Madame Young's Guide to Health / Her experience and practice for nearly forty years; a true family herbal, wherein is displayed the true properties and medical virtues of all the roots, herbs, &c., indigenous to the United States, and their combination in all the diseases the human body is heir to; also, an explanation of the human body, its liability to injuries through ignorance of its structure. Dedicated exclusively to her sex.

by Amelia Young

BATHING.

Somebody has said, that God gives shower baths to every thing that will stay out doors. A very significant hint, this, to human bipeds; it seems very strange that we are such dull scholars, in this world. We see the fevered earth parch, and burn, and fail of its fruits, till the refreshing rain comes down and cures it; and we never once think, when our blood boils, our flesh burns, and our skin parches with fever, that the same blessed medicine that is poured out on the earth, will heal us; or, if men get a little theoretical faith of this kind, they lose it as soon as they become sick. Early superstition, of all kinds, generally come upon men with peculiar force, when they are weakened and confused by illness.

There is no more invigorating process for preserving health, after the inhaling of pure air, than the daily use of the cold bath. The bath is not useful alone because it removes impurities from the skin; but the fresh, sparkling water, has an absolute life in it, which we receive. And this is the reason why the bath is so much more useful, when the water is just drawn from the fountain, than when it is suffered to stand, and lose its living, or electrical properties.

The best time to take a bath is in the morning, when we rise. No one should take a cold bath, as if he were lazily doing an unpleasant duty; and no one can do it long. Beginners with the bath, should observe the following directions: Bathe the head and face first; bathe the rest of the body thoroughly and quickly; then use much friction—first with a towel, and then with the hand, or a soft brush; this should be continued until the subject is in a glow.

Some people think there are so many difficulties in the way of bathing, that they cannot overcome them, and they believe they must, perforce, be like the dirty representative to an eastern legislature, who boasted that he had not bathed for fifteen years! Let us look at these difficulties, and we shall find that “where there is a will there is a way.” Anybody, that is anybody, can surely get a bowl of water, and a sponge, or towel; with these, he can take a thorough washing, and, if he has any energy, he can rub the body in a glow with a brush, a hand towel, or the hand.

There is no preventive of colds equal to this simple process, repeated every morning. It makes a man feel clean, bright, and respectable. The use of warm baths, except in particular cases of illness, is mischievous; they weaken the skin, and expose the person who takes them, to attacks of colds and influenza. Still, the occasional use of warm baths for cleaning the skin, is better than to allow the skin to be dirty. Shower baths are useful in cases where there is high health, or general inflammation; where there is full reactive power they are safe, and not otherwise; where they induce a chill, they are very hurtful. The indiscriminate recommendation of the shower bath, is always an evidence of very partial knowledge. The sponge bath is probably more universally beneficial, and is safer than any other bath.