               69
that, because the water treatment is found useful, all other means
must be useless; or, reversely, that, because drugs are often found
beneficial, that therefore all other kinds of treatment, hydropathy
included, must be injurious.  The absolute exclusionist, be he
water doctor or drug doctor, is equally unreasonable and equally
unjustifiable.
In the composition of the following article, we have derived our
materials mainly from the published writings of hydropathists, but
also partly from personal observation of the practice of hydropathy
itself, and from the reports of patients who had been the subjects
of it. We have been careful to select as our authorities the best
informed and most impartial of the writers on the subject of the
water-cure, and we have used our best endeavors to appropriate
what alone seemed trustworthy. It is so extremely difficult for a
writer, on any one side of a subject that has become a matter of
active controversy, to avoid partiality in relating events and drawing inferences, that we make no apology to our authors for having
on many occasions refused their evidence and rejected their conclusions.  Many things, however, we have admitted on the authority of the writers alone, when they did not seem to be contradicted by other facts, and were in accordance with the general
principles of physiology and therapeutics.  We have so far admitted the validity of the maxim-cuilibet in sud arte credendum;
and, so qualified, we think the propriety of the admission will not
be gainsayed.  But we have gone further than this.  We have accepted at the hands of our hydropathic authors more than one alleged fact and explanation, even though their validity seems to us
questionable.  And we have done this because the statements are
of a kind justly to challenge attention, and to demand thorough investigation.
On the whole, then, we wish the reader to be prepared to find
in the following article, not simply an exposition of the doctrines
of hydropathy, as they appear to us well established, but such
also as are laid down by the best authorities of the water school;
one of our objects in writing it being, not merely to endeavor to
ascertain what we consider as truth, for the benefit of our readers,
but likewise to incite them to make inquiry and examination for
themselves, in order that agencies of such obvious potency on the
human frame may no longer be permitted free scope if evil, or no
longer be debarred from ordinary medical practice if good.




70      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
The internal and external use of water, in the treatment of dis.
ease, has been frequently discussed by physicians in all ages, from
Hippocrates downward.  Their opinions will be found cited in detail by the systematic writers on the subject of baths, and, among
others, by Sir John Floyer and Lanzani.  To them we refer such
as are sufficiently curious to wish for an exact acquaintance with
the subject, in its historical relations. For our present purpose,
and( to render the history of the medical use of water clear to the
less minute student, we will group it under a few convenient
heads.
1. According to Lanzani,* the true method of using cold water
consists almost entirely in its internal administration, in very large
doses, in certain stages of certain fevers.  His work is most elaborate in every sense; learned, methodical, and comprehensive.
It is divided into two books: the first devoted to an explanation
of the causes, symptoms, complications, and nature of fever; the
second, showing that copious imbibition of cold water is the best
means of combating the symptoms, on scientific grounds, and consequeittly the best remedy for fever. This is obviously an argument somewhat theoretical, but it is supported by a chapter of
cases, and backed by the opinions of a host of learned doctors, the
author's predecessors. The actual value of the work is considerably diminished by its scientific character, because many of the
doctrines held in its day have now become obsolete, and tend to
encumber and obscure, rather than strengthen and enlighten, the
practical facts by which they are accompanied. But the same remark applies to the early advocates of other remedies. Lanzani
appears to have had no knowledge of the external use of water,
nor of its application to the treatment of chronic diseases.  He
used it in combination with drugs.
Lanzani may be regarded as the representative of a considerable
number of writers and practitioners, both in Italy and elsewhere,
among whom water has been employed (internally) as the most
effectual febrifuge.
2. About the year 1700, Sir John Floyer and Dr. Baynard employed water very freely as an external application, in the ordinary
manner of cold bathing, preceding it by a course of physic, and
* Vero Metodo di servirse dell' Acqua Fredda nelle Febri ed in altri Mali,
si interni come esterni. Di Nicolo Lanzani, Medico Napoletano. 2nda edizione. In Napoli, 1723.




HYDROPATIY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                71
accompanying it generally by copious water drinking.*   Their
practice appears to have been chiefly in chronic diseases, such as
rheumatism, gout, paralysis, indigestion, general debility, and va
rious nervous affections, in the whole of which a large amount ol
success is said to have been attained.  The baths at which their
cases were treated, were frequently designated by some saint's
name.  Probably a remnant of superstitious reverence for the saint
not only assisted to attract patients to the well, but infused into
them a faith in the remedy, which materially promoted their recovery.  The practice pursued was simply cold plunging, guarded
by certain rules and cautions to prevent accidents.
Sir John Floyer supports his views by the citation of numberless
learned authorities, from  the Bible to Dr. Mead.  He seems to
have attached rather an excessive importance to grave precedents,
causing his portion of the conjoint work to savor more of the library than the bedside.  At any rate, he mingles together practical facts and the opinions of writers in such intricate relations,
that it is not always easy to discover on which he relies most confidently for the maintenance of his tenets.  Dr. Baynard, on the
other hand, deals more in cases, of which he presents an abundant
collection. His mode of reasoning is particularly pointed and sagacious.  No one can leave the perusal of his work without a
strong conviction of his being an honest, shrewd, enterprising, and
diligent contributor to medical literature.
These writers mention the occasional practice of persons bathing
in their shirts, and wearing them throughout the remainder of the
day without drying; they also give an instance or two of cases
cured or relieved by the application of a wet towel. The former
practice is alluded to as an instance of rashness on the part of patients, and the latter is so rarely mentioned, that in neither can
they fairly be said to have anticipated Priessnitz in the systematic
employment of the wet sheet or wet compress-although both
were actually employed by them.  They also speak in very favorable terms of a course of cold preceded by a month's warm bathing, but not in the modern hydropathic method of the cold following immediately upon the warm, or upon sweating, which is a practice they carefully deprecate. They seem to have had but a slight
* Psuchrolonsia; or, the History of Cold Bathing, both ancient and modern. By Sir John Floyer, of Litchfield, Knt., and Dr. Edward Baynard, Felb
low of the College of Physicians, London. 2d edition. London, 1706.




72      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
acquaintance with the use of cold bathing in fever, or acute diseases, though instances of such practice are given.
The following passage from Dr. Baynard, though not strictly a
part of our present subject, is a curiosity, and affords a good sample of his peculiar manner. When the period of its publication is
considered, it must be regarded, in some of its parts, as a remarkable case of the forestalling of exact experiment by speculative reasoning.  Baynard adduces the remarks it contains in support of
his hydropathic views; but we need not stay to examine them in
that respect. We transcribe portions of the passage:
"I conceive life to be an actual flame; as much flame as any
culinary flame is, but fed with its peculiar and proper pabulum,
made out of the blood and spirits for that purpose; and my reasons are these, viz.: 1. Life is as extinguishable as any flame is,
by excluding the air, etc. For hold your handkerchief close to the
mouth and nose of any animal that has lungs, and life is put out,
the creature is dead in a moment; there is no skin broke, nor bone
broke; no wound, nor bruise; there is your whole man, but dead
he is.  2d. No flame will burn without aerial nitre, or a quid
aerium, whatever it be; some will have it a mixed gas of nitre and
sulphur, but whatever it be,'tis a causa sine qua non, something
without which no flame will burn; and that the lungs serve to this
use, and are air-strainers, is very clear to me, by that experiment
of the candle and two puppy dogs, put into a great oven, and
stopped close up with a glass door to see through; and in a little
time, when they had sucked in some, and the candle wasted the
rest of the nitre, the dogs died, and the candle went out with them
at the same instant.
"All ustion, as the quid inflammabile, wastes, leaves by incineration alkalious and caustical salts, either fixed or volatile, which,
from their figure or imbibed fire, become of a pungent, corrosive
nature, and fix upon the membranes, being nervous and most exquisite of sense and perception, which, by irritation, cause a light
inflammation, which inflammation is called thirst; which salts are
melted and washed off by drinking-the grosser by stool with the
solid excrements, but those of most solid and subtle particles creep
with the chyle into the blood, and have no way out but by the
urine.  Hence water is the best menstruum to dissolve salts; and
that which is most simple and elementary is the best water, as
least impregnated; such waters wash off and dissolve their points




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                73
and angles, by which they prick, sheath, and envelop them in their
own pores, and with themselves run off by urine; but if so forced
by heat and motion as to disturb them in their passage, the current of urine is checked, and the salts leave their hold of the water,
shoot their vortex, and from the channels get into the habit of the
body, which, if not dissolved, melted, and thrown off by sweat,
they inflame and cause fevers, etc.; nor will they cease their action
and inquietude until totally dissolved, or forced back into their
common passages, and the salts precipitated and run down by
urine.  For I look upon the pores and sweat-vents as so many
back doors and sally-ports, by which nature drives out the enemy
crept into her garrison. The truth is demonstrated in all fevers,
where the caustical salts are not washed off, but remain behind on
the glands and membranes, forsaken of their dissolving menstruum,
the water, etc., which that ingenious chemist, Mr. George Moult,
by chemical analysis, made appear in six quarts of febrile urine,
which I sent him, and he found but the thirtieth part of those salts
usually found in a sound man's urine, so that of necessity they
must remain behind and be left (like so many French dragoons) to
quarter on the blood and spirits at discretion.  The history of
which is printed in the'Philosophical Transactions' for some years
since.
" Now, that which we call an insensible perspiration, is nothing
else but the smoke made from the vital flame, and the pores are
the spiramenta through which it passes, and when these are
stopped, this smoke is returned and the flame becomes reverberatory, which is sometimes necessary to force an obstruction, for the
body has its registers and vent-holes, as well as other furnaces.
But to proceed: these salts sometimes crystallize, so that the common menstrua will not touch them, no more than a file will steel or
hardened iron, and then it is a true diabetes (and here the physician is at his wit's end, and that no far journey); then hey! for
lime-water, quince wine, and other restringents, which, if it were
possible, would rather make a coalescence, and tie the knot harder.
No; the cure lies in solution by melting down the salts, which
must be done by open, raw, and unimpregnated menstrua, such as
the Bristol waters are, as most simple, having least contents in
them."  (pp. 47 et seq,)
3. At about the beginning of the present century, Dr. Currie's
practice in fever is well known to have consisted principally of
4




74      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
cold affusion, or immersion, in the early stages of the disease, and
in certain acute affections of the nervous system. His work is so
well known that it is unnecessary to enter into any detail as to contents.*  He seems to have known but little of the application of
cold water to the treatment of chronic diseases, as represented by
Floyer and Baynard, or not to have employed the copious libations
described by Lanzani. He cannot be said to have forestalled Priessnitz in any other respect, than in the prompt and energetic use of
cold water in the suppression of acute febrile and nervous affections. He brings a large amount of scientific argument and practical experience to bear out his views. He has also placed in a
clear light some points of practice on which important errors previously prevailed, such as the safety of cold applications when the
body is heated beyond the natural degree, and the relative value
and safety of cold or tepid water, of immersion, affusion, and ablution. On these points his work is of great practical value. We
may have occasion to revert to some of them hereafter.
4. The prevalent opinions of medical men in this country, on the
general subject of the external use of water, previously to the
Priessnitzian era, may be considered to be represented in the article
BATHING, in the " Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine," published
within the last twenty years. The article in question places bathing in a very subordinate position among means available for the
actual cure of disease.  In its cold form, it is recommended as a
valuable tonic, used with many restrictions, in nervous debility and
other analogous states; and, in its warm form, its use is almost
limited to the allaying of irritation in certain disorders, the more
formidable symptoms of which are to be encountered by other
remedies.  Other articles in the same work have done justice to
Dr. Currie's views.  Beyond this, the medical profession have
hitherto done little or nothing with bathing as an instrument of
cure.  We shall hereafter find reason for believing that a vast superfluity of caution has existed in the employment of this remedy,
and that some of the supposed cautions have really increased,
instead of diminishing the danger, as well as destroyed the efficiency of its application.
The author of the article in the Cyclopmedia describes cold bath-' Medical Reports of the effects of Water, cold and warm, as a Remedy in
Fever and other Diseases. By James Currie, M. D., F.R.S., Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh. 2 vols., 2d edition. London, 1805.




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.               75
ing as partially or absolutely contraindicated in the following conditions: partially, in infancy and old age; pregnancy; indurations,
obstructions, or chronic inflammations of internal parts; acute in
flammations of the same; chronic inflammations of mucous membrane: absolutely, during menstruation; in great plethora, or
tendency to active hemorrhage, or congestions in important viscera; affections of the heart; loaded state of the bowels; great
general debility-though then often advantageous after warm
water or vapor bath.
5. The ancient Romans were accustomed to produce perspiration by surrounding the person with heated aqueous vapor, and,
while freely perspiring, to plunge into cold water.  Interesting remains of baths for this purpose, evidently of Roman architecture,
and containing fine specimens of mosaic pavement, may be seen in
several parts of England; as, for example, on the margin of the
Cranham woods, in the village of Whitcombe, about six miles from
Cheltenham; at Bignor, in Sussex, etc. It is also well known to
have been a frequent practice of the Roman youth to plunge into
the Tiber, when heated by exercise in the Campus Martius.
The modern Russians, also, as is well known, excite perspiration
in a similar manner, and then roll themselves in snow. A somewhat similar practice has prevailed among the North American
Indians.*
The extraordinary revivifying effect of the cold plunge bath,
after the system had been excited by artificial heat, is testified by
various evidence of the most unquestionable kind.  Numerous
travelers have spoken of this very enthusiastically; among others,
Stephens, the American (in his "Incidents of Travel"), who took a
Russian bath, after a most fatiguing journey, and came out of it,
he says, quite a new man.  We have had similar information fiom
more than one private source.  This practice, however, similar as
it is to that of Priessnitz, has never, until his time, been extensively,
if at all, employed in Europe as a means of curing disease.
6. In the foregoing synopsis are contained the principal forms in
which cold bathing and water drinking have been used in the treatment of disease, before these means were so vigorously adopted by
Priessnitz.  It will be obvious, that from none of the writers mentioned could he have learned his bold and comprehensive practice.
In his method are combined those of Lanzani, Floyer, and Currie,
* Related by William Penn, and described elsewhere,




76      HYDROPATIY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
accompanied by novel and powerful processes, to which those
writers were entire strangers.  The douche, the wet sheet, the
sweating blanket, the cold plunging after sweating, the wet compress, the sitting bath (sitz bath), must be allowed to be, in a great
measure, peculiar to the Graefenberg peasant and his disciples.
From the same source have proceeded some important precepts on
the subject of diet and regimen. Priessnitz, moreover, is distinguished from all the authorities quoted, by his entire abandonment
of drugs.
Vincent Priessnitz was originally a small farmer, residing at
Graefenberg, near the town of Friewaldau, in Silesia.  He is about
fifty years of age. The following is a description of him by Sir
Charles Scudamore:
"Of Priessnitz himself I shall say a few words, and describe my
impressions on first seeing him.  His countenance is full of selfpossession; rather agreeable; mild, but firm in expression; with an
eye of sense, and a pleasing smile. The small-pox, and the loss of
some front teeth from  an accident, impair his good looks.  His
manners are sufficiently well-bred.  On closer acquaintance, you
discover he is quick in perception; is reflective; prompt, however,
in decision; simple and clear.  He inspires his patients with the
most entire confidence, and he exacts implicit obedience."-A
Medical Visit to Graefenberg, pp. 2, 3.
Other travelers give a similar description of Priessnitz. They
all agree in stating that he is a most arbitrary and tyrannical despot, issuing laws as irrevocable as those of the Medes and Persians,
commanding obedience with a haughtiness that might well excite
admiration and envy even in an autocrat, and exciting as much fear
in his patients as is found in the subjects of the Grand Turk himself. He is also represented as remarkably cool and collected in
emergencies, ever ready with his remedy on occasions of danger,
and possessed of an imperturbable self-reliance.  These traits suffice to prove that he is a man of original and powerful mind, exactly adapted to carry out a novel and startling practice. While
his firm and decided manner is calculated to secure the confidence
of his patients, his coolness and sef-reliance enable him easily to
bear the responsibility by which such confidence is attended.
His practice originated in a succession of trifling accidents, by
which he was led to employ bathing in a neighboring spring, for
the relief of disease. It is not necessary to give them in detail




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.               77
Success in these first attempts procured him a local renown, and
he became the village doctor. From villagers his fame soon spread
to patients of a higher rank, and Graefenberg gradually became the
resort of the hipped and the halt from all the surrounding district.
By these his praises were sung louder and louder, until all the
world began to furnish him  patients by the hundred.  He now
possesses an enormous establishment, capable of containing several
hundreds of patients, which is almost constantly crowded with
ladies and gentlemen of every degree, and from  every nation;
while his disciples and followers, as is well known, have spread
themselves throughout the world, and maintain, in every country,
numerous and flourishing establishments formed on the original
model of Graefenberg.
His treatment, although apparently constructed of such simple
elements, is capable of being varied almost ad infinitum, according
to the peculiarities of the case or the fancy of the prescriber, and
of being rendered so powerful, as often to excite in the patients
and spectators apprehensions of danger-and sometimes, no doubt,
to produce it in reality. It is scarcely too much to say that he has
modified the application of water, and some very few other means,
in a manner so ingenious as to render them no imperfect nominal
substitute, at least, for most of the drugs in the pharmacopoeia.
He has his stimulant, his sedative, his tonic, his reducing agent,
his purgative, his astringent, his diuretic, his styptic, his febrifuge,
his diaphoretic, his alterative, his counter-irritant.  Combined
with these are peculiar regulations as to diet, dress, and regimen.
The following is his general mode of proceeding.
In his first interview with the patient, after hearing sufficient to
give him a rude insight into the locality and general features of the
malady, Priessnitz proceeds to investigate its suitableness to his
method of cure.  He does this by sprinkling the surface of the
body with cold water, or witnessing the taking of a cold bath, and
then watching the development of reaction. If this appears in a
certain amount of activity, he pronounces the case appropriate to
his treatment; if not, he advises the abandonment of all hydropathic intentions. This is a mode of ascertaining the power of the
constitution quite original, and it cannot be said to be unscientific.
The power of resisting the external application of cold is a most
essential conservative property of the animal system, and the degree to which it exists must be regarded as, in some respects, a




78      HYDROPATIIY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
criterion of the amount of vis medicatrix possessed by the patient,
We see no very decisive reason for pronouncing it a more fallacious
guide than the orthodox custom of feeling the pulse.  The only
objection to it that occurs to us is, that it may not be always free
from hazard.
This point being satisfactorily determined, the patient is straightway admitted into the mysteries of the cure.  In the first place, he
finds himself restricted to a peculiar diet.  Every stimulant is absolutely prohibited, from brandy and claret to mustard and pepper; so, also, are most of the luxuries imported from foreign ports,
such as tea, coffee, and every kind of spice. The meals consist of
three-breakfast at eight, dinner at one, and supper at seven or
eight o'clock.  For breakfast, cold milk is the beverage, and bread
and butter its only substantial companions. At dinner there is no
other restriction than those above named. Supper is a repetition
of breakfast, with the occasional addition of preserved fruit or
potatoes.  Throughout the day, no warm beverages whatever are
permitted, and much of the food is brought to table considerably
cooled.  As some compensation for these manifold deprivations,
the patient is allowed to gratify his appetite with every reasonable
variety, and a free abundance of substantial and nutritious food.
He finds it a maxim that generous diet will promote his recovery,
the treatment being responsible for preventing surfeit.  He no
longer finds an embargo laid on fruit and vegetables, and is not
expected to dine seven days in the week off dry bread and mutton
chops.  So that, on the whole, there is perhaps about an equal
amount of indulgence and restriction, as respects diet, to a patient
coming to the Graefenberg rules from  those of some fashionable
physician in London.
In the next place, the majority of patients are directed to enter
upon a course of water drinking, the quantity of water varying
from  five or six to thirty or forty tumblers in the twenty-four
hours.  A large portion of this is taken before breakfast, the rest
at suitable periods after meals, so as not to interfere with digestion, with frequently a glass or two the last thing at night.  Exercise is generally advised at the time of water drinking, except
when this accompanies some other process of treatment incompatible with it.
A third rule insisted on is, that every patient shall take a large
amount of exercise during the day.  This is, to some degree, in



HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                79
dispensable after the cold baths, as a means of procuring the
necessary reaction. Walking in the open air is the mode generally
selected, when possible.  In case of bad weather, or lameness,
other plans are contrived; such as gymnastics, sawing or chopping
wood, etc.  As a general rule, every patient is required to take a
long walk before breakfast.  It is a vexata questio, we believe,
among hydropathists, as among doctors, whether the patients
should rest or walk immediately after a meal; but the water doctors generally incline to advise very gentle exercise at such times;
and, we believe, properly. The well-known experiments on greyhounds, and such other convincing facts, are counterbalanced, to
say the least, by the habits of the working-man, who proceeds to
his labor as soon as he has swallowed his dinner, and rarely suffers from so doing.
After these preliminaries, and the case being pronounced suitable for the treatment, the next morning witnesses the patient's
initiation into more active proceedings. At an early hour of the
morning, varying according to the time required for the operation
about to be undergone, a bath attendant enters with the formidable
machinery for the administration of a rubbing with a wet sheet, a
packing in the dry blanket, or a packing in the wet sheet.  The
first of these processes consists in throwing a wet sheet over the
whole person, and applying upon it active friction of a few minutes'
duration.  A  glow  is thus excited.  The patient then dresses,
takes his water, and sets forth upon his morning's walk.  The
second of the above three operations requires the patient to be
enveloped in several blankets, with perhaps the superincumbence
of a large feather pillow, until free perspiration is excited, which
generally requires a period of about three hours. When the perspiration has continued the prescribed time (from  fifteen minutes
to an hour, or more), the patient is subjected to some kind of
cold bath, either by the wet sheet, as just described, by pouring
water over the person from the pails or watering-pots, or by taking a plunge bath.  This being followed by friction and water
drinking, the morning's proceedings are concluded by exercise.
Packing in the wet sheet is similar to the foregoing, with the addition, next the skin, of a sheet wrung out of cold water. It is
generally of short duration, as forty-five minutes or an hour, the
object being to excite a glow, instead of perspiration.  It is followed by cold bathing, as just described. During the packing, in




80      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
both instances, some glasses of cold water are imbibed through a
tube.
At other parts of the day, other portions of the treatment are
applied, such as the sitz bath, the douche, the shower bath, head
bath, foot bath, etc.
The sitz bath is a tub of cold water, in which the patient sits
for a period varying from a few minutes to an hour, or even longer,
using constant friction to the abdominal region. The other baths
mentioned in this paragraph, need no description.  These, as well
as the former processes, are sometimes repeated during the day.
In certain cases, the day's proceedings commence with some of
them, in place of those previously mentioned.  A  rubbing with
the wet sheet is frequently employed before getting into bed at
night.
In fever, from whatever source, the patient is enveloped in a
succession of wet sheets, renewed as often as they become warm,
for a period varying with the intensity of the case-say, from
thirty minutes to five or six hours. In other similar cases, cold
immersion or affusion is employed with the same view-viz., to reduce the morbid heat of the system.
The umschlay, or compress, is an essential and seldom-omitted
part of the treatment. It is a cloth well wetted with cold water,
applied to the surface nearest to the supposed seat of the disease,
securely covered with a dry cloth, and changed as often as it becomes dry during the day. It is sometimes covered with a layer
of oiled silk, which, by impeding evaporation, prevents the inconvenience of frequent change.  This compress speedily becomes
warm, and remains so until dry.  It is termed a heating or stimulating bandage. In cases of superficial inflammation, it is more
frequently changed, so as to keep cold, whereby its effect is just
the reverse, being then a local antiphlogistic.
In some establishments, the sweating has been effected by other
means than the simple envelopments of Priessnitz, as by a vapor
bath, or a chamber highly heated by a stove. We have heard of
a temperature of 180 degrees, and even that of 198 degrees,
Fahrenheit, being employed for this purpose. The blankets used
by Priessnitz are very bad conductors of caloric, therefore they
cause the heat given off Iy the body to be accumulated around
its surface, by the lengthened influence of which the sudorific
action is effected. This process differs in no other manner than in




HYDROPATHY, OR THIE MODERN WATER-CURE.               81
degree and rapidity of effect, from exposing the same surface to
heat of any other origin.  The animal heat, when once evolved,
becomes a quality of the surrounding atmosphere. Being kept in
contact with the body by blankets, it constitutes an artificial elevation of temperature, and nothing more.  Therefore, in cases
where active sweating is required, we can suppose no disadvantage
to result from using other kinds of artificial heat, and can easily
imagine advantages in a higher temperature than that attainable
fiom animal heat alone.  But we would limit this remark to dry
heat. Aqueous vapor, by a well-known law, impedes evaporation,
and would therefore restrict the full completion of the sudorific
process. For this reason it is used to prevent plants from parting
with their moisture in hot-houses. For the same reason it should
not be used when the intention is to prom'ote the removal of
moisture, or to promote perspiration.
A point uniformly insisted on by Priessnitz is, that his patients
should abstain from wearing flannel next the skin. When we consider how generally the use of this article of clothing has been
advised by physicians, and adopted by invalids, especially in this
country, we can easily conceive that strong prejudices will exist in
the minds of patients against relinquishing it. Yet it appears to
be almost universally discarded by hydropathists, and, as far as
we have learnt, without any mischievous consequence.
Another maxim  of Priessnitz is, that his patients are never to
take any kind of drug.  It should be remarked, that, not being
licensed to practice medicine, it would be illegal for him to administer drugs.  So that it does not follow, from  his disuse of
them, that he himself would be opposed to their use in all cases,
much less that their use is in any way inconsistent with his practice.  His medical disciples, not being similarly restricted, so far
as we can learn, usually employ drugs occasionally, though sparingly.
How are we now to proceed, in order to arrive at a just appreciation of the value of the means thus briefly enumerated? The
more usual course would be, to enter upon an examination of the
practical results, as published by hydropathic writers. But, in the
present inquiry, this plan would scarcely answer; for the means
employed are so strange, so much at variance with those by which
disease is commonly treated, and not a few of the reporters are so
little entitled to claim credit for even a capacity to report medical
4*




82       HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
results truly, that the greater part of our readers would disbelieve
the alleged facts, rather than admit the principles they would
carry with them.  It will be more proper, therefore, to omit
matters of evidence for the present, and to see if we can find in
hydropathic practice any conformity with the principles on which
we should estimate the merits of any other new remedy.
If a new vegetable were imported, or a previously unknown
chemical substance discovered, and we were called upon to use it
as a medicine, we should first inquire whether it possessed any of
those qualities which are regarded as constituting medicinal virtues.
We might assume that we are sufficiently acquainted with the characters of most diseases, to pronounce what description of influence would have a counteracting effect upon them.  It would
then remain to inquire, whether the qualities possessed by the
article in question were of a kind to lead us to expect any description of such influence from their operation.  If they were not, we
should be indisposed to try the remedy until well assured, from
abundant and unquestionable practical evidence, of its curative
powers.  If they were, we should be inclined to give it a trial,
even if the proofs of its remedial properties were not unexceptionable. For instance, if the article under consideration merely
possessed a nauseous taste, a specific color, or a powerful odor, it
would offer little inducement for an experiment of its medical
powers, because those qualities are not known to possess any intrinsic influence over any diseased condition. But, if it were a
purgative or a sedative, no one could hesitate to recognize it as a
priori entitled to a trial by physicians; because experience has
taught us that, by the means of purging or tranquilizing, certain
diseases or morbid symptoms may be cured or relieved.  And,
since it is the case with many of our present remedies, that with
the property we wish to employ is combined another we would
gladly avoid (purgatives being debilitating, sedatives narcotic, etc.),
anld with their amount of usefulness is thus associated a certain
tendency to mischief-if the new remedy presented to us appeared
to possess the essential quality, and to want the mischievous power
of that otherwise used for the same purpose, we should be still
more desirous of availing ourselves of it in practice.
If we apply these remarks to Hydropathy, as practiced by
Priessnitz, the first inquiry ought to be, Does it furnish the physician with instruments which he, as a skillful workman, can under



HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                83
take to employ?  Does it contain, among its various machinery,
any really therapeutic means, any powers capable of carrying out
the indications which we regard as palpable in many diseases?
Can it evacuate, can it brace, can it tranquilize?   We cannot
entertain the idea that the professors of hydropathy have hit upon
any grand secret concerning the origin or nature of diseases, or
the philosophy of their removal.  Such a supposition, were it a
necessary article of faith in the hydropathic creed, would render
us the most obstinate of skeptics. But if the practitioners of this
new school profess merely to have introduced more efficient, or
less dangerous, means of fulfilling the purposes which all physicians have in view in treating disease, we are willing to give them
a patient and impartial hearing. Or, if they profess nothing of
the kind, and reject such an idea with contempt-if, nevertheless,
their system appear to us of the nature we are indicating, we can
still entertain it with the hope of discovering something of good in it.
Let us now  inquire, then, on physiological and pathological
grounds, supported by some personal experience, what appear to
be the effects, or among the effects, of a course of water treatment according to the Priessnitzian system.
1. In the first place, we remark the careful withdrawal of all
stimulants from internal parts.  In this hydropathy is at once distinguished from  ordinary practice.  The refinement of civilized
life, and the complicated affairs of society, prevent the human
frame from being treated entirely as a machine. The body is compelled to undergo a usage not always suitable to its welfare, in
consequence of its having to minister to the mind. The exhaustion
of the latter, from exertion and excitement, is restored by artificial
stimuli applied to the former.  These are generally directed to
parts ill adapted for their reception. Thus, the stomach, constructed to digest simple food, and to admit fluid at the impulse
of thirst, becomes the vehicle of conveying to the nervous system
alcohol in its various forms, and other similar fluids. These are
unnatural to the stomach itself, though grateful to the nerves.
Consequently, the mucous lining of the alimentary canal may suffer in the attainment of an object required only by the nervous
system. This is, possibly, the very origin of a proportion of those
manifold chronic ailments known under the terms dyspepsia, hypochondriasis, bilious affections, etc., and is unquestionably an aggravating cause in many.  To the treatment of these affections, the




84      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
physician brings his purgatives, his carminatives, his anodynes, his
stomachics. But it is to the surface of the same unfortunate membrane that they are all applied; and it frequently results that,
when they relieve temporary suffering, they often leave the general health worse than they found it. From this predicament hydropathy professes to be entirely exempt, by abstaining from artificial interference with internal mucous membranes.
2. In the next place, the hydropathists adopt a system of diet,
such as other practitioners seldom venture to prescribe. If a person, suffering from constipation, or any of its long train of attendant ills, applies to an ordinary physician, he is probably told
scrupulously to avoid fruit, pastry, and all vegetables, except, perhaps, a favorite one, or it may be two.  He is also cautioned
against the use of veal, pork, beef, and new bread.  We have
known such a patient ordered to live for months-we might say
years-constantly on mutton, and bread never less than five days
old.  This case is neither singular nor infrequent.  What is the
consequence of this? The patient is compelled to take aperient pills
and draughts every day, or every other day; to stimulate the digestive organs (rendered torpid by the use of so monotonous a regimen)
by occasional glasses of sherry or porter; and to compensate the
deficient nutrition obtained from so barren a source, by indulgence
in strong tea and coffee. Such a patient goes to a hydropathic establishment, and is straightway ushered into a salle-a-manger, in
which he finds all the variety of food customary at a foreign tabled'hdte dinner, and is told to obey the dictates of his appetite. He
does so timidly at first, and apprehensive of direful consequences,
but he finds, to his astonishment, that he can take the forbidden
luxuries of broccoli, turnips, veal, game, puddings, and fruit, with
as much impunity as the never-varied mutton and dry bread, to
which he was previously restricted. This is an occurrence so frequently experienced, and so universally attested by hydropathists
and their patients, that we cannot refuse to admit it as a point attained by their system-therein being comprehended the water and
all its accessories and concomitants.
3. A third important principle of hydropathic treatment is, that
almost all its measures are applied to the surface. It is one of the
most formidable difficulties with which the ordinary physician has
to contend, that nearly all his remedies reach the point to which
they are directed, through one channel. If the brain requires to




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                85
be placed under the influence of a sedative or a stimulant, if the
muscular system  demands invigorating by tonics, if the functions
of organic life need correction by alteratives, the physician has no
means of attaining his object, except by inundating the stomach
and bowels with foreign, and frequently to them pernicious, substances. In being thus made the medical doorway to all parts of
the system, and so compelled to admit every description of therapeutical applicant, the organ of digestion is contorted to a purpose
for which it was never intended. The consequence is, that it has
to be consulted before we enter upon the treatment of any case,
and it often forbids our availing ourselves of remedies, or plans of
action, which are plainly, perhaps urgently, indicated by the condition of other organs, or of the system at large. Thus, to take
the three cases above mentioned: how often do we find that one
stomach will neither bear ether nor opium; another is injured by
steel; and others are intolerant of mercury. The two latter remedies are peculiarly illustrative of these remarks. Iron is employed to raise the tone of the general system, but it occasions constipation by its action on the alimentary canal; therefore, in order to
counteract this portion of its effect, it can only be used in conjunction with aloes, or some other purgative, the tendency of which,
as respects the system at large, may be exactly the reverse of that
of the steel.  With mercury the case is just the opposite.  We
wish to introduce it into the system; but it is purgative as well as
alterative and antiphlogistic, and the former quality often renders
very difficult our attaining the benefit of the two latter. The
physician, then, is frequently placed in the dilemma, either to injure the stomach in an attempt to relieve other parts, or to leave
the latter to their fate, because they can only be rescued at the
peril of the former. His only mode of escape from this predicament is, to employ a legion of adjuvantia, dirigentia, and corrigentia, in the multiplicity and confusion of which it is by no means
easy to make out so clear a balance of power as shall enable him
clearly to foresee which kind of action, in the menle, will get
the uppermost; and, unless he be well skilled in chemistry, he
may unconsciously prescribe a dose so scrupulously guarded as to
be neutralized and altogether impotent.
Of course we do not conclude that hydropathy has discovered a
remedy for this difficulty; but its own plan of proceeding is not
similarly embarrassed, because it deals with outward instead of in



86       HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
ward parts.  Whether it can produce an efficient substitute for
steel, mercury, opium, and other remedies, to which we are alluding, is altogether another question, and one which its professors
must bestir themselves to solve, by the careful record and honest
publication of their successful and unsuccessful cases.
4. Fourthly, hydropathy employs a system  of most energetic
general and local counter-irritation. It has been held by some
medical philosophers, that two kinds of morbid action cannot coexist in the same individual. According to this theory, if we can
set up an artificial, but harmless, disease by treatment, its development will be attended by the departure of any other disorder that
previously existed. Thus is supposed to be explained the operation of mercury in curing various diseases, the disorder arising from
its own action being easily disposed of afterward. We attach no
value to this dogma as a dogma, but it serves to embody a large
number of well-known facts, and may be as properly appropriated
by hydropathists as by other practitioners. By the diligent employment of hydropathic machinery, due regard being had to the
constitutional vigor, a condition is often excited, termed by hydropathists the crisis. This sometimes consists in the appearance of
various cutaneous eruptions; sometimes it is characterized by a
series of boils, more or less severe; in other cases its leading feature is disturbance of the function of some internal organ, creating
diarrhcea, abnormal urinary discharges, vomiting, etc.  In general
this effect is trifling, and seldom proceeds to such a degree as to
excite alarm, or to give cause for special interference; so that the
measures which have led to its appearance are in most cases continued, and in some even increased, until it has run through its
course and subsided.  This is not always the case.  Sometimes it
proceeds to a more serious length, and requires careful management
to prevent mischief; the boils, in particular, are often very troublesome; even death has, in a certain proportion of instances, ensued,
either as an immediate or remote consequence of the so-called crisis.
Whatever the crisis may be-or whether what is so called be a
crisis in reality-there is no disputing that it results from the
operation of a powerful system  of counter-irritation-or of irritation at least. It is to this that we now wish to direct attention,
because we suspect that in it is contained the true explanation of
the good effects of the water-cure in many chronic cases.
5. A fifth physiological feature of the water-cure is the number




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.              87
of coolings to which the body is subjected during the day. The
generation of caloric in the animal system has been traced to its
real source.  It results from  the burning up of waste matter,
which, by accumulation, would become injurious. The oxygen of
the atmosphere, admitted into the lungs by inspiration, traverses
the various blood-vessels of the body, and, in the minute capillaries, unites with carbonized substances. The union produces the
carbonic acid emitted from the lungs in expiration, and is attended
with the development of what is called animal heat. It is obvious
that lowering the temperature of the body, within certain limits,
by awakening an uncomfortable sensation in the nerves, would induce increased activity in this calorific process, in order to maintain or restore the average degree of warmth. This increased activity could only be supported by an additional consumption of
carbonized matter. If the carbonized matter were already there,
and if its existence constituted the disease, or an important part of
it, as is probably sometimes the case, a perfect cure would result
from its removal. But supposing there is no such matter present,
what then would be the consequence of stimulating this decarbonizing operation?  The consequence would certainly be, that the
constituents of the tissues themselves would be consumed, in order
to supply the pabulum required by the oxygen.  This would as
certainly excite an effort at restoration, by which the digestive organs would aim to renew to the tissues the amount abstracted by
the oxygen.  In other words, the appetite would be increased.
Hence it is that more food is required in cold climates than in
warm —in winter than in summer.  The greater consumption necessary to maintain equal temperature in cold weather, can only
be met by increased supply. What, in a vague and general manner, arises from the ordinary progress of the seasons, may be rendered methodical and profitable by the careful interference of art.
It has been urged that the effect here considered would equally
result from exposure to cold air, as to cold water. In the words
of Mr. Herbert Mayo, "This is not only entertaining, but satisfactory as far as it goes; and admits very well of being popularly
and loosely brought forward in favor of cold bathing; but unluckily it is as much or more in favor of our living in Nova Zembla, as
of our resorting to Graefenberg."
The same intelligent writer proceeds to notice other modes of
exposure to cold, which are found to produce evil instead of good,




88      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
which are, indeed, familiar as the frequent causes of serious disease,
and against which we are of old cautioned:
"Nudus ara, sere nudus-habebis frigora, febrim."
It is singular enough that this very argument, now employed to
discountenance the use of cold bathing, is the very strongest theoretical argument in its favor, as was long ago pointed out by that
very sarcastic writer, Dr. Baynard, in the following anecdote:
" Here a demi-brained doctor, of more note than nous, asked, in
the amazed agony of his half-understanding, how'twas possible
that an external application should affect the bowels, and cure the
pain within.'Why, doctor,' quoth an old woman standing by,'by the same reason that being wet-shod, or catching cold from
without, should give you the gripes and pain within.' "-p. 119.
If a rude exposure of the surface to cold and wet is capable of
producing internal disease, there is no doubt that a close relation
exists between those agents and the morbid conditions of internal
parts. Therefore, if they could, by skillful management, be so applied as to excite the opposite effect from that to which their bad
consequences are due, they would then become equally powerful
means of removing disease. This is the very thing that Priessnitz
and his disciples profess to have done-and to do.
Let us consider a little further the consequence of repeated applications of cold, supposing, for the sake of argument, it is used
with due reference to the constitutional powers, so as to create an
increased activity of the vital functions. It appears to us that this
is exactly the thing needed in the treatment of a great many cases
of chronic ailments. It is easy enough to construct methodical
catalogues of organic lesions and their symptoms, and to assign,
on paper, a "local habitation and a name" for every malady that
is to require our treatment.  But the truth is, that, practically
speaking, there are a vast number of cases in which the symptoms
may be said to constitute the only disease that can be detected,
and in which they point rather to a general torpidity or derangement of all, or almost all, the vital functions, than to special
change or disturbance in any particular organ. Many cases
known as indigestion, gout, rheumatism, liver complaints, or nervous affections, come under this description.  In a large portion
of such cases, and their like, we could conceive the practice of
Priessnitz to be peculiarly beneficial, if it consisted in nothing




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.               89
more than the frequent application, and skillful adaptation, of cold
water.  It was mainly by this means that the cures described by
Floyer and Baynard were effected, simple cold bathing having
been almost their only instrument.
6. Another physiological feature of hydropathic treatment consists in its creating a large amount of stimulation in the system.
This stimulation is of a peculiar kind, and very different from that
produced by alcoholic fluids or pharmaceutical stimulants.  The
difference is in its not awakening abnormal activity, to be succeeded by abnormal depression, in the nerves and organs of circulation,
as is done by the stimulants just mentioned. The fall of a heavy
douche, the sudden plunging into a cold bath with speedy exit,
active friction in a shallow bath, are means of stimulating the system in the manner here intended. The effect, we are told, is manifested in the altered look of the patient after taking the bath, in
his freshened cheek, his brightened eye, his elastic step, his cheerful tone. But it is not manifested in a quickened pulse, or a heated imagination, nor followed by exhausted energy or lowered spirits.  This is the description given by hydropathists (whose practice
we are not teaching but describing)-and which we have ourselves
heard given by patients. It is also said that drinking, in rapid
succession, several glasses of perfectly cold water, has a decidedly
stimulating influence on the system. If these descriptions be correct of hydropathic stimulants, that they are powerful as well as
innocuous, exciting and not exhausting, they constitute a valuable
instrument in the treatment of disease, and deserve the more careful attention of physicians.
We happen to have been acquainted with a case of a lady who
was at a hydropathic institution for the treatment of very aggravated chronic rheumatism.  Her general powers were much shaken, and she had been unable to walk at all for a period of about
four years, before undergoing this system  of treatment.  After
several weeks of sweating and cold plunging, locomotion began
gradually to return.  The first indication of this was, that she
could walk a few steps immediately after leaving the cold bath.
For a considerable time this continued to be the only occasion of
her being able to walk during the day, though she afterward made
considerably further progress. We mention this case because we
can guarantee its truth, and it always appeared to us a striking
and instructive instance of the stimulating property of a cold bath.




90       HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
7. A still more important and less questionable quality of the
water-cure, is itspower of lowering the system to any extent, without any of the debilitating means otherwise used for that purpose.
In a general inflammatory or febrile condition of the body, a
lengthened immersion in cold water, or an envelopment in a succession of wet sheets, would reduce the temperature and force of
circulation to the most extreme degree.  These means are, to the
functions of life, what an extinguisher is to a flame.  Their reducing power can be gradually applied up to the point of actual extinction.  Any where short of that, withdraw the means, and the
flame, whether of oil or of life, gradually resumes its previous
brilliancy.
In the treatment of febrile diseases an important indication is to
reduce the morbidly increased activity of some of the organic functions, most distinctly manifested in the circulation and the temperature.  For this purpose the great instrument heretofore most in
use is blood-letting, as being our only certain and expeditious
method of reducing the frequency, force, or fullness of the pulse.
So that, in order to suppress febrile action, we hazarded occasioning a more or less lingering debility. The post hoc, whether propter hoc or not, is too frequently a protracted convalescence, during
which the patient is in constant danger of relapse. The mortality
that occurs during convalescence after fever, from recurrence of
the original disease, from  some of its numerous sequele, or from
the accidental inroad of some other disorder, is so considerable as
to render this a period of great anxiety to the patient and the physician. It is a question deserving of cautious and dispassionate investigation, whether any portion of the liability to these mishaps is
attributable to the bleeding, purging, salivating, and low diet, employed in removing the fever.
In some of the cases of fever described by Currie, we cannot fail
to be struck by the rapidity and completeness of the cures effected
by cold affusion or immersion, when used sufficiently early. The
disease appears to have been suddenly checked or destroyed. In
the course of a few hours, or a day or two, a patient threatened
with, or laboring under a dangerous fever, was restored to perfect
health.  No period of debility ensued, no organs were found to
have been seriously or permanently injured.  The result of his
well-known treatment, by cold bathing, of the fever which appeared in the 30th regiment, is thus described:




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.              91
"These means were successful in arresting the epidemic; after
the 13th of June, no person was attacked by it.  It extended to
fifty-eight persons in all, of which thirty-two went through the
regular course of the fever, and in twenty-six the disease seemed to
be cut short by the cold affusion.  Of the thirty-two already mentioned, two died.  Both of these were men whose constitutions
were weakened by the climate of the West Indies; both of them
had been bled in the early stages of the fever; and one of them
being in the twelfth, the other in the fourteenth day of the disease,
when I first visited them, neither of them was subjected to the cold
affusion."-Vol. i., p. 13.
Again:
" In cases in which the affusion was not employed till the third
day of the fever, I have seen several instances of the same complete solution of the disease. I have even seen this take place
when the remedy had been deferred till the fourth day; but this is
not common." —Ibid., p. 23.
In contemplating these facts, we are driven seriously to ask, not
only is not the debility consecutive to fever partly occasioned by
the remedies employed in its treatment, but are not its attendant
local and organic lesions in a great measure produced by the febrile
paroxysm itself?  And could they not be avoided by boldly applying a remedy by which this febrile condition would be more
speedily subdued?  The real nature of fever is, unfortunately, beyond the reach of our present knowledge.  We only recognize the
disease in its causes, its symptoms, its complications. In them we
perceive much to lead us to answer the above questions in the affirmative.  It is peculiarly a general disease.  Its local characters
usually appear subsequently to its general development, and wear
much more the aspect of consequences than of causes.  Almost
any of the local complications of synochus, or typhus, may appear
in exanthematous fevers where they cannot be causes.
It appears to us to be a most important subject of inquiry,
whether a very serious fallacy does not pervade the medical profession at present, as to the best manner of employing cold water
in fever. Dr. Currie says:
"When the affusion of water, cold or tepid, is not employed in
fever, benefit may be derived, as has already been mentioned,
though in an inferior degree, by sponging or wetting the body
with cold or warm vinegar or water.  This application is, how



92      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
ever, to be regulated, like the others, by the actual state of the
patient's heat and of his sensations. According to my experience,
it is not only less effectual, but in many cases less safe; for the system will often bear a sudden, a general, and a stimulating application of cold, when it shrinks from its slow and successive application."-Vol. i., p. 73.
"It is evident De Haen was not regulated, in his use of external ablution with cold water, by rules similar to those which
I have ventured to lay down from  several years' experience.
Instead of pouring water over the naked body, he applied
sponges soaked in cold water to every part of the surface in succession, for some time together, in my judgment the least efficacious, as well as the most hazardous manner of using the remedy."
-Ibid., p. 84, note.
This is a remark which we suspect to be of very great importance, and to contain the real secret of much of the difference, as to
the treatment of fever, between hydropathists and the regular
faculty.  Modern physicians have professed to regard Dr. Currie
as a very high authority on this point, and his work is constantly
quoted as the most enlightened guide for the use of water in fever;
but the above opinion and precept have been, of late years, entirely
disregarded, and the converse has been made the rule of practice.
In the article on Bathing in the Cyclopaedia formerly referred to,
the author says:
"The only cases in which refrigeration is required as a remedy
are those in which the animal temperature is elevated above the
natural standard; and this happens only in febrile diseases. To
insure refrigeration, the water should be applied at first only a
little below the temperature of the skin, its heat being insensibly
and gradually reduced, but never below that of tepid, or at most
cool.  The gentlest mode of applying it is the best, as with a soft
sponge; and the process should be persevered in, without interruption, until the desired effect is produced."-Art. Bathing, Cyclopcedia of Practical Medicine.
We believe this mode of applying water in the treatment of
febrile diseases to be that which has for many years generally prevailed, not from ignorance of the precepts and practice of Dr. Currie, but from a general belief that fever once formed, could not be
extinguished by the cold affusion as recommended by him.  The
hydropathists have renewed his system in its full boldness.  It is,




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.                93
therefore, a question of the first interest, on which side does rea
son preponderate?
On carefully examining the cases of fever reported at length by
Currie and Lanzani, it will be seen that their cures were effected
by what may be termed a process of reaction.  The immediate
consequence, in most cases, of the copious libation, "ultra satietatem," of the one, and the affusion or immersion of the other, were
perspiration and sleep. These constituted the reaction. When
exacerbation of the fever ensued, and required a repetition of the
remedy, it occurred several hours after the cold application, when
the period of reaction had long passed over; and evidently proceeded not from the consequences of the cold treatment, but from
the non-removal of the diseased action. The cold appears to have
acted in a most decidedly medical manner, with a palpable and immediate succession of consequences altogether different from what
the gradual coolness of the sponge and tepid water can be expected to produce. If these cases are correctly stated, as they appear to be, it is preposterous to confound the febrile paroxysm
with reaction from a cold bath, or to expect any portion of the
beneficial effect of cold immersion in fever, from tepid or cool
sponging.  The two kinds of treatment are in no measure similar.
But it may be supposed there is a danger in the sudden and
active employment of the cold bath in fever.  We suspect that
this is entirely imaginary. Dr. Currie was certainly very bold in
its administration, and had extensive experience of its effects. In
the second edition of his work he says:
" I have thus related all the instances which have occurred to
me since the last edition of this volume (a period of five years of
extensive and attentive observation), in which the affusion of water
on the surface of the body, cold or tepid, proved either less beneficial in its effects in fever than I had formerly represented it, or
entirely unsuccessful.  I would add, if any such had occurred, the
instances in which this remedy had appeared to be injurious. But
experience has suggested to me no instance of the kind, and extensive as my employment of the affusion has been, I have never
heard that it has suggested, even to the fears or prejudices of others,
a single occasion of imputing injury to the remedy." —Vol. ii., p. 25.
This statement, which does not appear to have been assailed,
goes far toward proving the innocence, as his numerous cases do
the curative poiers of reaction in the treatment of fever.  We




94      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
certainly cannot quarrel with hydropathists for seeking to revive,
in its real character, a method supported by so high an authority.
8. It is scarcely necessary to remark that a judicious system of
cold bathing is a valuable tonic. This has been always known;
but it has not been so widely recognized in practice as in doctrine.
It has been thought necessary that cases for cold bathing should
be carefully selected; that they should consist only of such patients as have unimpaired constitutions; that certain diseases were
absolute contra-indications against the use of this remedy; that it
is a treatment requiring unquestionable vigor in the patient, and
skill in the physician to employ it without injury. It is scarcely
too much to say it has been regarded as a treatment rather for the
strong than the weak, and as tending rather to reduce than augment the powers of the system, and yet it is called a tonic. This
is an illogical paradox not quite solitary in medical literature. The
cold bath seems to be professionally employed to strengthen the
body, as temptation is to strengthen virtue, by furnishing an enemy
to struggle against. Thus it is considered more as a test than as
a source of strength.
The hydropathists have discarded this excessive precaution, and
boldly used their remedy as a tonic, wherever a tonic is required.
They have administered it to the young and the old, the weak, the
bilious, the gouty, the scrofulous, the dyspeptic, and the paralytic.
Neither mucous membranes nor mesenteric glands, infantile weakness, nor senile decrepitude, have stood in their way. To almost
all cases, all ages, and all constitutions, their method has been applied.  Unless it can be shown that this all but universal administration of the system has produced serious evils, we are actually
driven to admit that it is in the same proportion safe. And we
are bound to admit, though we have known some instances where
the practice has been seriously injurious, and have heard of others
of a similar kind, that the proportion of bad consequences has not
appeared to us greater than in the ordinary modes of treating similar diseases. The practice of the hydropathists is so open, and
their disciples so numerous, that the innocence of their proceedings may be said to be established by the absence of evidence to
the contrary.  We cannot enter any circle of society without encountering some follower of this method, ready to narrate a series
of psuchrolousian miracles, prepared to defend, and zealous to applaud the Priessnitzian practice; but few or none come forward




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.               95
with satisfactory evidence of any thing like general mischief having resulted from its general practice. Judgment must, therefore,
be entered by default against its opponents, and hydropathy is entitled to the verdict of harmlessness, since cause has never been
shown to the contrary.
But not only have hydropathists despised the discrimination
usually employed in the selection of cases for cold bathing, they
have manifested an equal apparent boldness in the manner of using
it. In place of the spongings and the dribblings to which ordinary
practitioners commonly deem it prudent to limit the use of this
remedy, they employ active plunging and powerful douches. Perhaps it is to this that they owe some portion of the impunity with
which they appear to have applied it so generally. They assert
that the more violent practice is really the more safe, and that the
danger to be apprehended is in proportion to the supposed mildness of the process, sponging being less safe than total immersion,
and a shower bath more dangerous than a douche. And assuredly
theory, in this respect, goes with them to some extent. In the
plunge there is a sudden shock, which awakens nervous energy,
and leads to speedy and effectual reaction; whereas in sponging,
the whole surface is exposed to a gradual and powerful cooling,
without the protection of stimulus. In the former, the whole frame
is at once covered with water, and shielded from the reducing
evaporation which would attend the latter. Moreover, the plunge
can be more speedily gone through, and-followed up more immediately by exercise. The same distinction may be made between
the hydropathic douche and the orthodox shower bath. The force
of the latter falls almost exclusively on the head and shoulders, as
it merely trickles down the rest of the frame. How different is
this from the powerful impulse of the douche upon all the muscular parts!
9. Another conspicuous item in the catalogue of hydropathic
machinery is the sweating process. On this subject hydropathists
are, in some measure, divided. It is said that Priessnitz has considerably modified his views respecting its efficacy and its safety.
In the earlier period of his practice he seems to have employed it
in nearly all cases. More recently he is said to have discarded it,
as a general remedy, in favor of packing in the wet sheet, though
still largely applying it in cases to which his matured experience
has taught him to regard it as especially beneficial.  We wish here




96      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
to direct attention to it merely in a physiological and pathological
point of view, and need not, therefore, enter into the question as
to the relative value of the past and present practice of Priessnitz.
The skin is a part through which nature has arranged that a
large amount of matter should be removed from  the body during
health, and a still larger amount, of different character, in the process of recovery from many diseases. It is well known that a deficient cutaneous excretion is incompatible with perfect health.
Perhaps there is scarcely any disease in which the function of the
skin is not, to some extent, deranged. To what extent, physicians
have not bestowed sufficient pains to learn; nor have they been
accustomed to give much attention to this part, in the practical investigation of diseases.  Still less has it acquired an important position in the list of parts to which medical treatment is directed.
Therefore we possess little information, in medical writers, as to
the amount or frequency of cutaneous disturbance in general disease, as to the effect of therapeutic means in correcting such disturbance, or as to the value of the correction in the cure of disease.
According to Priessnitzian writers, in almost all cases of indigestion, gout, rheumatism, nervous affections, indeed of chronic disorders in general, the action of the skin is either deficient or depraved, the part itself being found dry, hard, rough, thick, pale,
relaxed, or in some other manner unnatural. They further tell us
that a course of perspiration, or of the wet sheet, followed by cold
bathing, corrects these signs of disorder, and reduces the part to
its normal condition; and that the beneficial influence of the remedy is speedily manifested in the improvement of the case in other
respects. But it might be expected that such a course would, at
least, reduce the general strength, and require more vigor of constitution than many such patients possess.  And yet, if we may
believe the hydropathists, or even their patients, a course of active
hydropathic sweating is found to strengthen, instead of weakening
the system.  There is a ga in, instead of a loss of weight under its
operation.  Whether this be attributable to the subsequent cold
bathing, to the water drinking, or to the peculiar regimen, may be
a matter of question; but the fact would seem to be too notorious
to be contradicted.  We are told that it is no unfrequent occurrence at hydropathic establishments for the liquid perspiration to
be streaming on the floor, having penetrated through the material




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.              97
on which the patient is reclining, as well as the blanket in which
he is wrapped! The blanket also, when removed from the person,
is dripping with liquid in all directions, as if itself just removed
from the bath! On these occasions several pounds of matter must
be removed from  the body.  The patient, dripping and steaming,
next hastens into the plunge bath, stays there his appointed time,
cndergoes the prescribed friction, drinks his water, and finds himself actually invigorated by the strange process he has undergone.
Nay, more; it is placed beyond doubt by experience, that this
proceeding may be repeated daily, or even twice a day, for many
months, without producing any deleterious effect upon the general
health! Many cases have occurred in which it has been ascertained that it has been attended with an increase of weight, and
that of no slight amount.  We know the particulars of one case,
in which a gouty gentleman gained seven pounds in a fortnight of
such treatment; and of another, in which there was a gain of eight
pounds in ten days. We are also acquainted with the case of a
lady, who was unable to walk at any other period of the day, except immediately after the sweating process-a sure proof that it
did not occasion debility.
The safety of the immediate succession of cold bathing upon
copious sweating has been called in question; but the practice of
so many hydropathists as there are around us amply establishes
this point. On scientific grounds, the question was completely set
at rest by Dr. Currie.
An effective and innocuous means of increasing the excretion
from the skin being thus found, which appears to combine with
its own peculiar action the indirect effect of a tonic, have we not
reason to regard it as a promising instrument of cure, in many disordered states of the system?  We fully believe that we have.
We know the utility of augmenting the secretion of the mucous
membranes, the liver, the kidneys; we recognize this in our constant practice. It is by this means that we combat a large proportion of chronic as well as acute maladies.  Why should the
skin alone be neglected?  Physiology teaches us that it is the vehicle for conveying out of the system a large amount of matter,
solid as well as liquid; and practical experience exhibits it as the
channel through which the materies morbi in many instances, and
the burden of plethora generally, find their exit. These facts inr




98      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
dicate it as a legitimate locality for the same artificial measures
which are found serviceable on other secreting organs.
It may be objected to what we are now urging, that profuse
perspiration itself characterizes many diseases, of which it is one
of the most formidable symptoms.  How can sweating cure acute
rheumatism, it may be asked, of which it is almost a constant fea
ture?  But the same remark applies to other medical phenomena 
Excessive purging and increased action of the kidneys are dangerous, frequently mortal symptoms.  But does that prevent our
employing them as remedies?  Do we not, in spite of our frequent
experience of their injurious effects, apply them almost constantly
to the cure of disease? Are there ten cases out of ten thousand
in which some kind of purgatives are not administered? Nay, is
not dysentery itself treated by purgative calomel? Let us extend
the same tolerance to sweating.  It is contrary to all the instruction of experience to confound the consequences of a phenomenon
violently excited by morbid causes, with those it induces when
seasonably created and carefully managed by skillful treatment.
In many of these cases, the benefit does not appear to result
so much from stimulating the function of any particular organ, as
from removing a certain portion of matter from the system at large.
There is no reason to suppose that exciting the liver, the colon,
the duodenum, or the kidneys, for instance, has any special influence over a morbid condition of the brain. We find that drugs
which act upon any of these organs, frequently relieve such conditions, and they may often be selected indiscriminately, the one
answering much the same purpose as the others.  A common antibilious pill, retailed for a penny by a druggist, or a patented nostrum of Cockle or Morrison, will generally do as well as the most
elaborate prescription. The particular adaptation seems to depend
more on constitutional idiosyncrasy than on any fixed relation of
the part diseased with the part treated. The whole of those remedies appear to act in such cases either by a general principle of
counter-irritation, or by removing a quantum of fluid or of excretory matter from the circulation, either of which objects might be
attained as speedily, as certainly, as extensively, and as safely, by
the skin as by any other part.
But the power of the water-cure over excretions is not limited
to the skin. It professes to be both a purgative and a diuretic.
That it is diuretic, in a certain sense, needs no proof. It is no




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.              99
new discovery, that in proportion to the quantity of fluid imbibed
by the mouth will be the quantity emitted by the kidneys. This,
though verbally, is not medically a diuretic action.  It may consist simply in the mechanical discharge of the fluid imbibed, with
no augmentation of the proper functions of the kidneys, as respects
the previous condition of the blood-vessels.  But it is not perhaps
unphilosophical to give hydropathists the benefit of supposing that
water drinking may do indirectly what it does not appear to do
directly: by its diluting power may it not destroy the influence of
any mischievous constituent of the blood, the excess of dilution
being immediately repaired by the removal of the water through
the kidneys, in company with the deleterious matter dissolved in
it?  This view might be admitted, if it could be shown practically
that drinking water has the same effect on disease as taking
diuretics.
The purgative action of hydropathy is less equivocal. It frequently happens, in cases of constipation, that after a few days' or
weeks' use of its appliances, the patient is attacked with diarrhcea.
This is sometimes troublesome, but we believe seldom dangerous.
On its subsiding, the bowels are said to have generally acquired a
regular and healthy action, which is thenceforward maintained by
persevering in the drinking, bathing, etc.  In other cases, a regular action of the bowels comes on in a gradual manner, without the
occurrence of diarrhcea, the treatment appearing to influence the
bowels through its action on the system at large. In others, and
every one has seen examples of this, the mere drinking of a few
glasses of water before breakfast is represented as a purgative that
may be relied on.  In these the daily dose is regulated according
to circumstances, being increased when signs of torpidity are observed.  We are ourselves acquainted with some persons who regulate this function as accurately by water drinking, as they formerly did by medicinal aperients.  There are cases, again, in
which the sitz bath, or other external applications of cold water,
produce a purgative effect.
It may be asked, Is not this effect too uniform for the purpose
of the practical physician? Does it not often result from the mere
percolation of water through the mucous lining of the intestinal
canal? Is it not, therefore, a mere pouring out of what has been
swallowed?  Is it not clearly inadequate to excite the particular
action of the liver, the pancreas, the lower or upper portion of the




100     HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
intestinal tube? Is it not necessary that we should be able to act
on these parts separately, for the effectual cure of disease? These
questions, important as they appear, may with equal justice be
asked as to the practical proceedings of our profession in general.
It is true that, in theory, many nice distinctions are laid down respecting the peculiar operation, as to locality or otherwise, of different cathartics. But are these distinctions generally observed in
practice?  Did not Abernethy's page 72 contain the curative
maxim for all cases? and were not his prescriptions almost always
identical? Has not every respectable family doctor his " my pills,"
carefully prepared from the same ingredients for every difficulty in
the bowels? Is not the black draught as universal a purgative as
Priessnitz would make cold water? Are not all our moneyed dyspeptics and hypochondriac nabobs sent in a body to mineral
springs, because they are purgative, without any preliminary investigation as to their action on the duodenum or the colon, the
liver or the pancreas, or as to the expediency of such action in the
individual case in question?
11. We observe, also, in the history of hydropathic practice, the
development of a peculiar sedative or tranquilizing influence.  It
is well illustrated in the following passage from Mr. Mayo's preface:
"Through repeated attacks of a sort of rheumatism, my constitution appeared completely broken down. Already crippled in my
limbs, preserving what power of exertion I still retained only
through the use of opium, and my indisposition still increasing, I
looked forward to being, before long, worn out with suffering-as
to death as a release.  I could not bear the fatigue of a land
journey, or I should have gone at once to Graefenberg; but Coblentz and Boppard might be reached from London by water-so I
went to Marienburg in June, 1842.  On arriving there, I was
placed on a routine system of sweating and bathing. The immediate effect on my health was strikingly beneficial, and in a week I
was able to relinquish the use of opium.  The rheumatism did not,
however, give way proportionably to my general improvement.
The pains of the joints were, indeed, heightened."-(p. 1.)
This was a painfully severe case, one in which every conceivable
remedy had been previously tried, not excepting repeated change
of air, the Bath waters, etc.; yet nothing had succeeded in relieving the system from the necessity of constantly using opium. A




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.    101
"routine system of sweating and bathing" was applied, and in a
week the patient was able to relinquish his doses of opium, notwithstanding that the rheumatism did not give way; indeed, the
pains in the joints increased. How is this to be explained? Only
by supposing that, independent of any curative influence over the
actual disease, the water-cure exercised some sort of sedative action on the system at large. Similar instances are said to be
familiar at hydropathic establishments. If these accounts may be
depended on, hydropathy would appear to contain, in its armamentarium, even an anodyne, and one of great power.  Every
practitioner knows the difficulty presented in the treatment of
chronic cases, by morbid irritability, and painful nervous sensations, which are not only intolerable to the patient himself, but
most prejudicial to his recovery; and which can only be relieved,
from time to time, by repeated and gradually augmented doses of
a drug, whose own effects are almost as pernicious as the symptoms it is used to palliate. This is one instance of a predicament
in which the physician is not infrequently placed, when he has
most gravely to consider whether there is most mischief in the disease to be combated, or in the only remedy by which it can be
encountered.  If "a routine system of sweating and bathing" affords a means of extrication from the present instance of this difficulty, this is a strong reason why it should not continue to be
obstinately excluded from the well-fenced pale of the medical profession.
12. In addition to the effects already considered, and vwhich
have occupied as much as can be spared of our space, the watercure pretends to the possession of other important powers. Thus,
it is said to be a stomachic, since it almost invariably increases the
appetite. It is a local calefacient, in the application of the wet
cloth covered by the dry one. It is a derivative-cold friction at
one part, by exciting increased action there, producing corresponding diminution elsewhere. It is a local as well as general counterirritant, the compress frequently acting, if not like a blister, at
least like a mustard poultice. It is essentially alterative in the continued removal of old matter by sweating, and its renewal as shown
in the maintenance of the same weight.
13. Lastly, our subject brings us to make a few remarks on
medical habits in reference to chronic cases. In such cases, we
have only commenced the treatment, when we have removed the




102     HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
immediate symptoms; the real difficulty consists in preventing
their recurrence.
Accordingly, the patient quits his physician with ample instructions for his future guidance, and with most impressive warnings
as to perseverance in their observance. What are these instructions, and to what habits do they lead? Let us take a case of
"biliousness," or chronic dyspepsia, and briefly trace the history of
its "legitimate " treatment, according to the heroic school of London.
In addition to constipation, the patient, we shall suppose, is
affected with acidity, deficient or depraved appetite, foul tongue,
oppression after meals, susceptibility to cold, debility, headache,
despondency, irritability of temper, inconstancy of purpose, hopelessness of relief, with divers local grievances. A few brisk cathartic doses, combined with mutton diet and a gentle stimulant,
empty the bowels, and carry off most of the attendant ills. By
continuing this plan for a short time, the patient is what is medically termed cured; but, for future protection, he is furnished
with a prescription-say of aloes, colocynth, and  calomel, or
some such compound, to take pro re nata; another of senna and
salts to take less frequently, as more urgent symptoms require; a
third of calumba, gentian, or cinchona, to take at noon with a
glass of sherry. He is told to live on boiled mutton, rice, and dry
bread, avoiding fruit and vegetables.
What future, as respects health, has such a person before him?
As long as he lives he will be a martyr to the disease, probably in
an increasing degree; he must abandon all hope of the action of
the bowels ever resuming its normal state; his general strength will
gradually diminish; his nervous system will become more and
more irritable; his whole comfort and enjoyment will be sacrificed
in order to empty the alimentary canal; he will become one of the
most pitiable of all sufferers, a " person living by rule;" his health
will be supported, as one of our witty doctors remarks, like a
shuttlecock between two battledoors, by the alternate impulse of
senna and sherry, of calomel and coffee, of jalap and gentian. As
long as these instruments are so directed, that their respective influences succeed each other in compensating proportion, all seems,
for the time, smooth; but let either overdo or underdo the mark,
and every thing breaks down.  The game must then be commenced anew, to be continued as long as feather and cork resist
the tendency which it has to knock them to pieces.




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.    103
This is scarcely a caricatured picture of the discipline to which
dyspeptic patients are often forced to submit. Every body's experience must furnish abundant proof that the illustration is too
close to nature. It is in the latter stages of these affections, when
the patients have long been under the influence of therapeutic
means, that Priessnitz pronounces them "drug diseases."  If, by
this term, he means that drugs constitute the whole disease, then
he is no doubt wrong; yet, in one point of view, he is right. The
original complaint for which the drugs were administered might,
very probably, have been one requiring some artificial remedy,
and which would have induced more serious consequences, had not
some such remedy been employed.  But it is quite possible that a
persevering use of such remedies may create a train of symptoms,
in addition to those which existed before, and induce such a host
of wants as may constitute a prominent feature of the case, by the
time it is submitted'to the curative process of such a practitioner
as Priessnitz; therefore his term, drug disease, may not be altogether inapplicable.
But what is often the result of placing the cases now under
consideration in a hydropathic establishment?  Precisely such as
might be expected from the abandonment of a pernicious custom,
and the adoption, at the same time, of a more natural mode of life,
with healthier and hardier habits; and with the additional mental
stimulus of cheerfulness, of faith and hope in the new system, and
of unbounded confidence in the new doctor. It is accordingly the
general report that, in a large proportion of such cases, the patients are enabled immediately to discontinue the use of purgative
medicines; they can bear a mixed animal and vegetable diet, in
the ordinary proportion; a regular action of the bowels is shortly
acquired, and no further stimulant or pharmaceutical tonic is necessary.  When they quit the establishment, formal and complex
means being no longer required, we are assured that they are able,
for a time, at least, to maintain the ground gained, simply by common-sense diet, drinking a few glasses of water in the morning,
taking a daily cold bath, and persevering in their habitual exercise.
The country rings with such accounts as these; if they are correct,
undoubtedly the patients are in a fair way of recovering their lost
health and strength, and are pursuing, subsequently to systematic
treatment, a much more rational and scientific course of medical habits, than that enjoined to the dyspeptic disciple of medical orthodoxy.




