The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-07-22 00:00:00

USEFUL REMARKS ON BATHING

The bath, whether warm or cold, produces the most salu-
tary effect on the absorbent vessels, which would otherwise
reconduct the impurities of the skin through the pores, to the
no small injury of health. To those in a perfect state of vi-
gour, the frequent use of the bath is less necessary than to
the infirm ; as the healthy possess a greater power to resist
impurities by means of their unimpaired perspiration, the
elasticity of their minute vessels, and the due co-assistance
of their circulating fluid. The case is very different with the
infirm, the delicate, and the aged : in these, the slowness of
circulation, the viscidity and clamminess of the fluids, the
constant efforts of nature to propel the impurities towards
the skin, combine to render the frequent washing of their
bodies an essential requisite to their physical existence. The
warm, that is, the tepid or lukewarm bath, being about the
temperament of the blood, between 96 and 98 of Fahrenheit,
has usually been considered as apt to weaken and relax the
body ; but this is an ill-founded notion. It is only when its
heat exceeds that of the human body, as in the hot bath,
and King's Bath, at Bath (both of which are from eighteen
to twenty degrees higher than blood heat), that the
warm bath can produce a debilitating effect. Indeed, baths
of the above immoderate heat ought not to be used in
their natural state, that is, without reducing temperature by
cold water, except in particular cases, and under the imme-
diate advice ola physician. On the contrary, the lukewarm,
or tepid bath, from 93 downwards to 85, is always safe, and is
so far from relaxing the tone of the solids, that it may justly
be considered as one of the most powerful and universal re-
storatives with which we are acquainted. Instead of beating
the body, it has a cooling effect; it lessens the quickness of
the pulse, and reduces it in a greater proportion according as
the pulse has been more quick and unnatural, and according
to the length of the time the bath is continued. Hence
tepid baths are of eminent service where the body has been
overheated, from whatever cause, whether after fatigue from
travelling, or severe bodily exercise, or after violent exertion
tuelsatr
sense,
emnos ve mi
nevni tgse r ofa
t e t
thhee
sbyosdt ye
el, a. n
Thisf e qeuffeenettl yt
h,
and perturbation of mind, as they allay the tempestuous and
eintetphide
irregular
baths produce in a manner exactly alike, in the coldest as
well as the hottest climates.

SHOWER BATH.
Although the Shower Bath does not cover the surface of
the body so universally as the cold bath, this circumstance
is rather favourable than otherwise; those parts which the
water has not touched feel the impression by sympathy as
much as those in actual contact with it. Every drop of
water becomes a partial bath in miniature, and thus a stronger
impression is excited than in any other mode of bathing.
The Shower Bath, indeed, upon the whole, promises supe-
rior advantages to all others, viz., the sudden contact of the
water, which, in the common bath, is only momentary, may
here be prolonged, repeated, and made slow or quick, or mo-
dified at pleasure. The head and breast, which are exposed
to some inconvenience and danger in the common bath, are
here at once secured by receiving the first shock of the water;
the blood is consequently impelled to the lower parts of the
body, and the patient finds no obstruction in breathing, or
undulations of blood towards the head.
The heavy pressure on the body occasioned by the weight
the
ienngtohfetetimore detrimental than
partso f the
touchedwater, abnyd
tthe e
being
gee f
r circulationsem e time of
at theiee tblo od
interrupted,in
contrary, descends in sin-
water, while it can be more onfßcabotalhdt
gtumiliseaaeknfdtelrtciphe se
ii:muwhsemht lieaSclirlbl'oivfeleriat once more stimulating. and pleasant
atient.
circumstances of the p
rea-
dily procured, and more easily modified and adapted to the

The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland gave a grand con-
cert on Friday morning, at Stafford House, for the benefit of
the Poles. About 500 of the nobility and gentry were
present ; the receipts are said to have amounted to nearly
£lOOO.
BEESWING.—This celebrated mare has started for sixty.
three public races, out of which number she has won fifty,
including twenty-four gold cups, nine royal plates, and other
important prizes, and only suffered defeat thirteen times. It
will be seen that she has already eclipsed the fame of her
sire (Dr. Syntax,) not only in the number of gold cups won,
but also in the number of races gained. Dr. Syc.tax, €.luring
his career on the turf, won twenty gold cups, besides sixteen
other prizes ; he started for forty-nine races, but suffered de-
feat for thirteen.