Health, disease and remedy : familiarly & practically considered, in a few of their relations to the blood / by George Moore.

  • Moore, George, 1803-1880.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Health, disease and remedy : familiarly & practically considered, in a few of their relations to the blood / by George Moore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    remittent fever supervene upon it in delicate and excitable children. These results prove the stimu- lating operation of sea-water, and sufficiently show the necessity of caution in its use. Instead of im- proving the powers of the body, it may produce debility by over-exciting them; hence it is prudent in most cases not to bathe oftener than every other day, and to use milder measures if, after the second or third occasion, there is not a visible increase of vigour. Where exercise cannot be taken imme- diately after the bath, friction of the body, especially over the back and stomach, is desirable. The best time for cold bathing, where there is any debility, is about two hours after breakfast. Early bathing is best for the robust. Let it be remembered that cold acts always as a stimulant; whenever it does good, it rouses the nervous system; it makes a greater demand for oxygen; it enables the body to absorb more of the vital air, and thus it facilitates the changes on which the energy of life depends. In this respect it acts like all other stimulants proper to the body, and not like alcoholic stimuli, which excite the brain, while they diminish the influence of the vital air upon the blood, and favour capillary obstructions and inflammations. The influence of cold on the nervous system is no new discovery, for ever since man has felt and inferred from his feeling, he must have known that influence alike from experience and observation. Used as a bath, we have seen that it may produce very contrary effects; like any other powerful agent, it both excites and depresses. The first action of nearly all reme-