You can bathe with impunity in cold water when the body is perspiring freely, as long as the breathing is not disturbed, nor the body exhausted by over-exertion.
Never bathe in cool or cold water when the body is cold. First restore warmth by exercise.
Always wet the head before taking a plunge bath, and the chest also, if the lungs are weak.
In cases of sickness, where it becomes necessary to assist Nature in ridding the system of impurities through the medium of the sweat glands, the “wet sheet pack” will be found invaluable. It is usually regarded by those imperfectly acquainted with its action as simply the chief factor in a sweating process, but it is more than that. Not only does it open up the pores and soften the scales of the skin, but it “draws” the morbid matter from the interior of the body, through the surface to the pores. It is of immense value in all cases of fever, especially bilious fever.
It should be borne in mind that “flushing the colon” should always precede the use of the “pack.”
If any one doubts the purifying efficacy of this process he can have a “demonstration strong” by the following experiment: Take any man in apparently fair health, who is not accustomed to daily bathing, who lives at a first-class hotel, takes a bottle of wine at dinner, a glass of brandy and water occasionally, and smokes from three to six cigars per day. Put him in a pack and let him soak one or two hours. On taking him out the intolerable stench will convince all persons present that his blood and secretions were exceedingly befouled and that a process of depuration is going on rapidly.
Full directions for the use of the pack will be found at the end of this work.
It will be necessary to take into consideration the vitality of the patient and regulate the temperature of the sheet accordingly. The best time to use it is about ten in the morning, or nine in the evening.