104    HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
The questions with which we set out, may now be hypothetically answered: they were, " Does hydropathy furnish the physician with instruments which he, as a skillful workman, can undertake to employ?  Does it contain, among its various machinery,
any really therapeutic means, any properties capable of carrying
out the indications which we regard as palpable in many diseases?"
These questions, we think, may be allowed to have been answered
in the affirmative, if we may depend on the results of our own
limited experience; they must be allowed to be so answered, and
unequivocally, if we may admit as perfectly trustworthy the accounts
published by the hydropathists themselves, and by those who have
subjected themselves to the treatment. On another occasion we
may, perhaps, endeavor to sift this evidence in a more rigid manner, in order to ascertain with certainty what in it is true, what
false, what doubtful, and what inapplicable. But in any inquiry
we may institute, we must continue to examine the water-cure
relatively to other modes of practice; this is the only method of
arriving at an estimate of its actual value to the practical physician. The imperfections which it shares in common with ordinary treatment, and which are inseparable from all human performances, may be left entirely out of sight; to dwell on them would
be uselessly to encumber the question, like inserting a crowd of
corresponding items upon both sides of an equation. The philosopher's duty is to remove such superfluities, in order that the real
problem may appear in a just and intelligible form.
In conclusion, we will venture to place on record the following,
as among the more important impressions which have remained on
our mind after a careful examination of the whole subject.
1. We should be glad to see Dr. Currie's practice revived (for
the sake of experiment, at least), in all its boldness, for the suppression of the general febrile paroxysm. On carefully looking
over the evidence published by Dr. Currie and his contemporaries,
it is impossible to deny that they attained a larger amount of success in treating fever by water, than other practitioners have
done by other means.  We have already pointed out how their
practice has been misunderstood by modern writers. But, while
we regard this practice as well adapted for treating general fever,
we find no proof that it is competent to meet the dangerous local
complications with which fever is so often accompanied. These
Gomplications may reasonably be expected less frequently, whev




HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.    105
the early treatment of fever is rendered more efficacious. But
when they do occur, we find nothing in hydropathic writers to
show that lancets, leeches, etc., can be dispensed with.
2. In a large proportion of cases of gout and rheumatism, the
water-cure seems to be extremely efficacious. After the evidence
in its favor, accessible to every body, we think medical men can
hardly be justified in omitting-in a certain proportion of cases, at
least-a full trial of it.  No evidence exists of any special risk
from the water practice in such cases.
3. In that very large class of cases of complex disease, usually
known under the name of chronic dyspepsia, in which other modes
of treatment have failed, or been only partially successful, the practice of Priessnitz is well deserving of trial.
4. In many chronic nervous affections and general debility, we
should anticipate great benefits from this system.
5. In chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, and hemorrhoids, the sitz
bath appears to be frequently an effectual remedy.
6. We find nothing to forbid a cautious use of drugs in combination with hydropathic measures.  On the contrary, we are convinced that a judicious combination of the two is the best means
of obtaining the full benefit of each. The water-cure contains no
substitute for the lancet, active purging, and many other means
necessary for the relief of sudden and dangerous local maladies.
The banishment of drugs from  his practice was necessary, and
perhaps natural, on the part of Priessnitz; the like proceeding on
the part of qualified medical men superintending water establishments in this country, evinces ignorance or charlatanry-or both.
7. With careful and discreet management, in the hands of a
properly qualified medical practitioner, the water-cure is very
rarely attended with danger.
8. Many of the principal advantages of hydropathy may be obtained in a private residence, with the assistance of ordinary movable baths. Therefore, it can easily be brought under the direction of the regular medical practitioner.
9. In many cases, however, it is evident that what may be
termed the mere accessories of the water-cure, are of extreme importance in bringing about a favorable result; and these accessories are frequently not available-or available in a very inferior
degree-in ordinary practice.  Among the more important of
these accessories we may mention the following as having relation
5*




106      HYDROPATHY, OR THE MODERN WATER-CURE.
to most of the chronic cases treated in hydropathic establishments:
1. Relief fiom mental labors of exhausting or irritating kind, from
the anxieties and responsibilities of business, from domestic irritations of various kinds, from mental inaction or ennui, etc.; 2.
Change of locality, air, scene, society, diet, etc.; 3. The fresh mental stimulus involved in the almost constant occupation of the pa~.tient's time in the performance of the numerous and various dabblings, paddlings, sweatings, washings, drinkings, rubbings, etc.,
imposed by the water treatment; 4. The frequent and regular bodily exercise taken in the open air, or within doors; 5. The powerful mental stimulus supplied by the confidence generally reposed
by the patients in the means employed, and by the consequent
hope, alacrity, cheerfulness, etc.; 6. The total abandonment of
vinous and other stimulants, and drugs, all of which have, in a
large proportion of cases, been tried and found not only useless,
but probably productive of disadvantage.
10. A certain and not inconsiderable portion of the benefits derived from  hydropathic establishments are, however, attainable
without them, by other means, as by traveling, etc., etc.  For example, we suspect that many of the most striking results witnessed
in such establishments, as in the case of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, or Mr. Lane, would have probably been obtained, if the patients had chosen to hire themselves, and had worked as agricultural laborers, in a dry, healthy district, and had lived on agricultural fare, sufficiently nutritious in quantity and kind, for a sufficient length of time.
11. Notwithstanding the success of the founder of hydropathy,
its practice by non-professional persons can neither be fully advantageous nor safe.  At the same time, it is true that very little experience is necessary to enable an educated medical man to acquire
sufficient insight into it for purposes of practice. Many of the
best hydropathic physicians have, in the first instance, devoted
very few weeks to studying the subject in Germany.
12. Many advantages would result from  the subject being taken up by the medical profession.  The evils and dangers of
quackery would at once be removed from it.  Its real merits
would soon be known.  The tonic portion of its measures might
then be employed in conjunction with special remedies of more
activity, which, no doubt, would often prove exceedingly beneficial.




THEORY  OF  HYDROPATHY.                             107
13. The benefits ascribed to hydropathy, but arising indirectly
from the abandonment of drugs, vinous and other stimulants, etc.,
may certainly be obtained without sending patients to Graefenberg.
14. Finally, it must always be remembered that the distinction
between quacks and respectable practitioners is one, not so much
of remedies used, as of skill and  honesty in using  them.  Therefore, let our orthodox brethren be especially anxious to establish
and to widen, as far as possible, this distinction between themselves
and all spurious pretenders.   "Artem  medicam  denique videmus,
si a naturali philosophia destituatur, empiricorum praxi haud multurm  preestare.  lfedicina in philosophia non fundata, res infirma
est."
CHAPTER IV.
THEORY OF HYDROPATHY-DR. BILLING'S THEORY OF
DISEASE.*
Dr. Billing's First Principles of Medicine.-Liebig and Billing.-All Diseases caused by
impressions made on the Nervous System.-Congestion and Inflammation.-Tonicity.The living Body composed of Capillary Vessels.-Functions and Offices of these Vessels.-Action of the Arteries.-Momentum of Blood in inflamed Parts.-Difference between Congestion and Inflammation.-How morbid Growths are Formed.-Irritation.Nervous Disorders.-There is properly but one Disease and one Cure.-Worms in the
Bowels.-The inefficiency of Drugs has multiplied their Number.-The active Bleeding
and various Medicines.-Weakness or exhausted Nervous Energy the cause of all Disease.-Illustration of the Hydropathic Treatment.-Operation of Cold Water and Cold
Air. —The Cold or Tonic Treatment in Consumption.-The true Principle of treating
this Disease.-Various medical Hobbies point to the same End.-Not a single Drug in the
whole range of the Pharmacopoeia that can be relied on.-Cold Water as a means of
unloading and constringing the Capillaries.-Value of cold Applications to the Head.The general applicability of the Hydropathic Treatment.-Testimony of Analogy and
Experience.-Mischief of Drugs.-A  Fatal Case from Mercury.-Strychnine and its
Effects.-A case of Paralysis.-Hydropathy may be made to do Harm. —Opium and
Mercury.-Their Effects. —The Cold Bath and Sweating.-The sudden checking of Perspiration a chimerical Danger.-Facts in Proof of this Statement.
THE  "First Principles of Medicine," by  Dr. Billing, is a work
too well known, and too universally esteemed, to need any encomium  from  me.  For years no medical work has issued  from  the
press, which was received by medical critics and the medical profession at large with such universal approbation as this of Dr. Billing.   In  every  medical library  it took  its place  at once, as a
* From Dr. Edward Johnson's " Hydropathy."




108               THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
standard work, and remains so to the present hour.  Though
essentially theoretical, yet its theories are every where so completely
supported by multiplied practical facts and illustrations-which its
author's position as a senior physician to the London Hospital enabled him to accumulate-and the amount of clinical information
with which it abounds is so great, the simplicity of its style so
felicitous, while the common sense plainness with which the questions are argued is so strong and convincing, that its hypotheses
have almost the force of facts.
It will be observed how beautifully Liebig's theory of life (as
far as it regards morbid actions), and Billing's theory of disease,
reciprocally support each other, and both the principles of the
water-cure.
Dr. Billing's theory is, that "all" diseases are caused by impressions made on the nervous centres or their nerves, by which
the nervous influence (whatever it be) is exhausted or morbidly
diminished.  That the capillary blood-vessels, which (in health)
are always held in a state of semi-contraction (tone) by virtue of
this nervous influence shed upon them  by the nerves, become
relaxed and weakened-(Liebig's diminution of vital resistance)having their diameters enlarged, whenever the exhausted nerves
fail in supplying them  with the quantity of nervous influence
necessary to preserve their tone, or state of semi-contraction upon
their contents. That the weakened, relaxed, and enlarged capillaries now admit a larger current of blood, whose motion through
them becomes slower.  That they are, in fact, in a state of congestion.  And that altered function or functional disease is the result
of this altered condition of the capillaries, and altered size and
altered velocity of the stream of blood which they carry. When
this congestion takes place in the veins, it constitutes simple congestion-when in the arteries, it is accompanied by degeneration
of the arterial coats-and now takes the name of inflammation.
This degeneration of the coats of the inflamed arteries is Liebig's
excessive action of the destructive force of oxygen-the enlarged
arteries now containing an excessive quantity of oxydized blood,
while the resistance opposed to its influence is (as we have just
seen) diminished.  This degeneration does not take place in the
veins, observes Dr. Billing.  No-because the veins do not contain
oxydized blood.
Man is almost entirely composed of capillary vessels.  His body




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                     109
may be compared to a sack stuffed with hair, every hair being a
tube of a determinate diameter (which particular diameter is necessary to the condition of health), and carrying a stream of fluid.
which stream must also be of a determinate size. And this bundle of capillary or hair-like tubes is every where permeated by
nervous filaments or threads, which shed upon them their electroid
influence, whose office it is to preserve their tone or necessary diameter-upon the preservation of which their healty functions depend.
When any cause deprives them of a due supply of the electroid or
nervous influence, by exhausting the nervous system or any part
of it, the healthy diameter is lost, becoming larger, and they now
admit too large a current of fluid, and the velocity of its fluxion is
retarded, producing congestion.
When any cause, as the exhibition of stimulants, elicits from the
nerves too great a quantity of nervous influence, then also the
healthy diameter is lost, but in a contrary direction. The diameter now becomes too small —the vessels contract too much-and
the size of the current of fluid is now too much diminished. This
illustration will, I trust, enable the unprofessional reader clearly to
understand Dr. Billing's beautiful theory of disease.
Inflammation, then, consists of weakened, relaxed, enlarged arterial capillaries, admitting a too large current of blood, whose progress through them is also retarded, giving rise to congestion or
engorgement, degeneration of their coats, and consequent alteration of their secretions.
"All the business," says Dr. Billing, "of constant support, and
renewal of parts, and supply of secretions, as the growth or repair
of bone, muscle, membrane, and other structures, the formation of
bile, saliva, mucus, and other secretions, is carried on by the extreme
minute branches of the blood-vessels; and while these preserve
their proper size and tone, all goes on well; when their action is
deranged, disease commences, often prefaced by pain, or other
disorders of the nerves."  "Some capillaries are too small to admit
many of the red particles (oxydized blood-globules), unless when
they are enlarged by inflammation, as in the eye, which, when inflamed, changes from  white to red; besides that, even the red
capillaries are so minute, that they are not visible individually to
the naked eye, till enlarged by inflammation."  "During health
the capillary arteries go on with their work of nutrition and secretion, the muscles are fed, the mucous surfaces are lubricated just




110               THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
enough to prevent any sensation from the substances which pass
along them, the serous surfaces are made sufficiently moist to slide
upon each other without sensation, and the skin is kept soft by an
insensible vapor. All this time there is another process going on
also, which is the removal of superfluous matter by the absorbents:
if it were not for these, there would be inconvenient accumulation
of what is deposited by the arteries."
"The deposit or precipitation of solid matter by the arteries is
not difficult to be understood; and we can, by reference to chemical
action, account for the removal also of solids; for solids become
fluid or gaseous, by what is called spontaneous decomposition"
(Liebig calls it transformation of tissues by the chemical action of
oxygen), "and thus removable by absorbents."
"The action of arteries also is acknowledged to be contraction,
whether considered muscular or not; but there is some difference
of opinion as to the degree of action of the arteries in inflamed parts.
It is very common to say, that in inflammation there is an increase
of arterial action; but a consideration of the phenomena and of
the nature of arterial action will show that in INFLAMED PARTS the
CAPILLARY ARTERIES ARE WEAKER in their action; that there is
DIMINISHED ARTERIAL ACTION, for the action of arteries is contraction.  Now the arteries in inflamed parts are evidently larger than
before-less contracted-that is, acting less."
" It is the opinion of some persons, even at the present day, that
the motion of the blood is accelerated in inflamed parts; though
the experiments of Parry and others prove the contrary to be the
case, as follows from  the capillary arteries being enlarged; inasmuch as where fluid passes through a given space, the current
beyond that will be slower in proportion to the wideness of the
channel, as in a wide part of a river, where the current becomes
slower; and the same may be observed by passing water, mixed
with grains of amber, through a glass tube with a bulbous enlargement in the middle; the current will slacken in the bulb, and
resume its velocity beyond it."
" The difference between congestion and inflammation is, that in
congestion there is merely distension of the vessels; in inflammation there is, in addition, alteration of tissue-actual deterioration,
more or less, of the structure of the capillaries. * * * * The
fault commences in the tissue.  As soon as a want of that harmony between the nerves and the capillaries, which is necessary




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                     111
to organization, takes place, their fine tissue begins to compose"
(the action of oxygen becomes, according to Liebig, greater than
the resistance of the vital force-the same sense expressed in different language), "the particles which were held together by this
inscrutable agency begin to be precipitated from one another, etc.,
etc."
"When accidental mechanical injury, or other cause, changes
the action of the capillaries, either by a direct impression on themselves, or by primarily injuring their nerves, the derangement of
their action is the commencement of disease-secretions become
altered, checked, or profuse nutrition is either diminished so as to
produce emaciation, or there is an excessive deposition-vapory
exhalations are diminished to dryness, or increased to fluid-bony
matter is deposited in wrong places-or albuminous, fatty, or other
particles, so as to constitute tumors-the nerves of parts become
morbidly sensible, so as to derange the functions of those partsportions, on losing their vitality, undergo spontaneous decomposition (destructive action of oxygen, either owing to an unwonted
quantity of oxydized blood being carried to the part, or from the
diminished resistance of the vital force), and are removed by the
absorbents."
" Irritation, continued excitation of the nerves of a healthy part,
as just shown, at last produces inflammation, by exhausting that
nervous influence which gives the capillaries power; they thus become weakened, allow of over-distension, and the part is in the
state of inflammation or congestion."  "Thus, in a part inflamed,
there is diminution of organic action (contraction), in consequence
of which the blood is admitted in excess.  As long as the capillaries are supplied with nervous influence, as long as they possess
perfect organic action (contraction), they preserve a due size; when
they lose it, either from the influence not being supplied from the
nervous system, or are robbed of it by heat, electricity, cantharides, or any other cause, they give way, and admit more blood than
before."
Having given this explanation of the nature of inflammation
(which is also maintained by many other very able writers, as Professor Macartney, I think, and several others, and proved by the
microscopic observations of German experimentalists), he proceeds
to show that fever, and that class of diseases called neuroses, or
nervous disorders, as chorea, hysteria, tetanus, epilepsy, etc.-all




112                THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
those diseases which are characterized by irritation or morbid sensibility-consist in inflammation, that is, a relaxed, enlarged, and
congested condition of the capillary arteries of the nerves-in a
word, inflammation of the nerves.  Indeed, if Dr. Billing be right
in his assertion (and I see not how it can possibly be refuted), that
all diseases have exhausted nervous influence for their cause, then it
follows that all diseases whatever must consist essentially in weakened, enlarged, and congested capillaries, since the relaxation of
the capillaries must be the first effect which is produced by exhausting that influence which alone preserves to them their normal
size or diameter.
Such being the one proximate cause or essential nature of all
disease, the principal of cure is one also. Thus there is (properly)
but one disease, and one cure.
The proximate cause is relaxation and enlargement of the capillaries-the indication of cure, therefore, is to constringe the capillaries, to cause them to contract and resume their healthy dimensions.
Dr. Billing having established this position by a multitude of
illustrations and practical facts well known to medical men, together with illustrative cases of particular diseases, as rheumatism,
palsy, dropsy, consumption, skin diseases, hysteria, nervous affections, locked-jaw, gout, etc., etc., then proceeds to show that all
medicines, numerous as they are, together with bleeding, produce
their good effects on disease by the power, and in proportion to
the power, which they possess, directly or indirectly, of causing
the relaxed capillaries to contract and resume their healthy dimensions.
He reduces all medicines whatever to no more than four-sedatives, tonics, narcotics, stimulants.
Sedatives, direct and indirect, among which are included purgatives, emetics, and bleeding, are such as "diminish the action of
the heart and other organs, by repressing the nervous influence,"
thus lessening the velocity with which the capillaries are supplied
with blood by the injecting force of the heart; and such as, by
emptying the capillaries, facilitate their contraction by removing or
lessening the resistance offered to their contracting sides by the
contained blood.
Tonics are such as, being circulated in the blood through the
capillaries, have the direct effect of constringing them, or causing




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                     113
them to contract upon their contents, and thus to force or squeeze
the fluid onward.
Stimulants are such as elicit from the nerves a temporary, forced,
and more than ordinary quantity of nervous influence, causing a
corresponding degree of capillary contraction. But the effect of
these last remedies is but temporary, since all forced excitement
of the nervous centres must ever be followed by a corresponding
degree of exhaustion.
Narcotics are such as, by dulling the sensibility of the nervous
system, procure sleep, and thus afford an opportunity to the inherent curative power, or vis medicatrix naturae, to restore the
tone, or normal degree of contraction, of the capillaries.
Thus, then, however numerous be the forms or symptoms of
disease, there is, de facto, but one disease.  And, however numerous may be the means and appliances of the healing art, there is
in fact but one intention to be fulfilled-the restoration of the capillaries to their normal dimensions by constringing their coats.
I was once asked by a physician, for whose talents I entertain
the highest respect, how I reconciled with this theory that disease
called worms in the bowels. But to this I replied, that a worm in
the bowels, UNTIL IT HAS PRODUCED IRRITATION, is no more a disease than a fly on the hand, or a flea on the back-and when that
irritation has been produced, then it is that IRRITATION which constitutes the disease, of which the worm was the REMOTE CAUSE, as
a musquito is the remote cause of the inflammation which its bite
produces; and we have already seen that irritation (which Dr.
Billing with much more propriety calls morbid sensibility) consists in inflammation of the capillaries of the nerves. But no one
would think of calling a musquito a disease!
It is the inefficiency of drugs which has multiplied their number.
Two, or two thousand, are required, because there is not one which
can be depended on. If one could be discovered which would always effectually produce the necessary degree of capillary contraction, then that one would be sufficient.
"In some cases of disease," says Dr. Billing, " when the secretions of the skin and kidneys are deficient, we renew them by
bleeding, digitalis, antimony, etc., which lower the force of the
pulse, thereby diminishing the distension of the capillaries, in conformity with the above statement."
"Medicines, such as mercury, iodine, etc., have an effect on the




114                THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
arteries themselves, directly or through the nerves, so as to make
the inflamed capillaries CONTRACT independently of the consideration of the vis a tergo (state of the heart's action), or quantity of
circulating fluid."
"Inflammation is always the same debility of capillaries."
"We see that solutions of metallic salts, such as nitrate of silver,
tartar emetic, acetate of lead, bichloride of mercury, etc., and some
acrid vegetables, such as mezereon, etc., act on the capillaries as
ASTRINGENTS."
"We know that substances applied to the primme vise, or skin,
are absorbed and carried into the circulation, and we judge that in
this way these metallic salts, oxydes, etc., are carried to the capillaries of diseased parts, and strengthen and cure."
" All organic action is contraction."  All organic or animal
strength, therefore, depends upon the power of the different parts
of the body to contract.  And, for the same reason, all animal
weakness depends upon a loss, more or less, of the power of contraction.  And again, for the same reason, all remedies which
strengthen can only do so by increasing the power of contraction.*
" Mercury and iodine remove morbid growths by starving them,
which they effect by contracting the capillaries."
" I therefore consider mercury neither stimulant nor sedative, but
tonic; that is, by its specific action on the capillaries, whether directly on their tissue, or through the medium of their nerves, it
causes them to contract."
"When introduced into the system, it (mercury) circulates
through the capillaries, and gives them tone to contract. Liquor
arsenicalis (solution of arsenic), nitrate of silver, the sulphates of
copper and iron, mezereon, dulcamara, calchicum, etc., have a similar action. This is also the rationale of the mode of operation of
the so-called alteratives, and of what is called stimulating the secretions of the internal organs. When their capillaries are weak,
they have their tone restored by mercury, and the secretions are
thus renewed; but it should not be forgotten that mercury, like
some other tonics, in excess becomes poisonous, and may cause inflammation in other parts, as it does in the gums, on the principle
adduced before, that one degree of contraction of the capillaries is
* See this same argument enforced under the head of contracting, in my
work on " Life, Health, and Disease."




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                      115
necessary to reduce inflammation, while a still further degree will
stop nutrition and bring on wasting and disease."
" And to this influence (constringing the capillaries) I attribute
the universal efficacy of antimony as an antiphlogistic remedy, it
being doubly valuable in acute cases, from its sedative effects on
the heart and pulse, combined with its locally tonic or astringent
effects on the capillaries of inflamed or congested parts, as well as
on those of all the secreting structures.
"I think from the various statements already made, it may be
deduced, that the diseases of morbid sensibility, were it proved
that they depend upon inflammation" (and Dr. Billing has endeavored to show that they do), " are not curable by common depletion: the medullary tissue is too fine to be affected by the force
of the circulation, or relieved by taking off the vis i tergo, by
bleeding, digitalis, etc.; hence neuralgia, tetanus, hydrophobia,
chorea, hysteria, etc., must be reached through the circulation, by
what have been called tonics, iron, bark, arsenic, etc."-and wo
have seen that these operate only by constringing the capillaries.
" Inflammation is that which destroys the life of the part, whereupon the separation of the dead portion takes place:" this is nothing more than Liebig's theory of the destructive force of oxygen,
told in other and more general terms.
But it is not necessary further to multiply quotations from Dr.
Billing's first principles.  The whole scope and tendency of that
work is to prove the position that there is but one immediate cause
of disease, viz., weakness, or exhausted nervous energy-but one
disease, viz., a relaxed and congested condition of the vital capillaries-and but one remedy, viz., the restoration of the capillaries
to their normal or natural dimensions.
It is true Dr. Billing admits of four different kinds of remedies,
but we have already seen that these are but four different instruments for enabling us to produce one grand effect, and this is, in
every case, the restoration of the capillaries to their healthy size.
Even narcotics, given to procure sleep, would be of but little service if they did not more than this; for the pain or other disease
would return on waking.  But they do, indirectly, more than this;
for, by procuring sleep, they give time and opportunity to the inherent powers of the system  to restore the capillaries to their
healthy standard degree of semi-contraction-in one word, to recover their tone.




116                THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
Now how does all this bear upon the hydropathic treatment of
disease? In what manner does Dr. Billing's theory of disease support, and justify, and recommend that treatment? It bears upon
it immediately, and in the strongest and most conclusive manner.
According to Dr. Billing's theory, the great object is, in all cases,
to unload the engorged capillaries, and to constringe their coats.
What are the two main features of the hydropathic treatment?
Profuse sweating, and the application (partial or general, as circumstances may require) of cold-that is, profuse sweating to unload the capillaries, and the application of cold to constringe their
coats; for I suppose it will not be denied by any one for a moment, that cold possesses this power of constringing the living fibre
in a most remarkable degree. Both surgery and medicine are perpetually compelled to resort to cold water and even ice for this
express purpose, as, for instance, in hcemorrhages, the reduction
of strangulated hernia, etc. The efficacy of cold wet cloths, applied either in the inside of the thighs, or to the back, in bleeding
from the nose, is sufficiently well known, and even. proverbial.
That feeling of creeping, chilliness, and even shivering, which is
produced by the application of cold, is a very common and wellmarked proof of the very powerful influence of cold in constringing the capillary vessels.
The mode of operation of the hydropathic treatment may be
illustrated by what is done in the dropsy of the belly. The surgeon first taps the belly, and draws off the water.  Then he applies around it a bandage, in order to support its loose and flaccid
sides, and assist it in recovering its natural dimensions.  This is
precisely what the hydropathic treatment does in ordinary diseases
-inflammations, fevers, the neuroses, etc., etc.,-it taps the capillaries (by sweating), and then supports and constringes their sides,
by the cold bath.
Dr. Billing himself seems fully aware of the value of cold water
and cold air, as a remedy. At page 23, after describing inflammation to consist of weakened, relaxed, and congested capillaries, he
says: " The way to diminish the inflammation is by increasing the
action (contraction) of the arteries, as by cold or astringents, which
make the arteries contract, that is, increase their action."
"When the congestion or inflammation subsides without solution
of continuity, it is called resolution; and it is very intelligible how
cold and astringents promote this desirable termination."  Again:




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                    117
"A still farther proof that they (the capillaries) are in a state of
morbid congestion, is the effect of cold to the loins, in renewing the
secretions; AND THE CONSTRINGING EFFECT OF COLD WATER, or cool
air, in promoting the secretion of insensible perspiration, and thereby softening the congested skin, in scarlatina."
"By studying the operations of nature,* we are led to imitate
by analogy. Independently of the regulation of temperature, the
usual benefit derived from a poultice is that of preventing premature scabbing, by the soft moisture assisting the pus to protect the
granulations.  The German water-dressing has much the advantage over the poultice."  And again: " Cold will cause the vessels
to shrink." The effect of cold water in constringing the capillaries, that is, in causing them  to shrink, may at any time be witnessed by plunging the hand, when hot, into cold water.  When
a person has been heated by exercise, the veins on the back of the
hand will be observed, in most persons, to be very enlarged: and
in delicate, thin, and weakly persons, they are almost always so
toward evening.  Whenever these veins are in this condition, if
the hand be plunged into cold water, and held there for a short
time, they will be found greatly diminished in size when the hand
is withdrawn.
"But often," says Dr. Billing, "the case is more obstinate, and
a torpid, congested, or perhaps we should say subacutely inflamed
state of the liver, requires not merely repeated doses of calomel or
other materials, but leeches and poultices, or cold wet cloths, to
the epigastrium" (region of stomach).  And here, in a note, he
observes, " the application of cold is, I think, not sufficiently often
used in inflammation of the viscera of the chest and abdomen when
the surface becomes decidedly hot."
Speaking of consumption, he says: "Some years ago, a gentleman of the name of Stewart adopted a rational mode of treatment,
with which he had considerable success; but, because he could not
work miracles, his plan was unjustly depreciated. His method
was entirely tonic, and especially the cautious use of cold and tepid
ablutions of the skin-a modification of cold bathing-a remedy
that is found so universally beneficial in promoting the resolution
of strumous (scrofulous) tumors.
* It is this " studying the operations of nature" to which the late Sir A.
Cooper was so largely indebted for his extraordinary success in surgical
practice.




118               THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
"One thing of which I am convinced is, that the true principle
of treating consumption is to support the patient's strength to the
utmost"-and it must be remembered that the grand aim and
principal effect of the water-cure is to strengthen the system,
thereby giving the inherent curative power the fairest opportunity
of doing its own work..
Again: "Schwann (Muller's Handbuch der Physiologie, Coblenz, 1833), by experiment on the mesenteric arteries of small living
animals, has demonstrated that I was right as to the modus operandi of cold as a remedial agent in inflammation"-viz., that it acts
by constringing the capillaries.
With regard to the oneness of the effect to be produced, in
treating diseases, notwithstanding the hosts of different drugs and
chemicals with which our national pharmacopoeia groans, Dr.
Billing has the following observations: "I have explained how
some medicines become useful in such a variety of diseases as
almost to realize the dreams of the ancients and alchemists respecting a panakeia, or an elixir vitae; and thus why one empirical remedy, antimony, held the reins of the'currus triumphalis' until
superceded by the more modern blue pill.  I have shown that
tonics are not stimulants; and why they may be combined advantageously with sedatives, with stimulants, or with narcotics (the
ultimate effect of all being the same); how stimulants are tonic;
how sedatives are tonic; how narcotics are tonic.  I have shown
how every medical man has his hobby to carry him to the same
point, which, though he thinks it very different from his neighbor's, is as like it as one four-legged jade is to another; how one
man thinks he has made a discovery that he can cure cholera with
sugar of lead, and that there is nothing equal to it; while tartar
emetic, calomel, Epsom  or Glauber's salts, or common salt, or
mustard, or lemonade, or vinegar and water, etc., etc., will do
the same thing; though none of them  more quickly carry off
the vomiting and purging than two of these hobbies in double
harness-tartar emetic with  some neutral salt, I care little
which."
Thus, then, it will be perceived that the reason why we have
such a multiplicity of effects to be produced, is because there is
not one out of all our drugs which can be relied on, at all times,
for producing the one effect desired. That one effect is the constringing of the capillaries to their normal diameters, when they




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                    119
have become weakened, enlarged, and congested-and in producing
this effect cold water never fails.
These last observations of Dr. Billing (and indeed his whole
theory) are a complete answer to those who object to the watercure on account of its apparent oneness and simplicity, since he
shows that there is but one proximate cause of all diseases, and
that but one remedy is necessary; and that the great multitude of
drugs has only arisen from the inefficiency of any one of them, at
all times, to produce the desired effect.  According to Dr. Billing,
there is scarcely any one drug which would not alone be sufficient
to cure almost any disease, provided that one could always be relied on to empty and constringe the capillaries.  And he clearly
states that different drugs are only so many different means by
which different practitioners produce the same effects.
Now, then, if it be true that the one great effect to be brought
about in the treatment of all diseases be to unload and constringe
the capillaries, how can this be better achieved than by profuse
perspiration and the cold bath?  The hydropathic treatment,
which unloads the capillaries by sweating, and constringes them by
cold, is clearly an efficient substitute for bleeding, purging, vomiting, uva ursi, digitalis, antimony, mercury, arsenic, nitrate of silver,
sulphate of copper, iodine, iron, and multitudes of other remedies,
enumerated by Dr. Billing as being beneficial merely by their
powers of unloading and constringing the capillaries.
"In fact," says Dr. Billing, "experience proves that cold to the
head, with moderate saline and other sedative medicine, will cure
typhus, or prevent the typhous state from occurring in synocha;
whereas when wine, with or without opiates, is employed, the disease frequently proves fatal. I had one very useful opportunity
of seeing the contrast of the different modes of practice during the
fever which prevailed in Italy, 1817, the proportionate mortality
being very much greater in a hospital where the stimulant practice prevailed, than in that under the direction of Dr. Aglietti, in
Venice, who (I suppose out of compliment) called his manner of
practice the English, consisting of contra-stimulants (sedative
evacuants), antimony, salts, purgatives, etc., internally, with the
external application of cold water and free ventilation."
Such are the opinions of Dr. Billing with regard to the nature
of disease, and with regard also to the modus operandi of all medicines whatever, in curing it, viz., by emptying, constringing, and




120               THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
strengthening the weakened, relaxed, and gorged capillary arteries.
And if these opinions be true, the hydropathic treatment is obviously and even glaringly a remedy of almost universal application-if not to cure, at least to relieve-since its two grand features are those of sweating, and then of constringing, strengthening, and giving tone to the whole capillary system.  And yet,
opposed as this treatment is, without consideration, by the great
body of medical men, if I were to repeat all the laudations bestowed on Dr. Billing's book, both by the medical press and private individual practitioners, they would fill a volume.
But it requires very close attention, habits of reflection, and a perfect freedom from all prejudice, in order to discover how completely principles sometimes agree even where the practice is exceedingly
different. And indeed to illustrate the truth is one of the objects
of Dr. Billing's work-to show how the different hobbies of different medical men are all carrying their unconscious masters to one
and the same point-capillary contraction. And when we recollect
that all the functions of life are performed in and by t-hese same
capillaries, we ought not to be at all surprised to find that it is
upon these that all causes of disease produce their first impressions; these are the organs whose actions first become deranged;
and that it is upon these that all remedial agents must be made to
operate, in the treatment and cure of all disorders.
Such are the views and opinions of Dr. Billing.  And it must
be remembered that Dr. Billing is no obscure physician-all theory
and no practice-but that he has been for years, and is still, senior
physician to one of the largest hospitals in England, viz., the London-enjoying a field for practical observation and experiment
which can fall to the lot of butfew.
I will make only one more quotation-its object is still farther
to show that the simplicity and apparent oneness of the hydropathic treatment is no argument against it, disease itself being more
simple and more unique than is generally supposed.  Thus Dr.
Billing cures ague, blue cholera, and influenza, on the same principles, and with the same remedies-Epsom  salts, antimony, and
sometimes bleeding.  Yet there can scarcely be three diseases
more apparently dissimilar-and certainly no three diseases can
differ more as to severity and the degree of danger. "There is,"
says Dr. Billing, "but one simple fever, and which is exanthematous (eruptive), petechial, though the rash may never be sensibly




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                   121
developed, as in scarlatina maligna; and it is continued, synochous
(synocha, avvew), whether with high or low pulse, high or low
temperature; and that, when the sensorium is oppressed in addition, it is typhous."  This whole passage is printed, in Dr. Billing's book, in italics. It is surprising to me how Dr. Jamnes Johnson could speak in such high terms of praise concerning Dr. Billing's views of disease, and of the modus operandi of all remedial
treatment, and yet that he should write disparagingly concerning
hydropathy, since the whole of Dr. Billing's work is, de facto, one
long argument in its favor.
Thus I have shown that the principles of hydropathy are in
strict harmony with the opinions held, and the doctrines publicly
taught, by two of the most celebrated and scientific men (each in
his own department), with regard to the nature of life, health, and
disease, and the true end and object of all remedial treatment, viz.,
Liebig and Billing-the two Atridae of medical science-the Agamemnon and Menelaus-the Svw xouaujlTOQe a(xr-of the medical
profession.
I will now quit the more particular arguments of science, and
endeavor to show that all general reasoning-all analogy-all the
deductions of experience-also unite to add their testimony to that
already given.
With regard to any danger to be apprehended from the hydropathic treatment, it only differs from  ordinary practice just thus
much.  In ordinary practice, even in the most skillful hands, there
is always more or less danger in the administration of the most
common and useful drugs, for all these are poisons of the most
virulent kind, as mercury, arsenic, prussic acid, opium, oil of vitriol,
aqua fortis, lunar caustic, iodyne, strychnine (nux vomica), copperas, etc., etc., all medicines daily and hourly administered internally,
whereas in the practice of hydropathy there is never any danger
at all-provided always it be practiced by competent persons.
It is evident to the most ordinary understanding that such virulent poisons as those mentioned above, and which are in hourly
use, cannot be introduced into the human stomach, even in minute
doses, without always doing a certain amount of mischief-and indeed this is admitted on all hands-and that even minute doses
may, and often do, in delicate habits, or from  some peculiar
diathesis, produce very powerful and dangerous effects. A case
in point occurred, some time since, in one of our hospitals. A
6




122              THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
woman had been taking mercury-and one day, while sitting up
in bed, eating some broth, her head fell suddenly forward, and
she died instantly.  A  post-mortem  examination explained the
mystery.  The atlas-a pivot which supports the head, and on
which it turns-had been eaten away by the mercury until it became too weak to support the weight of the head. It snapped
while bending over her broth, the neck became bent double, and
instant death ensued, the inevitable consequence of compression of
the spinal cord by the doubling of the neck.
Strychnine, according to Andral, produces softness of the brain.
A  young lady, having paralysis of the lower extremities, after
trying many remedies, was recommended by her physician to rub
in strychnine.  After a time she went to a watering place, and
there died. Dr. Pereira, of the London Hospital, commenting on
this case in his lectures, declared that he had no doubt that this
young lady's death was hastened by the strychnine.
In a case of paralysis at the Dreadnought Hospital, strychnine
was exhibited, at first in doses of one sixteenth of a grain three
times a day, then one eighth, then one fourth, then one half, all
without any apparent effect. But one night the surgeon was suddenly called to the man, who was said to be in a fit. It was a
first attack of tetanus, or cramp. This first attack was almost
succeeded by a second, which killed him. There can be no doubt
that it was the strychnine which destroyed him.
That hydropathy can kill-and that it may kill, in the hands of
the ignorant practitioner-is perfectly true.  It would not be
worth two straws if it could not.  For that which, when abused,
can do no harm, cannot be capable of much good when properly
used.  Such a remedy is mere "chip in porridge."  But where
hydropathy has destroyed a single victim, the practice of medicine
has slain its tens of millions-a position so notoriously true that I
scarcely think any medical man of character will be found to question it.  And the danger to be dreaded from the use of deadly
drugs is greatly augmented by the great diversity of opinions
which are entertained as to the effects which they produce on the
body, frequently causing one drug to be given with the view of
producing two opposite effects.
In a very learned and laborious work published by Dr. Pereira,
one of the physicians to the London Hospital, and chemical professor at that institution, entitled, "Elements of Materia Medica,'




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                    123
occur the following passages on the subjects of opium and mercury, two drugs more universally in use than any other two in
the whole list.  "Several physicians," says Dr. Pereira, "as Dr.
John Murray, and Dr. Anthony Todd Thomson, consider opium
to be primarily stimulant; some, as Drs. Cullen and Barbier, regard
it as sedative" (that is, just the contrary to stimulant); "one, viz.,
Dr. Mayer, as both-that is, a stimulant to the nerves and circulatory system, but a sedative to the muscles and digestive organs;
another, viz., Orfila, regards it as neither; while others, as Muller call it alterative."   Now here are five different men holding no fewer than five different opinions with regard to the
effects produced on the  body by this deadly drug, opium.
When these five physicians give opium, it is clear that they give it
with the view of producing five different and contradictory effects!
But Dr. Pereira proceeds thus with regard to mercury: "Again,
mercury is, by several writers, as Drs. Cullen, Young, Chapman, and
Eberle, placed in the class of sialogogues; by many, as Drs. A. T.
Thomson, Edwards, Vavasseur, Trouseau, and Pidoux, among excitants; by some, as Conradi, Bertele, and Horn, it is considered
to be sedative; by one, Dr. Wilson Philip, to be stimulant in small
doses, and sedative in large ones; by some, as Dr. John Murray,
it is placed among tonics; by another, viz., Vogt, among the resolventia alterantia; by one, viz., Sundelin, among the liquefacients; by the followers of Broussais, as Begin, among revulsives;
by the Italians, as Giaccomini, among contra-stimulants, or hyposthenics; by others, as Barbier, among the incertae sedis, or those
drugs whose modus operandi is not understood.
After reading such a statement as this, one can hardly be surprised that the word physician should have been defined to signify,
"a man who puts drugs, of which he knows nothing, into a stomach of which he knows less."
With regard to any danger likely to result from going into the
cold bath when covered with perspiration, such danger is perfectly
chimerical, and a mere popular fallacy-contrary to all the deductions of science-contrary to all daily and hourly experience ever
since the creation of the world, and for which no shadow of a
physiological reason can be given; while all physiological reasoning goes directly to prove that it is safer to go into cold water
when the temperature of the skin has been raised, than when it
has not been raised; and that if there be danger at all, it is going




124               THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.
into cold water without first raising the temperature-and in this
there certainly is some danger.  And of course it is with the ele.
vated temperature that we have to deal in this argument, and not
with the mere presence of perspiration on the external surface.
For it certainly can be a matter of no importance whether the skin
be covered with a certain quantity of that peculiar grease called
perspiration, or whether it be covered with an equal amount of
hog's lard or white paint. And it is quite evident, and all modern
writers agree that it is so, that reaction (the great object to be attained) will be most certainly produced, and internal visceral congestion (the great evil to be avoided) will be most certainly prevented, by going into the water when the surface of the body is
warm.  And I need hardly observe, that the body is not made
hotter in proportion to the profuseness of the perspiration, but
that, on the contrary, it is cooler than before that effect is produced, for perspiration is a cooling process. So that it will not do
to say, " that although it may be good to go into water when the
body is moderately warm, it is nevertheless bad to do so when it
is extremely hot." For when perspiration is present, it is never
extremely hot.
As to the sudden checking of perspiration, this too is a chimerical danger.  For the oozing of perspiration always subsides of
itself, almost at the moment that the means which produced it are
withdrawn. And the perspiration which is still visible on the body,
is merely that which has been already produced, and left upon the
skin, by an action of the vessels which has now already ceased.
The perspiration which is now seen upon the body has no more
connection with the system than so much oil or other greasy matters.
I say, too, that supposition of danger is contrary to all daily and
hourly experience.  For are not our out-of-door laborers, our
wagoners, our sailors, our hay-makers, and all our farm servants,
constantly exposed, while bathed in perspiration, to the effects of
a natural cold shower bath, in the shape of rain, and that too with
perfect impunity? Is it not the constant practice of boys to bathe
in rivers, without thinking for a moment, or caring a straw, whether they be in a perspiration or not?  Does the North American
Indian, when traversing his hunting grounds, and when he finds
his path obstructed by a river, ever pause for an instant to consider whether he be in a perspiration or not, before he plunges into
the flood? But the Indian is used to it, To be sure he is, and it




THEORY OF HYDROPATHY.                  125
is to that very use and want to which he owes his great strength,
activity, and unimpregnable health. And why should not Englishmen use and accustom themselves to the same thing? What
is to prevent it? Why should it not be?  I cannot even conceive
a reason.
If there were peculiar danger in being caught in a shower while
perspiring, every showery day would crowd our hospitals with its
victims, and April would be the most deadly month in all the
year. Nature has not adapted the inhabitants of the earth to the
circumstances of the earth's surface so bunglingly. On the contrary, the nature of every living thing has been beneficially fitted
to the nature of those circumstances among which it was destined
to dwell; and had a shower of rain possessed such deadly properties, our heads would have been furnished with a natural umbrella
to defend it from the rain, as our eyes are accommodated with natural curtains to defend them from the dust.
In an exceedingly clever pamphlet lately published by Mr. Jackson, entitled, "The Spleen a Permanent Placenta, the Placenta a
Temporary Spleen," it has been reasoned out with the most beautiful precision and great force, that the spleno-hepatic vein (one of
the large veins within the abdomen) is the propelling organ which
drives the blood through the portal system of veins, and circulates'
it through the liver; and that it is congestion in this vein which is
frequently the cause of a great number of diseases (epilepsy
among others).  If these views be correct, they will account
most satisfactorily for the good effects of cold water, externally
applied, in relieving that large class of diseases depending on congestion of blood in the liver-or what is called a sluggish liver.
The application of cold to the bowels would necessarily cause the
spleno-hepatic vein to contract upon its contents, and so empty
itself, and propel the blood onward through the liver, and thus
remove all congestion there-just as cold applied to the back of
the hand causes the veins there to contract upon their contents,
thus emptying themselves, and shrinking to their proper size.
Whatever causes vessels to contract, augments the velocity of the
blood's circulation through them. And congestion of one sort or
other, as we have just seen, is the proximate cause of all diseases
whatever-and there is nothing which can so quickly and certainly
produce this contraction of vessels, and removal of congestion, as
the application of cold.




126   PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  OF THE  WATER-CURE.
CHAPTER V.
PROPOSITIONS ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF THE
WATER-CURE.*
The Applications of the Water-Cure are in strict Accordance with the Facts and Phenomena of the living Organism.-A Knowledge of these of the greatest Importance to the
Physician.-What constitutes Disease.-All Disease originally Acute.-Acute Disease a
normal Effort of Nature.-In this Effort the Body may die from Exhaustion.-What
constitutes a Chronic Disease.-Of accidental Injuries and skin Diseases.-How organic
Disease occurs.-When a Disease is Curable and when Incurable.-There is necessarily
an unnatural quantity of Blood in diseased Organs.-Preventing or removing this Condition necessary to be kept in view by the Physician.-The nervous System controls
the Circulation of the Blood.-Curative Treatment to be made through this System.It must not be too Violent.-How this Treatment is to be Applied.-Air, Diet, and Water.-These are the Agents used in the Cure of Disease.-Alcoholic and Medicinal Stimulants.-Their evil Effects.-The true Principle of the Water-Cure.
The following propositions will show that the applications of the
water-cure are in strict accordance with the facts and phenomena
of the living organism; and that without an intimate acquaintance
with these last, it is utterly impossible to make the applications
with safety to the patient, or with credit to the practice or the
practitioner. Let the critical medical reader appeal, if he pleases,
from our propositions to the doctrines of the schools as embodied
in the works of the most celebrated modern writers on health and
disease, and  say whether we have not accepted  those doctrines.
In truth, the premises of health and disease, established by experiment and observation, stand untouched, as far as they go; far
be it from us to contravene them. It is only in the conclusions of
practice that we differ from the great body of our medical brethren.  We assert the  perfect right to do this so long as we can
give scientific reasons for it. Such reasons are contained in these
propositions.  Time and experience are also daily accumulating
facts of cure which come to the support of the justness of these
reasons.
* From " Dangers of the Water-Cure Considered," by Drs. James Wilson
and James M. Gully, England.




PRINCIPLES AND IRACTICE OF THE WATER-CURE.  127
1. A series of unnatural symptoms constitutes a disease.
2. This disease is referable to a morbid condition of some of the
textures of the body.
3. All disease is originally acute, that is to say, the symptoms
are more or less rapid and pressing in their character, and more or
less characterized by fever.
4. Acute disease is the effort of the morbid organ or organs to
throw off their disorder upon some less important organ or organs.
Thus, acute inflammation of the liver, stomach, or lungs, causes
fever; that is, an effort to throw the mischief on the skin, the
bowels, or the kidneys.
5. If, from the great extent of the mischief to be thrown off,
and the feeble constitution, acquired or natural, of the individual,
this effort is not successful, the body dies from exhaustion.
6. If this effort be only partially successful, more or less of the
internal mischief remains, but gives rise to symptoms of a less
rapid and pressing and more permanent character.  These symptoms then constitute a chronic disease.
7. Except in the case of accidents to the limbs, we know of no
disease which is not essentially internal.  Skin diseases are invariably connected with disease of some internal organs, especially the
stomach and bowels, and are regulated in their character and intensity thereby. This is so true, that where there is a skin discase, the crises effected by the water-cure invariably take place on
the spot where it exists.
8. ACUTE DISEASE, then, is the violent effort of internal and vital
organs to cast their mischief on external and less important organs.
9. CHRONIC DISEASE is the enfeebled effort of the same organs
to the same end.
10. But as from the diminished power of the constitution this is
always ineffectual, the morbid state of the organs tends constantly
toward disorganization, or what is called organic disease. This is
more certainly the case, if the original causes of the malady are
at work.
11. Disease therefore is CURABLE when the power of the system is sufficiently strong to throw the morbid action from a more
to a less important organ.
12. Disease is INCURABLE when the power in question is insufficient for the last-named purpose; and when it has become organic, that is, when a change of structure has taken place.




128  PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF THE WATER-CURE.
13. From  these premises it follows that the aim of scientific
treatment should be to aid the development of the power of the
system and its efforts to rid its vital parts of mischief.
14. That mischief invariably consists in the retention of an unnatural quantity of blood in them, to the detriment of other parts
of the organism-a retention commonly known by the terms acute
inflammation, chronic inflammation, and congestion.
15. In endeavoring to develop the powers of the system, the
dissipation of this inflammation or congestion must be constantly
kept in view, as the end of which the constitutional efforts are the
means.
16. But as the circulation of the blood every where is under the
influence of the organic system of nerves, the power and efforts of
these last are essentially to be strengthened in order to dissipate
the inflammation or congestion referred to.
17. Curative treatment is therefore made through the instrumentality of the nervous system.
18. Violent and sudden stimulation of the nervous system of the
internal organs, is invariably followed by exhaustion and increased
inflammation and congestion.  Hence the impropriety of alcoholic
and medicinal stimulants.
19. But the gradual and judiciously regulated stimulation of the
nervous system according to the organic powers, conduces to the
development and maintenance of its strength.
20. This stimulation is the more steady and certain in its results
the more universally it is applied to the entire nervous system.
21. To the external skin, therefore, and to the internal skin (as
represented by all the lining membranes of the lungs and digestive
organs), this stimulation should be applied, those parts containing
the largest portion of the nervous system spread through them.
22. Pure air applied to the lungs, proper diet, and water applied to the digestive organs, and water applied to the external
skin, fulfill this intention of stimulation and strengthening most effectually.
23. Further, as that portion of the nervous system (the brain
and spinal cord) in which the will resides, requires the development of its powers, exercise of the limbs is requisite, the stimulation of the air, diet, and water aiding thereto.
24. Pure water, pure air, proper diet, and regulated exercise,
are the great agents in effecting the cure of disease, by aiding the




PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF THE WATER-CURE.  129
natural efforts of the body, through the instrumentality of the
nervous system.
25. In the due apportionment of these agents, according to the
powers of the constitution and the phases of disease, as ascertained
by minute medical examination, consists the scientific and the safe
practice of the water-cure.
26. As strengthening of the system  by the regulated stimulation of the nervous system, is the means, so the throwing off disease by more important or less important organs by that acquired
strength, is the end of that practice.
27. During the efforts of the system thus aroused for so beneficial an end, if agents are employed which divert those efforts and
tend to centre stimulus on the more important organs, augmented
mischief is the certain result. Such agents are to be found in
alcoholic and medicinal stimulants, applied to the internal skin and
nerves; in hot and impure air applied to the external skin and
nerves; and in exciting and factitious pleasures and anxious cares,
applied to the great centre of the nerves, the brain.
28. These and the mnal-apportionment of the stimulation included
in water, air, diet, and exercise, give rise to the only " Dangers of
the Water-Cure."
29. The proper apportionment of the stimulation in question
originates and maintains a steady effort of the system to save its
vital parts at the expense of parts which implicate life less immediately.
30. The result of this effort is shown in one of the following
ways: 1. The re-establishment of obstructed and suppressed secretions; 2. In the elimination of diseased matters through the
bowels, kidneys, or skin.; 3. In the formation of a critical action
of some sort on the skin.
31. Such result constitutes the CRISIS OF THE WATER-CURE.
32. The crisis, being the result of the extrinsic efforts of the
vital organs, is to be viewed as the signal of their relief, not as the
instrument of their relief.
33. Still as, during the crisis, the tendency from the internal to
the external organs is most strong, it is more than ever necessary
to avoid the causes which act in diverting this tendency and in reconcentrating the mischief on the internal parts.
34. At the same time, the tendency in point being then strongly
established, it is not necessary to stimulate the system further in
6*




130  THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.
that direction, and all treatment except that which allays irritation
accordingly ceases.
35. A crisis being the evidence of cure of the internal disease,
no recurrence of the latter is to be apprehended, unless the morbid
causes are reapplied.
CHAPTER VI.
THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.*
Definition of "Water-Dressing."-Mode of Application.-Water-Dressings used by some
in place of Poultices. —Il Effects that are sometimes caused by the Latter.-WaterDressing a better Application.-Water as a Remedy for Wounds and Inflammation of
ancient Date.-Doctrines of Hippocrates.-This simple Practice was set aside by Celsus
and the Arabian Physicians.-Ambrose Par6.-Religious Superstitions concerning the
Effects of Water. Gabriel Fallopius.-Pallazzo.-Laurent Joubert, Martel, and Denis.
Van tlelmont.-Lamorier.-Caldani and Danter.-A Miller of Alsace.-Baron Percy.
Baron Larrey.-Professor Kern.-Water not a Specific or Medicinal Remedy.-Necessity of paying Attention to the Temperature of the Water-Dressing.-Its Use in Lacerations, Punctured Wounds, Contusions, and Strains of Joints.-Gun-Shot Wounds.-The
Division of Varicose Veins.-Boils.-Piles.-Gonorrhoea.-Chronic Affections of the
Skin.-Corns and Callosities.-Water as a Preventive of Lock-Jaw.-Great Power of
Water in preventing Pain. Cases.
THE application of water in a liquid form can be used at all temperatures, from  the heat of the living  body down to  the freezing
point.   This great range extends its efficacy to a variety of wounds
and inflammation; but, except where cold is absolutely necessary,
the remedy is usually employed at the heat of the body, or rather
at that degree to which the application cools the part.  The water
is retained in some light and porous substances, charged or wetted
throughout, and covered with some thin and impervious substance,
to  prevent evaporation.  When water is applied in this manner,
vhe impression it makes is permanent and equal; and as it bears
some resemblance to other dressing for wounds and ulcers, in the
form  of its application, I have given it the name of water-dressing.
The substance that I have generally made the immediate object
of application, is the finest and  softest lint; and for the covering
* From a treatise on Inflammation.  By James Macartney, M. D., F. R. S.
etc., etc




THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.  131
material, either oiled silk, or a thin plate of Indian rubber. Simple
as this mode of dressing may appear, it requires to be managed
with care, and attention to many circumstances, which would appear trivial to persons unacquainted with the nature of the remedy.
Two, three, or four layers of the lint should be first folded together,
according to the size of the part to be covered, taking care also
that the soft side of the lint is the outer one.  In wetting the lint
the first time, it is necessary to either float it in the water before
folding it, or if it be first folded, it should be pressed between the
fingers, to urge the fluid into the interstices of the lint, which receive fluid with difficulty, until all the air they contain be expelled.
The lint, when applied, should just contain as much water as not
to drop.  The oiled silk, or Indian rubber, should project so much
beyond the margin of the lint as may prevent evaporation, which
will vary according to the shape of the part on which the dressing
is laid, and the thickness of the folded lint.*
It is of great importance to use the wet lint without any bandage that can give to the part affected the least feeling of constraint. The figure of the parts sometimes renders this difficult to
effect, without stitching the silk into a particular shape, which is
much better than using any strict bandage.
The periods for changing the lint must vary according to the nature of the case; but as a general rule, three times during the day,
and twice during the night (if convenient), will be sufficient. In
cases where the inflammation is moderate, and the skin unbroken,
the dressing will only require to be changed every twelve hours.
At each time that the dressing is renewed, the lint and oiled silk
should be carefully washed, and when it is applied to ulcers, fresh
lint should replace that taken off, the utmost cleanliness being of
the first importance.
French oiled silk is very much superior to the English; it does
not adhere to the skin, and therefore does not fret it. Some other
substance besides linseed oil, I am informed, enters into its composition.
The water-dressing becomes immediately the same degree of
heat as that of the surface of the skin on which it is placed; but
when it is desirable to combine it with cold, a bladder holding iced
* It should be remarked here, that Priessnitz objects to oil cloth and India
rubber coverings over wet bandages, on the ground that they retain matter
which should be allowed to pass off. Simple dry cloth is all he uses.-S.




132  THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.
water may be laid over the oiled silk; or where the comfort of
warmth may be required, the dressing may be covered with flannel.
Some surgeons now profess to use water-dressing as a substitute
for poultice, by which they show their ignorance of the nature and
operation of the remedy. A poultice is made of materials, which,
in a term far short of its renewal, become sour, and thereby render the poultice, after the first few hours, an irritating application.
The greasy substances which are added to prevent the poultice
adhering to the skin, do not always answer the end, and soon become rancid.  A poultice favors the formation of pus, and causes
a throbbing or pulsating pain, and a feeling of tenderness in the
part, which are the natural attendants on the process of suppuration. It imbibes the pus it serves to create, and thereby becomes
more irritating. A poultice, before it is many hours on, is a mixture of sour farinaceous substance, rancid oil, and pus, oppressing
the part by its weight, and beginning to adhere round its edges to
the skin, creating the sense of constriction.
In order to judge of the effects of poultices, it is only necessary
to visit a hospital, where they are much employed, before the
surgeon comes round, when the sufferings of the patients will be
sufficiently obvious; and to contrast this state of feeling with that
which arises after the poultices are taken off, and the wounds and
ulcers bathed for some time with tepid water; the soothing and
comforting effect of which is better known by the patients than the
surgeon, and therefore they prolong it as much as they can.
Water-dressing has not only better, but very different effects
from poultices; it either prevents or diminishes the secretion of
pus: a wound may at first yield a little purulent fluid, but in a
short time this will be furnished in so small a quantity, as hardly
to stain the lint. The pus, even from an ulcer, rapidly diminishes
under water-dressing.  I remember a case of a very extensive ulcer of the leg, to which I applied it; the patient pulled off the
dressing in the night, because, as he said, "it was stopping the
discharge," he conceiving, like many surgeons, that no open surface could heal without suppurating.  Granulations also, which
are rendered exuberant by poultice, are either never formed, or
exist in a very slight degree under water-dressing.
Instead of the throbbing pain produced by a poultice, being excited, all pain is removed by the use of this remedy. A man in a
fight with another, had the nail of his thumb bitten through near




THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.  133
the root. The water-dressing was applied. A day or two after I
met him with a poultice on his thumb. On inquiring why he removed the first dressing, he said "there was no use in keeping it
on any longer, as it took away all his anguish," he supposing a
poultice the proper application for the cure. In a word, the tendency of water-dressing (if it be properly conducted) is to induce
the cure of wounds and ulcers, not requiring excitement, by the
approximating or modeling process already described.
The employment of water, as a remedy for wounds and inflammation, is no doubt of very ancient date. Hippocrates is said to
have discovered, by the inscriptions in the temple of ~Esculapius,
that the priests had used water mixed with secret ingredients, in
order probably to give the remedy more importance in the eyes of
the people.
Hippocrates himself seemed to have understood more of the
modes of application of water, and of its adaptation to particular
circumstances, than we discover in the practice of many who have
lived in later days. He used warm water in gangrene; sea water
for chronic cutaneous diseases; cold water in fractures, erysipelas,
and ulcers. His method of application was to bathe the parts with
a sponge, afterward leave it on charged with the fluid, and wet
the sponge as often as it became dry.
This simple practice was set aside by the Arabian physicians
and Celsus having introduced a variety of absurd and complicated
medicines into fashion, which held their ground until the fourteenth
century, when the surgeons of that period fell as foolishly into the
opposite extreme, as that of composing their medicines of a multitude'of ingredients. They now endeavored to discover some one
which would be universally applicable. This gave rise to the system of secret dressing, as it was called, each practitioner assuming
that he possessed the panacea.  Some of these secret remedies,
when discovered, were found to be ridiculous; as for example, oil
and cabbage, and an oil made of kittens, were much in use. At
this period and for long after, water was employed, but accompanied with some absurd form of incantation, to which all its good
effects were ascribed.
Ambrose Pare, who was a man of the greatest talent and experience of the age in which he lived, refused for some time to apply
water to wounds, as the effects seemed to him to be so extraordinary, that they could only be produced by supernatural agency,




134  THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.
which, from religious scruples, he did not consider it justifiable to
employ.  During the siege of Metz, in 1553, an ignorant quack,
called Maitre Doublet, as Brantome relates, "performed strange
cures with simple white linen, and clean water from the fountains
or wells. But he was assisted by sorcery and charmed words, and
every one went to him, as if he were Maitre Ambrose Pare himself, a man so celebrated and considered the first of his day."
Ambrose Pare, who equally detested fraud and folly, in writing
his report of the proceedings of the medical department of the
army, speaks thus: "I do not deny that water is a good remedy
in wounds and recent injuries, having employed it myself with
much advantage, but I object to the mysterious words, and the
vain and unchristian ceremonies, that accompany this new and singular practice, which is so simple that it requires no aid."
The book on surgery by Gabriel Fallopius, published in 1560,
strongly recommends the use of natural water as a " fruitful source
of success."
Pallazzo published in 1570 a book on the true method of curing
wounds by simple water, hemp, and flax. He recommends varying
the temperature according to circumstances.
Laurent Joubert, in his work on popular errors, published in
1578, exposed the folly of using charmed water, and described
common water as being most efficacious in procuring "a favorable
termination and a good cicatrix."
Some time after this there was a sharp controversy between
Martel, surgeon to Henry the Third, and one Denis, a surgeon of
Vendome, and Danguaron, also surgeon to Henry the Third; the
two latter contending for the use of charms. This dispute was
terminated by the Chancellor of the University of Montpelier deciding in favor of simple water.
Soon after Van Helmont introduced his mode of curing by magnetic sympathy, and the water was only employed mixed with
other ingredients, such as the powder of the Chevalier Digby.
In 1732, Lamorier published " on the Use of Common Water in
Surgery."  He asserted that there were few wounds which could
not be healed by this treatment, more promptly and satisfactorily
than by any other means.
Professor Caldani, of Padua, also recommended cold water as
the best application in recent wounds. Danter published a learned
essay at Gottingen, in which he recommended the use of water.




THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.  135
In 1785, a number of men were severely wounded in proving
the cannon at Strasbourg; a miller of Alsace undertook their cure,
by the leave of the Intendant of the province, with blessed water:
these wounds were all cicatrized in six weeks. A second proving
of the cannon wounded thirty-four men. They were dressed with
common water by Lombard, the surgeon-in-chief, by which means
they were all cured. The progress of the wounds was witnessed
by Baron Percy, then a surgeon-major of cavalry.  The success
on this occasion produced a pamphlet from Lombard, in 1786, " on
the Properties of simple Water as a topical application in the cure
of Surgical Diseases."
Baron Percy always afterward employed warm  or cold water,
according to the season. He says they often had from six to eight
thousand wounded in their hospitals. His experience, therefore,
cannot be questioned, and so strong was his conviction of the utility
of this treatment, that he said, "he would relinquish military surgery if he were prohibited from using water."
Baron Larrey is said to have treated, with great success, the
most terrible wounds, with the water of the Nile, during the campaign in Egypt; probably from  the want of other remedies being
in his possession, as his predilection for complicated applications
would have prevented him choosing so simple a one as water. In
his writings he speaks of salt water being a proper remedy for
wounds.
Professor Kern, of Vienna, was long known as the strenuous advocate of the employment of water in wounds and ulcers, and in
the after treatment of surgical operations. He varied the temperature of the fluid, and consulted the feelings of the patient, by
avoiding all useless bandages and medicated dressings for wounds,
and his practice was, I have heard, proportionably successful. He
claimed the credit of having invented water-dressing, an assumption that could only be made by a person ignorant of the history
of continental surgery. Kern, I believe, however, carried out the
principle of the treatment farther than those who preceded him.
The practice of most of the surgeons whose works I have mentioned, was to bathe the injured part with water in the first instance, and repeat the bathing frequently during the day.  Only
a few of those writers prevented evaporation by any impervious
covering. Frequent ablution, either with warm or cold water, is,
according to the nature of the case, an admirable remedy. It is a




136  THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.
species of irrigation, but wants the convenience, and the unremitting operation of the wet lint and oiled silk. Within these few
years, the practice of irrigation has been revived in France by
Breschet, Berard, and Josse, with great improvements on the ancient system of temporary bathing; but, with these exceptions,
the simple mode of treating wounds and inflammation cannot be
said to exist in any of the civil hospitals of France or Italy. The
dressing with dry charpie in the first instance, and after the wound
is compelled to suppurate, with medicated ointments, and the use
of complicated bandages, are as common throughout the South of
Europe at the present day, as they were in the most barbarous
ages of surgery.
It is quite manifest, from the history I have given of the employment of water in its liquid state, for the cure of wounds and inflammation, from the earliest periods to the present time, that I do
not claim the discovery of the remedy; but that I have been the
means of introducing it to the attention of the profession in these
countries, is a matter of too much notoriety to admit of dispute.
I have also connected the use of it with general views of the nature of inflammation, which (whether right or wrong) are peculiarly and distinctly my own; and I have demonstrated the possibility of open wounds healing without inflammation, and without
the medium of either coagulable lymph, or granulations; a fact
which, as far as my information extends, has not even been hinted
at by any writer on surgery, either ancient or modern.
In all cases where it is not desirable to reduce the temperature
of inflamed parts below the standard heat of the human body, I
consider water, in the state of vapor, as superior to it in the liquid
form; but in consequence of the application of steam  being attended with some trouble and sacrifice of time, the water has been
generally preferred, except in great and dangerous wounds, painful abscesses, and those internal inflammations, wherein common
fomentation has hitherto been adopted.  I do not attribute to
water, under any form, a specific or medicinal power of controlling
inflammatory actions; nor is such power necessary-for if the organic sense of injury and the feeling of pain be removed, by substituting an agreeable state of sensation, the motives to inflame
cease to exist, and the natural actions of reparation proceed without impediment or delay.  We have a very beautiful example of
inflammation being not only excited, but maintained, by a slight




THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.   137
irritation, and declining without any remedy, except the removal
of the object which created the pain, in the common accident of a
grain of sand or dust being lodged on the surface of the conjunctiva of the eye. I can conceive that water, either as vapor or fluid,
might be capable of preventing, and perhaps of removing the impression of exposure, which most wounds more or less produce;
and I am persuaded as much as I can be of any fact, not proved
by experience, that if a serous cavity were to be opened in an atmosphere of steam of the proper heat, and detained in it, the cavity
would not inflame, because it would not be sensible of any impression different from what it was accustomed to from its own vapor;
for, as I have already mentioned, it is not the wound of the parietes of a close cavity, which spreads inflammation over it. When
amputation is performed below the knee, inflammation of the joint
does not occur; but if the head of the fibula be taken out at the
time, and in doing this the slight capsule which divides its joint
from that of the knee, be cut, inflammation is liable to come on
the latter.
In the employment of water, those who have not been instructed respecting the nature of the application, do not pay sufficient
attention to the influence of temperature. Some persons believe
that they use in all cases cold water, which is impossible, beyond
the moment of its application, if the dressing be covered with the
oiled silk. It is only by perpetually adding the fluid, as in irrigation, or by covering the water-dressing with a bladder holding iced
water, that a low temperature can be obtained. It is evident that
warmth and confinement of the wound would be improper, when
hemorrhage had either taken place, or was expected.  In other
circumstances, the temperature to be chosen is always that which
is most easy and comforting to the patient.
Water-dressing may be employed in the common manner,,after
the pain of the injury is -subdued by steam or fomentation, in all
great lacerations, punctured wounds, contusions, and strains of
joints. I have, in several instances of such injuries, prevented all
suffering and inflammation by these means. Whereas in the common mode of treating these accidents, they would have been followed by extensive suppurations, much misery, protracted confinement, and in the end, perhaps, the patient left with a useless limb.
Water has been used with great success by many military surgeons in gunshot wounds, and in shattered limbs from explosions




X138  THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.
of gunpowder.  I have seen a case in which this mode of treatment was carefully followed, and in which the patient never suffered any pain nor constitutional disturbance, except a little during
one night, just before the piece of cloth was expelled. The edges
of the wound did not slough, and the discharge was hardly enough
to soil the lint. The gentleman walked out well the eighth day
after he fought the duel; the ball remained imbedded in the ilium.
Mr. Bird, of Banagher, a very active and intelligent practitioner,
has communicated to me some frightful injuries by gunshot wounds
treated by water-dressing, with complete success; and one particularly severe case, in which amputation would have been formerly
thought unavoidable.  In consequence of a gun bursting in a man's
hand, the carpus was torn open, the end of the radius broken, the
metacarpal bone of the thumb was separated from the carpus, and
the thumb thrown back on the hand.  This man recovered the use
of his hand, having only a stiff wrist-joint.  Mr. Bird informs me,
that since he commenced practice, he has treated twenty-two cases
of gunshot wounds solely with water, and always with the same
fortunate result.
I have seen under the care of the late Dr. M'Dowel, who practiced water-dressing extensively in the Richmond Hospital, cases
of division of varicose veins, proceeding without the slightest appearance of inflammation.
Boils are completely under our control by this mode of treatment.  If resorted to in the beginning, the boils will seldom  exceed the size of peas, and produce no pain.
I have repeatedly cured inflamed and protruded piles by a wet
sponge, covered with a plate of Indian rubber, which dressing conforms better to the shape of the parts than the lint and oiled silk.
In these cases the complaint never returned.
I have never used water-dressing myself in gonorrhcea, not anticipating that it would succeed; but numerous accounts have been
transmitted to me, of the disease being cured by the external application of water to the private part.  The symptoms are described as being rendered very mild, and usually disappearing in
fiom one to two weeks.
Water-dressing is particularly convenient and efficacious in many
chronic affections of the skin, especially those that are dry and
scaly. I have sometimes used the oiled silk, or the Indian rubber
~lone in psoriasis, which keDt the parts moist by collecting and




THE WATER-DRESSTNG FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.   139
confining the insensible perspiration. On one occasion, where the
disease had spread over the whole body, causing the greatest irritation, and a total want of sleep, I had the patient entirely enveloped in a dress of oiled silk with the best effects.
Water-dressing never fails to eradicate corns or any other callosities of the skin, provided it be persevered in for a considerable
time.
If the effusions called ganglia, which form in the sheaths of tendons, be carefully dressed with water, or what is still better, the
lead lotion, and be kept in a state of rest, the inflammation of the
cyst will be removed, and the fluid which distended it absorbed.
I have also reduced the size of the cartilaginous bodies found in
similar situations by the same treatment, and I am disposed to
think that it is possible to procure the entire absorption of the
loose cartilages in the joints by these means.
I have never seen an instance of tetanus (lock-jaw) coming on,
when wounds, however severe, and from their nature likely to produce the disease, where healed under water-dressing; and I know
of but two cases in which it is said to have occurred, and possibly
in these instances the remedy might not have been accurately employed. For I cannot conceive that tetanus could ensue, provided
all pain and sense of injury were early removed, and that the
wound healed by the approximating process without inflammation,
or the medium of any new organized substance.  In a letter from
Dr. Bonyen, a very intelligent pupil of mine, now settled in Demerara, received the 23d of June, 1837, he states, that a medical
man in extensive practice there, uses water-dressing after amputation and other operations; and that these wounds healed as well
as the best-treated cases in cold climates, and that in fourteen amputations he had performed, he had not lost a single patient by
tetanus.
The immersion of a wounded or inflamed part either in warm or
cold water, according to circumstances, has perhaps more influence
on the sensations than any other mode of applying the fluid.  I
have witnessed the greatest effect from it, when used either warm
in place of fomentation to soothe pain, or cold to abate vascular
action. It would be a most valuable remedy, if any means could
be devised for its application, without the inconvenience of the inflamed part being placed in a depending position. A very striking
case of the benefit of immersion was communicated to me by Dr.




140  THE WATER-DRESSING FOR WOUNDS AND ULCERS.
Cardiff, then a military surgeon stationed at Kilkenny. A soldier
received a thrust of a bayonet, which passed through his thumb,
and between the metacarpal bones of his hand.  After the bleeding had ceased, the hand was laid in tepid water, which speedily
removed the pain. The immersion was continued for twelve hours,
after which the hand was taken out and dressed in the usual manner (I presume with adhesive plaster), after which the pain returned with great severity and throbbing, so that it became necessary to remove the dressing and return the hand to the water.
The immersion again removed all pain, and was now continued for
twenty hours, and when removed, the common water-dressing was
employed, no more pain was felt, and the cure of this frightful
wound was accomplished without swelling, heat, suppuration, or
any of the results of inflammation, and the cicatrix that remained
was soft. The man went to duty on the eighth day after receiving
the wound.
Baron Percy very truly says, "that if it were possible on the
receipt of a gunshot, or other serious wound of the elbow, knee,
foot, etc., to keep the part for the first ten or fifteen hours plunged
in water, we should have fewer amputations to perform, and we
should save the lives of a greater number of wounded."
A lady fractured her tibia close to the ankle joint; great swelling, tension, and pain immediately followed. At her own suggestion, the limb was placed in a bucket of warm water, which had
the effect of removing the pain, and almost all the tumefaction,
before I visited her for the purpose of adjusting the fracture.




