Of this bath there are two varieties; _sitting shallow_ and _standing
shallow_.
_Sitting shallow_ differs from the half bath in employing less water,
and being much more vigorous. Its effects and uses are about the same.
The bather should rub his limbs and the front portion of his body while
the attendant pours water over his chest and shoulders, and rubs
vigorously his back and sides. A person can take the bath very well
alone by using a rather long coarse towel which can be drawn back and
forth across the back by grasping one end with each hand. It is a very
valuable means of applying water, and is in constant requisition in the
hydropathic establishments. From 85° to 90° is the proper temperature
for this bath. It may be used at a lower temperature in fever cases. At
Bellevue Hospital it is applied at about 70° in such cases, and is
administered whenever the temperature exceeds 103°. To avoid the shock
of a cool bath, it may be commenced at a temperature little below
blood-heat and then gradually cooled by the addition of cool water until
the desired temperature is reached. The reduction of the temperature
obtained by this means fully equals that obtained by the sudden
application of cold, and the shock and subsequent reaction are
prevented. This applies equally to all cool baths as well as the cool
shallow bath.
The duration of the bath may be from one to thirty minutes. Ten or
fifteen minutes will be the usual extent.
The _Standing Shallow_ is in some cases preferred by some to the
preceding. The patient stands erect in a varying depth of water—from six
inches to one or two feet being employed—while his body is vigorously
rubbed by one or two assistants, water being poured upon the chest and
shoulders at brief intervals. It is a very enlivening bath.
The shallow bath should be completed by a pail douche at a temperature
three or four degrees lower than that of the bath.