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ARMY MEDICAL LIBRARY
       FOUNDED 1836
WASHINGTON, D.C. 
DUE TWO WEEKS FROM LAST DATE 
 
                    THE


  WATER  CURE  IN  AMERICA:

            TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY

    CASES  OF  VARIOUS  DISEASES

           TREATED WITH  WATER,

BY DRS. WESSELHOEFT,  SHEW, BEDORTHA, SHIEEERDECKER,
                 AND OTHERS;

      WITH CASES OF DOMESTIC PRACTICE;

   NOTICES OF THE WATER CURE ESTABLISHMENTS;

DESCRIPTIVE CATALOOUE OF HYDROPATHIC PUBLICATIONS, ETCi

      DESIGNED FOR POPULAR AS WELL AS PROFESSIONAL READING.
1 Longum iter per prsecepta, breve et efficax per exempla."—Senbca.
' Facts are the basis of all Science."
EDITED  BY A  WATER PATIENT,


         SECOND EDITION.
   NEW YORK & LONDON:
WILEY AND PUTNAM
1848. 
WBF

"1848
      Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by

                  WILEY & PUTNAM,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York
R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER,
 112 FULTON STREET.
T. B. SMITH, STEREOTYPER,
  216 WILLIAM STREET. 
CONTENTS.
[The names of Diseases treated, are arranged alphabetically in the Index, pages 285—288.]
To the Medical Reader,
Editor's Preface,
Dr. Shieferdecker's Preface to his cases,
       Do.        Institution at Philadelphia,
       Do.        Cases (see, also, 257—261),
New Lebanon Springs Establishment,
Dr. Bedortha's Preface to his cases,
      Do.    Cases at New Lebanon,
Dr. Wesselhoeft's Establishment, Brattleboro', Vt.
      Do.       Cases,
Editorial from the New Englander (extract),
Dr. A. Underbill's Cases (in Ohio),
Establishment at Cuba, N. Y.,
Drs. Champlin and Gleason's Cases,
Dr. Jewett's Cases, Mogadore, Ohio,
Dr. Shew's Cases,  New York and Syosset,
Miscellaneous Cases,
Drs. Peirson and Meeker's Establishments,
             Do.          Cases,  .
Water-Cure at Cooperstown, N.  Y.,
Dr. Roof's Cases (at Cooperstown),
Dr. Trail's Cases, &c, New York,
Dr. Kittredge, Cases by, &c. (Lynn, Mass),  .
Water-Cure at Milledgeville, Ga.,
Hon.  Vespasian Ellis's Case,
.Notices of Establishments not before described,
List of Establishments in the United States,
Notices of Publications, American,
             Do.          do.    In  preparation,
             Do.       Reprints from English Works
             Do.       English,   .       .
Index,                 .      •              . 
 
TO  THE MEDICAL  READER.
  " I take the liberty of recommending to the heads of the profession, not
to entertain any strong prejudices against the Water-Cure treatment; how-
ever laudably desirous they may be to exercise a conservative principle on
behalf  of their patients, and of society at large, let them not decide with-
out examination, or pronounce a verdict without  a candid hearing of the
cause.....  I have always been of opinion, that a Physician should con-
sider himself a student to the latest period of his life ; for the wisest must
still have something to learn.  ...   It appears to me that Hydropathy is
of the highest importance to the whole civilized world ; its principles are,
I am sure, founded in Nature and Truth, and rest, therefore, on an im-
mutable  basis.  The  practice may be occasionally abused, and then  evil,
instead of good,  result.  If I could  think that such a  consequence was
necessary, I would not for one moment be its advocate.  But, convinced as
I am, that we have in our power a new and most efficacious  agent for the
alleviation  and cure of disease in various  forms, and, in proper hands, as
safe as effectual, I should be no friend to humanity, nor to medical science,
if I did  not  give my testimony in its  recommendation."—Sir  Charles
Scudamore, M.D., F.R.S., etc , London;  Author  of Treatise on Gout,
on Rheumatism, etc., etc.  (From his " Medical Visit to Graefenberg.")
  Dr.  Carpenter, in his Elements of Physiology, expresses his belief,
that Hydropathy " will  be found the most valuable curative means we
possess for various  specific diseases which depend upon the presence of a
' materies morbi' in the blood, especially gout and chronic rheumatism, as
well as for that depressed state of the general system which results  from
the ' wear and te.ir' of the bodily and mental powers."
  The  well known  J.  Forbes, M.D., F.R.S., editor  of the British  and
Foreign Medical Review, Sfc, after a frank acknowledgment of the danger
and inefficiency of the ordinary  treatment by drugs, which  he thinks no
better, if as good, as unassisted Nature, says:
  " The now fashionable system of Hydropathy is not inert, and furnishes,
perhaps, the best evidence we have of the curative powers of art;  it is,
when rationally regulated, a most effective mode of treatment  in many
diseases, and shows the facility with which drugs may be dispensed with."
  He strongly urges a trial of it in various diseases (see  page  281 of this
work), and reminds the reader, that  " the distinction between quacks and
respectable practitioners, is one, not so much of remedies used, as of  skill
and honesty in using them." 
 
PREFACE.
This work had its origin solely in the writer's sympathy for invalids who
may be still suffering, as he was for years, (a) from chronic diseases beyond
the power of the Materia Medica.  To convey to such, glad tidings of health,
is its main object; but it is secondarily intended to be useful to the practitioner
of the healing art, and to attract the attention of the discriminating philan-
thropist to a comparatively simple, safe, (b) efficient, and accessible means
of health, (c)
  Most of the contents of this work are  now first  published: the excep-
tions are, we believe, noticed in their proper place, consisting generally
of such articles as were not easily accessible to the  public.   As  some of
the remarks of Dr. Shew upon the cases treated and furnished by him are
in editorial phraseology, it is  proper to say in distinction, that the few arti-
cles original with the writer,  are so indicated in the articles themselves.
There is ample material for one or two volumes similar to this, which may
appear at a future day.   Accident, misconception as to the time  of its pub-
lication,  more pressing duties, and probably procrastination,  have pre-
vented various other practitioners from  furnishing contributions in time
for this volume.
  The indulgence of the professional reader is solicited for the lack of
unity and scientific nomenclature and arrangement, as well as for errors
arising from the editor's ignorance of medical terms and theories, and from
his unwillingness to alter the  articles from different sources.   Having early
made an unavailing effort to transfer this work to abler hands, he  can now
but present the book, " with  all its imperfections on its head," as a brief,
plain, unvarnished statement  of valuable facts, (d)
  Contributors will perceive  that our limits have compelled us to condense
and abridge some of their letters, by the  omission  of reflections, opinions,
grateful tributes to their physicians, etc.
  As the world teems with new theories and nostrums, we ask attention to
the fact that most of the following cases are written and published by per-

  (n) See case on pages 176 to 181.   Acute cases yield more speedily.
  (i) The safety of this system is especially noticed by Drs. Forbes, Scudamore, and other
physicians, and by Bulwer, Mr. Calvert, Miss Beecher, Mr. H. C. Wright, and many observ-
ing patients, some of whose testimonies appear in this volume.
  (c) Descriptions of the processes  referred to in the cases in this work, may be found in
most of the cheap Water-Cure books.
  {d) A professional friend of matu^ experience,  an able contributor to the Medical
Journals, writes to the editor commending the design of this  work ;  he remarks, "Facts
always interest, speculations are short lived; I am glad you are to publish," etc. Another
successful practitioner writes, " Your plan I consider one of the most philanthropic  £ have
heard of: the Americans are a matter-of-fact people, and wish demonstrationes ad ucvXos
In all new things," &c. This want, we trust, we have in some measure supplied. 
VI
PREFACE.
sons having no motive but philanthropy, many of whom, to say the least,
are men of well known  integrity and sound judgment, who would be the
last to mislead the sinking invalid. («) Secondly: The testimony of those who
have resided in Hydropathic Institutions, has a peculiar competency, as they
witnessed all the results of large numbers of cases, and do not give  us, as do
quack puffers, the successful cases only ; thus when they speak of the com-
parative efficacy of this  system, they " speak that they do know and testify
that they have seen."  And their  evidence  almost uniformly agrees with
that of Miss C. E. Beecher, who after a residence of several months in  the
Water-Cure Institution, at Brattleboro', Vt., says, in the JY.  Y. Observer :—
  " The regular number of patients has considerably exceeded one hundred,
and the  experience of each individual gradually becomes known to most of
his fellow  patients.  The  general impression made on  my mind is, that
without exception, all are improved in general health, that none are injured,
and that, though the company is made up almost entirely of refuse cases,
coming here as the last forlorn hope, by far the majority of those who stay
long enough for a fair trial, are wholly cured, or are so near entire restoration
when leaving, as to confidently expect it after a moderate course, prosecuted
at home."  {b)
   The philosophy of Hydropathy (c) has been ably exhibited in the various
works of scientific and logical writers: (see pages 276 to 254) testimonials
of its wondrous power (d)  have emanated from scores of eminent physicians
(e) who  are  personally acquainted with its application; and the published


  (a)  Where, from motives which will be appreciated by delicate minds, some invalids
have  withheld their names,  the physician is of course responsible for the facts. We are,
however, authorized by many of these patients (whose letters are  in our possession) to
announce, that they will be  happy to communicate with any fellow sufferer, who may
desire more direct information  of their experience;  this may be accomplished through
their physicians, or the editor.
  (4)  Most patients also think the treatment riot, comparatively, disagreeable, and that it
is most efficacious (and some say most agreeable) in autumn and winter.  In reference to
the general results of the treatment, see the interesting account of G. H. Calvert, Esq., of
Baltimore, in his " Scenes and Thoughts in Europe;"  Sir E. L. Bulwer's celebrated letter
on Water-Cure ; Six Months at Graefenberg, by Henry C. Wright, as reviewed in " Cham-
bers's Edinburgh Journal;" Rev. Mr. Tyler's editorial, in the New Englander for April, 1847
(see page 115); the accounts of many contributors to the present volume, and indeed of
any persons who have resided in Hydropathic establishments.
  (c)  Pronounced Hy-dro^-a-thy (and not Hy-dro-path-y) ; following the same rule as
Ho-moe-op-athy, Al-/o^-a-thy, Geography, Geology, Antipathy, etc. See Webster, Worces-
ter, etc.
  (d)  An  opinion  is very generally prevalent  among persons not practically acquainted
with the water processes, that the regimen and accessories of Hydropathy are the secret
cause of its marked success.  We  can here only briefly say, that we, and  hundreds of
others, tried all the accessories in vain ; and that a candid perusal of the testimonies and
authorities in this volume, or a visit to a Water-Cure establishment, will soon correct such
an opinion.  Sir Charles Scudamore quotes Liebig, as follows : " By means of the Water-
Cure  treatment, a greater change of matter is effected in six weeks than would happen in
the ordinary course of nature in three years."
  (e)  See Article on the Water-Cure, by the disti^iished Dr. Forbes, of London, and Dr.
Erasmus Wilson's Work on the Skin, (notxed on pl^es 281 and 282 of this work); Carpen-
ter's Physiology, and  his recent articles in HowitVs Journal,  on the Dependence of Life
upon Water ; A Medical Visit to Graefenberg, by Sir C. Scudamore, and the opinion of
Liebig, as quoted in the same ; Physical Education, etc., by Dr. Warren, of Boston ; Article
by Dr. North (of Saratoga) in the N. Y. Journal of Medicine for May, 1847,  etc., etc. 
PREFACE.
vii
evidence is already abundant; but, valuable and influential as all this should
be, we would urge, above all, as the most direct, unquestionable, and con-
vincing proof, personal inquiry of any candid and intelligent person
who has resided in a Hydropathic establishment, or  had, otherwise,  any
practical acquaintance  with the system; (a) for we affirm, that  almost
every adverse opinion which we hear is speculative, (b)   The necessity of
some system which shall be  free  from  the uncertainty and danger  of the
existing medical practice, has been forcibly asserted and  illustrated by the
most learned and experienced  medical  writers,  (c)   To offer an humble
contribution towards such a system, has been one  object of the editor in the
present work; and so far from  having  any personal or pecuniary interest
in the success of this reform, the time and attention required by the pre-
paration of this volume,  frequently encroaching  upon the  hours of rest,
have been given at a considerable sacrifice of his own interests, and, super-
added to cares already burdensome, have made  a  heavy draft on his newly

  (a)  So much more certain and  satisfactory is this kind of testimony, that we take the
liberty to mention the names of a few gentlemen, well known to the public, who have
been more or less under the water treatment;  quoting the address of some of them from
memory,  as seen on the registers of several Water-Cure houses, and others from personal
acquaintance, etc.   We have reason to believe  that all of  them will cheerfully state the
results of their e'^perience and observation to any who may need  it.  The number of
names might be indefinitely increased:—
  Hon. Mr. Middleton (formerly Charge d'Affaires to Madrid); Hon. Vespasian Ellis (late
Charge d'Affaires  to Venezuela);  D. A. Cushman,'Esq.; Dr. J. Parmly  (Dentist, of Bond
street); Horace Greeley, Esq., of the Tribune ; Col. J. W. Webb, of the Courier; Freeman
Hunt, Esq., of the Merchants' Magazine; C. D. Stuart, Esq., of the N. Y. Sun ; Rev. Asa
D. Smith, of the  Rivington street Presbyterian Church;  Rev.  F. C. Woodworth; Rev.
Wm. S. Balch ; Alvan Stewurt, Esq. ; Prof. E. Ives, New York.  C. W. Pennock, M. D.,
etc., (Physician of) Blockley  Ho.spital, Philad.  Rev. Wm. Crowell, editor of Christian
Watchman ; J. H.  Gray, Esq—Boston. A. J. Colvin, Esq., late Dist. Attorney ;  Edward
C. Delavan, Esq.;  Sainl. YV. Green, Esq., editor of Albany Patriot.—Albany.  Rev. John
Pierrepont;  Dr. A. L. Bardwell.—Troy.'   Rev. Dr. Nott, President of Union  College,
Schenectady, N.  Y.; Professor Avery  of Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y.; Rev. E.
R. Tyler, Editor of the New Englander, New Haven, Connecticut;  Rev. Wm. G. Board-
man,  Dalton, Massachusetts ; Rev. Mr. Fitch, N. Marlboro',  Mass.; Prof. H. W. Long-
fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; Rev. William Livesey, Taunton, Mass.;
Rev.  P.  R.  Russell,  Co-editor of Christian  Herald, Fall River,  Mass.; Rev.  Payson
Williston, East Hampton, Mass.;  Dr. W.  A. Alcott; Lieut.  Col. G. Dearborn, U. S. A.,
Portland, Me.; Rev. Austin Dickinson; Mr. Henry C. Wright; Horatio Greenough, the
Sculptor; Hon. Mr. Stiles, Charge d'Affaires at Vienna; Prof. C. E. Stowe, Cincinnati, O.;
Mr. J. T. Hart, the Sculptor, Lexington, Ky.; Geo. D. Prentice, Esq., Editor of Louisville
(Ky.) Journal, etc., etc.—The following gentlemen can speak  as to the effect of the treat-
ment upon members of their families; Dr. Eleazer Parmly, Bond street; Mr. Greeley, of the
Tribune ; Rev. C. S. Stewart, U. S. N.—New York.  Hon. Judge Morehouse ; J. Fenimore
Cooper, Esq.—Cooperstown, N. Y. J. H. Gray, Esq., and John Tappan, Esq.—Boston
Professor J. H. Agnew, of Michigan University,  Ann Arbor ; Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D.;
Professor E. Stowe, Cincinnati, Ohio ; Rev. Beriah Green,  Whitesboro, N. Y., etc., etc.
  (b)  " In regard to the opposition of a great part of the medical world to this innovation
on the ordinary practice of physic, looking at human nature, we must attribute a little of
it to its interference with settled interests:" etc.—Scudamore.
  The British and Foreign  Medical Review remarks, that this feeling of opposition has
been communicated by physicians to a large portion of the intelligent classes, and attri-
butes it chiefly to its humble and non-medical origin—to its adoption by doubtful and lay
practitioners—its being put  forth as a cure-all—etc., and regrets that these circumstances
should so extensively have prevented its just examination.
  (c)  See opinion  of Dr. Forbes on page 282 under head  of " Allopathy," etc., also of
Boerhave, Billing, Rush, Magendie, and others, in their several works. 
Vlll
PREFACE.
acquired health—a draft which could only have been honored by aid of a
cold water capital.  He expects no other reward for his pains, than the
consciousness of lessening the vast sum of human suffering.  He may seem
to speak warmly, but it is with an enthusiasm founded on experience and
prompted by sympathy, that he expresses his conviction, that among all
the wondrous discoveries and reforms of our day, of the powers of steam,
of the telegraph, of the letheon, etc., none in the physical world, in their
direct influence upon human  happiness, will excel that of Preissnitz, to
whom may be applied the lines of Shelley:
                    " He told the hidden powers of springs,
                     And Disease drank and slept."
  " Here then (in the language of a  distinguished English author, and
water patient), 0 brothers, 0 afflicted ones, I bid you farewell.   I wish you
one of the most blessed friendships man ever made—the familiar intimacy
with water.   Not Undine in  her virgin existence more sportive  and be-
witching, not Undine in her wedded state more tender and  faithful, than
the Element of which she is the type.   In health, may you find it the joy-
ous playmate, in sickness the genial restorer and soft assuager. (a) And you,
0 parents! who, too indolent to renounce for a while your own  artificial
natures, still covet for your children, hardy constitutions, pure tastes, and
abstemious habits—who wish to see them grow up with a manly disdain to
luxury—with a vigorous indifference to climate—with  a full  sense of the
value of health, not alone for itself, but for the  powers it elicits,  and the
virtues with which it is intimately connected—the serene unfretful temper
—the well being that, content with self, expands in benevolence to others
—you I adjure not to scorn the facile process of which I solicit the experi-
ment.  Dip your young heroes in the spring, and hold them not back  by
the heel.  May my exhortations  find  believing listeners, and  may some,
now unknown to me, write me word,'  We  have hearkened to you, and not
in vain.'                                                   Adieu."

