VII. Inject into the stomach, by means of an elastic tube and syringe, half a pint of warm brandy and water, or wine and water.
VIII. Apply sal-volatile or hartshorn to the nostrils.
If apparently dead from intense cold.—Rub the body with snow, ice, or cold water. Restore warmth by slow degrees; and after some time, if necessary, employ the means recommended for the drowned. In these accidents, it is highly dangerous to apply heat too early.
AQUATIC EXERCISES
SWIMMING.
Swimming, considered with regard to the movements that it requires, is useful in promoting great muscular strength; but the good effects are not solely the result of the exercise that the muscles receive, but partly of the medium in which the body is moved. Both the considerable increase of general force, and the tranquillizing of the nervous system produced by swimming, arise chiefly from this, that the movements, in consequence of the cold and dense medium in which they take place, occasion no loss.[8] It is easy to conceive of what utility swimming must be, where the very high state of the atmospheric temperature requires inactivity in consequence of the excessive loss caused by the slightest movement. It then becomes an exceedingly valuable resource, the only one, indeed, by which muscular weakness can be remedied, and the energy of the vital functions maintained. We must therefore regard swimming as one of the most beneficial exercises that can be taken in summer.
[8] The expression “loss” here, is used as the result produced by increased evaporation from the pores, consequent upon violent bodily exertion.