CHAPTER IV.
APPLICATION OF THE BATH TO HORSES AND CATTLE, FOR TRAINING, AND THE CURE OF DISEASE.
The Turkish Bath is not only applicable to man, but is suitable also to animals, to the horse and the dog, those faithful and useful friends and companions of man; and also to his oxen, his cows, and his sheep. In the instance of the horse and dog, it is capable of preserving health and condition, and preparing them by training for those feats of strength and speed which are peculiar to those animals. And it becomes an important and valuable medicine in treating their diseases.
In employing the bath as a means of training, we must have clearly before us the powers of the bath, on the one hand, and the precise objects which we wish to attain, on the other. The bath will abstract the old material from the system, and will thereby render the system more ready to take up and more capable of appropriating new and strengthening nutritious matter which may be given to supply its place. In other words, it will do the sweating part of the process excellently, without fatigue, without wear and tear to the economy. But this, although a necessary part of the process of training, is only a part of the process. Other means are required to direct the new nutritive matter to the organs which especially require it—the organs of locomotion; and the principal of these means is exercise. The racehorse must still have his muscles trained by exercise; the prize-fighter, prize-runner, or prize-rower, must still pursue a systematic course of exercise; but the exercise in both instances is only that which is required to educate the muscles, to give them power, precision, facility of action, and to strengthen the breathing function; the exercise for the abstraction of unnecessary matter, for the removal of fat, is no longer requisite; for that the bath will amply and sufficiently provide.
My friend Mr. Goodwin, of Hampton Court, who has had much and the best kind of experience in the management of horses, tells me that for more than twenty-five years he has been in the habit of having his horses washed whenever they returned to the stable in a state of perspiration, and with the result that his stable was remarkable for the health and condition of the animals. His process was as follows:—the horses were thoroughly sponged over with warm water; then with tepid water; and, lastly, with cold; the water was then scraped out of their coats with a scraper (strigillum), and they were well wiped down with a leather. After this they were covered with a cotton sheet, and their legs were bandaged with cotton rollers. In fifteen or twenty minutes the sheet was raised gradually, first at one corner, then at another, until it was completely removed; the uncovered portion being thoroughly wiped before the next was proceeded with, and the process being continued until the animal was completely dry. After this treatment, there was no fear of any subsequent breaking out, and however sharply the horses had been worked, frequently after a run at the rate of twenty miles an hour, they were ready and willing for a double feed of oats.
How different this picture from that of the common condition of horses under similar circumstances; breaking out into a profuse, and often a succession of profuse perspirations after being put into the stable, and unable to eat their corn from faintness and exhaustion. But how curious the parallel with the stages of the Turkish Bath: the exercise is the sudatorium; then the operations of the lavatorium; firstly, the warm affusion, then the cold douche and the strigil; and, lastly, the frigidarium and the sheet. Nay, the parallel permits of being pushed even one stage further. My friend W. says:—"I have no objection to see a friend in the bath, or invite him to dinner; but not both on the same day, for the bath makes him so hungry, that my cook threatens to give me warning."
Mr. Urquhart, in a note to "The Pillars of Hercules" observes:—"A plan has recently been successfully adopted for drying horses after hunting. Two men, one on each side, throw over him buckets of water as hot as he can bear it; he is then scraped, and rubbed with chamois leather, the head and ears carefully dried with a rubber, and his clothing put on. In twenty minutes he is perfectly dry, and there is no fear of his breaking out again: the old plan of rubbing him dry took from one to two hours of very hard work, and he generally broke out once or twice, and would often be found in a profuse sweat at twelve or one o'clock at night. The bath might be adopted for horses." "At present we shampoo our horses and clear off the epidermis, while we bestow no such care on our own bodies."
On the application of the Turkish Bath to the management and training of horses, the following letter, addressed by Mr. Goodwin to the Editor of Bell's Life, is especially important and interesting:—
"Mr. Editor,—I hope your insertion of Mr. Erasmus Wilson's observations upon the advantages to be derived from the Turkish Bath may be the means of inducing owners of horses and their trainers to try its effects. It is obvious that in the racing stables such an adjunct must be found of great use to horses whose limbs are defective, and not capable of sustaining the exercise necessary to reduce their superfluous flesh, and also in cases where the constitutional powers of the animals in preparation will not admit of their doing the strong work required of them.
