AIR-BATHS.
With a view to the exaltation of the condition of the entire organism, as
well as simply that of the digestive and assimilative system——and in
addition to the reform already suggested as to clothing, _i.e._, a
reduction in the number and weight of garments habitually worn, when these
have been superabundant,——I would say to all classes, sick or well, that
great advantage will be derived from habituating themselves to transient
exposure of the entire surface of the body to the air. Often enough, we
observe persons sitting heavily clad, in a warm room and close to the
fire, and yet feeling “shivery” and sure of having “caught cold.” To throw
off all clothing would banish such chills _instanter_, especially if the
person begins to give himself a brisk hand-rubbing. The skin is sweltered,
and is numb for want of circulation in the capillaries. In the case
supposed the person has _prevented_ a “cold.” Next to the water-bath,
which is, of course, or ought to be, an air-bath and water-bath combined,
the simple air-bath is invaluable as a prophylactic or a curative; and in
very many instances, say for several mornings in each week, and whenever
the usual water-bath is not convenient, the air-bath will prove an
excellent substitute. In place of _dodging_ from the sweltering bed into
his heavy day-clothing, the _robust_ man will be far more likely to
maintain his vigorous condition by doffing his night-shirt and indulging
for the space of, say, five minutes or less, in brisk hand-rubbing all
over, however cold his sleeping-room, and again on going to bed; while the
delicate ones should, with due caution, inaugurate the same system (some
_will-power_ has to be exerted), but graduated, as to temperature and
duration, to their special conditions——advancing as their physical
condition improves under its influence until they are no longer members of
that immense army——the victims of “aërophobia.” Patients themselves too
weak for even the exercise of self-rubbing will still derive great benefit
from the air-bath, in a temperature, say, of 65°, with an attendant to rub
them briskly from neck to heels. Set in practice in a rational manner this
custom will never injure the most delicate person, but on the contrary
will always prove beneficial. It will not bring the dead to life, nor,
indeed, “cure” the moribund; but it is one of Nature’s most efficient
aids——it is Nature herself, in very truth——and I have seen patients who
were thought to be hopelessly ill, begin to take on what seemed to be
renewed life, largely through this new use of fresh air, and the
_dismissal_ of the _unnatural dread of it_. For example:
CHRONIC DYSPEPSIA CURED BY FASTING AND FRESH AIR.
A patient, Mrs. T., of New Hampshire, a very bright lady indeed, and one
who appreciated the necessity of fresh air, had yet, through a very deep
decline, in addition to a life-long invalidism, become hyper-sensitive to
cold, wrapping and over-wrapping to guard against chilliness, fearful of
the least current of air. Both relatives and friends were discouraged as
to her recovery——it even being urged, after I had taken the case, that if,
as it seemed, there were no hopes of her getting well, she ought to have
some “medicine to ease her pathway to the grave.”[56] This was in the
month of October of the year 1882, when she came under my care. I induced
her to leave off eating, since eating was particularly disagreeable, and
only served to keep up the chronic inflammation of the entire digestive
and neighboring viscera, causing her a great deal of suffering and
threatening her with starvation. [Referring to her first letter (written
by her sister), describing her condition, I find such expressions as
these: “My physician, who feared heart disease, as my mother and one
sister had died of it, becoming alarmed at my symptoms, desired a
consultation, and Dr. ————, Professor of Cardiac Diseases at ———— ————
College Hospital, was called. He said heart was all right, but lungs weak.
I was well drugged, but when they stuffed me on cod-liver oil and
beefsteak I would have inflammation of the stomach and liver and, of
course, grew worse, with such a terrible ache at the base of my brain....
Was brought to N. H. (from Brooklyn, N. Y.) in May, and had congestion of
the liver shortly after. My physician, here, ordered iron and strychnine,
but it did no permanent good. All my friends say I am starving to death,
and unless you can advise me, I fear that I shall, for I am terribly
emaciated even now.... My æsophagus, stomach, and liver are in an
irritated condition,... am sore all over,——can not sleep at night; have
taken chloral by physician’s advice. My flesh has a yellow-purple
color——arms and hands grow quite purple at times,” etc., etc.] I directed
her to throw away her medicine——iron and strychnia, aconite and
chloral——_bottles and all_,——as the first step, telling her that whether
she was to live or die, she should be made more comfortable without, than
with medicine. For the exhausted digestive organs, I directed entire rest,
as before stated; and for seven days she swallowed nothing but _cool_ or
_hot_ water.[57] _For the first three or four days many of her symptoms
increased in severity_——not a bad sign. At the same time I succeeded in
removing from her mind the dread of air-currents, improving the
ventilation of both the sleeping and sitting room, and she, furthermore,
begun the system of air-bathing here enjoined. On the seventh day she
reported by letter that she felt as though something “more nourishing than
water would be very acceptable,” that she had some very nice pears and
Delaware grapes, and would like to try them. I directed her to take a
breakfast of fruit every morning; and, at night, a dinner of two or three
unleavened gems (made from _unsifted_ wheat-meal and mixed stiff with cold
water), with a very little fruit, and a cupful of skimmed milk (no butter,
cream, or any kind of animal fat), beginning with a single gem; the milk
to be taken last, by itself, and each swallow to be held for a moment in
the mouth. Under this treatment she is making excellent progress——not
rapid and fictitious, as we often enough witness under a stimulating
regimen, but a real, natural growth healthward. She rides out in all
weathers, walks a mile or two every day to and from the neighbors, aids in
the work about the house, and on December 9th, about two months after she
began the “natural cure,” she reports by postal as follows: “I am still on
the hygienic tack and growing stronger, though I still have some aches to
assure me that I am mortal. I ‘sleep beautifully,’ with window open in all
weathers. I enjoy my air-baths every morning in the hall (a portion of the
time), with the mercury at zero!” (She is now in robust health.)
