The Washington herald., 1909-04-04

mother OF Augustus, with other Roman
women OF rank, habituaily enjoyed the
baths. In the time of Alexander Severus
these baths were open all night as well
as all day, 50 that there was no excuse
for lack Of cleanliness among Romans.
The Emperors Gordian and Callienus.
who met such tragic ends. bathed seven
times a day, and the Emperor Oommodus.
who deifed himself as Hercules. went so
far in this fad for aquatic living as 10
take his meals In the bath. II is not re-
lated whether he was endeavoring 10 cure
rheumatism with the Kneipp treatment
or merely liked u be soaked. In the time
OF Seneca the Romans were far more ad-
dicted to continual anc luxurious bath
ing than even the Englishman Is 20 his
cold tub" The nesrest thing 10 our
soap in use In early times appears TO
have been manufactured by the Germans
and Gauls. The Germans also appear 10
have had a soap ball. into which were
mixed ingredients for dyeing the hair.
not cleansing It. This was used as
sort OF pOmade. To German
soap Piiny gave the name sapo, a
title which, with trIfling variations
in spelling. is used by nearly ali nations
to-day. The Arabian chemist Abu-Mus-
sar-Jaafar-al-Sof in the second century
writes about soap prepared from tallOw
with potash and lime. and states that It
was used as a medicine and that by en-
ploying 1t 70 wash with all dirt may be
removed from person as well as clothing.
So far as is known, cleansing fluids
were made from vegetable matter until
the Germans originated hard soap. pre-
pared from crude tallow by lye OF ashes
Of potash. then boiled down and selted.
pretty much as Il is now. Among the
Germans the art Of making soap long
preceded the knowledge OF the chem
ical principles underlying the proc
ess. Just as peoples who made
use OF the detergent principles OF
cOcoanUt oil, castor oil, palm oil, olive
oil. almond OIL or meal and saponaceous
plants, which are found IN practically
al parts Of tine world, ueed them-when
cleanliness was desired-much az we use
soap. and probably never dreamed that
they could be solidified into cakes, per
fUmed. tinted. and that they would enter
into commerce as soap.
In our own history II Is shown that
many American Indians so highly priced
the novel possession OF a cake Of soap as
TO trade tracts OF land for IT. Civilized
persons have not infrequently obtained
valuable concessions from the abOrigines
In exchange for soap. which many OF
them tried first as an article OF food, and
merely thought civilized tastes a bit
queer Even old missionary was more
palatable. For cleansing purposes Indians,
and later negroes and isolated whites In
the Caribbean Islands and Southern
United States employed forms Of oacti
and roots Of palmetto as We use soap
and strong potash preparations. The
juice OF the pTickly pear cactus proved
not only a good substitute for liquid soap,
but also, as a pOmade. was thought 70
make hair sprout from even a bald pate.
SOapberry Trees.
While these people and sborigines gen
orally had no recourse 10 the products OF
stock yards and garbage cans refined
into merchantable wares for cleansing
purposes, they had access to soapberry
trees. the pulp Of which is a powerful
detergent. much stronger than ordinary
soap. Soapwort and similar plants fur
nish a natural supply Of soapy matter.
Roots and leaves Of soapwOrt are fire.
quently used for washing, while in nearly
all parts of the world are to be found
vegetables that are excellent substitutes
for soap. Perhaps the fact that these
plants have such short shrift IN the arctic
regions accounts for the Eskimo's ABB
hOrrence OF frequent ablutions-
The lower class OF Chinese, too are
said TO shrink from too liberal an indul-
genCe in the bath. One naval officer some
years ago was authority for the state
ment that when a new coolie was en-
ployed certain sailors were detailed TO
scrub him down first. When they thought
they had secured all the dirt of the cooIe
they discovered that they had merely az
rived at another suit OF wearing apparel
In Korea and Japan contrary state ex-
lists among the poor. Bathing among
them is conducted so frequently and open
ly In street and house porch as some
times TO startle Europeans. who confine
public bathing TO public baths and
beaches. and even then retain an excuse
for attire.
The New York Medical Journal states
that centuries ago the Turks adopted
soap, calling Il Fsabun." and the Firms
made use OF the German product under
the title OF "saippio." The Greeks Of that
period, It is somewhat astonishing TO
learn, used fish scrapers. which were
often manufactured Of precious materials
Il was considered proper 10 present gold
ones as prizes TO winners i'm athletic con-
tests. While persons today consider
soap Indispensable TO cleanliness, Il does
not appear that all ancient peoples 10
whom soap was unknown were either IN
cleanly or unhealthy. There were clean
people and those otherwise. as to-day.
and individuals and communities who de-
sired spOtlessneSs were always able TO
obtain substitutes for soap. and for water
the extravagant substituted milk or wine