"Mr. Wilson's remarks upon the system of washing horses after their work allude to a practice which was introduced, and successfully carried out, under my direction for many years in the Royal stables. The following narrative in relation to it may be some testimony in its favour:—When the late Earl of Jersey became Master of the Horse his lordship sent for me on one occasion hastily, to express his horror at seeing the stablemen wash a set of horses which had just come in from a sharp run on the Windsor road; and so great was his lordship's prejudice to the innovation that I was afraid I should not be able to persuade him to permit its continuance, to give him an opportunity of observing its effects. His lordship, however, at my earnest request, came back to the mews in two hours' time to look at those horses, and not only found them quite dry and well dressed, but all of them eating their corn with good appetites. This induced his lordship to pay particular attention, whenever the opportunity occurred, to the horses so treated, and he became such a convert to this method, so new to him, that he often brought his friends to witness the beneficial effects of it; and, amongst others, the late Mr. Assheton Smith came, and immediately adopted it in his hunting stables, and, I have heard, with great success.
"I know not whether jockeys have ever tried the hot-air bath for reducing themselves; but as they are compelled often to undergo such killing fatigue and privation as to impair their strength and endanger their health, they may, I hope, now that it is brought to their notice, be persuaded to make early trial of that which seems to offer them so much comfort. And as Mr. Wilson remarks that the skin of the accustomed bather perspires more readily and freely than in those whose pores have not been trained to its operation, jockeys may anticipate the acquisition of some very acceptable information.
"The expense of converting a loose box into a hot-air bath is so trifling that the experiment may be made at no great cost. London has already many Turkish Baths for bipeds, and I hope Newmarket will not be without one for quadrupeds. Col. Knox has testified to its beneficial results upon horses in Ireland; and Col. Towneley has one at his training stables at Middleham, which, I believe, has answered every expectation.
"In the treatment of disease I have often experienced the benefit of hot air; for in former days, when maladies in the horse were more rapid and acute than we now usually meet with them, and were generally ushered in by a cold shivering fit, it was my constant practice at Carlton House stables, when such a case occurred, to take the horse at once into the men's kitchen, and put him before the large fire which always kept it at a high temperature. By the heat, with the help of constant friction, I generally succeeded in cutting short the duration of the cold, clammy sweat, which is always indicative of mischief more or less serious. Were it for the treating of disease only, if I had a stable of valuable horses under my care, I would soon have also a hot-air bath.
"Yours, &c., W. J. Goodwin.
"Hampton Court, Nov. 28th, 1860."
I have assumed for the skin the rank of a respiratory, of a breathing organ; and have endeavoured to show that the cooling and drying operations of the Frigidarium are an important part of the bath, as their performance is associated with the exposure of the skin to the atmosphere. Mr. Witt urges the prolongation of this period of the bath to as lengthened a degree as possible; and he delights to tell his auditors, dispersed around him like Roman senators in the Forum, and with no other garment than a cotton scarf, variously and negligently twined around their bodies—that this was the period when Pliny betook himself to his garden, and in the full light of the sun, and refreshed by the sweet breath of the unfettered winds of Heaven, walked in pleasant contemplation on a terrace carpeted with a beautiful little moss of velvet softness. We read that Sir Walter Scott indulged in this kind of atmospheric bath; we recognise in it the special charm and much of the value of the river bath and the sea-shore bath; and we are not startled when we hear from the mouth of an advocate of the Turkish Bath, Dr. John Le Gay Brereton, in a lecture delivered in Sheffield in 1858, that—"After leaving the hot room in Bradford bath, bathers were in the habit, last winter, of jumping into a bed of snow which had been collected for the purpose. I have myself spent the whole night in the woods at Blarney, without any clothing save the bath-sheet, after coming out of Dr. Barter's bath at that place. This was after a ball, when, with several other gentlemen, we had retreated to the bath for the sake of refreshment from fatigue. So delightful was the cool air, that when far away from any dwelling, we threw aside even our sheets, to enjoy the morning breeze at daybreak. You need not then fear exposure to the air, after the bath; it is not so much for the sake of cooling that this process is necessary, as to keep up the action of the bath by exposing the skin to air; it is to compel the skin to breathe."
