THREE.--For the cure of not a few diseases.
Few there are in our own country, or probably in any other, who enjoy
really good and robust health, constantly. Apart from inherited
illnesses, the wear and tear of life, end the worry that naturally
attends the struggle for existence is very hard upon most of us, and if
it were not for weekly periods of rest, the average span of our
existence would be a much shorter one than it really is. And, alas! as
a rule, our periods of rest seem far too short, our one day's toil seems
hardly well over, until another one begins, and thus our existences are
fretted away. To many amongst us life seems one long drawn-out
weariness; from year's end to year's end the back must ache, and the
temples throb, till the very heart grows "tired of its own sad beat, and
yearns for rest." But to live like this, or in any way akin to it, is
not to be in a state of health. If a man be really healthy, he is
reasonably happy, if he does not feel reasonably happy, he is not in a
condition of health. In health there is a complete freedom from ache or
pain, from bruise or blemish, from heat or cold; every joint is supple,
every muscle capable of contraction and extension. And the mind should
feel as light and buoyant as the body, a healthy man should feel a
pleasure in merely living, he should be capable of taking an interest in
everything that goes on around him, in all he sees, in all he hears, in
all he reads, and in all that concerns the well-being of his fellow
creatures, and honest toil itself should be an enjoyment to him, and not
a worry, not a penance.
It is the custom in England, and a terribly wrong and fatal one it is,
to fly to stimulants for the relief of temporary-exhaustion; that is, at
the very time when our bodies are tired, and nature courts a brief rest,
we dig in the spur, we wield the whip, and keep her at it invariably to
her detriment. The very fact that the amount of stimulant taken
requires to be increased after a time proves how deleterious is this
plan, the modest glass of sherry, or mildest ale, needs after a time to
be replaced by fiery brandy or heart-corroding gin. This last is
putting an extra thong on the whip, and it is no wonder if, after a
time, some important internal organ gives way, and one more is added to
the list of incurable invalids.
How much better would it be if tea and coffee took the place of
dangerous stimulants, and the balance of health was sought to be
retained by the daily use of the morning tub, and a bi-weekly indulgence
in an Anglo-Turkish Bath. It is not too much to hope for, and it
certainly is not too much to pray for, that public baths upheld in a
great measure by Government, may yet be one of the institutions of our
beloved land. What a blessing these would be to hard working men, and
to the tired and weary among all classes. I venture to predict, that if
people were to make a habit of using the Turkish Bath, say on the
Saturday afternoons only, gin palaces and dram saloons that now reek
with filth and disease would lose many a customer. Persons would find
out that there was no real way consonant with the acknowledged rules of
health and hygiene of banishing fatigue, of dispelling aches and pains,
of calming the nervous system, and preparing the mind for the perfect
enjoyment of that day of blessed rest called Sunday.
As a prophylactic against innumerable diseases, we have recommended the
use of the Anglo-Turkish Bath. It is almost unnecessary to enlarge upon
this head, but a word or two may not be thrown away. Two, then, of the
great _causae norborum_, or disease inducers in this country are cold
and indigestion. Now, so long as the skin is a healthy one, and in good
working order, it is next to impossible for any one to catch cold
through it, if he only takes care to clothe it not heavily but
judiciously in warm woollens or light soft silks. It stands to reason
that an organ, an instrument or machine--call it what we may--which is
perfect in workings, is not so easily thrown out of gear or out of order
as one not so perfect. We could fill a volume with cases of people who
are constantly in the habit of using Baths, who can stand exposure to
both cold and wet with but little inconvenience; and we also know a vast
number of votaries of the Bath who do at times catch cold like other
people, being probably constitutionally susceptible to its influence--
but who get clear of their colds in quite a remarkably short time. The
reason undoubtedly is that they have the power to "throw them off," as
the common saying is.
Well, now, as to indigestion. As the reader knows, the whole internal
surface of the body is lined with a mucous membrane, which is analagous
to the skin or external covering, and as the one is so will the other
be; mucous indigestion, therefore, it may be clearly perceived is
averted by the use of the Bath. But indigestion may proceed from loss
of nerve power, or from a badly acting liver or spleen, or from weakness
of the heart, etc. And the Bath strengthens and tones the nervous
system far more than any tonic we wot of, moreover its constant use
makes the work which the liver and spleen have to perform, mere play, so
to speak; and if the Bath invigorates muscle--and we know it does--it
must act as a roborant or tonic to the heart itself, which is composed
for the most part of muscular tissues.
Many people produce a species of irritable indigestion, by the use of
stimulants, for this the Anglo-Turkish bath is an almost certain cure,
as it relieves internal congestions, steadies the nerves and produces
refreshing sleep.
Many poisons are generated in the system, to which if free vent be not
given by means of the pores of a healthily acting skin, mischief is sure
sooner or later to arise, such mischief for instance as gout and
rheumatism, to which reference has already been made. But the condition
of the kidneys is seldom or never studied by anyone and yet if they do
not act sufficiently well to expel urea from the blood, a more or less
injurious effect is caused upon the brain and nerve centres. This the
periodical use of the Anglo-Turkish bath, would tend to remove.
We all know the demoralising effect that the first glass of spirits is
said to have upon a man inclined to the abuse of intoxicants; it so
affects his brain that he no longer knows, or he disregards right form
wrong as far as his health is concerned. But a similar demoralisation
of brain tissue, may be produced by poisons positively generated in the
system; at least this is our opinion. Those, for example, who have been
given to alcohol, often keep "steady" as they phrase it for a month or
months, then suddenly or gradually, as the case may be, break out again.
This is doubtless caused by the play of some accumulated
system-propagated poison on the brain and nerves. This poison may be
urea, or it may be some acid, it matters not, it is in the blood and it
ought to be eliminated and we earnestly advise those, who would be
abstainers but who find it difficult to long remain so, to fly at once
for relief to the hot-air bath, whenever the "_tempter_," as platform
orators call it, seems to urge them to take once more to stimulants.
We think it highly probable, that many inherited diseases such as
consumption, scrofula, etc, may be kept at bay by the constant use of
the bath under consideration, if only for the simple reason that the
blood poisoning is thus constantly being driven off, before it has power
to accumulate in quantities large enough to do mischief; not to mention
the fact that the bath causes healthful activity of all the secretions.
The diseases which the Turkish bath may be the means of curing or
alleviating, are really too numerous to mention. Among them may be
enumerated gout, rheumatic gout, rheumatism, acute and chronic, colds
and coughs, indigestion in some of its worst forms, bowel affections,
piles, chronic liver and spleen ailments, kidney complaints, incipient
delirium tremens, melancholy and depression of spirits, nervousness,
irritability of temper, sleeplessness, _ennui_, the diseases of
sedentary and also of fashionable life, adiposity, etc. That condition
of body and mind generally caused by indiscretion of some kind, and
usually known by the expression "out of sorts," or "out of condition,"
when weariness and depression are predominant, when sleep is unrest, and
every duty of life is performed with a feeling of extreme irksomeness,
and when the nerves seem given as a punishment, is almost invariably
cured by a course of Turkish Bathing taken in conjunction with some
nervine tonic, and an occasional well-chosen aperient.
Diseases and debilities of the reproductive organs, are by the same
means equally benefited, but in these cases galvanism in some form is
often required to effect a complete cure.
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Note 1. See--"The Eastern Bath," published by Messrs. J. and A.
Churchill, New Burlington Street.