For this bath a vessel deep enough to receive the limbs to the middle of
the thighs is required. The bath may be taken at any desired
temperature; but it is usually employed somewhat cooler than baths which
involve the trunk of the body. It is a powerfully derivative bath, and
is found very useful to prevent wakefulness in nervous persons, and to
relieve cerebral congestion in epileptic patients. It is especially
applicable to chronic ulcers of the leg, swollen knees and ankles, and
limbs which have suffered by exposure to severe cold. It gives much
relief in gout; there is no danger of causing a metastasis of the
disease by the application of this bath.