  (a)  A word to those who wish to adopt the  use of cold water, and have not access to a
practitioner. Begin, at once, to wash the entire person once or twice daily with water, as
eool or cold as can be borne without leaving a permanent chill. Do this when you  are
warm, and not fatigued, and when the stomach is empty.  Let exercise in the open air
precede and follow the bath when practicable; but in the morning, on first rising, the cold
bath is generally most useful  and convenient.  Add to this  one or two glasses of cold
water early in the morning, and an hour before each meal,  and a plain, unstimulating
diet, with only cold water for drink ; avoid excess of clothing, warm rooms, late hours,
fee, and a vast majority of the diseases among us will be cured, or prevented, without
further prescription;  if further means prove necessary, these habits will be found a most
valuable preparation for the ulterior treatment. 
WATER   CURE   IN  AMERICA,
  DR. SHIEFERDECKER'S PREFACE TO HIS CASES.

Allow me to prefix a few remarks  to the following cases, re-
garding the views which guide me in my treatment,  and the
results I have been happy enough to gain.
  I consider water all-sufficient as a curative means, and every
disease  curable by it which is  curable  at all.   I think  such
diseases only incurable as are founded in the total disorganization
of a  life-organ.   / contend,  that nobody  can  die of any  acute
disease  (viz. all kinds of fevers and  inflammations), if treated
from  the beginning,  properly, with cold water, and that every
chronic disease is  a consequence of an improperly treated acute
disease.  I am convinced, that cold water, exercise, a proper diet,
and pure air, will  give men the age of 150 to 200 years,  and that
marasmus senilis  alone, or accident,  ought to end the  life of a
human being, but  not disease.
  I have never given one drop of any medicine,  in whatever
shape or form, since I have adopted Hydriatrics (except last year
on board the ship Columbia, where three hundred and ninety-five
steerage passengers suffered more or less of  dysentery, with a
typhoid character, and where  the  application of water was an
impossibility),  and have not lost one patient out of the hundreds
of desperate cases I have treated in this country with water.
  I call the water cold from 40° to 54° F., and tepid from 54°
to 72° F.;  a higher degree I  never apply.   Neither do I produce
sweating by any  exterior  artificial means, viz. steam,  hot air,
&c*   The douche and plunge-bath I apply only seldom, and my

  * Here I cannot omit to mention Priessnitz's indignant remark, when he
                    1* 
10
WATER  CURE IN  AMERICA.
diet is simple, consisting in beef, mutton, venison, bread, potatoes,
sweet fruit, milk, and water.   I gain the favorable results with
my patients by a careful prescription of the form of the bath, of
the time, of the  temperature of the water, of the repetition, of  the
change, and of the combination of a bath with others ^ of the appli-
cation of the water  to a dry,  warm, slightly perspiring, or sweating
skin.   The Hydropathist must know  how these different applica-
tions act differently on the body.   He must  adapt  his prescrip-
tions, after a careful examination, to the object to be cured,  viz.
the disease,  the nature of it,  the duration, intensity, complication,
extent,  constitution,  sex, age, former treatment, degree of reaction
of the body, particularly of the  nervous system, condition of the skin,
and Us ability to re-act, general and local production, and develop-
ment of warmth, &c.
   Thus we are enabled to be conquerors of disease, and saviors
of the  human family.
   The cases I transmit herewith are  only a few, because I could
not find time  to write out more.  They suffer at the same time,
and for the same reasons, for  the want of particulars; but I took
care not to mention more than one cure of the same disease.

had heard that one of his favorite pupils,  Dr. Harder, in St. Petersburgh,
had given way to the prejudices of the Russian people, in applying steam
for sweating, he exclaimed: "  Well, then, it is not honest, for he is con-
vinced it is not right, and that it is in direct opposition to a principle which
he understands ;  he knows better, and I cannot forgive him, or take  any
interest in any of them again. " 
CASES BY DR. SHIEFERDECKER.
11
DR. SHIEFERDECKER'S HYDRIATRIC INSTITUTION.

  From the first of October, 1847,  I open again my Hydriatric
Institution, in Philadelphia, which I had closed during the  sum-
mer season.
  It is situated  on the banks of the  Schuylkill, corner of Chest-
nut and Beach  streets.   The  house was originally built  for a
splendid  hotel,  and  contains  about forty  larger  and smaller
rooms.  It is furnished with all the necessary different baths, and
has in every story water  introduced.   Ladies and gentlemen
have their separate parlors.  The price for board, lodging, and
medical advice, ranges  from  $7 00 upwards, according to cir-
cumstances.
   The manner of my treatment is^ a strict imitation of Priess-
nitz's own applications ;  I only differ somewhat from his diet, pro-
hibiting any other meat but beef, mutton, and venison.
                             Gh. Shieferdecker, M. D.,
            Corresponding Member of  the  Society of  Scientific
                         Hydropathisls in Europe.
  CASES TREATED BY DR. CH.  SHIEFERDECKER.

  [It may be proper to state that Dr. Shieferdecker not being per-
fectly familiar  with the English language, has requested the
editor to alter at discretion, and the kindness of the reader must
be asked for errors or misconceptions  arising  from  this cause.
the Doctor not being at hand to consult.  Several cases of sexual
diseases were omitted, the details being thought more appropriate
for a work designed for physicians exclusively.]

             Pneumonorrhagia.  Lung Disease.

  Gustavus  Schwarz,  son of a regularly diplomatised old drug
practitioner  of  this  city, who exchanged  Homoeopathy for Alio- 
12
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
pathy,  took in April,  1846,  a severe  cold, which produced  an
inflammation  of the lungs.   This was neglected in the common
Homoeopathic manner, and ended in a Hcemorrhagia.  This was
treated  Allopathically,  by bleeding,  opiates,  and drugs, &c,
and changed  the  acute  state  to a chronic consumption, attended
with dreadful cough, and occasional  blood-vomiting.   Despairing
of the success of any system of drug medication,  having con-
sulted with the  most prominent leaders of the drug schools, the
father came to me and asked  help by the water-cure.
  The boy was  very much emaciated, was suffering already since
May, 1846, and had not been  able to leave the room for months;
his habit was consumptive ; all the symptoms which are connected
with very weak lungs were  visible,  and the stethoscope left no
doubt of the presence of a large vomica in the right lung, and
tubercles.  Notwithstanding  these  very bad circumstances, I,
trusting to the  youth  of the  boy, and in the conviction that his
digestive organs had not been destroyed by drugs, took him in
my hands and  restored him,  by means of rubbing off with wet
sheets, enveloping in  well wrung sheets, cooling, warming, and
exciting cataplasms and bandages, sitz baths, drinking, and mode-
rate exercise, in twelve weeks, so far, that he had not the least
symptoms of his  former difficulties left, that  he is strong and
hardy,  and is able to walk, up tp ten miles.  The warmest water
I used  with him was 65° F., and the coldest 45° F.

                  Diplopia.   Double  Seeing.

  Mr. Welsh, a prominent portrait-painter, and excellent engra-
ver, of this city, son of healthy parents, and father of six healthy
children—about thirty years of age, of strictly temperate habits,
and very industrious, had suffered for a time from rheumatic pains
in his foot, and  was medically treated.  For some time after this
so-called cure,  he remarked  some  difficulty in his eyes, which
by and  by formed itself into the above-named disease.  All the
symptoms showing a deep-seated  nervous debility, proved a ten-
dency  to  amaurosis, particularly as  they were  connected with
oxyopia.   There were no signs of  strabismus incipiens, no  hy-
pochondria, no  commotion of the brain, nor a contusion  of the
eyes, but the situation affected the sufferer  much.   He tried  all
possible means prescribed, without any effect, until he called  on
me. 
        SUPPRESSED  FEVER AND AGUE, SMALL POX,  ETC.      13

  I had the patient enveloped  in wet sheets  until  he sweated ;
ordered him to be daily well rubbed off; plunge-baths ; repeated
eye, head, and sitting-baths ;  finally, the douche and  foot-baths,
injections and warming bandages over stomach and eyes,  and
had the happiness to see an upright and active  member of society
given back to his  calling and  family, with b'etter and stronger
eye-sight and general  health than  he had ever enjoyed before,
after  he had felt again all the pains and sufferings he had  before
this last disease, and many ugly ulcers in the bargain.

         Suppressed Fever and Ague ; Small Pox, fyc.

  Mrs. L-----y, a lady of high standing in this city, of  a very
delicate constitution, and drugged in an injurious^manner, called
on me in the beginning of the year  1845.  She had never en-
 joyed good health from early infancy, had been always irregular
in all  the  functions  of her body, and never had any children ;
everybody considered  her consumptive, and there was fear of an
early death,  particularly as another sister died of what the drug-
practitioners had called consumption.
   I found the following condition :
   The body  was emaciated to  skin and bones, the nervous  sys-
tem debilitated to a  most dreadful degree', the digestive  organs
very torpid, the bowels rather inclined to diarrhoea, the feet  and
hands cold in consequence of want of -healthy blood and  of cir-
culation of it; the chest very narrow and depressed.   Every
now and then a distressing nervous  pain in the face  and head
like tic doloureux, and from time to time erysipelas  on different
parts of the  body.   Sometimes the suffering  lady was afflicted
by an attack of fever and ague, from which, living in an unhealthy
neighborhood, she had suffered before more than ten years.   Every
cysastic evil seemed to have taken hold of  her ; constant attend-
ance  of a physician  was required, and she sank more  and more
every day.
  I undertook the treatment  of this most excellent woman, after
I had  ascertained that there was no tuberculosis, the  foundation
of her  difficulties in her chest, and that the skin, for itself,  was
very promising.   I began with the rubbing off sheet, then order-
ed envelopingvin wet sheets for a short time, and long foot-baths,
 1 \  inches deep.   By and by I had her longer enveloped ; or-
dered  warming bandages round the chest and  stomach, as much 
14
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
exercise as possible, and  about  four  quarts of water to drink,
daily; to that I added  a bandage on the back part of the  neck
during  the  night.  The  nervous pains very soon  abated, and
instead  of that, the fever and ague made  its appearance,  con-
nected with constipation.  I had the patient repeatedly enveloped
and put in a half-hath, not quite cold, for ten minutes.   A slight
rash made its  appearance, and  disappeared again.  The fever
and ague made a new attack, which was conquered, and followed
by the appearance of a  kind of erysipelas  on different parts of
the body.  Thinking that this was only a  foreboding of an ap-
proaching crisis, which  would show itself in the form of an erup-
tive disease, I did not disturb this symptom, and had the patient
put in a half-bath and injections applied.
  At that time I had to leave the  patient,  in consequence  of a
pressing call, and when  I  returned, [ found the whole house in
the greatest  commotion, and all  the  relatives  crying, " she  is
gone /" &c.  I hastened to the  room,  and  there the lady lay,
apparently dead, without any sign  of life.   I had her chest im-
mediately wetted with very cold water, and well  rubbed ; put
bandages to  the  back of the head ;  the feet well rubbed  with
hands, and an injection applied.   In a short  time, the patient had
a very large  evacuation, and opened her before half-closed eyes,
but without showing any mental activity ; she seemed in a de-
lirium.   After a while,  I ordered a general  washing, and let the
patient rest during the night, with the precaution to keep  her feet
always  warm by rubbing.   The next day she was enveloped in
a wet sheet, when she began to complain about pain  in her head,
spine, and legs ; she was afterwards washed off and again enve-
loped, and then a general eruption  made its appearance, which,
as T encouraged its coming  out, proved  to be a most horrid  case
of small-pox.  This was treated and cured early, as every acute
disease is, without any  danger,  if  treated   from  the beginning
with cold water.  I will  take, perhaps, at another  time, an op-
portunity to speak  of the  best mode of treating small-pox.  I
only remark, here, that  the above case is a most striking proof
of the fact, that by medical treatment acute  diseases are kept for
years in the body, producing chronic sufferings,  or, ultimately,
death.

                       Tabes Infantum.
  The daughter of Mr.  Percival, here, an interesting child of 
HIP DISEASE.
15
four years of age, had been suffering with this horrid disease for
two  years, and was in the  transitus from  the  stadium atrophiae
perfectae in  stadium colliquatioum, when I was called  to under-
take a cure.   I found the following symptoms :—
  The abdomen very much enlarged, streaked, and  hard to  the
touch, in which I could  feel the glands like hazel-nuts; the child
was very much wasted  away, particularly her legs, the use of
which she had  lost  entirely ; all  the  symptoms of a general
scrofulosis were clearly visible, eruptions  on the head and  other
parts of the surface were frequent; in  the mouth and intestines
there were aphthae ; feet lamed ; dropsy approaching; face pale
and earth-colored ; deep-lying hollow  eyes, blue rings  around
them ; sharp-pointed  nose, wan  and  rough, greyish,  firmly on
the bones,  fixed skin, &c.; sometimes  constipation  ; sometimes
diarrhoea.   Though the parents of the child are not  very strong,
I could not think the disease  an inherited one, and found no other
cause but a very-wrong diet and maltreatment by  drug-practi-
tioners.
   The treatment was,  very strict  diet, repeated  envelopings
in wet sheets, general ablutions,  leg-baths, rubbing  of the spine
and legs with hands dipped in cold water, cold-water injections,
bandages round the  stomach and legs.  The critical nervous
attacks were treated according to the immediate  circumstances.
The child is now lively, and running  about.

             Ischias nervosa postica.  Hip Disease.

   Mr. Amasa Stone, of this city, a gentleman  of  very active
habits, and very temperate in his living, consulted me about his
case, a year ago.  I found the following condition :
   Pain in the right hip, not fixed on one spot but  running about,
and periodical, extending from behind the great trochanter up to
the os sacrum, down  on the exterior side  of the upper thigh to
the knee-hollow, from here towards the forepart of the leg,  along
exterior side of  the spina tibiae, and so on to the toes  along the
nervus ischiadicus.   Sometimes the nervus crusalis also appeared
affected ; the pain was tearing, very much like rheumatism, with
a feeling of numbness and convulsive motions  connected.   The
pain had augmented to such  a degree, that  when he called, the
patient had not  slept for a  long time.   The affected side was
nearly paralysed ; leg shortened, walking very lame, which was 
16
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
the consequence of the water collected  between the sheath and
the marrow of the affected nerve.
  He had already tried every kind  of advice  given by drug-
practitioners and laymen; he applied galvanism  and magnetism,
tin cases filled with hot water, &c, with only momentary  relief,
the evil itself grew worse from  day to day, and  he came  to me
as a last resort.
  I had him first enveloped in wet sheets and sweated afterwards
in dry  blankets,  followed  by a very  cold  plunge-bath in the
beginning, of half a minute, and by and by, up  to  five minutes
duration ; leg-baths of one hour ; the legs were  bandaged every
night, and the patient wore the stomach-bandage  all the time; he
took every day a douche bath, beginning with  five  minutes and
increasing to twenty minutes ; occasional sitting-baths and half-
baths with rubbing of the affected  parts.  Mr. Stone soon threw
his crutches away, and was, after  a treatment of six weeks, so
far restored that he could run a race with any  man, and  I per-
mitted  him  to proceed  with his  treatment at  his own house.
Dreadful ulcers (about fifty in number)  made their appearance,
and threw the diseased matter out of the  body.  He  is now a hale
and strong man, an enthusiast in hydriatrics, and gratefully ac-
knowledged  his sentiments in an  article in the  United States
Gazette, of this city.

  Encephalitis exudatoria Infantum.   Inflammation of the Brain.

