Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1845-11-06
The Virtues Of Cold Water.


We are solicited by an aged aud intelligent
friend of Hartford, to give hearing to himself and
son upon the virtues of cold water. The source is
of that kind which commands at least the respect
full attention of all readers-N y Express
The writer of this notice has lately received
letter from friend in Brateboro, now under the
medical treatment of DIR. w. giving some facts in
the history of the life of that physician, and detail
ing statements Of difficult cases, now under his
charge. As these have interested aud instructed
the recipient, he is led to offer the letter itself for
publication, under the belief that the statements
therein may interest the public, also, in some, il not
in equal degree.
1t is the remark of DR.. Edward Johnson, pupil
ofihe celebrated Sir Ashley Cooper, aud an English
physician and writer ofconsderable Distinction that
mo well educated man dare (lor his repuiations
sake) refuse to admit that a remedy, which pro-
duce the most profuse perspiration aud eau, also,
lower the temperature, and the velocity OF the
hearts action, to the extinction of life, must
possess uncommon power over diseases of every
kind
And Sir Charles Scudamore in his work on Hy-
dropathy, says :-convinced that we have in our
power a new and most eihcatious agent for the allie
Walton ofdlsease and, improper hands safe and ef-
lectual, | should be friend 10 humanity. or to
medical science, If did not give my testimony in
its recommendation
Like other important discoveries, one great merit
Of the water cure consists in IFS simplicity 1.-THE
greatest philosopher the world ever knew, he who
first dissected ray Of light into its seven primitive
coors, and demonstrated that they WERE then, inca
psbe of farther diyisbty--if Newton, while sit
ting in the thoughtful solitude of his garden watch
ing the apple it fell TO the ground, and medtatng
on the cause of its fall could from that rihing cir
cumstance, draw forth, from its sleep of ages, the
explanation of the law ofgrayithtion thence deduc-
ing that sublime law of their Almighty Creator, who
first projected the planets, and their satellites, on
their different orbits, aud keeps them in their
spheres, during their circling revolutions.
II one of the earliest of those who conceived the
idea of employing the force Of steam TO produce the
powers of notion was led, from the humble task of
watching the rush of steam spoutng from tea ket-
te to perceive the possibility OF appy ng this great
power of nature TO the mechanic arts Of almost ev-
cry description, in such ways will, eventually,
change the relations of mankind and accelerate the
civilization Of the world -
Is il marvellous that German peasant but n man,
nevertheless, of sound judgment and strong mind,
Vincent Presnitz, from the accidental crushing OF
his hand and the almost instantaneous relief he
found from punging it into cold water, should also,
have conceived the idea of applying this mighty a
gent of nature to cure or TO alleviate many Of the
other ills, that flesh is heir to 2
The invention OF printing by John Faust, the sill
versmith of Mentz, or whoever else may have bet
ter claim to 1.-THE accidental mixture of nItre, sui
phur, and charcoal, by Bartholomew Schwartz, who
first discovered gunpowder--the combination Of
lenses by Calico, which led to the perfeciing ofth
telescope. and the consequent extension of astro
nomical science--a had equally humble beginnings
with the discovery of Preisnitz. And the merit o.
this last has been acknowledged by the ability, the
intelligence, and the wealth of Germany, in learn
ing and science unsurpassed by any part Of the
world, which, in lS4l crowded TO him for relief, tC
the number Of FIVE hundred at once.
1t is very conceivable that the tonic properties 0
pure wate its purifying influences, without an'
within, and its immense diapheretic power, com
bned with entire temperance, and moderate labor
the basis of this sysiem,--accompsh much II
extracting and discharging disease where it exists
as well as in preventing it where it does not, and il
drawing forth the dormant energies Of the humal
frame, the wis medicatrix naturG,' thus maxim;
Nature cure herself, or, in other words, cure tn
disorders which certainly result from the inlractlo
of her laws. and thus giving to man that most de
lghtnl of all physical sensations, the sound body
with its consequence, the sound mind.
The suppression Of the names Of individuals, re
erred to in the letter well of their places
abode, will, it is presumed, commend itself to tn
/, appreciation Of the consderate mind. 5.