Essay on the disorders incident to literary men, and on the best means of preserving their health : read before the Royal Society of Literature, Nov. 5, 1834, and dedicated, by permission, to the Lord Bishop of Salisbury / by W. Newnham.

  • Newnham, W. (William), 1790-1865.
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Essay on the disorders incident to literary men, and on the best means of preserving their health : read before the Royal Society of Literature, Nov. 5, 1834, and dedicated, by permission, to the Lord Bishop of Salisbury / by W. Newnham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    &c. &c. The reason is obvious; in the one case the constitution is assisted to maintain its own heat; in the other, warmth is imparted, which is very soon lost, and the real state of the circu- lation falls back to precisely where it was before. The warm bath and the hot foot-bath, are ob- jectionable, on account of their reflex influence upon the head : if either be employed, except very occasionally, it should always be with the precaution of applying cold to the head at the same time. The man of letters should be spe- cially careful to keep up the capillary circula- tion of the skin; and it will be with him a most important precaution, if he employ cold ablution daily, a capite ad calcem, and dry friction, with a moderately coarse napkin afterwards. The head should be indulged with a liberal allowance of cold water, both night and morning. This direction, however, presupposes the vascular sys- tem to be in a state of considerable energy; be- cause if there be any degree of congestion about the veins, or torpor of the brain, the sedative influence of cold thus applied, will unquestion- ably tend to increase the existing predisposition. But if these precautions be attended to, the in-