The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1903-12-18
DANGERS OF THE BATH
Bathing Bad For the Body, De,
clares Chicago Physician. d
MAKES THE SKIN AsEwER, he SAYS
- y. ,'I'' oohn Dill Robertson Claims Bath
Ing Produces Many Ills of Mankind.
ne Takes One Dip Every Two Years
and Considers 1t EnouEh-Ney Yor.x
PHYSICIANS Amused DIR. slrady's
Story About a Scotchman.

q
7 Fhysacians Amused DR.. Shrady -.
Story About a scotchInan.
DR.. John Dill Robertson, secretary Al
the American School OF Medicine and
surgery. has declared that to battle
once every two years is sufficient aud
that bathing is responsible for tile
many ills Of mankind. He bathes once
every two years and considers that liz
Keeps himself well cleansed. < iERi
DIR. Robertson presented his views
at the annual meeting Of the Chicago
Eclectic and Surgical society in Chi;
cago the other night, and the members
OF the society listened to them with
amused interest. = ,.-.>t>
when people leave off bathing there
will be little or nothing for the doctors
to do" said DR.. Robertson. "pneHmo-
MIA. colds and u hundred other Ills re.
suit from the foolish habit az washing
the body. ~ "
ITO bathe is to be dirty. for you
thereby make sewer OF the skin.
Flood. attracted by the skin. gives up
products that should be left to seek a
natural outlet and soils the skin"
DR.. Robertson asserted that the the.
ory that the closing of pores of the
skin would result in death is false. He
said that all physiolosies which made
such an assertion were wrong. The
habit of taking dry" baths was alst.
denounced. The rubbing OF a rougl,
towel over the skin. according to DR..
Robertson. removed the natural scales
Of the skin. or the false skim This,
be said. conduced to the growth of
bacteria on the skin.
DR.. Robertson concluded with q
touching incident of poor Eskimo
brought from Greenland to Boston who
had never been i'll In his life; He re-
ceived bath. contracted pneumonia
and died in two days. as%
DR.. John Dill Robertson's views on
bathing amused New York physicians
when they heard Aof His Address s-ysy..
1T reminds me of q Scotchman
knew" said DR.. George F. Shrady,
"who never had but two baths in his
life. He fell into the Clyde when he
was boy and was nearly drowned and
the first day he was in New York he
walked into the East river and had to
be fshed out. He lived to be ninety
years old. To his dying day he was so
afraid Of water that nothing could in
duce him to let it touch his skin. He
had some reason for being afraid of
water. Perhaps our friend in Chicago
has some mysterious reason on his own
account which he has not thought it
worth while to disclose.
$50 far as my friend the Scotchman
is concerned. presume he would have
lived to be more than a hundred years
old If he had not had his strange preju-
dice against water. This remarkable
outburst from Chicago is really too alb,
surd to discuss seriously"
DR.. Simon Baruch. al authority on
hydrotherapeutics. laughed heartily
when he was told of DR.. Robertson's S
declaration. .,.
"Of course it is so absurd that you
can't expect me to take it up and dis.
cuss in any detail the various state
ments this professor makes" he said,
"They do strange things in Chicago.
but DR.. Robertson is now entitled to &C
tn the head of the class" " ...-.: