The sitz bath and foot bath come next in point of importance. [[16]]The former acts with marked effect in cases of congestion of the liver and other internal organs; by abstracting heat from the surface of the body submitted to its influence, it causes a transference of fluids from the centre to the exterior, and the congested organs are relieved from their excess of blood by its being thus determined to the surface; this effect, at first temporary, becomes permanent when the use of the bath has been persevered in for some time. Let us now compare the effects of this bath, in the cases of congestion of the liver, with the treatment usually pursued by the orthodox physicians. Their remedies consist in dosing with Calomel, or Taraxacum, or in the application of leeches to the affected region. The two former stimulate the action of the liver, in spite of the congested blood which oppresses it, but they do not attempt to deal with the causes of this congestion, the result of which is that the liver being weakened by its unnatural exertions consequent on the unnatural stimulants which have been administered to it, sinks—after the effect of the unnatural stimulus has worn away—into a more enfeebled and exhausted state, and the original cause of the congestion remaining unremoved, matters become worse than at first. In the case of leeching, the topical bleeding relieves the affection for a time, but this is a remedy which cannot be REPEATED in consequence of the weakness which it engenders, and when the bleeding is given up, how do matters stand? The disease remains in statu quo; not so, however, the constitution, for this has been weakened by the bleeding, and nature being consequently less able to cure herself, chronic disease of the liver results. On the other hand, the hydropathic treatment necessary to determine the blood from the congested organ to the surface, and so remove the disease, can be repeated as often as desirable, with constantly increasing effect, until permanent relief is afforded by a perseverance in the treatment, and the patient improves in general health, pari passu, with the cure of his particular disease. The effects of the sitz bath, are, it appears, either tonic or relaxing according to the length of time during which it is administered; if a tonic effect is desired, a period varying from ten to fifteen minutes is prescribed—if a relaxing or derivative effect is to be produced, the period is extended to half-an-hour or forty-five minutes.
We should have thought it superfluous to make any observations on the evil effects of mercury, which we thought were [[17]]acknowledged by everybody, were it not that we recently heard it designated by a much respected physician as “a most wholesome substance,” the chief objection to it being “that persons got too fat upon it.” This opinion astonished us not a little, and we felt that when habit[5] and prejudice could so pervert the mind of a physician as to make him look upon a poisonous substance as a positive good, we could easily account for the difficulty which has been always experienced in converting a medical man—for the unsatisfactory state of the medical art, and its having so long pertinaciously followed the routine practice of our ancestors. When a mind cannot perceive the difference between black and white, it is in vain to place less obvious differences before it. We now quote the opinion of Dietrich as to the effects of this “wholesome” ingredient, mercury, for the benefit of the physician in question, and such of our readers as may hitherto have agreed with him. He tells us that—
“Soon after salivation has been established, the blood exhibits an inflammatory crust; at a later period its colour deepens, and its coagulability is diminished; the proportion of clot, and, therefore, of fibrin, to serum (or watery part) becomes smaller; the formation of albumen and mucus sinks to that of serum; the whole organic formation of the patient is less consistent and cohesive.”
Which opinion is right, let the public judge. We will not prejudice their verdict by any further observations of ours, but will merely ask them, if mercury be proved unnecessary, how can its continued use be defended?
Dr. Farre writes sportively as follows:—
“A full, plethoric woman, of a purple-red complexion, consulted me * * * I gave her mercury, and in six weeks blanched her as white as a lily.”
If this be what the Allopathist boasts of, and one of the effects he aims at producing, we congratulate him on the melancholy success which usually attends his efforts.
As regards the use of the foot bath, we may observe that the theory of its administration subverts all our preconceived notions respecting the proper mode of treating those affections for which it is usually prescribed. For instance, the old mode of proceeding in affections of blood to the head, or in cases of cold feet, was to apply cold to the head and warmth to the feet, in the shape of hot flannels, hot bricks, and hot stupes. [[18]]Now the Hydropathic mode of treatment is the very reverse of this, viz., to bathe the head in tepid, and place the feet in cold water to about the depth of three inches, up to the ankles—friction of the feet accompanying their immersion; the whole being continued for about ten minutes. Let any person suffering from cold feet try this remedy, and he will satisfy himself of the truth of the principles which enjoin it. Its rationale is as follows:—The application of warm water to the head, of the same temperature as the body, does not increase the flow of blood to it, whilst the subsequent evaporation from the moist and warm surface of the head cools it gradually, and so diminishes the flow of blood to it, whilst the cold application to the feet, has, “for a secondary result, the attraction and retention in those parts of great quantity of blood, and consequently of increased temperature there. In fact,” continues Dr. Gully, “a cold foot bath of twelve or fifteen minutes, followed by a walk of half-an-hour, is the most certain way to warm the feet that can be devised; just as, per contra, the most certain way to insure cold feet, is to soak them in hot water. The same applies to the hands. When the patient is in a condition to take it, a walk is necessary to obtain the circulating reaction alluded to:” he adds, “the warmth remains for several hours. Very frequently I have heard persons say that they have not known cold feet since they began to take cold foot baths.”
With respect to bathing generally, very erroneous opinions appear to prevail, two of which only we will notice:—First, that for delicate constitutions bathing is dangerous, because no reaction takes place in the system;—secondly, that it is dangerous to bathe in cold water when the body is heated. To the first we answer, that no matter how delicate the constitution may be, reaction can always be obtained, if water of a proper temperature be used; this temperature will vary with the vitality of the individual—the more delicate the individual the warmer the water must be. A delicate person will often receive the same shock and benefit to his system from water at a temperature of 80°, as a strong man may, perhaps, receive from water at a temperature of 42°. To the second we reply, that a more erroneous opinion could not by possibility prevail, and that the idea in question is exactly the opposite of the truth; the fact being, that the body cannot be too warm for cold bathing, always provided, that such warmth has not been produced at the cost of bodily languor and fatigue, as in such cases the system will be too much weakened to react after the [[19]]bath with effect; but with this exception, the warmer the body the greater will be the reaction and benefit received, and the longer may the bather continue with impunity to luxuriate in the bath. The body is never so well calculated to withstand the effects of cold as when it is heated; and the only danger to be apprehended from cold bathing is that arising from entering the water in a chilled condition, when, from the low vitality of the body, the subsequent reaction becomes imperfect. Let these maxims be remembered:—that without subsequent reaction, no bath is beneficial—therefore, water should be always used of a proper temperature to secure reaction, and exercise to warmth, taken immediately before and after a cold bath, when practicable; that the colder the bath (provided reaction follows) the greater its benefit, the reaction being always a mean proportional between the temperature of the bather and the water in which he bathes. Whenever bathing is found to disagree with any person, it will be always found that some of the preceding conditions have been neglected, a very common fault being that of entering the water in a chilled state, and remaining there for twenty minutes, when five would have proved, perhaps, more than sufficient; then headache, languor, and chilliness succeed, and we are told that bathing disagrees. With such bathing, the wonder would be that it did not.
We would next make some observations on the different modes of treating pulmonary consumption, that fatal and mysterious disease, which has so long baffled the curative efforts of the most eminent physicians of their day, and it is gratifying to find that a great step towards a rational and successful mode of treatment, based on sound physiological principles, has lately obtained in its case, which mode we hope soon to see generally adopted by the medical profession.[6] The unsuccessful treatment of this disease has hitherto cast a slur on medical science, and it is not to be wondered at that little success should have attended on the orthodox mode of treatment, since recent observation, and matured experience have shown, on physiological principles, that no worse mode could have been devised for curing, nor a surer one adopted for aggravating the disease. This new view of the matter is [[20]]very ably set forth in Dr. Lane’s work, which we heartily recommend to the perusal of our readers, as a sensible and modest statement of the benefits resulting from Hydropathic treatment in cases of that nature. Dr. Lane looks upon consumption as essentially a blood disease, in which opinion he is confirmed by the first physiologists of the day, and by those physicians who have had most experience in the treatment of that particular disease, Sir James Clarke, Professor Bennet, Dr. Balbyrnie, and others. These physicians concur in confirming the observation of others, to the effect that indigestion or derangement of the stomach and digestive organs, is a universal forerunner of pulmonary consumption, and that without such derangement consumption cannot exist. Consequent on this diseased state of the digestive organs, imperfect blood is assimilated, deficient in its oleaginous elements, and containing an undue amount of albuminous materials; that in consequence of this deficiency of oleaginous elements, the blood is incapable of being converted into true cellular tissue to replace the effete material of the lungs, and the superabundant quantity of albumen has a tendency to exude upon the lungs on their exposure to cold in the form of tubercles, which process is unaccompanied by inflammatory action. These facts are based on long observation and direct chemical analysis of the substance composing the tubercles, which consist of almost pure albumen; and on this theory the wonderful effects of cod liver oil in consumptive cases, and the great emaciation of body which results from the disease are satisfactorily explained. In the one case, the cod liver oil supplies, in a light and digestible form, the oleaginous element in which the blood is deficient; in the other, the system has recourse to the fatty or adipose matter of the body to supply the oleaginous principle. But now the question arises, supposing that indigestion is the universal precursor of consumption, from what does this indigestion and consequent imperfect assimilation of the blood proceed? This question Dr. Lane does not touch upon, but we believe that Dr. Barter, the well-known Hydropathic physician of Blarney, considers that it arises from defective vitality[7] in the blood, caused by deficiency of oxygen in the system, more immediately proceeding [[21]]from defective capacity of the lungs, and imperfect action of the skin. The skin and lungs, it must be remembered, are supplementary organs; stop the action of either, and death inevitably ensues, and on their perfect or imperfect action, perfect or imperfect health depends. This view of the disease is illustrated by the history of the monkey: in its wild state, the best authorities state, it never gets consumption, but domesticate the animal, so inducing bad action of the lungs, from want of sufficient exercise and wholesome air, and imperfect action of the skin, arising from the same cause, and it usually dies of this disease. These observations equally apply to all cases of scrofulous degeneration, which physicians estimate as carrying off prematurely one-sixth of the whole human family.[8] Of this terrible disease, the scourge of the human race, it is sufficient to observe, that consumption is merely a form of it, and that it is, moreover, hereditary, a fact which would corroborate the opinion of its being a true blood disease.