The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-09-18
WATER ON THE SPINE
ONE SECRET OF HEALTH FOR WOMEN
WHO TAKE EXERCISE.
The Hot Bath to Blame For Pale Cheeks
and Bloodiess Lips-Difierence In the
Proper Manner of Taking Hot and Cold
Baths.

There were three of them. They all he
longed to health culture club, and they
thought what they didn't know about the
human frame hadn't been discovered.
81 don't understand it at all, re-
marked tho tall, slender woman with the
pale checks and lips. "Aftor exercise i'm
tho gym or return from a bicycle ride and
take my warm bath l almost collapse. My
hands and feet are like ice the rest of the
10y, and feel as languid as "A constitu-
uonally lazy person does in SPRING"
The same here, - responded the stout
woman. Now | always take my exercise
in moderation. If I'm in the gym l never
work more than an hour. If l go bicy-
cling, | never ride more than ten miles,
and when | walk five miles is my limit.
/ don't believe in carrying anything to ex-
cess. For my part | believe many wom-
an is i'm shool, If there is Is such place,
from belonging 20 too many church soci-
cites and attending service too frequently
My doctor told me that If l would only ex-
ercise i'm moderation and take warm
bath afterward / would feel exhilarated
the balance Of the day and that | would
have no more ailments, but somehow it
hasn't worked. "
an, brunette, who would have been pretty
had it not been for her deathlike pallor, II
feel like the last rose of summer about the
time finish my bath after exercising"
NO wonder you feel like limp lunatic
after exercising if you take hot bath
lfterward, said an elderly man joining
tho group do you mean To- say, all of
you women, that you have no better sense
than To take hot or "A warm bath after
violent exercise?"
"Well, you surely would not advise a
cold shower" said my lady pale lips, with
"A shudder at the mere thought
THAT would be rs much of an extreme
as hot bath, !" answered the man. i've
studied this question Of baths for athletes
for many years, both here and in other
countries, and it is astonishing how many
physicians give incorrect and harmful adj
vice on this subject"
II couldn't give up my hot baths for
anybody" interrupted the tall woman.
"Then you'll always have those pale
checks and lips that are the bane of your
life" insisted the man, land, another
thing, you'll never know the real joy of
living physically. BY that | mean you'll
never have full, free flow of rich blood
distributed equally throughout every part
of your body Whyy Well, to begin at
the beginning, if heat i'm any form is APP
piled to the spine. il tends to arrest circu-
lation, and prostration in various parts of
the body is sure to follow. Did any of you
women ever apply hot water bag be-
tween the shoulders"
"Oh, yes, =" emphatically from the trio.
Il thought So" said the man, with a
smile. II know that nearly all of your
sex are slaves To- the hot water bag Very
well, if you've put hot water bag be-
tween your shoulders and kept it there for
half an hour you know how cold and
clammy your hands and feet grow.
That's so, admitted the stout woman
candidly. 1T may relieve the sharp pain
in the shoulders or back, but the corpse
like feeling of the feet and hands that fol-
lows is almost as disagreeable as the real
pain. -
The direct injury" continued the
man, sis to the spinal nervous system.
When we talk about the backbone of a
country, we mean that thing which holds
it up-which keeps it together 80 it is
with the human body. The backbone, the
spine, with all its wonderful machinery,
Is what keeps these bodies of ours up.
Heat applied TO the back stimulates the
great sympathetic nerve and this causes
the vase motors-the little terminal nerves
surrounding tho blood vessels-to construct
the blood vessels and impede circulation.
You can readily see how much freer circu-
lation is after exercising, and So the check
ing of it by "a hot bath causes tremendous
relaxation. This is a simple statement of
the case. The subject is too profound to
90 into detail.
what effect has cold ON the spineY"
asked the brunette.
'Cold on the spine, " answered the man,
causes an active circulation and invigor-
ates one. If you come in from bicycle
ride and after cooling off will take large
sponge dipped in cold water and rub 1t
vigorously up and down the spine, instead
of retardng circulation 1t will increase It,
The blood will go flying through those
blood vessels connected with the spine and
reach every part of your body. One can
take warm bath without injury, and
even with benefit at times, provided the
spine Is not immersed
1.-The tub should contain plenty of warm
water and the bather should get into it on
his hands and knees with his back out of
the water. In other words, keep your
back up when you indulge in IA hot bath
anu lU CuI yOu. AhOh sob WIZ
get the good without the depressing effect.
All around us we see women suffering
with colds in very moderate weather. The
trouble generally arises from the warm
bath habit. Various ailments from which
women suffer are also results of continu-
Gus use of hot water, and pallid lips, which
are pretty sure sign of n lack of vitality,
are still another
"While the main good of a cold bath
can be obtained with only two or three
inches of water in the tub, just enough To
immerse the spine, complete immersion
is more valuable, especially for bicycle
riders and other athletes. Cold water not
only invigorates the skin and fortiies it
against the changes of temperature, but
to limited extent 1t absorbs an excess of
superficial heat. It's greatest good, how
ever, is in its effect on the spine. 1t de-
presses the sympathetic nerves and through
them the vaso-motors. Thus the arteries
are relieved from excessive restraint and
tho circulation becomes free and vigorous.
Thorough circulation Is thorough nutri-
ton, and nutrition is health and strength.
In my travels I've noticed that those wom-