   I did not intend to give a description of the treatment of any
acute disease in this work, because I considered the  application
of hydriatrics in such cases so simple  and certain,  that  it is a
mere  plaything ; but, looking over  my journal, I find a very
interesting case of an inflammation of the brain,  which  came
into my hands  in the  third stage, as  encephalitis  exudatoria
infantum, and as generally every one despairs  of  help, I  think
it right to mention it here.
   The  young  daughter of  Mr. Shiele, of this city, a beautiful
child, not quite three years of age, of a  strong constitution, well-
nourished, had been always well, with the exception of some
occasional eruption.   She  became  sick, had a  hard fever, and
vomited often.   Dr. R., an eminent physician of this city, was
called,  and ordered an emetic.   The condition of the patient did
not mend, but constipation, torpor, and entire apathy'took place. 
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.
17
Calomel and other drugs were given, with  no better effect than
the vomit.  On the fifth  day I was called, and found the follow-
ing condition :
   The child lay on a bed with back down, the head buried deeply
in the pillow ;  the face very pale and haggard ; pupils of the eyes
dilated;  great anxiety;  twitching  of the  tendons;  frequent
evacuations of a whitish matter ; constant  chewing ; singultus ;
gnashing  of the teeth ;  delirium ; the  breathing was  slow  arid
deep, mostly  with a low groan ; the  skin  of the  whole body
dry and  hot,  but  the feet cold.   Pulsation suppressed, and not
very  frequent.  The  patient did not desire any nourishment,
and the  motions of her hands were automatical;  convulsions
repeated often.
   I had, before  all things, the feet of the  poor child rubbed to
warm them, but without success ; I  then had her undressed  and
water poured  over her head and neck, but  she seemed not to feel
it.  Out of pity for the  mother, I had the child dried and put in
a wet sheet from the  neck down  to  the knees, the feet well rub-
bed again, and  then the whole body covered with woollen blan-
 kets, while the head was covered with  an  exciting bandage, re-
newed every  ten  minutes.  The fever had somewhat subsided  ;
 the convulsions ceased; the child seemed to  sleep, and breathed
quicker.   After three-quarters of an hour, I took her out, washed
her off, had the feet again well rubbed, and  the child  laid on a
bed, lightly covered,  after she had  got two injections, of which
the first one had no material effect, but the second worked well.
 Necessary business called  me away, and when I returned, after
 about four hours,  the child was nearly as bad as before, only
 that her feet were not quite so cold.   I then  again poured water
 over her head, the sensation of which she soon showed by strug-
 gling against it.   From that moment  I considered the patient
 saved.   I laid her again in a bed, the chest, abdomen, and back
 covered with a  warming bandage, and the  feet occasionally  rub-
 bed.  After about six hours, a new  attack  made its appearance ;
 I again poured  water over  her head, when she began to cry and
 weep.   After that, I had her whole body, with only the excep-
 tion of her feet, enveloped  in a wet sheet and well  covered  with
 beds and blankets.   She soon fell  in a sleep,  and  sweated  in
 about three-quarters of an hour, very feebly, which sweat lasted
 two hours.   When she  awoke she opened her eyes, the breathing
  was regular, and I had her washed off with tepid water, of 70° 
IS
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
Fah.   She asked for something  to eat, and got some fresh milk
and bread.  For the next two days I ordered an enveloping in a
wet sheet, as above, and two injections.   She got entirely well.

              Phthisis Pulmonalis, or Consumption.

  When I speak of the treatment and cure of consumption, I do
not mean  that a person, in whom the formation  of real  tubercles
in the lungs has taken place, could be cured even by cold water;
of a  formation of tubercles I should  not speak, because  experi-
ence has taught that these tubercles are born with the child, lying
only undeveloped to the time of puberty.   I  have seen  chil-
dren, only three days old, whose lungs contained these undeveloped
tubercles.  Such unhappy  descendants  of a  consumptive race,
must die of tuberculosis, till we are able to reach the lungs them-
selves by  our means.   If the germ of tubercles  is not innate, the
real  tuberculous consumption can never take place.   Therefore,
thousands  are  dying  every year of consumptive diseases, who
could have been cured, if they had in time applied cold water in
the right manner.
  We  understand by phthisis, those wastings of the body which
are caused by ulceration of an organ.  The cure of any of these
diseases has been, up to Priessnitz's time, a " pium desiderium."
The  general  feature is, a general wasting  of the body,  in conse-
quence of indirect want of nourishing, for reproducing necessary
matter. The ulceration of an interior organ, by  which this organ
is impeded in its functions and by and by totally destroyed, as of
the lungs, liver,  &c, is the  consequence of the diseased matter
settled in  the organs.  This  ulceration, is,  in regard to place and
finale,  different.   The matter is either shut up in the ulcerating
organ itself (e. g. vomica pulmonalis), or appears on the surface
and forms there an ulcer (e. g. empyema), or the vomica clausa
bursts,  and the matter is  thrown out  by coughing, or empties
itself in a neighboring cavity (ascites purulentus), or in the cel-
lular system, causing the formation of abscesses and fistulas.
  One of the  two cases I intend to  mention here, was that of
Mr.  Casseday (a gentleman  of this  city, who lost his life in the
steamer Atlantic), and belongs to  that class of consumption, where
the vomica clausa had burst, and the matter was thrown out by
coughing. The patient was, when he applied to me, very weak;
suffered from colliquative sweats and diarrhoea.  Enveloping in 
SPINAL AFFECTION.                    19
wet sheets, rubbing off, half-baths in tepid water, warming band.
ages of cold water from the neck down to the navel, round the
whole body, by and by  sitting baths, intermixed  sometimes #vith
foot-baths, as circumstances required, after a while cold  plunge-
baths, exercise, and  drinking of a great quantity of cold  water
in small draughts at a time, were the means which restored the
poor sufferer, who had exhausted the skill of the most renowned
physicians in this and other cities.  A remarkable feature in this
case, was a small cancerous ulcer on the left side of the mouth,
to which I paid no particular attention  in the treatment; in the
same degree as the patient grew stronger in his  chest, the ulcer
got  for a  time worse,  and closed, when I could pronounce the
patient  well, and ordered the after-cure.
   The  other case is  a lady, Mrs. P----of this  city.  This was
one  of  the most dangerous cases I ever  had in my hands, because
besides repeated signs of ulcerations in  her lungs, and besides a
long nonsensical treatment  of drug-practitioners, of all schools
and ranks, there were  great difficulties in the  sexual system to
contend with.  I found  Mi*s.  P. very weak, having a vomica pul-
monalis of enormous extent, which impeded the breathing to an
alarming degree, and frequent attacks of congestions of the blood
to chest and  head with an  incredible  nervous weakness and  a
very inactive skin.
   The  first indication was to strengthen  the whole system, pro-
duce activity on  the surface, to stay the progress of ulceration,
and to  regulate the circulation of the blood.    When  this was
gained, I  had to  effect the  bursting of the vomica and then to
heal it.  This was  done  by repeated  short envelopings in wet
sheets,  warming  bandages on the suffering parts, and foot-baths,
after that, sitting-baths, and  then tepid  half-baths, and finally full
cold plunge-baths.  She  is  now well,  and  a true friend of our
cause.

               Spinal Affection.  Atrophia dorsi.
   On the 22d  of November, 1843, Mr. Fr. W., a gentleman of
thirty-five years  of  age, came to me for treatment.  About ten
years ago, he had been afflicted with a  secret disease, which was
driven  into his system, and  had taken a great many so-called
strengthening medicines,  and what is generally considered nour-
ishing  food, viz.  oysters, eggs, bouillon,  chocolate, &c.   His
 parents, and brothers,  and sisters were  hardy people. 
20
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
  Symptoms:  very pale  face, leanness,  headache,  dizziness,
chilliness, prurient sensation  along  the spinal  column, melan-
chjjy,  stooping walk,  weakness  of  the memory, inclination  to
suicide, frequent pollutions, pains in  the back and chest, skin in
a miserable condition, &c.  I began with general ablutions, twice
a day,  followed by rubbing off; after a  while, enveloping in wet
sheets,  beginning  with half hour, up  to five  hours,  bandages
round chest  and down the whole  spine, suspensorium  with an
exciting bandage ;  sitting-baths often to  fifteen minutes, after that
half-baths, with rubbing of the  back and  legs, for fifteen to twenty
minutes. Six quarts of water to drink ; nothing was to be eaten or
drunk three hours before going to bed, diet very plain,  but nourish-
ing.  A very painful crisis in the urinary and sexual system lasted
for five days, and  was conquered by long sitting-baths, often re-
peated  envelopings in  wet sheets, cooling  bandages, ablutions,
much drinking, and injections, avoiding all sexual  excitement.
The  patient  was perfectly restored after a  treatment of sixteen
weeks.

                   Chorea.   Vitus's Dance.
  I would not mention a case of this  disease, for which I  had two
children in treatment, if  I had not the wish to introduce another,
symptomatically similar, but  in regard  to cause, treatment, and
danger, entirely different, and in the country generally not enough
regarded, viz. Raphania.
  A boy of  about  twelve years of age,  son  of a  confectioner in
this city, had formerly suffered from a  kind of imperfect som-
nambulism,  which  had been removed  by taking  a  very heavy
cold  and consequent bronchitis ; this acute  disease  being medi-
cally removed, left the Vitus's dance behind.   Laxatives, anti-
spasmodic remedies of every kind, calomel, leeches, blisters, &c,
were given without any favorable  result. The patient showed the
already generally known symptoms of the Chorea in a very alarm-
ing degree,  the attacks lasted  for days,  and the weakness of the
boy was pitiful-   JThe causes were apparently worms, besides the
medical suppression of some former eruptions.   Short envelop-
ing in  wet sheets, only to heat the skin,  followed by plunge-bath,
injections, simple diet, very much exercise, in the afternoon half-
bath, and  in the evening sitting-bath, the first  of  eight minutes,
the other  of twelve minutes,  besides plentiful  drinking of cold
water, were the means of restoring the poor boy. 
RAPHANIA.
21
                          Raphania.

  But I  hasten  to  the  other  above mentioned disease, which  I
had an opportunity  to see in the country in one of the  relatives
of my wife, and some other children ; it was Raphania, which was
doubtless caused by the eating of bread made out of flour mixed
with fresh black grain (cornutum secale), which always operates
upon  the organism, and  produces an alteration in the condition
of the nerves with fatal certainty if it is taken in sufficient quan-
tity, and if nature is unable  to  throw it off critically by exan-
thems, evacuations, &c.  It  seems  to  be  a vegetable disease
transplanted in the human body, because only then when the black
grain is  fresh and  not destroyed by time, this disease makes its
appearance.  It differs from Chorea by its making its appearance
soon after the harvest, and by its being rather epidemic ; Raphania
has never the   exaltations frequently occurring in Chorea, con-
nected with Somnambulism and Clairvoyance, the panic appear-
ance, the augmented power of seeing and  hearing, the inclina-
tions  to climb, and  to conceal.  In the Raphania, the "head suffers
more, causing stupidity ; sex  and age make no difference.  Cho-
rea is  always  sporadic,  without  fever, and never  so  fatal  as
Raphania, and never produces mortification of the limb.   Symp-
toms are after some foreboding of chilliness in the abdomen,
back, and extremities, creeping  in hands and feet, restlessness,
sickness, eructation,  vomiting, pain  in  the  pit of the  stomach,
headache, confusion in the head, &c, the following : various and
vehement convulsions of the  muscles, particular distortion, con-
tractions, extensions, and coolness of the extremities,  creeping
sensation everywhere, contracted  pupil, distortion  of the eyes,
white and clear urine, weak  and stammering voice, bleeding of
the nose, generally  constipation,  great  thirst.   These  convul-
sions, if they last  longer, become tonic, tetanus, and  trismus.
The  attacks last from three to twenty-four hours, end in sweat-
ing and  sleep, and are repeated daily  two to four times for months.
The lower extremities become more and more contracted, and toes
and fingers insensible.   The  skin dies away and peels off, para-
lysis, pemphigus, gangrene, necrosis in hand and feet, colliquative
diarrhoeas, take place, and death ensues in consequence of ex-
 haustion, mortification, apoplexy, and cramps, whilst the patient
 is conscious to  the last moment.  If one survives under drug-
 treatment, generally  palsy, stupidity, epilepsy, is left behind. 
22
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
  Indications of the cure  are to  produce vomiting, evacuations,
and activity of the peripheric organs, particularly of the nerves.
Therefore, use sitting-baths, rubbing  of the  region  of the  sto-
mach, drinking of large quantities of water, and injections, till
patient  vomits  and evacuates  largely.  After  that,  enveloping
in wet sheet till the sweat is coming forth, which is to be washed
off in half bath of water of about 68° Fah., with rubbing of the
whole body, particularly the extremities, for fifteen, to twenty or
thirty minutes.   This is to be repeated as often as necessary.   I
lost no patient in this manner, and had no after difficulties.
  Should  colliquation already  have taken place, patient would
then be  put in a tepid half bath, and buckets full of water poured
over him till the skin and  the nerves on the periphery were again
active, and this repeated till the patient is restored.
  For every case, bandages round the whole  abdomen and back
are necessary.
  In the above described disease, I had more the  Raphania Apy-
retica in view ; I do not think it necessary to mention anything
about the  acute form, because it comes under the general head
of acute diseases, and  is  therefore as easily conquered by the
hydropathist as any other  acute disease.

                          Epilepsy.

  Miss  E. G----r, a very well formed and strong girl of sixteen
years, from the neighborhood of Cape May, came in  the begin-
ning of October, 1845, to me, having despaired of help, and suf-
fering most horribly from  Epilepsia perfecta.
  This  is a so-called periodical disease of nerves, which attacks
the sufferer sometimes only monthly, or weekly, or daily, or even
more than once a day, and shows itself in a want of feeling  and
of consciousness,  and  in  a  connexion of  tonic with   clonic
cramps.  In  Miss  G., as in all of the most difficult and incurable
cases, there were no foreboding signs of the  attacks ; she gene-
rally began to  have at once tonic, afterwards clonic cramps,  dis-
tortion of the face,  head, neck, and  extremities towards the  left
side, the face turned blue,  she screamed, groaned, and fell to the
earth, the  mouth closed,  the eyes rolled  slowly, the pulsation
slow and  suppressed, &c.   After  about twenty minutes  the  sta-
dium soporosum appeared, and soon patient fell asleep for about
an  hour.   The pulsation became  more regular and  full,  a 
HYSTERIA.
23
copious, bad-smelling sweat  came  forth, and the whole  ended
with vomiting of green bile.
  As there was no other member of the G. family afflicted with
this disease, as the  menstruation  had  no  influence whatever on
the attacks, and as I could not find any cause on  the head or in
former diseases, I concluded  that worms and fault of the diges-
tive  organs  might  be the principal cause  of her suffering;  I
therefore  made the following  plan  of curing her:  Everything
was to  be avoided which could produce  congestion to the head
(no sweating  in dry blankets, only enveloping  in wet sheets to
moisten the skin, with constant application  of cooling bandages
over the whole head, the oftener  renewed  as the body became
hotter;  much drinking,  cooling,  thin  diet; a  tepid half-bath,
with pouring some cold water over the head and down the back);
avoiding causes for passion, emotion, or vehement exercise, and
particularly  constipation (therefore repeated cold injections) ;
any flushing of the face was to be immediately suppressed by tepid
foot-bath  and cooling bandages to the  head; any inclination to
vomiting  was  encouraged by drinking large quantities of wa-
ter.   Besides this, I had the patient every night  put  in a double
wet sheet, from the pit of the stomach  down to the upper half of
the thighs, only covered that the  warmth  was comfortable, not
for sweating, and during the  day she wore an exciting bandage
over the whole abdomen.  Soon there appeared round the waist
a very much itching eruption, connected with copious discharges
of slimy matter and ascarides.
  In this manner Miss G-----r, who had before every day regu-
larly an attack, lived with me for nine weeks  without  having
any attack, and left  me  in perfect health, which, I.  understand,
continues.

                          Hysteria.
  Miss M. W., a poor teacher of a public school in this city,
some  thirty years  of age, consulted me on her case, when I
found her in this condition :  The sight  very  much affected, scin-
tillation, great irritability of  the eyes,  trembling  contractions of
the muse, orbicularis.  The hearing very irritable,  a whizzing
noise in the ears,  every exterior affected the patient much. The
olfactory organs very strangely excited, the  same was the case
with her taste.  The extremities generally cold, were sometimes
burning hot; flushing of the face, constant changes  in the feel- 
24
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
ings of the legs.   In regard to her mental faculties, phantasy and
imagination were prominent;  she  was  very industrious,  but
without energy and perseverance, for she soon felt so weak and
enervated that she had  to  rest.  The passions  and emotions
always  changing from one extreme to the other.   Though pious,
and of a very kind disposition and good education, she was some-
times spiteful,  malicious, cunning,  crafty,  and haughty.   She
often  wept or laughed in quick succession, without  cause for
either.  Menstruation  very  irregular.  Convulsions and  other
spasmodic  difficulties, viz. yawning,  stretching,  cramps in  the
calves, irregularities in the urinary organs, motions of the muscu-
lus orbicularis oris, oculi, &c, made frequently their appearance.
Circulation of  the  blood  and  respiration were disturbed, and the
secretions changed ; she  was fat, skin dry, urine before an attack
white and  clear, after it thick  and  colored; saliva was  more
acid, and  the  secretion  of it very much augmented.  She had
fluor  albus.  The bowels very irregular.   She  suffered  often
from  flatulence,  colic,  cramps in  the  intestines,  cardialgia,
dyspnoea, cramps in the bladder and  sphincter ani, pains in  the
chest, sensation of a contraction of the throat, pains in the  right
and left hypochondria (without hepatitis or splenitis).  The uterus
was also afflicted, as if drawn upwards.  Not only adiposis, but
even dropsical accumulations were visible.
   The only causes of the disease I could  find out, were a very
sedentary life,  reading of novels, tendency to  mysticism, and
irregular, suppressed menstruation.
   I first had the patient removed in my house, and  tried to pre-
vent her from  any unnecessary care and anxiety.   Next, I cured
her fluor albus, and restored the regularity of her menstruation, by
putting  her in wet sheets from neck to the knees, every morning
from two to four hours, which was followed  by a plunge-bath of
one to two  minutes, by taking sitting-baths from twenty-five mi-
nutes to one hour, according  to circumstances ; finally, by foot-
baths up to the ancles for thirty minutes, with constant rubbing.
In two months all was right, and I now recommended a quieting
and strengthening treatment, viz. daily washing of the body with
cold water  ; every other or third day enveloping in  a wet sheet,
in which she remained till thoroughly warm ; sitting-bath daily
once or twice, of fifteen minutes  duration, and rubbing  of the
spine  with hands dipped in  cold water; finally, I ordered  the
douche-bath on the spine  and feet from four to five minutes.   The 
DYSPEPSIA.
25
sometimes  appearing constipation was conquered  by injections
(though  I would now prefer half-baths of about 68° Fah.,  of
twenty  minutes duration).   Congestions to the  head and chest
were removed by foot-baths  and bandages to the head, or  rubbing
of the chest.
  During the treatment the patient  has had  three very severe
critical attacks, which followed always after a vehement vomiting
of a thick  yellow-greenish  matter of bad taste  and smell.   Li
such case I had  her rubbed all over the body, but particularly
on the extremities ; as soon  as it was possible  she was put in n
tepid sitting-bath, with continued rubbing, and afterwards carried
to bed  and  well  covered.   This  was always  sufficient in this
case ; but  in  another case  I  have  treated in  this city,  I had to
apply a tepid half-bath,  and  for a minute to  pour ice-cold  water
over the head and  body, which  was successful;  I carried the
patient afterwards to  bed, and when thoroughly warm, applied a
wet sheet, loosely covered with dry blankets.
  Miss W. is now entirely  restored.

