Evening star., 1903-08-01
I IOUSE=
HOLD
| LINTS

In midsummer days the cooling bath
| seems the one thing that makes life endur
able, and in this act, at least, the 'Stay-at-
home" has the advantage.
Times have changed since the days of
Louis XIII, when his tutor writes, under
date of August, 1908: The dauphin was
bathed for the first time; put into the bath,
and madame, his sister, aged six. with him.
The dauphin was seven years old at the
time" In his fourth year he had his feet
washed with damp cloth; when he was
six they washed his feet in tepid water in
the queens basin for the first time"
The swing of times pendulum has gone to
the other extreme, and in these days of
universal tubing all the old recipes for
beauty baths, strengthening baths, cooling
baths are again in vogue. each one having
its devotees, apostles and proselytes.
Almost every country has it's favorite
form of baths. In Turkey the old Roman
baths still serve the model, for the Otto
man nomads knew little of the delights of
luxurious bathing until after their conquest
of Constantinople and contact with the
Greeks and Romans. While the public baths
are one of the most prominent features of
Turkish life, the buildings conspic-
uouS and ornate as many of the mosques.
and the prices charged SO rdiculouSly small
ileSes, each paSha or other magnate having
his own private bath, modelled similar
lines, 1t consists of two rooms. the hot and
the cool, placed at the of the house,
and surrounded by the garden.
No windows ever mar the symmetry of
the Turkish bath walls. the lighting coming
from the glass dome at the top. The floors
are of marble as also the basins into
which water. hot and cold, is piped.
Attended by servants, or in the case
of the pasha himself. by one of his wives
the bather lays off his garments in the cool
room, slips on wooden clogs to keep his feet
from the heated floor which streams
of hot water are flowing, and proceeds to
the hot ROOM
Here he seats himself cross legged on the
floor in front of the bowl, while the attend
ant stirs up an enormous brass dipper full
of lather, using the pure. native olive oil
soap. This is applied with Tho: Sc tall
'Erendi, being vigorously scrubbed from
head to foot, then rinSed by clear water
thrown on from the same capacious dipper
The scrubbng and rinsing are repeated
three times. after which the attendant dons
his mittenS and kneadS and polishes the
bather. In the case of women the applica-
tions of various unguents follows. while
henna is used to stain the fingers, hair
eyebrows and calves of the legs.
After this comes the cooling room, the
divan, the coffee, pipe or narghileh and
bliss. Turkish baths in this country are
really misnomers, but the nearest 3p-
proach we have been able to achieve, while
their price puts them out of the reach of
those who need them most.
Happily, there are other baths within
the compass of the most moderate purse.
Florence Nightingale used to declare that
a bowl and quart of water would keep
person clean. while there are a good many
things that make the bath n luxury at an
infinitesimal cost if one only knows what
they are
Germans in the old country favor the fol-
lowing baths:
Tha HaN Rat ha
with the blossoms. put in a kettle of water
and boil fifteen minutes Strain and pour
the decoction into the bath. This bath.
according to Father Kueipp. opens the
pores and disSoves the effete material shut
up In the body.
Oat Straw Bath.-Steep a bunch of oat
straw half an hour in kettle of water,
strain and add to bath.
Pine Sprig Bath.-This is recommended
for old delicate persons. the resin from
the pine or fir strengthening the chest.
Throw into hot water a number of fresh
pine sprigs. small branches or very
resinous pine cones cut up in small pieces
and boil for half an hour. Strain and add
to the bath. If five or six globules of resin
about the size of a pea are taken daily like
pills the effect of the baths will be
hanced.
The Lemon Bath.-In the West Indies the
lemon bath is almost daily luxury. which
might be adopted to advantage here during
the hot weather
half hour before using and slice into it
half dozen lemons or lines. This gives the
fruit juice chance to permeate the water
and makes the Tubing delight that
should be added to the list of daily bless
ings.
The sense of cleanliness and freshness.
the smoothness it imparts to the skin, is an
experience not soon to be forgotten.
The French Bran Bath.-Fill small cheese
cloth bags with bran. little powdered orris
root and a few shavings of pure CASTLE
soap and use as a wash cloth. Rinse in
clear water and afterward rub the face
with little cold cream.
The Bath Eau Sedative. This is said to
be Sarah Bernhardt's favorite bath. and
one which she claims possesses wonderful
restora tive properties.
AS the Medical Review considers its
formula worthy place in it's pages. it is
safe to commend its use to plain everyday
folk The formula is simple. Two ounces
of spirits of ammonia, two of spirits of
camphor, a cup and half of sea salt and
two cups of alcohol Put all in quart
bottle and fill with hot water.
Shake the mixture thoroughly before
using. In bathing apply with a soft sponge