PROCESSES OF  WATER-GURE.                         141
CHAPTER VII.
PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
Water-Drinking.-Quantity recommended by Priessnitz.-Enormous Quantities sometimes drank.-Advantage of Water in Fcvers.-Erroneous Notions concerning the
Treatment of Fevers.-Rule to be Observed.-Water Drinking in Poisoning.-A Case.Advantages of pure Water in New York.-Effect of Water taken at Meals.-Water
Drinking for Indigestion.-Vomiting by Water.-Advantages of Drinking at Meals.Living without Drink.-Water to prevent Vomiting and Hickup.-Some Laborers drink
freely at Meals.-Water probably undergoes no chemical Change in the System.Quality of Water.-That which is Pure and Soft the best.-Effects of Croton Water in
New York.-How to obtain pure soft Water every where.-Injections or Clysters.Their good Effects in various Diseases.-How they shall be Applied.-The Rubbing
Wet Sheet.-Its Application and Uses.-The Leintuch or Wet Sheet.-Mode of Application.-Its Uses.-Compresses and Wet Bandages.-Their Object and Uses.-Warming
or Stimulating Bandages.-Sweating Process.-How  Sweating is Accomplished.Rules for the Process.-It is little used by Priessnitz at the present day.
DRINKING  WATER.
THE quantity usually directed by Priessnitz is from ten to twelve
tumblers daily.   His general advice is, "Do  not oppress your
stomach, although I wish you to drink as much as you can conveniently."   Some have gone to  great excess in drinking.  At
Graefenberg, enormous quantities are often taken without any apparent inconvenience. One gentleman, we are told, took by way of
experiment thirteen and a half quarts in a day, little by little, taking
a good share of exercise at the same time, and experienced only a
slight headache in consequence.
Every one knows of cases in which a high  burning fever has
been broken up merely by drinking great quantities of cold water.
How often have there been cases in which it was believed, both by
friends and the physician, that the patient with burning fever could
not live the night through, and the physician declaring that cold
water, if taken, would be the sure death of the  patient, and yet
the friends, not always over particular to follow the directions laid
down, have given water to the patient, or perhaps the patient in
his delirium has broken through all restraint and satisfied himself
to the full extent of thirst; and soon how changed!  Sleep, which




142             PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
before could not be at all obtained, or if it could be, was only
dreamy and disturbed, is now deep and refreshing; and in the
place of a dry, parched, and burning skin, there is now most profuse perspiration.  The friends now behold that the fever is "broken up:" the physician comes in the morning, and exclaims, "Astonishing! what the medicine has done!" But the medicine has
been cast to the dogs.
If, in the whole range of human science, there is any error which
shows pre-eminently how loosely mankind may reason, and into
what great follies the human mind may be led, it is in the supposed effect of cold water in fevers. It seems, because it was well
known to be dangerous for persons in great heat and perspiration
arising from over-exertion-an artificial and most unnatural stateto drink largely of cold water, by parity of reasoning, it must always be dangerous when there is great thirst.  But the cases are
totally different. In the case of over-exertion, if the body is allowed
to remain quiet, even in a warmer place, the flowing of perspiration-a cooling process-will soon cause the body to become cool;
and indeed a cold will often be taken, unless great care is exercised
to guard the body. Even in such cases, too, drinking very small
quantities of water is safe and beneficial, especially if moderate exercise be kept up.
Drinking, then, in high fever, is highly salutary, and always perfectly safe, and should be reckoned as one of the most powerful
means of reducing fever.  Cases where it has proved injurious,
cannot be found.  To the utmost, the patient's thirst should be
gratified.
In other cases than fever, we have seen most astonishing effects
produced by drinking water. In a certain case, a woman of this
city, as she believed, and it was no doubt true, had been poisoned
by her husband: violent spasmodic action of the muscles of the
extremities having come on, and a severe burning in the mouth,
throat, and stomach, being present, and the woman nearly insensible, large draughts of iced Croton water were immediately given.
The patient afterward said, that so parched and heated were the
mouth, throat, and stomach, that the cold water produced no sensation whatever; but no sooner was the water taken, than most
powerful vomiting ensued, and much to the woman's relief. Still
the burning sensations to a considerable extent would soon return,
and then copious drinking would again quickly cause the same good




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                   143
result. After a while, the water was taken tepid, and thus the patient
drank and vomited many quarts. Other means were used, but drinking was the principal treatment. The next day, she was quite well.
Cats and dogs that have been accidentally poisoned by arsenic set
for rats, will take water greedily, and have thus apparently been
kept from being destroyed.
It is said by those concerned, that in the hospitals of this city
(New York) there have been no cases of gravel since the introduction of the pure soft Croton water, and that many cases have been
cured spontaneously.  The drinking this pure soft water, and its
culinary use, are doubtless the causes of those favorable results.
There has been a great deal of prejudice concerning drinking
water at meals. The common opinion is, that it dilutes the "gastric
juice."  But this opinion is founded in a wrong notion of digestion. The aqueous portion of the food taken is mostly absorbed
before digestion proceeds to any considerable extent. This objection certainly is not made to the eating of fruits, and these are
composed very much of water-by far the largest part; and so
also the natural food of the infant-the mother's milk: the whey
or watery part is absorbed, and the curd afterward digested. It
is not true, therefore, that digestion is necessarily impaired by taking fluid into the stomach at the time of meals. Nor is it true
that the gastric fluid is present in the stomach, as is by many supposed, before food is taken into the stomach, and that its action
upon the coats of the stomach causes the sensation of hunger.
The gastric secretion does not take place until the stomach is excited by the presence of food.
But whatever may be said concerning theories in this matter of
drinking at meals, the real facts of experience furnish altogether
the best guide.  From very careful observation and experiment,
we are certain that, in many cases, at least, of persons who suffer
from indigestion, the complaint will be very sensibly mitigated, and
in frequent instances be wholly removed, by free drinking pure soft
water at the meals; and then again, if indigestion is really present,
whether there has been drinking with the previous meal or not,
full drinking of water is the best means that can be used to remove the distressing symptoms.  There will generally, or at least
often, be no thirst in these cases, so that the water is to be taken
like medicine, "against the stomach."  If there have been a debauch, sometimes vomiting will take place, but the vomiting that




144             PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
comes on from water drinking is comparatively easy, and causes
great relief. At other times diarrhcea takes place, and still oftener
neither vomiting nor diarrhoea, but a quick and certain subsidence
of the symptoms.  Here it may be said, that no violence should
ever be done in drinking in the way of over-chilling the body. If
we wish to cause vomiting, and in some other instances, water,
warm or tepid, will be the most beneficial. Cold water can generally be borne, by a weak stomach, better with food than at othei
times; and why?-because the stomach is elevated in temperature
soon after the taking of food. It is then better able to act against
the coldness of the water.
What effect does cold water then have upon the stomach at
meals?  Do we not know that every person, day by day, through
stimulants in the food taken, is literally being " drugged," and that
the coats of the stomach are thus more or less inflamed and weakened? Suppose the face or hands are partially inflamed or feverish, does not every one know how strengthening and salutary to
those parts is the application of cold water? Precisely in the
same way does cold water, in suitable quantities, act upon the
stomach, as every one can prove by trial.
There is another advantage in drinking with meals; it is this:
less food is required to satisfy the appetite. It has been said, in
objection to drinking at meals, that it over-distends the stomach.
It is true that the stomach is almost always overtasked; but this
distension will be much sooner removed, if a good share of it be
from simple water. This is incomparably more easily removed by
the action of the organ, than is too great a quantity of food.
Food is often taken that is of itself too dry, more so than is
natural.  Certain kinds, as dyspepsia or Graham  crackers, dry
bread, etc., are apt to swell in the stomach as a dried apple would
do.  If food is taken at all in this state, the greatest care should
be exercised in mastication, but even then, drinking will be found
salutary.
Some have lived weeks and months without drinking any liquid
whatever.  But in all such cases fluid must have been taken from
some source. These have generally been vegetable and fruit eaters, and who have eaten largely of fruit; and these contain a large
proportion of water. Dr. Alcott, a man well known for his physiological, hygienic, and other writings, lived without drink for mole
than one year, at the same time partaking freely of apples as a




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                  145
part of the regular meal.  The moisture in the breath, perspiration, and other excretions of the body, which are constantly passing off, must be supplied from some source or other. Ordinary
food, even, contains a much greater portion of moisture than would
be at first supposed: baker's bread is said to contain about 35 per
cent.  The adult human body by weight is composed of about 80
per cent. water-the blood about 90 per cent., and the brain of
nearly the same quantity. This supply of fluid must be kept up.
There is another good effect to be brought about by water drinking-to prevent vomiting.  We have succeeded in arresting very
obstinate vomiting, when the most effectual means of ordinary
practice had failed, by giving water in small quantity frequently
repeated.  Hickup, according to our experience, can be more
readily managed by water drinking, than by any other means.
Laborers who are much exposed to heat and fatigue, tell us they
can get along with less drink, if they are careful to drink freely at
their meals.
It has been supposed by some, that water undergoes a chemical
change in the system; but there is not the least evidence that it is
ever in any way appropriated to the formation of the animal solids
of the body. It is true, however, that life can be sustained considerably longer in cases of starvation, if water is taken, than without it; but still the water undergoes no chemical change.
QUALITY OF WATER FOR DRINKING AND CULINARY USES.
It is agreed on all hands that for all the purposes of life, whether for culinary preparations, or for drink, pure soft water is the
best.  It was believed that the pure water of Graefenberg could
not be the cause of the truly wonderful cures that were there performed. It was believed that Priessnitz had some remedial agent
in the sponges used, and he was prosecuted accordingly: it was
only as he from the first had stated-pure soft water, with attention to air, exercise, diet, and clothing. The water has been fully
tested, and is found to be only pure and soft.
Since the Croton water has been introduced into the city of
New York, there has been a manifest improvement in the health
of the citizens.  Still there are many who prefer the abominably
filthy and hard water of the wells.  Yet there is much of the Croton used, some preferring it, and others taking it more from convenience.  During the past summer (of 1844), a season not par7




146              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
ticularly healthy, and very hot, it was stated in the public papers
that the bills of mortality during some of the weeks of the hottest
weather, were less than they had been for many years previously
in the season corresponding-a significant fact to those who understand the effects of water, but a fact, the reasons for which
were not at all commented upon in the public papers.
As in every thing in the present state of physiological knowledge, so in the matter of drinking water: people in general are
guided by mere feeling.  Any one who has been a time in the
habit of drinking hard water, if he act merely according to taste,
will prefer the hard water to which he is accustomed, to any soft
water, however pure it may be.  Horses will leave hard water,
that is clear, for soft water that is even muddy.
Families can easily obtain soft water by depending upon the
cistern and the clouds.  Very cheap filters can be at any time
constructed, so that cistern-water can be had very pure: for instance, a large common funnel, a keg with a hole in the bottom,
or something of the kind, can be used, a sponge or fine rags being
pressed closely in the opening, and thus the water can be made
very clear: and if there is any fear of decayed animal matter being
in the rain-water, a layer of clean sand and fine charcoal over the
sponge or other substance, will serve to remove this. It is the
charcoal that acts as a disinfectant, removing the animal matter.
There is no way of filtering out the hardness of hard water. Some
families in and about New York and Boston have double cisterns,
so that rain-water, by pressure, passes from one to the other
through a large filter box, and thus the water is made as pure and
limpid as can be imagined: and yet, when such water is at hand,
for drink, many prefer the hard water of the well.
INJECTIONS, OR CLYSTERS.
These constitute an important part of the treatment. They are
highly valuable in various complaints.  The bowels can at any
time be easily kept free, and the evils and unpleasantness of constipation thus be at once removed.  This application is also of
great service in all bowel complaints. Severe diarrhoea, dysentery,
cholera morbus, and colic, can often be speedily arrested by this
application alone. In inflammation of the bowels it is of most signal benefit. The author has, in different instances, given immediate relief in this disease, when the bowels had been for days ob



PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                  147
stinately closed, resisting the action of the most powerful medicines.
This application should be made with an instrument by which
no air will be introduced into the parts. Air may cause pain. It
should always be carefully expelled by forcing water through the
instrument a few times before it is inserted.
The quantity of water to be used will vary.  As much as can
be retained, be it more or less, can be taken. The temperature is
to be made according to the feelings of comfort, never too warm
or too cold. Many take cold water.
Some have a prejudice against this application, thinking that it
will weaken the bowels like cathartic medicine or cathartic clysters, but this is not true. Pure water rightly used in this way
strengthens.
ABREIBUNG, OR RUBBING WET SHEET.
A linen sheet of coarse quality, suitable for holding considerable
water, and at the same time serving well for friction, is here used.
It is better to press and not wring the sheet out of the water, and
it may be allowed even dripping.  The patient standing ready, it
is to be thrown over the head or about the neck, so as to create a
slight shock; active friction is made (over, not with the sheet) by
the assistant behind, and the patient before, if able, or by another
assistant.  This should be continued from one to five minutes, when
the skin will have become reddened and warm. This must be immediately followed briskly by a coarse dry sheet or dry cloths,
until the surface is perfectly dry and in a complete glow. The
patient is then immediately dressed for exercise, or for bed, as the
case may be.  The temperature of the water used should correspond with the strength of the patient. Those who are so feeble
as to render it necessary for them to remain in bed, can be often
much benefited by a judicious rubbing while in bed.  This is a
highly useful and convenient application, and, if judiciously made,
will produce nearly, if not quite all, the good effects of a bath, and
will often be found much more convenient of application.
WET SHEET, OR LEINTUCH.
The first reclining upon this sheet will be disagreeable. If it is
to be used to reduce the temperature of the body, as in high
fevers, it is well to have it of coarse quality, in order to hold more
water.  To apply it, the mattress of the bed or couch should be




448              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
made bare, one or more large thick woolen blankets next, and the
sheet last, upon which the patient is to lie. He is to be quickly
and snugly enveloped, from the neck to the feet, first with the
wet sheet, and then with the blanket. These adjusted with care,
the packing is finished by covering over the whole a light feather
bed, and a quilt, or a sufficiency of other bedding without the
feather bed. After remaining twenty or thirty minutes, or long
enough to become tolerably warm, some form of ablution suited to
the patient's condition is administered.
In cases of acute rheumatism, or gout, where it would be troublesome for the patient to be moved, or in any case where it might
be better for the patient to remain quiet for a longer time, two or
three sheets can be used instead of one, to act as a refrigerant for
a longer time.  A long towel from  the armpit down, upon each
side, has been recommended, so that the whole body be exposed
to the wet linen.
In cases of acute fever, the sheets must be changed according
to the, degree of heat, every quarter or half hour, until the dry
hot skin becomes softer, and more prone to perspiration. This is
usually the first process of the day, and is repeated or not, according to circumstances.
The wet sheet process is of great advantage in a variety of
chronic as well as acute cases; such as are attended with an irritable and inactive skin, and in a multitude of skin diseases. A frequent change of the sheets in such cases would be unnecessary as
a rule. Determination of blood to the head is to be removed or
prevented by cold applications to it. Should the feet remain cold
in the wet cloths, they should be extricated and wrapped in dry
cloths only. At the close of the process the patient should be
briskly rubbed until the surface is dry.
"The wet sheet produces two diametrically opposite effects, accordingly as it is used.  If it be changed frequently, as fast as the
patient becomes warm, as, for instance, in cases of fever, almost
any amount of heat may be abstracted slowly and gradually from
the body.  But if the patient remain for half an hour, the most
delicious sensation of warmth, and a gentle breathing perspiration
are produced, while all pains and uneasiness are removed. It produces all the soothing influence upon the entire system which is
produced by a warm poultice on an inflamed surface."*
* Dr. Edward Johnson.




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                   149
For very delicate patients it has been suggested that the sheet
be pressed out of tepid water, as introductory to the cold.
Respecting the application of cold water over the whole body:
"Let us now suppose that heat is abstracted from the whole surface
of the body; in this case the whole action of the oxygen will be directed to the skin, and in a short time the change of matter must
increase throughout the body. Fat, and all such matters as are
capable of combining with oxygen, which is brought to them in
larger quantity than usual, will be expelled from the body in the
form of oxydized compounds."*
" If therefore the body contain any morbific matters, these will
be expelled in the form of such compounds."t
According to Liebig, the same results may sometimes be accomplished by a very scanty diet.
COMPRESSES AND WET BANDAGES.
Locally, water may be applied in various ways.  Bandages are
made to produce the same effect upon any part of the body, as
the leintuch upon the whole body. As cooling or refrigerant applications, they should be applied of a size suited to the part inflamed, folded from three or four to eight times, dipped in very
cold water, and are to be renewed from every three or four to ten
minutes, according to the necessities of the case.
As to the effect of the various partial applications of cold water
to the system, "they act by determining the force of oxygen from
one part to another. They produce all the effects of both bleeding
and blistering, except the pain."
"If," says Liebig, "we surround a part of the body with ice or
snow, while the other parts are left in a natural state, there occurs
more or less quickly, in consequence of the loss of heat, an accelerated change of matter in the cooled part.
"The resistance of the living tissues to the action of oxygen, is
weaker at the cooled part than in the other parts; and this, in its
effects, is equivalent to an increase of resistance in these other
parts-the whole action of the inspired oxygen is exerted on the
cooled part.
"In the cooled part of the body, the living tissues offer a less
resistance to the chemical action of the inspired oxygen; the pow,
* Liebig.          t Dr. E. Johnson.




150             PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
er of the oxygen to unite with the elements of the tissues is, at this
part, exalted.
"In the cooled part the change of matter, and with it the disengagement of heat, increases; while, in the other parts, the change,.f matter and liberation of heat decrease."
"And thus," says Dr. Johnson, "by the judicious use of cold
rater alone, all the good effects of blistering and bleeding are most
~eadily and certainly produced, without any of the bad effects. The
sad effects of repeated bleeding in certain diseases are well known
to medical men.  We know perfectly well, that it often happens
that a patient is saved by bleeding, from dying of an inflammation,
only that he may die of a dropsy; that a patient is often saved by
bleeding from dying of haemorrhage from the lungs, only that he
may die the sooner of a consumption.
WARMING, OR STIMULATING BANDAGES.
These are applied by folding linen two or three times, and dipping them in cold water, or they may be made slightly tepid; they
should be well pressed or wrung out, and are not to be changed
until they begin to dry. They must be well adapted to the part,
and also well secured from the action of the air by a dry bandage, which is better to be a non-conductor of heat, so that the
part may be raised in temperature. The combined action of heat
and moisture thus produced is highly beneficial in a great variety of indurations, swellings, tumors, etc. In the water-cure,
they are also much used in derangements of the digestive organs,
affections of the abdomen, diseases of the liver, etc.
For the abdomen, a convenient form is made by folding and sewing together two or three thicknesses of linen, of sufficient length
to pass round the body two or more times, the width varying according to the size of the person; one end is wet and wrung out
enough in length to cover the abdomen, or to pass round the body
if desirable, and then applied as tightly as comfortable-and the
dry folds over in the same manner; the whole secured by pins, or
better by tapes attached for the purpose. There should always
be enough of dry cloths of some kind to prevent a permanent chill.
SWEATING.
In this process, the patient, being naked, is closely enveloped in
a large thick blanket, with the legs extended and the arms close to




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                 151
the body.  The blanket must be tightly drawn and well tucked under, so that every part of the body, from the head down, is in immediate contact with it. Then over all there must be a sufficiency
of clothing of some sort (cotton comfortables are good), all well
tucked under, so as to retain all the animal heat.  " Thus hermetically enveloped, the patient exactly resembles a mummy." This
constrained position and the irritation of the blanket are at first disagreeable, particularly until perspiration commences, which takes
place in from one half hour to two hours' time. Those that perspire
with difficulty, should move the legs and rub the body with their
hands all that the position will allow. It is however more desirable to obtain the end without the exertion, if it can be done. Sometimes the head, all but the face, is also covered. When sweating
commences, the windows should be thrown open, so as to admit fresh
air, and the patient be allowed to take small draughts of water, a
wine-glass or more every ten or fifteen minutes. This will not only
be refreshing, but will also promote the sweating. If there be
headache, or a determination of blood to the head, cooling bandages should be applied, and changed as often as necessary. If,
from the length of time of the envelopment, it be necessary, a urinal should be placed at the patient before the wrapping up. To
allay the pain of swellings, tumors, etc., warming applications
should be applied before the envelopment; otherwise the pain would
be liable to an increase, before perspiration commences. Those
who are very restless, should be confined by additional cloths and
girths; otherwise the time would be too much prolonged. With
the best that can be done, some will require four or five hours' encasement.
The best time for sweating in chronic cases, is early in the
morning.  As a rule, only once a day.  The repetition would be
the exception. In acute cases, the time of sweating will depend
upon the fever, exacerbations, etc., and should be resorted to when
necessary, without reference to the time of day.
When the process has continued long enough, the coverings (all
but the thick blanket) are to be removed. The blanket must be loosened-about the legs in particular. An attendant should wet with
a cloth the parts to be exposed to the air. The patient, if able,
goes immediately to the bath, washes the head, face, neck, and
chest very briskly, and then enters the bath immediately, and remains from one to six or eight minutes, keeping up constant motion




152              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
and friction; and then immediately, on leaving the bath, the whole
surface must be made thoroughly dry by rubbing with cloths, etc.
Those who are able should then take exercise in the open air, or
in a well-aired room. Those not able should be well rubbed by attendants. No danger is to be dreaded from the sudden transition
from heat to cold, in this kind of sweating, if every thing is properly done, as abundant experience proves.
This highly valuable part of the water-cure can very easily be
made the means of much evil. It is an engine of great power, and
therefore should be practiced with the utmost caution. In cold,
phlegmatic habits, where the skin is inactive, the sensibility dull,
and the circulation sluggish, it is productive of great benefit. But
in the sanguine temperament, where the circulation is active and
the sensibility acute, or if in any case it is carried too far, it is productive of great mischief. The relationship, or equilibrium, between
the two great vital functions, circulation and respiration, would be
destroyed.  The velocity of the circulation would be increased,
without a corresponding increase of respiration, thus destroying an
equilibrium absolutely necessary to health, and which destruction,
if maintained for a considerable time, must inevitably terminate with
the most serious results.
"Profuse perspiration operates upon the body, first like the
surgeon's lancet, in reducing the volume of the contained fluids.
Secondly, it operates like the physician's blister, by determining
from the centre to the circumference.  It thus relieves congestion
of the vital organs, and lightens the whole system. But it does
vastly more than can be achieved either by bleeding or blistering;
for it extricates from the body an increased amount of carbon and
hydrogen, thus producing a deficiency of these elements within it.
This deficiency of carbon and hydrogen is equivalent to a call for
more food, in order to supply the place of the lost carbon and
hydrogen. And thus it promotes appetite, which is more than can
be said for either lancet or blister, by their warmest admirers."*
Priessnitz does not resort to sweating as much as he once did.
We are told that where he formerly sweated fifty patients, he does
not now sweat half a dozen.
* Dr. Edward Johnson.




PROCESSES  OF WATER-CURE.                           153
CHAPTER VIII.
PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE-(CONTINUED)
Modes in which the Bath should be taken.-The Cold Bath not to be resorted to when the
Body is Chilly.-Necessity of keeping in Motion while in the Bath.-Those who have
weak Chests must be careful in their use of the Cold Bath.-Exercise beneficial after
Bathing.-Full Baths should sometimes be discontinued for a period.-The Half Bath.Its Uses and Effects. —Long-continued Hip or Sitz Baths.-Priessnitz's mode.-The Bath
is sometimes taken after the Packing Sheet.-Means of reducing Feverishness.-Foot
Bath.-Used to counteract Pains in the upper Part of the Body.-Headache and Toothache.-The Feet should be Warm before they are put into cold Water.-Exercise to be
taken immediately after the Foot Bath.-This is much better than going to the Fire.This Bath good in Fatigue.-To be used cautiously by the Gouty.-Head Bath.-Its use
in Headache, Inflammations of the Eye, Deafness, and loss of Smell and Taste.-Rush of
Blood to the Head.-Mode of taking the Head Bath.-Finger Bath.-Mode of treating
Whitlow or Felon.-Eye Bath.-How and for what Used. -Leg Bath.-Its uses.-Sitz
Bath.-Mode of administering it.-Its importance.-Douche Bath.-Its effects.-Douches
at Graefenberg.-Mode of taking the Douche.-It should be used with great Caution.Length of Time for taking this Bath.
DESCRIPTION  OF THE  GRAEFENBERG  BATHS.
THE entire or public bath at Graefenberg is about thirty feet in
circumference, and  sufficiently deep  for a  man  of che ordinary
height to plunge into up to his neck. The water is constantly renewed by springs in the mountains, the waters of which are conveyed through pipes into the bath, and escape by an opening for
that purpose, so that no impurities may remain; besides which,
the bath is emptied and cleaned twice a day: but this remark applies to Graefenberg only, as at Freiwaldau, with but few exceptions, the houses are supplied with portable baths.
The immersion of the body covered with sweat, into cold water,
is exempt from danger, provided the organs of perspiration are in
a state of repose. The risk which is incurred of catching cold, if,
on arriving at a river to bathe, we remain until the body is cold
and dry, cannot possibly exist in this case: as we thereby abstract
from the body the heat which it requires to produce reaction, and
thus lose the good effect of bathing.  Then if we walk fast, or a
long distance to the bath, it is requisite to repose a little, in order
to tranquilize the lungs, after which we must undress quickly, and
*From Captain Claridge's Hydropathy.
7*




154             PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
plunge head foremost into the water, having first wetted the head
and chest, to prevent the blood mounting to those regions. This
precaution is strongly enforced at Graefenberg. During the bath,
the head ought to be immersed several times into the water.
Great care is requisite in  not exposing  the body, between
throwing aside the blanket after sweating and entering into the
bath.
It is highly advantageous to keep in movement in the bath, and
to rub with the hands any parts afflicted. The skin is thus stimulated and the sensation of cold abated. People whose chests are
affected, must exercise moderation in the use of the bath, entering
it only by degrees, and not staying in it too long.  In general, the
time for remaining in the bath is governed by the coldness of
the water, and the vital heat of the bather; but no general rule
can be adopted with respect to this.  At Graefenberg, where the
temperature of the water is from 43 to 50 degrees, no one stays
longer in the bath than from six to eight minutes, many only two
or three. Priessnitz advises his patients to avoid the second sensation of cold, which is a sort of fever, by leaving the bath before
it is felt: by this means the patient will avoid a too powerful reaction, provoked by a great subtraction of heat. This precaution
is indispensable at the epoch of the treatment, marked by fevers
and eruptions.  Then a reaction, produced by an immoderate use
of the bath or douche, would compel the invalid to keep his bed
for some days, without at all accelerating the cure.
On leaving the bath, which is found more refreshing than any
one can imagine who has not experienced its effects, you are covered with a sheet, over that a cloak is thrown, and thus you go to
your room, where the whole body is dried and rubbed; and then
you must dress quickly, and walk to keep up the warmth.  To
effect this by the heat of stoves or beds, would be acting in direct
opposition to the treatment.  A glass or two of water immediately after the bath is agreeable, and should not be omitted while
walking.
When irritation is highly excited during the cure, baths should
be suspended, as they would augment it.  A general washing of
the body, and sitz baths, are then resorted to. Sweating is also
replaced by the envelopment of the body in a damp sheet, the repeating of which operation, together with the sitz bath, will cause
the irritation to cease.




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                   155
THE HALF BATH.
The half bath is about the size of those generally used in our
houses, and is only employed in cases in which the whole bath
would be too much for the strength of the invalid, who may require to be bathed for a longer time, in order to excite the morbid
humors. It is, in effect, less active than the entire bath, and being
attended with less danger, is frequently administered to new-comers for about a week, preparatory to the large bath; the temperature of the small, or half bath, is never lower than sixty degrees.
The water in these half baths is only about three to six inches
deep.  When it is necessary that the invalid should have the advantage of an entire bath, water is poured upon him, or the attendant constantly wets the body and head with the water of
the bath.
When these small baths are used, in order to be less exciting,
the upper part of the body is sometimes covered, and the bath
hermetically closed, so that the head only appears.
This is in cases where it is necessary that the invalid should remain in them  for an hour or two.  We have known Priessnitz
order this for five or six hours at a time, and repeat it several days
successively, in order to provoke irritation, and produce fever.
Last year, a doctor afflicted with an atonic gout was subjected to
this treatment, and was completely cured. It is, indeed, a common thing at Graefenberg to see invalids remain for hours thus enclosed in the small bath, and continue doing the same for days,
until fever is produced; this brings the morbid matter to the skin,
in the form of abscesses, which sometimes discharge themselves in
sufficient quantity for the matter to fill several glasses. When this
crisis takes place, the baths are suspended during the discharge of
these humors, by which the system is much benefited.
The half bath is frequently taken by the patient immediately after he has been confined in the wet sheet.  It is accompanied by a
general sprinkling of the body with cold water and rubbing. While
still sweating, the patient should hasten to the bath, throw off the
covering, previously wetting the head and chest, and the attendant
should pour a pailful of water upon the head, when the face and
body must be well rubbed.  This last part of the process is often
continued for ten or fifteen minutes together, sometimes much longer. When the patient quits the bath he dries himself, dresses, and
proceeds to take exercise in the open air immediately; but persons




156             PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
who have not the means of consulting a doctor acquainted with
Priessnitz's mode of treatment, are not advised to attempt this.
In almost all cases of fever the patient is first wrapped up hermetically in a wet sheet, which is changed as soon as it becomes
warm, and repeated until the fever has subsided. As each of these
sheets will become hot from having extracted a certain quantity of
the caloric from the body, it necessarily follows that a chill will
succeed the subsiding of the fever; the patient is then placed in
the bath and rubbed all over by two persons, with the bare hand,
until all the symptoms are abated. The patient then joins in the
promenade, or at the public tables. If at night feverish symptoms
return, the same operation is performed, and repeated until a perfect cure is effected.
FOOT BATH.
The foot bath is employed almost exclusively as a counteracting
agent against the pains of the upper part of the body. Priessnitz
prescribes these baths for precisely the same purposes that the faculty order warm ones, yet every one knows that the feet, after a
warm bath, become cold, and then the reaction is upward, while,
on the contrary, after a cold bath the feet become warm and the
reaction is downward.  Headache and toothache, whatever may
be their causes, particularly those that are of a violent nature, inflammation of the eyes, and effluxes of blood to the head, are almost
always relieved by means of the foot bath. To this should be added the application of wet bandages, without dry ones over them.
The tub, or basin, in which these foot baths are taken, ought only
to contain warm water from two to three inches deep, or just enough
to cover the toes; for the toothache, one inch is sufficient; and
the bath may be applied for some fifteen minutes to half an hour.
In cases of sprains, the feet must be put in water up to the ankles.
The water, when it becomes lukewarm, should be changed.  The
feet, during the whole time, should be well rubbed by the hand, or
against each other, in order to promote a strong reaction. Care
must be taken that the feet are warm before they are put into water, and exercise should be taken immediately afterward, to bring
back the heat to them.  Rubbing them with a dry hand assists
this very much.  Cold foot baths are sure means of preventing
tendency to cold in the feet; the application of hot water only
weakens the skin, and renders the feet more susceptible to cold




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                 1.57
When they are extremely cold, instead of exposing them to the fire
to warm, it is much better to produce the effect required by exercise. If we want any proof of the reaction caused by the foot
bath, and its powers of preservation from catching cold, we have
but to feel our feet an hour or two hours after the bath, and
we shall then find them extremely hot. If we cannot avoid being
exposed for a long time to a piercing cold, it is well to take a cold
foot bath two hours previous to going out. After great fatigue, a
foot bath of this description, before going to bed, is most refreshing.  Gouty subjects should not use these baths without advice;
but to people in general, Priessnitz recommends their frequent use.
He contends, that in the feet many of the most serious complaints
commence.
Homer, when he stated Achilles to be invulnerable except in
the heel, no doubt knew that the feet were the most important
parts of the human frame. The poorer people, who wear neither
shoes nor stockings, or whose feet are constantly exposed to a sort
of foot bath, are seldom subject to those complaints which attack
the upper region of the body.
An Irish gentleman, thinking to do his shepherd a service, who
had lived in a low, marshy situation for many years, sent him
to another estate, which was high and dry, and asking him how
he liked it, he replied, "Not at all; he had never been well a
day since he had been there, for there was not a drop of water to
wet his feet."
HEAD BATH.
Head baths are used for rheumatic pains in the head, common
headaches, rheumatic inflammations of the eye, deafness, loss of
smell and taste. They tend to disturb the morbid humors, which
nature generally evacuates in the form of abscesses in the ears.
They are also used to prevent the flow of blood to the head, but
in this case only for a few minutes, in order to avoid too great a
reaction. These should be followed by exercise in the open air,
in the shade. This bath is used as follows: a wash-hand basin
should be placed at the end of a rug upon the floor.  On this
rug the patient should extend himself, so that his head may reach
the basin, at the bottom of which may be placed a towel for the
head to rest upon. Then the back of the head must be placed in
the water; then one side; and lastly, the other side of the head.




158              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
All this is terminated by again placing the back part of the head
in the water.
The duration of this bath depends upon the nature and extent
of the disease. In chronic inflammation of the eye, each part of
the head should remain in water for fifteen minutes; and as long
for deafness, loss of smell and taste. All this will occupy an hour,
during which time the water should be renewed twice.
If these baths and foot baths are continued with perseverance,
success is certain. This success is generally announced by violent
headaches, until the formation of an abscess takes place, which
finishes by breaking.
For the common headache, the back of the head may be exposed to the water from  ten to fifteen minutes, and each side
from five to ten minutes; if it is obstinate, a foot bath and a sitz
bath, both slightly chilled, should be used for half an hour each.
FINGER BATH.
For whitlows or felons, the finger is placed in a glass of water
three times a day, fifteen minutes each time, the finger and hand
bandaged; then the elbow must be placed in water twice a day,
and a heating bandage placed on the arm above it; this will have
the effect of drawing the inflammation from the hand.
EYE BATH.
Water is held to the eye, which for a minute is kept closed, and
then opened for five minutes in a small glass, made for the purpose, in circumference about the size of the eye. The head bath
is generally used with this bath, but the latter is repeated oftener,
and in most cases where there is inflammation, a fomentation is applied to the back of the head on going to bed, and another at the
back during the day.  For weak eyes the forehead is bandaged
on going to bed. Sitz and foot baths form part of this treatment.
LEG BATH.
The thighs and legs, when afflicted with ulcers, ring-worms,
wounds, or fixed rheumatic pains, ought to be put into a bath so
as to cover the parts afflicted. The object of these baths is for
them to act as stimulants. They may be taken for an hour, and
sometimes longer: they always determine abscesses, and where
they already exist, they cause an abundant suppuration. They




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                   159
are also applicable to any other members afflicted in a like
manner.
THE SITZ BATH.
For want of a better term, we adhere to that of the Germans,
and instead of a sitting we call it a sitz bath.
This is a small flat tub, of about seventeen inches in diameter,
with water seldom more than three or four inches deep; in this
people sit as in a hip bath, with their feet resting on the ground,
for different periods-a quarter of an hour, half an hour, an hour,
or more, as may be deemed sufficient. This, in some cases, is repeated two or three times a day. The sitting bath is considered
by Priessnitz to be of so much importance in his treatment, that
those patients are considered quite as exceptions for whom it is
not prescribed. It has the effect of strengthening the nerves, of
drawing the humors from the head, chest, and abdomen, and relieving flatulency, and is of the utmost value to those who have
led a sedentary life.
The object of using so little water in this bath, the half bath,
and foot bath, is, that a reaction may the sooner be effected. If
a greater body of water were used, it would remain cold during
the whole time of its application, and cause congestions to the
upper regions; whereas, in this case, it almost immediately attains
the heat of the blood, and admits of an immediate reaction.
To prevent the former, the patient should apply a wet bandage
to the head: and to succeed more effectually in the object for
which the sitz bath is prescribed, he should rub the abdomen as
much as possible with a wet hand.
DROP BATH.
"This term is applied to single drops of water falling from a
height of several fathoms. For this form of bath a vessel is used
filled with very cold water, and furnished with a very small aperture, through which water passes in the form of drops. The small
aperture should be partially closed by a plug, to prevent the drops
from following each other in rapid succession. By these means
their operation is considerably increased, and it becomes yet moro
potent if we allow the drops to fall upon a particular part at certain periods, and rub the part during the intervals. The reaction
about to commence will indeed be thus interrupted, but will afterward make its appearance in a more powerful, energetic form.




160              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
"The violent excitement and irritation of the nervous system produced by these baths, render it necessary to restrict the use of
them to half an hour; nor are they, indeed, adapted for vital parts,
or such as are abundantly supplied with nerves.
"They are often used with more effect in obstinate and chronic
cases of paralysis, than the douche or affusion, with which they
may alternate.' Powerful and continued friction with a horse-hair
glove is never in this case to be neglected after the baths."*
THE DOUCHE BATH.
The douche, of all the means employed, is the most powerful in
moving the bad humors, and disturbing them  from  the position
which they may have occupied for years: they are also used in the
greater number of chronic diseases.  The douche corrects the
weakness which the skin may have contracted in the process of
sweating, and also fortifies it. It hardens the body, and renders
it capable of supporting all variations in the atmosphere. It exercises a powerful action upon the muscles and nervous system, by
the reaction which it provokes. What is understood by a douche,
at Graefenberg, is a spring of water running out of the mountain,
conveyed by pipes into small huts, where it falls from the top in a
stream about the thickness of one's wrist, which fall constitutes
the difference between the douche and a shower bath; outside
this hut is another for dressing, constructed like the first, in the
rudest way imaginable.
There are six douches in the forest of Graefenberg: the fall of
the first is fifteen feet; the second, ten feet; the third, twenty feet;
the fourth, eighteen feet. The douches set apart for women have
a fall of twelve feet each: the diameter of the fall is the same as
in those of the men.
At the colony there is a douche which is available all the winter:
this is not the case with the others.  About half a mile out of the
town of Friewaldau, there are four more douches, resorted to by
both sexes. Nearly all the douches are at some distance from the
places of residence of the patients, which occasions a walk to arrive
at them, so that the body is in a glow, and better calculated to be
benefited by the effect of the water, when submitted to the process.
Parts afflicted should, for the greater part of the time, be exposed to the action of the douche, though it must be received oc* Weiss's Hand-Book of Hydropathy.




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                 161
casionally upon all parts of the body, except on the head and
face, unless this is especially ordered by Priessnitz. Weak chests
should also avoid it on that part and the abdomen, otherwise the
fall of the water on the lower part of the stomach or belly is not
injurious. The atony of this region will not, however, always resist these means. The relief afforded by the douche, sometimes in
a few minutes, in arthritic cases and rheumatism, is almost miraculous.
The douche being intended to put the morbid humors in movement, ought to be discontinued when it produces feverish excitement, and be commenced again when that has ceased.
The time recommended for the douche by different authors, is
from one half minute to fifteen minutes. This, as all other strong
impressions on the body, as a rule, should never be made with a
full stomach, and generally not more than once or twice daily.
"The most intense expression which can be made by the application of cold water is by the douche-and there must be in the
system a very considerable amount of vital force to enable the
patient to bear this mode of application. A misapplication may
so far lower the vital resistance as to make the reaction exceedingly difficult, or even impossible. It may knock the patient so violently down as to make it difficult for him to get up again-thus
giving rise to dropsical swellings of the legs and feet, venous congestion, piles, varicose veins, and other symptoms of deficient vital
actions. It sometimes produces the most extraordinary effects, as
weeping, laughing, trembling, etc. In its proper place, however,
it exercises a most powerful influence over disease, and seems to
exert an especial impression upon the absorbents. I have seen tumors of long standing most rapidly absorbed, and disappear, under
the use of the douche."*
* Dr. Edward Johnson




162                  PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
CHAPTER IX.
PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE-(CONTINUED.)
Shower Bath, an excellent Mode of taking it.-Its great Value in a variety of Diseases. —
A Bath for every One.-How often should we Bathe.-Daily Bathing advocated.-The
Vapor Bath.-Alleged Objections to its Use answered.-The Vapor Bath in some cases
a better Mode than the Wet Sheet.-The Tompsonians are often Successful.-Great disregard of the importance of making remedial Applications to the Skin.-A Case.-Practice of the ancient Romans, the Russians, and the American Indians.-Tepid, warm,
and hot Applications of Water.-Many suppose, erroneously, that nothing but cold Water
is used in the new System.-Cases in which warm or hot Water is useful.-A Case.-A
Mode of Curing the Colic.-Caution in the Use of warm Water.-Temperature of
Baths.-Curious Facts regarding the Sensations caused by Water.-Cautions in the Use
of Water.-Important Rules.-Air and Exercise.-These are important Adjuncts in Water-Cure.-Clothing.-Diet.-Principles of Digestion.
SHOWER B.TH.
THE shower is probably the best form of bath for daily use, provided an abundance of water can be had. There are many of these
used in New York since the introduction of the Croton, and more
particularly since the subject of water is of late receiving a greater
share of attention. One advantage of the bath of this kind is, that
it can be taken so quickly; and then also the constant shower of
water is very cleansing and invigorating.
In this, as in every kind of bath, the head should be the part
first to commence upon.  If the hair is long it can be guarded by
a close oil-cloth or India rubber cap, but always the face, temples,
and neck, should first be wet. This prevents the blood from rushing to the head-an objection that has been made to the shower
bath. If one is highly sensitive to the impression of cold, the
shower will be more bearable, provided loud and continued exclamation be practiced while under the bath. The exertion seems to
keep the blood outward. Brisk motion, as dancing and jumping,
with friction, should be at the same time resorted to, and then the
body should be quickly rubbed dry, and exercise be taken, or a
weak person  can go to a warm  bed.  The body should be made
thoroughly comfortable.




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.               163
We have known weak invalids who had scarcely ever taken a
cold bath, to commence in midwinter with the shower, beginning
in the morning immediately on coming from a warm bed, and in
the course of a few weeks, such persons have gained an amount of
health and strength which, for years, they had not known. Rheumatism, incipient gout, giddiness, indigestion, with its long train of
symptoms, and the like, have often in a remarkably short time been
removed; and individuals of a pale, sickly, and sallow look, have
acquired the ruddiness and bloom of youth.
In a few instances, those who were weak and sensitive to cold,
have been taken with a sudden neuralgise or rheunRatic "twinge,"
but this is oftener than otherwise caused by the bath being continued too long, or the person not keeping up sufficient exercise
and friction. This generally passes off at once, and has never, in
our experience, been alarming. Still it should be avoided.
A BATH FOR EVERY ONE.
An intelligent correspondent writes us of an ingenious contrivance
for bathing, as follows: " I purchased three yards of twilled cotton,
cut it in two pieces, had them sewed together; then I got enough
old rope (about the size of my finger) to go round it, and had my
square piece of cotton cloth bordered all about its four sides with
the rope. I then took it to the painter, and had it oiled over on
one side with two coats, and dried. This made me a perfect bathing
mat. I place a pail of water upon it, and with a sponge I wash
all over. After I have done, I take it up by the four corners and
pour out the water. It is wiped and folded up. When I travel,
this always goes with me, upon my trunk." This individual knows
well the power of water, for after having suffered for many years
from a rheumatic complaint which had resisted the best of medical
treatment, he was cured in a few months by water.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD A BATH BE TAKEN?
We know of no exception to the rule that a bath should be taken
daily. Every sick person, in whatever condition, or however weak
they may be, should have the whole body rubbed over with wet
cloths, sponges, or the like, at least once every day. In some cases
great caution will be needed that it may be done safely. Let those
who have lain for days upon a sick bed without any ablution, as is
generally the case in the common practice of medicine, try, when




164              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
the body is warm, the rubbing it all over, little by little, following
briskly with dry cloths, and then covering the parts warmly, according to the feelings of comfort, and they will find it a most
powerful tonic, and an application productive of great comfort.
Physicians have yet many simple lessons of this kind to learn.
We repeat, every individual, old and young, male and female,
sick or well, should have a daily bath. And in case of indisposition, instead of less attention to bathing, bathing the more should
be given.  There is no condition in which Nature would say
"stop;" but rather she asks at our hand assistance.
VAPOR BATHS.
Among those who advocate and practice water-cure, there seems
to be a general opinion that vapor baths are injurious. The objection most commonly made is, that the vapor too much excites
the circulation, causes a rushing of blood to the head, and by this
undue excitation or stimulation the body becomes weakened. It
is an easy matter to cause injury by vapor baths. If it is made
too powerful, or is too long continued, severe headache, and even
fainting, may be caused. But this is the abuse. If a patient is
wrapped in a dry blanket or a wet sheet to perspire, precisely the
same injurious effects can easily be caused. With a good apparatus, there is no difficulty in regulating the vapor bath so that it
will be as mild as one pleases-as mild in temperature, even, as the
wet sheet in the way ordinarily used to cause mild perspiration.
It has been objected, that in vapor baths the heat is from a
foreign substance, and that therefore it must be debilitating and
weakening.  But the same objection may be made respecting the
sweating blanket, or the wet sheet causing perspiration. The natural heat of the body being 98 degrees Fah., there is constantly
passing off in every direction a considerable amount of heat, unless
it is some way obstructed; but if this heat is obstructed, as by the
non-conducting blankets, as used in the wet sheet or sweating envelopment, and is retained at the surface of the body, or is thrown
back upon the surface, the effect is not different from what it
would be if the same amount of heat from any other source were
applied in a similar way.
In many cases, we are confident, from experience, that a vapor
bath suitably arranged, with a cool or cold bath after it, is better
than to lay for hours in an envelopment. The time thus gained




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                 165
by the vapor bath is very valuable for exercise in the open air,
and is often better than for the patient to be laying in a room perhaps not over well ventilated, as is generally the case.
To prevent too much blood at the head, a cold wet cloth, or a
frequent washing the head and temples in cold water, is very useful. A  headache or faintness are the first symptoms denoting
that the bath is too powerful.  The vapor bath should never be
used in such a way as to cause headache or faintness.  Such
effects are never needed, and are always more or less pernicious.
The Thomsonians, or "steam doctors," as they are sometimes
called, have been unmercifully and ignorantly vilified by many whose
ignorance in certain cases superseded that of the ignorant ones
among the "steamers," in proportion as it was more "scientific."
Who does not know that the Thomsonian has often relieved patients
in a most remarkable manner, when the "scientific" practitioner
was compelled to "give up."  A good vapor bath, and a thorough
cleansing of the skin, will often cause such speedy relief, that it is
reckoned an accident rather than otherwise that relief is obtained.
The remedy appears too simple to cause any marked result.
Physicians generally seem to think it a thing of little consequence to pay any regard to the skin. Day after day, week after
week, and month after month, patients are allowed to lay suffering
for want of a cleansing of the skin; and in cases, too, where such
a cleansing of the skin would cause more sudden relief than any
thing else that can be done. We knew a physician of very extensive practice, who had under treatment a person with obstinate
fever.  After having done his utmost without any good success,
he thought he would try vapor to "get up an action," as it was
called; and to do this, some common barrel hoops were cut in
two, and the half hoops were placed over the patient in bed to
elevate the clothes; and then by hot stones or bricks wound in wet
cloths, placed under the bedding thus elevated, a genial, pleasant
vapor was caused all about the body, and thus by this simple
means the patient was at once greatly benefited. It was just the
thing needed.  The patient rapidly recovered.
We lately had a patient who had been treated many months,
and who, on leaving home, was given by his physician written directions, and to "wind up," it was recommended that, by all'
means, he should take vapor baths, should he be where they could
be obtained-as if a vapor bath could not be had any where. He




166              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
had been treated all this time without any. It is easy to give a
bath of this kind in the following way: A number of bricks or
stones are heated red hot. The patient is to sit upon a cane bottom  or open-work chair (the clothing being removed), with a
couple of woolen or other blankets pinned about the neck. A
vessel of water-a common tin pan is as good as any thing-is
placed under the chair, and into this water the hot bricks or stones
are to be dipped, little by little, so that the vapor rises from the
surface of the water. The body can thus be easily brought into
perspiration.
The ancient Romans frequently used the vapor bath, and the
cold one immediately following.  The Russians go from vapor
baths even at 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and plunge in very cold
water, or roll in the snow. William Penn saw the vapor bath and
the cold immersion used with remarkable success among the Indians of our own country; and at the present day, among the red
men of the forest, the vapor is an important agent in the treatment
of a variety of diseases.
TEPID, WARM, AND HOT APPLICATIONS OF WATER.
One great objection to the new system, is the supposed chilling
effect of the treatment.  It is supposed by many that the new
mode consists wholly of horrible applications of cold water. Physicians themselves are not always over-particular in avoiding exaggeration on this point. It is found to be quite a good " bug-bear,"
with which to frighten people, by basely stating that weak infants,
children, and old persons, are all to be subjected to the one horrible thing-cold water.
In many cases, no cold water at all is used, unless it be a little
in the way of drink.  It may be laid down as a rule, that whenever warm or hot applications are more agreeable to the feelings
of the patient in subduing severe pain, as in severe colics, certain
inflammations of the bowels, cramps in the stomach and bowels,
pain in the back, pleurisy, or pain within the ribs or chest, etc.,
etc., the best rule we know of, is to consult the feelings of the
patient. If there is high, burning inflammation, cold applications
will be the most agreeable, and the best; but when there is pain
without high, burning inflammation, the warm or hot applications
are to be used. Let the following case illustrate:
An individual had eaten too heartily at dinner, and of food, in




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                   167
his case, indigestible. Very improperly, a full supper was taken
upon this indigestible dinner, which soon caused, in the stomach
and bowels, an excruciating colicky pain. In similar cases, the
man had removed the difficulty by clysters and vomiting, caused
by lukewarm water.  At this time, however, these means failed,
giving only partial relief. The author being called, he directed
that the patient have warm bricks to his feet, and at once large
towels folded over, to be slightly wrung out of water as hot as
could be borne, and applied all over the abdomen and a part of
the chest. These were changed unremittingly, as hot and as often
as the patient desired, and very soon brought relief-sooner than
could have been done by any drug opiate whatever.  The bowels
were also again freely purged, and the acid and indigestible substances removed from  the stomach by much drinking of tepid
water. After all pain was removed, and the stomach and bowels
were well cleansed with pure clean water, it would have been well
to have applied the tepid wet sheet to sleep in. This not being
convenient, and not being very essential, it was omitted. A good
night's rest was obtained. The individual lived nearly fasting the
next day, drinking, however, a large quantity of water, mostly
with the chill off, and then returned gradually and cautiously to a
more full diet, and thus avoided all pain. In inflammation of the
stomach and bowels, in almost every case where those frightful
relapses take place, impropriety in food is the cause. In this case,
had not relief been soon given, there would inevitably have resulted
a very violent inflammation-in the stomach and bowels, always a
most formidable disease.
A medical friend whom we highly esteem-a man who is never
afraid to break away from old usages, provided he can see a better
way-lately informed the writer, that in a case of most excruciating colic which fell under his treatment, when ordinary means had
failed to bring relief, he caused the man quickly to be wrapped in
a blanket wet in hot water, and this simple application caused immediate relief. It is astonishing to witness what can be often done
by so simple a means to relieve pain.  The same principle was
used by the ancients to some extent, and has been more or less
through all periods of time.  The relief caused by applying the
warm skin of an animal just slain, or by putting the patient into
the warm  carcass of an animal, an ancient mode, is upon the
principle of warmth and moisture to soothe.




168              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
To propose a warm  or tepid sheet, would perhaps only excite
the ridicule of some who advocate water-cure. But it is certain that
these are sometimes the best. We sometimes prescribe warm wet
sheets, for there are cases in which it would not be safe to apply
the cold one. It is not productive of any sort of good for a weak
person to lay shivering in a cold wet sheet an hour or more, hoping
afterward to get warm. Injury has been done by such means. It
may be laid down as a rule, that when the body is cold, it should
not be made colder, but instead it should be made warmer; and if
this cannot be done by natural means, as by exercise, then artificial
means should be used.  Still the direct effort of heat is always
weakening.  The question, then, in warm  or hot applications, is,
whether they are not on the whole of evils the least.
Warm and hot foot baths are often very useful.  But in such
uses of water, a cold application following should be used to
counteract the weakening and relaxing effect of heat.
TEMPERATURE OF BATHS.
Sensations from water alter very considerably, according to the
temperature of the atmosphere, state of health, etc., etc. Hot
baths are from  98 degrees Fah., the temperature of the blood,
upward. Warm baths are generally reckoned from 92 degrees to
98 degrees; tepid, below 92 degrees.  A tepid bath to one, may
appear cold to another.  As a rule, the colder the bath, if well
borne, the better. The direct effect of warm baths is to weaken.
Whenever they are taken, the time should be very short, and they
should be immediately followed by a cold plunge, dash, shower,
or at least rubbing with a cold wet cloth. It is well known by
some housekeepers, that "washing day" can be borne with much
less fatigue, if most of the water used be cool or cold.
As to different sensations, here is a curious fact. Atmosphere
55 degrees F.; body comfortable.  Took three basins of water at
60 degrees, 70 degrees, and 80 degrees. Placed one hand in the
water at 60 degrees, the other in the water at 80 degrees. Let
them remain thirty seconds, and then placed both hands in the
water at 70 degrees; to one it was cold, to the other warm.
It is said that in a road over the Andes, at about half-way between the foot and summit, there is a cottage, in which the ascending and descending travelers meet; the former, who have just
quitted the sultry valleys at the base, are so relaxed that the sud



PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                   169
den diminution of temperature produces in them a feeling of intense cold; while the latter, who left the frozen summits of the
mountain, are overcome by distressing sensations of extreme heat.
CAUTIONS IN THE USE OF WATER.
Every one knows water may be made the means of great mischief. According to the celebrated Dr. Currie, of Liverpool, water
may be safely used at any time when there is no sense of chilliness
present, when the heat of the surface is steadily above what is
natural, and when there is no general or profuse perspiration.
For a full bath, general affusion, and drinking, these rules were by
Dr. C. deemed fully sufficient for safety; and yet we are often
told, that such men as Dr. C. and Priessnitz can manage water
safely, and with it do wonders, but that practitioners in general
would not be able to make those nice distinctions, and would consequently do much mischief. Better by far had it been if drugs
were no more dangerous than water.
To the above may be added, as a rule, no strong impression
should be made with water, externally or internally, within about
three hours after a meal.  A  bath upon a full stomach may be
very injurious. But if there is indigestion, colic, or inflammation,
water should be used at once, in a way suited to the case.
Perspiration caused by the envelopment, or by vapor baths,
does not come within Dr. Currie's rules. It is well known that a
cool or cold bath rightly taken is not dangerous immediately after
sweating, if this is not caused by over-exertion.
AIR AND EXERCISE.
It will be observed that these important adjuncts to any kind
of treatment, share largely in the water-cure. Priessnitz insists
that all who are able shall take an abundance of out-door exercise
regularly. The value of such exercise is inestimable. Every one
who observes at all respecting it, knows the invigorating effect it
has upon the system.  The cases given by different authors in this
work, will furnish sufficient directions in reference to these adjuncts:
"Priessnitz's first endeavor is to alleviate pain, so that the patients may avail themselves of air and exercise.  How far this object is attained may be judged of, from the circumstances that out
of five hundred or six hundred, the usual average number of pa8




170              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
tients under his charge, there are seldom  a dozen of persons in
bed at one time.  If their complaint be fever, he is so completely
master of the case, that no one ever keeps his bed, and seldom his
room, for more than two or three days, excepting in cases of typhus, a malady which generally takes twelve or fourteen days to
eradicate, but hardly ever longer. The same remark will apply
to rheumatism.  If the sufferer can only reach Graefenberg, he
may be sure of immediate relief, such as elsewhere would be called
a cure, and which is repeated many times a year; but the cure
can only be regarded then as just commenced, it being Priessnitz's
object to eradicate the cause of malady from the system. What
is understood by a cure at Graefenberg, is a perfect cleansing of
the body of all impurities, a radical cure of that which has been
the source of disease. Cases of no very long standing succumb to
the treatment, sometimes in two or three months; others resist for
one or two years.  Supposing, for example, a young man to be
attacked by gout, let him apply to Priessnitz, and he will be cured
immediately; but another, who has inherited it from his family,
and who has been a bon-vivant himself for a number of years, cannot expect to be made a new man, but with the exercise of patience; yet he will have this satisfaction, that during the cure he
will find himself, in other respects, in perfect health, never be confined to his room, and be able to take plenty of exercise."*
CLOTHING.
Priessnitz requires of his patients that they lay aside their flannel and cotton.  He holds "that they weaken the skin, render
people delicate, and less able to contend against atmospheric
changes."  When objections are made, he says, "Wear it, then,
over your shirt; but when you are accustomed to cold water, you
will not miss it. After the bath which you have now taken, run
or walk until you provoke perspiration.  You need then have no
fear of catching cold."
DIET.
Some who advocate the water-cure, as practiced by Priessnitz,
have made objections to the diet. It is not pretended but that it
is improvable.  When it is said of his patients that " they eat too
much," it is only saying what is true of civilized man the world
over.  When Professor Mott, of this city (New York), in one of
* Captain Claridge.




PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.                   17,1
his lectures, said there was as much need of temperate eating societies as there was of temperate drinking societies, he by no means
meant to be understood as placing a low estimate upon popular
temperance societies; he was fully aware of the undeniable fact,
that excessive alimentation is a most fruitful source of disease.
Admitting that the diet at Graefenberg is not in all respects what
it should be, as it is not, to obtain the best results in treating disease, it only goes the more strongly to prove the power and value
of the water-cure. In some important particulars, Priessnitz has
shown his good sense and judgment, all must admit, who are well
informed on the subject of diet.  "He deprecates all exciting
things, such as tea, coffee, wines, and spirits, and recommends cold
aliments rather than hot.  A  rule for dieting (in disease, second
in importance to no other), is that which relates to quantity. In
the process of starvation, it is a well-known principle, that the substances or parts of the body least essential to life are the first to
be wasted, and on this same principle, in cases of shipwreck and
other accidents, tumors have been known to disappear rapidly,
and old ulcers to heal in a very short time, with those who have
been thus subjected.  This rule, of course, will not apply in all
cases of disease.
"I know a gentleman," says Dr. Johnson, " who was entirely
cured of an obstinate permanent stricture, by adopting a very severe course of abstinence, as it regards both food and drink, for
two or three weeks. I am also acquainted with several other very
severe cases of disease, entirely cured by the rigorous adoption of
a severe diet-but always in connection with a very mild course of
the water treatment."
DIET AND DIGESTION.
The following rules are drawn from Dr. Beaumont's well-known
Observations and Experiments, perseveringly made upon a healthy
young man, whose stomach was exposed by a wound which healed,
leaving an external opening. The rules are valuable for all, whether
sick or well.
1. Bulk is nearly as necessary to the articles of diet as the nutrient principle. They should be so managed that one will be in
proportion to the other. Too highly nutritive diet is probably as
fatal to life and health as that which is insufficient in nourish,
ment




172              PROCESSES OF WATER-CURE.
2. The more plain and simple the preparation of food, and the
less of seasonings of any kind, the better for the health.  Stimulating condiments (salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard, etc.), instead of
being used with impunity, are actually prejudicial to the healthy
stomach.  Though they may assist the action of a debilitated
stomach for a time, their continued use never fails to produce an
indirect debility of that organ.  They affect it like alcohol, or other
stimulants. The present relief afforded is at the expense of future
suffering.
3. Thorough mastication and slow swallowing are of great importance.
4. A due quantity of food is of the utmost importance. There
is no subject of dietetic economy, says Dr. B., about which people
are so much in error, as that which relates to quantity. Dyspepsia is oftener the effect of over-eating and over-drinking, than any
other cause.
5. Solid food, if properly masticated, is more easy of digestion
than soups and broths.
6. Butter, fat meat, and all oily substances, being always hard
of digestion, tending to derangement of the stomach, are better
omitted.
7. Alcoholic liquors of every form, the various stimulating condiments, as mustard, pepper, spice, etc., tea, coffee, and narcotics
of every kind, all tend to debility, derangement, and disease of the
stomach, and through it, of the whole system.
8. Simple pure water is the only fluid necessary for drink, or
for the wants of the system. The artificial drinks are all more or
less injurious.  "Tea and cofee," says Dr. B., "the common beverage of all classes of people, have a tendency to debilitate the
digestive organs.  Let any one who is in the habit of drinking
either of these articles in a weak decoction, take two or three cups,
made very strong, and he will soon be aware of their injurious
tendency; and this is only an addition to the strength of the narcotic which he is in the constant habit of using."
9. Violent exercise very soon after a full meal is injurious, but
gentle exercise promotes digestion.  Sleep soon after a meal is
better avoided.
10. Strong mental exercise and emotions of the mind, as grief,
anger, fear, etc., particularly with a full stomach, tend to impair
digestion.




THE  CRISIS OF  WATER-CURE.                         173
CHAPTER X.
THE CRISIS OF WATER-CURE.
The Crisis a remarkable Feature of the Water Treatment.-This is sought much at Graef
enberg.-Symptoms preceding the Crisis.-Meaning of the Term.-In some Cases of
Cure there is no perceptible Crisis of any kind.-Priessnitz's Doctrines concerning Crisis.-It often happens on the part originally Diseased.-Sir Charles Scudamore's explanation of the Crisis.-Boils do not occur in healthy Subjects.-Crisis, Boils, and Rashes
act as Counter-Irritants, as well as by purifying the Blood.-A Water Patient must often
be Worse before he can be Better.-Too active Treatment should not be Practiced with
a view of causing a Crisis.-A case of Injury by too severe Treatment.-Priessnitz's
Skill and Prudence should not be lightly called into Question.-Does Water cause Dropsy?-The real Cause of this Affection.
ONE most remarkable feature in the water-cure is the Crisis, as
it is termed.  It is said that at Graefenberg it is really amusing to
observe with what anxiety it is looked for by the patients. In
most cases it proves the certain harbinger of a good cure.  "The
patients themselves are constant witnesses of this fact, and it is no
wonder, therefore, that they should look forward with pleasure
and hope to its advent in their own persons.  A  patient is no
sooner missed from the table, than the question goes round,' Has
so-and-so got a crisis?' And if the reply be in the affirmative, the
report spreads like the news of a fresh victory, and his friends assemble around him-not with long faces to condole him-but with
merry smiles, and laughing jests, to congratulate him on his happy
fortune."   "The following allegorical lines from  Southey," says
Capt. Claridge, "might with great justice be literally applied, by
the individual who has passed through  the crisis, and been restored to health:"
"Most blessed water! Neither tongue can tell
The blessedness thereof, nor heart can think,
Save only those to whom it hath been given
To taste of that divinest gift of heaven.
I stopped and drank of that divinest well,
Fresh from the rock of ages where it ran;




174               TIHE CRISIS OF WATER-CURE.
It had a heavenly quality to quell
All pain. I rose a renovated man;
And would not now, when that relief was known,
For worlds the needful suffering have foregone."
"The crisis is generally ushered in by a sense of uneasiness, a
loss of sleep and appetite, an alternate change from heat and cold;
and lastly by all the symptoms of fever, which is sometimes violent,
but always of short duration, if properly attended to. At its termination, the alvine and other evacuations are more plentiful, and
accompanied by a more copious separation of extraneous matter
than ordinarily; sometimes by several of the excretory passages at
the same time. This increased secretion is generally accompanied
by a variety of eruptions of the skin, by boils, abscesses, ulcers, etc."
" The term crisis applies to any very marked disturbance of the
system, or cutaneous change; as the crisis fever, odorous perspiration, odorous urine, vomitings, diarrhoea, hbemorrhoidal discharge
of blood, and various kinds of eruption on the skin."
In very many cases of cure, there is said to be no perceptible
crisis of any kind. There appears to be no very general rule respecting it. In some old and obstinate cases of gout, mercurialism, etc., it may take place as many as from three to five times,
before the cessation of the disease, and the re-establishment of perfect health.
"The very important matter of crisis is always sought for with
much solicitude both by Priessnitz and the patient.  He believes
that it could not be produced in a healthy man; and that its occurrence is a sure proof that nature is successfully exerting herself
to throw off the disease, by the exit of bad humor from the mass
of blood. It is a sort of wholesale theory, and equally serves for
all persons, and for every known disorder; and assuredly is the
most convenient for one ignorant of medical science. I conceive
that Priessnitz must have been gradually led to this idea of mordid
blood by the observations which his experience enabled him  to
make; for, as before explained, he entered into the water-cure
practice* by accident, and not from  tuition.  His principles have
arisen out of practice as an empiric art, and were not as a precursor
first implanted in his mind. He has, in innumerable instances, so
i I employ this term in its just signification, meaning experience, not
charlatanism, from which I believe Priessnitz to be entirely free.




THE CRISIS OF WATER-CURE.                  175
that the contrary forms the exception to the rule, witnessed the
formation of crisis in the progress of the water-cure, among which
boils take the lead in pre-eminence and importance of character.
But the term also applies to any very marked disturbance of the
system, or cutaneous change; as the crisis fever, odorous perspiration, odorous urine, vomitings, diarrhoea, haemorrhoidal discharge of blood and various kinds of eruptions on the skin. It
was a fact of ordinary occurrence, presenting itself to the mind of
Priessnitz, that the great crisis of boils, in proportion to their free
suppuration, proved in the highest degree remedial, removing
chronic pains and internal sufferings of long standing; and that no
marked amendment did take place until the event of some crisis.
Also the additional fact must be mentioned, that very frequently
indeed the boil crisis would appear in the immediate vicinity of the
disease, sometimes on the very spot. It is no longer surprising
therefore that the idea of humor in the blood should be strongly
confirmed in the mind of Priessnitz, and have grown with him into
a rule of practice. The patient very naturally cares not for the
absence of scientific explanations, but renders his faith to fact, and
to the long list of very extraordinary cures which have been performed, after the failure of regular medical art. But it will not
be uninteresting to examine more closely this doctrine of the bad
blood, with reference to crisis and treatment.
"In the case of morbid poisons, as, for example, small-pox,
measles, and scarlatina, nature evidently makes a vigorous effort to
free the blood from the virus, by producing in the skin a characteristic eruption, attended by a symptomatic fever. After a certain
period, health returns, and no reminiscence of the poison occurs.
I adopt this illustration to show that the blood can in this manner,
by the medium of the skin, clear itself of the offending cause, however difficult the explanation may be. In the very familiar examples of cutaneous disease, as erysipelas, the shingles, nettlerash, etc., we commonly refer to the blood as the source of disorder, although we can only generalize our notions; or, by other
theory, we may regard these disorders as the offspring of some
internal vitiated secretion, as acrid acid in the stomach, or bad
bile, affecting the skin by supposed sympathy-which is equally
figurative language, if we are driven to close and searching analysis.*
* A breaking out, as it is called, on the lips and chin, would probably be




176             THE CRISIS OF WATER-CURE.
"Boils and carbuncles do not occur in healthy subjects; and,
when they happen naturally, are always looked upon as indicating
a bad habit of body.  The surgeon may choose other description,
and call it weak and unhealthy inflammation, affecting the outward
texture of the body differently from phlegmon or true inflammation.
I will not, therefore, for the sake of language, attempt to dispute
the plain notion, so familiarly adopted, of the nature of crisis in the
water-cure treatment; but I do think it of great importance that
it should have its sober limits, and not be made an ignis fatuus to
the practitioner or the patient. The benefit arising from crisis
must not be referred merely to the depuratory or cleansing process
for the blood. Boils and rashes act as counter-irritants, in the ordinary and most accepted view, and in this way also prove useful;
on the same principle that we see advantage derived from blisters, and artificial eruptions produced by external applications, tartar emetic, croton oil, etc.; and even the use of setons and issues
is connected with this principle of counter-irritation equally with
the idea of discharging the offending humor from the blood. It is
very evidently the formation of an artificial disease, with the hope
that it may be a substitute for the real one, and cause its removal.' It certainly happens in this way that much inconvenience must
often be sustained by the patient in the progress of his cure; and
he must submit to be worse, before he can be better.
"The occurrence of boils is not, however, invariably necessary to
the cure.  Nature determines this, and may give another kind of
crisis; and even none that is notable may be the pleasing fate of
some, who still receive every benefit and recover.
"From  all that I have seen, and my opportunity has been extensive, I am deeply impressed with the conviction that the employment of a very large amount of treatment, at one and the same
time, in order to urge the circulation to produce crisis, demands
most prudent consideration, and especially in irritable constitutions.
I am free to admit that, in chronic cases of long standing, superficial measures would be of little or no avail, and that there must be
efficient treatment. If too active measures be pursued in these exceptionable instances to which I allude, a sudden and too severe
crisis might be produced, creating high suffering and possible danger.  Instead of the favorably suppurating boils, such as are of unproduced in any one, by eating for a continuance rich sauces, especially if
made with bad butter.




THE CRISIS OF WATER-CURE.                  177
toward character might arise. I am sure that these unfavorable
consequences may always be avoided by ordinary care, and do not
belong to the water-cure treatment, as of right, more than any
accidental untoward result belongs to the regular practice of
physic.
" Whenever a threatening appears of too strong a crisis, the treatment is to be immediately reduced; and, being nicely adapted also
to the particular circumstances of the case, all anxious embarrassment will be removed.
"In conclusion of this subject, I advert with regret to reflections
which I have seen in print on the skill of Priessnitz, on account
of a particular case which occurred at Graefenberg, unfavorable in
respect to the constitution of the patient, and having a fatal termination. In its treatment at the latter period, there had been on
the part of the individual much improper deviation from the directions laid down, owing to an impatient desire of urging crisis for
the sake of a more speedy cure. From this cause, fever crisis set
in suddenly and with destructive violence. Continued high irritation and fatal exhaustion ensued.
"A lamented event of this kind, happily most rare, should serve
as occasion for such reflections as I have already suggested. No
remedy that is powerful for good, can be so weak an instrument
as not to be also capable of evil. Neither the skill nor the prudence of Priessnitz should be lightly called in question by any one.
I am  convinced that, with regular superintendence of a case, he
would never provoke a crisis beyond his power of convenient control.  The very large number of patients in his list, varying from
two to five hundred, could not allow of watch being kept over
every case, and he must be sought for rather than seek.  He is
most attentive on every important occasion; and it must be the
fault of the patient if he do not report progress; and more especially if he do not seek prompt aid in the event of the least unfavorable occurrence.
"Another and very important consideration presents itself on the
subject of crisis: for how long a time is its occurrence to be view,
ed as an indication for the continuance of treatment?  Evidently
it requires judgment to know what may be referred to the influence
of the constitution not yet delivered from its errors; and what to
simple morbid action of the vessels of the skin, existing as a secondary and a local disease. I know an instance of the occasional for8*




178              THE CRISIS OF WATER-CURE.
mation of boils on the legs, causing much inconvenience, although
the general health is quite restored: the full water-cure treatment,
which was carried on nearly two years, having been laid aside
for one, with the exception that the patient applies water-dressings to the skin when it inflames, or to a boil, and uses a cold bath
daily."*
DOES WATER CAUSE DROPSY?
"Many object to the drinking of cold water, on the ground that
animals only drink to quench thirst. This is true, but they do not
live in our artificial state, nor are they subject to the influence of
the mind.  It cannot be denied that the nearer people approximate to nature, the less they need adhere to any prescribed rules;
but man resorts to water to establish his health, therefore the quantity must be increased, not only for the purpose of allaying his
thirst, but to dilute, purify, and restore, in quantities which must
depend upon the inconvenience or pain experienced. By this simple means, serious indispositions are often prevented. Another
argument made use of against drinking cold water is, that it produces dropsy.  In the first place, it is evident, that if this were
true, such a complaint ought not to exist among us, for whoever
heard of an Englishman drinking too much water?  But we affirm,
on the contrary, that this disease is caused by the injudicious administration of drugs; the use of too large a quantity of them; by
omitting to drink cold water, and by neglecting to wash or bathe
the body daily in that element.
"If the skin is so much relaxed that it no longer throws out
those matters which daily reach it from the interior of the body,
fluids are collected underneath the skin which ought to be evaporated, and which cause inflation, paleness, and cold. This is what is
called dropsy.
"The more the human body is injured by drugs, the more it
is in need of strong perspiration, because it endeavors, by the aid
of this physical agent, to relieve itself of all diseased matter.
From this it may be inferred, that no persons are more in need of
the cold water-cure than those who have taken too much physic.
Further, strong poisons, of whatsoever nature they may be, whether mercury, blue pill, calomel, bark, or spirituous liquors to excess,
frequently cause death by dropsy; sometimes this disease is caused
* Sir Charles Scudamore's Medical Visit to Graefenberg.




