The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-02-04
COOKS A SICK MAN WELL
PUT INTO A HOT STOVE AND
BAKED UNTIL CURED.
The Theory or the Dry Hot Air Process
is to Intensity the Benefits of the
Turkish and similar Baths - Danger
of Roasting the Patient.

Turkish and similar Baths - Danger
OF Roasting the Patient.
English publications are giving some
! space TO what they call the baking
,ure,' by which sick man is described
MS being put into a stove and cooked
until he is we'll \ hospital devoted
/ to this treatment has just been estah-
/ lishod at London and the idea seems
! TO be wholly novel over there.
! In this city. on the other hand. where
/ 1t is known as thermaerotherapy-
! word etymologically unimpeachable.
| but TO be found only in the newest die
! tionaries-also called the treatment by
, superheatod air, Bellevue has used the
! process several years, and private
hospital on the west side of the city
| practices it almost exclusively. An
! other such institution exists in Phila-
! delphia, and still others in Cincinnati
and Chicago.
The theory of the dry .hot-air cure
! is TO intensity the benefits of Turkish
| and similar baths. The patients head
! being outside the machine and in at-
mosphere of ordinary temperature his
body can stand much more heat than
|
! AS the treatment is essentially local.
| provided nothing is the matter with his
head. there is no need for man to
breathe Other mir than he is used to.
! There is nothing startling i'm the gen
cral conception Of caloritic therapeu-
| tics. The hot-water bag is one express
! sion of the principle. and the homely
! mustard plaster another The ruins
| OF Athens, Alexandria. Bagdad. Cairo.
] Constantinople, Damascus. Hercula-
neum, Pompeii. and Rome contain the
remains of hot-air baths uneoualled
| to-day. Among the famous baths of
! the Eternal City, those Of Agrippa.
! Caracalla, Diocletian. and Titus. none
was without its caldarium or hot-air
chamber. Hippocrates, CELSIUS ana
Galen eXtolled hot air as n therapeutic
! agent. The Turkish bath is really
Roman revival. Constantine intro
! duced it into ByZantiuIl actcr his con
| quest.
The introduction of the thcrmacro-
| therapic apparatus at once raised the
! temperature to which it is possible TO
! subject the human body from 40 to
! 400 degrees. OF course. neither the
whole body nor any vital organ can be
! put to any such heat Between 90
! and $50 degrees is the hottest that is
! safe for the trunk. To discriminate
| among beneficial temperatures. three
machines are used-the body the leg
and arm and the local styles. The body
and the leg and arm machines differ
! only in size shape and few minor de-
! fpilc fTho L. 80
! centric cylinders, separated by spaces
! Of an inch and half. The Outermost
! cylinder is of niclel-plated sheet cop
| per, lined with asbestos to minimize
| the external radiation Of heat: the
| middle cylinder, OF sheet steel. also
asbestos lined; and the third of brass.
with cork ribs 10 protect the patient
| from burning.
Bunsen burners, as many as may be
/ required, supply the heat to the space
/ between the steel and copper cylinders
/ and the products of combustion pass
/ of through three hues. The steel evil
/ lnder radiates the heat through many
! perforations in The brass upon the
/ body of The patient. Fresh air is con
q stantly fed into the second space or
| circulating jacket, and escapes into the
! hues after it has been Initiated.
! The patient lies upon mat of
, fbrOus magneSia, covering "A layer. of
/ asbestos. The cylinders are mounted
| upon massive metal legs. and at either
/ end of the body machine arc wooden
! extensions for the head and lower
! limbs 10 rest upon. The apparatus
/ looks like a combination of bed and
stove, which indeed il is. 1t weighs
/ about ifty pounds and the leg and arm
machine 400. The latter has n glass
( door through which the attendant may
! watch the limb. The local device is a
i cork-rimmed instrument with various
/ attachments for The application of
| swift current Of hot air to the ear. all
/ sorts of common sores, and other pain
/ full spots. The attendant manipulates
! the contrivance and regulates the tom
| peraturc. The air comes from a tank
where it is stored under pressure, and
/ IS heated as released
! The treatment Is employed to reduce
/ obesity and relieve writer's cramp for
I rheumatism, neuralgia sciatica and
/ govt pneumonia, asthma ard Plemisy.
/ boils and ulcers, but not tum0rs ana
cancers.
| The great danger is of literally roast
ING the patient 20 death. although mo-
such fatality is ON record I'm abolition
/ TO the protection afforded hy the mag
ncsia mat and the corl, ribs of th.
/ brass cylinder. each patient wears a.
/ bathrohc Of outing flannel. and mus,
/ satisfy IFS physician i'm physical cS