The importance of ventilating the skin is illustrated in the process of clipping and singeing, as applied to the horse. The thickening and lengthening of the coat of the horse in the autumn season is a change obviously adapted to prepare the animal for the coming severity of the winter; and however natural in his wild state, is ill suited to his condition as a useful and obedient servant of man. As autumn advances, and after a few cold days, the coat of the horse appears as if "broken up" into plots, and the individual hairs stand out roughly, or, in technical language, the coat "stares." Accompanying this change in the appearance of the skin, the animal becomes weak and languid, loses his spirit, breaks out into sudden and abundant perspirations upon slight exercise, and shows himself unequal to his work. Now, the ready remedy for this state of things is the removal of the excess of hair, and the exposure of the skin to the action of the atmosphere. If the coat be clipped close to the skin or singed, or, better still, be shaven, the animal preserves his strength and vigour, and is equal to all the labour that may reasonably be imposed upon him. Of the three processes, shaving is the best, then clipping, and lastly singeing. As to the latter, it is not quite clear whether its inferior position in rank to the others is due to the less complete exposure of the skin to the action of the air, or to the sealing of the ends of the hairs by the act of burning. It is not improbable that the cut ends of the hair in shaving and clipping may serve as breathing pores for the inhalation of air, an advantage to the oxygenization of the circulation in the skin that is lost in the contraction and obliteration of the cells of the hair which ensues after singeing.
Another curious concomitant of clipping is the change in the colour of the coat, a change which seems to indicate that the colour of the hair produced in the winter time is different from that of the summer.
Dr. Barter, who has done so much to advance the popularity of the bath in Ireland, and has given much attention to farming operations, has applied the bath to the treatment of animals suffering under disease. The following extracts from a "Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the Utility of the Turkish Bath erected by Dr. Barter, at St. Ann's, Blarney, for the Cure of Distemper in Cattle," have an interest peculiarly their own. Referring to one of the patients, the reporters observe: "We were informed she had been about an hour and a half in, had been eight days under treatment, and, as we were able subsequently to satisfy ourselves, had scarcely a trace of disease about her, and the next day was to be returned to the herd cured. She seemed quite to enjoy her position, the perspiration was rolling off her freely, and her breathing was slightly quickened. She carried her head erect, her eyes clear and healthy, and when she was removed to the outer room to get her douche-bath, no one could mistake the feeling of refreshment and pleasure that the dashing of each successive bucket of water over her seemed to give, and when she had been slightly rubbed down she was turned out to graze, the day being fine and warm; but when otherwise, there is a shed close by into which the animals are turned after leaving the bath, to let them further cool and dry before being allowed out.
"One circumstance is worthy of remark, which applies to all the animals treated in the bath, and testified to by the men in charge of the four different baths we were shown—namely, the evident pleasurable recollection the bath seems to leave with them; all the different animals—horses, dogs, cattle, and pigs—going of their own accord to the door of the bath, and dogs particularly indicating their anxiety by waiting at the door, whining till it is opened, and then running in.
"This finished our inspection, and we now beg to submit to your council the conclusions at which we have arrived from the above facts, and the information we were able to obtain in the course of our inquiries.
"First, the proportion of deaths to recoveries in the treatment of cattle distemper with the Turkish Bath does not appear to exceed one in ten, while the proportion that has been hitherto usual under other forms of treatment has varied from one death in three to one in four of the cattle attacked.
"Secondly, that the constitution is not impaired by the treatment with the bath as it is by any of the other systems with which we are at present acquainted; and that this fact is particularly illustrated by the rapidity with which, in every case, the milk almost immediately returns on the animal being relieved from the disease.