DISEASES TO  WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS ADAPTED. 179
by catching cold, but only those are liable to it who have produced
a disposition to the complaint by relaxing the skin. The only remedy formerly known was to draw off the water by tapping, which
operation, often repeated, gives a respite to life for a short time.
This illness, in its infancy, may always be speedily cured by hydropathy, and, in its most advanced stages, if there be any strength
left in the constitution, this disease will be eradicated by the water-cure; it being the property of this treatment to revive the activity of the skin, and enable the latter to indulge freely in the
necessary ejection of perspiration.
"From the returns of the year 1841, within the city of London,
and bills of mortality, among a people altogether opposed to the
use of water, we find that from dropsy alone the deaths amounted
to no less a number than 584.  Any one who never takes physic
nor intoxicating liquors, and keeps to a water diet, may be perfectly sure of never being attacked with dropsy."*
CHAPTER XI.
DISEASES TO WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS MORE ESPECIALLY
ADAPTED.t
Water a Remedy applicable in all Diseases.-The true Nature of this Means.-The great
benefit of Water in acute Diseases.-Neuralgic, or painful Disorders.-Indigestion.-Its
Nature, and the proper Principle of treating it.-Leucorrhcea, or Fluor Albus.-Nature
of this Affection.-Gout and Rheumatism.-These are often Cured at Graefenberg.-Epileptic Fits.-Spinal Irritation.-Difficult Menstruation.-Influenza.-Concluding Remarks.
I SHALL now proceed to enumerate a few of those diseased conditions of the body to which the water-cure is most especially adapted. But I would here premise that this mode of treatment, when
properly modified, and carefully adapted to the peculiarities of individual constitutions, and to the nature of the disorder, can seldom fail of conferring more or less benefit, let the diseased condition be what it may. This is true from the very nature of the
* Captain Claridge.
t From Dr. Edward Johnson's " Hydropathy, or the Water-Cure."




180 DISEASES TO WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS ADAPTED.
remedy, the effect of which is to strengthen the general system.
And undoubtedly a certain amount of strength may, by it, be accumulated in the body, although the actual disease itself may not
be eradicated. In cases where it is impossible that the disease
should be cured, the general health and strength may be so much
improved as to render it far more easily endured.
I must also premise, that besides those diseases which I am
about to mention, as well as many others concerning which want
of room must necessarily keep me silent, there are a multitude of
anomalous and undenominated disorders, so entirely varied in
form, character, and symptoms, that any attempt to enumerate
them here is perfectly out of question-and yet many of these are
unquestionably such as can be entirely removed by hydrotherapeutic treatment, upon the principles herein laid down as the foundation of that mode of cure.
ACUTE DISEASES.
The diseases over which the water-cure is said to possess the
most rapid and striking influence, are acute diseases. Fevers, febrile diseases, inflammations, etc., etc.-such of them, of course,
as are curable by any means-are said to be removed with a certainty and rapidity which is little less than magical.  A  fever
which, under ordinary treatment, would confine the patient to his
bed for six weeks or two months, is frequently overcome in two or
three days, and the patient is thus restored to health before there
has been time for the approach of that extreme weakness and emaciation so constantly the result of a long illness, even after the disease itself has been vanquished.
In all curable acute diseases, therefore, the water-cure is peculiarly and especially available.
NEURALGIC, OR PAINFUL DISEASES.
In all painful disorders also-disorders the chief character of
which is severe and acute pain —this treatment possesses the most
extraordinary, and even unaccountable powers of relief.  Severe
pain is a sensation almost entirely unknown at Graefenberg.
INDIGESTION.
There is a most extensive class of symptoms, manifesting themselves in various groups, in different persons, attacking almost




DISEASES TO WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS ADAPTED. 181
every individual more or less severely, and more or less frequently,
throughout the whole range of the upper and middle classes;
sparing neither age, sex, nor condition; undoubtedly the cause of
more human suffering than any other disorder, and which class of
symptoms has received the general appellation. These distressing
sensations are exceedingly various, and indeed only agree among
themselves in being universally accompanied by evidences of a
disordered stomach.  The term  indigestion is an exceedingly absurd one-inasmuch as it implies that the faulty action of the
stomach is always the cause-whereas the faulty action of the
stomach is much more frequently the effect of disorder in some
other organ. Ignorance of this fact (well known to medical men,
however) has led persons to do themselves infinite mischief, and
actually to bring on disorder in a previously healthy stomach, by
a misapplication of remedies. For instance, a man gets a headache and a disordered condition of the stomach, at one and the
same time.  He never hesitates a moment as to what he should
do, but forthwith sets about physicking his unfortunate and most
innocent stomach-taking it for granted that it is the disordered
stomach which has produced the disordered brain; whereas it
much more frequently happens that it is the disordered brain
which has produced the disordered stomach.  He addresses his
remedies to the wrong organ, thus doing no good to the one, and
infinite mischief to the other.
I believe that indigestion hardly ever (now-a-days) commences
in the stomach.  But the healthy functions of the stomach are
continually disturbed by a distressed, irritated, fagged, worn-out
condition of the brain and nervous system-from which system
alone the stomach, like every other organ, must derive all its vigor.
But how can the stomach derive vigor from the brain and nervous
system, if the brain and nervous system have no vigor themselves?
Indigestion is almost peculiar to the upper and middle classes, and
among these is nearly a universal disease.  There must, therefore, be a universal cause for it, which cause must be peculiar to
these classes. But excess, either in eating or drinking, is not now,
by any means, a universal fault in, nor is it peculiar to, these
classes.
But there is a morbid cause, which is almost peculiar to the
upper and middle classes, and which is, also, almost universal
among these classes.




182 DISEASES TO WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS ADAPTED.
This cause is a morbid, undue, and excessive excitement of the
brain and nervous system. And the morbid sensibility which necessarily results from this constant excess of nervous excitement, I
take to be by far the most frequent source of indigestion. For it
must be remembered that the stomach derives its digestive powers
from the eighth pair of nerves, along which nerves the nervous influence is transmitted to the stomach like electricity along the conducting wire, or steam through a tube. If this nerve be divided
in a healthy dog, while digesting his meal, digestion instantly stops
and becomes impossible.
Among the upper and wealthy classes, this excessive excitement
is derived from artificial, and unnaturally refined sources of pleasure. The theatre, the ball-room, music, dancing, gaming, political
ambition daily disappointed, fashionable emulation perpetually on
the strain-petty contentions of all sorts-late hours and luxurious habits-these, in the upper ranks, are the causes of excessive
excitement-morbid sensibility-anxiety-indigestion.
In the middle classes, the same morbid results are obtained, by
the same means, from sources somewhat different. And the cares
of business, the anxieties of speculation, solicitude for the welfare
of a numerous family, pride hourly contending with poverty, debts,
doubts, dangers, and difficulties-these do for men of the middle
rank, what the causes above enumerated do for those of the
upper.
Some of the more prominent features of this many-headed
monster I will here enumerate.  They are nausea, pain about the
region of the stomach and sides, headache, heart-burn, a sense of
fullness, distension, or weight in the stomach, a feeling as if a ball
were lodged in the throat, acid or offensive eructations, flatulence,
vomiting, especially of a clear liquor (like pure water), sometimes
of an acid quality, and often in large quantity, a sensation of sinking or fluttering at the pit of the stomach, and loss of appetite;
costiveness or irregularity of the bowels, with a morbid appearance of the evacuations; pain of the back, and turbid urine; a
disagreeable taste in the mouth, especially on waking; a feeling
of stinging, or heat, as of cayenne pepper, in the mouth; toothache, palpitation, pulsation in the region of the stomach, irregularity of pulse; short, dry cough, and occasional difficulty of
breathing; giddiness, languor, lassitude, depression of spirits, with
fear of death, or of impending evil.




DISEASES TO WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS ADAPTED. 183
Whenever this long train of distressing symptoms has arisen
from  excessive irritation of the nervous system-from  morbid
sensibility, without organic lesion-as it does in nineteen cases out
of twenty-it can be cured, beyond question, by the hydropathic
treatment-by exalting and accelerating the change of matter.
LEUCORRHCEA, OR FLUOR ALBUS.
This most distressing, enfeebling, and exceedingly common disease-a disease which resists almost every other mode of treatment-depending, as it does, upon chronic inflammation of the
uterus, is well calculated to be effectually removed by the invigorating method adopted at Graefenberg, and other hydropathic establishments.
Attempts have lately been made to show that leucorrhcea depends upon an ulcerated condition of the os uteri. It is extremely
probable that the os uteri may be frequently found in an ulcerated
condition in females laboring under leucorrhcea, but the more probable inference is, that the ulceration is the efect, and not the cause,
of the morbid discharge-whose acrimonious nature is often fully
sufficient to account for the ulcerated condition of the os uteri.
Besides, supposing the ulcerated condition to be the cause of the
discharge, that condition could not have come on without previous
inflammation. But, whichever of these two conditions, inflammation or ulceration, be the true cause, the cold water remedy is
equally well adapted to remove it-seeing that both causes are
themselves caused by a weakened condition of the organs concerned.
GOUT AND RHEUMATISM.
The cases of rheumatism  and gout which have been cured at
Graefenberg, are almost without number.  And when it is considered that these diseases depend upon inflammation of particular
structures of the body, and that this inflammation again, in its
turn, depends upon a weakened condition of the nervous system, it
is sufficiently easy to account for the fact.
EPILEPTIC FITS.
Whenever this disease depends, as it very frequently does, upon
a clot of blood pressing on the brain, it is curable by the hydropathic treatment, united to that of a severe diet. Besides the cases
given in the list of cases in this work, I have been witness to an



184 DISEASES TO WHICH THE WATER-CURE IS ADAPTED.
other very remarkable one. The patient was the subject of epilepsy for four years, and the fits recurred regularly every ten days.
He has not now had a fit for three months, and is about to return
home perfectly cured.
SPINAL IRRITATION.
Spinal irritation, resulting from subacute or chronic inflammation of the vertebral theca, and giving rise to a long train of the
most distressing symptoms, is perfectly curable by cold water
treatment.
DIFFICULT MENSTRUATION.
Painful, excessive, suppressed, or insufficient menstruation, is another distressing affection over which the hydropathic remedy possesses the most absolute control.
INFLUENZA.
Of late years a vast number of persons have suffered greatly
from protracted influenza; and occasionally this disease is so obstinate as to resist all ordinary remedies. It yields most readily,
however, to the Graefenberg method of cure.
Constipation, hysteria, rheumatic gout, catarrh, rheumatism  of
the head or of the heart, bilious headache, sciatica, lumbago, mercurial diseases, secondary symptoms, inflammation of the kidneys,
impotence, neuralgic or painful affections of the nerves-all these
are completely under the control of the cold water treatment.
But my limits will not allow me to devote more space to the
particular mention of individual diseases.  More will be found in
the list of cases.
Besides these, however, there is a whole host of anomalous, undenominated diseases, which cannot be referred to any particular
class, which come within the scope of the cold water-cure. And
there is probably no disease which cannot be benefited, more or
less, by the exaltation of the living energies, and the improvement
of the general health and strength.
In fine, all those diseases depending upon functional weaknessall those depending upon nervous debility, and morbid sensibilityall those depending upon inflammation, acute, subacute, or chronic,
uncomplicated with permanent organic lesion-all those depending
upon morbid matters in the blood or other humors-these constitute that long list of diseases which are peculiarly calculated, from




GRAEFENBERG  CASES OF WATER-CURE.                        185
their nature and causes, to be removed by the hydrotherapeutic
remedy.
It is not, however, to be inferred that this remedy is unable to
cure any cases of organic lesion. On the contrary, whenever these
cases are, from their nature, capable of cure at all, without the aid
of surgical operations, the cold water treatment undoubtedly offers
a better and more rational chance of success than any other-as
some of the cases herein related prove —as, for instance, the cases
of fistula, epilepsy, and paralysis.
CHAPTER XII.
GRAEFENBERG  CASES OF WATER-CURE.*
Acute Rheumatic Fever.-Inflammation and Swelling of the Breasts, with general Fever.Paralysis.-Sciatica.-Constipation.-Dyspepsia.-Dyspepsia and Rheumatism.-Gout
and Rheumatism, complicated with Venereal taint.-Gout in the Hands and Knees.Rheumatism, with Psoriasis. —Case of Psoriasis communicated by George Anthony,
Esq., an English surgeon, now at Graefenberg.-Skin Disease.-Psoriasis.-Skin Disease following Gonorrhcea.-Fistula in Ano.-Urinary Fistula.-Gonorrhcea.-Consumption.-Cough, Weakness of the Chest, and Injury of the Back.-Deafness.-Hip Disease.-Scarlet Fever.-Symptomatic Fever (related by the Mother).-Cartarrh, or
Cold.-Baldness.-Headache, with Giddiness.-SecQndary Syphilitic Symptoms.-Another Case of Secondary Syphilis.-Third Case of Secondary Syphilis.-Fourth Case of Secondary Syphilis.-Impuissance, complicated with Gout.-Contracted Joints.-Hernia.Haematuria, or Voiding of Blood from the Urinary Organs.-Cerebro-Spinal Disease.Suppressed Measles.-Deafness.-Epilepsy.-Hypochondriasis, Psoriasis, Sciatica.
MOST of the following cases fell under my own immediate notice,
and were examined by me personally, and their previous history
and progress narrated to me by the patients themselves.  There are
two or three, however, for the history of which I am indebted to
George Anthony, Esq., an English surgeon who had been residing
at Priessnitz's establishment for a considerable time, and who took
notes of such cases as fell under his notice. This gentleman had
quitted his profession for a very lucrative appointment in the East,
to which he proceeds in the latter part of the summer (1843)that he went to Graefenberg merely as a matter of curiosity, and
to fill up his time previously to his quitting Europe, and that the
* From Dr. Edward Johnson's " Hydropathy, or the Water-Cure."




186        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
cases noted by him cannot, therefore, be supposed to be colored
favorably by any interested bias toward hydropathy; against
which, indeed, he evidently entertained at first a very natural and
professional prejudice.
For two other cases I am  indebted to Col. Bowen, late of the
Coldstream Guards; but the greatest bulk of them fell under my
own immediate notice and personal examination.
Before I proceed to the detail of cases treated at Graefenberg,
I will mention two remarkable ones which I treated myself by cold
water alone, more than twenty years ago-that is, before its efficacy as a remedial agent was known even to Priessnitz himself. I
mention these merely to show how early in life I had been led, by
observation and general reasoning, to form a high opinion of cold,
in the treatment of disease.
ACUTE RHEUMATIC FEVER.
Somewhat more than twenty years ago I became the subject of
a very uncommonly severe attack of acute rheumatic fever. I was
attended by Dr. Birkbeck and Dr. Thomas Davies, who afterward
became physician to the London Hospital. I was also daily visited
by some other medical gentlemen living in my neighborhood. They
were exceedingly kind and attentive to me, for which I shall never
cease to feel most grateful-and I am quite certain that my case
was treated in the most scientific manner, that is, according to the
accepted medical science of that day.
I was three times bled in the arm, and took frequently repeated
doses of calchicum, which produced excessive and continued vomiting.  These powerful means, however, failed to remove the pain,
but reduced me to so slow a degree of exhaustion, that the fever
began to assume the typhoid or nervous character. My wife was
now told not to calculate upon my recovery, and ordered to give
me brandy, repeatedly, and at short intervals, during the course of
the night. At this time my skin was excessively hot and the bedclothes oppressive. I begged and prayed for cold water to drink,
and to have myself washed all over in cold water. Every thing
that was delicibus and desirable in the universe seemed to be represented by these two words-cold water.  My wife at last yielded
to my entreaties-and the more so, inasmuch as she had often
heard me enlarge upon the efficacy of cold ablution in fevers and
many other diseases, and lament that popular prejudice would not




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                187
suffer me to employ it so frequently as I desired. She had, moreover, herself, on one occasion, been plucked from agony and sudden
danger by the use of snow.
The cold ablution, and large draughts of cold water, were immediately exhibited, and industriously and frequently repeated
night and day.
In a week, with the exception of the debility consequent on the
loss of so much blood, I was quite well.
INFLAMMATION AND SWELLING OF THE BREASTS, WITH  GENERAL
FEVER.
The second case occurred in the person of my wife about a year
previously to that which I have just mentioned. On the evening
of the third day after her first accouchement, I came home from
Guy's Hospital, where I had been detained since morning, and
found her groaning and weeping with intense pain, the breasts red,
and enormously enlarged, which the frightened nurse was vehemently rubbing with brandy and oil.  The skin was excessively
hot and dry, and the pulse was leaping along at the rate of 120.
It was in the month of January-so I walked into the street with
a pail, which I filled with snow, and bringing it into the sick room,
I piled a heap of it over both breasts, continually adding fresh
snow as it melted.  In a very few minutes the milk span out in
streams, to the distance of more than a foot, and the tears of torture were at once changed for those of pleasure, accompanied by
that hysterical sobbing, which is the common result of a sudden
transition from intense suffering to perfect ease. The mere absence
of pain in these cases takes all the characters of the most delicious
and positive pleasurable sensations. In half an hour the inflammation had subsided, the breasts had become comparatively flaccid,
the fever had entirely subsided, and not only all danger, but all
inconvenience, had utterly vanished. But for this timely succor,
suppuration must have supervened in both breasts, and large abscesses would have been the inevitable consequence.
PARALYSIS.
Herr Von Wulffen, an officer in the Prussian army, was seized
in 1842 with a paralytic stroke. Of this he recovered. But the
disease continued to recur at short intervals, until he had almost
entirely lost the use of one side of the body-so that he could on



188        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
ly walk very imperfectly and with great difficulty. In addition to
this, he was extremely rheumatic, and the glands of the neck were
swollen. After resorting to an infinite variety of curative means,
which left him exactly where they found him, he came to Graefenberg.
After his arrival at Graefenberg and commencement of the treatment, this gentleman did not experience a single attack for two
months, although before his arrival he would frequently be attacked two or three times in a month. The swelling of the glands of
the neck subsided, his rheumatism was entirely removed, and his
health completely re-established.
At the expiration of two months, however, he one day took an
extremely long walk among the mountains, and came home very
much fatigued, cold, and with wet feet. And now, instead of
going to bed, he went into the hot and crowded billiard room,
where he continued to play for some time. After this he suddenly lost the power of distinct utterance, could with difficulty articulate his words, and began to talk, all at once, quite incoherently. Priessnitz was sent for, who threw cold water over his
face and chest, and then ordered him a foot bath, with three men
to rub his feet for half an hour.  This recovered him.  He was
then told to walk, but after having walked for ten minutes, he became so weak that he was obliged to go to bed. His friends now
left him, in order to go to dinner.  When they returned, they
found him quite in his senses, but perfectly speechless, and unable
to write.  In fact, his tongue, and right hand, and foot were palsied. Priessnitz now ordered him a wet sheet (merely damp) for
ten minutes-then another, a little wetter, for ten minutes moreand then a third, very wet indeed, for ten minutes more again.
Feverish symptoms now followed, with violent headache, and great
prostration of strength. For these symptoms he was put into the
tepid bath for half an hour, and well rubbed by three men the
whole time. Vomiting now took place, and in the evening he was
up in the saloon at supper, as well and as sensible as any one
there, and laughingly assuring his friends that he was now not
only in full possession of his tongue, but of his teeth too. Since
this time, which is now some months ago, he has had no return,
has the perfect use of all his limbs, and is otherwise in good
health.
Herr Regenhard, of Vienna, had suffered for many years from




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              189
nervous disease and severe dyspepsia. Three years since he had
a paralytic seizure of the right half of the body —not severeand from which he recovered.  Six months afterward he had a
second attack-more severe-from  which, however, he partially
recovered.  Four months later he had a third attack, and afterward a fourth and fifth, the intervals between the fits becoming
shorter and shorter, until they returned every fortnight. His right
leg and arm now became nearly useless.  He was advised to try
the baths at Toeplitz, which he did, but without any good result.
He returned to Vienna; he took the best advice which that capital could afford, but entirely without benefit.  One of his physicians at last, with a candor and honesty which done him honor,
confessed that he believed his case to be beyond the reach of any
ordinary medical treatment, and recommended him  to try the
water-cure.  He came to Graefenberg in company with my friend
Mr. Niemann, who was also going to Graefenberg on his own account.  He arrived there in May, and was then in his sixtieth
year.  He was immediately put under a very mild treatment
(merely an abreibung, rubbing the head with a wet cloth, and a
coph bath).  In six weeks he had crises, but (which is very remarkable) only on the side affected. Not a single pimple appeared on the sound side. When the crises appeared, he took leintuchs with abgeschrecktes bath.  No cold bath, no douche, no
sitz bath. He continued to have crises till October (five months).
He then left perfectly recovered, never having had a single attack
after he commenced the treatment.  His friends at Graefenberg
have since received two letters from him, perfectly well written by
that same right hand which was paralyzed and useless when he
first came to Graefenberg, and which had been to him nearly a
profitless member for the three previous years.
In gratitude for his recovery, he has made several ornamental
presents to the grounds about Graefenberg, which still remain,
and will remain there, monuments of the curative power of cold
water. Indeed, Graefenberg abounds with such monuments, both
in iron and stone, erected by Gratitude in commemoration of recovered health, and of a size and durability which gives them a
fair chance of endurance for hundreds of years.
Captain Wardle, of the Fiquelmont dragoons, the nephew of
Colonel Wardle, celebrated for certain charges which he preferred
against the Duke of York, became suddenly deprived of the use




190        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
of one entire side. He was blind of one eye, deaf of one ear, and
the leg and one arm of one side were paralyzed. He was twentytwo years of age.  Under the water-cure he entirely recovered.
The sight of the eye was perfectly restored, his hearing entirely
regained, and the full use of his limbs returned. After his recovery, Colonel Bowen saw him on guard at the theatre of Prague,
the picture of youthful health and manly strength. He is still on
military duty at Prague.
SCIATICA.
Mr. Wrangler, merchant, had been affected with sciatica for
eighteen months.  He was living at Milan, and the physicians
there recommended him to have the actual cautery* applied to
the part.  This, however, he refused.  He then went to a water
establishment in the Tyrol, superintended by a physician, but one
who was grossly ignorant of the principles on which the watercure proceeds.  This gentleman succeeded at last in persuading
him  to submit to the actual cautery, for his sufferings were so
great that he would have submitted to almost any thing, in the
hope of relief. He showed me the deep scar left by the hot iron,
and which was as large as my extended hand.  From the actual
cautery, however, he received no benefit, and, in consequence of
injudicious treatment, he became exceedingly ill, and then proceeded to Vienna, where he placed himself under the most celebrated medical practitioners, and underwent every conceivable
mode of treatment.  While submitting to treatment at Vienna,
his bowels suddenly became constipated, and would never relieve
themselves without the aid of medicine; and his thigh dwindled
away until it was but little larger than his wrist, and he could
not walk a single step.
He was now brought to Graefenberg, where he has resided for
the last nine months.  He gave me the history of his case himself, and was good enough to let me examine the affected parts.
He is now perfectly well, entirely free from pain, full of flesh and
animal spirits, and the withered thigh has entirely recovered its
original very fleshy dimensions.  He is not in the slightest degree
lame, and can climb the mountains with the best of them, and in
any weather.  He is covered with the usual critical eruption, as
soon as which subsides, he will return to his family at Milan.  He
* The actual cautery is a hot iron.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                191
is forty-eight years of age.  His treatment consisted of the leintuch, succeeded by the tepid bath, the sitz bath, and douche.
SCIATICA WITH LUMBAGO.
Monsieur Varnod was afflicted with sciatica for three years so
severely that it was with great difficulty he could walk even with
the aid of a stick. Every ordinary means of cure had been resorted to without effect. He was at last prevailed upon to visit a water establishment at Innspruck. With great pain and difficulty he
was got down to the side of the cold bath; and here it required a
great exertion of courage in a lame man, and one who could not
on any sudden emergency move his limbs without excruciating
pain-I quite agree with him, that it required great courage in
one so situated to allow himself to be tumbled heels over head
into the water. With fear and trembling, however, he submitted,
and to his utter astonishment found that while in the water he
could move his limb without the slightest pain or inconvenience.
The pain had entirely vanished, and from that moment to this it
has never returned, nor does he exhibit the slightest indication of
lameness or weakness in either of his legs. He is now at Graefenberg for another disease-a disease of the skin.
CONSTIPATION.
Herr Fricks, the father of the young man whose case I am about
to relate, put himself under treatment also, for an obstinate constipation which had annoyed him, and interfered greatly with his
health, for 17 years. So obstinate and torpid had the bowels become, that it would frequently require four or five lavements before their contents could be emptied.
This gentleman was treated by leintuchs and sitz baths-four
of the former daily (two in the morning, and two in the evening,
each couple of leintuch's being succeeded by the tepid bath), and
two of the latter also daily.
In a fortnight this gentleman's bowels began to empty themselves without assistance, daily and plenteously, and have continued
to do so up to the time when I left Graefenberg.
Mr. Niemann, a gentleman about 35 years of age, was affected
by obstinate constipation. During five entire years he never once
was able to pass a motion, without the aid of either medicine or an
injection. He is now at Graefenberg, and for the last four months




192        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
has had a regular and healthy evacuation every day, without the
use either of injection, or of a single grain of medicine of any kind
whatever.  Had not this gentleman's constipated condition of
bowels been thus fortunately removed, I feel quite sure that every
unprejudiced medical man will allow that, sooner or later, severe
disease, in some shape or other, must have been perfectly inevitable. This gentleman had no crisis.
DYSPEPSIA.
Mr., 48 years of age, had been accustomed for many years
to indulge in a very free mode of living. His daily regular allowance of wine was one full bottle, in addition to sundry glasses of
ale, and a couple of glasses of brandy and water in the evening.
This was his regular daily quantity. Under this excitement his
health soon began to suffer, and it grew gradually worse, until,
about twelve months since, he was in so shattered a condition, that
he found it necessary to adopt some rigorous and continued means
to repair the mischief his constitution had sustained. The symptoms of which he complained were, excessive languor, physical
weakness, drowsiness, and depression of spirits, foul tongue, relaxed throat (to such an extent that he was obliged to have his
uvula removed by the surgeon's knife), capricious appetite, and all
that long train of the most distressing symptoms which characterize a severe case of dyspepsia, accompanied by hypochondriasis.
He had been affected, too, for many years, with large furunculi,
or boils, of such severe and irritable character, that when one appeared on the chin, it would cause the whole of one side of the
face to swell so violently as to entirely close the eye on that side.
For these furunculi he consulted a London physician, who ordered
him to take a pill every day before dinner, consisting of aloes, rhubarb, and an extract of chamomile. These pills stopped the appearance of the furunculi, and from that moment all his distressing
symptoms became aggravated.
After very many fruitless attempts to regain his health, he repaired to Graefenberg.  At this time he was so weak that he
could not walk the length of a single street. At Dresden, whi'h
is a small city, in attempting to walk from one exhibition to another, he found himself unable to do so, and obliged to dispatch
his servant for a coach while he waited for its arrival. His breath,
moreover, was so short that he could not maintain a conversation




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              193
for more than five minutes together.  In six weeks after his arrival at Graefenberg he could sing; and his strength is now so
great, that he walks up and down the snow-clad mountains, often
as early as six o'clock in the morning, without any difficulty, in all
kinds of weather, and he declared to me that he believed himself
able to run continuously, at a moderate pace, for a distance of
three or four miles without stopping.  Every day I see him climbing the hill-side in large jack-boots, breasting the acclivity with
the firm and vigorous step of perfect health and strength. This
gentleman bathes, and douches, and takes one or two wet sheets
every day, wears umschlags round the body, and drinks nothing
but pure cold water. Yet this gentleman had been all his life accustomed to luxurious living, and the daily use of wine and spirits.
He declares that when he came to Graefenberg he did not know
even the taste of water-for when he cleaned his teeth in the
morning, he always took great care to expel every drop of water
with the tip of his tongue, fancying that if he suffered it to enter
the cavity of his mouth, it could not fail of producing some deadly
mischief; and he would as soon have thought of swallowing poison
as of drinking a cup of cold water. And this gentleman did not
leave off the use of stimulants gradually-he left them off entirely
at once-and so far from experiencing any evil consequences, he
immediately became sensible of relief.
I will just mention that this gentleman had for a great many
years (perhaps 20) a large fatty tumor on his back-so large as
to be quite visible through all his clothes, and giving to him an
appearance of deformity.  When I examined this tumor a few
days ago it had almost entirely disappeared.
DYSPEPSIA AND RHEUMATISM.
Herr Baumann, a builder, from Saxe Weimar, 45 years of age,
suffering under rheumatism, dyspepsia, nervous debility, and with
a constitution, to all appearance, quite broken. The first crisis
made its appearance in the form of the usual eruption, and he felt
himself relieved. Some time after this, however, he had another
crisis, consisting of what are called furunculi, or boils. He now
began to mend rapidly.  His dyspeptic symptoms left him, his
rheumatic pains ceased, his nervous debility gradually vanished,
and his health is now firm, strong, and good.
Mr. J. B. S, a gentleman of Manchester, came to Graefen9




194        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
berg in June last. I had the history of the case from his own
mouth.  His case was one of confirmed and obstinate dyspepsia of
four years' standing. Being a man of property he took the advice
of the most eminent physician, who, having failed in relieving him,
finally recommended him to travel in a warmer climate. In obedience to his advice he went to Rome. Here he improved a little for
a short time, and then became again as ill as he was when he sat out.
While traveling on the continent, he accidentally made the acquaintance of a Captain Fuminelli, of Venice, to whom he related
his case, and the object of his travel-a search after health. The
captain, now the strongest man in Venice, and who had himself
been raised from a sickly condition to one of high health, by the
sole use of cold water, at once strongly recommended him to repair to Graefenberg, and he came accordingly. When he arrived
his symptoms were these-first, great general physical debility, so
that he could not walk even a small distance without great fatigue
and exhaustion.  He was the subject of constant heart-burn-his
tongue exceedingly foul —his appetite capricious-and his stools invariably presented the appearance of little, hard, stony balls. He
was perpetually annoyed by sighing and gaping, which he could
not resist even when engaged in conversation-proofs of great
vital debility. In addition to all this he had a constant and severe
pain in his leit side.
This was his condition for four years. These were the symptoms which had obstinately resisted the most judicious medical
treatment under the ablest medical advice in England. The first
sensible effects of the treatment were manifested in the changed
appearance of the alvine evacuations. These became large, hard,
dry, and solid, and their expulsion exceedingly painful. For this
he was ordered a wet bandage round the body, covering the whole
abdomen and stomach.  In two days his motions assumed a perfectly natural and healthy appearance. He now made rapid progress.  His tongue became cleaner, the pain in the side greatly
relieved, the heart-burn left him, his appetite became steady and
good, his strength greatly increased, and he felt so well that he
made up his mind to discontinue the treatment and go home. He
was not, however, yet quite well, for as soon as he left off the
treatment his health flagged, and he describes his feelings as resembling those of one who suddenly loses some long-continued
cause of excitement. He felt low, depressed, and was obliged to




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                195
resume the treatment. After having undergone the treatment for
some weeks longer, however, he entirely recovered both his health
and strength, and could spend a whole day in climbing the mountains without suffering more fatigue than would necessarily be felt
by a strong and healthy man. He has now been in perfect health
for four months, during the whole of which time he has entirely
dicontinued the treatment, with the exception of an ordinary cold
bath every morning.  He only remains at Graefenberg on his
wife's account, who has also been undergoing the treatment, and
whose case he has likewise kindly permitted me to publish.
Mr. J. B. S's crisis occurred about the eighth week after
he commenced the treatment, in the form of a thick rash, which entirely covered his legs, thighs, and arms. Immediately after the
appearance of this eruption, the pain in the side began to decrease,
and with it the eruption also disappeared. He declares to me that
he cannot remember the time when he felt himself in such good
health and strength as he is at this moment.
GOUT AND RHEUMATISM, COMPLICATED WITH VENEREAL TAINT.
For thirteen years, Captain Vogt had been the subject of severe pains in his wrists, ankles, knees, and the long bones of his
legs and thighs.  While suffering thus, he contracted the venereal
disease, of which he was not properly cured. From this time his
rheumatic pains were aggravated tenfold, so much so that he was
at intervals confined to his bed for several weeks at a time.
In this forlorn condition he arrived at Graefenberg, and was immediately put under treatment. The first crisis which manifested
itself was a return of the chancre, which he had contracted six
years before. This, however, got perfectly well in a fortnight.
He has been here eight months, and when I examined him a few
weeks since he was completely recovered, free from all pain, active
with his limbs, and able to take any reasonable amount of exercise
on foot or on horseback. He is covered with a critical eruption all
over his limbs and body, and he only waits for the subsidence of
this to return home.  He was on full treatment the whole time,
with the exception of the sweating blanket.  He wore umschlags
night and day, which, during the day, were renewed five times.
GOUT IN THE HANDS AND KNEES.
Mr.-, 45 years of age, had gout in his hands and feet for




196        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
twelve years.  He began the treatment in July, 1842.  At six in
the morning, leintuch for half an hour-tepid bath for five minutes.
At eleven and at five the same treatment repeated. He wore umschlags.  On the second day he sweated for two hours-took a
tepid bath for two minutes-after which a cold bath for one
minute-then another tepid for two minutes.  At eleven o'clock
he took a foot bath for twenty minutes. At five o'clock he took a
leintuch, for half an hour, with tepid, etc., etc., as in the morning.
This treatment was pursued for ten days. After the tenth day,
immediately after the sweating, a cold bath for a minute. In the
third week he douched in addition to the other treatment, and
wore wet bandages on the knees. He got well rapidly.
RHEUMATISM WITH PSORIASIS.
Mr. G, an officer in the army, aged 59 years, about twenty
years since began to be affected in the muscular part of the legs
and thighs with very severe pains. At last they became so exceedingly sensible of cold and damp that, in frosty weather, while
sitting within doors, he was always compelled to have the lower
half of his body enveloped in a cloak, and no barometer could indicate a coming change in the weather with greater exactitude than
this gentleman's legs. This state of things lasted, with little variation, for twenty years, not confining him to the house, but imbittering his life, interfering with his prospects, and poisoning all the
springs of enjoyment.  During these twenty years he was three
times sent home under a medical board as unfit for duty-once
from the West Indies, once from  the Mauritius, and once from
New South Wales.  His legs, I forgot to mention, had also become, very early in the disorder, covered with that obstinate itching disease, called psoriasis; and for several years any attempt to
lean forward in the act of writing gave him acute pain in the region
of the stomach. After having taken the advice of a multitude of
physicians to no purpose, he was recommended to travel.  He
visited Wild Bad, in the Black Forest, Wild Bad Gastein, on the
Norrishe Alys, Buxton, Bath, Ramsgate, and spent one whole
winter in Italy; but all in vain. At last he heard of the watercure and determined to visit Graefenberg, where he still remains,
the very merriest man of the whole two hundred, who are now, in
the very depth of winter, and with the snow a foot thick, daily undergoing the water treatment at that place.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              197
He has had crises, both in the form of rash and of furunculi.
He has also had diarrhcea, which confined him to his bed for three
days. During these three days he wore umschlags night and day,
changed every hour-with sitz baths. When the feet became very
cold he had them rubbed with cloths dipped in cold water, and
wrung out. In the evening he became feverish, for which he was
put into a shallow bath for five minutes. This immediately removed the fever.  When he was first attacked with diarrhoea his
appetite went, and he could only take a little rusk in cold water.
It soon, however, returned and became better than ever. He is
now in excellent health, his pains and the eruption rapidly leaving
him, and he is looking forward with the utmost confidence to a
perfect cure.
CASE OF PSORIASIS. COMMUNICATED BY GEORGE ANTHONY, ESQ.,
AN ENGLISH SURGEON, NOW AT GRAEFENBERG.
Mr. Burch, a farmer from Somersetshire, aged 50 years, a stout,
strong man, came to Graefenberg in the middle of October last
(1842).  He was examined, and the progress of his case watched,
with great interest by Mr. Anthony, and many others, resident at
Graefenberg.
His whole body and limbs were literally covered with that most
obstinate, and, generally speaking, hitherto incurable disease, called
psoriasis. Deep fissures had formed in many parts, and an enormous quantity of scurf and scales were swept out of his bed every
morning, while the itching with which he was annoyed was almost
intolerable. It was that form of psoriasis which is sometimes
called, though I think erroneously, lepra figurata. He had been
afflicted with this abominable scourge for many years; and had
consulted many physicians of acknowledged eminence without the
slightest benefit. Every mode of treatment which he had adopted
had utterly failed of making the slightest impression on the disease.
When he consulted Priessnitz, he was told that he would certainly get well, but that it was by far the worst case he had ever
seen, although he had seen great numbers, and that it might take
two or three years to effect a perfect cure. On hearing this he
became disheartened, since circumstances would not allow him to
sacrifice so much time. He was determined, however, not to return without making a trial.  He went down the hill on which
Graefenberg stands, into the town of Friewaldau, in which many




198        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
of Priessnitz's patients, who cannot find room in Graefenberg, take
lodgings.  He here commenced the treatment, drinking large quantities of cold water, and confining his diet to bread alone. He continued this plan for about six weeks, when, to his joyful astonishment, as well as that of Priessnitz himself, the eruption almost
entirely disappeared. In this case, the crisis showed itself in the
shape of diarrhcea.
In order to produce perspiration he slept under a German
feather bed, close to a German stove, which gave him a profuse
perspiration every night-an effect which his medical man had
often labored to produce in vain, and which he had never experienced for many years.
Having now remained as long as circumstances would possibly
permit, he left Friewaldau to all appearance perfectly well, with
the exception of a few isolated spots. On his way home he was
accompanied as far as Prague by Mr. Ellis, a gentleman who is
still at Graefenberg undergoing the water-cure. Here he all at
once returned to a very free diet. From a very scanty diet, and
one consisting solely of bread, milk, and water, he leaped at once
to the full diet of the fashionable continental hotels, with wine, etc.
The consequence of this was a fit of the gout and a relapse. But
from  the very marked and powerful impression which was made
by the treatment upon the disease in the short space of six weeks,
no rational doubt can exist, and no doubt was entertained by any
of the gentlemen who saw the progress of the case, some of whom
were medical men, that the disease would have been entirely removed could the patient have submitted a little longer to the treatment, and confined himself for a longer period to a more rigorous
diet. It should be remembered that this gentleman was 50 years
of age-that his disease had existed not merely for many months,
but for many years-and that the various modes of treatment
which he had adopted under the ablest advice had not only been
unable to cure it, but even to make the slightest impression
upon it.
SKIN DISEASE-PSORIASIS.
Mr. Spangenberg, a gentleman of Hamburg, a young man of
very high attainments, and the son of the late very eminent Dr.
Spangenberg, (about 24 years of age), had been afflicted with a
scaly eruption over his face, and entire body and limbs, for twelve
years. The disease first made its appearance in the form of red,




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                 199
itching patches. These became covered with small scurfy laminae,
or scales, which were easily rubbed of, leaving the patches red and
shining as before.  In a very short time, however, the scales were
reproduced, and fell off as before. The itching was excessive, and
this distressing condition continued for twelve years, in spite of the
most varied and persevering efforts, under the most able medical
advice, to remove it.
In this pitiable state he came to Graefenberg, covered from head
to foot, face and all, with a disease at once loathsome, and, in an
uncommon degree, distressing.  His complexion was exceedingly
fair, his eyes blue, and his hair flaxen-his temperament irritable.
And it required a good deal of tact to accommodate the intensity
of the treatment to the excessive sensibility of his skin, which made
it frequently necessary to change it; for whenever it was urged too
far, the disease was aggravated.  By constantly varying the treatment, however, his skin became gradually accustomed to the impressions of the various baths, and when I arrived at Graefenberg,
his treatment consisted of two leintuchs every morning, one immediately after the other (the former for half an hour, the latter for
three quarters), immediately succeeded by the cold bath.  At
twelve o'clock he took a wet sheet and sitz bath. At five he took
another leintuch, for an hour and a half, succeeded by another
cold bath.  All night he wore wet linen pantaloons, from  his
ancles up to his arm-pits.  He also wore wet bandages round his
arms.  All day he wore wet bandages round the entire body and
arms, which were renewed five times daily.  In the summer
months he took the blanket and douched; but these it was found
necessary to discontinue.
This gentleman's crisis assumed the form  of diarrhcea, immediately after the occurrence of which, his disease began to disappear.  I saw him almost every day, and examined him repeatedly.
When I left Graefenberg, he was so nearly well that a few isolated,
dark-colored spots, indicating the parts where the disease had been
most virulent, were.all that were left.
SKIN DISEASE FOLLOWING GONORRHOEA.
The following case I detail for an especial purpose-for the
purpose of showing in what manner the most obstinate diseases,
especially of the skin, and painful rheumatic affections (so called),
are constantly produced.




200        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
Herr Von Nehemet, a Hungarian gentleman, three years ago
contracted gonorrhcea.  After having vainly endeavored to rid
himself of his malady for nine months, it suddenly disappeared on
taking a large dose of cubebs.
Soon after this sudden disappearance, an eruption showed itself
on his face and nose, for which he took Pulnau water, which
seemed to remove it.  He was now, to all appearance, well; but
the suddenness with which both the original disorder and the eruption had ceased, made him distrust the soundness and permanence
of the apparent cure. Distressed with this feeling of insecurity,
and his family being at Graefenberg, he determined to go thither
too, and submit himself to the Graefenberg treatment. He was
soon satisfied that his fears were but too well founded. For, shortly after he began to adopt the remedy, a crop of small ulcers made
their appearance round the fundament. Similar ones soon showed
themselves on his legs, and presently his hands and fingers became
covered with pustules.
By slow degrees, however, the whole of these symptoms vanished, and his health was perfectly restored. He left Graefenberg
while I was still there.
Now, I think it cannot be doubted that when this gentleman's
original disease so suddenly disappeared, his system still retained
the poison with which he had been first inoculated.  Nor can it be
doubted, that if that poison had not been thrown to the surface by
the treatment adopted, he must have become, at some future time,
the subject of severe disease, of some kind or other.
I am persuaded that multitudes of anomalous disorders, whose
causes seemed buried in obscurity, are occasioned by suppressed
poison-and often by a poison of the kind here alluded to.
FISTULA IN ANO.
The young Count Thun, a youth sixteen years of age, became
sensible of uneasiness in the neighborhood of the rectum while
passing his motions. This uneasiness gradually increased until it
became so severe as to prevent him from riding on horseback.
The parts were now examined by a surgeon, and found to be thickened, enlarged, and hardened. In a short time the pain became
excessively severe, and other advice was taken, both at Vienna and
Prague. It was determined to puncture the part. This was done,
and a discharge of matter mixed with blood ensued. The disease




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                201
was now pronounced to be fistula. Attempts were made to effect
a cure, by means of injections thrown into the sinuses through the
puncture; and that the case was one of perfect or complete fistula
is proved by the fact that a portion of the injected matter always
escaped through the sphincter, proving beyond question that the
sinus opened into the bowel.  A great variety of injections having
been used with no benefit whatever, the case was pronounced to
be incurable without an operation. To this measure the young
count could not be persuaded to submit.  He had now been under medical and surgical treatment for twelve months.  He had
five fistulous openings around the anus, and his system had been
so much reduced that it was with the utmost difficulty he could
walk, even when assisted by the arm of his father.
When I saw him  he had been at Graefenberg eight months.
For the first three months he took daily three wet sheets of an
hour each-each being immediately followed by the cold bath.
He wore umschllags round the body and under the crotch night
and day.  At the expiration of three months, he began to douche
every day; and he has only now just begun to undergo the sweating process.  He takes all his food, both meat and drink, perfectly
cold.  He has never taken a sitz bath; nor has he had any crisis.
After hearing the detail of the case from  the father, whose
memory was assisted by the son himself, I requested that I might
be allowed to examine the parts. This request was immediately
complied with.  The scars left by the healing of the sinuses were
distinctly visible. But the thickening has disappeared, as well as
the pain, which I ascertained by making firm pressure entirely
round the anus, and especially upon the scarred parts.  Four out
of the five openings were perfectly and soundly healed, but there
yet remained one, formerly as large as the tip of the little finger,
but now not larger than a pin's head, to be healed.
Prepared as I already was by A priori reasoning from the nature
of animal life up to the nature of animal disease, and from the nature of disease up to the true nature of remedies, to award great
efficacy to the cold water-cure, yet I must confess that if I had not
witnessed this case, and also the one which follows, with my own
eyes, I should have had great difficulty in believing the truth of
the statement.
URINARY FISTULA.
Baron Lauengen, of Lauengen, captain of cavalry, struck him9*




202        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
self a severe blow against the pommel of his saddle. Inflamma
tion and much tumefaction ensued. After a time the swelling of
the part was enormous, and fluctuation was distinctly felt. An
opening was made into it, very low down, from which there immediately escaped a very large quantity of urine. This puncture
never healed, but the urine continued constantly to flow through
it. He suffered from this state of things for two years, which two
years were spent in fruitless endeavors, under the advice of the
very best continental surgeons, to heal this fistulous sore. He
then came to Graefenberg, where he has been, if I remember right,
only eight months. He was kind enough to suffer me to examine
the part, which I found to be perfectly healed and sound, the scar
where the opening had been still remaining distinctly visible near
the raphe.
GONORRIIEA.
A  gentleman of Transylvania, a healthy man, twenty-eight
years of age, contracted gonorrhoea. In spite of all the means
which could be devised by his medical advisers, the disease continued for fifteen months. Four months after he had got well he
contracted the disease a second time. The treatment he had gone
through on the former occasion had been so painful as well as
unsuccessful, that he could not make up his mind to submit to it
again, but resolved to go to Graefenberg. He was three weeks on
the journey, and he had had the disease three weeks before he
started.  The disorder was of a virulent kind.  The treatment
which was adopted in this case was as follows: At half past six in
the morning he took a wet sheet. After the wet sheet he took a
tepid shallow bath, at twelve degrees of Reaumur.  After this
(immediately) the cold bath, and directly after this the shallow
bath again. At ten o'clock he took a tepid sitz bath, at twelve
degrees, for half an hour. At five o'clock the wet sheet and all
the treatment of the morning over again.  He drank thirteen
glasses of cold water daily, and wore umschlags round the abdomen day and night. This treatment continued for a week, but on
the fourth day the disease had entirely disappeared.  It was
thought desirable, however, to continue the treatment a little
longer.  In the second week he took the two wet sheets as at the
beginning, but went immediately after each into the cold bath,
without the intervention of the tepid shallow bath. At ten o'clock
in the morning he douched for five minutes, but not on the seat of




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.               203
the disease, nor on the stomach, nor on the head.  At twelve
o'clock he took a sitz bath cold for one hour and a quarter. At
the end of the second week he left perfectly cured.
CONSUMPTION.
Extracts (translated from the Italian) from a letter received by J. B. S,
Esq., at Graefenberg, from Captain A. F-, of the Marine Artillery,
Venice.
VENIICE, 10th February, 1843.
*  *  *  *  "Mr. and Mrs. H. are much obliged by your
kindness, and have heard with great pleasure the good effects of
the cure, on which they sincerely congratulate you, and return
their kind compliments to you and your lady.  The reading of
your letter has determined H-  to visit Graefenberg next summer.  He will profit by your advice, with respect to the method
which you recommend him to adopt while there.  Colonel Sis very well; he says that he feels himself ten years younger
(since his visit to Graefenberg, 1842), and sends his compliments
to you both.
" With regard to my own case, it is given in few words.  From
my twenty-fifth to my thirty-first year, I was subject to frequent
affections of the chest, for which my physicians ordered me to lose
blood, and gave me palliatives, which treatment left me constantly
liable to relapses. They said I was of a plethoric habit, and that
I must have the mass of my blood diminished.  These diseases
were produced by weakness brought on by a too sedentary life,
too much application to study, and too free indulgence in wine
and spirit.  My constitution was extremely delicate, and the least
draught of air caused inflammation of the lungs.'These affections of the chest returned three or four times a
yealr, until the last time, 1827, the lungs were so much weakened
that I could scarcely breathe.  At this same period (I was then
thirty-one years of age) I was at Zara, in Dalmatia, and had a
severe attack, which lasted several months, and of which I could
not recover. I was confined entirely to my room. The physician
said that it would be death to me if I exposed myself to the open
air. I had a consultation of physicians, at which Dr. Pinelli, the
principal physician in Dalmatia, attended, and I was declared consumptive.  I was studying at that time the German language, and
while reading the' Conversations Lexicon,' I was struck with the




204        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
article' Huffeland.' In this article great praise was given to his
(Huffeland's) work on Macrobiotics (or the art of prolonging life).
I obtained this work, and it seemed to me that I recognized my
own case in it. As I was already quite given up by t ie faculty, I
thought that in my position as an officer it would be best for me to
attempt an heroic cure, and to put an end to my disorders, either
by death or recovery.  I bade adieu to all my physicians, in a
half-dying state, and began to wash myself in my room with fresh
water, by means of a sponge-repeating this operation several
times a day-and limiting my diet to vegetables, fruit, and water.
"I began to feel benefit in a few days, and soon acquired
courage to go out. In the course of the forty days I was strong
enough to begin sea-bathing. It was the month of August, 1827.
"The sea-bathing, which I took every morning, in all weathers, joined with exercise immediately after the bath, continually
strengthened me more and more, and in the space of five months
I found myself the strongest and the healthiest of any of my companions. From that time to the present day I have had no illness
of any kind. I drink no wine, because I do not like it. But I
could drink it without any evil result.
" I prefer vegetable diet; but, for several years that I was at
sea, I took animal food, without the least inconvenience. I expose
myself to all weathers-and go without a cloak, even in winter, in
order to put my health to the proof. I go from a hot atmosphere
into a cold one, et vice versa, without any precaution. I wear no
flannel, and lead a very irregular life.
"In 1835, when I was on board ship, I was attacked, in the
Port of the Pirceus, with an epidemic fever, which raged there on
account of the marshes, and which attacked three fourths of our
crew.  On the second and third attack of fever, I took, each time,
a bath in the sea, and recovered, while my companions were ill for
several months.
" The only precaution which I observe is to bathe every day in
the sea, in all weathers, and in all seasons, when I have the opportunity; and to take a douche bath* for one minute, and wash myself all over with cold water, as soon as I get out of bed. I drink
a great deal of cold water-from twenty to twenty-five beakers
every day-chiefly in the morning before breakfast.  But when* Three buckets of water poured over him.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                205
ever I have been so situated that I could do none of these things, I
have still felt myself perfectly well.
"In short, at the age of forty-seven, I feel myself stronger than
I was at twenty-five, before I was attacked by disease in my chest.
This is the method which I followed before I had any knowledge
of the method of Priessnitz, with which I only became acquainted
five years ago when I returned from the Levant, and which has
determined me to continue it, and to recommend it to all my
friends.
" If Dr. Johnson wishes to make use of this information, I have
no objection whatever.  I only request him  to put merely the
initials of my name.
"I request you to write to me before you leave Graefenberg,
and to believe that I am, and shall always be, with the most perfect esteem, etc., etc.,                            A. F.,
"Captain of the Marine Artillery"
COUGH, WEAKNESS OF THE CHEST, AND INJURY OF THE BACK.
Mrs. J. B. S's case related in her own words.
"From a child, I never recollect to have had strong health.  I
was constantly suffering from the illness incident to children, besides much cough, with tendency to weakness of the chest, for
which at an early period I was ordered to wear a flannel dress
next the skin.  When at school, and while playing, I fell backward over a garden roller, to which I paid no attention, although
finding it difficult either to walk fast or to run for a few days.
From this circumstance I think may be dated the weakness in my
back, which was first evinced in a difficulty to rise from  the
ground, if I had been stooping or kneeling while at work in my
garden; the feeling being a total prostration of strength, from the
lower region of my back (precisely the part hurt) to the knees.
Still I struggled against the weakness, until I found myself incapable of walking up a slight hill with ease.  Application was
then made to the physician, by whom I was ordered to rub the
part well with a liniment principally composed of essential oils,
and which produced a discharge equal to that of a perpetual
blister, and for a time restored strength to my back; but the disease invariably returned.
"This state of debility continued until 1841, when I think it increased; if I walked up a long staircase, my strength was ex



206         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
hausted; the same indeed after any slight exertion. In 1842 I
came to Graefenberg.  I was ordered to leave off flannel, a leintuch for one hour, to be succeeded by the abgeschrecktes bath, in
which I was well rubbed for a few minutes; an abreibung and sitz
bath at eleven o'clock, and the same at four o'clock in the afternoon.  In a fortnight I was ordered to plunge once in the cold
bath, returning thence to the abgeschrecktes to assist the circulation of the blood. At the expiration of five weeks from my
first arrival at Graefenberg, I was suddenly seized with an utter
prostration of strength; so much so, that my legs dragged, and I
feared paralysis.  This was succeeded by ague, shiverings, and
burnings, pains from head to foot, but principally across the loins.
A profuse natural perspiration relieved me of much uneasiness;
and, when Herr Priessnitz came, he ordered an immediate abreibung with umschlags around the waist, to be repeated frequently
so long as the pain continued violent in the loins. If I were better in the morning, the bathing was to be continued as usual. This
was done.  When I attempted to walk after being dressed, I
found myself incapable of the exertion, being weak almost as an
infant.  During two days I ate only a little bread, and drank
water, the food that my appetite asked for.  In four days my
strength had considerably returned, and in a week I was as well
as usual. After this fever, I was ordered to douche, which in a
very short period produced considerable swelling in my left foot;
then I was ordered a foot bath, Priessnitz saying,'it was probable a crisis was approaching;' which took place in a few days,
and which discharged as an issue for seven weeks. Another succeeded, which lasted for five, and another afterward for three
weeks, more violent than the preceding, with a multitude of little
ones; and after each one I felt stronger and stronger, and now
have to rejoice that all pain in the back, with that prostration of
strength, and every other symptom  of debility, headache, etc.,
etc., have apparently bid me farewell."
DEAFNESS.
While I was staying at Graefenberg, during the first week in
January of the present year (1843), Herr Fricks, a young Prussian, aged twenty-seven years, arrived from Stettin.
He had been totally deaf for ten years, his deafness having been
produced by a severe attack of typhus fever. During the course,




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                207
however, of the whole ten years his hearing returned three times,
but only remained a day or two, when he became again as deaf as
ever.  Having undergone treatmentfor twelve days, a large quantity of matter issued from his nose. He immediately regained his
perfect hearing, and remained quite well up to the time when I
left Graefenberg-a period of about six weeks.
I will here relate an accident which befel this young man, in
order to show that the water treatment is an edged tool which
cannot with impunity be trifled with-and that, like every other
remedy which is not mere chip in porridge, it is only safe in the
hands of those who know how to adapt its use to the peculiarities
and powers of individual constitutions.
He had been packed in the blanket; but, after having lain there
for three hours, did not perspire. He was ordered therefore to
be taken out and put into the tepid bath.  The bath-servant, however, either to save trouble, or from misunderstanding, put him in
the cold bath.  The moment he came out he fell down, and remained perfectly senseless for more than an hour. Constant friction, however, with the wet hands, at length restored him.
General Baron Esch, commanding the cavalry at Prague, a gentleman well known in the military world, and who made his first
campaign with the Duke of York, at Dunkirk, in 1799, was afflicted with a confirmed deafness of several years' standing, for
which the most celebrated physicians in Austria had all been repeatedly consulted without relief. At last he was induced to go
to Graefenberg and consult Priessnitz, who told him  he thought
he could cure him, but would not say what length of time it might
require.  He was immediately put under treatment, and at the
expiration of six weeks he had perfectly recovered his hearing.
This case was related to me by Colonel Bowen, late of the Coldstream Guards, who is now undergoing the treatment for chronic
inflammation of the eyes, and who was a personal friend of General Esch, and had the statement from his own lips.  The general
also related to Colonel Bowen the case of a young dragoon officer under his command.
HIP DISEASE.
One of the first cases which attracted my attention, after my arrival at Graefenberg, was a case of hip disease, in Elizabeth St,
a child eight years of age, and the daughter of highly respectable




208         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
parents at Hamburg.  On inquiry of the child's governess, she
stated that the hips had become enlarged rather more than two
years ago-that the tumefaction gradually increased-that the
child constantly complained of pain in the knee-that the leg and
thigh became gradually wasted-that the knee-joint became firmly
contracted, and bent nearly at right angles, so that she could only
walk with two crutches, the other limb being weak, and the general
habit of the child delicate, and, in fact, scrofulous.  Every medical
man, if any such be present, will immediately recognize in this account, a very common form of scrofulous disease of the hip joint.
When I saw the child, however, all these symptoms had disappeared, excepting some remaining enlargement of the hip, and a
little limping in the gait, arising from a trifling shortening of the
limb.  But the account thus given of the child's condition when
she first went to be submitted to the treatment, was fully confirmed by the testimony of more than a dozen persons, who saw
the child when she was first brought to Graefenberg, and who
had watched her progress with great interest. But besides this,
the shortening of the limb, the appearances of the hip, with the
general constitutional aspect of the little patient, were precisely
such as would have led any surgeon to foretell, without information, that the patient had suffered, or was about to suffer, the peculiar train of symptoms which the governess mentioned.
When I left Graefenberg, I saw this child galloping about in
the snow, by the side of her governess, without any thing to distinguish her from a perfectly healthy child, excepting a little limp
in her gait.
SCARLET FEVER.
In the month of May, 1842, Mrs. Klauke (aged about 25), was
seized with pains in the head, and back, and calves of the legs.
Her face, neck, arms, and legs, and subsequently the whole body,
became brightly scarlet, and she complained of a soreness in the
throat.  The pulse was rapid, and skin dry.  She was packed in
the leintuch for half an hour; then rubbed all over in a tepid
bath for twenty minutes with the wet hand.  She was now ordered to wear an umschlag round her stomach night and day.
When she felt cold, she was rubbed down with the wet sheetwhen hot, packed in the leintuch, and so on all through.
The tepid bath was suspended, until by the application of a
succession of sheets the fever was reduced.  Then the tepid bath




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              209
was repeated.  Every morning she was packed up in a blanket,
in which she was allowed to perspire for an hour; then she was
put into the tepid bath. This treatment was continued for a fortnight.  At the close of the sixth day all fever was extinguished,
and at the close of the whole treatment her strength was undiminished.
In addition to the above, a lavement of cold water was administered every night. During the whole time she ate and drank as
usual, and one evening went to a ball (in the saloon of Priessnitz's
establishment), and danced for hours, while her whole body was
crimsoned with scarlatina. On returning home from the dance,
she was rubbed down with a wet sheet, went to bed, and slept
soundly.
SYMPTOMATIC FEVER. (RELATED BY THE MOTHER.)
Alexander Klauke, aged three years, was a fine lively child, but
with a disposition to inflammatory affections of the stomach and
bowels.  A month previous to the present disease, he had an attack of inflammation of the stomach, accompanied with strong fever, and determination to the head. In the evening the child was
put into a bath not quite cold, in which he remained about twenty
minutes, additional cold water being added as the temperature
arose by the heat from the child. During this time, cold water
was poured from a tumbler glass on the head, repeated at intervals of a minute, and, as is usual, his whole body was rubbed
cautiously by the maid.  He was then taken out of the bath and
placed on the sofa, covered over with a sheet and blanket, with
the back part of his head in cold water, for ten minutes. By this
time reaction had taken place, when wet compresses were applied
to the head and back part of the neck, and the body, from the
arm-pits to the hips, wrapped in a similar way.  He slept quietly
till three o'clock in the morning, when the same process was repeated, the previous symptoms having returned. The child was
again placed in bed, where he slept till morning, and was then
found to be quite well, and went out as usual.
A month after this attack he was taken ill in a similar way, but
with symptoms much more severe.  The fever running high, and
accompanied by'delirium.  The treatment was commenced by
placing him successively in nine wet sheets, from which the water
was but slightly wrung out. In each of these he remained about




210.       GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
five minutes.  Toward the last, the heat being diminished, he
was allowed to remain ten minutes.  To the head and breast, a
thick wet compress was applied in addition, these being the parts
where the heat was greatest. The feet were cold, and as long as
they remained so, the wet sheet was only applied down to the
knees; in the meantime, the feet and legs were rubbed strongly
with the hands.  While the extreme heat continued, the wet sheet
was covered by a thick dry one instead of a blanket, as is usual,
the feet only being covered with the blanket. After the last wet
sheet, he was placed al once in a tepid bath, where he remained
an hour, the same process of rubbing and pouring water over the
head being practiced.  The first day the same process was repeated four times, the duration of the last being not so long, when
the fever was not so high. During the night the wet cloth was
changed every half hour.  On the morning of the second day the
child refused to go into the water, calling out himself at intervals
for additional wet sheets. Orders were given that the inclination
of the child should be obeyed.  In the course of the morning the
child desired himself that he might be put into the bath, where
he remained until the heat in the arm-pits and on the back of the
neck was the same as on the rest of the body; this being the general guide for the duration of a bath.
The same treatment slightly varied was continued four days,
when the child was well, and was sent out to play with the other
children. In eight days after this a pustule appeared on the foot,
which discharged matter freely.
CATARRH, OR COLD.
Mrs.,  an English lady now at Graefenberg, on her husband's account, was subject, in England, to very severe attacks of
catarrh, which usually lasted her a month before she could get
entirely rid of it. Soon after her arrival at Graefenberg she had a
very severe attack.  She was treated by the wet sheet and tepid
bath alternately for two days, which entirely removed every trace
of the catarrh.
BALDNESS.
Assessor Willert came under the hydrotherapeutic treatment for
a very old rheumatic affection. When he arrived at Graefenberg
his entire head was perfectly bald and smooth. I had an oppor



GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              211
tunity of examining his head soon after I myself reached Graefenberg; which I did with the more care, having heard that it was
expected, during his treatment, that his hair would probably return.  Shortly before I left Graefenberg I was requested to go
and examine Assessor Willert's head once more. I did so, and
found it every where covered with a fine new hair, nearly half an
inch in length. There can be no doubt whatever that this gentleman's head will shortly be covered with hair as luxuriant as at any
former period of his life. His age, judging from his appearance
(for I did not inquire), is about seven or eight and thirty.
HEADACHE, WITH GIDDINESS.
To Herr Slatinsky, a gentleman (about forty years of age) whose
case I am now about to relate, I was introduced by Mr. Niemann.
On going to his room I found his body literally covered all over
with large dark brown spots, some about the size of a farthing,
some as large as a half-penny, and others somewhat larger, and
many of them running one into another, giving to his skin a dark
marbled appearance.  He had also had crises in another form
about his legs and arms, very much resembling what, in England,
are commonly called boils. They seemed to me to partake of the
nature of what are denominated, in medical phraseology, furunculi-not malignant, but in a very mild form-discharging a ropy
matter from one small pinhole in the centre. All these, excepting
one on the breast, were perfectly healed.
The eruption on the body, however, had but just made its
appearance, and the patient was in high glee, and exhibited his
mottled skin with all the pride and satisfaction with which a man
exhibits to his friends some long-desired object-a horse, for instance, or some precious antique-which he has just succeeded in
obtaining after much labor and difficulty. The whole time he was
undressing a smile of exultation was playing round his mouth,
which plainly said, "What a happy fellow am I! and how much
I am sure you will envy me when you see the treasure I am about
to show you-the blessed blotches wherewith I am blessed!"
And this is the feeling which is common to all the patients at
Graefenberg on the appearance of the crisis-for it is invariably
hailed as a certain harbinger of a speedy and perfect restoration to
health.  As the crisis disappears the health returns-and I have
never either seen or heard of a single case in which these eruptions




212         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
did not entirely vanish again, leaving the skin perfectly healthy and
clear as before.
For the three years previously to his coming to Graefenberg,
this gentlenfan had been grievously afflicted with violent pains in
the head, accompanied by dizziness.  He was unable to attend to
any kind of business. He could neither read nor write for more
than two or three minutes together. He felt as though two nails,
one on either side of the forehead, were being violently thrust into
his brain.  And he could never stoop nor turn round without imminent danger of falling. This was his condition for three years,
from which all the ordinary medical treatment had failed to relieve
him.
I forgot to mention that, in addition to his other sufferings, he
was afflicted with piles.
On the appearance of the first crisis all his symptoms were relieved, but not removed.  Since the appearance of the second,
however, his headache, his giddiness, his piles, have entirely left
him, and he now only waits till the critical eruption shall also
leave him, when he will return to his country, his family, his
friends, and his home, freed from a load of misery and disease
which could not but render life rather a curse than a blessing.
SECONDARY SYPHILITIC SYMPTOMS.
Count Pyatcshavich, a Polish count, contracted syphilis. Under a course of mercury all his sores healed except a large one in
the groin, which resisted all medical treatment. His health at last
began to flag. He lost both his flesh and his strength, and became reduced in substance even to emaciation.  This state of
things continued for one entire year, when, hopeless of relief by
ordinary means, he yielded to entreaty, and, in spite of strong
prejudice against the treatment, came to Graefenberg.  In six
weeks he was perfectly well, and I myself saw him depart, the
picture of health and strength-a fine young man standing six feet
without his shoes, and as strong as a giant.
ANOTHER CASE OF SECONDARY SYPHILIS.
Robertson, Esq., a Scottish gentleman, contracted chancre
in Sicily, 1838, which was healed by external mercurial applications. He took mercury internally also, but it failed in producing
ptyalism. The chancre returned in a short time, and continued to




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                213
heal and return at intervals, during the space of six months. During these six months he took four pounds by weight of Lafecteur's
rob (a concentrated preparation of sarza and other drugs), and sixteen pounds by weight of Dupuytren's rob. He was then ordered
to rub in mercury for what were called secondary ulcers; and
these ulcers never healed until all these medicines and all mercurial applications were discontinued. But under the use of simple
purgatives, washing the sores with nothing but goulard water,
they healed in eight days.  But by this time his system  had
become so broken up that pressing fears were entertained for his
life.  He had become quite emaciated-the slightest exertion, or a
sudden noise, would cause him to faint-his spirits were depressed
even to frequent weeping-the inside of his mouth, his tongue,
cheeks, and throat, were covered with excoriations and sores-the
skin of his face and forehead were covered with blotches-and his
stomach and bowels in so irritable a condition that when he took a
plate of hot soup he was obliged to sit upon a commode while eating it. For this excessive irritability he was obliged to take large
quantities of opium, which he did under the advice of his physician.
At this time the joint of his knee was larger than the thickest
part of his thigh.  He was now removed to Naples, and placed
under the care of another physician, who gave him iodide of potassium. From this he derived great benefit, the sores healing and
the blotches disappearing. He was desired to travel, but never to
return to a hot climate.  His health now became considerably better, but the disease was still in him, for it was not long before the
blotches returned, and he was obliged to have recourse again to
the iodide of potassium. And indeed he soon found that, in order
to keep the disease under, it was necessary to take the iodide of
potassium  constantly.  He now took warm  sea bathing at Peterhead, which brought out several ulcers in the part first affected.
After this he took sulphur baths, and also some iodine administered
by Mr. Callaway, one of the surgeons to Guy's Hospital in the
Borough.
He now came to Graefenberg, and submitted himself to a full
course of the water-cure.  When he came there, the skin of his
face was so excessively irritable that he could never go out without an umbrella to protect his face from the wind.
He had not been under the treatment long before the disease,




214        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
which had been hitherto only suppressed, was driven by the water
to the surface of the body.  He became covered with venereal
eruptions, and no fewer than twenty-one ulcers reappeared on the
part originally infected. As soon as these appeared, his general
health began to mend, and in a few months he was perfectly well,
and offered for a wager of any amount to walk eighty miles in two
days-forty miles each day.  He has just left Graefenberg for
Vienna, and related his case to me only a few days before he went.
This gentleman was so popular at Graefenberg, and (having the
command of several languages) so kind in interpreting for foreigners when they first arrived, that a dinner was given to him at Friewaldau, at which I had the honor to be present.
This gentleman also mentioned to me a case of gleet which came
immediately under his own notice. It had existed for seven years,
and obstinately withstood every mode of treatment which could be
devised. Under the influence of the water treatment he got perfectly well in a few weeks.
THIRD CASE OF SECONDARY SYPHILIS.
Mr. Kindermann, a government reporter at Frankfurt-on-theOder, was affected with secondary symptoms.  He had a venereal
fungous growth on the verge of the anus.  There were also deep
ulcerations on his thighs. Having failed to obtain any relief, and
his health having been to all appearance utterly ruined, it was proposed to convey him to La Charite, the great hospital at Berlin, as
a last resource. His physician, however, declared that such a step
would be perfectly useless, and nothing could save his life. Soon
after this he was strongly urged to visit Graefenberg, whither he
was conveyed in the latter end of March last year. In the beginning of July of the same year, he left Graefenberg in perfect health
and strength, and is now again residing at Frankfurt-on-the-Oder.
This gentleman is about twenty-six years of age.
He sweated every morning, with cold bath-two leintuchs in the
afternoon with cold bath again-once a day he took a sitz bathand he wore umschlags night and day.  He was covered with
crises, observed a strict diet, and almost lived in the open air.
FOURTH CASE OF SECONDARY SYPHILIS.
About seven years ago Herr Von Goltzsch contracted chancre,
which was cured by mercury.  From that time his general health




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              215
began to decline. Every now and then he had sore throat, and
was scarcely ever free from what he at that time believed to be
rheumatic pains. For six years this state of things continued,
during the whole of which time he was so weak that a strong
child running against him was sufficient to push him down. At
last his shin bones became attacked with the most excruciating
pains the moment he became warm in bed, which made it impossible for him to sleep.  Shortly after this, nodosities made their appearance along the whole course of the bones.  He was now
strongly urged to come to Graefenberg, where I had the pleasure
of seeing him, and of examining his legs.  He has been under
treatment for eight months, during which time his throat has not
once been sore. He has entirely lost all his pains, and, on questioning him as to the state of his physical strength, his emphatic
reply was, " When I came here I was as weak as a child; but now
I would not turn my back upon ten devils."
IMPUISSANCE, COMPLICATED WITH GOUT.
The uncle of the reigning Duke of Nassau, between sixty and
seventy years of age, had been afflicted with gout so severely, that
when he arrived at Graefenberg, he was almost bent double.  In
addition to this he had become impuissant.
He remained at Graefenberg for two years, married while there,
and in due time became the father of two children; and was, moreover, perfectly cured of the gout.
There are probably no two affections over which the hydropathic remedy exercises a more marked and beneficial influence than
it does over the two just mentioned.
CONTRACTED JOINTS.
A Hungarian girl was brought here with the knee joint so much
contracted, that she was obliged constantly to walk with two
crutches.  In six weeks she left Graefenberg, walking exceedingly
well without any crutch at all.
HERNIA.
A young man affected with inguinal hernia, consulted a surgeon
at Milan, who undertook to cure him.
The surgeon applied a plug of wood to the rupture, supported
by a strong band of iron, which produced ulceration to a great and




216         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
painful extent. At the end of six months the hernia was no better, and he suffered severely from the ulcerations.
He then repaired to Graefenberg, where he has been prosecuting
the hydropathic treatment for six months.  The ulcerations are
quite healed, and his rupture so much better that he has already
left off his truss, and Priessnitz assures him that there is no doubt
of his perfect recovery.
HI2EMATURIA, OR VOIDING OF BLOOD FROM THE URINARY ORGANS.
Herr Zelowski had bleeding from  the urinary organs almost
daily for six months before his arrival at Graefenberg. On one
occasion he voided a large tumbler full of pure blood.  He was
also the subject of piles. After ten weeks of treatment, he was
entirely free from both disorders. He gave me the history of his
case himself, on the evening before he left Graefenberg.
CEREBRO-SPINAL DISEASE.
Monsieur de Gallette, an officer in the Imperial Guard of Russia, aged thirty-five years, was affected about two years since with
severe giddiness in the head.  He could not look vertically upward without falling either on his knees or on his side.  Any sudden motion of the head deprived him in a moment of the use of
his lower extremities, which immediately yielded to the weight of
his body, and let him down.
He lost also the perfect command of his tongue, so that he
could not articulate the words which he desired to utter. His
memory too quite failed him, and all his faculties were so disordered, that he became quite foolish and unfit for society. One
day, in a room full of company, he took up a decanter of water
and emptied it completely upon his own head, not knowing what
he was about, and wondering where the water came from which
was running down his clothes.  This gentleman has been four
months under the water-cure. His giddiness has left him, he can
articulate every word with the greatest facility, he has quite recovered his memory, and all his mental faculties are as perfec.t.as
ever they were. He complains now of nothing but physical weakness, from which, however, he is daily recovering.  But the-most
remarkable part of this case still remains to be told. This gentleman has been quite bald for fifteen years over the entire roof of
his head, and down on either side to within an inch of the tips of




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              217
his ears, for which he has always worn a wig.  When he had related his case, he requested me and some other gentlemen to raise
the candle and examine the bald part of his head.  We did so,
and then perceived that a fine downy hair is beginning to grow all
over the bald part, which promises in a month or two entirely to
cover it, and supersede the necessity of a wig. The hair is already
a full quarter of an inch in length, but exceedingly fine. A hundred persons can vouch for the truth of this statement, among
others Colonel Bowen, Mr. Hoppner, and Mr. Anthony, an English
surgeon, who examined the case with me.
SUPPRESSED MEASLES.
In June, 1812, Major Heise, in the Hanoverian service, while on
active duty, had measles, during which disease he received orders
to march to Valladolid, in Spain, and perform  the route from
Madrid to Valladolid on horseback.  On the march he was exposed day and night to the open air. The measles suddenly disappeared.  Six months after this his body and limbs became covered over with a dry scaly eruption, exhibiting a yellowish brown
patchy appearance, when the scales fell off, accompanied by intolerable itching. Every expedient was tried in order to get rid
of this eruption. He visited the baths of Germany, Switzerland,
and Italy.  He took Russian vapor baths for twenty years.  But
all perfectly in vain. Six years ago he was attacked with diarrhoea and prolapsus ani, occasioning from ten to twelve motions
daily, with constant desire to return to the water-closet. With
these symptoms he came to Graefenberg.  Added to this, he had
nervous twitchings of two years' standing. Two weeks after he
had been under treatment he had fever, with delirium, with loss
of sleep and appetite, for which he took leintuchs and tepid bath.
This lasted a week, and was succeeded by good appetite and returning strength.  Crises, consisting of furuncles, now set in,
which lasted nine weeks. At the end of three months, he was
ordered to go to Vienna and to adopt the following more moderate treatment, viz., three abreibungs daily. Five days after his
arrival, diarrhoea and frequent desire for stool left him. At first
his treatment consisted of leintuchs, cold baths, sitz baths. On
returning from Vienna, he took six leintuchs of half an hour each,
and each being immediately succeeded by a cold bath dailydouche for five minutes daily.  Umschlags were worn night and
10




218        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
day on his body, legs, and head. He was here six months, at the
end of which time he went away entirely free from pain, in fresh
and strong health, and in all respects perfectly well. Just before
I left Graefenberg, Priessnitz received a letter from Major Heise,
in which he expressed his great gratitude for his recovered health.
AGUE.
A general officer in the British army, well known at the Horse
Guards, still staying at Bcemischdorf, and whose permission I have
to give his name to any private applicant, was attacked with ague.
After enduring two or three fits, in the hope that it would leave
him, he sent for Priessnitz. When Priessnitz arrived, he was in
the third or sweating stage.  He was immediately placed in a
bath at 16 degrees of Reaumur, or 68 of Fahrenheit. Here he
was kept for twenty minutes, being well rubbed all the time by
two men. After this he walked about the apartment for half an
hour, and then went to bed. The ague left him, and never returned.
DEAFNESS.
Colonel Bowen, late of the Guards, has been residing at Graefenberg seven months, without the slightest benefit in his own case.
He cannot, therefore, be reasonably supposed to be blinded by any
violent prejudices in favor of hydropathy. But he related to me
the following circumstances concerning an intimate friend of his
own-and it was afterward confirmed by many others who were
themselves under treatment at the same time with the colonel's
friend. General Baron Esch, lately dead, but at that time commanding the cavalry at Prague, a gentleman extensively known in
the military world, and who made his first campaign with the
Duke of York, at Dunkirk, in 1799, was afflicted with deafness,
of several years' standing, and which had resisted the most judicious treatment. He was at last prevailed on to submit himself to
the water remedy-and in six weeks he had perfectly recovered
his hearing, in the fullest sense of the word. Witnessing, with his
own senses, the singular effect which had thus been wrought on
his friend's ears, it was this which determined Colonel Bowen to
try the same remedy on his own eyes-but hitherto without effect.
EPILEPSY.
The next case which I shall mention, is one of epilepsy. On




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.               219
being introduced to this patient, a young Hungarian of about 27,
he told me that he had been the subject of epilepsy for four years,
having a recurrence of the fits about every ten days. He had
been under treatment for four months, and was kept on a very
scanty diet the whole of that time. He is now perfectly recovered,
having had only one fit since he commenced the treatment, and
that occurred shortly after his first arrival at the establishment.
He was very pale, and considerably wasted, but was then gradually
returning to a full diet, with a view to his returning home.
I suppose this case to be one of epilepsy, depending on irritation, set up in the brain, by the presence of some foreign body,
probably a clot of blood; and that this clot, under the deprivation of food, had entered into combination with oxygen, in order
that it might assist in protecting the vital organs from the destructive action of that element, and had quitted the system in the form
of oxydized products. The cases of palsy probably depended on
similar causes, which are removed by similar means.
This gentleman has made copious notes, both of his case and
his treatment, which he intends to publish as soon as he returns
to Pesth.
HYPOCHONDRIASIS, PSORIASIS, AND SCIATICA.
The gentleman (an Englishman), about 60 years of age, who
was the subject of these three severe afflictions, belonged formerly
to the civil service in India. I made his acquaintance at Graefenberg immediately on my arrival, and am indebted to him for introductions to several valuable cases besides his own. He had labored under these affections for eight years. Shortly after he had
become the subject of sciatica and psoriasis (which latter disease
his French medical advisers denominated dartre farineuse), his
mind became excessively excited by some family occurrences, with
the particulars of which he did not, of course, think it necessary
to acquaint me.  In a short time, what with this excitement, the
torture arising from his sciatica (inflammation of the sheath of the
great sciatic nerve where it passes through the structure of the
hip), and the intolerable itching produced by the skin disease, the
equilibrium of his mind became so much disturbed that he was not
considered in a fit condition to be left by himself. Always in a
state of high excitement, there were times when he was perfectly
insane.