                         Dyspepsia.

  I use this name because it is generally known, though  it is too
general,  and signifies every chronic disorder of the digestive or-
gans with irregular appetite.  The case  I am  to write  about is
one of
                        Blennorrhea.
  Mr. J. L., a  gentleman,  of high  standing,  and  some  thirty
years of  age,  complained of torpidity and atony of his stomach;
his  tongue  was slimy and  covered,  his taste disagreeable, par-
ticularly in the morning, sickish, his mouth  dry, lips  broken,
region  of the stomach  often  painful ; a  disagreeable sensation
in his  throat, which he called bronchitis; he  felt  weak, his
appetite was indifferent, bowels very irregular,  generally very
costive, &c.
  I found a too copious secretion of slime, which was not only
in quantity, but  in quality, abnormal.  The sedentary life, want
of exercise in open  air, the quick changes of our climate, the
common  fault of our  fellow-citizens to eat too much and  too rich
food, particularly confectionery and mealy victuals ;  the heat of
the coal.fire, the covering of the skin with  thick woollen under-
clothes, &c,—all this  had produced a chronic catarrh, which
                     2 
26
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
was suppressed instead of being cured, and left behind a weak-
ness of the mucous membranes, producing by and by, a general
blennorrhcea.   It extended slowly from  the nose  down  in  the
trachea, larynx, and  even in the bronchia, whilst blennorrhcea
ventriculi existed from the  same cause, and produced the atony
and torpidity of the stomach and intestines.   Besides this, some
eruption had been driven in the body  in his youth  by medical
means.
  I put the patient in  wet  sheets for sweating, ordered plunge-
baths  of two  minutes,  recommended  him to drink twenty  to
twenty-four glasses of water, particularly for  and after  break-
fast;  applied daily  two  injections, bandages  round the  neck,
chest, and  abdomen,  daily  two  sitting-baths, and after a while
the douche-bath.  Eruptions round the neck and abdomen made
their  appearance, and, after some  time,  the old eruption, com-
monly called ringworm, came again forth.  The necessary exer-
cise which the patient ought to have taken, was limited  by atten-
tion to extensive business.
  The gentleman is  now well, and an  enthusiastic  friend of
Hydriatrics.

        Consequences of wrong treatment with cold water.

  Mr. N. is one of the many cases I had  to treat after  they had
been a shorter or longer time  improperly treated by cold-water
doctors, who, from want of true  knowledge of the fundamental
principles of our system, do as much  injury to the  afflicted  as
any.treatment ever could do, and even more, because such  as
have  been wrongly treated with water, have  become very often
incurable, even by a sensible water-treatment.  I, at least, had
always the greatest difficulty to undo again what had been done
by such inexperienced and incompetent water-quacks.   They
generally pursue one  and the same treatment  in  every case,
without considering  individuality, constitution,  sex, age, &c,
whereas there are in fifty cases, perhaps not two which should be
treated alike; and they follow the  advice given  in some of the
hundred works  on water-cure ; sometimes  they  may do o-ood
but when it comes at last to critical revolutions of the body, thev
get frightened, take refuge in allopathic, or homoeopathic, or sur
gical means, and kill or reduce the  trusting victim  to  worst
misery  than he had  before.  Any  water-physician who  recom 
CHLOROSIS AND MENSTRUATIO RETENTA.          27
mends medicine in any case, does not understand the system he
professes to apply, or is not sincere  with regard to his patients.
  Mr. N., a young quaker from the neighborhood of Philadelphia,
was one of the victims of such treatment.  He had suffered slight-
ly from digestive difficulties, and was treated with water till he
had got a perfect blennorrhcea ventriculi and intestinorum, with
tendency to a hectic cough.   His  naturally strong and hardy
body  was broken down, his blood thickened, and his  skin became
dry and glossy like parchment.  He had been sweated to excess,
had the douche-bath  applied, and a  great many sitting  and foot-
baths  ;  the diet  consisted only of vegetables, and the treatment
was entirely  wrong  and  too severe.  The digestive organs be-
came  weakened  to  such a  degree, that  every meal  produced
agonies and feverish excitement.
  As  the water in such a case has  an entirely contrary effect to
that which it  has in any other case,  I had to be careful in remov-
ing a disease which was produced by the  very same remedy
which was to cure it.  I therefore  applied rubbing  off, short en-
velopings, short-sitting baths, bandages round the abdomen  and
back, but all  these baths in  such intervals that as far as reaction
could be produced this reaction was never in  the least interrupt-
ed.   The body was never entirely rubbed dry, to give the weak-
ened skin an  opportunity of sucking in what fluid was left.  The
diet was regularly a meat diet, patient was allowed to  eat about
one pound of beef or  mutton every day.   In  this manner he
gained flesh,  strength,  a  healthy skin, a rosy color, and  the ne-
cessary energy to begin business for himself.   He is now a hap-
py farmer, and is since married.
  This case I mentioned  here because I thought  it  my duty not
only to warn  sufferers  of the dangers they incur by confiding in
the promises of incompetent cold-water-practitioners, but also  and
principally to vindicate hydriatrics from the imputation that they
could  do any  harm in any case if applied properly; the danger is
never in the  weapon but always in the wielder of  it.   I could
produce some eight or ten similar cases, but my time  is so limited,
that I  cannot  waste it with the history of the wrongs of others.

               Chlorosis  and menstruatio retenla.

  Miss R. L., of this city, eighteen  years old, had the following
symptoms when she applied to me, after  she  had  been in the 
28
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
hands of nearly all the drug-practitioners of celebrity in  Phila-
delphia: very pale,  dead-white, lax  skin without  turgor, pale
lips, the cutaneous system in general was  elastic, cedematous,
cold,  which left no impression after a pressure with the finger,
as it is in anasarca ; the color of the face was somewhat greenish-
grey, tongue pale, eye-lids yellow and blue, the end of the nose
pale  and cold; in the whole it  had  a  corpse-like  appearance.
Feeling of faintness, inclination to sleep ; restless, disturbed sleep,
disinclination  to any exertion, which, if she was compelled to it,
produced trembling  and convulsive motions;  spirits depressed,
melancholy,  involuntary  weeping,  hysteric  affections, cramps
and pain in the chest,  dyspnoea, and often asthmatic orthopnoea,
with every kind of dyspeptic difficulties, so  that she was consi-
dered suffering of Phthisis hectica nervosa.
  It was clear that nothing else  but menstruatio retenta, wrong
diet, and medical treatment had been the  cause of all these diffi-
culties,  therefore,  after  ascertaining  that  the vagina was not
closed, I prescribed  a treatment  of six weeks, consisting  in en-
velopings in wet sheets for only one or two hours with  following
washing off, and afterwards plunge-baths, a few sitting-baths and
often  repeated long  foot-baths, much exercise in open air, light
dressing, nourishing diet, drinking of nothing but water, and  an
after-cure  at  home of simply washing  and  taking foot-baths.
The weak, yellow sufferer,  has become a hearty,   blooming
beauty; the menstruation, which  neither the strengthening drugs
nor the crocus, sabina, alee, colloquints, &c, of her former phy-
sicians could  produce, the simple tepid,  long foot-baths brought
on in  three weeks.

                      Hydrops—Dropsy.

  My mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Z., of Emmaus, Pa., had suffered for
a long time of Hydronosos, though no physician, as the  diagnosis
is very difficult, if not impossible, suspected the existence of such
a difficulty in her.  Soon  after I became acquainted  with the
family, the first real symptoms of dropsy made their appearance,
in a general swelling of the  body  in  the atonic and  cachectic
condition of it, in the feeling of general weakness, in the paleness
of her face  and skin, in the suppression of the secretion of urine,
and of the  transpiration.   The skin  was  dry,'brittle, contracted,
&c.; she  had fever  attacks; she  suffered much  restlessness, 
RHEUMATIC HEADACHE.
29
 constant fear, nervous excitement, thirst, sleeplessness, affection
 of the senses, and of the cutaneous system, &c, &c.
   Circumstances  prevented  me from  attending her  from  the
 beginning,  and she sank  apparently  fast, till  family  relations
 changed, so that I was  allowed to interfere,  and restore her to
 perfect health.
   The means  applied by  me  were  the following:  I  had her
 packed in a thin, very well wrung  out linen sheet, in the usual
 manner, and left her there till the sheet was entirely dry ;  after
 that she was washed  off with water  of 68° F., and well dried
 and rubbed.  This was repeated twice every day for eight days.
 After that, she was enveloped in the wet sheet,  and remained till
 she sweated, and was again washed off;  this again was  repeated
 twice a day, for eight days, when copious  evacuations of sweat
 and urine,  and  diarrhoea, took place.   Then she was only once
 a day  enveloped for sweating,  eight days longer, when  she  was
 entirely restored.  She  drank  every  day twelve tumblers, or
 three quarts of water, and took  good, nourishing food.  When
 she was not packed, she wore  a wet exciting  bandage  over the
 whole  abdomen.

     Cephdlaa rheumatica congestiva.—Rheumatic Headache.

   P. McL., a young, strong  man, who was used  to a great deal
 of hard work, and had never  been particularly sick, took a  vio-
 lent cold in a candle  and soap  manufactory, in consequence of
 which  he  was  afflicted  with  rheumatic headache, which, for
 more than a year, resisted  all medical skill, and finally alarm-
 ingly affected his hearing.   He complained at the same time of
 constipation, enlarged abdomen, pains in the back, and heaviness
 in his legs.  He sought at last, help in our treatment.
   He was sweated every  day one hour and a half in  woollen
 blankets, during which  time  cooling bandages  were put on his
head, and renewed every  five  minutes.   After the  sweat, he
 was put for  five minutes in  a not quite cold  half-bath, while over
his head cold water was  poured.  Besides this he took every
day two sitting-baths, .the first of thirty-five minutes, the second
of twenty-five minutes ;  at the same time he took every evening,
before going to  bed, an injection, which was during the next day
 repeated, if any sign of obstruction were visible.  In this man- 
30
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
ner I succeeded in freeing him of his pains in three weeks ; but
they returned soon, and were more violent than ever.
  Persuaded by this  circumstance tiiat there was some deeper
disease hidden in his body, I ordered, besides the application of
the former treatment, every day a douche-bath, beginning with
four minutes, and ascending to ten minutes.
  Very soon a very much itching eruption made its appearance,
which was followed by a great many larger and smaller ulcers.
After they were  healed, the headache was only diminished, not
quite removed.   I therefore ordered the patient again under the
douche for twelve minutes, had him sweated  two hours, recom-
mended cold water for the half-bath, and prolonged the sitz baths
to forty minutes.
  Again a great many ulcers made their appearance, which dis-
charged  powerfully  a very bad-smelling matter.  The patient
felt very badly, could not walk, and was entirely discouraged ;
but, when this  second edition was also healed, he was free from
headache, and entirely restored.

Rheumatismus dorsalis—Pain in the back, combined with general
                         prostration.

  Mr. G. T----, a young man of this city, had  lived, what  is
called, very freely, and in consequence of it, had been for years in
the hands of the worst of the prominent drug-practitioners in the
city.  His face was very pale, lips bluish, eyes weak and languid,
the skin  was withered, and  the  muscles decayed so that you
could feel through them  every bone  of the body.  Stool  could
only be  had by  artificial means,  and  there was  no appetite or
digestion without a stimulant.  Night-sweats were frequent, and
a hectic cough  had  taken  place;  the mind was  much  affected,
memory seemed  to be entirely gone, and sometimes a suicidal
disposition could scarcely be withstood ; he felt  pains all over
his body, and the weakness of his limbs fettered li'm most of
the time to the room.
   By frequent rubbing off, short plunge-baths, short envelopings
in wet  sheets, short  foot and sitting baths,, injections and  band
ages,  the  patient soon  gained  the necessary  strength to be
sweated ; eruptions  and ulcers made their appearance;  after
which I gave him for a short time the douche, and thus  procured
an  acute disease, viz. a very violent inflammation  of the  kidneys, 
MANIA.
31
 which was then cured in the common hydriatric manner,  and
 followed by an inflammation of the pleura.  This, tdo, was in a
 short time  led  to a  satisfactory result, and  Mr.  T-----,  after
 having  been.in my establishment  for  fifteen weeks,  has left  it
 entirely restored.

                            Mania.
   One  of our most  prominent public speakers, a man of the
 greatest mental activity, of  a  slender  body, and rather a weak
 constitution, was taken  sick with inflammation  of the pleura,
 which he  suppressed, as he had done  before, by exposing  the
 chest to cold air ; this  was  followed by a slight nervous fever,
 which was  treated homoeopathically, and ended in  mania.  It
 showed itself in a chronic feverless delirium, connected  with ex-
 citement of the vital functions.   Unhappily the  physician  had
 allowed the patient to drink freely of wine and brandy, contrary
 to the habits of the otherwise scrupulously temperate man, which
 brought this delirium to furor.   At  this stage I was called,  and
 found the patient in great excitement, his imagination perverted,
 want of attention, vehement mental activity.    Everything  the
 patient said or did,  showed  exertion, violence, strength, for the
 equilibrium of the faculties of the  soul was lost ; there was  a
 perfect  chaos of ideas  constantly working, whilst an  incredible
 weakness of consciousness  was visible.  Further examination
 proved a great disturbance in the digestive organs.
   When the patient was brought in my house, I had him washed
off repeatedly with very cold  water, and  the same was poured
over  his head, till he began  to feel  the coldness of it.  Then I
put him in a very  wet sheet, covered him well, and put cooling
cataplasms to the head.   After about an hour he fell in a sleep,
the first one since forty-eight hours, and got in a slight perspira-
tion, which  I  had  washed  off in not quite cold water.   This I
had followed by two injections and  a sitting-bath, which had the
effect that the patient slept quite well with a warming bandage
round the chest and abdomen. The next morning enveloping in a
wet sheet, washing off, thn e sitting-baths of twenty-five minutes
duration, coc ing bandages to the head, injection and rubbing off,
before going o bed.  The patient slept quite well, and I could make
now a regu' r treatment, that is :  in the morning enveloping for
three hoi"-   n a wet sheet, rubbing off five minutes; two sitting-
 baths each  thirty-five minutes, and  after two days more a half- 
32
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
bath of fifteen minutes, and  pouring of four to  six buckets of
water over»the head.  The inflammation of the pleura returned,
and patient left after four weeks treatment, quite restored,  with
the advice  to use the enveloping, rubbing  off, and. sitting baths
once a day, at home for  some  time longer, and to abstain from
too much mental exertion.


                      Consumption, 8fC.

[Extract from Letter of Rev. Wm. Livesey, of the Methodist Church, Taunton, Mass.

Dr.  Chas.  Shieferdecker, Philadelphia :

   Dear Sir,—I entered  your Institution an  invalid,  and consi-
dered  my  case almost hopeless, having been  unwell  for more
than ten years, and for four years entirely unable  to attend to
the duties  of my  calling.  I have consulted  a number of the
most eminent physicians,  and have  been treated by them for con-
sumption,  without  any permanent benefit.  I have  repeatedly
changed from one climate to another, have journeyed more than
ten thousand miles in search of health, but,  alas!  in vain.   My
cough has been excessive, attended with profuse expectoration,
indigestion, constipation, emaciation,  and great debility, and, in
the opinion of my friends, I was near the grave.  I entered  your
Institution  on the 17th of February, and commenced the water.
treatment under your directions.   The effect  soon  appeared to
be favorable, and improvement continued  to the time  of leaving.
My  cough  soon began  to abate, appetite became good, sleep re-
freshing, strength and vigor much increased, and I  was soon able
to take  considerable exercise.  The treatment was continued
five and a  half weeks, and on leaving the Institution  I am so far
recovered, as to have been  able  to preach  twice  last  Sabbath
without inconvenience.   I have gained  seven or eight pounds in
weight, my cough is nearly gone, being less  than it has been for
the last ten years ; all my bad  symptoms have abated, or disap-
peared.  1 eat,  sleep,  or walk, with as much  enjoyment  as  at
any time in my life.  The result  of the  experiment on myself
has been  to give me the fullest confidence in the Water-Cure,
 and  especially  as  administered by  you.   And to  all  invalids,
 whose object is to regain health, and be  restored to happiness, and
 usefulness in society,  I  can most confidently recommend Dr. 
CASE OF  DECLINE.
33
Chas.  Shieferdecker,  and his Establishment, as worthy their
confidence and patronage.
                I am, most affectionately, yours, &c,
                                            Wm.  Livesey.
  Taunton, March 30th, 1847.

