4. (Dr Scott.) Nitric acid, 2 fl. oz.; hydrochloric acid, 3 fl. oz.; water, 5 fl. oz.; mix. 11⁄2 to 2 fl. oz. to each gall. of water for a general bath; 3 fl. oz. to the gall. for a foot, knee, or sponge bath.
Uses, &c. In its weaker forms, in skin-diseases depending on disordered liver; in others, chiefly in liver complaints, and to relieve the pain on the passing of gall-stones. It must be contained in an enamelled or wooden vessel, and may be used as a hip, knee, or foot-bath; a knee-bath being the one generally adopted in England. Dr Scott, of Bombay, who first brought this bath into notice, once plunged the Duke of Wellington up to his chin in one, in India, and thus cured him of a severe hepatic affection. In its stronger form it causes tingling and pricking of the skin, and a peculiar taste in the mouth, and affects the gums and salivary glands, often producing plentiful ptyalism, without which, indeed, its advocates regard its action as incomplete. Time of application, 15 to 20 minutes daily, for a fortnight or three weeks; and afterwards, every second or third day.
Bath, Oak-Bark. Syn. Bal′neum quer′cûs, B. quer′ci, L. Oak-bark, 3 or 4 handfuls for a child; 10 to 15 for an adult; made into a decoction, and strained with pressure into the bath. In hæmorrhoids, prolapsus, leucorrhœa, hernia, diarrhœa, ill-conditioned and bleeding ulcerations, &c. Drs Elaesser, Eberle, and Fletcher have successfully employed it in the intermittents of infancy and childhood, tabes mesenterica or scrofula, &c. It has also proved useful in phthisis.
Bath, Oil. Syn. Bal′neum oleo′sum, L. Olive or other oil (hot), strongly aromatised with the oils of cassia, cloves, nutmegs, cedron, and juniper; and digested for a week on ambergris and vanilla, of each (bruised), about 10 gr. to the gallon. Used, in the East, to anoint the body, as a preservative against the plague and other contagious diseases; also as a full bath or hip-bath, the immersion being for 15 to 30 minutes.
Bath, Pneumat′ic. See Bath, Air.
Bath, Saline′ (Gelatinous). Syn. Bal′neum sali′no-gelatino′sum, L.; Bain de Plombières, Fr. Prep. Common salt and Flanders glue, of each 2 lbs.; water, 1 gall.; dissolve separately, and add the solutions to the bath. In scrofula, &c.
Bath, Salt. See Bath, Saline, Bath, Sea, &c.
Bath, Sand. Syn. Bal′neum are′næ, L.; Bain de sable, Fr. See Bath (in Chemistry), Bath, Dry, &c.
Bath, Sea. Syn. Bal′neum mari′num, L.; Bain marin, Fr. Immersion in the sea or in recent sea water (temperate, tepid, warm, or hot). Owing to the saline matter which it contains, it possesses stimulant, alterative, and resolvent properties, superadded to those of pure water at the corresponding temperature. When taken, in summer, on our coasts, the reaction and glow follow more speedily and
certainly than after a common water bath; and it may be taken with greater safety, and for a longer period. It often proves very serviceable in diseases accompanied with debility, in phthisis, scrofula, glandular enlargement, &c. A warm or hot sea-water bath is one of the most restorative imaginable; often removing the effects of fatigue and exposure—exhaustion, stiff joints, cramps, rheumatism, &c.—like a charm. Unless under sanction of a medical man, boys and girls should never be allowed to bath in the sea after the end of September. See Bath (above), Waters, &c.