Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-03-11
THE BATH AND THE SKIN.
Different Kinds Of Baths Their e.
fects and When TO Take Them.
nv CHRISTINE TrnurNr flrRRicK
Hy CHRISTINE Iilh'NI Hfhhith
Auihor ~" Cradle and Snrserg' First IA
ne Ioung Roustkseper ." housekeeping
Nude Eaig." "Hhaf 10 Fat"
IN Cdy 7eats," no.
fconVriplt tnOi by Christine TtIhunc llefrick
Copyright, 1904. by Christine Tribune Her


lis achieved a long step is taken tow
ards health and a still longer towards
good looks. No one can hope to be
really attractive who has poor com
plexIon and no one can expect good
/ comniexion who does not Keep the
nores Of the skin open and free OF
matter which does not belong there.
on course, any woman thinks she
knows how TO take bath Nearly
every one labours under this impress
sion until she has had n Turkish bath
land learned what Is meant by real
4 cleanliness. After that she is of a
different opinion She may not be
4 able Ia take Turkish baths constantly
or even often, but she VIII come as
near them. in the way OF making her
self clean, as she can possibly man.
age. Not every woman can stahd
the regulation Turkish or Russian
baths. with their hot air, their steam
rooms. their hard massage and cold
spray or plunge afterwards. The home
made imitation Of such baths even ts
4 sometimes too much for them. IN
less they are sure OF themselves IL II
/ not worth while TO put good money
Into n Turkish bath cabinet or even to
compass a home made version with a
packing box and n little ingenuity.
! instead. they may seek substitutes IN
/ a simple fashion.
I The most elementary Turkish bath
/ Is made by wrapping the bather In
sheet and seating her on cane bot
tom chair under which Is shollow tin
/ Of hot water set over an alcohol lamp.
This lamn should be of the sort that
/ has an asbestos burner protected by
1 n wire netting After the bather Is
4 seated. heavy blanket should be
wrapped around her and the chair, ana
| she should sit thus until she is In a
drenching perspiration. When inns
point is reached she should get at once
\ into n tub of warm water, scour her-
/ self well with a flesh brush. so as 10
| remove the matter that the perspira-
/ tion has washed out on the skin. and
! fter this she should try the tonic eff
1 feet of a cold spray. unless she pre-
I fers the cold plunge. IL she does not
nossess n spray she should dash cold
/ water over her body from a pitcher.
Then comes a good rub down with
/ rough towel and a half hours rest
/ Such a bath is advantageous to
nearly every one and especially to
the woman who has a poor complexion
which Is the result of Imperfect circu-
lation. The chief objection TO this
bath in the minds of busy women VIII
L
When a woman has stimulated her
skin to action BY vigorous and health
ful exercise and has thus provoked a
flow of perspiration she does not need
the preliminary session over hot wa
ter The bath In the tub, however
with the cold spray to follow Is an
essential after violent exercise.
Let Il be supposed for instance
that a woman has been out on her
wheel II she is an active rider she
has undoubtedly achieved the perspir-
alton and with IL degree OF exhlia-
ration that the period Of retirement
IN Inc conpany OF a blanket and an
alcohol lamp would never bring about
Someone has called an up-to-date
chalnless bicycle zeal inspiring
wheel for women. The girl or woman
who has been out for spin on q ma
chine that is made in such a fashlon
that she can come home with her
skirt i'm as good n condition as when
she started,-as can be done win the
right sort of a bicycle. does not
shrink from the amount of time she
will have to devote to her bath as she
would II she knew dirty and stained
frock was awaiting her attention.
No matter how heated the rider
NAV be she should never make the
mistake Of using cold water the hrst
thing after a ride. In fact 1t is very
hard to get clean by the use OF coid
water alone even when accompanied
by hard rubbing II is true that the
exercise has opened the pores ana
that a great quantity of enete SUD
stance has been sluiced out with the
perspiration. But the dash OF cold
water shuts the pores with n snap
and whatever matter Is left there is
enclosed. to be re-absorbed by the
body.
So the first plunge must be into
warm water. The soaking feels
grateful after the tension Of the eX-
ercIse and the relaxation of the mus
Giles is likely to tempt any one TO re-
main too long In the tub. But the
time for letting oneself go is not yet
There must first be vigorous rubnlng
either with a flesh brush or with a
rough cloth or with bath mitten OF
Turkish toweiing or some such ma
terial. This is perhaps best, since
the hand thus covered goes over the
whole body with an energy 1t can not
gain when holding a washcloth.
The use of soap is open to discus
sion. 1t is generally taken as mat
ter of course and yet / have known
competent physicians who CANNED
that 1t did no good. The skin that has
been first stimulated. as by the blcy-
Gle. horse back ride or other vigor-
ous EXERCISE and then coaxed into
more work by the application of warm
water does not need soap in order TO
make II clean. The rubbing have de-
scribed will suffice for that The
waste matter is removed by the frlc-
ton without the use OF soap. fet
there is no objection to this il good
plain toilet soap is used,-one that is
not highly perfumed or too drying IN
its effect. Every bit of this should
be washed from the skin before tne
cold spray is used TO close the pores
and brace the system after the relax
alton of the warm tub.
The cold spray seems rather hero
lc measure. but il is only for while
that il impresses the bather as a
trial In short time she Graves IL
and feels no shrinking from the ting
II ling of ice cold water. even AFTER a
very hot bath. The spraying need
not last long,-only minute. 1t Is
mistake to continue II until one pc
comes chilled and loses the pracing
effect. As a matter of course. there
are some bathrooms where a spray
can not be used, because of the ar
ransement of the faucets or for some
other reason. This is a pity. but II
need not ohlige one to renounce the
douche. The pitcher to Which | have
already referred can be used or one
can adopt the simple expedient of
man | knew who used the common or
garden variety of watering pot as
means for attaining a cold spray.
The stimulation Of the skin is pur-
sued by friction with a rough tower
THE ordinary towel will not serve
Sometimes even the Turkish towel
Gets soft and in such cases il is well
10 pass II through a little starch
water before drying it. 1t should new
er be ironed. of course.
The ideal method is to take half an