                       Case of Decline.

To the Editor :—Dear Sir :

   Early in the spring of 1831, while residing in Boston, I had a
severe attack of lung-fever.  The water-cure was not yet dreamed
of, and the doctors  had their own way with me, and cups and
calomel—blue-pills and tartaric ointment did their usual work.
   After a hard struggle, the fever and the doctors left me : but
the drugs did not; and from that day till I began the water-treat-
ment I had a sorry  time of it.
   There was no acute disease, and, consequently, could be no acute
health from me.  I tried some of the patent nostrums of the day
—a  few " Hygiene Pills,"—a little " Thompsonian pepper,"—
one or two " Homoeopathic pellets,"—and yet I was  not cured.
For years I " enjoyed" (it  was all I had to enjoy), "poor health!"
   I said above that  I had no acute disease—but  I forgot: some
four or five years after the attack on the lungs I contrived to get
a brain fever, which, as it illustrates Priessnitz's doctrines of crisis,
I may as well mention here—and the cause of it.  I had been,
with other students of the National  Academy, N. Y.,  drawing for
several evenings from  a figure  of Hercules.  The  cast was very
white, and the light  extremely  brilliant.   I  had drawn  with in-
tense application, one bitter cold evening, and then hurried, with-
out much extra caution as to covering, to  my lodgings.
   The next morning I awoke with  a blinding pain in my head,
and if my  eyes saw  at all, it was

              " Not  that which was—
               Nor  that which should  have been,"

but the torso of my Hercules, as large as life and more than twice
as white!
   This soon changed in color ;  and  myriads of legs and  arms as
" red as Scotland's war-cross,"  trooped daily past my mind's  eye.
The  leeches  (Spanish  and others)  had a hard time of it; but
                       2* 
34
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
finally conquered, as usual, by fastening the disease, with fetters
of poison, into the depleted system.
  After this, I lost what little faith I had held in drugs, and took
little medicine and less advice, and yet I did not get well, for

           " Dismissing the doctor don't always succeed."

  I then tried exercise—yet the gymnasium gave  me no perma-
nent strength ;  I  was cased in flannel, and yet had no warmth ;
careful of diet, and had  no digestion.   Finally, I  married—and
" the medicine  answered  very well" for—a time !  but  even it
could not cure me.  A gradual wasting away—a  slow sinking
of vitality were all the symptoms to be seen .  I was not sick, and
could not be well.  People said  I was going into a " decline."
  At this stage of affairs I chanced to encounter a " live cold-
water  patient"—an artist—one who  had " suffered  some,"—
though not  exactly in the same way  as myself—and  who was
being cured ! His enthusiasm (we are all enthusiasts, you know)
was infectious.   I caught it badly, and took to  the  cure, under
our most skilful  hydropathist, Schieferdecker, as  naturally as a
trout to spring  water.   I began  with the wet sheet packing, in
the morning, and  moderate  sweats—followed by the cold plunge*
—plenty of exercise, and  much water drinking ;  I  wore  the
heating chest bandage constantly ;  took occasional sitting-baths,
eye-baths, foot-baths,  and  cold  injections—in short, the usual
strengthening processes.  In less than a week the flannel, though
thick as doe-skin, was torn off strip  by  strip, followed by no
cold ; the skin began to feel  alive again.  The  morning walk
left me (not as heretofore, with a headache and a sense of fatigue),
but a devouring appetite for breakfast—which needed no tea or
coffee  to make  itself  welcome.  Simple bread  and butter, or
milk, or bread and molasses, had  a smack of hungry boyhood
about them.  I gained flesh rapidly, and spirits  in proportion.
Life was once more welcome  to me.   The " cure" progressed
charmingly.
  In July of the same year, I  made one of the Doctor's party to
Lehigh mountains, where we  found fresh air and cold water in
abundance.   From the most  rudely constructed  establishment,
and the coldest spring-water, we drank our fill of health.

  *  I would now not apply the plunge-bath, but the rubbing off with a wet
sheet.  Dr. S. 
CASE OF DECLINE.
35
   Here, for the first time, I tried the much dreaded douche (a fine
 column of 19 feet fall), and brought on some slight crises__erup-
 tions—evacuations, &c,—but nothing very  marked.  I was not
 yet strong enough, though I returned to the city, at the end of
 five weeks, twenty pounds heavier in  flesh, and £100  better  in
 feeling.
   Throughout the winter  following,  I pursued much the same
 treatment : the  cold  plunge  on getting  warm from  bed—and
 plenty of exercise before breakfast—though  I followed my busi-
 ness (a sedentary one) as usual.   In the course  of the winter
 my old acquaintance,  the  brain fever, gave me a call.   I  knew
 his legs and arms in a  moment.  A long sitting-bath, with violent
 frictions over legs, back, &c,—with cooling umschlags to the head,
 soon drowned the enemy out : the next day I was  well of it.
   It  was  not till August of the  present year (1846), that the
 crisis I had so long been  looking  for, made its appearance.   I
 was on a Trouting  trip among the  Catskill  mountains, and had
 been for some days following the  ice-cold  streams of that wild
 region—wet as a hydropathist all the day, and hungry as an angler
 when night came.   After  a day of unusual  sport, I returned  to
 the farm-house where  I put up, more than commonly wet—(with
 rain, river-water, and  perspiration)—and  had taken the refresh-
 ing  abreibung—a moderate supper and an early bed.  The first
 part of the night  I slept  profoundly, but awoke towards mid-
 night,  from frightful dreams, to find myself in  a fuming fever—
 my lungs choked  up to the smallest capacity, and my head well
 nigh crazed,
   I had sense enough  left, however, to decide what must be done.
 To  crawl  to the wash-basin, wring out  a  wet  sheet,  "and
•drink a plenty of cold water, was the work of a confused  moment.
 1 then packed myself in the bedclothes as carefully as I could—
 rolling myself fairly up in  the huge feather bed I had taken off
 on retiring (I am not goose enough to sleep in feathers,  I hope !)
 and  awaited  the result.  In a short time I broke  into  a profuse
 perspiration,  when all  pain left me, and the sense  of suffocation,
 before so  intolerable, gave place to  perfect repose. I  slept an
 hour or more in this sea of sweat, and awoke with a clear sense
 of what was next, to  be done.  About twenty yards from the
 house  was a mill,  which was driven by streams of the coldest
 spring-water in Delaware  county.   I arose ;  wrapped  myself
 close in all the bedclothes I could hug to me—ran briskly across 
36
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
the road to the flume and plunged, steaming with sweat, headlong
to the bottom !  For two or three minutes the swift current had
worked away all  superfluous heat, and with it  every vestige of
fever.  I returned to my bed, very much d la Adam, and as well
as a fish—which I hold to be the " ne plus ultra" of happiness-
slept like a  top the rest of the  night; and in the  morning, was
ready for another day's ducking—or another fortnight of  " fish-
erman's luck."
   Since that hour, I have had no return of any of my old mala-
dies—not even the M. D.,—nothing of consumption,  unless it be
of an unusual quantity of aliment.  I am gaining in  flesh and
feeling ;  have the appetite of a grist-mill, with only the Graham-
itish precaution not to bolt my meal; my sight is strong—my wits
bright, as you see !  I sleep as soon as my head touches the pil-
low—drink  neither tea nor coffee—eat meat once a day—keep
good hours as you know I always have done ;  and feel myself,
save a few  old wrinkles, which water may yet wash away, as
good as new ; and ready to thank God and Vincenz Priessnitz
for the blessings  of a joyful existence.
                                      Yours faithfully,
                                                    J. J. P.
   Philadelphia, Jan. 10, 1847.

              Case of Diplopia—Double  Seeing.

   Lewis Kreokler, a young mechanic, of a powerful constitution,
 was attacked by Diplopia,  seeing everything double, one object
 over  the  other;  it seemed to be the consequence of too much
 straining of the eyes by too clear light, with at the  same time a
 symptom of a deeply hidden local  nervous debility ; but there
 existed no real disorganization.  The most  renowned drug prac-
 titioners of Philadelphia were  tried for about half  a year, with
 no other success than a daily increased debility of the powerful
 frame of the  patient.   A treatment  of four weeks,  consisting in
 slight sweating, full baths, pouring buckets full of  water over the
 head and neck, bandages, head, eye, and sitting and foot baths, as
 well  as the douche once a day for eight minutes on the neck and
 back, in my establishment,  and a continuance of some local ap-
 plications at home, restored the  patient, so  that he undergoes all
 the hardships of his trade with all his natural former  strength and
 ease. 
CHRONIC BRONCHITIS.
37
                      Chronic Bronchitis.

  I use  this name of the disease  only because it is the most
known, not because I consider it a correct one.
  Miss E. F-----, a  lady  of good  circumstances,  and about
twenty-five  years of  age,  unmarried, and  of a  very delicate
frame, suffered from what was called bronchitis,  depending on
difficulties  and weaknesses of the urinary and sexual system,
and was  treated, or rather mal-treated, " secundum artem," until
consumption  had apparently taken hold of  her.  Professor S.
Jackson,  an  allopathist, and  Dr. Herring, homoeopathist,  and
other distinguished drug practitioners, had  treated  her for years
without any success, and she was fast sinking, when she fled to a
cold-water-cure.  She began the cure at home on the 2lst De-
cember,  1841 ; came in my establishment on the 27th January,
1845 ; and finished her cure in August, of  the same year.   Vo-
miting, eruptions, particularly round  the neck, and diarrhoeas,
were the crises.   I used the whole extent of hydropathic means.
Remarkable  is it, that some enlightened members of the faculty,
as soon as  Miss E. J----grew fleshy,  declared it  was dropsical
swelling ; when she got a healthy, rosy color, pronounced  it hec-
tic flushes,  and now, after she is restored  to health, say  very
gravely :  " O, nothing did ail her, only exercise was wanting." 
38
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
      NEW LEBANON SPRINGS WATER-CURE
                   ESTABLISHMENT.


  The following notice was written by a resident of New Leba-
non, who has no pecuniary interest in  the establishment:
  Tt is situated at New  Lebanon  Springs, in Columbia county,
N. Y., twenty-five miles from Albany, and within seven miles of
the  depots of the Boston  and Albany  Railroad, at Canaan  Four
Corners and Pittsfield.
  This  village has,  for  the  last half century, been a place of
resort for strangers, not only  for pleasure, but for the healing of
diseases by the use of its waters.   The  spring which  has  been
used  for this  purpose is within a few  rods of the cold-water
establishment, where a plentiful supply of pure water gushes from
the fissure of a rock, and is conducted  into a convenient building
for  bathing.  The temperature of this spring is 72°,  which makes
bathing very pleasant for the invalid. Hundreds of persons afflict-
ed with  rheumatism, scrofula, and other diseases, have here been
cured, and many others  benefited, by the application  of water,
and that, too, before Priessnitz commenced a  new era in the cure
of diseases, and  discovered  how  to  use water as a  remedial
agent, upon philosophical  principles.   The   invalid who visited
Lebanon in former times, ascribed his  cure or relief solely  to
some medicinal quality  peculiar only  to the water which  he
used, but since Hydropathy has become a science, and  the appli-
cation of water has become systematized, it is cloar to th'se who
have witnessed the operations of hydropathy, that the use of the
water and not a hidden virtue it contained, was the cause  of his
relief, and  Lebanon water owes its  success, above others, to the
fact of its temperature being so mild that invalids found pleasure
in bathing, and, therefore, they were more thorough in  the appli-
cation.   Be this as it may, it is enough  for our  purpose to  know
that the sick were, for^half  a  century, directed by the regular
physicians to use the Lebanon waters as a  curative agent, and
as  before said, many cures were thus effected.
   It  may be well supposed  that Lebanon was one of the first
places selected for a Hydropathic Establishment, when the  Ame- 
NEW LEBANON SPRINGS.
39
rican public became  fully  informed  upon  the  discoveries of
Priessnitz.   Indeed, nature seems to have made the place'all that
was desirable for just  such an institution.  The abundance of
water of all temperatures,  from 46° to 72°, being but one of its
recommendations; its  elevated  position,  its  pure  and  bracing
atmosphere, and the beautifully diversified scenery in the vicini-
ty, mark it as  the place where the invalid  can pursue his  eager
search after health, while  his  mind can  be, at the same  time,
elevated  above all the desponding cares of life, by viewing upon
all sides  the beauties of nature, dressed in all her pleasing love-
liness, and  with  a grandeur which startles and subdues the be-
holder, till his  thoughts  arise in thankfulness to Nature's God
for the privilege of viewing so beautiful a scene.
  Some time during  the winter  of  1844-45, samples of water
from the different springs were procured and  sent to New York
and  analysed by  a celebrated chemist,   who pronounced the
mountain water to be remarkably pure and free from all mineral
or other  foreign substances, while some of the different springs
were only  slightly impregnated  with  mineral substances.   Dr-
Joel Shew, with some of the friends of Hydropathy, after due
deliberation, came to the conclusion that New Lebanon Springs
was the best  location  for a water-cure establishment, for carry-
ing out the principles of Hydropathy on a large scale.   Mr. Da-
vid Cambell was sent  as a pioneer to fit up the necessary  con-
veniences  for that  purpose.   Mr. Cambell arrived  the first of
May, 1845, and took upon himself the general supervision of the
establishment, while  Dr. Shew acted as  physician  and general
adviser in relation to the treatment of the patients.
  At first  they labored under  many embarrassments, in  conse-
quence of  the want of bathing  facilities, and the want of capital
necessarily prolonged their progress in the erection of suitable
buildings  and  water  works.   These embarrassments existed
throughout the season of 1845, and many of the friends of water-
cure looked with almost hopeless eyes on the effort.  But Mr.
Cambell met all these difficulties with perseverance ana  indus-
try,  and  an ardor of  mind undaunted by any  discouragement;
and, in  a  short time,  with  little or nothing to begin with, has
finished a convenient  and superior bathing apparatus.
   In 1845, Mr. Cambell laid  an aqueduct to the mountain stream,
nearly a mile distant.   In  1846, the  supply of water not being
deemed sufficient, another aqueduct was laid to the same  foun- 
40
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
tain, by which an abundant  supply of water is  afforded for  the
establishment, and  also for the people in the vicinity.   These
aqueducts are first  brought to the water-cure house and  passed
through in pipes, from which the patients are supplied with fresh
water direct from the fountain.  The surplus water is then con-
ducted to a reservoir sunk beneath the surface, elevated  eighty
feet above the establishment.   This  elevation  of the  reservoir
gives great power and force  to the douche and other baths, which
can be applied to the patient  if necessary.   The various baths
are admirably and ingeniously fitted  up,  including the plunge,
douche, hose, shower, spray, vapor,  upward fountain, half-bath,
eye, and ear, and  other baths, as  may be necessary, all  under
the same roof. These water-works  have .been built at an expense
of more than $3000.   The  establishment is well fitted  for win-
ter treatment; the water-works are  all secured from the frost,
and the house is warmed by furnaces in the cellar.  By a very
ingenious arrangement, a  boiler is so fixed that by applying a
pipe from the  reservoir, its  pressure throws hot water to every
part of the house, so that  patients  can be accommodated  at any
time with water of any desired temperature.
   Baths are also fitted up in  the vicinity, to which patients can
resort in the summer, and to those  who are able,  it gives a pleas-
ing  va riety  of exercise,  which is  deemed  so  necessary both
before  and after bathing.  In a wild, rugged glen, easy of access,
less than a quarter of a mile  distant, is a house built purposely
for the treatment, where there is a large plunge-bath, a douche
25 feet high,  and  other baths, so that some of the patients take
nearly all their  treatment here.  Another  spring about  three-
quarters of a mile distant  is much  occupied in warm weather as
a place of douching and  plunging, the water being very cold,
from 46° to  48°  in the warmest  weather.   Still another cold
spring, fitted  up for the ladies  about the same distance from  the
establishment, in a different  direction, is more or less frequented.
   Some time during the fall of 1845, Dr. Shew left the establish-
ment to resume his practice in the  city of New  York, since that
time, for most part, his place has been filled by Dr. N. Bedortha,
who has had much experience as a physician before Hydropathy
was introduced in this country.   Since he has turned his atten-
tion to the water-cure, he  has spared no pains to qualify himself
for his profession,  and the  success of his  practice is  his  best
recommendation. 
PREFATORY REMARKS.
41
                PREFATORY REMARKS.

  The following cases are furnished  by the physician of the
Water-Cure House at Lebanon Springs.  The establishment has
not yet been in operation two years, and most of the cases treated
have  been such as were deemed incurable by the ordinary course
of treatment.   Some important cases which bid fair to be restored
are not yet advanced sufficiently to appear in this work; others,
who have received  great benefit, object to a  public statement of
their  cases.  The testimony of the physician is, that four-fifths
of the cases of chronic diseases through the country, ordinarily
considered as incurable, can be  cured or greatly benefited by
a proper use of the water-cure  treatment.  Of the various forms
of disease treated  there by water, consumptive cases  have been
the most obstinate.   Scrofulous cases generally improve slowly ;
spinal complaints  have generally improved very rapidly,  and
the treatment seems, well  adapted  to  such  cases.   Dyspepsia,
constipation, &c, are quite certain to be cured, if not too much
complicated.   Nervous complaints have  usually been benefited.
Acute rheumatism is cured quite speedily : chronic  rheumatism
is  improved slowly.   Common  acute  diseases yield  readily to
the water-cure: such  as colds, fevers, measles, small pox, &c.
Some of  the cases furnished are very  interesting, from  the cha-
racter of the  disease, and  the  wonderful improvement made:
others are interesting, in showing the safety, simplicity,  and effi-
cacy of the practice in the common but less dangerous diseases.
  JVew Lebanon, April, 1847.