"Thirdly, that in the treatment of several of the well-known serious diseases of the inferior animals, its use has been attended with the most favourable results, and particularly in all inflammatory diseases of the internal organs.
"In conclusion, while we are far from thinking that a subject of such vast importance could be satisfactorily investigated in the very limited time we were able to devote to it, we nevertheless feel that we have seen and heard quite enough to warrant us in recommending the subject to the calm and serious investigation of those most vitally interested in the subject."
OBSERVATIONS ON THE USE OE THE BATH.[19]
A Bath is an aggregate of many parts, all more or less essential in forming the whole. To single out, therefore, any particular chamber, or any special contrivance used therein, and to call it the bath, is the same as singling out any room in a house, and calling it the house.
Bathing is a process; and that process is an elaborate one. It comes without thought to those accustomed to it, and no form of words can convey it to those who are not. The bath being the practice of a cleanly and polite people, habits of cleanliness and politeness must be observed by those who frequent it. No code of rules and instructions can teach the use of the bath: strangers must learn from the attendants how they are to conduct themselves, and not speculate upon what they do not understand. The following injunctions, however, may perhaps be of some service:—
I. The bath should be taken (especially by the uninitiated) before dinner: but if in the evening, a light repast may be taken in the middle of the day.
II. Habits of cleanliness, decorum and repose are imperative. The floors of the inner chambers of the bath must never be trodden with shoes; these, and all other ordinary articles of dress, are to be left in the outer room. The bathing dress is to be strictly worn throughout, and never laid aside, except when the bather may be the sole occupant of an apartment. To ensure the necessary quiet and repose, all noisy and exciting conversation is prohibited.
III. Where there is a tepid-chamber, the bather is to remain therein for a short time, or until a gentle moisture appears on the surface of the skin.
IV. He is then to proceed to the hot-chamber (having first twisted a piece of linen around the head, in the form of a turban), and if, at any time, the heat be found oppressive, the head may be wetted with warm, and the feet with cold water; and he should pass to and from a cooler room, until the system becomes habituated to the heat. When the skin shall hereafter acquire a more healthy condition, and copious perspiration speedily results from every bath, the feeling of oppression will cease.
V. Water may be drunk, if desired; but to drink without the desire sometimes produces sickness.
VI. Shampooing (where attainable) necessarily precedes the processes of ablution, for which object the bather returns for a time to the tepid-chamber. In the absence of better means, rough linen or hair gloves may be used to remove the softened cuticle.
VII. From the hot-chamber he proceeds to the washing-room, if this should form a separate apartment. After the whole surface of the body has been well soaped and rubbed, it is to be exposed to a shower of warm water; and this soaping and cleansing is to be repeated as often as may be required. In all washings care must be taken that the same water shall never touch the body twice.
VIII. Immediately following the final ablution with warm water, the whole body should be subjected for a few seconds to a stream of cold water; or the bather may take a plunge into a pool of cold water, where such convenience forms a part of the bath.
IX. If this application of cold be long continued, or if it take place in too cool a room, the bather should return to the hot-chamber for a few minutes, in order that the skin may regain its previous degree of warmth; generally, however (after having thrown aside the wet bathing garb), it will be sufficient to envelope the whole body quickly with a dry sheet, and to proceed at once to the—
X. Cooling-room, where the recumbent posture and perfect quietude are enjoined for a few minutes, until the accelerated action of the heart shall have quite subsided: the sheet is to be cast off by degrees, and its place supplied with a fresh bath garment.
XI. Plenty of time is to be devoted to this important department of the bath; the skin is to be exposed, as much as possible, to the vivifying action of the sun and air, and opportunity thus afforded to the newly-opened pores to absorb oxygen from the atmosphere. Where the cooling-room opens into a retired court, or garden, the open air is preferable.
XII. Before dressing, the whole surface of the body must be dry to the touch. If the cooling stage be hurried over, a secondary perspiration may break out; this may give cold, and this alone; but this is the result of mismanagement, not of the bath. Finally; the bather should "Dress deliberately, walk away slowly, and reflect properly on the blessing that he has enjoyed."
THE END.
LONDON: SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, COVENT GARDEN.