[Footnote 56: Her disease was chronic dyspepsia: the stomach was so
irritable that it could seldom retain anything——at least a portion of even
the smallest ordinary ration would be ejected——the liver was very much
congested and enlarged; the bowels were obstinately constipated; there was
extreme emaciation, and but little strength, though, generally, great good
nature and cheerfulness in spite of her ailments. Had been taking chloral
for wakefulness, and iron and strychnine as a tonic. She took no medicine
after becoming my patient.]
[Footnote 57: See note 3 in Appendix, p. 279.]
Benjamin Franklin had observed the invigorating effects of this practice
and would often, in moderate weather, rise from bed in the morning and,
entirely nude, write for an hour or more, and then dress for breakfast.
When wakeful at night, the great philosopher found that by throwing off
the bed-coverings for a few minutes he could then re-cover and fall asleep
and sleep soundly.[58] Finally, so deeply was Franklin impressed from his
own experience and observation in this direction that he proposed to cure
all diseases by means of the air-bath, combined with plain and abstemious
living. His idea concerning the most popular of all disorders may be
inferred from the following: “I shall not attempt to explain why ‘damp
clothes’ occasion colds rather than wet ones, because I doubt the fact. I
imagine that neither the one nor the other contributes to this effect, and
that the causes of colds are totally independent of wet and even of cold.”
(Essays, p. 216.)
[Footnote 58: One may be partially stifled and made wakeful by confined
air about the skin, as well as asphyxiated with bad air in the lungs. The
eminent Dr. B. W. Richardson, of London, lays great stress upon the
necessity, and has himself devised a means, of ventilating the space about
the person in bed——a very gradual change of the air being insured. Next to
any special mechanical device for the accomplishment of this object, and
perhaps all sufficient generally, comes the use of loosely woven sheets
and blankets, instead of heavy linen or cotton sheets and “comfortables”
which are well-nigh airtight.]
Dr. James R. Nichols, of Boston, the well-known scientist, thus emphasizes
the importance of this form of bath:
“One of the most sagacious, far-seeing men this country has produced was
Doctor Franklin. He was in all that he did and said far in advance of his
age and of his opportunities, and his wisdom was of that rare kind which
does not grow old. His discoveries and devices were not partial and
imperfect, but such as have needed little revision or improvement.
“The lightning-rod he devised is to-day the best form we have, and his
method of applying it to buildings needs no special modification. His
open-fireplace stove is still largely in use, no better one having been
devised. His philosophical theories and speculations were so rounded out,
so clearly and sagaciously developed, that many of them stand to-day as
fixed facts in philosophy and science. Among his important discoveries was
the ‘air-bath,’ a sanitary or curative agent which is of the highest
consequence to the welfare of mankind. It may be said that he did not
present the matter in much practical detail, but he suggested it, used it,
and gave reasons for believing in its high importance.
“We have made the air-bath a matter of careful study, and wish to call the
attention of the readers of the _Journal_ to it, as a means of securing
and preserving health, which is of the first importance. It is impossible
for physicians or individuals of ordinary sagacity to fail to see that a
large proportion of invalids and semi-invalids do not bear well the
application of either cold or tepid water to the body. A man or woman must
naturally be of strong constitution and in robust health to arise in the
morning, in cold climates, and stand under the icy streams which come from
a shower-bath, without breaking down in health at an early day. The
sponge-bath is less injurious, but it saps the vitality of many to a fatal
extent, and feeble persons are rarely in any degree benefited by its use.
The tepid bath, as a curative means, constantly followed weakens rather
than strengthens, and many can not continue it for the space even of a
week. Bathing, beyond the needs of perfect cleanliness, is not generally
to be recommended. Mankind are not aquatic animals, like ducks and geese;
they are not born on or in the water, and nature never designed that they
should be splashing about in that element within the lines of the
temperate or frigid zones....