      Nervous Rheumatism, with Sciatica, or Hip Disease.

                                       Boston, Dec. lltn, 1816.
  Dr. Bedortha—My Dear  Sir:—As I  have been  solicited
both by  yourself and Dr.  Shew to furnish a statement of my
case and the effects of the  hydropathic treatment, I feel that I
cannot consistently withhold any information which may perhaps
remove prejudice from other minds, and  thus recommend a sim-
ple, safe, and effectual remedy, which,  after many  years of suf-
fering, has, by the blessing of God, relieved me from bodily pain, 
42
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
and restored me to comfortable health.   My age is  forty-nine.
For several years previous to 1831  my constitution had suffered
by fevers  and other maladies, for  which  1  was treated  in  the
usual way, with preparations of mercury and other kindred poi-
sons, until my whole system was filled and saturated with morbid
deposits.   .                                              •
  Lite in the  autumn of that year,  I was suddenly attacked with
severe pains in the hip and knee, and all  the way between  the
large muscle which passes over the thigh the flesh became black
and blue,  the muscles on  the under side of the knee  contracted,
the limb  perished,—appetite failed—sleep departed, and  life be-
came burdensome.
  The physicians  called the disease by various  names, rheuma-
tism, sciatica, neuralgia, hip disease,  tic douloureux, &c, &c. The
popular remedies were recommended and applied, blisters, issues,
cupping,  leeching, acu-puncturation,  with plenty of  opium  and
other narcotics.  These only added to my sufferings, and failed
to give me any permanent relief.  After being  confined  to my
room all winter, my physician  advised me to take lodgings in the
Massachusetts Hospital, where I might  have the benefit  of the
experience of the most eminent of the faculty.  When I entered,
one warm bath was prescribed and used, which served  for the
whole term of several  weeks.   As  the patients generally seemed
to be, I also was, dosed  with  a  preparation of  mercury  in the
celebrated Jackson  pill.  1 left  the  institution without  being
cured, but was really  made worse.  The next fall  I was advised
to seek a warm climate.  I sailed for Cuba,  and  passed the win-
ter months  at Santiago Hot Springs, and  returned  in the spring,
no better.   The hip bone was then crowded from the  socket, and
I was still suffering night and day.   I next sought  relief from
Doctor Hewett,  the  bone-setter.   After  forty days  of bathing
and hard rubbing, the bone was replaced.   The cause still re-
mained, and I suffered on.   I  then tried  the Thomsonian reme-
dies—took ten  or twelve courses in quick  succession.   This
practice relieved  me some, but did not effect a  cure.  To this I
subsequently  resorted-frequently,  for  ten  or twelve  years, as a
temporary and partial relief.   In the summer of 1844 my pains
increased, and although I  had abandoned all expectation of ever
beim* cured, I again called on one  of  the faculty.  He candidly
told  me I must not. expect to be cured,  but advised me to try
croton oil externally, as a temporary relief.  I was foolish  enough 
        DYSPEPSIA COMPLICATED WITH  OTHER DISEASES.      43

to adopt the prescription, and the consequence was, a severe  in-
flammation of the parts, with additional pains.
  Soon after this  I was persuaded by a  German homoeopathic
physician to try  the  water-treatment, with some of his little
pills.   These I had before used, with but  little if any effect.
  With the doctor's assistance, I used the  water  in various ways
with the wet sheet as well as  I could at  home, for eight weeks,
with scarcely any perceptible effects.   I  continued  the sponge-
bath through the winter, and in May, 1845, resorted to the Water-
Cure Establishment, at New Lebanon Springs.   I was still very
lame, and suffered constant  pain.   I found, however, that while
under the treatment I suffered less, and so was induced to perse-
vere.   I concluded, whether I was to recover or not,  that while
living I should keep  in  the water much  of the time, though I
might not be cured.  I was under full treatment about  sixteen
weeks, under the  general direction of Doctor Shew, before any
decisive crisis was manifest.
  The  crisis appeared first in the form  of a rash, and  subse-
quently in round blotches wherever the wet  bandages had been
applied.   I then  began to experience some relief from my pain.
Although,  by diet and treatment,  I had become  very much  re-
duced in flesh,  I felt stronger and  better day  by day.
  After about twenty weeks I returned home and continued  the
treatment for several weeks longer, till I was nearly  free from
•pain.   Last  June, you  will recollect, I resumed the treatment,
under  your advice, at New Lebanon Springs, and in two weeks
a fine crisis appeared in the form of  raised circular eruptions,
small at  first, but continued to spread till they  all ran together
and covered the  skin  under the  wet bandages.   After eight
weeks I returned home, free from  pain, and now consider myself
well.   I continue the sponge-bath in the morning ; am about
twenty pounds  heavier than I was last year ; appetite good; I
sleep well, and have a prospect of living to praise the good Lord
for the blessed  effects of cold water.
       1 am with high  regard, Sir, yours  very respectfully,
                                                     S. G.

          Dyspepsia, complicated with other Diseases.
                                Princeton, Ms.,  Feb. 5th, 1847.
  Dr.  Bedortha.—My  Dear Sir :  The  history  of the case of
my wife, and the  result of  her three months' experience in the 
44
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
Water-Cure, at New Lebanon Springs,  I most cheerfully give,
hoping that it may be the means of doing as much  good to those
who are afflicted in a similar way, as it will be gratifying to you.
  The principal diseases under which she suffered, and for which
we  sought your advice and treatment, were Prolapsus Uteri and
Fluor Albus, which caused her constant pain and  weakness in
the  back and  hips,  and a general nervous irritability and pros-
tration, which those  best understand who  have been  similarly
afflicted.  The premonitory symptoms of these  complaints had
annoyed her many years.
  For the last two or three years, in addition to the above, Dys-
pepsia, with a general  derangement  of the stomach and bowels,
had added  much to her  troubles.   In the fall of 1845,  she was
much  worse, but continued to drag  herself about  till February,
1846,  at which time she was  taken  so seriously ill as to be con-
fined to her bed for several weeks.   For several months previous
to this, her food distressed her after each meal, and some portion
of it was usually ejected about half an hour after eating.  Turns
of  extreme  nervous  trembling would  frequently  take  place,
 which would last from half an hour to two hours;  during which
 her teeth would chatter, and her whole frame twitch and tremble
 like an  aspen leaf,  attended with a sinking  sensation,  in which
 she often thought herself to be dying.  Indeed the utmost exer-
 tion,  by friction, and the like means, seemed  to be necessary, to
 keep her alive.
   During her extreme illness, in February, as mentioned  before,
 we called an Allopathic  physician, under  whose prescriptions
 she gained slowly, but not being willing  to hazard a full  trial of
 his remedies,  as soon as she was  able to perform the journey,
 which was nearly three months, we visited  a Botanic physician
 of considerable notoriety,  about twenty miles distant.  His pre-
 scription was strictly  adhered to for three months,  with but very
 little, if any, improvement.
    The  first  of August,  1846,  we  started for the Water-Cure
 Establishment at Lebanon Springs.  The symptoms of all  her
 diseases were still preying  upon her;  she was pale, emaciated,
 and  very feeble, being  scarcely able to walk, or stand upon her
 feet.   Under these circumstances, she commenced the water-
 treatment by your direction.   As I was in attendance to  witness
 all the operations and changes, I will state the progress she made.
 For  the first three weeks she was under  a mild  treatment,  and 
SPINAL COMPLAINT.
45
no apparent change took place.   At the expiration of that time
she was attacked with a diarrhoea, which lasted  seven or eio-ht
days.  After that she gained rapidly.   Soon after  an eruptive
crisis appeared  in  the  form of ringworms,  which spread over
most of the body.   She obtained some relief  from her pains, and
steadily gained  in flesh  and strength.  In eight or nine weeks
she was able to walk two or three miles in a day.
   On the 23d of October following,  we left  for home, at which
time she could walk two miles at a time without much fatigue.
   We still pursued the treatment  as directed, and the result has
been  all we  could have  reasonably  anticipated.  She  has  re-
gained nearly her usual weight, good appetite, food very seldom
distresses her; the nervous prostration and trembling has entire-
ly left her  ; the general functions of the system  are performed
as in  health, and those formidable difficulties, which were proba-
bly the sole cause of all the rest,  cease  in  a great  measure  to
annoy her.
   This happy change in her health, by so simple a process, gives
us great confidence in the  Water-Cure.   We would  most  cor-
dially recommend it to the  afflicted generally, and especially to
such as are laboring under difficulties similar to the above. Your
kindness,   attention, and skill,  lay us under lasting obligation,
for which  may Heaven reward you.
                   Yours, in much esteem,
                                    Elisha A. Merrick.

                      Spinal Complaint.
                         New Lebanon, JST. Y., Dec.  24th, 1846.
   Dr. Bedortha.—Dear Sir :  1 think it my  duty to write to you
my case, which you  are at liberty to use as you please for the
benefit of  the afflicted.
   I  have  been suffering for three years with what physicians
called spinal complaint.  The best medical  skill was employed,
and I was  blistered and cupped almost to death.   So much was
I reduced, that I was not able to walk a rod from the house, or
sit up a half hour at a time.
   I had a large curvature in my spine, between my shoulders,
 which bent over my body very much, and so projected as to give
 me a very deformed  appearance.   I  suffered much from pain,
 and could get partial relief only by lying flat on  my back.  My 
46
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
medical adviser failing, I had  recourse  to  various  advertised
medicines,  as the " All-Healing Balsam," " All-Healing Salve,"
&c, but to no purpose. I then tried " Hunt's Linament," so highly
recommended  for Spinal complaints.   Alter  using nine bottles
without benefit, but actually growing worse, I concluded that my
earthly pilgrimage  was about to close.  This was also the opi-
nion of my friends, who thought me in  a decline.
  At this*  time,  hearing of the  Water-Cure Establishment at
Lebanon Springs,  I resolved  to  try it  as a last resort, with  but
very little faith as  to being benefited.  A drowning man  is said
to catch at a straw, so I grasped at the  Water-Cure.  It would at
least give me the satisfaction of doing something, and every other
hope  had failed.   But  it proved  to me  the  very life preserver
and health restore, after  which  I had been vainly  seeking in
drugs  and medicines.  By the use of the water, as directed there,
without the aid of any other medicinal agent, I am now restored
to comfortable health, and am again able to perform more or less
business as usual.
   I commenced with a moderate use of the baths  of various
kinds, and they were increased  as I could  bear  them.   I  soon
began to feel their beneficial effects, and in less than three weeks
I could walk two  miles  at  a time, and could sit  up the most of
the day.
   Not living far from the Springs, I then went home, and carried
out the treatment as well as I could, frequently going over to the
Establishment  and consulting  the physician.   In about  four
weeks the  curvature  began to diminish, and  in a few weeks was
so  far  removed that I could stand nearly erect.  My strength
increased  steadily, and in three  months  I walked fifteen miles a
day, two successive days.  This proved too much, and I was not
able to do as much again for some time.  At  this time I was taken
sick with  an intermitting fever, for which I used the water, as
directed by you.   This fever  was soon  broken up,  and I then
gained as fast, or faster than  before.  It  is now nearly nine
 months since I began this new and simple treatment by water,
 and the benefits I have received are so great, that I most cheer-
 fully  recommend this plan to all who are suffering as I was.
    If it will rescue its victim, as it were, from the very jaws of
 death, as in my case, then, surely, it  may be expected to afford
 relief to those who are not so dangerously  ill.
    I commenced the  treatment with great  fear of using  the cold 
SUPPOSED CONSUMPTION AND DYSPEPSIA.          47
water after sweating, expecting to take cold, to which I had been
very liable by every little  exposure.   But seeing others plunge
into cold water after sweating, and being told there was  no dan-
ger when sweating in this way, I  ventured, and, to my surprise,
I not only did not take cold,  but soon got rid of what I had, and
found it to be a  sure preventive  in my  case, not having been
troubled with a cold since.
   If any one should wish to learn more particularly about my
case,  you  may  direct  them to me,  when I shall be happy to
satisfy all inquiries.
                                   Nelville W. Campbell.

             Supposed Consumption, and Dyspepsia.

                                           Troy, Jan. 1, 1847.
Doct. Bedortha.
   Dear Sir  :—Agreeably  to your request I now  proceed to give
you a short history of my case.  I should consider myself guilty
of a dereliction of duty, did 'I withhold  from publication any in-
formation I possess, having a tendency to commend to suffering
humanity,  the hydropathic treatment in curing disease.  To the
water-cure, under the blessing of heaven,  I owe my life,  and the
comfortable state of health  I now enjoy.  Although I do not boast
a perfect cure of all my ailments, yet 1 think that had I continued
under active  treatment some ten or twelve weeks longer, I should
now enjoy sound  health ; but stern necessity prevented me from
doing so, and I was obliged  to be content with  treating  myself
at home  in the best manner I could, and notwithstanding  the dis-
advantages under which I  have labored,  I made good improve-
ment, but promise myself,  at no distant  day, Providence  permit-
ing, to be with  you for the purpose of realizing  the benefits of
further  treatment in  my case.
  Four  years ago, last fall, my health, which had  been uni-
formly good  up  to that  period (now being forty-eight  years  of
age),  became seriously impaired,  so much  so, that I was com-
pelled from loss of strength to forego labor and become a  subject
of medicine.   My physician  told me that I had a complication
of diseases, such  as are generally embraced under  the common
name  of dyspepsia, to wit: obstinate constipation of the  bowels,
torpid state of the liver, accompanied with flatulency, and severe
depression  of mind.   I  was attended  by a regular physician of 
48
WATER CUBE  IN AMERICA.
the country, where I then resided, and I had every reason to be
proud of him, both  as  to his reputation  for  skill in the healing
art, and his proverbial kindness as a man.  He continued to pre-
scribe  more or less, and in a variety of ways,  up to  January,
1845, and I conscientiously  believe that he used his skill  to the
utmost extent,  and used every effort in his power, to  restore me
to health, but in vain.
  Although at intervals I improved, the result shows it  was only
temporary.  I found myself at the end of three years from the
commencement of my illness, in  no very enviable condition.   I
was truly an object of pity to behold ; my strength, my flesh, and
my spirits had  departed, and my body was  so emaciated, as to
present the appearance of a  mere skeleton.   My  finger nails had
become rough, thick, and grisly, very yellow in  color, and had
grown hooked  over the ends of my fingers, and to crown the list
of the diseases with  which I  was  afflicted, I  had a deep seated
cough, attended with copious expectoration.  In short my system
exhibited all the distinguishing characteristics of  consumption far
advanced ;  my physician pronounced me incurable, my friends
considered me beyond  the reach of human aid, and gave me up
for lost. I felt myself  in a  deplorable  state, and  that my time
on earth was short.
  About this period, I  moved to Troy,  a distance of some thirty
miles ; this journey of about two  hours' duration, I performed
on a  railroad, under the influence of opium. My natural strength
was so low, that I could not have endured  the fatigue of it without
the aid  of this narcotic  stimulant.  Soon after  my arrival  in
Troy, or about the 1st  of February, 1845, my esteemed friend,
Mr. Amos Allen,  taking a decided interest in my case,  prevailed
on me, after much importunity, to try the efficacy of water ; ac-
cordingly I abandoned the  use of medicine  entirely, and com-
menced a course of cold-water treatment.  I  began with washing
myself in cold water  from  a tub, every morning, and rubbing
thoroughly with a coarse towel, wearing wet bandages around
my abdomen constantly, taking the  wet sheet every other day,
and  drinking  water  exclusively.  I pursued this course up to
April following.
   At this time, I had gained so much, that my confidence  began
to be strong that the water-treatment,  if persevered in,  would
ultimately restore  me  to health ; I resolved, therefore, in my
own mind, that if there was any  advantage to be gained  by 
     SPINAL COMPLAINT, AND INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.   49

being treated according to tins directions, and under the eye of a
water doctor,  I would enjoy  it, at least for a short lime; conse-
quently I repaired without delay to the Hydropathic Infirmary, at
New Lebanon Springs, where I remained six weeks under your
more than paternal  cars.  During this time, I made rapid  im-
provement,  as  you well know, my finger nails began to grow
out  anew, assuming  a  natural, lively, and healthy appearance.
My  bowels, which had been entirely  dependent  on the  aid  of
physic for more than two years, prior to my using  water, became
perfectly regular.  My cough was greatly relieved. The mucous
discharges from my lungs diminished in an astonishing degree. I
became entirely changed in color and appearance, indeed, I  felt
completely renovated in body and mind.  I will add in conclu-
sion, that  since I left  your institution, I have continued to im-
prove gradually in spite of the obstacles I have had to contend
with in treating  myself at home, and my prospects are  fair for
becoming a sound, healthy man.
   If any person doubts the correctness of the statements I have
here made, if he will take the trouble to call on  me in Troy, I
am confident that I can convince him that I have not exaggerated
my  case,  and I believe that any one after seeing  me,  and inves-
tigating my cure, will  become strongly impressed with the  fact
that I am a living monument of the Water-Cure.
          I  remain, yours,  with much respect and esteem,
                                          Harvey Starks.

  Spinal complaint, and Enteritis, or Inflammation of the Bowels.