220        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
For eight years the sufferings of this poor gentleman, bodily and
mental, were indeed awful. When I asked him to give me a detailed account of his sufferings, he sat thoughtful for a moment,
and then, going to a table, he took up a small pocket-book, and
opening it at a particular page, and placing his fore-finger between
the leaves, he reseated himself.  "Some time ago," he said, "I
was perusing the book of Deuteronomy, and in the course of my
reading, the passages which I have copied into this pocket-book
riveted my attention. They were so exactly characteristic of my
sufferings, that I almost fancied myself the particular object of
the divine wrath, and that I was even then realizing the fearful
denunciations which those passages of Scripture contained. No
language of mine can so truthfully or so forcibly convey to you
the horrors under which I was laboring both in body and mind.
Read them," continued he, " and judge whether I have not great
reason to be thankful that I am now such as you see me." He
handed me the book, and I read as follows: " The Lord will smite
thee with the botch of Egypt and with the emerods, and with the
scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The
Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the
legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy
foot to the top of thy head: and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none
assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say,'Would
God it were even;' and at even thou shalt say,'Would God it
were morning!'"
" At the time," continued he, when I had done reading, " that
I was perusing these passages, those terrible denunciations were
most of them  actually realized in my person. I trembled as I
read-for at that moment I was covered,'from the sole of myfoot
to the top of my head' with an intolerable itching botch. I was
even then' smitten in the knees and in the legs with a sore botch,'
and was covered with scabs. Madness, and blindness of the understanding, and astonishment of heart, were also mine. I had
indeed'no assurance of my life,' for I was often sorely tempted
to destroy it; and every morning I wished it were night, and at
night I longed for the morning-and every effort I had made to
get' healed' had been utterly in vain."
This gentleman had then been under the water-cure about three




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.            221
months.  His sciatica had entirely left him-the eruption was
nearly gone-the itching had wholly ceased-while the state of
his mind was calm, cheerful, rational, and full of thankfulness.
So fully satisfied was he that he should get entirely well, that
he left Graefenberg about a week before myself, in order to bring
the whole of his family back with him-partly that he might have
the comfort of their society for the rest of the time that it would
be necessary for him to remain under the cure, and partly in order
to submit his daughter, who had ill health, to the same remedy
which had proved so signal a blessing to himself.




222            GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
CHAPTER XIII.
GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE-(CoNTINUED.)*
Nervous Headache.-Deafness and Constipation.-Indigestion, severe Headache, etc.-In.
digestion, Nervous Debility, and Hypochondriasis.-Nervous Debility from  excessive
Stu(dy.-Indigestion and Pain in the Side.-Great suffering from Nervous Weakness.General Fever.-Indigestion and sore Throat.-lnflammation of the Stomach and Bowels.-Nervous Detbility, with frequent Cramps.-Nervous Debility and Sleeplessness. —
Indigestion, Distress, and Depression of Spirits.-Gout and Rheumatism.-Syphilitic
Eruption, Hernia, Sciatica, Biliousness, Indigestion, etc.-Indigestion, Rheumatism, and
spitting of Blood -Gout.-Gout and Rheumatism.-Hereditary Gout.-Cutaneous Eruptions and universal Pains.-Great Nervousness.-Urinary Fistula, or Opening.-Ilemiplegia, or Paralysis of one Side.-Catalepsy, or Trance, general Debility, and Indigestion.-Seminal Weakness, with great Nervous Debility.-Debility, Nervousness, and
Baldness, following the use of Mercury.-Does Water bring Mercury from the System?
-Defective Hearing and Smelling, with general Debility.-High Fever, with Delirium.-Dyspepsia, Sleeplessness, and Nervousness.-Rheumatic Neuralgia.-Gout.Mcnorrhogia, or excessive and debilitating Menstruation.-Great Debility and depression of Spirits, following Nervous Fever.-Insensibility following an improper Bath.Insensibility following Over-drinking.-Secondary Syphilis.-(A Horrible Case).-Inflammation of the Brain, with Delirium.-Dyspepsia, Headache, and Fullness at the Head.
-Debility, Sleeplessness, Depression of Spirits, etc., from excessive mental Application.
-Scrofulous Disease of the Knee Joint.-Scrofulous enlargement of the Knee Joint.Skin Diseases.-Leprosy, Tetanus, and Hydrophobia.
NERVOUS HEADACHE, DEAFNESS, AND  CONSTIPATION.
THAT I may present to the reader a familiar picture of the nature of the different processes of water-cure, I will give some account of my own treatment, adopting the maxim  of Seneca:
"Longum iter per preecepta, breve et efficax per exempla."
I have for many years experienced inconvenience from rheumatic
and nervous headache, with noises and deafness in the left ear;
always dependent on medicine for the function of the bowels, yet
very seldom requiring active treatment.
I waited  a few  days, to  recover from  the  fatigue of traveling,
before I began the treatment. At 6 A. M., Tuesday, April 18, I
was visited by Priessnitz and the bath attender, who rubbed me
down with the wet sheet for two or three minutes; following it
* From  Sir Charles Scudamore's Medical Visit to Graefenborg.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              223
with an equally diligent application of the dry one. The cold application being accompanied with such immediate friction, no severe shock was experienced. It was merely disagreeable, and that
only in the first impression. The reaction was quickly established,
and a safer mode of bathing cannot, I think, be imagined. The
best results must follow from this effective cleansing process for
the skin, tending to maintain it in health and to remove its diseased
conditions. By the recommendation of Priessnitz, I put my flannel waistcoat over my linen.
The wet bandage was applied round my body, the dry part
being closely rolled over it. The cold sensation was unpleasant at
first, but quickly removed by exercise. I next used hard-rubbing
for my head most freely with cold water in a basin, and was careful, by Priessnitz's desire, to chill the nape of the neck. I next
took a long walk, and drank three half-pints of water at suitable
intervals.
At 11 A. M. sheet process repeated, and, in addition, a sitz bath,
with water at 65 degrees Fah., to reach to the navel. I continually rubbed the abdomen and loins with the water, and remained
a quarter of an hour. The unpleasant first impression does not
last more than a minute, and it is not disagreeable to remain for
any length of time, unless the water should be changed.  At 5
P. M. this treatment was repeated. I came in from a walk, much
heated by exercise in the sun, waited a few minutes till the pulse
became quiet, and then had the wet sheet applied with a most refreshing and satisfactory effect.
19th.-Placed in the wet sheet; the first lying down on it and
investment with it were very disagreeable; but, immediately after
the packing up with the blanket, etc., sufficiently comfortable; and
in a few minutes more, so much so that the effect was quite soothing and tending to sleep. At the end of three quarters of an
hour, warmth came which would have produced perspiration, and,
this not being desired, I was taken out, and immediately entered
the shallow bath, at 62 degrees, and was well rubbed with the
water for about two minutes. The immersion being so slight, the
impression of the cold water was very bearable, and the warmth
of surface was afterward quickly restored. Rubbing wet sheet at
11 A. M. and at 5 P. M., this and the sitz bath at 62 degrees. Each
time rubbed the head.
20th.-Same treatment.  Examined my animal heat before




224         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
being rubbed with the wet sheet; it was 97'5, and the sheet 50
degrees; no alteration produced-showing the mildness of this
refrigerant process.
After the leintuch this morning, went first into the shallow
bath at 62 degrees, and then into the plunging bath, which was 44
degrees, and cutting cold; returned quickly to the shallow bath,
which now seemed pleasantly tepid. I found the animal heat reduced one degree by the plunging bath, although the sensible reaction was excellent; and, after the dry rubbing and dressing, I
was comfortably warm.
23d.-Same treatment.  In using the sitz bath found the temperature of the water raised by the warmth of the body 2 degrees
in 5 minutes, 4 in 10, and 6 in 15.  Hence the necessity of. a
change of the water, if a continued cold sitting be desired.
Being, in the common language, bilious from the change of diet,
and such a free use of milk mornings and evenings, the bilious secretion suspended with loss of appetite, took blue pill and colocynth at night, and next morning the improved Cheltenham salts.
It was my object to save time; and r was confident that I should
have this error more quickly corrected than by leaving it to the
sole influence of the water-cure treatment.
25th.-I used the lying sheet and shallow tepid bath yesterday,
but no other treatment. Every success and benefit from the medicine.
26th.-To-day resumed the plunging bath, and went on with
the same treatment to the end of the month, but changed the midday process for the use of the regular head bath and foot bath;
having recourse to the latter also, from being much subject to
coldness of feet. I received the head bath for a quarter of an
hour, allotting five minutes to the back, and the same to each side
of the head.*  I lay on the floor, and had a good proof of the
superior conducting power of air over water for sound, in the
strong perception of any contiguous accidental noises. From this
application of cold water I always felt sensible invigoration of the
nerves of the head.
The foot bath was also sensibly useful, tending to comfortable
warmth of the feet; and the further rubbing of the ankles and
muscles of the leg much relieved the consequences of fatigue.
* I find a shallow wooden vessel, with a rounded groove to receive the
neck, answer the purpose for this process very well.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                 225
May lst.-In using the leintuch this morning, applied a long
towel, wetted, from the arm-pit down the side, and found its effects
agreeable; the sensations, from the complete contact of wet linen,
more pleasant on that side than the other. Indeed, the effect of
this process is very soothing; and it becomes a punishment to be
unpacked.  Every one would willingly go to sleep in the wet
sheet. If, in any particular case, the feet fail to become warm
with the rest of the body, socks may be worn.
May 5th. —To-day used the douche, the temperature of which
was 44 degrees, for two minutes: it immediately reduced the animal heat one degree; but I had a comfortable reaction.  I felt
very sensibly how much the most active this is of all the processes,
when the douche is strong and the water cold.  I used it afterward occasionally during my stay, but not regularly, as I did not
require full treatment.
I proceeded regularly till the 16th, when I tried the experiment
of lying on three wet sheets instead of one. The first impression
on lying down was that of greater coldness; but, when packed up,
this subsided into a sense of pleasant coolness that was refreshing.
This remained, so that at the end of an hour and a quarter I was
not warmer than I had been in ten minutes with the one sheet. It
was particularly agreeable that the back remained cool so long.
In an hour and a half, I had the same general warmth as with
half an hour of the one sheet. In another quarter of an hour, I
was becoming so warm  that the animal heat had risen half a degree.  Had I remained longer, I should, doubtless, have perspired
freely. I was much satisfied with the experiment, as showing the
long-continued refrigerant power of the three sheets, in comparison
with the one.
Two days after, I made the experiment of using the sweating
blanket.  On awaking at 5 A. M., I had some headache: pulse
rather full, at 56 degrees; animal heat 98 degrees. In the course
of ten minutes after being packed up, I was comfortably warm;
least so in the feet, where I desired more weight. At the end of
an hour and ten minutes, when the warmth of the whole body was
much increased without sensible perspiration, the pulse was increased to 66 degrees, full and soft; the animal heat 99 degrees.
At the end of two hours, the perspiration was universal, but not
copious, pulse 68, animal heat 100 degrees. In another half hour,
perspiration in a greater degree, but not streaming, pulse 68, animal
10*




226         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
heat 101 degrees. At the end of two hours and three quarters, I
quitted the bed, for the full bath, into which I plunged instantly,
while hot and perspiring, made two immersions, and came out exceedingly refreshed.* On being dressed, the pulse was as in the
beginning, and the animal heat 97'5.
On the following day, returning from a long mountain walk, the
sun shining, my pulse was excited and my animal heat 101 degrees.
I waited a few minutes only for a quiet circulation; I wiped off
the flowing perspiration, and then, while yet hot and perspiring,
was freely rubbed down with the wet sheet, holding more water
than usual.  I was highly refreshed and agreeably cooled: my
pulse became natural, and the animal heat, examined during dressing, was 98 degrees.t Hence another proof of the perfect safety
of applying sudden cold to the heated body with perspiring
surface, when the animal heat is raised beyond the natural standard.
I proceeded with regular treatment to the 20th, and then desisted. After this period, in consequence of a severe cold from
remaining in wet clothes, when I had no opportunity of changing
them, I was attacked with slight general fever, rheumatic pains,
and severe throbbing headache. I immediately had recourse to a
leintuch, followed by the shallow tepid bath, and two affusions
with cold water.  The relief was immediate: the animal heat,
which had been increased to 100 degrees, was immediately reduced to 97'5.  One repetition of this treatment was so successful, that in twenty-four hours I found myself quite well.
The final result of the whole proceedings has been a most satisfactory improvement of my health, in all the failings which I mentioned; and I have not found the least occasion for medicine during the last two months.  On my journey homeward, which was
most extremely fatiguing, I took every opportunity in my power
to use, on first rising, the rubbing wet sheet, hip bath, head and
foot bath, and always with the greatest comfort and advantage: a
plan which, together with early rising, drinking cold water freely,
* It is to be considered that with the elevation of the animal heat, the
nervous energy also is simultaneously increased, or more diffused.
t In a paper on heat, which I had the honor of reading at the evening
meeting of the College of Physicians, March 5th, 1838, I quoted the experiment of Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Fordyce, and others, showing the impunity of
passing immediately from an apartment heated to 260 degrees Fah. into a very
cold atmosphere; the effect indeed being agreeable, refreshing, and useful.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              227
and an active walk, I follow up with the highest advantage and
sensible comfort and benefit.
In relating the following cases, I avoid all mention of names;
knowing that the violation of this proper delicacy has given great
offence at Graefenberg, and disturbed the feelings of many persons.
INDIGESTION, SEVERE HEADACHE, ETC.
A. B., aged 44, for the last seven years during a residence in
India, liable to severe headaches; complaining frequently of heat
on the top of the head, and a weight at the back. After a time,
these headaches became much worse periodically, accompanied
with sickness approaching to faintness, and a momentary loss of
recollection.  These periodical returns at length becoming so frequent as every twenty-five days, and the illness much more severe, accompanied with pain in the lower part of the spine, he was
advised to try change of air, from the sultry climate of India, to
the Neilgherry hills, where, during a residence of two years, he
became much better, the periodical returns being forty-five and
forty-six days apart. As his general tone of health improved, the
illness also became slighter. His health not being however established, he was directed to return to his native climate, and proceeded to Europe by the overland route, via Malta, where he
changed his route and proceeded to Graefenberg, via Naples, Leghorn, Florence, Trieste, Vienna. During this journey, his complaint returned every twenty-sixth, thirtieth, or thirty-sixth day,
and the illnesses were not so slight as they had been during the
latter period of his residence on the Neilgherries. He complained
a good deal of cold feet and frequent headaches. The latter might
perhaps be attributed to improper diet at the hotels, and the fatigue and irregularity incident to traveling. It was the opinion
of his medical friends in India, that there was no organic disease,
and that his complaint was to be attributed to indigestion and the
exposure to the climate of India. He had a return of illness on
the 29th of March, in the carriage between Olmutz and Graefenberg. Priessnitz saw him on the 30th, and commenced treatment
on the 31st, with abreibung and head bath, the back and sides
being immersed for a quarter of an hour.  On the 1st of April,
he had leintuch at 5 A. M., followed by a tepid bath. Leintuch
again at 12, followed by an abreibung and head bath; at 5 P. M.
an abreibung.  This treatment continued until the 20th of April,




228        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
when he had a return of illness in the night.  Priessnitz being
sent for, he directed his head to be wetted before using the leintuch, and an abreibung after it, instead of the tepid bath; the
abreibung to be repeated at 9 A. M., 12 noon, 3 P. M., 6 P. M., and
9 o'clock P. M.; in addition to which he was to have an abreibung
every fifteen minutes for one hour after the faintness. This treatment of six abreibungs a day, and leintuch at 4 in the morning,
head bath at 9 A. M. and 12 noon, continued several days; was
then reduced to five abreibungs in a day, then to four; and lastly,
he went back to the former treatment, which continued until the
first of May, when he had another return of illness. Priessnitz
was then of opinion that the present treatment proved too severe
for him, and must be modified; that the tepid baths were to be
left off; but that he must continue the leintuch once in the day,
head bath once, four or five abreibungs in the course of the day,
and a foot bath twice in the day; and that as soon as the present
illness had passed off, the head bath was to be discontinued, and
the head to be simply rubbed with water. He directed an abreibung every fifteen minutes, to be repeated four times after any
faintness; also one foot bath after a paroxysm.  On being told
that the patient was fatigued with the exertion of dressing and undressing every fifteen minutes while ill, he directed that he should
go into bed between each abreibung, be kept quiet, and that if he
fell asleep he was not to be disturbed.
During the first three weeks of the time that this gentleman
was under treatment, he was remarkably well; had no headache
whatever, and never complained of indigestion since the 20th of
April (it is now 12th of May); he has occasionally complained of
headache, but is nevertheless better than he was before he arrived;
his general tone of health is improved; the pain in his back quite
gone, so that he can run down a hill without uneasiness, whereas
even walking fast down a hill formerly used to shake and jar his
system. His feet are always warm; he no longer starts in his
sleep as he used to do, and can sleep on his back as well as on
his side, which he could never do before, since he resided in India;
and he no longer complains of indigestion after dinner. Before
adopting the treatment, he was always dependent on the aid of
medicine for the bowels; since, he has not had the least occasion
for any. It must also be mentioned, that although the two last
attacks of illness occurred within very short intervals of time, the




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.             229
headaches were slight, and the illness only a mild one. His chest
appears to me to have become wider. I saw this gentleman almost daily, and left him in a fair way of recovery.
INDIGESTION, NERVOUS DEBILITY, AND HYPOCHONDRIASIS.
A gentleman, aged 25, had brought himself into a state of great
nervous debility from excess of study. He was at length incapable of any mental application, had great nervous depression, and
was hypochondrical.  The sight so much weakened that he could
neither read nor write, and even blindness was apprehended. Often
had severe headache.  Greatly lost both flesh and strength; the
digestive functions torpid. He related to me that he first came
to Graefenberg three years ago, in the state of indisposition above
described. His treatment then as follows: The plunging bath in
the morning on first quitting the bed. After breakfast, the douche
from five to ten minutes, even in the coldest weather. In the afternoon, a sitz bath for half an hour; drank water in the usual
quantity. For five months there was no change in the treatment.
He observes, " I had no crisis, not even the water-rash; my health
improved gradually. After this, I returned home, where I used
a cold bath every morning, and avoided all sorts of spices and fermented liquors. My health improved more and more; my eyes
grew stronger again; I could read and write; and, of my former
complaint, there remained merely a pressure on the chest; inability
for strong mental exertion, accompanied with some dislike for society. Three months ago I returned to Graefenberg, when Priessnitz ordered me to be packed up in a wet sheet morning and afternoon, followed by the plunging bath; to douche for two minutes; to take two head baths; and a sitz bath for a quarter of an
hour.  He recommended me to make a practice of walking in the
air with my head uncovered, however cold the weather." I saw
much of this very interesting person, who quitted Graefenberg
during my stay.  He was quite well. The digestive functions became regular very soon after the commencement of the treatment.
This is an example of no sensible crisis occurring, although the
treatment was very active.
ASTHMA AND HERNIA, FOLLOWING BRONCHITIS.
A female servant, aged 35, has suffered from  difficulty of
breathing during the last five or six years, in consequence of an




230        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
acute attack of bronchitis, which she underwent in India; was unable to ascend a hill or to make any extraordinary continued exertion without much distress. Has also, during the last few years,
while residing in India, suffered from severe affections of the bowels. One of these, the last, occurred in August, 1842, and was
very severe, and attended with symptoms of much inflammation,
for which she was leeched and blistered.  She recovered but
slowly from this attack, and it was shortly followed by psoas abscess, which pointed below Poupart's ligament (in the groin), and
was opened.  Toward the end of September, she was obliged to
travel with her master and mistress on the way to Bombay, but
was conveyed in a palanquin.  During her stay in Bombay, in November, while still very weak, she was exposed, in a tent, to wet
feet during an entire day, in the discharge of her duties, and
caught cold, which brought on, as she states, inflammation of the
bowels; and being also at this time much occupied in the care of
children, one an infant, and in the packing and lifting of trunks,
her hernia (femoral) occurred at this time, on the same side on
which the abscess had been shortly before. She continued in delicate health till her arrival in Malta, where she sought medical advice for the first time since the occurrence of the hernia in the end
of February.  She left her service early in March, being unable
to carry the children, and went to Graefenberg, to place herself
under the treatment of Priessnitz.  She was very asthmatic at
this time.
He commenced her treatment the first week in April, ordering
her a leintuch every morning, to be succeeded by an abreibung,
and this followed by a sitz bath; the abreibung and sitz bath to be
repeated at 12 o'clock, and the leintuch, abreibung, and sitz bath,
at 4 o'clock P. M. every day; to wear a wet bandage, night and
day, round her loins, and to wear a truss upon the situation of the
hernia, which was not to be removed night or day.
After having been a month under the fore-mentioned treatment,
she complained of very severe pain in the region of the bowels;
upon being informed of which, Mr. Priessnitz directed that she
should have an abreibung every ten minutes until she should obtain relief, and to walk up and down the room wrapped in a dry
blanket between each.  Every abreibung relieved her; and when
she had taken six, she became quite comfortable.
In the course of the treatment, the catamenia occurring, appre



GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                231
hension was entertained at the probable injury from continuing the
treatment; in consequence of which, the advice of Priessnitz was
sought, and he directed that there should not be allowed any interruption. The effect was, complete relief from the distressing
pains habitually attending the performance of this function, the
quantity of the discharge was much increased, but did not continue longer than the usual time, and no weakness was experienced.
Upon the return of the periodical function, the same relief from
pain was experienced; the quantity was not excessive, the interval
was nearer to the natural period than usual, and the discharge did
not continue.  She now enjoys good general health and strength
(May 24th), and no longer suffers from asthma. Her hernia also
she considers decidedly better. The truss is still worn; but she
has not noticed, as formerly, any tendency to the descent of the
bowel.
NERVOUS DEBILITY FROM EXCESSIVE STUDY.
A gentleman, aged 25, tall and slight, had brought on debility
by excess of study, attended with circumstances distressing his
mind.  For two years, suffered from  great and almost continued
pain in the head, chiefly in the back part; with pains of the teeth
and down the cheek; constant noises in the ears.  Was also generally weak, and in a very nervous state. Circulation irregular,
with ice-cold feet.  Bowels torpid.  Had been at Graefenberg six
months.  The treatment: Leintuch in the first of the morning
for half an hour, followed by the abreibung. Both repeated in the
afternoon. Used also daily head bath and foot bath, the feet being well rubbed for half an hour. Was desired, in addition to the
regular head bath, to rub the head very freely with cold water,
whenever it was painful.  Drank water as usual.  In the first
week, the functions of the bowels became quite regular, and he
was released from his former necessity of taking one or other kind
of medicine. This benefit arising from the water-cure treatment is
one of the highest magnitude, and happens, as far as my inquiry
went, almost without exception.  This gentleman assured me that
he found himself well at the end of three months, and only remained at Graefenberg longer in order to confirm the establishment of his strength.  It was pleasing to hear him describe the
altered state of his nerves for the better, the loss of all pains of the
head and face, and the improvement of his circulation.  He was
no longer troubled with coldness of the feet.




232        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
INDIGESTION AND PAIN IN THE SIDE.
A gentleman, aged 40, arrived at Graefenberg, in a weak state,
with bad digestion and constant pain in the right side. He went
at once from the leintuch into the cold bath. He abstained from
the douche when the weather was severely cold, and never took it
more than two minutes.  He was several months before he got a
crisis, but was cured of his indigestion before that time. When
the crisis came, it was on the opposite side, a large boil, very painful, accompanied by much irritative fever for near a week; but it
has cured the pain in his side, for which he could get no remedy
before.
GREAT SUFFERING FROM NERVOUS WEAKNESS.
The wife of this gentleman was an invalid in many respectshad pains in the loins and in one leg; had for years been a
great sufferer from general nervous weakness. She is now quite
well.
Until the crisis, which appeared in the form of several large
boils on one leg, her treatment was-leintuch one hour, then cold
bath; at eleven, abreibung and sitz bath; at half-past four, leintuch one hour; then, either the cold bath or abreibung, whichever
she pleased.
When the boils were painful and discharging, she had tepid
bath after leintuch, instead of cold bath.  From being very debilitated, she has become strong enough for any exertion. This
lady has returned to Graefenberg, out of gratitude to the place
where she and her husband received the blessing of health.  I
saw him on the day of my departure.  They will now use only
slight treatment, to confirm the general strength.
GENERAL FEVER.
A gentleman, aged 44, of full habit, thus describes his case:
"I was troubled and annoyed, four days or more, with pain of the
left side opposite the heart. I met Priessnitz and informed him
of it. He called the next morning at 9 o'clock; the pain still
continuing, he ordered me, at 11, to take an abreibung for five
minutes, that is to say, I was to be rubbed, and rub myself, that
time in a wet sheet, standing upright. I was then to wait ten
minutes, walking about the room; then take another abreibung
for five minutes; then to walk half an hour and take a sitz bath




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              233
for twenty minutes. All this I did. At half-past 3, I was ordered
to do precisely the same things over again. However, after the
morning operations, I found that I had taken a severe cold, or that
the operations had made me ill.  I had pains all over me; my
limbs, my back, and my head were in pain; and I became very
hot and feverish. The pains and feverish symptoms increased; at
four o'clock I took an abreibung five minutes, then walked about
half an hour; then I had a leintuch for one hour, then a tepid
bath five minutes, at 68 degrees. All the pains soon left me. I
walked out for half an hour, had supper, and went to bed. At five
in the morning, my attendant came; and, as I had been feverish
in the night, was so then, and had some pain in the head after the
leintuch, which I took for an hour; I used a tepid bath at 64 degrees for four minutes, receiving also one cold affusion over the
head.  Without further treatment, I found myself next day quite
recovered.
INDIGESTION AND SORE THROAT.  (BY THE PATIENT, AGED BETWEEN FORTY AND FIFTY).
"I arrived at Graefenberg 15th July, 1842; my complaint, as
described by my physician, being' bad digestion and sore throat.'
" I have always been subject to irritation of the throat, more or
less, from a boy: within the last eight years it has troubled me
more, and given either real or fancied cause of uneasiness.
"For years previous to 1835, I was subject to boils, which gave
me much pain and annoyance.  Up to this period, my throat gave
me little or no trouble; was generally, though relaxed, free from
phlegm.  The end of 1835 I began an aperient pill; I took one
generally daily till 1842, up to the time of my coming here. Soon
after I began to take this pill the boils ceased, and my throat gradually grew worse: though I felt more comfortable in my digestion, my throat grew worse-more and more troublesome.
" For nearly twenty years I had constantly taken wine and spirits freely.  When I came here I was much more corpulent than I
am now, and my whole system seemed deranged.  I was nervous,
and like a barometer. I could not venture, after exercise, into a
church, or into any large cold building, for fear of taking cold,
which I almost nvariably did, and this always affected my throat
-sometimes laid me up for a week in my bed-room.  I attribute
this sensitiveness to having taken, seven years ago, a quantity of




234        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
mercury, which has come out here, making my mouth sore, and
affecting my breath strongly occasionally.  This, I believe, has
now ceased.  I am less sensible now to changes of temperature.
For years I have been unable to take walking exercise in a week,
equal to that which I can now take in a day. Previously to coming here, I always rode every where. I had pains in the stomach
and in the feet, with redness in the hands and knuckles, and in the
legs: in all these there is now no pain, having had crises in them.
The arms are still painful, but I have had no boils or crises in them
yet. My digestion is better, my throat is better, and progressively
improving. I have no pain.
"Treatment commenced July 16, 1842. The first five weeks,
leintuch, at five in the morning, one hour; then abgeschreckte
(tepid) bath, 13 degrees Reaumur, three minutes; an umschlag
round the body; then walk an hour; then breakfast,; at eleven,
abreibung; then wait a quarter of an hour, then sitz bath a quarter of an hour; then walk, then dine. The same at four P.M.;
got better daily.
" For six weeks, all the operations, as above, were continued;
and the douche at nine A. M. for two minutes, which was gradually increased to seven minutes, I took regularly for six months,
and during the winter.
" The ninth week, in addition to the sitz bath, I took the cold
bath every morning; then-leintuch one hour, tepid bath one
minute, cold bath two plunges, then tepid again one minute. I have
lately omitted the douche and cold bath, in consequence of having
crises. When I was first enveloped in the wet sheet, a strong sour
smell, like mellow apples, proceeded from me, and filled the room;
and was of so subtle a quality, as to be with difficulty washed out
of the blankets. I had never experienced this odor before. Priessnitz told me that it must all come out, for I could never get better
till it was entirely removed. This smell has not been perceptible
the last three days.
" I have daily, by order, taken 10 or 12 glasses of water, 5 before breakfast, the rest distributed at intervals. Before breakfast,
much mucus has been rejected from the stomach, very sour and
bitter, sometimes of a green color, sometimes yellow. I have still
eructations of water before breakfast, but not sour; and now and
then a little froth and phlegm. Upon the whole, I am quite satisfied, and consider my coming here providential; for, in England, I




GRAEFENBERG CASES IF WATER-CURE.                235
could find no certain remedy for one thing that did not cause inconvenience and disorder of some other kind.
" When I showed Priessnitz my throat, he said,' This is caused
by your stomach, which must be set right before your throat will
be better; besides, your nervous system is all wrong; but I have
hopes I can make a different man of you; you must get thinner,
and then your digestion and throat will both get better.' "
He had pursued active treatment for ten months; a duration
that may appear surprising.  The throat has been his greatest
trouble.  The mucous membrane had long been diseased; and at
one time the uvula had become so elongated, that a portion of it
was excised.  He might probably have desisted from such a regular proceeding as he was still pursuing, some time past; but his
determination was to stay at Graefenberg, under treatment, as long
as a vestige of complaint remained; so truly did he enjoy and estimate the great improvement which he had received.  The odor
of which he speaks was connected, I have no doubt, with the
gouty diathesis.  He had experienced occasional gout.  He told
me that, on his first arrival, he had scarcely the feeling of energy
to cross the road.  I saw abundant proof of his acquired activity;
and he looked strong and well.
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS.
A fine, lively boy, aged three years, is generally well, yet subject to inflammation of the stomach and bowels.
He had an attack of inflammation of the stomach, accompanied
by sickness, with strong fever and determination to the head. In
the evening, the child was placed in a bath at 70 degrees Fahrenheit, in which he remained 20 minutes; cold water was added as
the temperature rose.  During this time, cold water was poured
from a tumbler on his head, repeated at intervals of a minute;
and, as usual, his whole body was carefully rubbed. He was then
taken out and placed on the sofa, and covered with a sheet and
blanket, with the back of his head in cold water for 10 minutes.
By this time, reaction had taken place, and then wet compresses
were applied to the head and back of the neck; and the body,
from under the arms to the hips, was wrapped in a similar way.
He slept quietly till three in the morning, when the previous
symptoms having partially returned, the first treatment was repeated; after which the child was again placed in bed, where he




236        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
slept till morning, and was then quite well, and went out as
usual.
One month after this attack, he was taken ill in a similar way,
but with symptoms much more severe-the fever running high,
accompanied with delirium.  The treatment was commenced by
placing him successively in nine wet sheets, from which the water
was but slightly wrung out. In each of these he remained about
5 minutes; toward the last, the heat being diminished, he was
allowed to remain 10 minutes. The feet were cold; and, as long
as they remained so, the wet sheet was only applied down to the
knees; meantime, the feet and legs were rubbed strongly with the
hands.
While the extreme heat continued, the wet sheet was covered
by a thick, dry one, instead of a blanket, as is usual. After the
application of the last wet sheet, he was placed in a bath of 70
degrees, where he remained nearly an hour; the same process of
rubbing and pouring water over the head being practiced. The
first day, the same process was repeated four times; the duration
of the bath being not so long when the fever was not so high.
During the night, the wet sheet was changed almost every hour.
On the morning of the second day, the child refused to go into the
bath, calling out himself, at intervals, for additional wet sheets.
Orders were given that his inclination should be complied with.
In the course of the morning, the child himself desired that he
might be put into the bath, where he remained till the heat under
the arms and on the back of the neck was the same as the rest of
the body; this equality of temperature being the general guide for
the duration of a bath. It is worthy of remark, that the more the
fever was reduced, the more quiet the little patient became, till at
last he remained in the bath perfectly tranquil. The same treatment, slightly varied, was continued four days, when the child was
well, and was sent out to play with the other children. In eight
days after this, a pustule appeared on the foot, containing matter,
which discharged freely.
Observation.-This case might probably have passed into continued infantile fever had it not been in this manner promptly and
successfully treated. When fever runs very high, as shown by
the burning skin, delirium, and other symptoms, it is a good modification of the use of the leintuch to cover it with a dry sheet, instead of the blanket, and packing up in the usual manner.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.            237
NERVOUS DEBILITY, WITH FREQUENT CRAMPS.
A gentleman, aged 45, tall and stout, received two injuries of
the head by a fall, one of which was in hunting, about seven years
ago. The nervous system was much deranged, especially since
the second accident, five years ago, when the spine received a
strong contusion and shock. For a long time he had been very
nervous, and unable to compose himself during'any sedentary
occupation; having also heavy and stupid feelings of the head;
muscce volitantes; constant singing in the ears; prickings and
numbness of the limbs, with frequent cramps; unrefreshing nights,
often sleepless, and in the morning more tired than when he went
to bed. He neglected himself after the first accident; but after
the second, having the use of the limbs so much impaired that it
was with great difficulty he could walk half a mile, he went to
Bareges: first used the baths at St. Sauveur, for two weeks; lay
in them for an hour and a half to 2 hours: then, at Bareges,
douched every day for 10 minutes; after which, was put into bed,
where he had most copious sweating; and then, covered with a
blanket, was carried to his lodgings. At the end of four months,
his amendment was very satisfactory, and he quitted early in August. Relapsed at the end of the year, and passed a bad winter.
Next year, he used hot sulphurous baths in Switzerland, with advantage, but remained a great invalid. He had several symptoms
indicating a disposition to gout. He did not use any further treatment till coming to Graefenberg, nine months ago. He has had
all the processes, and been on full treatment, without having received any decided benefit to his nerves. Yet his muscles have
become stronger, and his digestion is improved.  He found it
necessary to douche very cautiously; for, if he received it with
great force and much'continuance, he found iis head exceedingly
disordered by it. It was his intention to give up the treatment
and quit Graefenberg, if he did not improve in two months more.
It seems probable that more than functional error in the membranes of the brain and spinal marrow exists in this case, so persistent have all the distressing symptoms been. I do not expect
that he will be benefited by the water-cure treatment, and think
that he might receive advantage from undergoing a regular course
of alterative and purgative medicine, to be followed by the use of
the baths and douche at Buxton. It is probable that he may have




238        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
recourse to such measures, should he be finally disappointed at
Graefenberg.
NERVOUS DEBILITY AND SLEEPLESSNESS.
A lady, aged 27, had typhus fever, from which she dates her
loss of health. Subsequently, she had a fall from a horse, causing
concussion of the brain; and, on another occasion, a severe contusion of the head, with a wound by the falling of a beam. For a
long while, she experienced intense sufferings, from which she
never recovered; and she came to Graefenberg with the following
symptoms: Frequent severe pains of the head, with a strong sensation of burning heat of the scalp; hearing and sight affected;
altogether in a highly nervous state, and seldom sleeping more
than an hour in the night; all the functions irregular; the feet almost constantly affected with icy coldness; with frequent pains
and oppression in the hypogastric region.  She had always received more benefit from cold water applications than any other
means, and especially from using the mer de glace (a stream derived from the melting of ice and snow from the mountains), in
Switzerland, as a bath. Very active medical treatment had been
used at different periods; leeches and blisters to the spine again
and again; and courses of medicine of various kinds.
On her arrival she was put on the following treatment: In the
morning early, leintuch, tepid bath (Reaumur 14 degrees), and
plunging bath in immediate succession.  Abreibung and sitz bath
in the middle of the day; a regular head bath once in the day;
and whenever painful and heated, to apply cold water freely by
the hand, and leave wet compresses on any heated part. The foot
bath once or twice a day; rubbing the legs also with the water,
for they were affected with weakness and swelling. An eruption
of irritable pimples appeared, which was treated with wet bandages covered by dry. Priessnitz was glad to see this early crisis.
The body-bandage was used.  She drank a medium quantity of
water, and was much in the air; but she could not take great exercise. At a particular period, the nervous system was greatly
disturbed; and there was some hysteria, with much affection of
the head.  In these circumstances, Priessnitz directed four abreibungs in the morning and four in the afternoon, with intervals of
half an hour, during which she went into bed, to gain composure
and warmth.  She did not complain of this troublesome treatment,




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                239
and acknowledged the very sensible relief which it,afforded her.
On my quitting, I compared her state with what it was on her arrival, with great satisfaction. Her health was in every respect
materially improved; and the head so relieved that she could
sleep comfortably. There was every promise of the case proceeding to a favorable issue.
INDIGESTION, DISTRESS, AND DEPRESSION OF SPIRITS.
A clergyman and schoolmaster, aged 35, had too intensely exercised his mind and feelings, and brought on so distressing a state
of nervousness, that, in preaching, he became painfully confused
in a quarter of an hour.  He had severe indigestion, with opposite
states of the bowels, but most commonly inert; headache, with
confusion, noises of the ears, and dimness of sight; as in the last
case, heat of the scalp and extreme coldness of the feet; depression of spirits, with distress that he was incapable of any mental
exertion, being an ardent student. He was much affected by every
change of weather. His treatment consisted of leintuch and tepid
bath, with plunging bath, sitz bath, head bath three times a day,
foot bath twice a day, the soles of the feet being diligently rubbed;
the body-bandage. He drank water freely; and he had abreibung
whenever the head was more than usually uncomfortable. After
about a fortnight, the use of the douche was added to the treatment.
He described, in glowing terms, the happy improvement which
he received after ten days' treatment, and especially in his digestion and the state of his head; but when he had employed the
douche for a week, he was apprehensive that it did not suit his
nerves, for his head became painful and confused after using it.
In all these cases of morbid sensibility of the nerves of the head,
it appears to me that the application of the volume douche, if ever
used, should be much delayed; and that the jet shower bath, applied with only moderate force, continued from one to three minutes, is a more appropriate remedy.
It is very obvious that, in the management of all delicate and
difficult cases, a good medical judgment is required to adapt the
treatment to the many changing circumstances which must occur.
GOUT AND RHEUMATISM.
A gentleman, aged 44, of slight frame and delicate appearance,




240         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
had received great trials to his constitution, from living in various
climates under circumstances of immense exertion of mind and
body; so that he incurred a severe liver disease, followed by both
gout and rheumatism.  His father had been a sufferer from gout
and from tic-douloureux.  He, therefore, had the hereditary predisposition. By treatment, his health was improved up to November, 1839, when, from exposure to wet in shooting, he experienced
painful rheumatism or gout, for each name was given, in one kneejoint. It was so swollen and misshapen,. that some thought it was
dislocated. The frequent use of leeches; of iodine, externally and
internally; of calomel, sarsaparilla, and other medicines, formed
the chief treatment. The disease increased severely. He describes
that "the leg wasted away; that the hip had the appearance of
being dislocated; and that some inflammation became visible at
the lower part of the spine, with frequent aching pain. The knee
was so bent, from contraction, that the limb was drawn up almost
to doubling, and quite useless; in addition to which, he was reduced to a skeleton, having lost all appetite and sleep." The actual cautery to the spine was proposed; but not having profited
by any of the various means employed, he fell into despair, and
was urged to try the water-cure at home. He here says, " I was
so weak that I could only allow gentle measures.  My diet was
strictly regulated. I drank plenty of pure water; morning and
evening had an abreibung and shallow tepid bath (66 degrees
Fah.); in the middle of the day, free ablutions of the whole limb,
and wet bandage covered by dry.  From  the commencement I
began to feel differently.  Sleep and appetite soon returned; and,
my strength gradually improving, I was able to bear the use of
the sweating blanket, followed by the half bath. Ere long, numerous boils appeared on the legs, which afforded great relief to
the deep-seated pains."  Had sitz baths.  In one month he was
so much improved, that he could use crutches for half an hour;
and at the end of three months, he had gained sufficient strength
to undertake the journey to Graefenberg.  But still having a very
large number of boils in a state of suppuration, his nerves were
greatly disturbed, and he was rendered very ill by traveling five
hundred miles; was much affected with cramps and hysteria. He
arrived. Priessnitz told him he would recover, but a long time
would be required.  At first, his treatment was moderate, and
afterward increased, with a cautious use of the douche. He drank




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              241
water very freely. For a time, its early morning use was slightly
emetic; but this relieved him of bile and phlegm. In October,
1840, he could walk a little with two sticks. The boils increased
over the body.  In November, the weather being unfavorable, he
took cold severely from accidental exposure, and new symptoms
arose. An abscess gradually formed between the bladder and the
rectum, and at length broke, the matter being discharged partly
by the rectum, and partly by the urethra. His cramps and pains
of the bladder and bowels were so severe, that his life was in imminent danger.  For a fortnight he was without sleep, could not
take any food, and for ten days had water only to support him, if
support it could be called. Cold water lavements, half and quarter baths, fomentations, and wet linen rubbings, all more tepid
than usual (80 degrees), were freely employed.  When the abscess found free vent, the symptoms so much abated, that a little
sleep and the capability of taking some nourishment returned. He
gradually improved, so that by the middle of January, 1841, he
could again walk with two sticks about the house.  Now more
active treatment was resumed; and even the sweating in the blanket twice a week, and the cautious use of the douche. The progress of cure became very favorable. Before the end of summer,
he was able to take exercise and enjoy the mountain air; and appetite and sleep returned favorably.
In April, 1842, he was sufficiently recovered to leave Graefenberg, with the use of the limb quite restored, all contraction being
removed, and the general flesh, strength, and spirits quite regained.  He was the wonder of Graefenberg! I saw this gentleman about 10 weeks ago. He was in good health and spirits, but
felt the necessity of avoiding great fatigue; as in such case he was
reminded, by achings, that his limb, although so happily restored,
could not possess the vigor of one that had never been diseased.
In a review of all the circumstances of this important case, infinite
praise was due to Priessnitz for its management. He had been
indefatigable in his attentions.
SYPHILITIC ERUPTION, HERNIA, SCIATICA, BILIOUSNESS, INDIGESTION, ETC.
A gentleman, aged 27, tall and stout, very muscular, came to
Graefenberg nine months ago, having a cutaneous eruption of a
syphilitic character, a hernia humoralis, enlarged tonsils, sciatica,
11




242         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
and great disposition to general rheumatism, with a bilious countenance, much indigestion, and great nervousness and depression
of spirits. Priessnitz at once told him, that his case would require a long period for the cure. The treatment was at first mild;
but, without unnecessary delay, was made active; he sweated in
the blanket each other day; and, after four months' douching
every day, had two sitz baths every day, lasting an hour, the
water being changed twice or thrice; with also abreibung, leintuch, head baths, and foot baths; for this patient was very liable
to pain and congestion of the head, with great coldness of the
feet. He was exceeded by none in his zeal in drinking water. His
usual quantity was 16 pints daily; and one day he was ambitious
to take four pints more; from which he had all the feeling of having drunk too much wine, attended with a vertigo; and being
alarmed by these symptoms, he returned to and continued his
former quantity without inconvenience.  He had passed the last
winter at Graefenberg, and was in the habit of taking his first
morning walk before the rising of the sun, and in an atmosphere
of from 6 degrees to 10 degrees Fah., much enjoying the sight
of the glorious orb first appearing in the horizon. After breakfast, he used with great satisfaction the icy douche! for 8 minutes;
but when I found him at Graefenberg, the duration was 10, and
twice a day.  He had been there nine months.  He was the picture of health; and described himself as being strong and free
from  all inconvenience.  His muscles were large and firm, and
many remarked that his chest had considerably expanded. In the
general history which he gave me, he stated that, in the first instance, he had been freely treated by mercury and iodine, sometimes with the effect of removing the immediate symptoms; but
they recurred; and at length, feeling much incommoded by the
medicines, and having some addition of complaint, after an interval
he had recourse to the water-cure treatment.  Under it, he had
repeated severe crises of boils, from which he was persuaded that
he had received most material benefit. In this case, the copious
draughts of water certainly appeared highly useful, and particularly to the bladder, the mucous membrane of which had been so
much affected, that in the beginning the urine was passed with
great difficulty, and highly charged with mucus; but it must be
observed that, when using these great libations, he took immense
exercise, often walking 6 or 8 miles before breakfast.




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.               243
INDIGESTION, RHEUMATISM, AND SPITTING OF BLOOD.
A gentleman, aged 40, tall and slight, appearing free from complaint, gave me the following account. When a boy at school in
Germany, he was compelled, with the rest of the boys, to take a
purgative every Saturday morning; and thinks that from this unfortunate and absurd practice he acquired the subsequent necessity, and that an increased one, of resorting to medicine. He was
subject to great depression of spirits, inaptitude to exertion, rheumatic pains, shortness of breath on ascending a hill, and occasional spitting of blood of a scarlet hue. He had tried various medicines, and long persisted with a slight mercurial alterative; but,
he says, without improvement.  He was dependent on lavements
for any action of the bowels. He went to an establishment near
his home, where he was sweated in the blanket every day, had
the plunging bath and other means; but he did not feel equal to
the perseverance in such treatment, and went to Graefenberg,
where he had been nine months when I first saw him, remaining,
however, more from choice than necessity.  His treatment had
been leintuch in the first of the morning, avoiding the perspiring,
followed by the tepid and plunging baths in succession; an occasional abreibung; two sitz baths every day, at first tepid, afterward cold; body-bandage.*  He drank from 10 to 12 glasses of
water. After two months, he used a douche daily. His recovery
was perfect, and he was an excellent specimen of the good effects
of the water-cure. In a few weeks after using it, his digestion
became quite regular.
GOUT.
An Austrian officer, aged 47, tall and robust, had acquired gout
in the ankle and side of the foot at 37, and since in various parts,
never escaping a winter till the last, and having fits of from 6 to 9
weeks' duration.  He had been at Graefenberg 11 months.  On
his first arrival, the limbs were very infirm, the ankles swollen, and
the feet and knees severely affected with chronic pains, giving him
a dread of attempting walking exercise. He had previously been
treated with various medicines, and with calomel very freely. He
began with the use of from  two to four abreibungs daily; then
two leintuchs, followed by the shallow bath; afterward by the
* In future this is to be understood, if not mentioned; the exception to its
use being very rare.




244        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
plunging bath; next, the sweating in the blanket each other day,
until crises formed extensively on the legs, when it was discontinued; and he had also a strong vesicular rash on the body, with
a line of demarcation exact with the bandage.
He experienced immediate and very complete relief to the pains
in the knees and ankles when the boils appeared.  Afterward,
they formed also on the knees, arms, and shoulders.  When the
crisis subsided, he douched twice a day for eight minutes, instead
of using the plunging bath, as he thought it suited him better,
and proved more favorable in producing good crises; for the
chronic pains had returned occasionally, but were invariably relieved by the formation of boils. When I saw him, he was almost
perfectly restored to health. He related that he had derived great
strength to his ankles from the daily use of a cold foot bath, deeper
than usual; that when he did use the blankets, he found the afternoon more favorable than the morning for the producing of perspiration; and this, he thought, especially as he had a quick digestion.  For those who might have a weak and slow digestion,
he considered it, from observations he had made, an unfavorable
time. This gentleman was so well recovered, that he was about
to leave Graefenberg.
GOUT AND RHEUMATISM.
A gentleman, aged 47, robust and plethoric, subject to regular
gout, hereditary, for 10 years, the fits severe and very protracted,
once had a rheumatic fever, and now often suffers from rheumatism, especially in the shoulders and the arms. He related that
he had been regularly treated in his fits with mercurial purgatives
and colchicum, with a sure control over the symptoms, but without lasting benefit; that the last fit, of two months' duration, had
been left more to itself; and one knee had remained so much
swollen, stiff, and painful, that locomotion was extremely difficult.
The usual liniments and lotions being ineffectual, although in combination with the internal use of iodide of potassium, he had recourse to a part of the water-cure treatment, using wet bandage,
covered by dry, constantly to the knee; and every morning, on
first rising, a cold bath. This bold practice was so successful, that
he soon recovered the power of walking. He had tried every kind
of regimen as a preventive-meat without vegetables, and then a
farinaceous diet without meat, total abstinence from wine and beer;




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              245
and yet his prudence was not rewarded by success. Since he had
drank water freely, he had not found any necessity, as far as his
feelings dictated, of being at all mindful in his diet, so perfect was
his digestion, doubtless rendered better by the acquired power,
from the improvement in the limbs, of taking free exercise. There
were chalk-stone deposits in the fingers and elbows.
His treatment was as follows: In the morning, early, sweating
in the blanket, followed by plunging bath; a walk and free drinking of water; at 11 A. M. a douche for five minutes, having begun
with three; on his return from the long walk to and, from the
douche, an abreibung, which much refreshed him; at 5 P. M. two
abreibungs, within half an hour of each other; umschlags to all
the affected parts. I left him making very favorable progress
toward his cure. I should observe, that this patient was not desired to make use of the body-bandage, as he had so regular and
perfect a state of digestion.
HEREDITARY GOUT.
A gentleman, aged 50, of middling bulk and stature, had hereditary gout first 20 years ago, brought on by violent efforts in swimming, to save himself from drowning, on a winter's day; was for
years subject to fits of great severity, and of six or eight weeks'
duration; has chalk-stones in various parts, particularly in the hands
and feet; disappointed by allopathic medicine, of which colchicum
and mercury formed part, he tried homceopathic, with no other result than the longer staying away of the gout; and this benefit he
attributed to the care in diet. The fits were of equal severity when
they did return. For some time he adhered to a diet of fish and
vegetables, and for several years has wholly abstained from wine.,
Five years ago, went to Toplitz and Carlsbad, without benefit, and
afterward to Wiesbaden, going through a full course of treatment
there, still without apparent advantage. He next proceeded to
Franzens-bad, in Bohemia, and tried the mud baths for a month,
sitting in the mud, up to his neck, at 97 degrees Fah., for half an
hour, each other day, with no other good result than curing his
lumbago, which has never returned.  He came to Graefenberg
three years and nine months ago, in a state of such lameness and
continued suffering, that he felt himself fast approaching to a'bedridden state. For the space of two years, with the interruption
only of two months, he made daily use of the sweating blanket,




246        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
with this frequency more by his own desire than the wish of Priessnitz, wishing to force crisis; but he is convinced that it was an error, and that he was weakened. In six weeks, he had boils on the
insteps, which remarkably relieved the chronic pains; and, some
time after, the urine deposited much substance, which appeared to
him like wet chalk. In the beginning of the treatment, Priessnitz
examined him, first at the half bath, then after the plunging, and
told him his complaint would be cured in time, and even encouraged him to expect the recovery of the hands; but I am persuaded
there was too much disorganization of parts to admit of it. In
some of the joints of the fingers there was anchylosis, and here
and there absorption of cartilage. However, much of the chalkstone deposit had been removed by the treatment, and I doubt not
he will obtain further improvement. After five months, he had
an acute attack, which at first he left to itself, but afterward used
rubbings in the shallow tepid bath, with tepid affusions and umschlags; all with much advantage. He remained the whole winter,
but considers that the "winter-cure" did not suit him, the cold
being often severe, from 4 degrees to 10 degrees Fah. for a continuance; but he says that the atmosphere was so clear and still,
with often a full sun, that the cold was agreeable to those who
could take very active exercise. When restored from the fit, he
resumed treatment.  His skin was with difficulty excited to perspiration; and Priessnitz had desired him to use two douches a day,
and even advised three occasionally; but he continued with two,
sometimes using a plunging bath also, and always, twice a week,
after the sweating in the blanket. He quitted Graefenberg for a
time, and returned.  He has used umschlags always, and drank
10 or 12 half-pints of water daily. He related to me that the
gout now very rarely and very slightly affects him, and that he
can walk ten miles with more ease than one formerly. He looked
well.  He had not touched medicine since he had been under the
water-cure treatment, which he extols in the highest terms.
CUTANEOUS ERUPTIONS AND UNIVERSAL PAINS.
A gentleman, aged 49, robust and rather corpulent, after syphilis five years ago, had a fever in Italy, for which he was bled so
freely that his strength was exceedingly reduced. He kept his
bed three months; was bled from the arm fifteen times, and had
leeches, also, very freely applied to different parts. On recover



GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.               247
ing sufficient strength, he went to Graefenberg, then having universal pains of a doubtful character, with much cutaneous eruption; sweated in the blanket every morning for four months; and,
instead of being weakened, gained strength regularly; always the
plunging bath after it. At that time the leintuch was seldom used,
except in fevers.  He douched also occasionally, and drank from
12 to 15 glasses of water daily. He recovered perfectly, and remained well three years.  By many acts of imprudence he lost
his health again; had an inflammatory attack on the chest, for
which he was freely bled, and with relief at the moment; but other
evils followed-lumbago and sciatica, of the most painful description.  Leeches and blisters were applied to the hip repeatedly,
without relief. He consulted the most eminent physicians in Germany; and, by their advice, used leeches, blisters, and mercurial
frictions; in opposition to which the sciatica increased. He went
to a water establishment in his neighborhood, his convenience not
permitting him to travel to Graefenberg. He used, first, a plunging bath, then the vapor bath for one hour, and next the plunging
bath again; but this treatment much disagreed, causing particularly
oppression of the chest. The sciatic pain still increased, and at
length became so intolerable, that the actual cautery was extensively applied to the hip, of which I saw the evidence. He took
mercurial purgatives frequently.
By these means the violence of the disorder was broken; but
he got cold, and had inflammation of the larynx.  After much
interval, it was with great difficulty he could accomplish the journey to Graefenberg, where his anxious thoughts were directed.
At length, he again presented himself to Priessnitz; then having
severe sciatica; pain also of the femoral nerve; indigestion;
haemorrhoidal suffering; hypochondriasm, and general debility.
At first, the treatment consisted of leintuch, shallow tepid baths,
sitz baths, and wet bandages, covered by dry, to the affected parts.
Afterward, he sweated in the blanket, and used the plunging bath,
not finding any disagreement, as he had done with the vapor bath,
etc.  After three or four months, had general crises, but no boils
in the affected limb till eight months had elapsed, when also the
thigh was covered with a scaly rash.  The pains were entirely relieved when the last boils had suppurated freely.  He next used
the douche very regularly; and, when I saw him, did so for eight
minutes every day.  The limb had recovered its size and power;




248         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
he could walk almost any distance without inconvenience. He remarked that, till within the last few weeks, the bad limb had nevei
perspired when the other parts of the body freely yielded to the
influence of the blanket process.
This was a very important case, and one that did infinite credit
to Priessnitz and the water-cure means.  It shows also the necessity of their being used with judgment; for, till he came to Graefenberg, he had been injured rather than assisted.
GREAT NERVOUSNESS.
A military man, aged 32, had used mercury for a long time,
which created great nervousness eventually; and, in a state of
much debility, with wandering pains, he went to Graefenberg. He
began with two leintuchs, a shallow  tepid bath, and sitz bath.
Soon after, a plunging bath was added every other day. But his
zeal led him into error; he would go far beyond his instructions in
every thing. One morning, he drank eight large glasses of water,
instead of the four prescribed, before breakfast; and, omitting the
necessary walking exercise, went into the billiard room. The kidneys had not actively secreted.  His feet became cold, and he was
altogether uneasy.  He went out for a walk, accompanied by a
friend.  He soon fell into incoherent conversation, and was got
home with some difficulty. He did not quite lose consciousness,
but was speechless; made signs for pen and ink, but could not
write.  He had violent headache.  Priessnitz directed a tepid
(62 degrees) foot bath, with free rubbing; sprinkled water on
the face and head; and shortly after were applied three abreibungs in the course of half an hour, and wet bandages to the
head: he was put to bed.  Intense pain of the head ensued, with
some general fever and extreme feebleness of the limbs. Priessnitz, at his next visit, a few hours after, ordered two abreibungs,
with an interval of ten minutes; then a foot bath for an hour, the
water being changed two or three times; next, a leintuch for 20
minutes, followed by the shallow  tepid bath, in which he was
rubbed for half an hour by two attendants, with occasional affusions of cold water over the head.  He now vomited freely, and
this gave relief. The whole treatment was so successful, that, in
another hour, he recovered sense and speech, and lost the pain of
the head.  In a few days, general treatment was resumed, and
continued with great regularity.  He was now always careful to




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.               249
take fiee exercise before and after every process.  Numerous boils
formed chiefly in the upper part of the back, but also in the
thighs, and they suppurated favorably. He was called away sud
denly by military duty, but pursued treatment at home to a certain
extent: and a letter from him to Priessnitz, a short time ago, announced the complete recovery of his health.
URINARY FISTULA, OR OPENING.
A  gentleman, aged 18, slight and rather delicate, received a
severe contusion in the perinceum and neighboring parts by a fall
from a horse; to which was attributed the formation of a fistula,
and one of a complicated nature, attended with much ulceration
and very severe pain and inconvenience. The surgeons wished to
operate, but his father determined on taking him to Graefenberg.
Priessnitz directed an abreibung twice a day, and umschlags to the
affected parts.  In the progressive treatment were used leintuchs,
plunging bath, and douche; and, at the end of a month, he obtained a perfect cure. The healing was complete.
This case cannot fail to interest the surgical reader. The symptoms had been of an urgent character; the bladder and rectum
being affected with very painful irritation; and, at the commencement of the water-cure, the ulcerated parts appeared in a very
unhealthy condition.
HEMIPLEGIA, OR PARALYSIS OF ONE SIDE.
A gentleman, aged 60, had suffered many years from dyspepsia
and general debility of the nervous system, with often universal
pains, which were called both rheumatic and nervous.  He was
seized with hemiplegia; the right side affected. He got better for
a short time, but had a severe relapse: was sent, after a time, to
Toeplitz and Marienbad, but became worse.  The mind and body
were equally prostrate; the digestion was languid; the bowels
wholly inactive without medicine or lavement. In April, 1842, he
went to Graefenberg, in opposition to the advice of his physicians.
Priessnitz prescribed, at first, two abreibungs in the day, and a
head bath for 15 minutes; and, as he became stronger, two leintuchs, omitting one abreibung, together with the shallow tepid
bath.  At the end of three months, boils formed in the head, arm,
and leg, only on the affected side, from which evidently great
benefit resulted. Neither plunging bath nor douche were used in
11*




250        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
this case.  He received his health entirely at the end of seven
months; nervous energy was restored; he had the power to climb
the hills, to write his letters, and again enjoy his spirits in society.
CATALEPSY, OR TRANCE, GENERAL DEBILITY, AND INDIGESTION.
A Russian nobleman, aged 36, had reduced the vigor of his constitution by dissipation; and, on a severely cold day at St. Petersburg, 10 degrees below zero, paid a visit of ceremony insufficiently
clothed.  He had scarcely entered the room when he was seized
with catalepsy, and appeared like a statue! The ladies who were
present were at first amused, thinking that he was acting! but
soon they took the alarm.  He could not speak; but, retaining
his senses, made signs that he wanted water.  He was affused all
over from buckets, soon drank freely, and in less than an hour recovered his power of moving.  But from this day he became an
invalid, suffering especially from pain and nervousness of the head,
with general debility and depression of spirits, also having severe
indigestion.  He was under medical treatment for two years, and
visited Carlsbad, Toeplitz, and other baths in Bohemia, without
any marked benefit; then went to a water establishment near St.
Petersburg.  He used the vapor bath, as being considered preferable to the blanket, and after it the plunging bath for five minutes,
followed by cold water lavement, all without taking exercise to
produce reaction. The treatment was repeated, but so much disagreed that he soon left the establishment. He consulted an eminent physician, who advised another water-cure establishment, but
that he should first go to Kissingen for a few weeks, to improve
the state of the digestive organs.  He followed this advice.  He
thought himself rather injured than benefited by Kissingen.  In
the second trial of the water-cure, the shower bath in a continuous
mass was applied to the head for some minutes, eight days in succession; he also used the plunging bath.  His expression was, that
lie thought he should have gone mad; and, in despair, he quitted
for Graefenberg.  Priessnitz gave him  every encouragement, but
thought mild treatment necessary at first: for two days, one
abreibung and one sitz bath, then two of each; and in this manner for ten days, when he became stronger.  He proceeded gradually to the use of active treatment, but never to the fullest extent:
the douche, once a day, was the strongest part of it. In half a
year, he perfectly recovered, and was again in possession of his




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              251
spirits and the use of his faculties, which had become impaired by
the disorder of his nerves. He said he owed his cure to the superior method of treatment pursued at Graefenberg, and to the
fine mountain air.
SEMINAL WEAKNESS, WITH GREAT NERVOUS DEBILITY.
A superintendent of mines, aged 24, had found his nervous system much deranged by the unwholesome atmosphere in which he
lived; and at length experienced an involuntary discharge of prostatic liquor, and occasionally of seminal secretion from slight exertion, attended with pain in the spine and loins, occasionally severe.
He was in a miserable state of nervous suffering, and went to
Graefenberg.  For a considerable time he could bear only very
mild treatment; yet, after four months, the discharges ceased.
The pain remained, and also his feebleness. He douched and received the water particularly on the spine and loins. Boils and
" dartres" formed near the seat of pain, and immediately gave the
greatest relief. His recovery was complete in eleven months. It
is unquestionable that the crisis in this case was highly advantageous.  The boils suppurated favorably; and the pain, which
had been of long duration, gradually passed away, and has never
returned.
DEBILITY, NERVOUSNESS, AND BALDNESS, FOLLOWING THE USE OF
MERCURY.
A gentleman, aged 33, having used mercury with great freedom, and been careless in exposing himself in unfavorable weather,
fell into a state of great debility and nervousness, and gradually
became almost bald.  He went to Graefenberg in this state, and
was described to look more like a corpse than a living person.
His first treatment was a sitz bath, two leintuchs, followed by a
shallow tepid bath and free drinking of water. Afterward, he
sweated in the blanket, and used the plunging bath every other
day; douching also on most days, but omitting one leintuch, and
not using any on the day of the blanket. He drank water freely,
and took as much exercise on the mountains as his strength would
allow. Soon after his arrival, the few hairs on the head which he
brought with him disappeared, and the baldness was complete.
Boils formed particularly at the nates, and suppurated freely,
when the treatment was reduced to the use of two leintuchs and




252        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
a sitz bath. Soon after, an eruption appeared over the whole
body; first vesicular, and afterward scaly; also more boils.  The
linen was stained with appearances which were supposed to arise
from mercury.  At the end of six months, he gained some color
of the cheeks, and became stronger; but also new shoots of hair
appeared on the head, and which in two months more so increased,
that when I saw him two months later, he had a fine head of hair!
He was pursuing regular treatment, and evidently was quite in a
fair way of recovery.
DOES WATER BRING MERCURY FROM THE SYSTEM?
During my stay at Graefenberg, I heard frequent mention of
the stains of mercury and of iodine appearing in the leintuchs,
either of blue or reddish color; but Priessnitz assured my friend,
Dr. Buxton, that he had seen mercurial globules issue at the ends
of the fingers after a continued course of the water-cure, in patients who had made a great employment of mercury, either internally or externally, or both, notwithstanding that they had desisted from all use of the medicine for even several years! This
appears almost incredible. I cannot doubt the veracity of Priessnitz; and Liebig, with whom I discussed the subject, had no doubt
of such a fact, and offered this explanation: that mercury combines with animal matter, and may remain so combined for an indefinite time; and that the quick change of matter which belongs
to the water-cure treatment would tend to the separation of the
mercury, which might appear in a globular, or other form.
I have witnessed examples of the latent stay of mercury in the
system, and shall cite the following: I prescribed to a poor woman,
afflicted with rheumatism of the wrist joint, threatening anchylosis,
a mercurial ointment, which she rubbed in with only occasional
intervals from January to the end of May. No mercury was taken
internally; none used externally after May. In November following, she was seized with the most violent salivation that can be
imagined.
DEFECTIVE HEARING AND SMELLING, WITH GENERAL DEBILITY.
A gentleman, aged 24, of healthy appearance, when 12 years
old, had a nervous fever, which exceedingly weakened his constitution and rendered him very deaf; from that period, he had been
weak and sickly, and unequal to much exertion. When he arrived




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.              253
at Graefenberg, four months and a half ago, such was his state,
with a bad appetite and almost a loss of smell. His hearing always very defective. Began treatment very gently with abreibung,
leintuch, and sitz bath; to drink water very freely and take abundant exercise. After a fortnight, his appetite and strength were
improved; and treatment was increased to the use of the sweating
blanket, followed by plunging bath twice a week. The douche on
the other days; head bath twice a day; and to sniff water freely
several times in the day.
There ensued a critical diarrhoea several times, after which the
hearing improved.  When this diarrhcea occurs, boils seldom happen also. The sniffing of water was at first disagreeable; but
finding advantage from it, he persevered; and when I last saw
him, his hearing and smell were both recovered. He was strong,
active, and in good spirits.
HIGH FEVER, WITH DELIRIUM.
A young man, aged 21, on his way to Graefenberg, for the
treatment of a rheumatic complaint, found himself unwell at
Vienna, but traveled on, and, when he reached his destination,
was in a high fever, with delirium. Until this was reduced, an
abreibung was kept applied in the quickest succession, so immediately hot did the wet linen become. The delirium quickly subsided. When the fever was much abated, he was put into the
leintuch, and this was followed by the shallow bath. Very soon
a copious small-pox eruption appeared. Leintuchs were continued,
according to the state of the skin. There was no return of fever;
the appetite was natural. In ten days, he was able to walk out
of doors.  He had been vaccinated in his infancy; but, notwithstanding, the pustules were universal and of full size. No pitting
ensued.
It is unquestionable that the water-cure treatment, applied at
the beginning especially, is admirably adapted to the cure of eruptive fevers, small-pox, measles, and scarlatina.
DYSPEPSIA, SLEEPLESSNESS, AND NERVOUSNESS.
An Austrian officer, aged 60, had been very stout and remarkable for the goodness of his appetite; but by degrees he became
dyspeptic, very nervous, and, above all, lost his sleep more and
more by degrees, till at length he was not able to procure more




254        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
than one hour of dozing in the twenty-four, for upward of two
years. He had no regular sleep whatever: opiates would not
succeed, and he was in a most wretched state when he went to
Graefenberg.  Three months passed away without any decided
improvement.  It was in the beginning of spring; the weather
very cold, and he was not strong enough to take much exercise.
Hence a slower improvement.- Treatment: in the first of the
morning a leintuch followed by a shallow tepid bath; an abreibung
twice a day; usually a second leintuch, followed either by an
abreibung or shallow bath. By degrees he improved, gained some
appetite, and sleep returned, at first for an hour only; then more
and more, till, by the middle of summer, he could sleep comfortably for seven hours; and he quitted Graefenberg recovered from
every inconvenience.
RHEUMATIC NEURALGIA.
A gentleman, aged fifty, of the nervous temperament, yet appearing to have good muscular power, had lived many years in the
West Indies, and become enfeebled in constitution by dyspepsia
and complaint of the liver.  On returning to England he contracted rheumatic neuralgia, which principally affected the thighs
and legs. They were morbidly sensitive both to heat and cold,
not being able to bear the heat of the fire even at some distance;
and instant severe pains occurred in going into the cold air. The
skin would not endure flannel. He wore wash leather. His whole
nervous system was so deranged that he could not bear the least
mental application; not even to write a letter. At successive periods he went to the two Wildbads in Germany, last to that in
Gastein, and from both received benefit. The strong douche was
used, and which acted so powerfully on him that he could not
continue it. On his return home, he caught cold, and had a severe return of the pains. He was advised to go to Bath, and to
use the baths of so high a temperature as 106 degrees! Instantly
he found his head congested as if filled with blood; had singing of
the ears, and a general distress. He left the bath quickly; afterward bathed at 102 degrees to 100 degrees, a few times, but
thought himself much injured. On a subsequent occasion, he went
to Buxton, and was much benefited. Hie was highly satisfied both
with the baths and douche.
The water-cure treatment, however, attracted his notice, and he




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                255
went to Graefenberg about a year ago.  He has pursued very
regular treatment, has had several crises, and is materially benefited, but still has some returns of neuralgia. He bears the douche
and the plunging bath, and certainly is greatly improved in nervous energy; and is by no means so sensitive to heat and cold.
For example, he bore the Graefenberg winter, and could, when I
saw him, take exercise in the sun. Priessnitz expected his cure to
be completed in three or four months.
GOUT.
An Austrian field-marshal, eighty-two years of age, had been a
gouty martyr through a long life, and visited Graefenberg four
years ago, when in such a state of infirmity that he could scarcely
put his feet to the ground. Mild treatment was used, but it proved
sufficient to produce boils, which formed near the affected joints.
He gradually improved, and finally threw away his sticks, walking and riding on horseback with almost the activity of former
years.
An old Polish general, nearly eighty years of age, also received
equal benefit from the treatment of his gouty sufferings and infirmity.
MENORRHAGIA, OR EXCESSIVE AND DEBILITATING MENSTRUATION.
A lady, aged forty-three, of full habit, for a long time subject
to menorrhagia to such an extent as to make her feel enfeebled,
had much shortness of breath on exertion, with indigestion and
disturbance of the head. A year ago had paralytic distortion of
the face: this did not last. Had been upward of four months at
Graefenberg.  Treatment: leintuch in the morning early, followed
by the shallow tepid bath.  A sitz bath, at first tepid, afterward
cold, twice a day, for twenty minutes, but not during the catamenia. At that period, the wet bandage around the body was to be
changed every half hour; but at other times, only when it should
become dry.  Such, with moderate drinking of water, was the
principal treatment. Crises (boils) formed on the legs; and the
discharge from them  was considerable and continued.  She obtained a favorable recovery, and the periods became satisfactorily
regular.  When I quitted Graefenberg, she could ascend hills
without difficulty, and was attentive to take regular exercise.