“The air-bath is a means of recuperation which needs to be intelligently
and carefully adopted, and like all other good things must not be abused.
There are hundreds of thousands of people of both sexes, in this country,
who lead miserable lives, and yet they are not in bed, not perhaps
confined to their dwellings; they suffer from nervous prostration, from
imperfect digestion and assimilation, from worry, from overwork, from the
care of households, etc. A vast number in the mighty army of invalids are
not themselves to blame for their physical weaknesses; their
idiosyncrasies of organization come by inheritance....
“Now, the air-bath comes to the feeble and physically impoverished as a
kind and good friend; and let us see how we can obtain from it the highest
good. Nearly all semi-invalids are inclined to sedentary habits, and as
the circulation is languid the body in winter is under a persistent chill.
In the morning, upon getting out of bed, the clothing can not be too
quickly adjusted, as the body is in a shiver; and the air of a cool room
is a thing to be dreaded.
“The morning is the time for the air-bath, and all that is required is a
hair-cloth mitten [a towel, or even the bare hand alone will answer,
however,] and a moderately cool room. When the invalid steps from the bed
to the floor in the morning, let the hair glove or mitten be seized, and
without removing the night-clothes proceed to rub gently all parts of the
body, at the same time walking about in the room until a feeling of
fatigue is experienced; then drop the glove, and gently pass the hand over
all parts of the body before resuming the clothing. [Unless the nude body
is extremely sensitive to cold, it may be exposed to the air for a few
moments, even on the first morning]. The next morning jump out of bed in a
moderately cool [never a ‘close,’ but always a ventilated] room, and go
over the same process as before, remaining a little longer exposed to the
air after the rubbing. The third morning repeat this treatment; and on the
fourth, or at the end of a week, take off all the night-clothing, and
briskly apply the hair glove, first with the right hand and then with the
left, all the time walking about. Follow up this, as the degree of
strength permits, morning after morning, until the body is so rejuvenated
and the blood so attracted to the surface, that the cool air is felt to be
a luxury. Let the body be entirely nude, no socks upon the feet, no scarf
about the chest. At first, or after the first week, perhaps, the exposure
to the pure cool air may be three or four minutes; soon increase the
exposure, until, after a month or two, the air-bath may continue for
twenty minutes or half an hour. Do not fail to walk about during the first
month, using the hands in polishing the skin. After the first month the
patient may sit in the air of the room part of the time, but constant,
gentle exercise is best.
“Now, another most important curative agent connected with the air-bath is
_sunlight_. In summer, sunlight is accessible, but in winter only the late
risers can secure its benefits. [There is no reason why morning should be
regarded as the only appropriate time for this skin-airing. On the
contrary, some will find midday even better, though morning is for most
persons the most convenient time. Many can not devote any other hour to
this work; others will not have the energy, _i. e._, the good sense to
disrobe for an air or sun bath during the day.] If possible, sit and walk
in the sunlight during the bath. It is astonishing what the direct actinic
rays of the morning sun can do for an invalid, when the whole nude body is
brought under its influence.”
SCROFULA.
A sick niece of the Mrs. T. whose case is reported on p. 168, living in
New York, learning of her aunt’s “miraculous cure,” resolved to renounce
medication and come home for hygienic treatment. Her disease is scrofula,
and her condition was such that her friends had well-nigh abandoned all
hope of her recovery. With non-healing ulcers, increasing in number on
body and limbs; weak, languid, with neither strength nor ambition to move
about; emaciated from 120 to 88 pounds——it did seem as though her case was
a most critical one, indeed. Nevertheless, on the clean, pure, nutritious
diet which had restored her relative——largely “natural,” wholly
abstemious, and free from all animal fats (see foot-note, page
232)——modified to suit her particular needs——taken morning and night with
appropriate air and water baths, etc., she soon began to show signs of
improvement. After two months’ trial, her aunt writes that her niece is
certainly gaining. This gain must be real instead of fictitious, since it
is impossible to attribute it to any artificial stimulation. The sores are
beginning to heal; her strength is increasing, by exerting it
daily——drawing, at first moderately, but increasing her drafts from day to
day, upon the “reserved force,” each draft being overpaid, so to say, by
subsequent rest, food, sleep, etc., thus daily increasing her physical
bank account,——there now seems every prospect that this young wife will
ere long be restored to her home as good as new. [Both aunt and niece take
their meals in their private rooms, alone, the total quantity and variety
to be taken at each meal only appearing on the table; there is, therefore,
no temptation for “trying a little more” of this, that, and the other
thing, which almost inevitably leads to excess, and consequent impairment
of appetite; no taxing of the sick brain to be “agreeable” to a “tableful”
of healthy persons, to interfere with the digestion.]