   The following case, which  I am permitted to furnish for publi-
 cation, is  presented as given  by the patient, S. R.  of Troy, while
 undergoing the treatment at this establishment during the present
 winter.   Mr. R. was a man of great powers of constitution, and
 had enjoyed good health up to 1839 (being now thirty-two years
 of age), when he fell and  injured his  spine.   He was unable to
 attend to  business for six months after this injury, but able to be
 about.   His health was again quite good, till three years since,
 when he was  attacked with a severe cold and jaundice, and at
 the same time his  back  and  head suffered much.  About the
 same time  he was attacked  with the whooping cough, which he
 had very hard.  He had partially recovered from these, when m
 June, about six months after, while on a visit in  Boston, bathing 
50
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
in cold salt water, he was attacked with inflammation of the bowels
and a general fever.   Up to this time he had never taken much
medicine.  After two days he started for home with the  disease
raging seriously.   He then called a physician, who prescribed a
potion  of oil.  During the  operation he had alarming sinking
turns; his feet and hands were bloodless, and great difficulty of
breathing was experienced.   He  lay in  this situation  for some
weeks with scarce any mitigation of his symptoms, trying  but
few remedies except  lunar caustic and  nux vomica, and  receiv-
ing counsel from different physicians.  Each potion of the caus-
tic seemed to make him  worse.   He sank  lower and lower till
he nearly despaired  of  recovery, and quit taking medicines.
He then began to bathe  in cold water, and gained gradually till
the next  November, sensible all  the time  that the disease was
not removed: the spine  was very weak and sensitive, accom-
panied with a general slow fever.   The first of November  he
was  attacked with a  mucous diarrhoea and very painful tenes-
mus.   He again called a physician, but continued to fail till  he
was so reduced that he could not  rise from  his bed, or sit up for
a moment.  He  changed physicians, employing a homoeopathic
doctor, who gave the  usual medicine.   The change effected was
slight, yet by the first of March, 1846, he was able to sit up a
little.   He continued about the same, gaining slowly, and came
to the Water-Cure House at Lebanon Springs the  eighteenth of
September, 1846.
  At this time he was able to walk  but a few paces at a time,
unable to  do any work, and frequently attacked  with  severe
spasms in the back and side, by which he  was entirely prostrated
and obliged to keep  his  bed ; bowels in a  morbid state, pulse
small  and  frequent, a bloated  appearance over the general sys-
tem, tending  to dropsy, and  the capillary circulation very defi-
cient.  He was put under a  mild treatment  the first week, using
the tepid  half-bath, tepid hip-bath,  and the wet sheet  envelop-
ment, lying in that from one to two hours.   The spasms were
much better.  The treatment was  gradually  increased, using the
cold  plunge,  hose, and douche-baths,  as they were indicated.
The  treatment was continued for seventeen weeks, with varia-
tions according to the symptoms.   No particular crisis appeared
at first,  but quite an  improvement  in  his health.   After a few
weeks, boils began to appear, preceded generally by chills and
fever, which  were quite unpleasant  for a day or two.  He had 
SCROFULA  CONNECTED  WITH  DYSPEPSIA.
51
quite a number of boils, frequently several at a time.   After the
turn of the chills and fever, with the boils, his health  improved
much faster.
  An eruptive  crisis  also appeared  in the form of ring-worms,
which spread over most of the body.   When he left the Establish-
ment, he was  able  to walk several miles in a day: the spasms
had entirely left him, the dropsical swelling  was much dimi-
nished,  and the general circulation much improved.   A letter
received from him a short time since, states that he finds himself
still improving, and thinks that he shall, in due time,  by  perse-
verance be entirely restored.

  The three following are among the fatal cases which have oc-
curred  at  New Lebanon, and are the only ones of that class
which were treated for any length of time.   Their treatment was
continued  at the urgent request of their friends, without any es-
pecial encouragement of cure from the physician.

            Scrofula connected with Dyspepsia—fatal.

   Mr. C. K. W. came to the Springs the sixth of August, 1846,
laboring under the above form of disease, with which he had al-
ways been troubled,  inheriting  it from his mother.  He had al-
ways been subject  to  a discharge from  his ears, which rendered
him partially, deaf, and  had frequent turns of constipation and
indigestion.  He never  had been able  to do any  work of any
account, or even to study.  His powers of constitution were very
small.   At the first examination, when he applied to the Water-
Cure House, he was  told that it was very doubtful whether he
could receive any benefit by the process of the water-treatment.
It was finally decided that he should have a short trial, and if he
found benefit he might persevere, if not he could stop.  He was
put under  a light treatment for a few weeks, when he  seemed to
improve, and  gained  in  flesh and strength, and his appetite was
exceedingly voracious.   About this time  he made a visit to his
friends in W. Stockbridge and stayed a few days ; when  he  re-
turned he  complained of being full, the  bowels were constipated
 and rather bloated.   No particular  change was made  except  to
 use injections of tepid water daily.   He was treated quite mildly,
 but with all that could be done, with injections, abdominal com-
 press, hip-baths, and  coarse diet—free evacuations of the  bowels 
52
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
did not take place.   The  difficulty seemed to increase instead
of being lessened ; food caused distress, and he was able to take
but small quantities  at  a time.  He continued under these cir-
cumstances for some time,  hoping  that there would be a favor-
able change.   Still failing,  he finally concluded to return home.
His  father came for him; and he left the fifth  of December,
1846.   He bore his journey home  remarkably well, and seemed
to gain for some days.   He then omitted the water-treatment en-
tirely,  and was under  the care of a homoeopathic physician.
The particular symptoms of his case after that, I was not appris-
ed of.   Not long since, I  saw a notice of his death, which oc-
curred the twenty-third of January, 1847-

          Bronchitis, fatal  by Congestion of the Brain.

   The following case is reported as a failure.
   Miss A. W., a young lady from  Albany,  came to the Springs
the twenty-third of June, 1846, suffering from a bronchial af-
fection ; severe cough, and had frequently bled from the lungs.
She was pale and feeble, and of a consumptive appearance, there
being a consumptive  tendency in  the family.   Her friend who
came with her, was plainly told  that the  case was  decidedly
doubtful,  but under  all circumstances,  it was thought best to
make a short  trial, and so long as there was  improvement, to
continue.   A mild course of treatment seemed to  make a very
favorable change, and an obstruction to nature's course, more or
less  severe  for  a  year previously, was  removed.   She stayed
twelve weeks,  had quite an eruptive crisis on the chest and
throat, bleeding stopped, cough better, and was able to walk up
the hills with comparative ease; her countenance had more of a
healthy appearance, and her limbs were again clothed with flesh.
  She then returned home and resumed her usual business, which
she had not been able to'do previous to her coming to the Springs.
She continued  in her business, constantly improving for several
weeks, when she was taken suddenly with  a congestion of the
brain, and was soon  deprived of sense.  An  allopathic  physi-
cian attended  upon her.   What was the particular course of
treatment  I have not been apprised  ; but bleeding, leeching, and
blistering  are the usual remedies.   She continued  to fail, and in
a few days died.   It has since been  reported that she died in
consequence of a cold taken while here at the springs. 
HEADACHE AND  SUPPOSED CONSUMPTION.
53
                       Scrofula—fatal.

  A child of Mr.  B.'s of North Adams, was brought to the
Water Cure House  at Lebanon  Springs  some  time in the sum-
mer of 1846, afflicted with "the above disease.  It was ten months
old.   When four months old, it had an attack of scarlatina, from
which  it never  recovered, but was troubled with humors which
appeared  on  the head,  face, and neck, discharging constantly.
The best  medical  advice had been sought, and  everything done
that affection could prompt or skill suggest.  At the end of six
months' trial without  avail, the parents sought advice  and treat-
ment here.  Being plainly told {hat they had little or nothing to
expect from the water treatment, they still wished to  do every-
thing  that could be done, and although the case was considered
hopeless by all who had examined it, yet  they urged to  make a
trial.   The child was put under a light treatment, being wrapped
in wet bandages once  a  day, and sponged with tepid water two
or three times  a  day.   It  appeared at  first to improve.   The
sores  healed in part on the  head and face, but after'a little,
abscesses began to appear on the limbs, body, and head.  Some
of these  were  very large, and discharged freely.  More than
fifty of these appeared  in  quick succession.  The  child  was
very weak, and  at  this time a  bowel complaint set  in, which
could  not be controlled, and the little sufferer soon sank to rest.

             Headache, and supposed Consumption.

  My  daughter-in-law, Mrs. Sarah  Stoddard, has been  from a
child afflicted with a complication of  difficulties, which rendered
her very feeble,  and subject at times  to  severe  fits of sickness.
When  quite young she had the whooping cough, from which she
seemed not to recover.  The  chest bones were  quite deformed ;
she had  a constant  tendency to  headache, which  troubled her
some during most of the time, and was occasionally very severe.
She is now 21  years of age.  A year ago this last winter, she
was attacked  with  inflammation  of  the  lungs.  This left her
with a cough, which continued to  harass  her  till  her  flesh and
strength were  nearly  exhausted.  We all  looked upon her as
nearly in  a  confirmed consumption,  and her recovery  seemed
extremely doubtful.
   Having heretofore used the common remedies without obtain- 
54
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
ing relief, we concluded to try the water-cure  under the pre-
scription of Dr. Bedortha, at  New Lebanon Springs.  Living
only a short  distance from the establishment, we obtained direc-
tions and carried on the treatment at her own house.  One thing
more  in respect to  her  case.   There had been so much pain
and fever in her head that her hair had been gradually dropping
off, till she  was entirely bald excepting only a little hair on each
side  of her head.   We commenced the water treatment by the
use of the  wet sheet envelopment every  other day, lying till
quite  warm, then  using a  shower bath immediately.  She used
also  the hip baths, and  foot  baths, more or less, daily.   This
course was continued with but little variation for several weeks,
wet  bandages being worn  on  the chest  constantly.  She began
to improve  immediately, her cough abated, the hectic fever was
subdued, her appetite restored, and a general feeling of health
returned.  But the  most  marked change was in her head ; the
pain subsided, and to our agreeable surprise, a fine, soft coat of
hair began to appear, which has continued to grow till her  head
is entirely  covered, and no  appearance of baldness  remains.
Her health is now better than  it has been for many years before.
                                          Sarah Stoddard.

        Intermitting Fever, and Inflammation of the Lungs.

   Dear Sir :—As it is your request that I  should  make out a
statement  of the  recent  sickness of my daughter, and her cure
by the water treatment, I most cheerfully comply, and hope that
it will serve as a means of removing prejudice from the minds
of many against  this simple  and most  efficient mode of treat-
ment.
   The cause of her sickness  was exposure while on a visit in a
neighboring town.-  The  same disease was there prevalent, and
quite fatal  among the children.  Soon after our return she was
taken with  severe chills and fever.   The chills would last from
one  to three hours, followed  by a high fever, great thirst, con-
stant disposition  to  cough, attended with a sense of suffocation,
so severe that she would  spring up  in  bed in the greatest con-
sternation, coughing and  screaming  in agony for some minutes
 before she could be  pacified.
   The paroxysms came on every day.  She was also troubled
 with a choking sensation.  From this last symptom we suspected 
ERYSIPELAS.
55
that worms  might be the cause of her sickness.   A vermifuge
was given and a few worms expelled, but there was no allevia-
tion of her sickness.  She was then put exclusively under the
water  treatment, in care of the  physician of the water cure
house.  Two full baths were administered  daily in tepid water,
followed by a dash of cold water.   These were used before the
chills and after the fever.   At the time of the chills she was
wrapped in flannel  blankets.  When the  fever came  on, wet
bandages were applied to the whole body, and changed as often
as they became thoroughly warm, till the  fever was off, and then
she was permitted  to  lie and sweat,  and  after that take her
bath.    The fever was fully  settled  when  the treatment was
commenced, and we looked  upon her  as very sick.  The result
of the  course  has been highly satisfactory.   The chills were
soon broken, and the fever subdued, cough  abated, and general
restoration succeeded  as soon as  could  have  reasonably been
expected.                                Yours truly,
                                             H. C. Bull.
  New Lebanon.

                         Erysipelas.

   The patient, a child about two years old, son of Mr. Carpen-
ter, of Hancock,  Massachusetts, was  taken  last spring (1846)
with an eruptive  disease similar to  Salt Rheum,  which soon
spread  over  the  whole  body, with considerable swelling and
irritation.   In some parts the swelling was so great as to have
large fissures or cracks  through the  cuticle.   The limbs and
face were also affected in the same manner, and the child was a
pitiable looking object.
   The father desired me to go and see the child, and say whether
anything could be done for him by the water  cure.  After ex-
amination I told  him  that I thought it offered as much hope for
him as anything.   I considered it a  bad case, and doubtful at
best.
   He desired me to make a prescription, and the child was put
under  treatment by covering him  nights with  wet  linen of two
or three thicknesses, so that it should not  get  dry, and covering
the whole  with dry clothes so as to keep warm and in a gentle
perspiration.   In the morning he  was  washed thoroughly in
tepid water and rubbed dry,  and again we put on wet bandages
over the body.  Sometimes   he was washed twice a day; but 
56
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
he being very irritable, the parents  found it difficult, and there-
fore often  neglected one  bath, which was left in a measure op-
tional with them.   For several days  after the commencement
of the treatment, the disease seemed  to  be worse, the swelling
increased, and  the irritation  was aggravated.  The treatment
was  persevered in without  any particular change, for  between
two and three weeks, when  there was  some amendment  in the
symptoms.  The  same treatment  was continued  till  he  was
fully restored, which was not till three or four months.   At that
time the skin seemed  to be fully restored to its natural appear-
ance and function, and  no traces of the disease were left.

                    Rubeola.—Measles.

   My oldest child was taken with  symptoms of a hard cold, a
high fever, and severe cough, and  having been exposed to the
measles, we suspected  that  it might be  the commencement of
that disease.  After four and a half days no eruption appearing,
and  the symptoms all being aggravated, we became alarmed for
her  safety,  and sent for Dr.  Bedortha.   His opinion was that
possibly the disease  might be  measles, but,  if so, it was quite
time they were out.   She  seemed to  be  in great distress at this
time ; high fever, great  soreness of the throat, cough,  stupor.
shortness of breath, and throbbing of the carotid arteries of the
neck.   We looked upon the  child as dangerously  sick.  We
felt a great  reluctance in employing the water cure, not having
had  any knowledge of its  operations  or  effects, but finally con-
cluded to give  it  a trial.   The child was sponged all over in
tepid water, and then  enveloped in wet bandages wrung out of
cool water, covered with dry flannel blankets.   She soon seemed
to be more quiet  and disposed to  rest.   This was in  the even-
ing, and-before morning the  measles were  out under the wet
bandages on the  body.  They soon came out all over  the body.
The fever subsided, and  a general change was manifest for the
better.   The treatment was continued according to the Doctor's
prescription, and the child was soon restored to her usual health.
No  bad effect  whatever seemed to follow the use  of the wet
bandages, or the tepid bathing.  The  compresses worn on the
neck were of much service for the  soreness of the throat.
   A younger  child was attacked  with  the  measles  about ten
 days after  the one  just mentioned,  which  was  treated in the 
PUERPERAL FEVER, WITH NEURALGIA.
57
same  way.   Commencing this  case  when  the  first symptoms
appeared, it got along very quickly and easily.
                                            I. R. Simmons.
  New Lebanon.

               Puerperal Fever, with Neuralgia.

   The patient, Mrs. Conklin, of Lebanon (about two miles  from
the water-cure establishment), is a woman of quite feeble consti-
tution, and has been subject  to  sickness, more or less, from a
child.   She is the mother of two children.  Soon after the birth
of her first child she was taken with severe pain in the back and
limbs.  Her physician prescribed a tincture  of black-cohosh.
After a while she recovered from the pain, and was then troubled
with a dropsical swelling of the limbs and  feet, which she did
not recover from  until the birth  of her second child, soon  after
which she was taken as before, with  severe  neuralgia, attended
with general fever.   Becoming alarmed at her situation, Mr. C.
came for me at the water-cure house,  but it being in midsummer,
when I had much to do, I declined going, and advised him to call
the physician who  had formerly attended her.  He reluctantly
consented, and the physician again advised  them to try the tinc-
ture of the cohosh in brandy.  This, I believe, was  all that was
done the two following days, when they again sent for me, and 1
went  to see her.   I found her suffering much from general fever,
severe  pain  in the  pelvic region, with great mental  agitation,
pulse from 120 to 130 per minute.
   It was concluded to try the  water-cure, and preparations were
immediately made for using a hip-bath, with  the temperature of
the water about 70° Fah., at the same time rubbing the spine and
parts  affected thoroughly while in the water.  These baths were
repeated in from  three  to  six hours, for several days,  and wet
bandages were constantly worn on the  abdomen (wrung out of
tepid  water).   By the use of the first bath the pains entirely left
her, and never returned.   The fever  was soon removed, and the
symptoms generally changed  for the better.   But owing to her
feeble state  of health,  it was thought advisable to continue a
mild  course of treatment, which was  done  for several weeks.
In a short time an eruptive crisis began to  appear on the  abdo-
men, which became very troublesome, discharging large quanti-
ties of offensive matter, with which the bandages were constantly
                   3* 
5S
WATER CURE  I.N  AMERICA.
stained.  Her nealth gradually  improved,  and  her  dropsical
symptoms abated, so that she is now enjoying her usual degree
of health, and is able to attend to her domestic duties.

 Abscess of the Chest, connected with the Lungs and Diaphragm.