256         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
GREAT DEBILITY AND DEPRESSION OF SPIRITS, FOLLOWING NERVOUS FEVER.
A young lady, aged nineteen, having been strong and healthy,
was reduced to a state of great debility by a severe nervous fever,
and became the subject of intense headache, attended with great
depression of spirits. She went to Graefenberg in October. First
treatment: a leintuch twice a day, one sitz bath, and one head
bath.  Soon after, from  exposure to damp evening air, she had a
short feverish attack, for which eight abreibungs were applied on
the first day, followed by a leintuch.  In less than thirty hours
the fever was quite removed.  Ere long, crises (boils) formed in
different parts, and from that time she scarcely experienced any
headache. She drank water freely, and had umschlags, but never
had stronger means used than I have mentioned; and she perfectly regained her health and strength. When she arrived, she
appeared, as I learnt, pale and very weak. On quitting, after five
months' sojourn, she had a nice color, and was cheerful, strong,
and active.
INSENSIBILITY, FOLLOWING AN IMPROPER BATH.
A  gentleman, aged twenty-three, not appearing delicate, of
middling bulk, was undergoing treatment for deafness. After very
slight preliminary means, he used the sweating blanket in the
morning early.  He was desired to go into the shallow tepid bath
before entering the cold bath; but he was disobedient, and at once
plunged into the latter, on a severely cold day, when the temperature of the water was little more than 40 degrees Fah. On quitting the bath, he fell down insensible. Priessnitz was called to
him, who directed the most free rubbing of the lower extremities
with cold water, and then the shallow tepid bath, with abundant and
universal friction, together with moderate tepid affusion over the
head.  He was quite restored in about an hour.  This example
shows how careful the patient should be to obey instructions, and
not attempt to judge for himself when using the active processes
of the water-cure treatment.
INSENSIBILITY FOLLOWING OVER-DRINKING.
A lady, aged thirty-two, disposed to corpulency, and having a
short neck, drank, on first rising, four pints or more of water, in a




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                257
short space of time, taking only a slow walk in the garden.  She
was suddenly seized with an universal feeling of coldness over the
chest and in the extremities, very quickly followed by insensibility.
Her state appeared very alarming.  Similar treatment to that
mentioned in the last case was adopted, and with eventual success;
but she was not quite restored till the expiration of twenty-four
hours, and for a long time after, she was reminded of the shock
from which she had suffered. This case is sufficient to point out
the infinite importance of taking active exercise when much water
is drunk. Here, the kidneys had not acted. There was a temporary plethora of the vessels; and some effect must be attributed
to the influence of the cold water as a sedative to the nerves of
the stomach and first intestines.
SECONDARY SYPHILIS.  (A HORRIBLE CASE).
A gentleman, aged 34, was attacked, in the year 1828, with
secondary syphilitic symptoms, having had primary disease seven
months before, and which, he said, was very badly treated. He
exposed himself carelessly during the use of mercury.  Afterward measures were used with apparent success, for he got and
remained pretty well for several years. At length, no fresh cause
having existed, a swelling appeared on the forehead, painful, persisting, and resisting all treatment. He went in the summer of
1837 to Aix-la-Chapelle, and used the baths with only slight advantage.  An abscess formed in the forehead, and was opened.
No healing process afterward. He continually grew worse. Twenty months ago he went to Graefenberg; then having three foul ulcers, deep, and each the size of a sixpence, attended with deepseated pains, and often prickings near the surface. He had also a
painful node on the shin of the left leg.  His constitution was
much weakened, and I was told that his appearance then was
alarming, from the signs of exhaustion and distress. He was without appetite, and procured but little sleep.
Priessnitz ordered a leintuch, followed by a shallow bath, morning and afternoon; a sitz bath for half an hour in the middle of
the day; and wet cold water compresses, not covered by dry, to
be applied to the ulcers, and changed ten times a day. Waistbandage; and to drink water as freely as possible.
After three months' treatment, exfoliation of a large portion of
the entire cranium, exposing the dura mater, took place. I am in




258         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
possession of this. When I saw the patient, smaller portions were
in process of coming away. Notwithstanding this, he appeared in
a fair way of recovery, for he was improved in strength sufficiently
to walk two miles; appetite and sleep were good; the granulations were healthy, and the whole complexion of the case was
changed very greatly indeed for the better. It is one that renders
a valuable testimony to the efficacy and simple character of the
water-cure treatment. So much of the dura mater will be eventually exposed, that he will require some ingenious instrument to
be worn for the protection of the brain.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN, WITH DELIRIUM.
A gentleman, between forty and fifty years of age, was suddenly seized with all the symptoms of inflammation of the brain; pain
of the head, with urgent feelings of congestion appearing at the
outset, a hot skin, great excitement, and very quickly strong delirium.  The attack was met by active measures; the rubbing
down in the shallow tepid bath, and small affusions of cold water
for several hours in succession; and when the violent symptoms
were subdued, leintuchs were used, followed by the further use of
shallow bath and affusion. This was the chief treatment, and the
recovery was quite accomplished in two or three days. By ordinary proceedings, it is not improbable that more than as many
weeks might have been required. Both Captain Claridge and Dr.
Wilson relate similar cases to this, treated in the same manner,
and with equal success.
DYSPEPSIA, HEADACHE, AND FULLNESS AT THE HEAD.
A  gentleman, aged 25, was affected from  his earliest youth
with dyspepsia, and attacks of headache from  various exciting
causes, attended with heat of the scalp, flushings of the face, and
a distressing sense of the vessels of the head being too full of
blood.  He had been under treatment several weeks with advantage.  One afternoon, his dinner not digesting well, he took a very
long walk, and, during it, was seized with a strong pain between
the lower ribs, affecting his breath.  It was with great difficulty he could reach home, so urgent did the spasmodic pain become. Priessnitz saw him immediately, and directed the shallow
tepid bath (60 degrees), with abundant rubbing for two or three
minutes, instantly followed by the cold plunging bath (44 degrees),




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.                259
in which he remained longer than usual, in order that the cold
might make more impression on the spasm; but, also, this alternation of tepid and cold process was repeated no less than four times,
till at length his limbs were quite benumbed, and to a degree of
much suffering. The pain of the side was relieved. He was next
exceedingly well rubbed; put to bed, became warm, went into a
sleep; and, after an hour or two, awoke perfectly recovered. I
know that this was a muscular pain connected with indigestion and
intestinal flatulence. I have several times experienced it, and
found it removable by simple means; as quietude in the recumbent posture, warmth, and a carminative in warm water. In this
instance the treatment was out of proportion to the occasion. I
suppose that Priessnitz apprehended internal inflammation. I take
the liberty of thinking that it was an error in diagnosis, the knowledge of which is always so important in the administration of any
kind of treatment. I saw this gentleman immediately after his recovery, and received from him a very minute account.
DEBILITY, SLEEPLESSNESS, DEPRESSION OF SPIRITS, ETC., FROM EXCESSIVE MENTAL APPLICATION.
A lady, aged 30, brought on a state of extreme nervous debility, with impaired digestion, headache, and confusion, with loss
of sleep, depression of spirits, and many other nervous symptoms,
by a course of severe literary application. She had the highest
medical advice in London; but, although relieved in her most
troublesome symptoms, she continued in a state of such great debility, that she could not walk across the room without assistance.
She tried change of air and scene without success; and, as a last
resource, went to a water establishment in England.  An abreibung twice a day, and a sitz bath once, with body-bandage, and
free drinking of water, constituted her treatment. In three weeks,
her amendment was such as to enable her to walk out of doors;
and after a few months, she was strong enough to travel.  She
felt convinced that her nervous debility required further and most
skillful treatment. She arrived at Graefenberg shortly before I
quitted; and she was in good spirits, with the prospect of her perfect recovery.
SCROFULOUS DISEASE OF THE KNEE JOINT.
Miss —, aged five years, a child of nervous temperament, first




260        GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
suffered, four years ago, from a painful inflammation of one knee,
appearing otherwise in good health.  Leeches and evaporating
lotions were applied freely; and afterward repeated blisters. At
a later period, malt and hop baths at 88 degrees Fah. for one
hour at a time, two or three times in a week, in alternation with
warm  salt water.  She had been at Graefenberg about fifteen
months. When she first arrived, she could not put the foot to
the ground, and used crutches with difficulty. The knee was painful in stormy weather. I examined the joint, which was evidently
diseased from scrofula. There was still enlargement; but I was
told by the nurse it was very much reduced in size; and this indeed was manifest from the loose state of the skin. It'was almost
free from tenderness. There was some motion in the joint. She
could walk very nimbly without a stick or any assistance; first
moving on the heel, then on the toe. The limb was shortened and
the tendons of the hams were contracted; but the improvement
was very satisfactory.  She had been delicate and weak: she
was become strong and healthy. The case is so important that I
shall particularize the treatment.
At six A. M. the leintuch for an hour, followed by a shallow bath
at 64 degrees for five minutes; wet bandages to the waist and
around the knee, covered as usual; to go out before breakfast, and
drink three small glasses of water. At nine, the knee was rubbed
for five minutes with the wet hand, and wet applications were
again put on. At 11, repeated, and a sitz bath for 10 minutes.
At one P. M. the local treatment and waist-bandage. At half-past
two, same treatment.  At four P. M. sitz bath for 10 minutes;
temperature at a later period reduced to 60 degrees; the knee
again rubbed with cold water, and a bandage reapplied. At five
P. M. leintuch and shallow bath, which also was reduced in temperature by degrees to 60 degrees.  Local treatment repeated.
Since last June she had douching at 11, and omitted the sitz bath;
but when the weather proved unfavorable, this treatment was
reversed.
SCROFULOUS ENLARGEMENT OF THE KNEE JOINT.
A little boy, aged five years, of calm disposition, when two
years old had a fall, by which the knee was injured. This, like
the last, was a scrofulous enlargement of the knee joint. He was
just arrived at Graefenberg.  The leg was drawn up two inches




GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.               261
from the ground. Priessnitz observed that the tendons were so
contracted and rigid, that a division of them by the surgeon would
become necessary, but he would treat the enlargement of the joint.
The treatment directed was, a leintuch for half an hour three times
a day, followed by shallow tepid bath with local application of
water, and the drinking of water, as in the last case.
Having related, I believe, a sufficient number of cases to display
the powers of the water-cure treatment, I shall only add to their
number by alluding, in a cursory manner, to a few other examples,
the details of which would require more space than I can afford on
the present occasion.
I witnessed two cases of incipient inflammation of the lungs,
with much inflammatory affection of the throat, and of the mucous
membrane of the trachea, promptly and successfully treated by
abreibungs, leintuchs, tepid shallow baths, and umschlags.
In a case of hcemoptysis, it was evident to me that the free
drinking of the water had proved injurious; although in other respects the general treatment had been very useful.  I am convinced that in this disorder the patient should be even painfully
restricted in the quantity of drink. I should prescribe iced water,
in very small quantities at a time, as almost the only beverage;
and the same principle of management I should observe, in any
case of arterial haemorrhage.
SKIN DISEASES.
I witnessed many urgent cases of disease of the skin, various in
their nature.  They were chiefly impetiginous or herpetic. Dartres
is the common name assigned by the foreign patients to most of
the eruptions.
LEPROSY.
One of the worst examples of lepra that I ever saw, presented
itself to me in the case of a gentleman, 23 years of age. It was
universal from  head to foot.  He had been at Graefenberg one
year; and for a long time had been on full treatment, using the
douche every day, and sweating in the blanket three times a week,
with other processes. He considered himself to be very materially
improved; the patches were much less scaly than formerly, and
in various parts the skin had assumed a healthy cicatrized appear



262         GRAEFENBERG CASES OF WATER-CURE.
ance.  Pricssnitz told him that in these cases the water treatment
prospered most during the spring.  He expected to be successful
in the cure. There is no description of cutaneous malady in which,
according to my experience, it is so difficult to be effected. This
patient had formerly taken various mercurial and other alteratives;
had been at Carlsbad; at Gastein, in Tyrol; and at Kreuzenach,
a celebrated place for diseases of the skin.
I believe that the water treatment is more adapted than any
other to the relief or cure of obstinate diseases of the skin.  The
continued frictions, ablutions, perspiring processes, douches, etc.
must have a powerful influence in exciting an entirely new action
of the vessels of the skin; but in any case in which, after a fair
trial, the water means did not seem competent to meet the evil, I
should not hesitate to add the use of some mild alternative. I
saw many cases of scrofula, some of which were materially benefited. In others, it was doubtful whether any improvement had
been effected.
TETANUS AND HYDROPHOBIA.
In the melancholy diseases of tetanus and hydrophobia, I should
consider the employment of the most active of the water-cure processes well deserving a trial. Priessnitz assured me that he had
cured a dog of hydrophobia by incessant douching with the coldest
water.  Many years ago, one of my horses was seized with lockedjaw, and the poor animal appeared to be fast approaching to a
hopeless condition, the farrier having exerted all his skill in vain.
The late Professor Coleman by chance arrived at the time, and
advised repeated affusions of the spine with the coldest water from
buckets. After about an hour, according to my recollection, the
spasms of the jaw, and of the several affected muscles, became relieved.  A complete recovery ensued.  I have thought it not unbecoming to relate these comparative cases.




THE  GRAEFENBERG  TREATMENT  OF DISEASES.                      263
CHAPTER XIV.
THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
General Remarks on Fevers.-Boerhaavels Theory. —Il effects of the Heating, and good
effects of the Cooling modes.-A great Change has been wrought within a few Years.Animals instinctively go to Water in Feverishness from whatever Cause.-Curious cases
of Fever, from Dr. Baynard, one hundred and fifty years ago.-Water the best of all
Remedies ih Fevers and Inflammations of whatever kind.-Water the Invigorator of
Nature.-Remarkable Facts from Howard the Philanthropist.-A singular case of Resuscitation of a Child supposed to be Dead.-Priessnitz's Modes.-Typhus, Jail, and
Ship Fever.-Priessnitz is never known to fail in curing Fevers of whatever kind, if he
commence at first.-Detail of the Treatment of Ship or Typhus Fever.-Advantages of
pure fresh Air.-The great general Principle of treating all Fevers.-Ague and Fever.Prevention always better than Cure. Detail of Treatment in this Disease.-The Cold
Stage.-l'he Hot Stage.-The Sweating Stage.-Object of the Treatment in each Vapor
Bath recommended in the Cold Stage.-Cold Water at the beginning of the Cold Stage.
-Treatment on the "Well Day."-Diet.-Fasting and Water Drinking.-Their probable
Effects.
GENERAL REMARKS ON  FEVERS.
BOERHAAVE, the most learned  physician of his time, held as a
theory, that fever was caused by a lentor (something cold) in the
blood.  This theory-for it was only a theory-caused, for about
two centuries, one of the most erroneous modes of practice that
ever crept among the already multiform and barbarous jargons of
the medical art.  Alas! what erroneous theories and  practices
which the human mind could by any possibility invent, have not
been put forth to torture human nature with! Every one of you
that has arrived at adult age, can well remember how, a few years
since, no fever patients-none with inflammatory disease of whatever kind-could touch a drop of cold water, at the peril of life.
" It will be the very death of you," exclaimed the practitioner.
The anathemas against no poison could not be more imperative than
this against pure cold water in fever. Now and then, however,
there were those who, spite of physicians, nurses, and attendants,
broke over all bounds in their frenzy, and betook themselves to
this best of all remedies. And what was the result? Were these




264    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
patients killed by the dreaded element?  Every one knows the
proper answer to the question.  And now, thanks to Priessnitz,
the temperance reformation, and the light of advancing science,
this horrible practice of which I have been speaking, is consigned
forever, I trust, to be remembered only among the things that
were.
Whenever a general feverishness, from whatever cause, is brought
on in animals, they not only instinctively drink water, but immerse
themselves in it, if it is possible for them to do so. It is said that
in some countries wild pigs become violently convulsed by eating
henbane, and that by going into water and by drinking it, they
recover. And when animals become feverish from mutilations or
mechanical injury, they seek lying upon the damp ground in the
cool air, and even in mud and wet, and go not unfreqiently into
the water.
Rats, all housekeepers know, go at once to water, when they
have swallowed arsenic that had been set for them; and hence,
too, it is well known that water must be kept out of their reach;
otherwise they are very apt to recover from the acute gastritis
caused by the poison. Domestic animals, as cats and dogs, when
poisoned by arsenic that had been set for rats, take at once to
lapping down great quantities of water, and are thus sometimes
apparently saved. I knew a fine old pointer dog in the city of
New York, that, after he had been nearly beaten to death by the
barbarian dog-killers, went for days without food, but lapped often
large quantities of water, and was thus saved.
Dr. Edward Baynard, an able and very amusing writer on water
one hundred and fifty years ago, gave the following cases: "A
Turk (a servant to a gentleman), falling sick of a fever, some one
of the tribe of treacle conners being called in, whether apothecary
or physician, I can't tell, but (according to custom), what between
blister and bolus, they soon made him mad.  A countryman of
his, that came to visit him, seeing him in the broiling condition,
said nothing, but in the night-time, by some confederate help, got
him down to the Thames' side, and soundly ducked him.  The
fellow came home sensible, and went to bed; and the next day he
was perfectly well. This story was attested to by two or three
gentlemen of undoubted integrity and worth; and I doubt it not,
but believe it from the greater probability; for I'll hold ten to one
on the Thames' side against treacle, snake-root, and all that hot




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    265
regimen which inflames and exalts the blood, breaks its globules,
and destroys the man, and then, forsooth, the doctor sneaks away
like a dog that has lost his tail, and cries, it was a pestilential, malignant fever, that nobody could cure; and to show his care of the
remainder, bids them open the windows, air the bed clothes, and
perfume the rooms for fear of infection; and if he be of the right
whining, canting, prick-eared stamp, concludes, as they do at Tyburn, with a mournful ditty, a psalm, or a preservative prayer for
the rest of the family. So exit Prig, with his starched, formal
chops, ebony cane, fringed gloves, etc."
"In the year 1665," says Dr. Baynard, "I very well remember
that it was the talk of the town, that a brewer's servant at Horseleydown, in Southwark, was seized with the plague, and in his delirium ran into a horse-pond, first drank his fill, and then fell fast
asleep with his head upon the pond's brink, where he was found
in the morning. How long he had been in the pond nobody knew,
for it was in the night he went into the water, and had no nurse
then with him; but he recovered to a miracle."
But a more singular case is given by this amusing old author,
as follows: "My worthy and learned friend, Dr. Cole, showed me
an account from an apothecary in Worcestershire, whose name (I
think) was Mr. Mathews; the substance of which was, that a
young man, delirious in small-pox, when his nurse was asleep,
jumped out of bed, ran down stairs, and went into a pond. The
noise awaked the nurse, who followed with an outcry, which outcry raised the posse of the family, who surrounded the pond; but
he parleyed with them, and told them, that if any body came in
he would certainly drown them, and that he would come out when
he saw his own time.  He accordingly did so, and walked up
stairs, and sat (in his wet clothes) upon a chest by the bedside; in
which posture Mr. Mathews found him when he came into the
chamber. Note here, that the apothecary lived three or four miles
distant from the place, and he was in the water and on the chest
during all that time, in his wet clothes, that the messenger was
gone for him. The apothecary asked him how he did?  He answered, pretty well.  He asked him  if he would have a clean
shirt, and go into his bed? He said, by and by he would, which
accordingly he did. When in bed, he asked the apothecary if he
had nothing good in his pocket, for he was a little faintish? He
said that he had a cordial, of which he drank a good draught; so
12




266     THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
went to sleep, waked very well, and in a little time fully recovered.
Now, as Dr. Cole observed very well,' A man,' quoth he,' would
not advise his patients in such a case to go into cold water, though
this man escaped without injury; but it gives good occasion to reflect on the many mischiefs that attend the small-pox in the hot
regimen, since such extravagant and intense cold does so little or
no harm.'"
Water, rightly employed, is as much better than all other substances for curing fevers and inflammatory diseases, of whatever
name or kind, as it is better than all other substances for quenching fire.
Water is nature's great invigorator-the most genial and yet
most powerful of all tonics. There is nothing in all the world beside to compare with it in giving life and energy to the frame. It
has been said poetically of that vast expanse of water, the ocean,
"It is the breath of God condensed on what were otherwise a
cold and barren mass of rock-a breath which has communicated
fertility, and beauty, and life." When struck down with severe
disease, the strength all exhausted, and the individual unable to
move, there is not in all nature beside, any substance, or any combination of substances, that has a tenth part the vivifying and lifegiving power of water.
" I might mention," says Howard, the philanthropist, " as an
evidence of the advantages of baths in prisons, that I have known
instances of persons supposed to be dead of jail fever (typhus
gravior, or malignant typhus), and brought out for burial, who,
on being washed with cold water, have shown signs of life, and
soon after recovered."  And when at the county jail of Hertfordshire, Howard was told of a prisoner who, on being pumped upon
in the yard when in a state of apparent death from jail fever, recovered; and he afterward declared he had known other instances
of a similar kind.  When he was in Turkey, a young man was
shown him in one of the prisons, who had been bastinadoed so severely, that his body was swollen from head to foot in a most
shocking manner.  He desired the people to bathe him in cold
water; and this, with some other simple means, such as a cooling diet, effected his recovery, contrary to the expectations of
his keepers.
A few months since, an account was published in the papers of
a singular case of resuscitation, by means of water, in the state of




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.   267
Wisconsin.  The account was as follows: "Captain Hood, a wellknown citizen of Beetoa, Dame county, had a little child taken
sick, which, after much suffering, and with all the usual indications
of the final struggle with death, received its parents' parting embrace in the presence of other friends.  The glazed eyes of the
little sufferer were closed, and a bandage was applied to support
the under jaw, as is customary. After the lapse of some twenty
or thirty minutes, a woman in attendance, who was aiding in ablution and laying out the corpse, commenced by sprinkling cold
water in its face. Strange to tell, the child opened its eyes, began to recover, and is now in the enjoyment of full health."
During a second visit at the fountain-head of hydropathy, so
called, in the winter of 1847-8, I was at the pains of writing
down, on the spot, the treatment as recommended by Priessnitz
for the principal, I may say all the worst forms of disease to
which human nature is subject. I would here express my obligations to Mr. Priessnitz for the information he has so willingly communicated to me.  If I am successful in persuading others to follow these modes, I shall in some degree have rewarded the great
founder of the new system, his great and all-absorbing object being to benefit his fellow-creatures.
I proceed to speak first of
TYPHUS, JAIL, AND SHIP FEVER.
Those who have been at Graefenberg a sufficient length of time
to enable them to become acquainted with the facts in regard to
the treatment there practiced, know that Priessnitz never loses a
patient in fever of any kind, provided he is applied to in season,
and before the ordinary means have been resorted to, which means
are, for the most part, only destructive in their tendency, helping
the patient the more rapidly toward his grave.
PRIESSNITZ'S DIRECTIONS.
1. Envelop the patient in one or more heavy wet linen sheets,
according to the heat and strength, the sheets not much wrung
out, and to be frequently renewed, as often, at least, as they begin
to grow dry.  There must not be much covering over the sheets.
In severe cases the patient should be kept in the wet sheet the
most of the time until the fever is broken up.  As much fresh air




268    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
as possible is to be admitted into the room. The sheet should
always be doubled, and wet towels applied to such parts as the
arm-pits, between the limbs, and wherever one part comes in contact with another.
2. The cold bath is given three or four times in twenty-four
hours, and even oftener, should there be much heat. If the patient is very weak, the water is used tepid, but never higher than
20 degrees Reaumur (77 degrees Fah.), and this should be diminished from time to time, until it can be borne cold. The bath
should, if possible, be administered to the patient in a reclining posture.  At the same time, the back of the head and neck should
be bathed in water of the same temperature as the general bath,
ending always with the water cold.  The surface of the body
should be rubbed constantly while the patient is being bathed,
and the bath continued until the temperature of the arm-pits is
the same as the rest of the surface.
3. As the patient becomes able to take nourishment, give cold
milk, fruit, and farinaceous food, in small quantities, always cold,
and at intervals of the usual meals.  Great care is necessary in the
food.  Water at all times to be drank according to the dictates
of thirst.
4. Wear the umschlag, or wet girdle, all the time when the patient is not in the wet sheet.
5. Injections, or clysters, of pure water, are to be given, if the
bowels do not act naturally without; the water cold, if the patient
is not very weak, one pint at a time.
The object of the whole treatment is to supply the body amply
with sufficient coolness and moisture, in order to counteract
the tendency of the disease to dry up and consume the natural
juices.
The above are the directions that Priessnitz gave us for publication in English and American papers, with the hope that some
good might thereby be done.  The ship fever, so called, is neither
more nor less than severe typhus fever.  Were he called to such
cases as have been treated a length of time already by other
modes, his directions would, of course, be somewhat different. If
a patient has been all but killed with drugs (a thing often done),
or if the disease has been allowed to go on until the strength is
exhausted, and the patient has become delirious, then the treatment is modified.  But even in such cases, let the surface be




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    269
sponged over with tepid water, as at 85 or 90 degrees Fah., and
see what relief will follow. Get permission of your doctor to do
this.  No one will object, only he will want a little vinegar, or
spirits, and the like, put with it; whereas the pure thing is the
safest and best, for the surface as well as the internal parts. Put
also the great wet fomentation about the body, to act as a soothing poultice.  This no physician will object to either.  Havt. a
mattress for the patient to lie upon-never a feather bed; and use
the hair or straw pillow instead of the heating, debilitating, and in
every respect injurious feather pillow which is in universal use.
There is truth in the old maxim, "keep the head cool."  Instead
of worrying and irritating the delicate internal organs with cathartics, administer daily, if need be, clysters of pure tepid water. I
repeat, no well-informed physician will object to any of these
things.  Get thus what water treatment you can, in the absence
of such practitioners as understand the new mode thoroughly.
Nature and good nursing have cured many; drugs very few.
The advantages of fresh air in fevers is wonderful. I was told
by the learned Dr. M. Barry, of Edinburgh, that during the past
summer, in that city, the hospitals were so filled, that it became
necessary to erect tents in the open air, to accommodate patients
having the ship fever; and it was found the mortality was much
less in these airy, out-door places, than in the more comfortable
hospitals. Could all fever patients be, from the first, kept perfectly clean, have constantly a full supply of cool, fresh air, pure
soft water to drink as the thirst indicates, and be nourished in the
most careful manner, how few would die with fever. But the sad
truth is, as patients are treated nine times in ten, if not ninetynine in the one hundred, we might be led to suppose that men
were putting the old saying into practice-" If any man sin, let
him fall into the hands of the physicians."
"I have just returned home from  a passage in the London
packet ship American Eagle, Captain Chadwick.  There were
nearly two hundred persons on board.  Although a most excellent ship, with a very able and experienced commander, we had a
very long passage.  I had the care of all such as needed medical
advice on board. We had a considerable number of cases of sickness, some of which were incipient ship fever, yet through prudent care, and depending almost wholly upon the hygienic means,
we had not a single death-a thing very uncommon in so long a




270    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
passage, and with so large a number of persons; and there were
but very few days in which we could not have mustered every
soul on deck, had it been necessary to do so.
"In the very midst of the past summer, when ships were losing
patients by the hundred, Capt. Watts, of the ship Emma Watts,
sailed from London to New York, with a large number of passengers, and lost only one little child, a day or two from London, and
which was nearly dead when it was brought on board.  Capt.
Watts had just been cured of the fever in London, by water. He
therefore took the hint, required every passenger to bathe or be
bathed regularly, by means of an apparatus which he had prepared
for the purpose; and thus, with other well-regulated hygienic
means, he accomplished what probably no other ship sailing during
the past season between England and the United States did-not
to lose a single case by ship fever."*
The treatment of fevers of any kind, without regard whatever
to the name, is to be conducted on general principles.  KEEP
DOWN THE FEVER is the great law.  Administer wet sheets, ablutions, water to drink, injections, etc., etc., as often as there is need,
five, ten, or twenty times in the twenty-four hours-AS OFTEN AS
TIHE HEAT rises above the natural standard. It is the incessant
heat that takes away the strength; therefore this should be always
prevented.  Persevere also as many days and nights as may be
necessary.  In the old modes persons often lay many weeks in
fever; in the new mode a few days at most is all that is required,
if the case is taken at the first and managed properly.
AGUE AND FEVER.
In ague and fever, as in all other diseases, it is by far better,
when possible, to prevent rather than cure. It would doubtless be
saying too much to affirm that ague and fever could in all cases
be prevented, as for instance, where the air is so very impure as in
some marshy sections of our country.  But I have known more
cases than one, in which persons have to all appearance warded
off the disease, by observing a very plain and frugal diet, water
drinking, and daily bathing.  No doubt in those parts of the country where intermittents are the most common, many, to say the
least, could by proper management keep entirely free of the
disease.
The Author's Note-Book, 1848.




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.   27\
Priessnitz's treatment for this, as for all other diseases, is very
simple. The directions he gave me were as follows:
1. In the first or cold stage, use the rubbing wet sheet perseveringly until the paroxysm is quelled; or use the hip or sitz bath,
with much rubbing of the abdomen and the whole surface with
the wet hand; or the half bath, long continued, the water being
somewhat tepid, may be had recourse to.
2. In the hot stage, the packing sheet often changed, so as to
reduce sufficiently the abnormal heat, the cold half bath, or affusions of water-in short, the general means of reducing feverishness
from whatever cause.
3. In the sweating stage employ the tepid half bath only. This
may be well enough administered in a common wash-tub, the patient sitting with the feet outside of the vessel.
The tendency of this treatment in the first stage, is to promote
circulation toward the surface, thus relieving the internal organs
of the abdomen, which are always congested, or, in other words,
have too much blood in this stage. It also tends to either mitigate
or wholly prevent the second and third stages.
The treatment in the second stage reduces the fever, and thus
saves the patient's strength. It also mitigates or wholly prevents
the third stage.
In the third stage, the treatment acts to prevent the debilitating
sweats, thus supporting the strength, and thereby giving the individual the best opportunity for speedy recovery.
The vapor bath, properly managed, would no doubt be an excellent means at, or probably better a little previous to, the coming on of the chill.  But there is another method which would
seem to be the opposite of this, and which has done good, as I
have proved by actual experiment, viz., to place the patient in a
cold hip or shallow bath, just before the cold paroxysm is expected.  A good deal of friction should be practiced, to cause circulation toward the surface.  The chill arising from cold water is
a different thing from the chill of the disease. The one strong impression takes the place of the other apparently, and with good
effect. I spoke to Priessnitz of this mode which I had adopted;
he thought favorably of it, and pronounced it good.  But in order
to determine precisely what mode would prove generally best in
ague and fever, a large number of cases should be subjected to the




272    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
treatment; more, probably, than any one has yet had either in this
country or the old.
Priessnitz recommends that on the "well day" of ague and
fever, the patient should have a wet sheet packing early in the
morning, and a cold bath; one or two hip baths during the forenoon, and the wet sheet and plunge again in the afternoon; the
wet girdle to be worn all of the time. A wet sheet, three double,
worn about the trunk of the body during the night would be well
in most cases. The diet should be of the simplest possible kinds,
and spare in quantity.
Vomiting by means of warm water at the beginning of the chill,
or indeed at any time during the paroxysm, would I think be an
excellent means; certainly it would in all cases where the stomach
is foul, and I think it is hardly possible to have any thing but a
foul stomach in this disease.
Perfect and entire fasting from all food and drink except pure
soft water, for two, three, and even five or six days, if necessary,
with a moderate amount of bathing, would probably be one of the
very best modes of treating ague-perhaps the best mode.




THE  GRAEFENBERG  TREATMENT  OF DISEASES.    273
CHAPTER XV.
THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES-(CONTINUED.)
Priessnitz's Views of Small Pox. -Vaccination.-This often fails of its Object.-It is often
very Injurious to the Constitution.-Priessnitz's mode of treating the Small-Pox.-Fresh
Air and Diet.-Malignant Small-Pox.-A Case at Graefenberg.-Thirty-six Cases at Sea
cured by Captain Johnston.-Testimony of Dr. Hahn in 1738.-John Hancock, D. D.,
1700.-Dr. Baynard, 1706.-Dr. Currie, 1797.-Scarlatina, or Scarlet Fever.-Remarkable success of Dr. Corson, of Pennsylvania.-General Remarks on the Treatment of
this Disease.-Dr. Elliotson quoted.-Dr. Burns.-Dr. Dewees.-Dr. Currie.-Measles.
-Remarkable success of the Water Treatment.-Priessnitz's Mode.-A Case.-Cases
from the Water-Cure Journal.-Skin Diseases generally.
THE SMALL-POX.  (WRITTEN AT GRAEFENBERG.)
PRIESSNITZ himself had the small-pox, and his face is quite badly
marked, showing the effects of the disease. This happened before
he understood the water treatment. Could he have been subjected
to the benign influences of the new mode, he says he would not
have been disfigured by the disease. Having thus experienced in
his own person the effects of the terrible malady, and carrying its
mark as he must to the grave, it is to be presumed  that he has
thought seriously concerning the modes of its prevention and cure.
What, then, in the first place, are his views of the advantages and
disadvantages of vaccination?
Will it be credited that Priessnitz objects strongly to this farfamed prophylactic means?   "Introducing  poison into the system," says he, "is not good.  Vaccination  sometimes kills the
child, often does serious harm  to the system, and always, even in
the most favorable cases, renders the system  much more liable to
take on diseases of other kinds. It moreover fails to prevent the
disease.  It is better, even in large cities, to rear children as healthfully as may be by a judicious regulation of the diet, by bathing,
exercise in the open air, and cleanliness, and then run the risk of
their having the disease, than to vaccinate.  If children are thus
managed, the disease, should it be contracted, will be comparatively
a trifling matter-easy to cure by the water treatment, and that
12*




274    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
without leaving any marks. I object decidedly to vaccination."
These are Priessnitz's views as he gave them to me, both at this
and my former visit to Graefenberg.  I myself have had some experience in treating the small-pox, and I may say my success has
been very satisfactory-in truth, wonderful, compared with that of
the ordinary modes.  Those who desire, can refer to a part of my
experience, published in the Water-Cure Manual, page 183.
PRIESSNITZ S TREATMENT OF THE SMALL-POX.
This is as follows: In the early stages of the disease, treat the
fever according to the general principles for feverishness of any
kind; apply the wet sheet one, two, four, six, or more times in the
day, as the symptoms may demand, with plunge baths, half baths,
or the rubbing sheet, accordingly as the patient may have strength
to endure them.  A good treatment, I will remark, and one that
Priessnitz would follow in ordinary cases during the more feverish
stages of the disease, is, morning, noon, and evening to give two
wet sheets, one immediately following the other, with light covering, so as to communicate a good degree of coolness to the system, each sheet to continue only for ten to fifteen minutes, and the
bath, according to the patient's strength, following. The tepid
half bath at 70 degrees F. would be a mild means for a very feeble
person, or an ablution by means of the rubbing wet sheet, the person remaining in a reclining position if very weak. But this seldom  happens in the earlier stages of the disease.  If the fever
should run very high, many sheets might, and indeed should be
applied in the twenty-four hours, the patient remaining in them,
as in cases of bad typhus, most of the time. But in all these cases,
care must be taken that the patient does not become too warm in
the sheet. Better not apply it at all. Manage to keep down the
feverishness, and the acrimony and severity of the disease will-be
greatly mitigated. The wet girdle is also to be used constantly
when the patient is not in the wet sheet.  Water drinking, of the
purest and softest cold water that can be obtained, is to be encouraged, and at all times practiced as freely as the patient desires.
The diet must be cooling and very spare.  In severe cases, it is
better when the fever is the worst, to pass two, three, or even
more days, without any nourishment whatever.
I will remark, also, that there is no need at any time of going
to excess in chilling the system. Do not cause prostration by the




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    275
cold. The sheets and ablutions should revive and refresh the body.
This is the normal effect of cold when judiciously applied. But
if the cooling treatment be carried too far (which is very rarely
the case), depression and prostration would be the result. This
would follow immediately, and the cause is easily traced.  The
exercise of a little common sense will guide us in all this matter.
I will mention, that patients often dread the cold, and feel a reluctance to enter the baths, when they find on entering them they
are refreshed and invigorated.  It must be remembered, therefore, that the feelings are not always the true guide.
We should not forget that in this, as in all febrile diseases, that
a supply of air, as free and fresh as possible, should at all times,
both by night and day, be admitted into the patient's apartment.
In the summer time, Priessnitz has had patients in fever taken out
to remain all day in the open air and shade.
TREATMENT AFTER THE PUSTULES HAVE COME OUT.
After the pustules have come out well, there is no need of so
much of the cooling treatment as before. But the sheets should
be yet freely used, so also the baths, to moisten and soften the
skin, and by the diluting effect of the water (for water is absorbed
by the skin), to render less acrid the corrupt matter of the disease.
Thus will the marks be much modified, or wholly prevented.
In cases of a malignant character, in which the disease is confluent, the sores running together, so that the whole surface becomes
as it were one complete sore or scab, it is a serious matter to the
patient; and the practitioner, if he have any conscience, will be
solicitous as to what is the best mode of treatment in that stage
of the disease. The face, neck, and head, are so swollen that the
nearest friends cannot possibly distinguish the features. That, of
itself, is a terrible thing. Then, as the scabs come off, the horrible
smarting that takes place, because of the contact of the air-how
can this be prevented? I confess, I do not know. Oil, or some
unctuous substance, has been the means used by some to shield
the part from the air. But this Priessnitz objects to, on the ground
that the natural diminution of morbid matter is thus hindered; the
same being necessarily, in consequence thereof, thrown inward, or
retained in the system.  I have had cases in which we used wet
cloths much over parts of the body, and in which it seemed as if
it would have been impossible to have used the entire wet sheet,




276    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
so great was the soreness over the whole surface of the system.
But Priessnitz says, "Persevere: it is difficult at first, but you will
find the entire wet sheet the best." I cannot think of such cases
of small-pox as I have witnessed, without experiencing a sense of
most painful dread for years after they have happened, and I could
desire most earnestly that no human being should ever be attacked
with so dreadful a malady as the malignant, confluent small-pox.
CASES OF THE SMALL-POX.
Priessnitz has often treated cases of this disease. I have not
heard of his losing any. Many of these cases have been among
the poor and peasants of these mountain parts; and be it said, to
his everlasting praise, he always attends such cases as faithfully as
if they were among the most noble and rich, and that without fee
or charge.  Noble generosity, of a most humane and noble heart!
My bathman (at Graefenberg) tells me, that some three years ago
he had the small-pox severely, and that Priessnitz cured him thus:
"two wet sheets, in succession, and bath in the morning; the
same at noon; also at night; wearing, and often wetting, the bodygirdle, with all the drinking he desired. Then, the most days, he
took no food of any kind."  In two weeks he was quite over the
disease, and in three weeks was about his business as usual. He
had the disease badly.  Those people about Graefenberg who
have the means, do not live near as plainly as they should, and
are accustomed to greatly overheated rooms. Hence their diseases
are often of a violent character.
The good effects of the water-cure, as well as the apparent
disregard of danger from acute disease at Graefenberg, may be
seen from the following case, related by Mr. H. C. Wright:
" While at Graefenberg, we had a case of malignant small-pox,
and the patient lay in the main building, near the passage, through
which we all passed to and from our meals three times a day.
The bathman who attended him attended other guests, and we
visited him without fear, each knowing that if we should take the
infection, the disease was entirely under the control of the watercure. The patient was confined to his room fourteen days, covered
with the pustules from head to foot. I saw him while in this state,
and a more loathsome object I never beheld. When he recovered
sufficiently to leave his room, he mixed freely with the other guests,
and, in about three weeks, almost every trace of the disease had




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    277
passed from his face. Wet sheets and tepid and cold baths were
the only remedies employed, and a constant supply of pure cold
air was admitted, by day and night, through the open windows of
the chamber.  The woman who washed the wet sheets and bandages used by this patient, took the disease, but it was soon conquered by the cold water remedies."
Captain Johnston, the able commander of the steam-ship Washington, informed the author, that a few years since, in a passage
between Havre and New York, thirty-six of his passengers in the
steerage were attacked with small-pox, all having it at the same
time. Being well aware of the good effects of the cooling treatment, he had the sick persons placed in as cool a part of the ship
as possible; extra wind-sails were arranged to give a free supply
of fresh air; they were allowed to take, as freely as they desired,
of cooling drinks; were kept as cleanly as possible, and very
sparing nourishment only was allowed during the disease.  No
medicine was used, and in a few days every one of these persons
recovered. This is a striking example of the beneficial effects of
the cooling treatment in that terrible disease, and nothing but the
best and most judicious management, amid the disadvantages of a
medical treatment in the steerage of a ship at sea, could be the
means of bringing about such a salutary result.
Dr. John Sigmund Hahn, of Schweidnitz, Silesia, Germany, in
1738, remarked, that "it (water) is equally beneficial in measles
and other rashes. Scarcely any one of them died; and in smallpox not one fourth of the number die that usually perish under
the hot regimen. Of 156 small-pox patients which a neighboring
physician had treated in this way, only eight died, although the
disease raged at the time in a virulent manner.  In 1737, during
the prevalence of a malignant epidemic, accompanied with petecchiae,
very few died who were submitted to this treatment, although they
were washed until they became very cool, even during the continued and debilitating sweats."
Elsewhere this author observes: "In exanthematous diseases, as
small-pox, measles, scarlet fever, and other rashes, we may freely
wash with cold water from first to last, during the whole course
of the disease, in order to prevent the fever from becoming too violent. The skin is thus rendered more soft, so that the acrid matter
can the more easily pass through it. In small-pox, the corrosive
quality of this acrid matter, so that it does not eat into the skin, leaves




278    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
no scars behind; and very few patients who have been treated
this way have been marked by the disease. The Africans wash all
their small-pox patients.  A  captain having a cargo of slaves
among whom this disease made its appearance, treated them after
the European mode, putting the patients between two mattresses,
and otherwise heaping bed-clothes upon them, with the view of
bringing out the disease. In great distress, they cried and begged
to be allowed to treat themselves according to their own method;
upon which the other slaves tied ropes around the bodies of the
sick, and dipped them frequently during the day into the sea, drying them afterward in the sun, and in this manner they were cured,
and scarcely one died."
Dr. Baynard, in 1706, gave the following cases: "Dr. Yarborough told me that his kinsman, Sir Thomas Yarborough, sent
him a letter from Rome, wherein he gave him an account of a
footman of his, who, when delirious in the small-pox, got from his
bed, and in his shirt ran into a grotto of a cardinal's, where there
was water, in which he plunged himself, but was presently got
out.  The small-pox seemed to be sunk and struck in, but upon
his going to bed, they came out very kindly, and he safely recovered.
" But my worthy and learned friend Dr. Cole, showed me an
account from an apothecary in Worcestershire, whose name, I
think, was Mr. Mathews, the substance of which was, that a young
man, delirious in the small-pox, when his nurse was absent jumped
out of bed, ran down stairs, and went into a pond of water. The
noise awaked the nurse, who followed with an outcry, which outcry raised the posse of the family, who surrounded the pond; but
he parleyed with them, and told them that if any body came in he
would certainly drown them, and that he would come out when
he saw his own time; and accordingly did so, and walked up
stairs, and sat (in his wet shirt) upon a chest by the bed-side, in
which posture Mr. Mathews found him when he came into the
chamber. Note here, that the apothecary lived three or four miles
from the place, and that he was in the water and on the chest all
the while, in his wet shirt, that the messenger was gone for him.
This apothecary, Mr. Mathews (for so I take his name), asked him
how he did. He answered, pretty well.  He asked him  if he
would have a clean shirt and go into bed. He said by-and-by he
would, which he accordingly did. When in bed, he asked the




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    279
apothecary if he had nothing good in his pocket, for he was a little
faintish. He said he had a cordial, of which the patient drank a
good draught, so went to sleep, and awaked very well, and in a
little time recovered. Now, as Dr. Cole observed very well-' A man,' quoth he,' would not advise his patients in such a case to
go into cold water, though this man escaped without injury; but
it gives a good occasion to reflect on the many mischiefs that attend the small-pox in the hot regimen, since such extravagant and
intense cold does so little or no harm.'
" Dr. Dover, of Bristol, told me of a vintner's drawer in Oxford,
that, in the small-pox, went into a great tub of water, and there sat
at least two hours, and yet the fellow recovered and did well.
"A gentleman, delirious in the small-pox, ran in his shirt in the
snow, and knocked them up in the house when he went, they being
all in bed; the small-pox sunk, and yet by the benefit of a looseness, he recovered.
"I remember about two years since a learned gentleman, a
divine, told me that in the country where he was benefited, in a
small town not far from him, many died of a malignant small-pox.
A certain boy, a farmer's son, was seized with a pain in his head
and back, vomited, was feverish, etc., and had all the symptoms
of the small-pox.  This youth had promised some of his comrades to go a-swimming with them that day, which, notwithstanding his illness, he was resolved to go, and did so, but never heard
more of his small-pox. Within three or four days the father was
seized just as the son had been, and he was resolved to take Jack's
remedy.  His wife dissuaded him  from  it, but he was resolved
upon it, and did immerge in cold water, and was after it very well.
The worthy gentleman who told me this story, promised to give
me it in writing, with the persons' names and place, but I neglecting it, he went out of town in two or three days, so I lost the opportunity of being better informed.*
* It would not probably be safe to infer that in these cases the eruption
of the small-pox was actually prevented by the immersion in cold water.
Yet such might have been the case. Such treatment in the very beginning
of a disease, sometimes has a most wonderful effect, as was proved by Dr.
Currie in his fever cases. I have known a number of persons who had all
been daily exposed to the small-pox, to have, in due time, all the premonitory symptoms of the disease, and yet pass free from the eruption. These
persons every one bathed often, and lived nearly fasting while the symptoms
were upon them. But in a still larger number of cases where persons have




280     THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
" Mr. Lambert, brother to my worthy friend, Mr. Edmund Lambert, of Boyton, in the county of Wilts, told me that when he was
at school in Dorsetshire, at least thirty or more of the boys, one
after another, fell sick of the small-pox, and that the nurse gave
them nothing but milk and apples in the whole of the course of
the disease, and they all recovered.  There was but one dissenting
boy from that method, who by command went another course, and
he had like to have died; nay, with very great difficulty they saved
his life. And since, another gentleman told me that himself and
divers others were cured by the milk and apples, and buttered
apples, in the worst sort of small-pox."*
OF THE USE OF THE AFFUSION OF COLD AND TEPID WATER IN
SMALL-POX, WITH CASES.
Dr. Currie, in 1797, gives the following cases: "The singular
degree of success that on the whole attended the affusion of cold
water in typhus, encouraged a trial of this remedy in some other
febrile diseases. Of these, the small-pox seemed more particularly to invite its use. The great advantage that is experienced in
this disease by the admission of cool air, seemed to point out the
external use of cold water, which being a more powerful application, might be more particularly adapted to the more malignant
forms of small-pox.  The result corresponded entirely with my
expectation.   Of a number of cases in which I witnessed the
happy effects of the affusion of cold water, I shall give the following only:
CASE I.
"In the autumn of 1794, J. J., an American gentleman, in the
24th year of his age, and immediately on his landing in Liverpool,
was inoculated under my care, the prevalence of the small-pox
practiced the same prevention, the disease has come out, but usually in a
very mild form.                                              J. S.
*Apples are a very watery, cooling regimen. The old-fashioned mode of
giving scraped apple tarts, as one of the first things of nutriment, I have always practiced.  Milk, although composed mostly of water, must be given
cautiously in inflammatory diseases. As for the butter mentioned by Dr.
Baynard, it were better avoided, although the article used fresh, as it generally is in the old country, is a very different thing from that so much impreg
nated with salt, as is generally used in this country. Salt is very heating and
inflaming in its nature.                                     J. S.




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.   281
rendering it imprudent to wait till the usual preparations could be
gone through, or indeed till he should *cover from the fatigues
of the voyage.  He sickened on the seventh day, and the eruptive
fever was very considerable.  He had a rapid and feeble pulse, a
feetid breath, with pain in the head, back, and loins. His heat
rose in a few hours to 107 degrees, and his pulse beat 119 times
in the minute.  I encouraged him to drink largely of cold water
and lemonade, and threw three gallons of cold brine over him.
He was in a high degree refreshed by it.  The eruptive fever
abated in every respect-an incipient delirium subsided, the pulse
became slower, the heat was reduced, and tranquil sleep followed.
In the course of twenty-four hours the affusion was repeated three
or four different times at his own desire, a general direction having
been given him to call for it as often as the symptoms of fever returned. The eruptions, though more numerous than is usual from
inoculation, were of a favorable kind. There was little or no secondary fever, and he recovered rapidly.
"In situations where the eruptive fever of small-pox is clearly
distinguishable, and where it does not abate sufficiently on the admission of cold air, the affusion of cold water may be resorted to
with confidence and safety, regulated however in this application,
as in every other, by the actual state of the patient's heat, and of
his sensation of heat. In the confluent small-pox, however, after
the eruption is completely formed, this remedy cannot perhaps be
used with advantage.  The following case will illustrate this position.
" H. A., aged 23, an American mariner, fell under my care (Dec. 7)
on the third day of the eruption of the small-pox; that is, on the
sixth day of the disease. His pulse 114, and feeble, his heat 109
degrees.  His head, back, and loins, ached severely-thirst great
-skin livid-small-pox confluent.
"He was put on a milk diet; gentle mercurial purgatives were
ordered from time to time, and an opiate every night at bed-time.
Lemonade was given largely at first by itself, and afterward mixed
with wine, and the affusion of cold water was directed in the usual
way.  In ten minutes after the affusion, the pulse was 96, the
heat 98 degrees; the livor of the skin was much diminished, but
the pains were not relieved.
" Dec. 8.-Noon.-Pulse 96, soft and regular-thirst gone-respiration slow and natural-heat 97 degrees.  The affusion was or



282    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
dered to be repeated; ten minutes after, pulse 84, and feebleheat 84 degrees.
"Dec. 9.-Noon.-Pulse 88, heat 93 degrees-the cold affusion
was not repeated in this very reduced state of heat; the decoction
of bark was ordered, and a pint of wine daily in lemonade.
"Dec. 10.-Noon.-Pulse 116, and full-heat 98 degrees-respiration still easy-expectoration considerable, and viscid-thirst
less-eyes quite closed-head swelled-a complete union of the
pustules on the face. Bark and wine continued, with the opiate
at night.
"  Dec. 12.-Pulse 118-heat 96 degrees.  A bucket full of water
of the temperature of 92 degrees was poured over him.  He appeared refreshed at the moment; ten minutes after, pulse 112,
heat 94 degrees.  Complained of being chilly.  Respiration still
easy-free of pains, and his face less swelled. Complained of his
throat. A blister was applied to it all round.
" Dec. 13.-Noon.-Pulse 118-heat 96 degrees-respiration still
free, but his throat very sore. Medicines were continued, but the
affusion of tepid water was not repeated.
"Dec. 14.-Noon.-Pulse 138-heat 100 degrees-respiration
had now become laborious, and the expuition difficult. The throat
was much swelled.  He was frequently sponged with tepid water,
and the medicines continued.
"Dec. 15.-Noon.-Unfavorable symptoms increased.
"Dec. 16.-Noon.-Vomiting came on, which was relieved by
opium. His senses and his intellect remained acute till within an
hour of his death, which happened at eight o'clock in the evening
of this day.
"If this case be more detailed than seems necessary, let this be
excused, as it is the first in which the actual heat in confluent
small-pox has been recorded. It is here given accurately from the
period when the disease came under my care.
" In regard to the effects of the cold affusion, it may be observed,
that this remedy was not used during the eruptive fever, nor till
three days after the eruption had appeared, and the character of
the disease was decided. In the stage in which it was employed,
the fever and the heat were abating, as is usual after the eruption;
and in all cases in which the heat is sinking, the application of cold
must be made with great caution, as has already been mentioned.
After the second affusion (on the 8th) the heat sunk below its




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    283
natural standard, and continued below it for some time; so that
this remedy became inadmissible.  The disease went through its
usual course. The tepid affusion on the eighth day of the eruption
(Dec. 12) was used in part to wash off variolous matter, and in
part to produce refreshment.  The heat which was before 96 degrees sunk two degrees, so that it could not with safety be continued, for experience has proved, that the tepid affusion is a powerful means of diminishing heat. The heat rose again with the
secondary fever, and the patient died of the affection of the throat,
as I believe is general in the confluent small-pox.* It will be at
once perceived, on the principles already laid down, that in a disease like this, the affusion of cold water could only be essentially
useful during the eruptive fever.  It is during the eruptive fever
that the quantity of the assimilation is determined, as well as its
kind. This is, I believe, invariably found to bear an exact proportion to the eruptive fever, and whether we consider the eruptive
fever as the cause or effect of the assimilation, there is every reason to expect from the laws of the living system, that the diminution of this fever will diminish the quantity, and meliorate the
quality of the variolous eruption.
In the case just related, the heat during the eruptive fever
(judging from trials in similar situations) had risen to 106 degrees
or 107 degrees;t but it had sunk to 100 degrees before the cold
affusion was employed.  It may easily be conceived that this
remedy could have been employed to a much greater extent, and
that its effects would have been far more salutary, if it had been
used throughout the previous fever.  That it would have essentially altered the character of the disease, I presume not to assert.
This, however, I can declare, that in all the cases in which I have
used the affusion of cold water during the eruptive fever, however
severe the symptoms may have been, these symptoms instantly
abated, and the disease assumed a benignant form.  The case of
Mr. Johnston (Case I.), already given, will illustrate this observation; and six or seven others I might adduce to the same purpose.
As yet my experience extends no further.
* See Zoonomia, vol. ii., page 237.
t 1803. I now believe that the heat does not rise so high in any stage of
confluent small-pox. See the Additional Reports.




284    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
SCARLATINA, OR SCARLET FEVER.*
The following letter of Dr. Hiram  Corson, of Conshohocton,
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is published by Dr. J. Forsyth Meigs, of Philadelphia, in "A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Children," under date 1848.  The facts given by Dr.
Corson are presented in a clear and lucid manner, and illustrate
well the remarkable power of water in this formidable disease.
He speaks as follows:
"Scarlet fever is a disease that has prevailed very much in our
region during the last seventeen years, and has caused me much
thought and anxiety. It will give me much pleasure to make you
acquainted with the results of a plan of treatment, which I owe
mainly to Dr. Samuel Jackson, formerly of Northumberland, now
of your city, who first put me in the way of treating the disease
successfully. In 1832, I treated the disease, which, however, was
not malignant, very successfully, with iced drinks, moderate purges, and slight irritation externally upon the throat, and thought
the practice peculiar to myself, but afterward saw, in the May and
August numbers of the American Journal of Medical Sciences, the
communications of Dr. Jackson.  Encouraged by these, I prepared to try the cold externally; when a most unfortunate trial
by a neighboring physician, so alarmed the people about the application of cold, that I could not prevail upon them to suffer the
trial.  From 1838 until within the last two years, we have annually had the scarlet fever for some months, and my treatment,
with the exception of iced drinks sometimes, and cold to the head
occasionally, was like that in general use, until August, 1844. At
that time I was called to a child eight months old, that had been
sick two days. There was great swelling of the glands both sides
of the neck, hot skin, frequent pulse, but no eruption; slight discharge from the nose; the glands not easily seen upon the inside,
but the drinks came back through the nose sometimes, and it
could not take more than one draw at the breast without dropping the nipple, because of the obstruction of the nostrils impeding respiration when the mouth was closed. I stated candidly to
the mother that I had never saved a child in that condition, and
of that age, by the old treatment, and recommended ice internally
* Published in the Water-Cure Journal of March, 1849.  Fowlers &
Wells, New York. Joel Shew, M. D., editor.




