HYDROPATHY, (continued 3)

What numbers of weakly, crippled children we see? “Parents, do you wash their bodies; do you encourage them in the drinking of water? If not, you are instrumental to their future misery: you deprive them of the power of being healthy in life, or attaining to longevity.” In looking around on the organic world, we cannot but admire the perfection everything seems to attain—the noblest work of creation an exception; we exclaim, with Goldsmith, “Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.”

“Health is the natural state of man.

“The causes of bodily disease, not proceeding from external injury, are material, and consist of foreign matters introduced into the system.

“These foreign matters are divided into four parts:—

“I. Bodily substances which have not been eliminated in proper time.

“II. Substances not assimilated, and notwithstanding which, remain in the stomach, the skin, or the interior.

“Contagious ulcers.

“Corrupted elements; epidemical diseases.

“Every acute disease is an attempt to dispel diseased matter.

“Fever is not a disease, but the consequence of it; it is an effect of an exertion greater than the power of the system.

“The radical healing of acute diseases is only possible by releasing the diseased matter, by means of water, an agent which invariably effects its object, and that always in a manner perceptible to the senses.

“By means of physic and bleeding, acute diseases become chronic; the system, medically treated, effects a partial, but never a total ejection of diseased matter.

“As sooner or later a body must yield to the effects of drugs, it is quite impossible that any one suffering from chronic disease, unless healed by Hydropathy, should die a natural death.

“Chronic disease cannot be permanently cured by drugs: Hydropathy alone will effect this, by changing the chronic evil to acute eruptions, which are cured in the same way that acute diseases are cured.

“Men, like other organic beings, ought to live according to nature’s law, without pain, and die a natural death, that is to say, without illness or suffering. But with us almost every body dies prematurely, from the effects of poisoning in some way or other.”—Arbuthnot.

It was stated to Priessnitz, that in a case of gout, the bowels of the patient by the treatment, had become constipated, to which he replied, “Cold water never produces torpor of the bowels, but on the contrary, it excites.”

“In the cure of disease, that which is most agreeable is not always the best. That which lowers the system, generally soothes and allays pain; bleeding, drugs, opium, and warm baths do this, but they may fix the disease firmer in the system, they diminish the energy so necessary to eradicate the disease. Thus Gout, Piles, and many other complaints, are never thoroughly cured by the faculty; they cannot abate the symptoms without lowering the system.”

“To promote a crisis, dress lightly; warm clothing relaxes the skin. The stronger and harder the skin, the better will a crisis be developed. Every sore and boil cannot be considered a crisis, some degenerate into disease, and have an inward tendency. In a proper crisis of boils, they rise, burst, and heal.”

“For itching rash in the arm, do not wear the bandage, unless great pain ensues, and in that case only at night.”

“Chopping or sawing wood is better exercise for the stomach and bowels than walking.”

To a lady who complained of want of sleep, and much pain from an eruption on her body, Priessnitz said “Take a tepid bath for some days, eat lean meat without salt, and indulge freely in butter, you will get well as soon as the rash has expended itself: there can be no repose for the nerves until the humours that fret them are expelled.”

“Nervous temperaments are the strongest, but most irritable when excited by acid humours.”

“Fingers being white after cold bathing denote weak nerves; the fingers having lost their vitality, the blood ceases to circulate.”

“Constipation and relaxation of the bowels proceed from the same causes, weakness and impurities; hydropathy corrects both.”

“It is impossible to warm, for any length of time, by hot viands and warm water, their constant application only chills the more; by relaxing and dilating they produce the opposite effects to those which are so essential to health, namely Contraction. Cold water determines the Caloric currents outwards from the vital centre, and promotes decomposition.”

“I cannot understand how drugs can reach any destined point; it appears to me that all drugs are inimical to the human subject.”

“Medicine introduced into the system, like the venom of a serpent, permeates all the tissues.”

“Mercury becomes enveloped in phlegm or slime, and remains in the system, notwithstanding the body is continually subjected to the laws of renovation and decay.”

“Powerful medicines act speedily and detrimentally to the constitution. The Water-cure is slow but advantageous in its operations.”

“The wet sheet, which is in fact, a poultice, extracts pernicious matters, as a sponge water from a basin, and brings something away each time it is immersed in it.”

XXXIII.—Questions put to Mr. Priessnitz, and his Answers.

1.—Q. What should be done for:—

Severe cold settled on the lungs, attended with cough and expectoration?

A. Rub the chest and throat with cold water, and hold water in the mouth often. In cold climates, bandage the throat: in warm climates, washing it often is best.

2.—Q. Inflammation and soreness of throat attended with hoarseness and difficulty in speaking?

A. As No. 1.

3.—Q. Exposure to change of climate with clothes occasionally wet, attended with shivering?

A. Rubbing-sheets.

4.—Q. Continual public speaking of damp evenings?

A. Rubbing-sheets. Wash head well. A foot-bath for a long time; and take exercise afterwards until feet are warm.

5.—Q. Cold accompanied by fever and restlessness at night?

A. As No. 4.

6.—Q. Head-ache occasioned by excitement?

A. As No. 4.

7.—Q. Shooting pain and tightness across the chest?

A. As No. 4, and rub the chest well with wet hand.

8.—Q. How guard against the effects of a damp atmosphere?

A. Keep the throat and chest always bare; if kept close and warm they will soon become relaxed. Parts most used should be exposed to the air.

9.—Q. At present I am packed for half an hour, and take the plunge bath at 5 a.m. Douche for three minutes at 12. Two Abreibungs and a Sitz-bath for half an hour at 5 p.m. If I remain the summer, should I continue or diminish this cure?

A. Continue it certainly for a month, and then begin to diminish it, leaving off the Douche for instance.

10.—Q. If continued, might I take the Douche after my walk in the morning before breakfast, and the Abreibungs at mid-day, so as to have my afternoons free?

A. Some cure must be taken after dinner as a rule; but in case of necessity the cure may be shirked.

11.—Q. Ought I to continue any part of the treatment on leaving Gräfenberg, and what?

A. Washing morning and evening, either bath or Abreibung.

12.—Q. After leaving must I attend to the same diet, and abstain entirely from Wine, Coffee, and Tea? or may I indulge in them continuously in small quantities, or only occasionally?

A. Wine, Coffee and Tea may be taken now and then, but by no means regularly.

13.—Q. On any return of my old complaints, blistered mouth, indigestion, restlessness, uneasy sensations in the back and side, what portion of the cure should I have recourse to?

A. The old complaints ought not to return, and will not if the cure is carried through the summer; on the appearance of any of them, they must be treated the same as they were here.

14.—Q. The sensations mentioned before now return sometimes; but vanish after a few days’ severe treatment. It is only since the last month that my limbs and muscles have appeared to recover their tone and firmness, and enlarge.

A. Both of these observations speak volumes for the continuance of the cure, as one cannot do too much: but one may easily do too little; and it would be highly advisable to keep on cleansing and strengthening every possible way.

15.—Q. Should I continue any of the treatment for the child?

A. Bathe the child every morning and evening, that is, cold washing, by means of bath or Abreibungs.

16.—Q. Might I myself treat her in the cases of measles and scarlatina, and how?

A. In case of slight fever, a rubbing-sheet and Umschlag; but it is impossible to prescribe beforehand how these diseases are to be treated, as one cannot know how the child may be affected. If the fever is severe, more wet sheets or rubbing-sheets must be used than if it is slight. The criterion of treatment is the degree of fever.