The uses of water in health and disease

by John Harvey Kellogg

WET GIRDLE.

This was a favorite remedy with the early German hydropathists, and it is a very useful appliance when properly employed, though it has been much abused by excessive use, as in the case of the chest wrapper. To apply it well, a coarse towel about three yards long is the most convenient for use. Wet one-half of this, in tepid water, wring it until it will not drip, and apply it to the abdomen, placing one end at the side, and bringing it across the front first, so that two thicknesses of the wet portion will cover the abdomen. After winding the whole tightly around the body, fasten the end securely. The remarks made in reference to the wearing of the chest wrapper apply with equal force to the wet girdle. For feeble patients it is better to wet only that portion of the towel which covers the abdomen.

This a very efficient remedy for constipation, chronic diarrhea, and most other intestinal disorders. It is equally valuable in dyspepsia, torpid liver, enlarged spleen, and uterine derangements.