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    285
and externally, cold water to the head, and no medicine.  I could
urge nothing on the score of experience, but she agreed.  Lumps
of ice were folded in linen cloths, and held night and day upon
the two sides of the throat; while a small thin piece, inclosed in
white gauze, was held in the mouth.  In less than three hours
improvement was manifest in the ability to swallow. The swelling
of the glands, the heat, and the frequency of the pulse all regularly diminished; and in two days the child could nurse well, and
was out of danger.
"lThe next severe case occurred in about two weeks.  It was
one of the most intense scarlet eruption, with tumefaction and
ulceration of the tonsils, vomiting, coryza (running at the eyes),
great frequency of the pulse, excessive restlessness, and swelling
of the external glands.  The heat was intense: there was heaviness amounting to stupor.  My treatment was a kind of half-andhalf; emetics, purgatives, cold externally and internally.  But
half satisfied with myself, my course was vacillating and inefficient,
and I at length called in a friend, who turned the scale in favor of
irritating gargles, and our patient died.  I was mortified and provoked, and determined to act out my convictions at the next opportunity. A few days after I was called to two boys, of five and
seven years of age, who had been blistered upon the throat, legs,
and arms, and had had hot drinks, calomel purges, etc., and who
were discharging copiously from the nose, and were almost dead.
Their countenances were sunken, the throats gangrenous, pulse
above 150; their appearance was that of persons in typhus fever. I
expressed my fears of the blisters, predicting that they would all be
gangrenous in twenty-four hours, and that they would be likely to
destroy the patients. I had cloths dipped in iced water wrapped
round the neck, ice was put in the mouth, and cold water upon
the heads, which were much affected.  The throats were filled
with ropy mucus, which was expelled through the mouth and nose
during the coughing which attended efforts to vomit.  The palate
was literally destroyed by gangrene.  A few hours produced no
amendment.  The blisters mortified extensively, and though both
children recovered from the disease, one died two weeks afterward
fiom the sloughing of the throat and neck from the blisters.
"I now treated all that occurred with cold externally and internally, moving the bowels with cream of tartar and jalap. The
cases were seen early, and easily subdued; and it seemed to me




286    THE GRALFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
as though the remedy was very efficient, or that my patients had
a mild disease.  That the latter was not the case, however, I
thought probable from the fact, that in my region many cases differently treated died; while in Norristown, only four miles distant,
children from one to twelve years or more were swept off, after
an illness of only two or three days, the deaths being evidently
produced by disease of the brain.
"On the 16th of July, 1845, I was called to see a little girl,
four years and nine months old. She had been sick a day or two.
The case began with vomiting.  The eruption had been out from
morning till 6 P. M.; sickness the most intense all over that I had
ever seen: pulse as rapid as it could be, to be counted. The mother had been alarmed during the last few hours, in consequence
of delirium and jerking, which she feared was the prelude to convulsions. There was tumefaction (hardening) of the sub-maxillary
ganglions; tongue furred with projecting red points, breath hot
and offensive.  When she found some one holding her wrist, she
started from her dozing state, and being somewhat afraid of the'doctor,' went off immediately into one of the most terrific convulsions that I ever saw. It lasted, in spite of ice to the head, or
rather iced water constantly poured upon it, almost half an hour.
I stayed with her, had her undressed, and placed two nieces of
mine (her mother being one) by her side. A large tub of water,
with cakes of ice, at least a peck, floating in it, was brought into
the room, and during the whole night, these two persons bathed
her from head to foot with the water from the tub, applying it by
means of large sponges. It was to me a most painful case (independent of the convulsions), but in order to be certain that I had
a case fit for the trial of the ice, I had my brother (a physician
practicing at Norristown, where the disease was very fatal) brought
at 10 P.M. to see the case, and say whether it was the same as
those that had for a few weeks been carrying off some of the
finest children of Norristown, and carrying terror into every family.
He assured me that it was one of the most violent character, and
that she would in all probability not live till morning. She was
at this time free from convulsions, but in a muttering delirium.
As I had perfect control in the case, I assured him that she should
live, if I could quench the fire that was burning out her vitals,
by the use of ice. Not a moment did the attendants whom I had
placed bv her intermit their labors. Before midnight reason had




THE CRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.   287
returned, and her mother said she was more herself than she had
been during the whole day. I had gone away, but returned at
sunrise, and found her cooled off perfectly. There was scarcely the
least appearance of eruption, the skin was cool, the head cool, the
intellect clear, and the pulse moderate in frequency and force. She
had been unable to drink for many hours, and her tongue, which
had been very much cut during the convulsion, was so swelled and
sore, that I could obtain no view of the throat. I now directed
the mother to intermit the sponging, doing it only once in every
two hours until I returned. My return was delayed until 4 P. M.,
when I found that the heat of the skin, frequency of pulse, eruption and delirium, had all returned. She was moving her hands
as if feeling for something, slowly protruding and withdrawing the
tongue, and muttering. She did not notice her mother's questions,
and was apparently unconscious of all that was going on. We
threw on the water, ice cold, in the utmost profusion, and lapped
cloths, dipped in the water, around the neck, changing them every
minute or two. We poured it upon the head constantly, holding
a large basin under to catch it. In one hour reason returned. We
continued it until the eruption almost disappeared, until the child
shrank from it, and.until she was ready to shrink from cold.  I
now gave her cream  of tartar and jalap, directed the water to
be used just as was needed to keep down the heat, and had no
farther trouble with her. I forgot to say, that so soon as she
could swallow, cold drinks and ice were kept in the mouth.  She
took no more medicine. The wounds in the tongue healed up
kindly.
"There were two younger children in the family, both of whom
were attacked a few days after, while apparently in good health,
with vomiting, and the same symptoms as in the first case. The
throats were red, swelled, etc. Cold cloths were wrapped around
the neck; they were purged with jalap and cream of tartar; as
the heat of the skin and eruption appeared, ice water was profusely applied to the whole body, so as to keep down the heat,
and allow but a very moderate eruption to show itself. They were
well in a few days, without a bad symptom. It was now midwinter. The cases followed each other rapidly. I treated them
all in the same way, and all with like happy results. The disease
had a wide range, extending from the Schuylkill across the highlands, between Norristown and Doylestown, and was in that range




288    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
very destructive in many families. There was much alarm, and I
was called two miles back of Norristown to a girl about eleven
years old.  The eruption had been out about twenty-four hours.
The throat was swelled, and covered with white patches (generally
called ulcers), tongue dry, hot, and red, skin hot as skin could be,
and what to me characterizes the most malignant cases, the eruption, instead of being a bright scarlet, was of a purple-red, like the
congestion sometimes seen in the faces of old drunkards. There
was great oppression, not difficulty of breathing, but a state like
that which exists when a person is deathly sick, but cannot vomit,
with extreme restlessness and jactitation. The disease had been
so fatal, that the mother thought the case almost beyond remedy;
but when I told her that the cold had proved successful, she was
eager to try it. It was 8 o'clock A. M. The girl was stripped, and
the ice water applied all over. Ice was lapped around the neck,
and positive directions given to continue the application without
intermission until I returned.  It was about four miles from me,
and I did not return for seven hours. The moment my eyes rested upon her, I knew. that we had done too much. She was white
as the sheet upon which she lay. The neighbors had been in and
desired the mother to desist, that' she would kill her,' but she had
been true to her trust. The child was apparently bloodless, covered with'goose skin,' and shivering with cold.  Her pulse was
small, and much less frequent, but not weak or fluttering, and she
was sensible. (I forgot to say, that in the morning she was quite
flighty.) I told the mother we had used rather more cold than
was necessary, but that if we left it off now, she would probably
do well.  I omitted it for two hours, and gave nothing.  At the
expiration of that time, the heat, and with it the eruption, showed
themselves, so as to cause me to direct the sponging to be used
just so as to keep them in check. The ice was kept constantly on
the neck, and water poured frequently over the neck. I had no
more trouble with her, although the skin desquamated (peeled off)
from head to foot.
" Six other children in the same family took the disease. Five
of them had the ice and ice water used upon them, and all did
well. I gave none of them any medicine, except a little cream of
tartar and jalap, to move the bowels moderately.  I gave this
combination, because it is pleasant to children, and easily swallowed.  The sixth case was a very mild one, so that the mother




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    289
merely gave it a little castor-oil, and it did well, and seemed perfectly recovered in a few days. Indeed, the attack was so mild,
that it would not have been detected as scarlet fever, if it had
occurred at any other time.  It was attacked with dropsy and an
affection of the lungs about two weeks after, lingered several weeks,
and finally died of pneumonic (lung) disease.
"I suppose I have attended more than a hundred cases of scarlet fever, of every grade, since I began the cold treatment. In no
instance where I had it fairly applied did it fail.  Indeed I have
lost but two patients since.
"In every variety of sore throat and quinsy, in summer and in
winter, my treatment is ice around the neck; or when the nurse is
faithful, iced cloths, renewed as soon as they approach the heat of
the neck.
" In no single instance have I seen dropsy follow scarlet fever
that had been treated by cold affusion. I have never seen it occur
except after the mildest cases of the disease, those that had probably only needed a mild laxative."
Those who understand the water treatment, know that the laxatives are better supplied by water injections, bandages, etc.  We
have in the above, certainly, very strong evidence of the good effects of cold water in scarlatina.  The great effect of the treatment was, as it should be, that of constantly and perseveringly
keeping down the heat.
Dr. Elliotson, of London, in his Principles and Practice of Medicine, remarks of cold affusion in scarlet fever:
" The disease has certainly been cut short, by taking a patient
out of bed, and pouring cold water upon him.  The heat of the
body is so great in this disease, that no danger is to be apprehended from the cold affusion.  It is true, there are cases in which the
patient is more or less chilly, but if, in this affection, the general
rules I laid down in the case of common fever be followed, there
is no danger whatever, but the greatest advantage, in taking the
patient out of bed (however hot he may be) and pouring cold
water upon him. These rules are, that the temperature is steadily
above 98 degrees (Fah.); that there are no profuse general sweats;
that there is no chilliness, and no inflammation of the chest or
abdomen.  I presume this would be done oftener than it is, were
it not for its appearing a violent measure to take a person in fever
out of bed, put him into a washing-tub, and souse him well with
13




290    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
cold water. It is a great comfort to the individual, and as long as
it is comfortable, it should be had recourse to. Sponging the
hands, arms, face, and trunk, with cold water, is grateful to the
patient, and is an excellent practice in the disease."
I remark on these directions of Dr. Elliotson, that as few nonprofessional persons can be expected to have a thermometer suitable for measuring the animal heat (and even among physicians
hardly one of a thousand ever has any such thing), some other
rule must in almost every case be adopted as a guide. The thermometer is not strictly necessary, for it requires no more than
ordinary judgment for a person to decide as to whether the heat is
above the natural standard merely by the sensations of the hand.
This rule is sufficient for all practical purposes.
As to profuse sweating, it is to be remarked that this is of itself
a cooling process. The tepid washing is then very comforting and
salutary. But the sweating seldom happens in scarlet fever at all.
In the beginning of fevers and inflammations there is often chilliness to the feelings, while at the same time the skin is hotter than
is natural. The cold bath is then beneficial; and what may appear singular, it makes the patient feel warmer.  The half bath
and the rubbing wet sheet are excellent means in the stage of
which we are speaking.  In the later stages of fevers and inflammations, if chilliness is experienced the same rules do not apply;
that is, there cannot be so much cold water borne. Indeed, under
any circumstances, whenever the system is really chilly, do not
make it more so with cold water or any thing else.  True, the
rubbing wet sheet is often serviceable in such cases, but this excites a better circulation toward the skin, and thus helps in the
end, even if used cold, to prevent the sensation of chilliness.
I controvert Dr. Elliotson, and various other authorities, by saying that in inflammations of the chest or abdomen, or any other
internal organ, attended with general feverishness, which is generally the case in the active stages of these diseases, the same general
rules of practice apply as in any other case of fever.  This we have
proved from oft-repeated experiments. Any thing which tends to
reduce feverishness in the general system, must also tend to reduce
the fever of any local part; and it is upon this very same principle
that bleeding, calomel, and other remedies that act upon the system generally, are administered.
Dr. Burns, author of a work on Midwifery, regarded affusion




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    291
with cold water as a remedy of utility in scarlatina. It is, however,
but justice to him to remark, that he did not advocate the affusion
in cases where internal inflammation existed in connection with the
disease in question. He says of the affusion:
"It is of consequence to use it early, if it is to be done at all;
and whenever the skin feels steadily hot, the shivering having gone
off, and the skin feels very warm to the hand of another person, it
is time to put him into an empty tub, and pour over him a large
ewer full of cold water.  By this I have known the disease arrested
at once, the eruption never becoming vivid, and the strength and
appetite in a few hours returning. Even where it is not arrested,
it is pleasant to observe the change which often is produced.  The
patient, from being dull, languid, and listless, feels brisk and disposed to talk or laugh; the skin becomes for a time colder, and
refreshing sleep is frequently procured.  The repetition must depend on the degree of heat, and the effect of the application.  If
that have done no good, it is useless to try it again. One application is sometimes sufficient, but it may be necessary the first day to
use it twice, and once the next day. It is seldom requisite afterward, for although the disease may continue, it is mild, and laxatives complete the cure.  If the fever be mild, and the heat not
pungent and great, we do not employ the affusion.  We keep the
patient cool, or have the surface cooled frequently by a sponge
dipped in cold water, and, indeed, this seems now in most instances
to have superseded the use of the affusion."
In reference to the above principles laid down by Dr. Burns, we
remark:
First, that where internal inflammation does exist in connection
with scarlatina, the cold affusion is not contra-indicated if there
is general pyrexia or feverishness of such degree as would warrant
the use of the remedy in cases where the internal inflammation
does not exist. The same general principle in regard to cold affusion or cooling means externally of whatever kind, holds good in all
cases of general feverishness.
Second, where one application is not sufficient to arrest the
disease, as it seldom would be, the remedy should be applied and
reapplied as often as the heat and feverishness demand it, no matter if every hour, although this could seldom happen; and if in
any case there is doubt as to whether the patient's strength will
admit of the cold affusion, the tepid, as with water at 70 degrees




292    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
or 80 degrees Fah., may be employed.  The tepid bath is cooling
in effect, and will in every case of increased heat be certain of doing at least some good and no possible harm. It would be hardly
possible for a patient to die of scarlet fever, if he have cold water
enough to drink, cool fresh air in abundance, and the tepid affusions, washings, etc., enough to keep down the inordinate heat.
Thus people of good common sense and judgment may proceed
cautiously and safely, without coming at once to affusion with the
coldest water.
Third, the use of laxatives, either with or without water, is by
no means so salutary as fasting, and injections two or three times a
day repeated.  These may be cold or tepid if the patient is very
weak.  They may also be repeated two or more times in quick
succession, and are certain of doing much good.
Dr. Dewees, in Practice of Medicine, says of the treatment of
scarlet fever, " In the early or inflammatory condition of scarlatina,
when there is considerable arterial action, and vast augmentation
of heat on the surface, cold ablution or sponging gives great relief
to the symptoms, and is a most comfortable process.  *  *  *
Some, however, are afraid of these cold applications because the
throat is sore; but this forms no exception; for it is not accompanied with cough, or other pneumonic symptoms like measles, and
the sponging or even affusion has checked the sore throat most
evidently."
Dr. Currie, a very able writer on water fifty years ago, spoke
of the results of his practice, after much experience, as follows:
" The plan that I follow, if called in at this early period (namely,
when the heat is great), is to strip the patient, and dash four or
five gallons of the coldest water to be procured over his naked
body.  This produces its usual cooling effects; but these are less
permanent than in typhus.  In one or two hours afterward the
heat is often found, on examination, as great as before.  The affusion is therefore repeated again and again, as the obstinacy of the
heat may indicate. It is necessary to use it ten or twelve times in
the twenty-four hours.  At the end of this time, but commonly
earlier, the force of the fever is broken, and a few tepid affusions,
at longer intervals, are sufficient to subdue it entirely. During this
time cold water and lemonade should be used as drinks, and the
bowels opened, if necessary, by calomel. In a few cases, I have
thought it advisable to assist the affusion by the diaphoretio




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    293
(sweating) power of a solution of tartarized antimony. If left to
myself I use no other means."
I have thus extracted from medical authorities on the treatment
of scarlet fever at greater length than I at first intended.  In some
regions of country where our journal goes, scarlatina of malignant
form is now prevailing.  This we trust will be taken by our readers as some apology for the great length of our article.
MEASLES.
In all febrile and inflammatory diseases, whether upon the surface or otherwise, the same great principle, KEEP DOWN THE FEVER,
always holds true.
I have known no cases of measles lost in which the water treatment was applied-not a single case.  I have known of a great
number of cases treated on the new plan, many of which were
managed wholly by the parents or friends of the patients, and
without the aid of a physician. There is no need of people being
at the expense of running for the doctor in every little emergency.
Better study the principles of health and disease, and thus be
ready for the coming on of physical ills.  With good treatment
and nursing, we do not believe that one case out of five hundred
need be lost of measles.
I may here repeat what we said years ago in the " Water-Cure
Manual," concerning the treatment of this disease: "It is to be
treated on the general principle of all inflammatory diseases. The
wet sheet, properly managed (that is, so as to keep down the
general feverishness), has a most salutary effect in bringing out
the eruption.  So also the tepid bath.  Keep down the fever;
give little nourishment; keep the bowels open, and allow an abundance of fresh air.  Keep up the treatment for some days to prevent bad consequences of the disease."
The following is the treatment that was employed by Priessnitz
in a case that happened while I was last at Graefenberg: The
case was that of a little lad from New York, five and a half years
old.  He had enlarged tonsils, and was a feeble, delicate little fellow.  He had had croup and inflammation of the lungs repeatedly, and at one time, after having been calomelized and blistered
according to rule, was given up by a council of four physicians to
die.
The treatment Priessnitz put him under for his general condition




294     THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
of swelled tonsils, debility, great susceptibility to cold, etc., was the
wet sheet twenty minutes on rising, followed by the plunge in cold
water (it was in the midst of winter); rubbing wet sheet before
noon; packing and plunge in the afternoon, as in the morning;
the wet bandage about the throat constantly night and day, and
also the wet girdle about the abdomen both night and day.
After three months of this treatment, which benefited the little
patient materially, he was attacked with measles.  For this, Priessnittz directed the wet sheet packing as before, in the morning, but
to be followed by a tepid half bath (about 70 degrees Fahrenheit),
instead of the cold plunge: also in the afternoon.  This treatment
was continued throulgh the rash.  Then came a diarrhcea.  For
this, il addlition to the other treatment, cold rubbin  sheet, followed by a cold sitz bath twenty minutes, forenoon and afternoon, but no packing in the latter.  When the diarrhcea appeared
worse either night or day, the cold sitz bath was to be given thirty
minutes at a time.  This had evidently a very salutary effect in
checking the looseness.  The treatment altogether did remarkably
well in the case.
I published in 1847 the following cases of measles, one of which
was combined with a very dangerous attack of croup:
"March 12th, 1847.-Went to attend the little son, three years
old, of Mr. Osborne, of 444 Grand street.  He had been exposed
to the measles, land the parents daily expected the coming on of
this disease.  For three or four days, the little boy had been
coughing, and had the symptoms of a considerable cold.  The day
before, there lhad been some sneezing and slight affection of the
eyes, which symptoms usually precede an attack of the measles.
In the evening came on an attack of the croup.  The nursery
room, or one in which the children generally weren, had a close
coal stove, and was, therefore, as is a comlmon thing throughout
the city, most of the time too warm.  AMr. Osborne's children seem
also to have a predisposition to colds and the croup.  Two have
been lost under the ordinary modes of treatment the preceding
year-one of croup, andl the other of inflammttion of the lungs.
"In tllis case of the little t boy HTomer, Mr. Osborne catllled for
me in the night, but was unablle to find me.  Consequently, lie
went home, and himself and wife concluded to do whiat they miight
toward arrestinlg the disease.  They had some knowleldge of tlle
water treatment, but concluded to give some of Cox's hive syrup,




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    295
an antimonial preparation, for the purpose of producing vomiting.
There is a great error anmog nlall y with regard to the giving
emetics in croup, and, by a wr:ongi explianation, physicians often
promul]gate it.  In croni), as is well known, there is always a
strong tendency to the formation of a false membrane in the
throat.  Whether this membrane comes in the larynx that goes to
the lungs, or whether in the cesophagus, or meat pipe, that lays
back of the breathing pipe, is not at all considered.  The emetic,
it is supposed, causes the throwing up of the phlegm  and false
membrane by actual contact with the part affected.  But it should
be remembered, that the medicine passes only in the cesophagus.
Every one knows how much difficulty is experienced, if a little of
any substance is swallowed the' wrong way.'  It is admitted,
however, that vomiting does cause some apparent relief in the
croup, and also, by that process, there is caused some expectoration from  the throat.  Yet the harm  done the system  by the
poisonous drug far exceeds the good.  Mr. and Mrs. Osborne had
also made water applications to some extent.  Cloths wet in cold
water were kept upon the throat and chest; the body had been
washed, but not in very cold water.  Water, as much as was desired, had also been given to drink.  All that was done with water
was well, and had, no doubt, done considerable good.  He was
allowed food as usual, and this was an unfortunate thing.
"At 12 o'clock, noon, I arrived at Mr. O.'s.  It was now sixteen
or eighteen hours since the first appearance of the croupy symptoms.  I at once told the parents that I did not believe the little
child could live.  There was that deep, hollow, stridulous or barking cough, which every one fears so much who has had to deal
with the croup.  I had seen cases apparently as bad as this, perhaps worse, that had, under water treatment, resulted favorably
But in cases as bad as this appeared to be, cures would be the exception, and not the rule.  It was then understood that I would,
of course, prefer not treating a case of the kind, especially as the
medicine mentioned had been given.  I said, however, to the parents,' It is for you to decide. You have called me, and now,
after giving you my opinion, you are to determine who is to treat
your child. If you desire it, I shall be the last to give up, as long
as any thing can be done.'  After considering the matter a few
minutes, they determined to rely exclusively on the water, and trust
for the result.




296    TIlE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
"First, then, the child was to have no more food for twentyfour hours at least.  He was to be encouraged to drink a little
water often, and the bowels were to be kept open by injections.
He was to have a bath immediately (not in water entirely cold, as
the previous applications had kept the fever down very much);
wet bandages were to be kept about the neck, and large, wet
towels about the whole body and lower limbs, nearly to the feet;
and these all were to be changed every hour. Thus, substantially,
a wet sheet, the whole of the time, was to be used.  If the
general fever should by any means come on, a thorough ablution
would be practiced, and then again, immediately, the wet cloths.
The child was, of course, wrapped up sufficiently to induce a comfortable degree of warmth.  A general bath or affusion was to be
performed about three or four times in the twenty-four hours.
"Returned at evening.  The feverishness was much reduced,
and, on the whole, the symptoms a little better.  Still the croupy
cougth was decidedly bad. We had hoped that the measles would
soon appear upon the surface, and thus some relief would be
brought.  One object of the constantly wet cloths was, by their
poultice effect, to bring out the eruption.  Those who have witnessed the water treatment in measles, must have observed the
truly wonderful effect of the wet sheet in bringing out the eruption.  Often a single application, with a bath, serves to bring out
a complete rash. Now, at evening there were some appearances
of very slight eruption about the face and neck, but nothing of
any account.  As the tendency to fever was now less, the cloths
about the neck and body would be changed once in two hours.
A bath (the extreme chill removed from the water) to be given
late in the evening, and if toward morning the symptoms should
grow worse, still another.
" In the morning we found the little boy had passed a better
night than the one preceding. The eruption now began to appear
more distinctly, but was yet very tardy.  Keep on precisely the
same treatment. Allow the little fellow to taste of apple, a small
portion, if he chooses, at the regular meal time, but nothing else.
The first day the appetite was most imperious; but this always
takes place in fasting. The first day is the worst to bear.
"This same treatment, continuing the wet cloths over the greater
part of the surface the whole of the time, changing them  every
two hours, and giving three or four baths, by affusion in the wash




THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.    297
tub, small quantities of water frequently to drink, tepid injections
daily, admitting constantly fresh air to the room, and giving a very
small amount of nourishment, was kept up for three whole days,
reckoning from  the noon of the first day in which I saw the little
boy.  Not more than a half ounce of food was given in all this
time, and the little fellow grew better and better every hour. It
was not until this time that the measles were fully and in perfection over the whole surface.  I had never seen a case any thing
near so tardy under water treatment as this.  We would now give
a little more nourishment, but yet only a little at a time, and but
three times in twenty-four hours.  Keep on the wet envelopment
precisely the same as before, the sooner to poultice away the eruption. The croupy cough had diminished constantly, as the eruption
came more and more out.
" The fourth twenty-four hours I was away from the city. On
returning, I found the wet cloths had acted like a charm.  It
seemed as if in that time almost every trace of the eruption was
literally bleached away.  Some cough, of course, remains.
Now, for the fifth day, and onward, the wet cloths will be applied two hours forenoon and near evening.  Sponging the surface
will be performed after these applications, and the mild bath, by
affusion, in the morning, before brealkfast, and on going to rest;
more nourishment will be given, and yet but a small quantity at a
time, and this amount of treatment at least is to be kept up for one
week.
" Toward morning of this fifth twenty-four hours, the little fellow became restless and coughed.  The wet cloths were put upon
the chest, and he then became quiet and went again to sleep.
"Thile lungs and throat, it will be recollected, are very liable to
become more easily affected after the measles.  With this treatment Mrs. Osborne will practice upon her little boy.  I am now
confident no ill result will follow, and he will grow more and more
vigorous and strong.  It should be remarked, the face and eyes
were frequently washed, and light was admitted freely into the
room.  Darkeningo the room is injurious to the general system, and
cacuses weakness of the eyes. Wash the parts, and accustom them
to the light.
"T'llis case, I confess, has thus far resulted very differently from
the manner in which I felt almost certain it would.
13*




298    THE GRAEFENBERG TREATMENT OF DISEASES.
"OTHER CASES OF MEASLES.
"A few days since, two or three children of Mr. H. P. Osborne,
of an adjoining house of the above, had the measles. I was called
but once to one of the children.  Mrs. Osborne has studied the
water treatment considerably. She gave the wet sheet, and thus
brought out the eruption quickly. She repeated it daily, gave
baths, kept down the fever, and dieted, and all went on well.
These were good instances of domestic water treatment.  The
little girl I saw had passed through the worst part of the time;
but Mrs. 0., not having seen the measles treated by water, wished
to know from me whether she was proceeding well.
" ANOTIER CASE.
"Some days since, Mr. Joseph Allen, of McDougal street, called
and wished to know what to do for his little girl. She seemed to
have a cold, and was coughing. I told him to give her the wet
sheet and an extra bath per day, to have her diet plain and spare,
and if the cough yet proved at all troublesome, to have the wet
bandages upon the chest.  The sheet and bath brought out the
measles. I directed that the sheet be given twice a day, an hour
each time, and a tepid bath as often as the fever rose; wet bandages constantly upon the chest, and injections to regulate the
bowels. Every thing went on favorably.
"ANOTIER CASE.
"My friend, Mr. Perry, 115 Orchard street, tells me he has just
been treating a child of his with the measles.  Friends, relations,
and the doctor, have expostulated, but all without effect.  Mr. P.
tells me he is succeeding well."
SKIN DISEASES GENERALLY.
In all skin diseases, whether acute or chronic, the water treatment is a sovereign remedy.  In itch, ring-worm, salt-rheum,
scurvy, in short, in skin diseases of whatever kind, the water treatment managed according to the demands of the general health, is
x most valuable means.




TREATMENT  OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                       299
CHAPTER XVI.
TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
Erysipelas.-General erroneous Notions concerning this Disease.-The great principle of
Treatment to be observed in this Disease.-Great success of the Treatment.-Case of Mrs.
Goss.-Case of Mr. Wetmore.-A second Case.-The great benefit of Fasting in this Disease.-Scalds and Burns.-Different classes of Scalds and Burns.-Principles of Treatment to be followed in Scalds and Burns.-Blisters cannot rise under Cold Water.Danger from Burns —Treatment of extensive Burns.-Treatment in sinking, or collapse
from Burns.-The soothing effect of Warmth and Moisture.-Advantages of Water, even
in fatal Cases.-Injurious effects of Opium in Burns.-Deformation caused by Burns.Common remedies for Scalds and Burns.-Convulsions.-Frictions with Cold Water
Priessnitz's main reliance in this Affection.-Hippocrates and the earlier Physicians.Dr. Currie's Mode.-Cases.-Dr. Elliotson.-Hysteria, or Hysterics.-Cold Water a famous Remedy for this Disease.
ERYSIPELAS.
THERE is a very general impression that cold water is a dangerous remedy in erysipelas. This disease is attended with perhaps
greater heat than any other to which the system is subject. From
this fact, no doubt, the delusion arose. So in high fevers, it was
long believed  that no remedy more dangerous than cold water
could be used; and the greater the heat, the more danger there
was supposed to be.  The best authorities in the healing art now
all agree that the treatment of erysipelas, as well as of all other
inflammatory diseases, should be of the cooling kind; and that cold
applications, to arrest both the general and the local fever in this
disease, are always entirely safe, provided they are made in accordance with well-ascertained principles.  The more heat there
is in the system, or any of its parts, the more salutary and grateful are the means.  Common sense, as well as science, dictates,
that any means, however good, must not be carried to extremes.
A medium  is always to be observed.  If there is any where a sensation of too great heat, unattended with fatigue, use the cooling
means sufficiently often and long to remove that condition; not,
however, to cause much chilliness, which, if protracted, might end
in harm.




300         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
The author has repeatedly cured cases of erysipelas of the face
and head by water treatment.  He has failed in no single instance.
In one case, a medical man took upon himself to affirm, that the
lady's constitution must have been one of a thousand, or she would
have been killed.  Some have not sense enough to refrain from
judging of a matter before hearing it; and we find this truth verified in the opposition so often set up to the water-cure by those
who know not the first lesson concerning it.
In 1845, I treated the following cases of erysipelas:
CASE OF MRS. GOSS.
About one year ago we had the honor to prescribe for our friend,
Mrs. Goss, of 26 Vesey street, then suffering from a severe attack
of erysipelas of the face and neck. The heat and swelling had
gone on to a very considerable extent before we commenced.  We
directed that the face and neck should, as far as practicable, be
immersed in cold water, and this as fiequently as was agreeable.
By kneeling at the side of a chair, and having upon it a large bowl
of water, the object could be tolerably well effected.  At other
times, wet cold cloths were to be kept upon the parts. Two general baths per day were to be taken.  Only a little water gruel,
and perhaps an apple or two, daily, were to constitute the food.
By these means, perseveringly carried out, a radical cure was effected in about three days, so that Mrs. Goss was about as usual.
Awhile after, a fiiend of hers had the same disease.  She recommended her to have water treatment, as she had done. Her physician, learning what treatment Mrs. Goss had had, said, very confidently, that her constitution was one of hundreds, or she could
not have endured it; but the fact is, Mrs. Goss has naturally a
feeble frame.  The treatment was the safest possible that could
be adopted.
CASE OF MR. L. WETMORE.
In the month of September, 1845, Mr. L. Wetmore, a gentleman residing in the boarding-house kept by Mrs. Goss above mentioned, was violently attacked with erysipelas of the head. The
general fever had already become very high, and the swelling large
and very hot. By the use of wet sheets, baths, cold applications,
and immersions of the parts affected, together with fasting, Mr. W.
was enabled to walk out each day, and quite cured in four days




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.              301
He was directed to take a thorough cold bath as often as the fever
came up, even if it were twenty times in a day.  The night in
which the disease was the worst he took four long continued Croton shower baths, between ten at night and six in the morning.
The fever raged; he took a thorough cooling in the shower, slept
soundly then awhile, and as the fever again rose, repeated the
bath, and thus obtained a tolerably good night's rest, and was
quite himself in the morning. Such are the modes of treating this
often dangerous affection, erysipelas.  It is a disease attended with
great heat, and always the more there is, the more charm-like the
cold water acts.
On the 25th of October, 1848, in the night, Mr. Wetmore was
again attacked, and much more severely, by this disease. I saw
him first this time at midday on the 27th instant. He had been
bathing, using wet bandages, the wet sheet, etc., but not to so
great an extent as the case required.  He suffered rigors, or chilliness at times, a circumstance common in the beginning of severe
inflammatory attacks. This circumstance deterred him somewhat
from persevering with the water, and led him to wrap up too
warmly in bed.  In his case, the chilly sensation was caused by
the skin being too hot.
At half-past 10 A. M. the next day, the 28th, saw Mr. W. again.
He had used according to direction, the cold wet cloths constantly,
with frequent washings of the face and parts affected; and during
the last sixteen hours had gone to the bath (a liberal shower, with
little fall, as mechanical force would be ill in such a case) seven
times, taking, from the top of the head to the sole of the feet, a
thorough drenching at each time.  He had used the wet sheet,
three double, about the trunk of the body nearly all the time, to
keep down general feverishness.  He had eaten nothing, or next
to nothing, since the commencement of the disease.
He was doing so well on this day, I consented that he might
go out and take the fresh air.  He went in the afternoon to his
store, there became much excited in business, and was made much
worse. IIe became delirious in the night.  I had gone out of the
city, and could not return before Monday, Saturday afternoon
being the time of his going out.  With good aid he persevered in
the treatment, going to the bath about every hour for some twentyfour hours, taking yet, according to my directions, no nourishment
other than water. By Sunday night the fever was quite quelled.




102         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
The next morning, on seeing him, I found him doing well, but yet
extremely excitable.  He took a little nourishment this day, avoided company and business for three or four days, following up a
moderate treatment, and thus recovered very rapidly.
The power of entire fasting was a great help in this case, the
patient having taken no food for about five days. His going to
the store and becoming excited in business, was an unfortunate
occurrence for the time. However, in the end every thing went
on well, and he recovered admirably, and in a very short time,
from a most dangerous attack.
In no disease is the good effect of cold water more clearly shown,
than in acute erysipelas. Keep down the general fever, as well
as that of the local parts. Eat no food until it is quite subsided.
Avoid company and all excitement, and thus every thing will go
on well.
SCALDS AND BURNS.
Scalds and burns differ by being caused in different ways, the
former being always the effect of heat applied through the medium
of a fluid. A scald is generally more diffused in extent and more
equable in severity than a burn.
The most useful division of burns, is the very ancient one, that
of three kinds: 1st, those causing mere redness or inflammation;
2d, those causing vesication or blistering; 3d, those causing actual
death or destruction of the part.
1. The first class are attended with mere superficial inflammation, and are not at all dangerous. They are, however, sometimes
very painful.  Homeopathically-that is, on the principle that like
cures its like-the treatment is to be by hot applications, holding
the part to the fire, etc., etc.  Hydropathically, cold is to be constantly applied until the inflammation subsides. Allopathically,
they are treated according to the fancy of the practitioner. The
application of cold water is the best means we know of-the most
comfortable, as well as the most effectual.  There is not the slightest danger of taking cold, which some fear so much, as long as
cold is agreeable.  Nor is it true, as has been so generally believed, " that although the application of cold was most pleasurable, and continued to be so as long as it was employed unremittingly, still that if it were discontinued for a moment the pain returned with infinitely greater force."




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                303
2. From what we have seen, we doubt whether blistering would
ever be caused if the part could be suddenly immersed in very
cold water, and there kept, provided this is done before the blister
is raised. When blistering has been caused, it is well to draw off
the fluid collected. This is best done by piercing under the blister through the live skin a little way from  the part; smarting is
thus prevented.  The elasticity of the live skin causes the hole to
close, and air, the cause of smarting, is thus excluded. If there is
need of any further treatment, wet cloths covered with dry ones,
continued according to the feelings of comfort, are the local applications to be used. Large blisters will of course need treatment.
The wet bandages should be so arranged and kept constantly wet,
that the air is entirely excluded.
3. The third class of burns, those in which the part is destroyed,
are sometimes exceedingly troublesome and dangerous.  When of
considerable extent, the constitutional symptoms are severe-those
of collapse, or great prostration of strength, coldness of extremities,
quick and feeble pulse, paleness of surface, repeated and violent
shiverings, and severe sensations of cold.  These symptoms are
sometimes soon succeeded by difficult breathing, coma, or sleeplike insensibility, from which with difficulty only the sufferer can
be aroused, and finally with death. In other cases, dissolution is
preceded by a kind of imperfect reaction, or a general feverish excitement in the system, attended with delirium and distress.
Burns of apparently small severity, when extending over a large
surface, should always be considered dangerous-they are really
so, and more particularly if the skin has been removed. Of equal
extent, burns on the extremities are always less dangerous than
those upon the body.  Infancy and old age are the periods most
unfavorable.  When burns are extensive, and there is little or no
apparent suffering, this must be reckoned as indicative of most
urgent peril.  Severe pain, comparatively, is a favorable symptom;
yet this may prove a symptom of danger, since it may so exhaust
the vital powers, that death will be the result. " The early subsidence of complaint, unwillingness to be disturbed, apathy approaching to stupor, as if the scale of sensibility had sunk below
the point of pain, is invariably a fatal symptom. Constant shivering is an ill omen. The failure of the pulse, and the consequent
coldness of the extremities, with a livid hue of the transparent skin
of the cheeks and lips from congestion (accumulation of blood) in




304         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
the capillaries, drowsiness, with occasional muscular twitchings,
are sure prognostics of death." The subsidence of swelling is likewise a most unfavorable symptom.
The treatment of severe burns, of the second and third classes,
requires great skill and good judgment on the part of the physician,
and patience and perseverance on the part of patients and nurses.
Good nursing has been said to be the best part of "doctoring."
If there is collapse, coldness of extremities, and shiverings, certainly we must husband to the greatest possible extent what little
of heat and strength the sufferer yet has, and excite healthfully
the vital organs to action.  If we understand the capabilities of
the human system, this is not best done by diffusible stimulants,
as hot brandy and water, ether, ammonia, or hartshorn. In common practice, these are the first things resorted to.  If the patient
lives at all, he lives in spite of these remedies, if they are used.
Warm  applications, as heated bricks, or bottles of warm water,
are often made to the arm-pits, between the thighs, and to the
feet. These are good, but the best part at which to apply warmth
so as to cause it to be diffused through the body quickly and generally, is the " pit of the stomach;" and this is the best done by
bladders of warm water.  The other applications mentioned should
be used, if no better can be had. Next to the pit of the stomach,
warm applications to the feet are probably best; but, if necessary,
applications can be made to all of the parts mentioned.  The wrapping the whole body also in an abundance of warm clothes, should
by no means be neglected. Of this we shall speak hereafter.
To allay vomiting, which sometimes takes place in great collapse, it has been common to give a large dose of calomel and
opium, or to give an opiate clyster. But these agents, though
they often arrest vomiting, do a great amount of mischief.  Pure
soft water, taken, if necessary, little by little, as much as the patient can bear, is a far better means. Hickup, which sometimes
occurs in such cases, and is severe and troublesome, is more effectually arrested by free drinking of water than by any other means.
Both in vomiting and hickup, rubbing briskly the surface of the
body with a wet towel, and then also with a dry one, is good in
connection with the drinking.
In cases of great collapse, or sinking of the powers of life,
whether caused by heat or cold, or other injuries, a very ancient
remedy has, from  time to time, been recommended and resorted




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.              305
to.  It is, in principle and effect, a good one,-we mean the application of the warm skin of a recently slain animal, the skin being
taken off immediately after the animal is killed, and then applied.
Persons, too, have been placed in a carcass from which the entrails were quickly removed, the carcass being yet warm. The
soothing and vivifying effect of the warmth and moisture in such
treatment is most astonishing.  All the good effect thus caused,
with little inconvenience, can be readily obtained by means of the
wet sheet, or cloths wrung out of water as warm as can be borne,
and applied in the ordinary way, with the warm non-conducting
blankets wrapped closely outside the wet cloths. All suitably arranged, the warmth of the cloths and the warmth of the body,
which is always generated, and passes off as long as life remains,
will be retained by the woolen blankets, and thus thrown back
upon the body, which, together with the moisture, produces a
most soothing effect over the whole body, the same as that of a
warm  poultice upon any part of the body.  The great surgeon,
Baron Larry, saw the warming remedy by means of the warm
skins, used with great benefit, by certain humane Esquimaux, upon
i company of Frenchmen who had been shipwrecked, and who
were suffering greatly with cold, and fatigue, and hunger, and himself afterward put the same remedy in practice with good success,
in the case of a distinguished marshal, during one of Napoleon's
Spanish campaigns.
If in any such case of sinking, the best remedial means fail, and
death takes place, still such means should be most industriously
used. Life will be at least prolonged, pain will be rendered by
far less severe, and death, to which all must submit, will be rendered less violent.  It will thus be more like the gradual dying
away of embers, than like the sudden extinction of a fire.  Indeed,
the writer has so much confidence in the application of warmth and
moisture to soothe the system and relieve pain, that he believes
that in all cases, if the means are rightly used, however violent the
disease, death will take place, comparatively only like the sinking
into a quiet sleep, almost without a struggle or a groan.
But to return: in these cases of severe scalds and burns there is
sometimes, also, a feverish excitement or general fever throughout
the whole system, attended with great restlessness and pain. To
reduce the pain, most persons would at once say, "A good dose of
opium, or some of its preparations, must be given without delay."




S06         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
But still among the best medical authorities, there is discrepancy
of opinion concerning the effects of opium. Larry, of whom Bonaparte said that he was the most humane man he ever saw, says,
"Opium  is injurious, whether used internally or externally.  Externally, it stupefies the parts, instead of exciting them to a salutary
inflammation; internally, if used in considerable quantity, it enfeebles all the organs, after producing a momentary stimulation."
Another writer of considerable note, Travers, says, "In  small
doses it is ineffectual, and in large ones injurious."  But how are
we to proceed?  The pain should be quickly removed.  Pain
should ever be regarded as the truthful admonition of nature, that
something must be done-it should be removed.  To personify,
nature is attempting to accomplish the object, but asks assistance
at our hand.  In these cases, then, locally, we must use the wvet
cloths of temperature to suit the feelings; constitutionally, we must
resort to wet sheets, clysters, drinking, etc., as in any similar case
of general fever.  As in all inflammatory cases, the greatest caution is necessary in diet. By the use of clysters the bowels should
be kept freely open.
The ulcers resulting from burns are often very slow in healing.
It is also not uncommon for a second inflammation to be set up by
exposure to cold or cold moisture: a cold is taken in the burn, as
it is said. People are in general too careless and inconsiderate
when once the pain has ceased.  The ulcer following a burn should
be guarded, and the greatest care should be exercised that it be
not exposed. It should be moist and comfortable, and the part of
equable temperature.  No possible application will cause it to heal
as quickly as water, rightly applied.
It is best not to remove the dressing very quickly in case of a
running ulcer. The part can easily be kept moist and agreeable
by removing only the outward dry covering, and with a soft
sponge, the part can be wet according to the feelings of Comfort.
Most serious deformities are sometimes caused by scalds and
burns.  A limb may become obstinately bent; large and unsightly
scars may be formed, and sometimes the chin may become fixed to
the breast, and the eyelids become incapable of closing.  These
difficulties have often been augmented by the patient being allowed
too full a diet. This, it is often believed, is necessary to support
the strength under the weakening effect of the profuse discharges




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                307
that often take place. The diet should be mild and unstimulating,
and what would be termed low.
If the fingers oltoes are badly scalded or burned, and the skin
removed, care must be taken they do not adhere and grow together.  Lint, or better, very fine cloths, will suffice to prevent an
accident of this kind.
Flour frequently sifted upon the surface of the running ulcers,
as also very finely carded cotton perpetually strewed upon the
part, is a favorite remedy with some. The good effect of these
substances is to exclude the air, to form a covering, and to maintain the part at an equable temperature. These applications are
certainly good in many respects, yet they are apt to become dry,
hard, and irritating, and are sometimes converted into a loathsome
mass of putridity and worms. A liniment of linseed oil and lime
water, or the soap liniment, have fiequently been used.  White
paint is dangerous.  Properly managed, we like pure clean water
the best. In no case is skill and good judgment more needed than
in scalds and burns.
CONVULSIONS.
In cases of ordinary convulsions, Priessnitz's main reliance is active frictions upon the surface and extremities, by means of cold
water applied by the hand.  A number of persons should aid in
the operations, and the frictions must be carried on perseveringly,
and in some cases for a long time. It is safer to chill the system
much, than to allow the convulsions to go on.
The mode of treatment adopted by Priessnitz in convulsions, is
certainly not so severe as that which has been sometimes adopted
by others.  At different periods of time, the regular cold immersion has been in vogue. Hippocrates, and other of the earlier physicians, used the cold bath in convulsions that were not caused by
wounds or local injuries. That estimable writer, Dr. Currie, who
used water so faithfully and perseveringly in his practice, says,
that in the convulsions of children, he found the cold bath a most
useful remedy, whether the disorder originated from  worms or
other causes.  He seldom  knew it to fail of arresting the paroxysms, at least for some time, thus giving an opportunity to employ
other means for removing the particular irritation.  In patients of
early infancy he employed the remedy with caution, generally in
such cases by affusion instead of immersion, tempering the water




308         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
also, in very cold weather.  These modes are all certainly more
severe than the frictions used by Priessnitz.
After having employed the cold bath in coriulsive diseases for
fourteen years, Dr. Currie gave the following as his conclusions:
"That the benefit derived from the cold bath in convulsive diseases,
depends on its being used in the paroxysm  of convulsion; that its
efficacy consists in resolving or abating the paroxysm; and that
when this efect is produced, the return of the paroxysm  is greatly
retarded, if not entirely prevented."
TETANUS, OR LOCK-JAW,
Is a form of convulsions, and often a terrible disease to manage.
Others besides Priessnitz seem  to have had better success with
water, than any other known means. Priessnitz's mode is the wet
frictions energetically applied, and the half bath slightly tepid.
He regards that in severe spasms, of whatever kind, it is not well
to use very cold water: the temperature should be a little moderated.  He places great reliance upon the frictions, perseveringly
practiced.
Others have used more severe means in tetanus.  Professor
Elliotson, of London, in his large and able work on the Practice
of Medicine, gives the following cases to illustrate the good effects
of the cooling means in this disease:
"There is a case mentioned by Sir James McGregor, in the
sixth volume of the' Medical Chirurgical Transactions,' and also
in his reports of the diseases of the Peninsular war. It proceeded
from  a slight wound in the finger.  The patient (a soldier, of
course) was carried in a bullock-car after the battalion to which
he belonged, in a state of severe tetanus, in the midst of pouring
rain, which completely drenched him in the early part of the day
-the heat being fifty-two degrees; and then they ascended the
highest mountain in Gallicia, the snow on the summit of which was
knee deep! And there the temperature was only thirty degrees.
He was exposed in this condition from six o'clock till ten o'clock
at night, and arrived at his journey's end half starved from cold,
but perfectly cured of his tetanus.  Whether such a mode would
succeed, if it were put into practice intentionally, I do not know.
I stumbled on a similar case, published in 1827: a horse, which
was in a state of tetanus, happened to be in a wet park, and was
drenched with rain-precisely as was the case with this unfortu



TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.               309
nate man-and the horse also did perfectly well. Whether the depressing power of cold and wet, regularly kept up for a certain
number of hours, has a tendency to cure the disease, I do not say;
but I think that, in a disease of violent excitement as this is, the
constant-not sudden, but constant refrigeration (by means of a
low temperature, united with moisture), is likely to be of great
service. There are at least two such cases on record, and it is
surprising to find a soldier, so exposed from morning to evening,
recover, and especially in so short a time as one day."
Some two years ago I wrote in my note-book as follows: "I
have at this time (Feb. 22d, 1847), a case like this: Mr. Perry,
of Orchard street, cut his hand one week ago. He is a machinist
by occupation, and thinks his health has been injured by gases,
and by verdigris flying off from copper in the form of dust.  He
has taken colds very easily. He took a cold in the wound, and
it swelled prodigiously. He used poultices of different kinds, but
it grew worse and worse.  Very severe pain was experienced in
the hand, and up the arm (a nerve was no doubt wounded), and
there was also constant pain in the back. He was very feverish,
and could get no rest. Last evening he had himself placed in a
wet sheet, put on a large wet girdle, wet bandages all about the
arm, and the hand in water. This stopped the pain completely in
the hand, and he appeared better in every respect. He sent for
me, and I directed him to use, in addition to the hand bath and
wet girdle, the half bath quite cold, but not the coldest, to renew
his bandages often upon the arm, take the elbow bath, drink water
very often, eat no food for some days, or at most not until all pain
and fever has subsided, and to take the half bath as often as the
pain in the back returns. The hand to be kept in cold water most
of the time, enough to prevent all pain in that part. This morning, I find Mr. Perry decidedly better, the pulse at 80 instead of
100, as when I first saw him last night. The hand is yet much
swollen, and some days will be required for this to be removed."
In cases of considerable debility, when there is danger of lockjaw, or when the disease is already present, we must be careful
not to make too short and sudden an impression by means of cold.
This caution is particularly needed when powerful medicines have
been given.  Warm baths which have been recommended, it is
now acknowledged do harm.  The half bath is an invaluable
means, and must be persevered in.  If we conclude to dash on




310         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
the cold water, we must be sure that the patient has considerable
strength, and that the paroxysm is at a high pitch, otherwise we
mav do harm."
Dr. Currie also mentions cases of this disease, in which he obtained strikingly beneficial results from the affusion of water.  In
some cases the cold bath, in this way, was used as the paroxysms
came on, many times in the twenty-four hours, and for days in
succession.  In some cases, when other and the most powerful
means failed, the affusion of water proved successful.
I will state, that I regard the free use of injections of water in
this disease good; cold, if the patient is not too weak; tepid, if
there is any doubt as to the propriety of the cold.
HYSTERIA, OR HYSTERICS.
It is pretty generally understood, that cold water is the thing
for this disease. The cold bath and dashing of cold water at once
cuts short the fit in many cases. The half bath is one of the best
means.  Fear, and the dread of being plunged into cold water, or
of having cold water dashed over the body, has been known to
prevent these unpleasant attacks. Persons thus affected, should
do all in their power to fortify and invigorate the general health;
for with such attacks such a thing as good health cannot possibly
be.  I very much pity the person who is thus affected.




TREATMENT  OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                      311
CHAPTER XVII.
TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
Apoplexy.-Value of Cold applied to the Head, and Frictions with Cold Water over the
Surface generally in this Disease.-Cold Injections in the Bowels.-Many are killed,
doubtless, in the old Practice in this Disease.-Best means of applying Cold to the Head.
-Inflammation of the Brain.-This is to be treated on the same great Principle of all
Inflammations.-Cold to the Head.-General Treatment, etc.-Quinsy, and other acute
Inflammations of the Throat.-Croup a very dangerous Disease.-Prevention better
than Cure.-How to prevent the Disease.-How to treat it.-Inflammations in the
Chest, Lung Fever, and Pleurisy.-How to be treated.-Case of Priessnitz's Daughter.
-Sore Throat, Weakness of the Chest, Lungs, etc.-Priessnitz's Advice.-Remarks on
Consumption.
APOPLEXY.
THE treatment for this disease is the free application of cold to
the head, while at the same time a very brisk rubbing of the surface
of the body generally is practiced with the hands wet in cold water,
over the rubbing wet sheet, etc. There is too much blood in the
brain in this state of the system. Hence the good effect of cold
water in that part. Cold, continuously applied, repels the blood
from  the part.  The frictions over the surface aid in driving the
blood thereto, and thus the brain is also relieved of the too great
quantity of this fluid.
Cold injections in the bowels have a good effect in rousing the
patient in all states of stupor and unconsciousness, and consequently in apoplexy.
Many a person, doubtless, is destroyed in this disease, by the
enormous bleedings that are sometimes practiced.  Cold water,
perseveringly applied, is a more effectual, as well as incomparably
safer means.
Pounded ice applied to the head by means of a bladder, has
been recommended by all authors, as one of the means to be resorted to in apoplexy. Ice, however, cannot always be obtained.
If the head, extending somewhat over the edge of a bed, is supported (and it should be also somewhat elevated) by an assist



312         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
ant, cold water may be constantly poured upon it, letting it run
down into a tub; thus the part may probably be as effectually
cooled as by means of ice.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.
This is to be treated on the same general principle of all severe
inflammations.  Keep down the general fever, and at the same
time use cold applications to the head without stint. It is hardly
possible to do too much.  There is no need of shaving off the
hair, if enough cold water is poured upon the part. Very cold
and oft-repeated fomentations, wet cloths with ice between them,
pounded ice in bladders, etc.-these are the local means.
QUINSY, AND OTHER INFLAMMATIONS OF TIIE THROAT.
These are also treated on the same general principle of all inflammations.  The wet bandages, etc., about the throat, are here
as useful as cold applications to the head in apoplexy and inflammation of the brain.
CROUP.
This very dangerous disease, which carries off every winter
great numbers of children, is doubtless generally manageable, if
taken at the very beginning of the attack. But it is far better to
rear and manage children in such a manner, as to render them
proof against the disease. Children that are not dosed with medicine, and are kept on food of the right kinds-that are bathed
regularly each day, and are not subjected to the air of over-heated
rooms, to feather beds, feather pillows, and the like, and that, on
the other hand, are not subjected to too great extremes of coldare not at all liable to croup. This, then, is the better philosophy-AVOID THE DISEASE.
TREATMENT OF CROUP.
As soon as possible-the sooner the better-after croup has
commenced, let the patient be at once well washed over with cold
water. It may be poured over the body, or the rubbing wet sheet
may be used, or the general washing in a tub. Do whatever is
done quickly. A good thorough cold bath will often cause a child
to breathe with entire freedom at once-in a moment, as it were.
Wet bandages should be placed about the throat and chest, and




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                313
be frequently renewed. So also repeat the ablution as soon as
the symptoms return.  Meantime, if it is in the night, the child
should be placed warmly between two persons in bed.
For the treatment of a very dangerous case of croup and
measles, see account of the latter disease.
INFLAMMATIONS IN TEIE CHEST, LUNG FEVER, AND PLEURISY.
Priessnitz's great dependence now in the treatment of these diseases, is the sedative effect of the cold bath.  This, with much
frictions upon the surface generally, cold, or moderated a little if
the debility requires, is the mode.  Keep down the inflammation
in the general system, and in these, as all other inflammations, we
give nature the best possible chance.  Between the times of bathing, the wet sheet should be applied about the whole trunk.
Priessnitz informed us one day at his table, that during the past
year (1847), his eldest daughter was attacked severely with inflammation of the lungs.  She was at the time three or four
months advanced in pregnancy.  He treated her by the cold bath
and frictions.  Twenty-five cold baths were given in succession
within a space of less than four hours.  Each bath was continued
about five minutes, the body was then rubbed dry, and after resting a very few minutes she was again placed in the bath.  By
these means thus persevered in, the pains and inflammation were
completely subdued, and the next day she was able to go about
quite as usual. Her case, it must be remembered, was taken in
season, and thus it was nipped in the bud.
SORE THROAT, WEAKNESS OF THE CHEST, LUNGS, ETC.
On returning from Graefenberg in the spring of 1848, I published the following article on these complaints in the Water-Cure
Journal:
"The modes of treatment recommended by Priessnitz, in cases
of colds, difficulties in the throat and chest, from whatever cause
or causes, are exceedingly simple, and at the same time effectual
for good.  We have before us a work entitled "Six Months at
Graefenberg," by Mr. H. C. Wright, of Philadelphia (published
in England), a very accurate writer and observer.  This author
had himself been for years afflicted with serious difficulties of the
above-mentioned kinds.  He had, likewise, been in the habit of
much and long-continued public speaking.  He tells us that for
14




314         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
years before going to Graefenberg, he was, as is the custom, wont
to eschew the fresh air as much as possible. Flannel shirts and
drawers, and a closely fitting shirt-collar and a neckcloth, were
worn, and, whenever the weather seemed to require it, a fur muffler, or a large silk or worsted handkerchief, over the chin and
mouth, to exclude all fresh air from the back of the head and neck,
the throat, and lungs. He was exceedingly sensitive to cold, and
though long accustomed to general ablutions of cold water, the exclusion of cold air, with a view to the preservation of health, had
become an object of very particular attention. Heavy clothes and
overcoats were worn to protect the body from the air and its free
circulation over the surface.  He continues:'I now look back with
astonishment at my folly; and the more so, because the days of
my childhood and youth were chiefly spent in the open air, in the
backwoods of western New  York.  Calm  and storm, cold and
heat, rain and sunshine, were all alike to me then; and many times
since I attained my twentieth year, have I slept with my windows
open, in the severe winter nights of New England. But for the
last three years, since my lungs began to be affected, I changed
my habits entirely, and, by the advice of medical friends, took
every precaution against exposure to the air.'
" Mr. Wright further tells us, that, when he went to Graefenberg, away went the flannel shirts and drawers, and silk, worsted,
and fur mufflers, and Priessnitz advised him to be in the open air
as much as possible, like the other patients.  We have ourselves
seen at Graefenberg poor, weak bodies, who had for years been
wedded to those'comfortable' things, mercilessly stripped in the
manner described by Mr. Wright.  And what may appear strange
is, that probably nowhere in the world can there be found the
same number of persons as at Graefenberg, with less of coughs
and symptoms of cold in the throat or lungs.  The freedom from
coughs and colds among Priessnitz's patients is notorious.  Be
it remarked, also, that there is there in the winter season much of
damp, fogs, and winds; so that, according to the popular notions
on this subject, persons would be much subject to the difficulties
in question.  But there is among the profession, as well as the
people, much error in reference to the effects of wind and damp.
We find that one of the best possible things for cough and cold is
to go to sea.  Consumptive persons, even, are recommended often
to go sea voyages, and there appears il cases generally, whether




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                315
curable or incurable, to be a manifest improvement in 30 doing.
We have known persons, repeatedly, to have a severe cold, atz
tended with cough, on going to sea, to become very soon cured.
Now, it should be understood that there is, besides the winds at
sea, a great deal of moisture. The atmosphere is, in consequence
of evaporation, at all times completely loaded with humidity; and
this is not saltish, as many suppose, but fresh; for we know that
salt is of great specific gravity, and does not rise.  In the manufacture of salt, by evaporation in the sun or by boiling, tie mineral
is left behind, while the pure water passes off. We see, from the
above facts, that wind  and  moisture are not necessarily so
deleterious as is generally supposed; but, on the contrary, that
they are, under certain circumstances, extremely favorable to
health.
" If a person has an incurable disease of the lungs, Priessnitz
would, of course, be very careful in reference to changes of whatever kind. The cases we have referred to he regarded as curable.
Such persons can make much greater changes with safety, than is
generally supposed.  Even in cases of incurable disease of the
lungs, people are perpetually injuring themselves by too much
clothing, confinement in close, overheated, and illy ventilated rooms,
sleeping upon feather beds, down pillows, etc.  Now  in these,
often great good may be done in the way of mitigating the disease.
But all changes should be made with proper caution, and according to the dictates of an enlightened experience. Inasmuch as the
water means, diet, etc., are the best possible for cure, so also,
properly managed, are they in mitigating the sufferings arising
from incurable disease.
"Before leaving Graefenberg, Mr. Wright prepared, in writing, a
list of questions, which were proposed to Priessnitz, the answers
to which were taken down upon paper at the time. Some of these
questions were as follows:
" Wright.-In cases of severe cold on the lungs, attended with
much coughing and expectoration, what should be done?
" Priessnitz.-Rub the chest and throat with cold water, holding,
at the same time, some water in the mouth. In cold climates, the
wet bandage around the throat would be of service occasionally.
In warm climates, washing and rubbing alone are better.
" Wright.-In cases of inflammation and soreness of the throat,
attended with hoarseness and difficulty in speaking?




316         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
" Priessnitz.-Friction, washing, and the application of wet bandages.
" Wright. —In cases of long attendance and speaking at public
meetings, in hot, close, crowded rooms, and then going out into
the chilly night air?
" Priessnitz.-The rubbing sheet, washing and rubbing the head
and throat well, and the use of the foot bath.
" Wright.-When troubled with shooting pains across the chest,
occasioned by long speaking at a time?
" Priessnitz.-Take rubbing sheets, and rub the throat and chest
with water.
" In regard to friction, Mr. Wright judiciously remarks,' that it
is worthy of special notice that Priessnitz never orders the rubbing
to be done with brushes, flannels, or even linen towels.  He never
applies flannels and brushes to the skin for any purpose; linen is
only used for wiping the surface dry, and, even in this process,
the rubbing should be gentle.  He wishes to have the skin kept
as smooth and soft as possible; and hence his disuse of flannels
next the skin, and of brushes and hard substances in rubbing. He
recommends that the hand only should be used; and it is not possible to be long under his treatment, and to enjoy the delicious
sensations resulting from a clear, smooth, soft skin, the almost invariable result of the cure, without being convinced of the correctness of his practice in this respect.'"
CONSUMPTION.
The foundation of this most formidable disease is usually laid
before birth. It is admitted on all hands that it is seldom cured.
There are, however, exceptions to this rule. Just as ulcers heal
in any part of the body, so they sometimes do in the lungs. As
yet, comparatively but little has been attempted in the treatment
of this disease by means of water-cure. Priessnitz has had all
that he could do with more favorable cases than those in consumption.  To a person in an advanced stage of this disease he
would say something to this effect: " You cannot expect to be
cured by any means; but by the proper use of water, with suitable attention to air, exercise, clothing, and diet, you can be much
benefited.  Your life can be prolonged, and rendered more comfortable."
Dr. Billing, senior physician to the London Hospital, a man of




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                317
experience second to few, if any, in speaking of consumption, says,
" Some years ago, a gentleman by the name of Stewart adopted a
rational mode of treatment, with which he had considerable success; but because he could not work miracles, his plan was unjustly depreciated. His method was entirely tonic, and especially
the cautious use of cold and tepid ablutions of the skin, a modification of cold bathing-a remedy which is found so universally beneficial in promoting the resolution (cure) of strumous (scrofulous)
tumors."
" One thing of which I am convinced," says Dr. B., " is, that the
true principle of treating consumption, is to support the patient's
strength to the utmost."  This can best be done by water-cure.
All will agree that the means used in the treatment by water are
very powerful to promote strength, if the patient can bear such
treatment. But the treatment, we contend, can be managed with
perfect safety, even to the last hour of life; and will always positively do some good, and no harm, when rightly used, which is
more than any one can claim for drugs.  The action of drugs is
always doubtful, and sometimes dangerous, and every dose, however small, acts only by virtue of its power to produce diseased
action in the body. Furthermore, the indication of treatment is
the same in all cases of the disease in question, and for all others
that are not unfrequently mistaken for it; that is, to support the
strength to the greatest possible degree. It is true, different cases
always have different symptoms, so that the treatment must be
varied accordingly; but it is the right way to support the strength
by all possible means, so that the system may be better able to
resist the disease.
In the early stages of this disease, much can be done by way
of preventing an increase of its symptoms.  All the daily and
hourly circumstances which go to affect the health should be most
scrupulously attended to. The strictest regularity and correctness
in meals, bathing, exercise in pure air, sleep, etc., etc., if rigidly
observed, will be found to prove highly salutary. But all this requires knowledge possessed by few.  It is very common for persons in this disease to be greatly injured by the food they take.
Even in the advanced stage of the disease, persons are told that
die they must, and that it matters little what kind of food they
take.  It is not uncommon to find persons in the far advanced
stages of this disease indulging freely in the use of rich pastry,




318         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
and toast well saturated with butter, one of the worst dishes that
well persons even can take; and all this is done because the patient has a good appetite, and because the stomach does not appear
to suffer. The disease is concentrated upon, and spends its violence
in, the lungs, so that the stomach cannot feel the injuries it receives; but the lungs and whole body suffer just as much from
such improprieties, as if the stomach or any other important part
was the seat of disease. In food, we must always make the weak
part the standard of what the system can bear.
In this disease, as in all others, we believe it better that the patient take no animal food, other than preparations of milk, or cream,
which is generally better and less feverish than flesh; and these,
even, in many cases, it is believed, are better omitted-for they
are more feverish and exciting than the mild preparations of farinaceous food.
In the more advanced stages of this disease, the early morning
sweats, which are so weakening, can be much mitigated, if not entirely prevented, by judicious sponging, or wet cloth-rubbing the
surface of the body. The hectic fever, which wears down the patient's strength, can also be much relieved. By bandaging and
the wet sheets to soothe, great good can also be done to the last




TREATMENT  OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                     319
CHAPTER XVIII.
TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
Inflammations of the Abdomen generally.-These are all to be treated on the same genera.
Principles.-Enteritis, or Inflammation, with obstinate Stoppage of the Bowels.-How
to be treated according to Priessnitz.-This very dangerous Disease sometimes needs
much and powerful Treatment.-Colic.-Priessnitz's Mode of Cure.-Dysentery, Diarrhoea, and Cholera Morbus.-How to be Treated.-Erroneous Notions as to the Effect
of Water.-Causes of these Diseases.-A Case of Dysentery, with Remarks.-Chronic
Diarrhoea, Dysentery, etc.-How to be Cured.-Nausea, Vomiting, and Pains of the Stomach.-Curious Remarks of John Smith.-How to allay Vomiting.
INFLAMMATIONS OF THE ABDOMEN GENERALLY.
ALL inflammations within the abdomen are to be treated on the
same general principles.
ENTERITIS, OR INFLAMMATION, WITH  OBSTINATE STOPPAGE OF THE
BOWELS.
Long-continued shallow bath, with much rubbing of the bowels;
the water to be cold, and changed often, if the patient is not too
weak.  If there is much debility, the water to be used tepid.  In
either case, the treatment must be persevered in, otherwise the
disease may pass very speedily to a fatal termination. Injections,
full and oft-repeated-cold or tepid, according to the strengthare also to be used.  These form  a very important part of the
treatment.
Drinking also to be practiced more or less. After the pain dies
away or becomes subdued, and the bowels are made to act more
or less, the treatment above mentioned is to be diminished. The
wet girdle about the abdomen, or still better, the folded sheet wet,
and placed about the whole trunk of the body, should be used
while the person rests from the baths. Once the pain and inflammation are subdued, little bathing more will be needed.  But the
wet girdle should be worn for days, to tonify or invigorate the
weakened parts which have been diseased.
Persons will be more likely to fail in the treatment of this dis



320        TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
ease from not persevering sufficiently. Many of these cases are
among the most obstinate and dangerous that a medical man has
to deal with. Patients often die of the disease, in spite of bleedings, calomel, and opium: so, if now and then one should be lost
by water (which can at most very rarely happen if any thing is
well done), it need not be said, " Oh, water killed the patient!"
If I had an attack of this disease, I would rather remain in a
bath or tub of water for many hours, than allow the dreadful pain
to go on wrenching one as it does to the very vitals. I would prefer to remain in the water and die there, if I must, than to quail
under the racking tortures often caused by this disease.  Cold
water, rightly used, is more powerful than any or all other agents
combined to remove pain.
COLIC.
In this very painful and sometimes dangerous disease, Priessnitz's treatment is as follows: Prolonged cold sitz bath, rubbing
the abdomen with the wet hand at the same time, and cold injections to the bowels. Persevere in all these applications, and relief will generally very soon follow. If there are spasms, or if the
colic is what may be termed spasmodic, apply the rubbing sheet
briskly, repeating it as often as there is need.
Vomiting by means of water, which Priessnitz has not been in
the habit of resorting to, is a very excellent collateral means in many
cases of colic.
When all ordinary means have failed, dashing some buckets of
cold water upon the abdomen has been found successful.
ACUTE DYSENTERY, DIARRH(EA, CHOLERA MORBUS, AND OTHER DISCHARGES FROM THE BOWELS.
The treatment Priessnitz recommends in all diseases of this kind
is very simple.  Suppose it a bad case of dysentery in a child.
The great reliance with him is the hip bath, always cold if the patient is not already very weak. No time should be lost, and the
treatment should be persevered in until the discharge is arrested.
Cold injections he also uses if the hip bath does not readily arrest
the discharge.  The wet girdle about the abdomen is to be kept
on constantly during the intervals when the other means are not
used.  As much water as the patient desires is to be taken, and at
frequent intervals.




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                321
As to general ablutions, sufficient daily for cleanliness is all that
he recommends in these cases; no half baths, no wet sheets, or
means of that kind as a general thing. The sitz bath, injections,
wet girdle, and the drinking, with spare and cooling diet-these are
the means which Priessnitz has found in his great experience to be
the best. If the patient is very weak, the water should be moderated a little in temperature, as at from 60 degrees to 70 degrees Fah.
In the house where I lodge at Graefenberg this winter (1848),
there is a little boy five or six years of age that has been under
the treatment for some weeks. He has just had the measles. As
the disease passed off, a severe diarrhcea came on. He was of
scrofulous tendency, often had the croup, and also chronic tonsilitis (inflammation of the tonsils). Priessnitz's directions for the
diarrhoea were hip baths cold, every three or four hours during
the day, for twenty minutes each time; and if the discharges come
on in the night, the hip bath was to be given the same as during
the day.  There was also practiced in the case a light general
treatment, such as would be suitable in any case where the measles were passing off, viz., slight general ablutions once or twice a
day, with water at about 70 degrees Fah. The sitz bath had evidently a very marked effect in arresting the discharges.
Priessnitz holds that almost every conceivable case of acute disease of this kind may be readily cured by the simple processes we
have here described, if it is treated in season and with sufficient
perseverance.  There must be no half-way work in the matter,
and there is as much need of a doctor who understands his business, or of an old woman, or some one who is perfectly competent
to take charge in the matter, and see that it is properly carried
out; and how many foolish, ignorant persons, wise enough in their
own conceit, do we have to encounter in almost every case of
water treatment in acute diseases.  The mode we have described
will seem  a harsh and dangerous one, no doubt, to many, and
there will be doctors, wise men enough, who, if they take the
trouble to investigate these things at all, will declare that such a
mode would be perfectly hazardous-quite certain to kill.  Let
these ignorant pretenders (and they are plenty enough in our
country), I say let them first learn the A, B, C of the water treatment before they assume to pronounce so sagely concerning the
opinions and well-earned experience of the noble philosopher of
14*




322         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
Graefenberg.  I myself have been annoyed not a little in the city
of New York, by having my patients told by these would-be wise
men that the water-cure would be certain to kill them.  "Youl
system has not the power of reaction," that convenient word as
little understood as it is common to use; "you will surely get
your death by the water." Such are not unfrequently the expressions of those miserable specimens of humanity who know not yet
the first principles of the laws that govern the human system, or of
the water-cure as practiced by its founder.
But to return. In our cities, our hot, unhealthy American cities,
where, in the summer season, such multitudes of infants and children drop off suddenly with these bowel complaints, I fear that in
many cases death will be the result of such attacks, in spite of all
that the best skill and judgment can dictate. So unhealthy is a
great city like New York in the hot season, with its ten thousand
filthy and pestilential emanations, from streets, gutters, privies,
butcheries, and the like; and so unwisely, too, are children reared,
starved now and then, but generally over-full, crammed, as people
do with their housed geese and turkies before Thanksgiving or
Christmas; dosed with paregorics and other poisonous compounds
from the first hour of life onward; swathed and girted up so that
they could scarce exist, even if all other things were right about
them;-I repeat, any practitioner that has to deal with such cases,
and under such circumstances, will have trouble enough, and if I
am not mistaken will often be tempted to flee forever from a calling
which is by most people so thanklessly appreciated and yet more
thanklessly rewarded.
But in the practice of the water treatment, I have often been
astonished at the results obtained in these unfavorable cases, and
sometimes when the patient has been given over to die, when
dosing and poisoning had been carried to the full extent.
If a child of my own should be attacked in a dangerous manner
with dysentery, or any of the bowel complaints, I presume I should
use a more powerful and energetic treatment than I should dare
to use elsewhere, so great is the prejudice of the people against
water, and so ignorant are physicians of its use.  Why, suppose a
man loses a patient and is sued for malpractice. It might have
been the best treatment that could possibly be, yet the patient is
lost.  Now come the wise gentry of the profession to testify.  The
child was killed-and then comes the indictment, or, to say the




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.             323
least, a heavy fine; for the value of human life is often measured
by money in this world. Thus it is; if we of the water system
lose a case, no matter of what kind, ten to one if we have not
killed the patient. But in the calomel and bleeding practice, it is
another thing.  A man may kill a score of patients in as many
days, and so that each one be well crammed with poisons, and
sent hence with the last repeated dose undigested on the stomach,
all is well; the patient died scientifically. There is a charm in
that; but we of the new practice, believing honestly and truly in
what we do, and that the system is the greatest of all improvements that have yet come to man-we will undertake to teach
people to die as well as to live by the water treatment. Let
future times determine whether we succeed.
I must mention a fatal case of dysentery I had in the past year,
1847. A very worthy friend was the father of a second child, an
only daughter, which he worshiped.  It had been reared with
great difficulty to seven or eight months by hand. It was not my
patient at first. Being taken ill of dysentery, medicine was given.
Then I was called upon. We practiced the water treatment, and
then again some medicine was given. At last the child died; and
now this friend, who is theoretically tired enough of the old mode,
can never forgive himself that other means were not used. "Why,"
says he, "when one thing fails, we should try something else."
This perpetually "trying" something else! Alas! how many are
tried upon until they are sent to the grave.
The following case was furnished by our pupil, Seth Rogers,
last summer, 1848:
"OYSTER BAY, 8th mo. 7, 1848.
"At this season of the year, when thousands are dying with the
diarrhoea and dysentery, it seems proper to state a simple method
by which these diseases can, as a general fact, be readily cured.
By the proper use of water, immediate relief is almost invariably
afforded.
"While in the city of New York a few days since, I found a
married lady of my acquaintance suffering very severely with the
last-named disease. The irritation and pain had been increasing
for two days, and during the night before I saw her, the discharges
consisted principally of blood.  Her strength was fast failing, and
it was evident that something must immediately be done. She had
too much confidence in the power of water to listen to those kind




324         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
friends who advised her to use other remedies; yet she did not
understand its rightful and full application. But I have heard
some one remark that' water, even if not very well applied, is far
better than drugs;' so in this case, the more alarming symptoms
were soon arrested by a very slight use of it.
" It was toward evening when I saw the lady.  I recommended
her to have the lower part of the body and limbs thoroughly
rubbed in the half bath ten minutes.  The water was nearly 70
degrees Fah., summer or rain-water temperature, and four or five
inches in depth.  The bath gave considerable relief.  She then
used injections of water at the same temperature, in quick succession, until the pain entirely ceased. Gallons were used. That
night she slept as soundly, and was as much refreshed, as in ordinary health. The night previous, she did not rest at all. The
next morning I advised her to commence very moderately with
diet, but her appetite was excellent, and she partook quite freely
of plain food and berries during the day. She walked considerable in the open air; her strength gradually returned, and she
found no further difficulty. On the following day she experienced
some nausea, occasioned by over-eating, but it was remedied by
omitting a meal.                                 S. ROGERS."
" EDITOR'S REMARKS.
"It will be seen that the treatment in the above case was somewhat different from  that uniformly adopted by Priessnitz in such
cases.  The patient was a good deal weakened by the agony she
had suffered, and the loss of blood. Still Priessnitz would have
used water much colder.  For persons of little experience, such
as are not thoroughly versed in the heroic modes, the more moderate course is the better one. Every family should have first-rate
injection instruments, for clysters are of great service in all these
complaints.
"Fasting has a great power over diseases of this kind.  We
have cured many a case of bad dysentery at sea, depending principally upon entire abstinence from all food and drink other than
pure water.  A  patient may be kept for days, a week or more,
without any food, and yet run no risk of injury on that score.
Many a person is killed by a relapse brought on by improper diet
in such cases.
"Those who will, may refer to an account of the successful




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                325
treatment of a very dangerous case of dysentery in a colored boy,
reported in the Water-Cure Manual."
CHRONIC DIARRH(EA, DYSENTERY, ETC.
Whenever these affections of the bowels become chronic, that
is, of long standing, the treatment should be such as is best calculated to fortify and invigorate the general health.
NAUSEA, PAINS IN THE STOMACH AND BOWELS, AND VOMITING.
As regards the treatment of nausea, and pains of the stomach
and bowels, arising from improper food and drink, I could not do
better than quote the following remarks of a truly sensible writer,
John Smith, whose work, "Curiosities of Common Water," was
published in England, 1723:
"VOMITING BY WATER.
"By means of water all sickness at the stomach may be cured,
which is done thus: Take four quarts of water, make it as hot
over the fire as you can drink it; of which water let a quart be
taken down at several draughts; then wrap a rag round a small
piece of stick, till it is about the bigness of a man's thumb; tie it
fast with some thread; and with this, by endeavoring gently to
put it a little way down your throat, provoke yourself to vomit
up again most of the water; then drink another quart, and vomit
up that, and repeat the same the third and fourth time. You may
also provoke vomiting by tickling your throat with your finger, or
the feather-end of a goose-quill; but the cloth round a skewer
maketh one vomit with most ease, which is done with no trouble
when the stomach is full.  And by this way of vomiting, which
will be all performed in an hour's time, that vicious and ropy
phlegm  in the stomach, which causeth the sickness, will be cast
up, so that the party in that time will be free from all that inward
disturbance, if you use the remedy at first; but if the sickness
hath continued for a time, it will require the same course once or
twice more, which may be done in three or four hours, one after
another, without any other inconvenience besides that of being a
little sore in the breast the next day, which will soon go off by the
force of nature.  Which remedy, by forty years' experience, I
look upon to be infallible in all sickness at the stomach, from what
cause soever, and for all pains in the belly which seem to be




326         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
above the navel; for these are all in the stomach, as by long experience I have found: which pains are generally counted the
colic; but it is not so; for true colics are always below the navel,
in the large intestine or colon. And by this means I have eased
very great pains, caused by eating muscles that were poisonous;
and it is also a certain cure for all surfeits or disorders that follow
after much eating; so that the lives of multitudes might be saved
by this means, who, for want of expelling what offends, do often
die in misery. For, by thus cleansing the stomach at the first, the
root of diseases proceeding from surfeiting, or unwholesome food,
or any vicious humors from a bad digestion, are prevented; the
stomach being the place in which all distempers do at first begin.
No man was more subject to sickness than myself before thirty
years of age; but since I found out the way of vomiting with
water, which is now above forty years, I never have been sick for
two days together; for when I find myself ill to any great degree, I betake myself to this way of vomiting, which, in an hour's
time, restores me to ease, and perfectly removes my illness. And
the same benefit all my family find in it, as do others also, whom
I can persuade to try the experiment; which is such, that no
physician whatever can advise a better to the king himself, should
he fall sick. For, in the first place, it is not a nauseous remedyit does not make the patient sick, as the best of all other vomits
do; and then it is a vomit which is at our own command, since we
can leave off when we please; and it infallibly works a cure to all
sick stomachs.
"Some few, indeed, pretend that they are not able to vomit by
this means.  Now, if they cannot vomit, let them  take a pint of
water, when they find themselves ill from eating, and do so every
three or four hours, eating no more till they are hungry; and they
will find the water digest and carry off what was offensive. The
ingenious Dr. Cheyne, in his Treatise of the Gout, doth affirm,
that warm water drank freely in a morning, fasting, and at meals
(and I say cold water is as good), hath been a sovereign remedy
for restoring lost appetites, and strengthening weak digestions,
when other more pompous medicines have failed.  And he adviseth gouty persons, after excess, either in meat or drink, to swill
down as much fair water as their stomachs will bear, before they
go to bed, whereby they will reap these advantages: either the
contents of the stomach will be thrown up, or both meat and




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                    327
drink will be much diluted, and the labor and expense of spirits
in digestion much saved. And indeed I have found, by long experience, that nothing causeth so good a digestion as fair water;
but this requires time to free us from the uneasiness that an ill digestion causeth, whereas vomiting is an immediate remedy, and
frees a man from it upon the spot."
IN EXCESSIVE VOMITING, CAUSED BY IMPROPER FOOD, ETC.,
There should be practiced first a thorough cleansing of the stomach, as above explained; after which, small pieces of ice, or small
draughts of cold water will be found very useful in arresting the
symptom.  This treatment is certainly very simple; but all who
have occasion, may easily test its efficacy.
CHAPTER XIX.
TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
Meaning of "Cholera," "Contagion," and "Infection."-Is Cholera contagious?-Causes of
Cholera.-Manner of an attack of Cholera.-Symptoms of Cholera.-First Stage.-Second Stage.-Stage of Collapse.-Nature of Cholera.-Orthodox Practice unsuccessful.Water Treatment of Cholera.-Ice and Water Drinking.-Vomiting by means of Water.
-Rubbing Wet Sheet in Spasm.-Priessnitz's mode.-Rationale of the Processes.-The
Persian Treatment of Cholera.
CHOLERA.*
CHOLERA signifies a flow of bile; "cholera morbus," a morbid
flow of bile.  The term cholera, then, as used in modern times, is
not correct, because, in the disease proper, there is no flow or discharge of bile whatever.  The entire absence of bile in matters
vomited and passed by the bowels, is a characteristic feature of
the disease. Cholera, like many other medical terms, is used in
a sense directly the opposite of its true and original signification.
The term, however, is well understood, and that is sufficient for all
practical purposes.
* For a more full exposition of the causes, symptoms, nature, and treatment of Cholera, the reader is referred to " Lectures on Cholera," by Joel
Shew, M. D.  Fowlers & Wells, New York.




