The Portland daily press., 1900-08-04
COMFORT IN HOT WEATHER.
A Physicians Way of Taking a Bath
by Which He Keeps Cool.


by Which He Keeps Cool.
AS soon as the hot weather begins to
get in its serious work people of all de-
grees of competence and incompetence
to speak on the question proceed to
formulate and communicate recipes for
the avoidance of sunstroke. So numer-
Gus are these recipes that if a man at
tempted to follow out one-tenth of them
he wouldn't have time to do anything
else. All the efforts of these altruistic
advisers seem, however, to relate to the
saving of life. None of them considers
the subject of comfort, without which
life soon ceases to be worth living. For
the benefit of such persons as greatly de-
sire to keep cool-and this category in
cludes probably an overwhelming majOri-
ty OF the adult population well known
physician who is himself a man of ex-
tenslve adipOsity and therefore subject
to suffering from high temperatures has
formulated simple plan which is with
IN the reach of any person having access
to a bathtub
This is method that have been try
ing on myself with great success for three
years nOw,' he says. cit begins in the
bathtub and ends in the bathtub. There's
nothing else to it except towel. A great
many persons advocate tepid baths in
hot weather on the ground that a cold
bath produces a reaction that heats one
up rapidly afterMard Well, I've got
nothing to say against the tepid bath
treatment. For a person who has a
weak heart or who is not constitutionally
sound it's an excellent thing, but for a
robust man the cold bath is better when
taken in the right way.
1.-The popular shower bath is a fallacy
so far as helping one to keep cool is con-
cerned, for five minutes after you are dry
your skin is ina glow. The thing to do is
to I'LL your bathtub up with cold water,
get into it and lie perfectly still for sey-
eral minutes. To begin with, three or
four minutes will be as long as you will
want to stay; later you will find yourself
remaining for eight or ten minutes.
When you are thoroughly chilled
through and your skin is cool all over, it
is time to get out. Now comes the impOr-
tant part. Most people think they must
scrub themselves furiously dry with a
crash towel. That is all wrong. 1t simply
sets up action of the pores, and there you
are perspiring again The proper way is
to press off the drops that adhere and do
the rest by flaming yourself with the
IOWCi. AhSh SCl lulO JOuA SACN1So IL q
leisurely manner, and you will find that
for three or four hours thereafter yor
will be cool and comfortable, though al
creation around you is melting its collar.
'Take a bath like this just before
breakfast, and if you possibly can anoth
er in the middle Of the afternoon wheI
the temperature is highest, and you viii
find the miseries of city life in the heated
spell so mitigated that you will forget al
about them. I first tried this two year
ago when that terrific hot spell hit tn
city early in August, and, though I ha'
to be in the city throughout the heat,
got through it well and almost comforta
bly,. But it must be remembered tina
this treatment isn't for invalids or peopl
with weak lungs or hearts. I don't wan
to be responsible for deaths by heart dis
ease and pneumonia. The safe thing t
do is to ask your family physician wheth
er you are hardy. enough to stand such
course before you begin."-New Yorl
Sun.