328         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
Meaning of " Contagion" and "Infection."-The word "contagion" (from contango, to meet-or touch) signifies, properly, the application of some morbid or poisonous matter to the body, through
the medium of touch.  A contagious disease is taken by a person
coming in contact with another diseased, or by his being, in some
mode or other, subjected to the morbid matter passing from the
diseased body of the one affected.
An INFECTIOUS disease is one the principle of which exists in
the atmosphere, without any relation or reference to the bodies of
the sick. An infectious disease, then, is taken as easily without
coming in contact with the sick as it may be with. If a disease
is infectious and not contagious, all quarantine regulations are useless; and, in this case, there is no more danger in attending, nursing, or being with the sick, than in not doing so. This is an important PRACTICAL distinction between contagious and infectious
diseases.
Is the Cholera a contagious Disease?-This is a difficult question to determine, if indeed that be possible at all. It is a "vexed
question."  Much proof may be brought on both sides.  It is
very certain, I think, that cholera is not contagious in the same
degree as small-pox, and some other diseases. If it were strictly
contagious-or, at least, contagious in the same degree as smallpox-it would live perpetually in a city like London, Paris, or
New York, and not of itself soon pass away, as it always has
done.  Besides, many persons have been much among cholera
patients-physicians, nurses, and attendants-and yet have not
received the disease.  Persons have slept with those having the
cholera, dressed blisters for them, and nursed them in all manner
of ways, remaining constantly with them  night and day, and yet
have not suffered an attack.  We know, therefore, that cholera
cannot be contagious in the same degree as small-pox, measles,
scarlatina, and the like.  Probably all epidemic diseases-diseases
that rage, or come upon great numbers at the same time-are, to
a greater or less extent, contagious.  The bodies of persons suffering with such diseases, doubtless throw off matter that has a
tendency to produce the sarle form  of disease in others, whose
systems are in a low condition of health.
Causes of Cholera.-Whether cholera is, or is not, a contagious
disease, we know that certain classes of persons are far more subject to it than others; and investigations of this kind are far more




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.               329
useful in a practical view, than those concerning the question of
contagion and non-contagion.
Judging from  all the facts of cholera, we may lay down the
following axiom: that whatever tends in any way to depress or deteriorate the general health of the individual, must necessarily render
the system more liable to an attack; and, growing out of this, another axiom, that whatever tends to fortify and establish the general
health of the individual, is a natural means of enabling the system
to ward off the disease.
These are self-evident principles, and cannot be too well remembered or acted upon-not only with reference to cholera, but every
known malady, and especially diseases of epidemic kind.
Manner of an attack of Cholera.-If it is impossible to arrive at
the true nature of cholera, we may know and treat it by its effects.
Mark well one thing: in its beginning it is in general a MILD disease.  People are not struck down all of a sudden, as we have
been often told, and without any premonitions of an attack. There
must be a pre-existing disease. If a person is in all respects well,
and practices uniformly good and regular habits, no attack of
cholera can come upon him.  There are people, however, who
are thought by themselves and the many to be perfectly well, who
are yet among the subjects most liable to cholera.  Corpulent
men, with red faces, high livers, the very personification of health,
as people say, are very liable to diseases of the bowels, and consequently to cholera. The truth is, such persons are never well,
and carry constantly within them  the seeds of disease.  Facts
abundantly prove that no really healthy person can be attacked
with cholera.
There is, then, preceding the real attack of cholera, a diseased
condition of the stomach and bowels-a state of things which it is
possible, in almost every conceivable case, to manage safely, and
thus prevent the final invasion of the terrific disease.
Symptoms of Cholera-first stage.-The symptoms of cholera,
as authors give them, are many and various.  As in all other
severe diseases, there will be much variation in the manner of the
attack.  The disease has been by some divided into three stages.
After the mild diarrhoea, which has been generally for some days
present, there occur griping pains in the stomach and bowels,
nausea, tenesmus (or a bearing down and desire to evacuate the
bowels, and without any effect); at other times there are watery




330         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
discharges from the bowels; sometimes there is a thin, slimy discharge, streaked with blood., But generally the discharges are
not attended with pain, as in dysentery, but take place with ease,
almost without the consciousness of the patient. It is said that
"in the debilitated, and especially in the intemperate, the evacuations from the bowels are, from the first, often extremely copious,
whey-like, and produce a sense of extreme exhaustion, a faintness,
or even fainting; and that in such cases, in a very few hours, the
most terrible cramps, vomiting, and collapse come on." Any improper exposure, and especially any imprudence in eating, drinking, or the taking of medicine, will in such cases accelerate the
coming on of the second and third stages.  In the first stage the
appetite is diminished or entirely gone, and the desire for cold
water is proportionably increased. There are also shooting pains
in the extremities, particularly the calves of the legs. Patients
describe their symptoms as of all the blood rushing to the interior
of the abdomen; sometimes feeling as if electric shocks were passing through the bowels, accompanied with very great and unendurable heat.
Second stage.-In what may be termed the second stage, there
is almost constant vomiting and purging of what has been denominated " rice-water fluid."  This turbid, whitish liquid, " pours again
and again from the bowels in streams, and is spouted from the
mouth as if from a pump."  The vomiting itself is generally easy,
and comparatively without effort, and appearing to give momentary
relief. Again, there are violent pains of the stomach and bowels,
and of the head and back, with violent spasms of the muscles, and
more especially of the extremities.
The pain, we are told by those who have seen much of the disease, often causes the most courageous to make noisy outcries, and
to roll themselves about as if frantic.  The agony about the heart
often experienced in cholera, is believed to be as great as that of
any which mankind are ever brought to endure.  In consequence
of this agony, there comes on necessarily such extreme weakness,
that the patient cannot move; the trunk of the body in particular
becomes powerless.
The pulse may be full, or small and contracted.  The skin is
bathed in a clammy perspiration, and has a peculiar FEEL, like
dough.  Some have compared the skin in this state to a wet hide.
The countenance is expressive of great anxiety and distress,




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                 331
although the mental faculties remain unimpaired.  Already in this
stage the secretion of the kidneys often entirely ceases; the thirst
is inordinate-so great, in some instances, that the patient gets out
of bed, goes to the pump, or wherever he may obtain water, and
sometimes even drinks the fluid which he has before vomited. In
no disease is the thirst so great as in cholera.
Stage of Collapse.-Next comes the stage of collapse, as it is
called.  A remarkable change takes place in the appearance of the
patient.  The surface becomes cold, and in many instances blue;
the lips are purple, the tongue cold, and of the color of lead. The
wrist becomes pulseless.  The breath is also cold; the eyes are
sunk deep in their sockets, and the whole appearance has changed
and become ghastly as that of a corpse.  In many instances so
great a change takes place in a few hours, that near friends cannot
recognize the sufferer. The peculiar appearance of the physiognomy in confirmed cholera, is so expressive of extreme anguish, that
the name "triangular face" has been used to designate it.  "It
bears a striking resemblance to the appearance of AGE; and seems
to arise from the paleness, wasting, and shrinking of the features,
and the depressed and disturbed state of the mind, conveying into
the countenance a strong expression of care, anxiety, and alarm."
— Orton, as quoted by Dr. Jas. Johnson.
There is cold, profuse perspiration, which seems to exude in
large drops from every pore; and, notwithstanding this coldness,
the patient complains of the burning heat at the stomach, and
craves more than ever cold water, and the cool fresh air.  The
watery discharges from the bowels continue; " the hands and fingers are shriveled, white, corrugated, and sodden, like those of a
washerwoman after a long day's work. The voice is very peculiar,
husky, and faint.  At last the patient is free from pain and vomiting, and remains apparently tranquil; not willing to make the
least exertion, and as if quietly awaiting the approach of death."
Such are the symptoms constituting what is termed a state of
collapse.  The symptoms will, of course, vary greatly in different
cases; sometimes coming on very suddenly, almost without any
warning; at other times lingering for days.*
* Broussais thus describes the " exterior" symptoms of cholera:
"The muscles are strongly marked under the skin; the eyes are hollow,
dry, and sunken; after some hours, the consistence of the eyeball seems to
be dissolved; and one would say the eyes were turned inward by means of




332          TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
If reaction or return of warmth and circulation appear in collapse, there is more hope for the patient; and yet there is danger
from  consecutive fever and kindred local affections; especially
where inordinate dosing has been practiced, this holds true.  It
has been remarked, that when inebriates passed into a state of reaction following collapse, they were very apt to be attacked by
delirium  tremens, and were almost certain to die.  I believe that
about one half of all cholera patients in regular practice have perished with the disease.
Nature of Cholera.-The cholera is emphatically a disease of
the mucous or lining membrane of the stomach and bowels.  This
internal skin, as it may be called, is much larger in extent than
would at first be supposed. Beginning at the mouth and throat,
descending, we have the cesophagus, stomach, duodenum or second
stomach, the jejunum, illeum, the last three forming the small intestines; and the coecum, colon, and rectum, comprising the large
intestine.  This whole tract, upward of thirty feet in length, is
lined with the mucous membrane, which is more than two thousand
square inches, or about thirteen square feet in extent. It is upon
a thread.  The aspect of the patient is hideous; the face very soon loses its
fullness, and is contracted in a manner peculiar to these affections: but what
causes the greatest astonishment, is the livid hue which spreads itself over
the countenance as the disease advances. The extremities are cold; the
tongue is usually pale, chill, broad, and flat; the breath cold, and'the pulse
feeble; the words are rather breathed than pronounced.  The patient remains motionless, on the back; if you force them to lay upon the side, they
cannot continue so long, but beg to be laid on their back, so that the breast
may be raised. While the body thus remains still, they move the feet and
hands, uncover the breast, complain of a fire within, and tear off the poultices
and other warm applications placed on the stomach; they turn from one side
to the other, but are not able to rise up. The color becomes darker and
darker, and is soon livid. It varies, however, according to the natural complexion of the patient.  Dark complexions become black or bluish; but
those which are more transparent turn yellow, taking the color of bad gilding.
This is followed by cessation of the pulse, which I shall call asphyxy. The
pulse grows weak rapidly, and sometimes disappears in three hours, or even
less. As soon as the pulse begins to grow feeble, the patient falls into the
heaviness I have referred to: there are cases, however, in which he still preserves his strength when the pulse is extinct, and is even able to raise himself up, and go from one place to another; but this strength is soon lost, and
the unhappy person falls powerless. After the cessation of the pulse, the
black hue manifests itself with various rapidity, sometimes at the end of two
or three hours, sometimes even in less; this depends upon the promptitude
with which circulation ceases."




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.              333
and through this great surface that the food is formed into chyme,
afterward chyle, which last passes into the circulation and becomes
blood. Effete and worn-out matters of the. system are also thrown
off in large quantities through the lower part of this surface.
This extensive membrane is also supplied in all its parts, with
myriads of nervous filaments, and through the ganglionic nervous
system is brought into a very intimate connection with every part
of the organism.  Upon and through this membrane, the cholera
manifests itself.  There is congestion (stagnation of blood) in all
of the abdominal organs; but if we are to regard the cholera a
disease of any one particular part, it is the mucous membrane of
the alimentary canal.
There are various theories among pathologists as t6 the true
nature of cholera.  Thus there is the nervous theory, so called-a
theory implying that the nervous system, or the nervous fluid-of
which so much is said and so little known-is wholly at fault.
Another theory is that of congestion; and still another, that of
acute inflammation.  Whichever of these theories a practitioner
may adopt, or whether he adopt no theory at all, he must treat
the disease according to the SYMPrTOS as he finds them.  All the
most ingenious theorizing in the world will avail him nothing,
when he comes to undertake the serious matter of treating the
sick.  I repeat, every judicious practitioner will treat cholera
ACCORDING TO THE SYMPTOMS AS HE FINDS THEM AT THE TIME.
Moreover, whether he be a theorizer or not, he must be, to a considerable extent, AN EXPERIMENTER, SO difficult are many things in
the medical art.
Orthodox Practice in Cholera.-Dr. Elliotson, of London, in
"Principles and Practice of M [edicine," says: "We are not in the
least more informed as to the proper remedies, than we were when
the first case of cholera occurred  we have not been instructed, in
the least, by those who have had the disease to treat. Some say
they have cured the disease by bleeding; others by calomel;
others by opium; and others, again, say that opium does harm.
No doubt many poor creatures have died uncomfortably, who
would have died tranquilly if nothing had been done to them.
Some were placed in hot water, or in hot air, and had opium and
calomel, and cther stimulants; which, altogether, were more than
their systems would bear, and more than would have been borne
if they had been so treated even in perfect health." And again




334         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
"I am sorry to say that, of the cases I had to treat, the patients
nearly all died.  I tried two or three sorts of treatment.  Some
had opium and calomel, in large and full doses; but they died.
Hot air was applied externally; and I got two to BREATHE hot air.
I had a tube passed through boiling water, so that they might
inhale hot air. It was found vain to attempt to warm people by
hot air applied EXTERNALLY. They were nearly as cold as before;
we could not raise their temperature; and therefore I thought of
making them breathe hot air; but both patients died about the
period that death usually takes place.  It was said that saline
treatment was likely to be of use; and I accordingly tried it with
some patients. At first I exhibited half a drachm of sesquicarbonate of soda every hour; and thinking that it might not be
quite enough, I exhibited a drachm. In one patient, at St. Thomas's Hospital, I ordered an injection containing an ounce of the
same remedy; but the greater part of it came away, and the patient died.  Hot air was used in this case as well as the others."
This quotation, from one of the most able as well as most candid
of all medical authorities, exhibits truthfully the state of the old
school as regards this dire disease.
Treatment of Cholera.-The diarrhcea which so generally precedes the real attack of cholera, should be treated like any other
diarrhoea, on general principles. It would be better for the individual to practice entire fasting from all food-the hunger-cureas the Germans call it-until the diarrhoea ceases. The human
body, as I have said, is composed of about nine tenths water, in
its best health; therefore it is that pure water alone will sustain it
so wonderfully for days and even weeks. Barn-yard fowls, as before remarked, when kept without food, will not survive the ninth
day if they have no water; but with water they will live more
than twice as long-to the twentieth day. If you wish to cure a
diarrhoea safely, effectually, and without harm to the constitution,
practice fasting, and live on pure soft water until it ceases. Then
begin taking food with extreme caution; at the regular meal-times
only, and an exceedingly small quantity at first. Some will tell
you that fasting produces disease, but physiology and pathology
prove that neither fasting nor starvation causes any such result.
The individual who is starved, having at the same time water to
drink, dies of mere inanition, and not of organic disease.
According to the Graefenberg plan, the cold hio bath, cold wa



TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                335
ter drinking, injections, pure fresh air, and the famous wet girdle
of Priessnitz, are the means to be used; and these may be employed in connection with the fasting recommended.
The great thirst in cholera is one of the most troublesome
symptoms, and, according to all experience, it is one of the most
grateful things imaginable for the patient to be allowed all the
cold water he desires. There is no disease in which thirst is so
great-none in which so much cold water is drank. Some thought
that cold water did harm in certain cases. So it might, if the
water was hard and bad, or if the patient had been kept long from
it, or, especially, if he had been over-drugged.  In all cases of
inward feverishness and thirst, it is of the greatest importance that
the water be pure and soft. If people would take half the pains
respecting water that they do in obtaining tea and coffee, they
might have at least an abundance of filtered rain water, which is
always a luxury, and remarkably favorable to health.
In 1831 and 1832, the practitioners of Europe and this country
did not agree upon this matter; at least, not for a time at first,
But at length the large majority came to believe in the free use of
water and ice internally, to gratify the longings for drink. But
there is a reason why some men might make a mistake in regard
to their conclusion, as to whether the ad libitum use of water
internally were safe in cholera; it is this: in certain states and
conditions of the stomach and alimentary canal, water appears to
increase vomiting.  Thus I can conceive that a cholera patient
would often be made to vomit worse on taking water, especially if
it had been withheld from him. But we are not to infer from this
that the water is necessarily bad. In poisoning, for instance, a
patient may drink and vomit gallons of water, and yet when the
offending cause is removed, the vomiting ceases.  Causing a sedative effect upon the stomach-and water is one of the most effectual of all means possible by which to bring about this indication
-is the best possible means of finally arresting vomiting from
whatever cause. Give the patient, from the first, all the cold water he desires, and the stomach will take care of its own vomiting.
Small pieces of ice held constantly in the mouth, and often swallowed, is believed by many the best mode of managing this symptom. The most judicious rule, I think, would be to consult the patient's inclination. I should not fear to let him drink all he desired;
if the vomiting were increased at first, that would be no harm.




336         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
The drinking of water and the use of ice internally-any thing,
in short, that produces a sedative effect upon the abdominal organs-will tend to arrest the vomiting and discharges from the
bowels.  Bathing also has the same effect, but more particularly
the long-continued cold hip bath. This is Priessnitz's great means
of arresting all unnatural discharges from the bowels.  Meantime,
also, cold injections are to be used. These cause a constringing
effect, and act, also, as a tonic to the general system. All internal
applications of cold water act by dilution as well as coolness,
rendering morbid matters less acrid, and, by the water-purging, it
also carries off these humors of disease. The wet girdle Priessnitz uses between the periods of the hip bath. This is, at least,
three yards of good heavy linen toweling, one half its whole length
wet, to come next the surface, and all well wrapped about the abdomen.  It is a great tonic to the general system, as well as astringent to the stomach and bowels, in arresting the discharges.
Vomiting by water may be serviceable in cholera.  Some practitioners have observed, strange as it may appear, that emetics
serve to arrest vomiting in this disease.  Vomiting by means of
water-that is, vomiting caused by drinking quickly a large quantity of blood-warm water-a quart or more-is often very useful
in derangements of the stomach and bowels. Spasms of the stomach I have known arrested immediately by this simple remedy.  I
am confident that a thorough cleansing of the stomach with lukewarm water in this way, would often be a most excellent remedy
in the early stages of cholera.  Vomiting thus practiced, acts
partly by removing offensive matters from the stomach, partly by
promoting a better circulation toward the surface, and partly by
inducing a healthful perspiration upon the skin. This is a perfectly safe remedy, and is certain of doing some good.  In fits of
dyspepsia caused by surfeiting, the vomiting will be found most
excellent. This advice may apply especially to those who cannot
control their appetites, but would rather feast and gorge themselves, even at the expense of health.
All the internal applications, when properly made, do much
good, by supplying serum for the blood. The great and copious
discharges from the stomach and bowels rob the blood, with most
fearful rapidity, of its watery part.  Water, by drinking and by
injections, as well as externally applied, goes directly to make up
this deficiency; and hence the great benefit from the free use of




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.                337
water in this disease. It is to be remarked, also, that the greater
the thirst, the more rapidly is water absorbed into the circulation
by the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels.
Experience proves-those tell us who have had the disease to
treat-that heat externally applied, is productive of no benefit.
It does no good to attempt to warm the patients. The general effect of heat is to debilitate; and the fact that cholera patients
always dread hot air and hot baths, is proof enough why these
should not be used; the constant desire in the active stages of the
disease is for coolness, fresh air, and cold water to drink.  I would
not be understood as saying, that heat internally applied, by means
of water, which produces at the same time various other effects
than merely those of heat, can do no good.  But the desire for
coolness generally, in the active form of the disease, is, beyond
doubt, the normal indication of nature, such as an animal would
naturally seek to gratify.
Spasms in cholera are best relieved by the vigorous application
of the rubbing wet sheet. Have a linen sheet of good weight (but
cotton will answer), wring it only slightly out of cold water, and
put it about the whole body, rubbing at the same time energetically,
over the sheet and not with it. This is a famous application for
bringing the blood to the surface, and of relieving spasms and
cramps from whatever cause.  In three or four minutes the sheet
becomes warm, upon which it is again re-wet, and applied as before. Water by this application becomes a great antispasmodic.
It was found in the hospitals of Paris, that dry friction alone
was often effectual in quieting  spasms beyond any ordinary
remedy; but wet friction is much the best.
The cold perspiration in cholera may be greatly relieved, if not
wholly prevented, by ablutions.  This is a symptom  of debility,
and the tonic effect of water to the skin is a sure preventive. In
the night sweats of consumption, the same effects are caused by
baths.
Priessnitz's treatment of Cholera.-In 1831, there was much
cholera about Graefenberg, considering the number of inhabitants
there. PRIESSNITZ cured, he tells us, upward of twenty cases,
being all that he had the opportunity of treating. He commenced
in the first stages of the disease, and treated the patient as follows:
they were subjected to a rubbing with a wet linen sheet, in which
the whole body was wrapped, and all the parts of the surface
15




338         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.
were energetically rubbed with it-that is, over the sheet. To
counteract the violent fits of nausea, much water was drank, so as
to produce vomiting; after the rubbing, a cold water injection and
a cold hip bath were employed, to counteract the diarrhoea; and
while undergoing constant rubbing of the surface, the patients remained in the water till the sickness and diarrhcea subsided. After
the hip bath and rubbing, a wet bandage or girdle was placed
around the body, upon which the patients went to bed; after
sleeping they were again put into a cold bath. Cold drinks and
cold food only were taken during the convalescence; and by these
means the disease was overcome.
This appears like a very simple treatment; but it may be made
a most energetic one, as every physician acquainted with such
applications can easily see. The dripping sheet, with the brisk
rubbing upon its surface, is, as I have before said, a powerful
means of relieving spasms, arising from whatever cause. The dry
rubbing, which is not a tenth part as good as the wet, was found
in Paris sufficient to render calm and quiet the poor sufferers,
when the terrible spasms were upon them.  The water drinking
and vomiting in nausea cleanses the stomach, produces a tonic
effect upon its internal surface, and thus forestalls the vomiting in
cholera. It helps, moreover, to cleanse the bowels and prevent
the diarrhcea.  The deep, cold hip bath (for it is such that Priessnitz uses), has a very powerful effect in constringing the opening
capillaries of the mucous membrane of the stomach, and alimentary canal generally, and in arresting the vomiting and discharges
from  the bowels.  Each and all of these applications, if energetically persevered in, tend most powerfully to keep down the inordinate burning and thirst.
Priessnitz had not been in the habit of practicing warm water
vomiting.  I conversed much with him respecting all his modes
of using water, during a stay of nearly two months at Graefenberg,
last winter. To seek vomiting as an effect, seemed never to have
been an object with him. Even by drinking cold water, vomiting
sometimes comes on, but not often.  If we wish to cause that
symptom, as in cramps and distress arising from offending matters
in the stomach or alimentary canal, blood-warm water is by far the
most speedy and effectual in its action. In reference to this mode,
Priessnitz remarked, that he would do no violence to the system.
I told him I had practiced it in many instances, in cases of old and




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONTINUED.               339
very feeble persons, and that the result was always apparently
good.  On ieflection, he admitted that the remedy must be a good
one.  I will here remark, that if there is heat and thirst, the water
should always be used cold, although the blood-warm  will do
much good even then.
Here let it be understood, I do not claim a great deal for Priessnitz's experience in cholera.  He is a most candid man, and one
that would not, for his right hand, mislead the world in so important a matter as treating the sick.  He never fails to tell us that
his cholera cases were taken in the very beginning of the disease.
At the same time, however, he affirms that the water treatment is
incomparably the best mode that can be adopted in all stages of
the disease.
The Persian Treatment.-The Persian treatment of cholera,
as given by Dr. Scouttetten, in some respects resembles that of
Priessnitz. It is thus given:
" The following account will give an idea of the mode of treatment at Baku, which contains 12,000 Persians and 800 Russians.
The treatment commenced at the moment of the attack. From
the first symptoms the patients were undressed, even in the streets,
and then cold affusions were applied. The extremities, the trunk,
and particularly the chest and the shoulders, were rubbed and
shampooed, and the contracted limbs were extended.
" These manipulations were performed for two or three hours by
a dozen persons, on the same individual, while the affusion of cold
water was continued.  Having come home, he went to bed, and a
warm tea was given him to produce perspiration; if this appeared,
the patient was regarded as out of danger. A strict regimen was
however enjoined for nine days; only light soups of rice and of
tender meats were allowed, and he was recommended to take
moderate exercise in the open air daily.  Arrangements were
made by the authorities so well, that vessels of water were placed
at the corners of the streets, and even on the roads.  No one
passed the night alone.  When a person was attacked with the
cholera in the street, all the by-standers attended to him; every
one ran to him with vessels of water in their hands, and when one
was tired of rubbing another took his place. If a person was
taken sick at his house, assistance was asked and immediately obtained."
All who are acquainted with the water-cure of Priessnitz, will




340          TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONCLUDED.
see at once that the cold affusions often repeated, in connection
with the friction and shampooing of the surface, would have a
very powerful effect in bringing the blood toward that part, in
relieving the spasms, preventing the internal heat and distress,
arresting the vomiting and discharges, supporting the strength; in
short, in warding off every symptom  of the disease.  The nine
days' strict regimen, also, was most excellent; although soups,
especially of flesh meat, are not the best in such cases.  As to
the warm  drink, that is a small matter, even if not the best.  One
thing is certain, the Persian patients could not have longed much
for cold water and fresh air while being subjected to so vigorous
an out-door treatment with cold water.
Thus much I have considered necessary to say on cholera.
Those who desire to peruse a much more detailed account of the
disease, are referred to my lectures on the subject.
CHAPTER XX.
TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONCLUDED.
Haemorrhages.-General Principles of Treatment.-Bleeding from the Lungs.-How to
be Treated.-Bleeding from the Bowels.-Mode of Treatment.-Haemorrhage from the
Womb.-this is to be Treated on the same general Principles as all Hsemorrhages.Nose Bleed.-Modes of Curing it.-Paronychia, Whitlow, and Felon.-Causes of the
Disease, and Treatment.-Earache.-How to be Treated.-Toothache, and its Cure.
HAEMORRHAGES.
HEiMORRHAGES, or bleeding coming from  the lungs, stomach,
bowels, etc., are all to be treated on the same general principles.
We cannot always tell from what part the blood issues; but we
need not, for that reason, be at a loss how to proceed in the treatment.
BLEEDING FROM THE LUNGS
Is the most common form  of internal haemorrhage.  The treatment may be conducted as follows: In a case that is at all alarm.
ing, the quick and thorough chilling of the system, and particu



TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONCLUDED.                341
larly the chest, should be practiced. The whole chest should, as
quickly as possible, be covered with thick linen cloths, dripping
wet in the very coldest water that can be obtained. Pounded ice,
or snow, if these can be had, are more effectual. They should be
placed immediately upon the skin.  Thoroughly chilling the neck
is good, at the same time. Professor Elliotson, of London, a man
of very great experience, observes, that it is surprising how patients bear cold in this disease.  He had never known a case to
be injured in this way.
The patient must be kept as comfortable as possible, after the
bleeding is arrested. Food must be very light. Drinking freely
of the coldest water should be practiced at the first of the attack.
By physicians of the ordinary or old practice, bleeding is much
relied upon, in cases that will bear it. But, generally, the symptom occurs in those of frail, weak systems. Such can poorly withstand this formidable means.  Many are killed by it, and, in not a
few cases, a severe relapse is caused by the so-called remedy.
HEMORRHAGE FROM THE BOWELS.
The treatment here consists mainly of the same as in haemorrhage from the lungs, except that the local applications are to be
made over the bowels instead of the chest. Prolonged cold hip
baths will here be very useful. The wet girdle should also be
worn to invigorate the affected parts.
HAMORRHAGE FROM THE WOMB.
This is to be treated on the same general principles as haemorrhage from the bowels. In all these cases nothing is to be feared
from the effects of cold. There is always too much heat in the
part from which the blood escapes.
NOSE BLEED.
Every one knows the good effects of cold in this trifling, though
sometimes dangerous affection.  Placing a cold key in the neck
will often arrest the hemorrhage. A piece of ice, or pouring cold
water in the neck, is still better. Cold water may be snuffed up
the nostrils. Also, wash the face and neck, and the whole body,
if need be, in cold water. The foot bath is very useful in this
complaint.




PARONYCHIA, WHITLOW, OR FELON.
The word paronychia is derived from two Greek words, signifying "near" "the nail."  This name was given anciently to an
inflammation seated near this part, generally of the fingers, but
sometimes of the toes.  It may be seated quite near the surface,
but is generally deeper, and often between the periosteum, or enveloping membrane of the bone, and the bone itself. The disease
is generally known by the name of whitlow, or felon, the latter
being the more common name, especially when it is severe.
Mechanical injuries appear sometimes to cause the disease.  It
comes on oftener, however, apparently without any exciting cause.
As far as the writer's observation extends, the disease attacks only
persons whose general health is not good.  Such, at least, appears to be the general rule.
As this is one of the most painful affections to which we are
subject, the treatment is no unimportant matter. There is an old
woman's remedy which we will first mention,-one which is said
sometimes to have effected a cure, especially if it is taken early.
A vessel of weak lye is placed upon embers or a hot stove. The
part affected is immersed in the liquid of a moderate temperature,
which is gradually raised to as high a heat as can possibly be
borne, so that the part is quite "par-boiled."  We do not doubt
but that such a mode will, in some cases, at once destroy the inflammation.  Probably pure water, used without the lye, would
be fully as good.
But, sometimes the inflammation may go on in spite of all ordinary means.  What then is to be done?  The mode, according
to surgery, is freely to open the part. Lay it open for some distance beyond the tenderest part, deep down to the very bone.
Thorough work must be made of it the first time, for patients
never let us make the second attempt.  In some instances, at the
urgent request of patients, we have resorted to the knife, but we
confess we would not allow it to be used upon ourselves; we
should prefer keeping the part free from  pain, and letting it take
its course.  We believe keeping it constantly immersed in ice-cold
water would form the most effectual means of arresting the inflammation and preventing its raising to a head; and that this mode
is certain to quell down the pain most effectually, every one who
has the opportunity may test for himself. This is an affection in




TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONCLUDED.                 343
which we have a perfect demonstration of the great power of cold
water to quell pain. Severe as it may be, we immerse the part
in very cold water, when, all at once, the pain grows less and
soon dies away.  Keep it thus immersed, taking care to keep the
water very cold, and the pain does not return.  We lately had a
case in which a physician's skill had been exhausted, and for days
the patient could get no sleep. But by having a large bowl of
cold water at his bed-side, and keeping his hand immediately
therein, he could sleep as well as any one, and keeping the bad
finger thus constantly cool, he soon got well.
EARACHE.
This disease, although considered a small affair, is not always
free from  danger, and is more liable to be attended with serious
results than toothache.  It has the same causes as inflammations
in general.
Treatment.-As in all other aches, arising from  inflammation,
the patient should practice perfect and entire abstinence'from all
food (even though it should require days, although that would
seldom  be necessary), until all pain is gone.  Water of course is
to be drank as thirst demands.  The great poultice, the wet sheet,
is here good.  Vapor baths and sweating are, in severe cases,
likewise beneficial.  The moist compress over the whole side of
the head and neck is useful.  Then having this covered by flannel,
with a warm  brick or bottle of water against it on going to rest,
seems in many cases to be one of the best things that can be
done, and sometimes better than the cold.  Washing and rubbing
the side of the face, neck, and back of the ear, violently, will be
found serviceable.  A general bath will often arrest this disease.
Whllile I was at Graefenberg the past winter (1847-8), a little
fellow, about four years of age, undergoing the treatment, was
attacked severely with the earache.  For this Priessnitz ordered
the head bath, to be taken on the side affected, the water to be
slightly tepid, that is, to have the extreme chill taken off, it being
very cold.  This was to be taken as long and often as necessary.
It very soon arrested the pain.  The treatment was commenced
near evening.  Patient had no supper.  He had for the night a
wet bandage over the ear and side of the head, covered with a
dry one; also a little wet lint within the ear. The little fellow
slept well, and in the morning the ear broke and the matter ex



344         TREATMENT OF DISEASES CONCLUDED.
uded. In the afternoon again, the other ear commenced aching,
and the same treatment was practiced, and with like success as
before.
TOOTHACHE.
Cold water, taken in the mouth, every one knows, sometimes
causes the toothache; especially with those who are in the habit
of using hot and stimulating food and drinks.  So, likewise, it is
known that holding very cold water in the mouth for a continuance, changing it frequently, will often arrest the toothache, for
the time at least.
Priessnitz's usual mode is as follows: Tepid water is held in
the mouth until it begins to grow  warm, when it is changed;
at the same time the face, cheeks, neck, and parts behind the ears
are rubbed violently with the hands, which are dipped frequently
in very cold water. It is well also to rub the gums till they bleed
smartly.  Sometimes it is necessary to add cold shallow foot baths.
Captain Claridge says, that while at Graefenberg he never saw
toothache resist this treatment.  Those who are accustomed to
cold water, will find that a powerful douche, or any very cold
general bath, will be very serviceable. Walking thinly clad in
cold air is likewise a good means.




APPENDIX.
CHRONIC RHEUMATISM.-CASE OF COL. ROLPH.
" A single fact is worth a shipload of argument."
SOMETHING upward of two years ago, Col. J. R. Rolph, of
Huntington, Long Island, wrote us as follows for publication in
the Water-Cure Manual:
HUNTINGTON, February 3d, 1847.
Having been long afflicted with disease, and feeling that Hydropathy, with the blessing of God, has been the means of affording
me more relief than any other mode of treatment to which I have
ever resorted, I am induced to add to the multiplied cases of relief
which the water-cure is effecting, my testimony as to its results in
my own case.
For the last fifteen years I have been almost constantly dyspeptic, and being a farmer of slender frame but laborious habits, I was
attacked four years since, after a season of uncommon toil and exposure, with rheumatism. This had been manifesting itself slightly
for some months, but not so severely as to cause any alarm until
mid-winter, when it became so severe that for several days I was
hardly able to get from  one room  to another.  This was from
home.  In about ten days I was able to get home.  As I was
slowly improving, no physician was called in. I continued to recover, so that in the spring I was able to resume my occupation.
I soon found, however, that my rheumatic disease was manifesting
itself in other parts of the system, and it continued to spread until
I was unfit for labor; yet I did not yield to the dictates of prudence, but persevered, not merely in active exercise, but in hard
labor, until by the close of the season, instead of exhibiting the
sprightliness of a man of thirty years, I presented the decrepitude
of approaching old age.  I now made up my mind to rest from
15*




346                        APPENDIX.
labor for a while, and try the effects of ease upon my complaint.
For two years more I remained much as I had been for the year
past, the enemy seeming to have complete possession of my joints,
but sometimes showing himself by affecting only the muscles, and
often my lameness would be manifested in the most distant and
opposite parts at the same time, and often, as if by sympathy, the
corresponding joints or parts of my limbs would be affected exactly
alike at the same time. During this time I often conversed with,
and frequently called in my family physician, a man whom I shall
ever love for his candor and honesty of purpose in treating me.
He having been long acquainted with my system and habits, was
frank to admit his opinion as to the inefficacy of taking much
medicine. I therefore confined myself principally to the application of domestic treatment, such as bathing the parts with warm
lotions, wearing warm flannel, bandages, plasters, etc.; and occasionally, when my attacks were severe, with his advice, I applied
blisters, which usually appeared to produce good effects. Upon
the whole, my system appeared to be sinking. I was constantly
dyspeptic, had an increasing sallowness of countenance, and my
energies seemed to be on the decline. I have ever been slow to
fall in with what so many stand ready to call the delusions of our
day.  I had heard and read of Priessnitz's new mode of treatment, and it appeared at first like a mere chimera; but feeling
that ordinary medicine was not to give me relief, I gave the water
treatment a little serious investigation, and after the strong reconmendations of friends, and two or three consultations with yourself
upon the subject, I concluded to make a trial of it, which I comnenlced at home.  I almost immediately began to feel the good
effects of it.  But not believing that in this treatment every man
might be his own doctor, I resolved to put myself under the care
of some practitioner of the water-cure, and the time being in the extreme heat of rid-summer, when a residence in the cities is almost
intolerable to countrymen, I resorted to an establishment in the
country, where I remained five weeks under almost constant improvement of my lameness, and correction of my dyspeptic habits,
after which I returned home, and have kept up the treatment with
great success, following up the system of diet usually practiced at
the establishments, which I consider an important aid to the treatment, and would go far toward preserving those who are already
healthy from  the need of medical treatment.  Although I am




APPENDIX.                      347
almost entirely free from any symptoms of rheumatism, yet I do
not consider myself well. I have some trouble yet from dyspepsia, increased perhaps by over-eating.  My appetite is uniformly
good, my strength is constantly increasing, and I think it must be
said, to the praise of water treatment, I have not had the slightest
cold this winter, although I have exposed myself to the weather
every day without exception, and my clothing being much thinner
than what I have ordinarily worn in winter.  Since my return
home, which is near six months, I have dismissed my cane, which
had been my constant companion for months previous, and am
happy to say that I have not once felt the need of its assistance.
My treatment has consisted of sitz baths, the douche, the rubbing
sheet, the wet sheet, wearing bandages constantly on the body
and parts mostly affected, and the morning wash of my whole
person never once omitted. The forms of crisis in my case have
been various and repeated, and I have even at present one which
water-cure patients hail as a harbinger of good. I cannot find
terms to express the gratitude I feel for the confidence in the water treatment which I obtained from consultations with you, and
for the strength of purpose which your advice has given me to
persevere in it.                                  J. R. R.
We will remark, that Col. Rolph commenced the treatment only
a few months since. He is not one of those who are in the habit
of exaggeration, but speaks the facts as they are. Although having received so great benefit, Mr. R. has but just entered upon the
threshold of what he will yet experience.
We published the foregoing account by permission of our patient; and we now refer to the case as a very strong one for
hydropathy. It was a very severe and obstinate one-one of the
worst cases of chronic rheumatism we have ever known to be
cured. Many persons with cases of scarce half the severity of
Col. Rolph's, however, will fail of cure for want of perseverance in
the treatment.
The colonel is none of your "half-way" men, in whatever he
undertakes; and as to how large a share of credit his most estimable wife has in the matter, would not perhaps be easy to define,
Getting up at 4 o'clock, morning after morning, through a whole
tedious winter, and putting her crippled husband in a cold wet
sheet, afterward giving him a cold bath, and then commencing




348                       APPENDIX.
the routine of household duties, all this to be followed by the forenoon, and afternoon, and evening treatment, would certainly test
the patience of any devoted wife. The husband ought to be the
wife's best nurse, and the wife the husband's; so it was in this case,
Col. Rolph is now well and strong. He has been so in fact for
nearly the whole time since the above account was written. He
has grown, month by month, more hardy, and is, as he says, as
well, to all appearances, as he ever was in his life.  He appears
decidedly younger, and more healthful and enduring, than ever
before, since we have known him, a period of nearly three years.
Chronic rheumatism, that has fixed itself deeply and firmly
upon the system, be it remembered, is always a most difficult disease to cure. It requires more patience, self-denial, and perseverance than most men possess.- Water- Cure Journal, May, 1849.
HYGIENIC HABITS AND OPINIONS OF HOWARD, THE PHILANTIIROPIST.
That Howard, the Philanthropist, was a great and pre-eminently
good man, the world freely admits.  A knowledge, therefore, of
his hygienic habits and opinions concerning matters of health can
but be interesting to every reflecting mind.
Howard lived at a time very different from  the present.  No
temperance reformation had gone forth to shed its blessings upon
millions of the degraded and suffering of humanity; the hygienic
and medicinal virtues of cold water were comparatively unknown,
and almost every notion in the popular mind concerning health
was an erroneous one. Even at this day, in Howard's native country, it is believed by the many that alcoholic drinks, such as wine,
porter, etc., are not only harmless but positively necessary, in
order to enable the human body to withstand fatigue and exposure to cold, and to resist disease; and many pass through life
without scarce ever tasting of pure cold water, much less to wash
the body in that element; and in the construction of dwellings, and
the habits of dress, the greatest pains are taken to avoid exposure
to cold air, so injurious is it supposed to be. Howard, as we shall
see, had the sagacity to detect many of these popular fallacies,
and recommended his modes by example as well as precept.
Howard was exposed to the influence of pestilence and disease
in its most malignant forms, probably more than any other human




APPENDIX.                        349
being who has ever lived.  "This man," says one biographer,
"visited all Europe, not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces,
or the stateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements
of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosities of modern art; not to collect medals, or to collate manuscripts; but to dive into the depths of dungeons; to plunge into
the infection of hospitals; to survey the mansions of sorrow and of
pain; to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and
contempt; to remember the forgotten; to attend to the neglected;
to visit the forsaken; and to compare and collate the distresses of
all men in all countries." "HIe traveled," says another, "between
fifty and sixty thousand miles, for the sole purpose of relieving the
distresses of the most wretched of the human race.  The fatigue,
the dangers, the privations he underwent or encountered for the
good of others, were such as no one else was ever exposed to in
such a cause, and such as few could have endured.  He often
traveled several days and nights in succession, without stoppingover roads almost impassable, in weather the most inclement, and
with accommodations the meanest and most wretched.  Summer
and winter, heat and cold, rain and snow, in all their extremes,
failed alike to stay him for a moment in his course: while plague,
and pestilence, and famine, instead of being evils that he shunned,
were those with which he was most familiar; and to many of
whose horrors, hIvoluntarily exposed himself, visiting the foulest
dungeons, filled with malignant infection-spending forty days in
a filthy and infected lazaretto-plunging into military encampments where the plague was committing its most frightful ravages
-and visiting where none of his conductors dared to accompany
him."
Under such circumstances, the habits of Howard were very simple, rigid, and abstemious in the extreme. In all seasons he made
it a point of the utmost importance to practice daily bathing.
"Water," says Dr. Aiken, "was one of his principal necessaries,
for he was a very Mussulman in his ablutions; and if nicety had
place with him in any respect, it was in the perfect cleanliness of
his whole person." " These ablutions," says another (Dr. Brown),
"he regularly performed in the depth of the coldest winter, by
plunging into a bath whenever he had the opportunity of doing
so-and when he had not, he would frequently lay himself down
for some considerable time between two sheets, wet for the ex



350                        APPENDIX.
press purpose of communicating to his body the desirable degree
of cold."  According to another author, "both on rising and going
to bed, he often swathed himself in coarse towels, wet with the
coldest water; in that state he remained half an hour, or more,
and then threw them  off, freshened and invigorated, as he said,
beyond measure."  He never used a great-coat, we are told, even
when in the coldest countries. For many of the last years of his
existence, he tasted neither flesh, fish, or fowl; and near the close
of his life, he wrote in his diary, "I am firmly persuaded, as to
the health of our bodies, that herbs and fruits will sustain nature,
in every respect, far beyond the best flesh!"  So prudent was he
of time, that he strenuously avoided dining parties, nor would he
sit when taking his simple meal of tea, milk, and rusks.
On becoming acquainted with these singular habits of Howard,
one would naturally be led to suppose that his constitution must,
from the first, have been a strong one, capable of enduring great
exposures and fatigue. Such, however, is not the fact. He was,
when young, as he himself tells us, of very feeble health.
Some of his peculiar habits and opinions appear in a quotation
from Pratt's Gleanings (1796), as follows:
"Some days after his first return from an attempt to mitigate
the plague at Constantinople, he favored me with a morning visit
to London.  The weather was so very terrific, that I had forgot
his inveterate exactness, and had yielded up the-hope of expecting
him.  Twelve at noon was the hour, and exactly as the clock
struck, he entered my room; the wet-for it rained in torrents —
dripping from every part of his dress, like water from a sheep
just landed from its washing.  He would not have attended to
his situation, having sat himself down with the utmost composure,
and begun conversation, had I not made an offer of dry clothes.'Yes,' said he, smiling,'I had my fears, as I knocked at your
door, that we should go over the old business of apprehension
about a little rain water, which, though it does not run off my
back as it does from that of a duck, does me as little injury, and
after a long drought is scarcely less refreshing.  The coat that I
have on has been as often wetted through as any duck's in the
world, and indeed gets no other cleaning.  I assure you, a good
soaking shower is the best brush for broadcloth.  You, like the
rest of my friends, throw away your pity upon my supposed hardships with just as much reason as you commiserate the common




APPENDIX.                        351
beggars, who, being familiar with storms, necessity, and nakedness,
are a thousand times (so forcible is habit) less to be compassioned
than the sons and daughters of ease and luxury, who, accustomed
to all the enfeebling refinements of feathers by night and fires by
day, are taught to shiver at a breeze. All this is the work of art,
my good friend; nature is intrepid, hardy, and adventurous; but
it is a practice to spoil her with indulgences from the moment we
come into the world. A soft dress and soft cradle begin our education in luxury, and we do not grow more manly the more we
are gratified; on the contrary, our feet must tread upon carpets,
breathe, as it were, in fire, and fear the least change in the weather.  You smile,' said Mr. Howard, after a pause,'but I am  a
living instance of the truths I insist on. A more puny youngster
than myself was never seen. If I wet my feet I was sure to take
cold.  I could not put on my shirt without its being aired.  To
be serious, I am  convinced that what emasculates the body debilitates the mind, and renders both unfit for those exertions which
are of such use to us as social beings. I therefore entered upon a
reform of my constitution, and have succeeded in such a degree
that I have neither had a cough, cold, the vapors, nor any more
alarming disorder, since I surmounted the seasoning. Formerly,
mulled wines, and spirits, and great fires, were to comfort me, and
to keep out the cold, as it is called; the perils of the day were to
be baffled by something taken hot on going to bed; and before I
pursued my journey the next morning, a dram was to be swallowed to fortify the stomach! Believe me,' said Mr. Howard,'we
are too apt to invert the remedies which we ought to prescribe for
ourselves.  Thus we are for ever giving hot things when we should
administer cold.  We bathe in hot instead of cold water, we use a
dry bandage when we should use a wet one, and we increase our
food and clothing when we should, by degrees, diminish both.
If we should trust more to Nature, and suffer her to apply her
own remedies to cure her own diseases, the formidable catalogue
of maladies would be reduced to one half, at least, of their present
number.'"
Concerning the treatment of certain diseases, and of the most
fatal kind, which Howard's mode of life brought him  much in
contact with, his opinions were as singular, and as much opposed
to the prevailing notions of the times in which he lived, as were
those concerning the preservation of health.  He had, moreover;




352                        APPENDIX.
as might well be expected from his great energy of character, remarkable success in his treatment of those diseases; and he was
often called upon to prescribe in sickness, by those who knew him.
in preference to regularly bred physicians; and, indeed, the ma
lignant fever which terminated his existence, was caught while he
was thus engaged in relieving the sick.  From the best accounts
we have, it appears his modes of treatment were very simple, and
that he depended mainly upon the natural means of water, air,
exercise, and diet. Respecting the best modes of preserving and
invigorating the general health, amid the infection of hospitals
prisons, etc., Howard remarked as follows:
" I have frequently been asked," says this distinguished philanthropist, "what precautions I used to preserve myself from infection in the prisons and hospitals which I visit. I here answer
once for all, that next to the free goodness and mercy of the Author of my being, temperance and cleanliness are my preservatives.
Trusting in Divine Providence, and believing myself in the way of
my duty, I visit the most noxious cells, and while thus employed,
I fear no evil. I never enter a hospital or a prison before breakfast, and in an infected room I seldom draw my breath deeply."
On his arrival at Scio, Howard visited a very convenient hospital for lepers, the only one he had ever seen; and with his usual
attention to health and cleanliness, persuaded the vice-consul to
recommend the directors to add a bath for each six persons.
Before he left England for the last time, Howard promised the
much-lamented Dr. Currie that he would make more particular
inquiries in regard to the empirical use of cold water in the
plague, for in the raging frenzy attending this dire disease, some
sailors at Constantinople had thrown themselves into the sea, and
on being taken out, recovered-a happy temerity, as Dr. Currie
says, not imitated by the regular practitioners.
Such were some of the hygienic habits and opinions of Howard,
the Philanthropist.  We do not contend that all his practices
were the best that could be, but that, on the whole, he was far in
advance of the age. His good sense and energy of character led
him, in many respects, to practice in direct opposition to the
opinions of the world.  In the treatment of some of the most
loathsome and intractable forms of disease, he was proverbially
more successful than medical men.  It is much to be regretted,
however, that he erred in regard to the use of tea. He was led,




APPENDIX.                        353
no doubt, to believe, as thousands have done, that the stimulation
caused by the article was actual strength; and thus his health was
materially injured, and life shortened; but, on the whole, we can
but admire much the good practical sense and habits of this truly
great and good man.
HYDROPATIIC LACONICS.*
1. At all times and seasons hydropathy may be practiced with
the most certain advantage; but Autumn, Winter, and Spring are
the best seasons for carrying out the treatment most effectively.
2. It is general disorder which first produces local disease-and
it is therefore the restoration of the general health which must
constitute the first step toward the removal of local disease.
3. In treating chronic diseases, the effect of the hydropathic
method is an exaltation of the general health and strength.
4 "Many persons of great experience practice well empirically
(this is Priessnitz's case) without much brains or reasoning; but
he who begins upon principle, and then profits by experience, must
become a much more skilful practitioner."-Billing's First Principles of Medicine.
5. "The cure of all diseases must be effected by the powers of
the living system. Remedies are merely to be employed with the
view of placing the body under the most favorable circumstances
for resisting disease."-Dr. G. Gregory's Theory and Practice of
Medicine.
6. Pregnancy is no obstacle to the hydropathic treatment; on
the contrary, by improving the health and strength, a modified
employment of this treatment facilitates parturition, diminishes the
severity and danger of labor, and prevents any great degree of
subsequent weakness, and diseases consequent upon that weakness.  Mrs. Priessnitz, a small, delicate woman, invariably practices it both immediately before and immediately after confinement,
and occasionally during the whole term of gestation.
7. "In how few cases of indigestion is the stomach itself first
diseased, though dyspepsia is a most convenient word, and the
poor stomach is blamed for faults not its own!"-Dr. Billing's
* By Dr. Edward Johnson.




354                        APPENDIX.
First Principles of Medicine.  The fault consists in debility of the
nervous system.
8. In some forms of disease enough of the hydropathic remedy
may be carried out at the patient's own house-but in those cases
which require the full treatment, with all its various adjuncts, it
can only be carried out safely and successfully in the vicinity of a
hydropathic establishment, where the patient is constantly under
the eye of the practitioner.
9. There can be no danger in going into a cold bath while perspiring-first, because it has been practiced by Priessnitz on thousands of patients, for twenty years, and no single instance of mischief has ever been observed to arise from it. Secondly, it has
been the habitual custom of the Russians since time immemorial,
and no danger has been observed to attend it. Thirdly, the lower
classes of society are constantly exposed to be drenched to the
skin, almost daily, during the rainy months, while they are covered
with perspiration, arising from their several out-of-doors employment, and no evil has been observed to accrue from  it; on the
contrary, they suffer less from disease than the classes above them.
10. "The physician, carrying his knowledge into the streets and
highways of life, has labored assiduously (the lancet in one hand
and quinine in the other) to arrest decay when hurrying forward
with a too fatal precipitancy." —Dr. Gregory.
"The lancet in one hand," says Dr. Gregory, "and quinine in
the other"-these being the two great engines of relief in acute
and chronic diseases-the lancet, to lower the pulse in acute diseases, and quinine, to strengthen the system in chronic.  Both these
effects are produced by the right application of the hydropathic
treatment.  The continued application of cold in acute diseases, as
by the cold bath or wet blanket or sheet, for several hours, will
lessen and lower the pulse even to a thread.  While the occasional
use of the bath, accompanied by exercise, exposure to the air,
simple diet, early hours, and all the other adjuncts of the treatment, will strengthen and harden the system to a degree infinitely
beyond that which can be obtained by any other means whatever.
Thus it supplies the place of the two grand engines of the old
practice-viz., quinine and the lancet.
11. Physical man is an impressible mass of matter destined to
perform certain actions (both internal and external) in obedience to
the impressions made upon him  by certain impressing causes.




APPENDIX,                        355
When the impressing causes are right, the impressions will be
right, and the actions performed in obedience to those impressions
right also.  This is health.  When the impressing causes are
wrong, the impressions will be wrong, and the actions resulting
from those impressions wrong also.  This is disease.
To substitute right impressing causes for wrong ones, therefore,
is to substitute right impressions for wrong ones, and this is to
substitute right actions for wrong ones-and this is to remove the
causes of disease.
When wrong impressing causes have been removed, and right
ones substituted, there is within the living body a restorative or
curative principle, which will remove the wrong impressions made
by the wrong impressing causes.  To remove wrong impressing
causes, therefore, and to substitute right ones, is to cure disease.
But disease can never be cured while the wrong impressing causes
which produced it are suffered to continue to operate.
12. A satisfactory explanation of the essential nature or proximate cause of a common cold has never been given.  Liebig's
theory of a mutual and equal resistance between the vital force
and destructive force of oxygen explains it clearly.  What are the
symptoms of an ordinary cold?  Defluxion from  the nose-sore
throat-hoarseness-cough-sneezing-and a sense of soreness
over the whole surface of the body.  What are the parts affected
by these symptoms?  The schneiderian membrane lining the nose
-the parts of the throat near the root of the tongue-the air-passages leading to the lungs-and the skin.  Why are these parts,
in especial, first affected, when a man has taken cold, in preference
to others?  Because these are the parts of the body with which
the oxygen of the air must necessarily come in contact before it
can possibly enter the body so as to reach the internal organs.  It
happens thus: a continued stream  of cold air, or continued exposure to wet, while the body is inactive-or excessive fatigue, or
any other debilitating cause-first lowers the tone and diminishes
the resistance of the vital force throughout the whole body, thus
giving a preponderance to the action of oxygen over the resistance
offered by the vital force. And as the oxygen must first come in
contact with the skin, nostrils, throat, and air-passages leading to
the lungs, before it can reach the internal organs (these being the
inlets by which alone it can gain admission within the citadel), these,re, therefore, precisely the parts on which, if Liebig's theory be




856                        APPENDIX.
true, its destructive agency ought first to be exerted; and these are
the parts on which it is first exerted-and inflammation of these
parts ought to be the first manifestation of an undue intensity in
the action of oxygen; and inflammation of these parts is the first
manifestation of that undue intensity.
If the effect of the debilitating causes in lessening the resistance
of the vital force have not been very great, then the vis medicatrix
nature, or restorative principle, will restore the equilibrium  between the resisting energy of the vital force and the destructive
influence of oxygen, and thus remedy the mischief in a few days.
But if the vital force have been greatly depressed, then the destructive agency of oxygen will be further manifested in the more
internal organs, and fever, rheumatism, or inflammation of some
deep-seated organ, will be the consequence, before the restorative
principle has had time to perform its task of restoring the equilibrium.  Nothing can more clearly illustrate Liebig's theory of disease than the phenomena of a common cold.
13. Nothing can be more self-evidently true than that the artificial is only another term for unnatural, since every thing which is
not artificial must necessarily be natural, and every thing which is
not natural must necessarily be artificial.  There is no mean power
between art and nature.  Whatever does not result from the one
must result from  the other.  It is allowed on all hands that the
life of every highly cultivated society is highly artificial. It is
therefore unnatural.  But can that which is unnatural be possibly
proper?  Can art be considered a better judge of that which is
fittest for man's welfare than nature? And is not the word nature, when thus used, obviously only another term for God himself? All the contrivances of art are the result of human ingenuity:
the contrivances of nature are the result of divine wisdom.
Those several contrivances which we call comforts, and with
which, in our polished condition, we surround ourselves, are the
inventions and adaptations of human ingenuity, by which we administer, in an undue degree, to sensual enjoyment.  What wonder
they entail upon us disease and premature death! The influence
of the weather, and all those various circumstances and impressions to which man is exposed in his primitive condition, are the
institutions and adaptations of divine wisdom. What wonder that
we should find them  necessary to our health and well-being!
What wonder that we should find it impossible to get rid of our




APPENDIX.                        357
diseases while we obstinately persevere in preferring the ordinances
and contrivances of art to the manifest ordinances and contrivances
of God himself!
But are we not to exercise and use the ingenuity wherewith
God has endowed us?  Certainly —to use, but not to abuse it.
But how do we know that we are abusing God's gift of ingenuity
or reason when we surround ourselves with all those appliances of
pleasurable sensation which we call conforts, but which we ought
to call luxurious indulgences? I answer: by the punishment of
diseases and premature death, of which the evidence of our senses
gives us daily proof.  We know that they are wrong by the evil
consequences which follow them.  How do we know that intemperance is wrong?  By the evil consequences which follow it.
How do we know that poisons are injurious to the health?  By
the evil consequences which are observed to follow them.  How
do we know that it is wrong to indulge in the use of alcohol?  By
the evil consequences which follow its use.  How then do we
know that the domestic habits of a highly cultivated people are
injurious? As in the former instances, by the evil consequences
which are observed to follow them-by the multitudinous diseases
and premature deaths which are every where observed to be inseparable from a highly cultivated condition of society, from which
diseases and from which premature deaths a primitive condition
of society is comparatively free.* Are there no other unwholesome and unnatural stimulants to the nervous system besides those
of alcohol, wine, and beer? Thousands, and tens of thousands.
All kinds of artificial stimulants do not elicit those peculiar phenomena called intoxication, but all operate injuriously upon the
health-they all first excite, and finally exhaust, the nerv6us system.  They all entail upon us the RETRIBUTE PLAGUE of numberless diseases and premature death.  It is the punishment which
God has awarded to the presuming pride of art, or the abuse of
human reason.  God did not create man for the purpose of getting
money, nor of surrounding himself with all those multiform appliances of so-called comfort which none but the rich can purchase;
and to prove that he did not, he has determined that none shall
purchase them without purchasing disease and decrepitude along
with them.
14. Hydropathy does but assert the supremacy of God.
* One half of civilized mankind die before the age of eight years.




358                       APPENDIX.
15. Hydropathy, when taken with all its adjuncts, is an artificial primitive condition to which the sick man temporarily submits
himself for a temporary purpose, viz., that of giving nature, assisted by art, a fair opportunity of healing his diseases.
16. But water, when used by the hydropathic physician as a
remedy for disease, is a NATURAL INFLUENCE INTENSIFIED BY ART.
17. Total abstinence from every species of stimulating beverage
is absolutely necessary to the success of the treatment.
18. Drinking large quantities of water, without some specific object (as, for instance, relaxing the bowels), is productive of no intelligible good, and proves injurious by distending the stomach,
and over-stimulating the kidneys.
19. Every person in England who is cured of his disease by the
hydropathic treatment, owes a large debt of gratitude to Captain
Claridge, whose indefatigable exertions and indomitable courage,
in spite of all opposition, have succeeded in planting hydropathy
in this country-a soil in which, protected by humanity, and
watered and pruned by science, it cannot fail to thrive, and grow,
and flourish-a blessing to the people.




INDEX.
Page.                                           Page.
Abdomen, inflammation of,.      319  Croup,                                      312
Abreibung,..                   147  Crisis of Water-Cure,.                  173
Ague and Fever,..            270  Currie, Dr., Reports on Water,               31
Ague, case of.                            218  Deafness, case of,...          206
Ague, Wesley's cure of,.               47       "          "...          218
Air and Exercise,..          169                 ".               222
Apoplexy, how to prevent,.                47  Debility following the use of Mercury,  251
how to treat,..          311 Delirium with Fever,.                       253
Asthma, case of,.                       229       "    and inflammation of brain,    258' Wesley's mode of cure,               47  Depression of Spirits,..         256
Baldness, case of,.                      210 Diarrhea,..                  320: following the use oi Mercury, 251                   Chronic..325
Bandages, wet,..149  Diseases to which Water is adapted,    179
Ba;th for every one,.. 163 Diet,..170
Bathing, rules for,....   163  Digestion,. 171
Baths at Graefenberg,                     153  Drinking of Water,.141
temperature of,.. 168                         rules for,. 142
Baynard, Dr., on Water,                    27 Douche Bath,.160
Bernardo's cures,..          23 Drop Bath,.159
Billing's theory of Disease,              107  Dropsy, not caused by water,               178
Billiousness, a case,.                241 Dysentery,. 320
Bleeding from the Bowels,..   341  "       Chronic,                      325
from the Lungs,..         340  Dyspepsia, case of,.                   192
"    from the Nose,...   341            "      with Rheumatism,               193
from the Womb,... 341 Earache,                                         343
Boerhaave on Water,...      18  Elliotson, Remarks on Rheumatism,           31
Boils, water dressing for,... 138  Epilepsy, or fits, a case,.       218
Bowels, haemorrhage from,..  341 Erysipelas,.                                           299
"   inflammation of-a case,.. 235  Exercise,. 169
"   inflammation of,...   319  Eye Bath,.                                     158
Brain, inflammation of —a case,.. 258  Felon, or Whitlow,.342
"         "              "  how to treat,   312  Fever, remarks on,.                  263
Breasts, swelling of,..            187  "   case of,.. 209
Burns and Scalds,.302..                   2: 2
Catarrh, or Cold, case of,...    210        "   cases of, by Dr. Currie,..  31
Cancer, Wesley's cure of,...          47   "    rules for treating,.                 36
Catalepsy, or Trance,.. 250       "   with Delirium,..       253
Cautions in the use of water,.           169  Finger Bath,..158
Celsus on Water,.18 Fistula in Ano,.. 200
Chest, weakness of,....                313      "   Urinary,.249
Cholera 5lorbus,       3..    320  Flooding, or Bleeding from the Womb, 341
Cholera,...327  Floyer, Sir John on Water,                                 25
treatment of,.                   334 Fluor Albus, or Whites,.                   183
Clothing,..                 170 Foot Bath,.156
Clysters, uses of,..       146  Forbes on Water-Cure,...  65
Convulsions, the cold bath in,.        47  Galen on Water,.17
Cold, to prevent the ill effects of,.     47  Giddiness, case of,.                       211
Colic,....                              320 Gonorrhcea,.202
Compresses, wet,.. 149 Gout, cases,.                                                     195
Cough, case of,.                         295         a case,                             243
Constipation, case of,..   191 " ".                                                 255
"      case of,.                  222  Hahn on Water,.                              20
Convulsions,.307 Half Bath,..... 154
Consumption, case of,.            203  Headache, case of,.211
"    remarks on,.. 316    "   Nervous,.                            222
Cramps, case of,.. 237   "   a case,.258




360                                        INDEX.
Page.                                            Page.
Hearing, diseased,....   52 Psoriasis, or Skin Disease,.  196
Head Bath,.157   "''...  197
Hernia, case of,.... 229        "'     ".. 198
"i'..~..1.        241..    199
Hippocrates on'Water,.17 Quinsy.. 312
Hip Disease, or Sciatica,..      190 Resuscit tioon, cases of,.          266
L'"   "    case of,.  207 Rickets, Wesley's cure of,.              47, 245
Hoffman on WA!te.r,                          18 Rheumatism and Neuralgia, case of,.    254
Howard, the Philanthropist, opinions of, 348            "      Indian cure of;..   29
uifutland on Water,..   19                    case of,.                     193
Ilydropathy, meaning of,.           48              "    ".  195
Htypochondriasis, case of,.                219               "             "..      196
"r. ".. 229    "           "...197
Hysteria, or Hysterics,..       310         "          ".             345
Hydrophobia,.                              262 Rheumatic Fever, case of,           186, 197, 244
Influenza,.184 Rubbing Wet Sheet,.... 147
Inaints. bathing of by the Indians,.  29 Scalds and Burns,..                     302
Injections, uses of,..          145 Sciatica, or Hip Complaint,... 190
Indigestion.0    "  a case,....                                                      241
"     case of,...           227 Scrofula of Knee Joint,...  259, 260'          "......                   2-29  Scarlht Fever, Case of,...    208
"          ".....    233 Seminal Weakness, a case,.. 251"          "... -.241 Ship Fever,.                                               267
"          "....    242 Shower Bath,......  162
Insensibility from an improper bath,. 256   itz Bath,.....    159
"   over-drinking water,  256 Skin Disease, Psoriasis,.            196
Knee Joint, disease of,.                   259            "...          197
Laconics, Hydropathic,....    33    "          "         "...  198
Leintuch, or Packing Sheet,...  147    ".                               199
Leprosy, case of;...          261            " 2".... 246
Leg Bath..                             158 Sleeplessness, case of,...  2;8
Leucorrhcea,.183                                     "            ".. 259
Lock-Jaw, water a preventive,. 139 Small-Pox,..                 273
"     case of;...     262 Smelling, diseased,.          252
"     treatment of,... 308 Sore Throat, case of,...    233
Lumbago, case of,....              191           "     treatment of,.              313
Lungs, bleeding from,.                     340 Spinal Disease,...                      184
Lungs, inflammation of,...    313  Spitting blood,...     243
Menstruation, painful,.....     184:-toach, inflammation of,..    235
excessive,..             255 Sweating,...              150
Measles,......   23 Syphilis, cases of,                                                     212
"   case of,.                          217...           241
Mercury, brought out of the system,. 252                a horrible case,...    257
Nausea and Vomiting,..             325  Tetanus, or Lock-Jaw,...           308
Neuralgic Diseases, water in,.  180  Tepid Water,...          166
Neuralgia and Rheumatism, a case,          254  Toothache.. 344
Nervous Debility, with Cramps,. 237  Trance, or Catalepsy,                         250.. "          from excessive study, 2311 Typhus Fever, modes of treating,    2. 67'' Weakness,.             232  Ulcers and Wounds, water in,.              130
Nervousness, case of,.                    248 Urinary Fistula,.                     201, 249
"      following the use of mercury, 251  Vapor Bath,..164
Nose-bleed,.                               341  Voniting and Nausea,...    325
Paralysis, case of,... 137  Vomiting by Water,.                                        325
"    of one side,..          249) Warm Water,.                            106
Pain in the side,. 232  Water, ancient uses of,.                    17
Paronychia, or Felon,...           342      "   quality of,..145
Penn, Wm., on Water,.28  Water Dressing for Wounds and Ulcers, 130
Pleurisy,.                                313 Wesley, Rev. John, on Water,.   46
Poultices, water dressings instead of,. 13-2 Wet Sheet,.                                   147
Priessnitz, discoveries of,.                49  Whites, or Leucorrhea,...  13
phrenmological developments of, 53  Whitlow, or Felon,.342'     Colvin's account of,.            56 Womb, bleeding from,..       341.
Propositions and principles of the Water-        Wounds and Ulcers, water dressing for, 130
Cure,.                                126 Zimmerman on Water,...  20