  The subject of this difficulty was a little girl, five or six years
of age, of good constitution, perhaps a little disposed to scrofula.
She was  attacked some time in the summer of 1846, with pain in
the side,  attended with a hectic fever, cough, and a very  quick
pulse.  She was inclined to lean towards the side affected when
sitting on a chair.  She became so bad as to be confined to her
bed or to a large chair.   Two physicians from  Pittsfield, Mass.,
attended  upon her, who, after doing  all they thought useful,
abandoned the case, expressing their opinion that she could not
recover.   Her father then brought her over to the Springs, to
see whether I thought the water-cure would be of  any service.
After examining the case, I told  him I  thought  it was one of an
internal abscess, so connected with the diaphragm  and lungs as
to cause  the cough and permit the matter  to be discharged
through the lungs, and  that  it was not  consumption, which the
physicians who attended upon her were disposed to call it.   The
symptoms up to  this time had not changed, apparently, for the
better,  but were becoming more and more alarming.  She raised
at this time freely, a  bloody mucus, and appeared very weak.
I directed to use  the  wet-sheet,  and to sweat  her  freely  every
day, or every other day, and then to wash her all over in cold or
tepid water, to  wear a wet  compress  constantly  on  the  side,
changing it  three or four times a day, with some light treatment.
By this  course  the  febrile  symptoms  speedily abated ; cough
less, appetite improved, and  she  began rapidly to  gain.   In a
very few weeks  she  was able to run about with other children,
being quite  restored,  to the joy of her  parents, and to the  asto-
nishment of all who knew her case.

                  Inflammatory Rheumatism.

   The patient was a woman of vigorous constitution and robust
health, up to the time of being  attacked with this disease.  The
first attack was in the  summer or fall of 1845.  This was quite
severe,  locating,  principally, in  one  shoulder,  and  rendered 
PARTIAL PARALYSIS  WITH DYSPEPSIA.
59
her unable  to  attend  to  her  domestic duties for three  weeks.
She was then under  the  care of an  allopathic  physician, who
prescribed blisters and the usual medicine.   She recovered the
use of her arm, but was  not freed from the pain, which seemed
to be  scattered over every part of  the  system.   She continued
in this way  for nearly a  year, without any serious  attack, but
being much annoyed with the pain.  At this time she was sud-
denly seized with severe  pains, in her ancles and wrists in par-
ticular, and  also in other joints.   Having  failed to get relief by
means of medicine, she then turned her thoughts to the water-
cure,  and sent for me,  being about a half mile distant.  When I
saw her she was in great distress.  A general rheumatic fever
had succeeded, appetite entirely failed, and  no sleep night nor
day.
  The treatment was commenced at  her home by sweating freely,
sometimes in the wet-sheet and again  in the dry blankets  every
day, and then washed in  cold water, either by the dripping wet-
sheet or by  having water poured over her while standing in  a
tub,  sometimes, when  not able  to  stand, by  sponging  in cold
water.  Cold  compresses were kept on the  inflamed joints, and
renewed as they became hot.   She was entirely crippled, so as
to be  unable to walk or use her hands.  The treatment was con-
tinued at her  house  for  two weeks, under great  disadvantages,
not having a steady nurse.  Not gaining so fast as was  desira-
ble, she concluded to go to the water-cure house, where she stayed
ten days and went through a  full treatment, using the douche
moderately.   At that time the  pains were  removed, fever gone,
appetite restored, and  the swelling mostly reduced.  She return-
ed home and resumed her domestic duties, and  has had but little,
if any, of the rheumatism since.

               Partial Paralysis with Dyspepsia.

                              Middle Haddam, Ct., Jan.,  1S47.
  Dear Sir :—I  was  out of health, nearly two years when  a
slow bilious  fever confined me to my bed  for six weeks, leaving
me  weak and  nervous.   This sickness occurred  the  last of
March.  In  May following I went into  the country,  and  while
there, I walked a mile  and a half, when I should not have walked
one-fourth of that distance.  The result was the  straining of the
muscles  of  the lower limbs,  by which I  was almost entirely 
60
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
deprived of their  use.  I had been in this state five and a half
years when I went  to your  establishment,  and had gradually
grown worse.  For the last two or three  years  I could walk no
more than a hundred paces at a time, and only once a day, and
frequently for days together, I could  not do even that.   For  ten
months 1 could only  walk from the  bed  to  the sofa, not being
able to sit up more than  half an  hour at a  time.   My appetite
was also poor, and my food often caused distress.   All this time
I was suffering  many things from  many physicians, and was
nothing bettered,  but rather grew  worse.   I  had employed eight
different physicians,  hoping each  succeeding one would  be able
to afford the desired  relief.   Allopathy, homoeopathy, and bota-
nic remedies,  all  in  turn, had failed.  I gained no strength in
my limbs until I  tried the water-cure, which I commenced the
26th of August,  1846.   At  first  my treatment was light,  but
gradually increased  as  I could bear it,  and in four weeks my
strength was so increased  that I could walk a thousand steps at
one time.  At the expiration of eight weeks I  could walk three
thousand paces in a  day.   I  then returned home and continued
the treatment as well as I could.   I  have not gained so fast since
then, but I have kept all I gained, though laboring Tinder many
disadvantages.  I have  gained also, by the  treatment, in other
 respects.   My appetite is good, better than for six years, and my
 food does not  distress me.  It is  my firm conviction that, under
 the blessing of heaven,  the water-cure is superior to  any other
 medical treatment for nervous complaints, scrofula, and rheuma-
 tism.                         Yours, respectfully,
                                         Harriet Bowler.
          Spinal Affection, and supposed Consumption.

  The following case (of Dr. Bardwell, of Troy) is well known
by many people in that  city.  He was, indeed, a  miserable in-
valid ; his flesh,  in a great measure, wasted  away ; pulse  small
and frequent, being one  hundred and more per minute ; consti-
pated state of the bowels, and in constant pain, from a nervous
irritation of the  spine.   He had been  examined by physicians
who, as I have understood, considered his case a hopeless one, of
consumption.  He writes :—
  " I was very much afflicted with spinal  affection for two years.
Various means  had been used for my relief,  but to no good pur- 
SUPPOSED CONSUMPTION.
61
 pose. ^  I went to  New Lebanon Springs,  and there, under the
 direction  of Dr. Bedortha, underwent  a regular process at the
 water-cure establishment.    When I  commenced  it,  I could
 scarcely walk, and was in such pain that I could not sleep night
 nor day.   I commenced the 18th of Aug., 1846, and in less than
 four weeks I walked nine miles easier than I could have walked
 one when I  began the  treatment.  I  was entirely freed from
 pain.   I stayed four weeks and three days, and I have since kept
 up the treatment to some extent, and have continued to improve.
                                                A. L.  B.".

                    Supposed Consumption.

   Henry Goodrich is a lad fifteen years of age, of a slender and
 delicate constitution, but  always enjoying comfortable health up
 to the time of the sickness, as here recorded.   He was always
 subject to  a slight cough, which caused his parents to feel some-
 what uneasy about him, being rather of a consumptive form, and
 having lost a sister by that disease not  many  years since.   But
 nothing serious took place till  about the first of  March, 1846,
 when on taking cold he became quite  unwell.  He soon was in
 comfortable health, and again taken suddenly with a lung fever,
 by which  life was  in immediate jeopardy.   A physician was
 called, who prescribed  for him the usual  medicines,  which seemed
 to afford some relief.  He remained quite sick for  a week, when
 the parents expressed  their fears  to the physician, who said he
 did not wonder that they were alarmed.   He left some medicine
 and directions, but did  not think proper  to visit him again.  The
 patient steadily failed, and as the doctor  did not come, the parents
 concluded that he considered  the case a hopeless one, for which
 nothing more could be done, and had therefore abandoned  it.  But
 they, being still  desirous of using every effort to save him, sent
 for  me about two weeks after the physician had left him.  I found
 him apparently in the  very lowest state.  His  flesh was com-
 pletely wasted away, strength gone, dry cough; tongue red on
 the  edges, and dark and dry  in  the centre ; great thirst;  pulse
 120 to  130 per minute; eyes  sunken;  blood  settled under the
finger nails, and his hands  and feet burning and dry.  A hectic
flush was on his cheeks, and, in short, all who saw  him supposed
him to be dying with consumption.  It was  concluded  that  the
water-cure applications should be made, to give him  relief at 
62
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
least, as there was no hope held out of his recovery.  As there
was great dryness about the skin, the wet sheet was first used,
and other applications as he could bear them ; frequently spong-
ing all over when there was much  heat.   The first day the at-
tendants thought him dying,  but after the sponging he seemed to
revive.  He drank  freely of cold  water to  quench his thirst;
was enveloped in  the full wet sheet every other day; wet band-
ages were kept constantly on his side  and chest,  being  renewed
as they were  warmed or dried:  cold water was  poured over
him in the morning, he being lifted  into a tub standing  by the
side of his bed, and then immediately put back to bed and rubbed
as much as he could bear, and covered, so as to get him warm as
soon as possible.  This course was  pursued with but little change
for two  weeks, when  he  was  beginning  to mend slowly.  His
cough stopped  almost immediately, and the feverish symptoms
were removed, but  being so low, scarcely any hope was enter-
tained  for two weeks.  At  that  time he began to have an appe-
tite, and his strength and  flesh gradually came on.
   The treatment was continued, more or less modified, for some
time, and his health steadily improved till  now, Jan. 14th, 1847,
he is considered well.  All  who saw  him, when  the water-cure
was commenced, considered his case a hopeless one, and now re-
gard his restoration as the greatest evidence in favor of the sys-
tem  by which he was  treated.   Any person  wishing  to know
more of this case, and its treatment, can be gratified by address-
ing me, or the  father of the boy, Elijah Goodrich,  of Hancock,
Massachusetts.

                Spinal Disease, until Scrofula.

   Miss  F. P----is a young woman of a nervous bilious  tempe-
rament, rather slender, disposed to a scrofulous habit, which she
inherited from her father, who died of that complaint.
   During the winter and spring of 1846,  she enjoyed her usual
degree of health.   In the latter  part of the  spring, while  on a
visit some distance  from home, she took a sudden cold, and was
attacked with inflammation in the eyes.  When she came home
she was quite seriously indisposed, and hardly able to walk.   Her
eyes were much  inflamed, and so  sensitive to the light that she
was obliged  to have  the room darkened.  Added  to this was a
dry cough ;  pain in the side; pulse from  100 to  120 per minute, 
DYSPEPSIA.
63
and a difficulty in the spine, which gave her more or less pain,
resulting from a curvature, which had been of some years stand-
ing.   She had constipated bowels, poor  appetite, and was quite
emaciated.
  Being near the Water-Cure  Establishment she consulted  me,
and I proposed  treating her at  her own house.   This was done,
with more  or less  perseverance, for some weeks, with but little
alleviation of her sufferings.  It was then thought best to remove
her to the establishment, in order that she might have the benefit
of the full treatment, varied as daily observation might indicate.
She remained at the Springs four weeks, under  a thorough treat-
ment, using  frequently .the half bath  upon the  spine  for several
minutes.
  She then  returned  home, and  pursued a light  treatment for
some weeks longer.  Her health  began to mend ; the inflamma-
tion was removed from her eyes; cough and pain in the side  was
gone ; appetite restored, and flesh and strength as usual.  A  few
days since, she told me the curvature in the spine was considera-
bly  diminished.  She had no particular  crisis  at the time,  but
what was more remarkable is, that in the fall, after she had stopped
the treatment for some time, an  eruption, in the  form of ring-
worms, or tetters, spread over the  body, where  she had worn the
wet bandages.  This is a very common form  of  crisis among
those who are under the treatment.  She is now quite well.

                         Dyspepsia.

                                 North  Lee, Mass., Jan., 1847.
   Dear Sir  :—I have been seriously afflicted  for  nearly three
years, occasioned  in part by long confinement in  a warm shop,
and by over exertion.   The symptoms of dyspepsia, in all its
fearful aspects,  fastened upon  me, and  in spite of all the means
which were  employed by several respectable physicians, I  con-
tinued to fail in flesh and strength, till my situation became most
alarming both to myself and friends.  Medicine  having failed,
and the  skill of the  physicians being baffled,  as  a last resort I
turned  my attention  to the Water-Cure Establishment at Leba-
non Springs, and placed myself under your care, in April, 1846.
   In an  incredibly short time I began to feel its renovating effects
upon my system.   Though from necessity I was obliged to leave
the  establishment long before  I was well, yet the benefit I re- 
64
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
ceived while there was great ;  and what I have been able to do
for myself at home, by the directions you gave me,  has been at-
tended with the most satisfactory results, and I am again restored
to comfortable health, and am able to labor as formerly.
  The benefits I have received  give me great  confidence in the
system, and I earnestly recommend  the treatment to the afflicted
everywhere,  being  safe and  pleasant  in its applications, and a
powerful aid to weak nature in throwing off disease, and restoring
the system to health.
                                          Abner L. Isbel.

               Dyspepsia and  Hypochondriasis.

  My age is now about sixty years ; I have a good natural con-
stitution ; am in active habits in out-of-door business.  I have been
a very hard working man, and my habits of living, in some respects,
have been very bad.   I had used considerable spirituous liquors,
tobacco, tea, coffee, and high seasoned food, fat meats, butter, &c.
I enjoyed comfortable health till about three years since, but was
always more or less subject to constipation, which at times caused
severe  colics, resulting in Diarrhoea.   I also was subject  to a
humor called Erysipelas, and had three severe  attacks which for
a short time deprived me of all sense  and motion.   When this
humor was in, I was sometimes troubled with piles, slight inflam-
matory rheumatism, and jaundice.   Three years since, the whole
difficulty seemed to concentrate upon the stomach, causing dys-
peptic symptoms  of the most aggravated form.   My spirits sank
within me to such a degree, by the violence of the disease, as to
endanger my life by suicide, which I often contemplated in fits
of desperation.  For these sore and complicated ills, relief was
sought from the regular practice of medicine, but in vain ; various
other sources, advertised  medicines, &c, were resorted to with
the same success.   After exhausting these various expedients, I
at last heard of the water-cure, and  immediately went eighty
miles to see a nephew  of mine, Isaac Allen, who was there under
the treatment, for the purpose of learning the mode of application.
I then abandoned drugs and medicines, and commenced a partial
treatment of myself by water.   In about a month I called to see
Dr.  J. Shew, of New York,  and got further  directions.   This
was in the fall or winter, and  I had not  courage to  take  a full
course till the next spring, when I began a thorough and  rigid 
DYSPEPSIA.
65
   treatment.  I had followed, previous to this, a rigid course of diet
   and exercise, without any marked benefit.  From the first of the
'  treatment by water, I experienced great relief from the constipa-
   tion, and a corresponding relief from  the  depression of spirits.
   My treatment  was such  as  is generally recommended  in such
   cases, drinking freely of  water upon an empty stomach,  wearing
   wet bandages, general ablutions daily,  plain food, water  only for
   drink, and plenty of exercise.  It has been now about three years
   since I commenced the water-cure, and the improvement has been
   gradual but steady, till I  can say, that although I am sixty years
   old, yet I do not recollect of ever  enjoying  better health in my
   life.   I am zealously engaged in this  good  cause, and  any one
   who wishes to know more of my case can find me in the city of
   Troy, N. Y.
                                                Amos Allen.
     March, 1847

                            Dyspepsia.

      I would  here state for the  good of the afflicted, the results of my
   experience both in medicine and in the water-cure,  with a short
   history of my case.  My age is  forty-five, with good  natural
   powers of  constitution, and  my health  was good till I was thirty-
   two  years old.  I then began to decline in health without suffer-
   ing  much pain.   I had  worked as a tinner for  some years, but
   was now unable to do any kind of work.  This was in the spring
   of 1840, and  as I did not gain in the summer, I consulted Dr.
   Hanry, of Troy,  who prescribed for  me  a pill composed of
   cayenne and iron, and also  nitric acid;  for diet, bread and beef-
   steak, with pepper sauce, and to drink after each meal, from  a
   half to a whole  glass of the best brandy.   This course was fol-
   lowed for a month.   At  first I fancied I was getting well, but at
   the end of the month I found myself much  worse.   Then I con-
   sulted Dr. Halsted,  of New York, the dyspepsia curer, but with
   little benefit.  Then Dr. Judson, of Sand  Lake, prescribed for
   me, which prescription  I followed for six months, receiving no
   benefit, but  was  actually  injured.   Different  physicians were
   afterwards consulted of more "or less  celebrity, but no one suc-
   ceeded in  affording any  permanent benefit, but in some  cases 1
   was much injured by their  medicines.
      This course of proceeding was followed for  three years, when
    I was  reduced to the extreme of wretchedness and emaciation. 
66
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
Despair fixed his falcon talons upon my mind, and I sat brooding
over my destiny with scarcely a ray of  hope.   In the  midst of
this darkness, my mind was directed to a new object of hope, by
reading a letter written by Capt. Claridge upon the water-cure
treatment, published in the New York Tribune.  I seized upon
it as a drowning man catches at a straw, and began soon to make
use of some of the simpler water applications.
  This was in the fall of 1843.  In June,  1844, I consulted  Dr.
S. Graham,  of  Northampton,  who  prescribed for me a more
thorough treatment, especially in diet and exercise.  From the
first use of the water-cure, I began to receive  some benefit.  Con-
stipation was in a measure removed, and the depression and gloom
of my  spirits alleviated.  No  marked crisis took place,  but  a
gradual improvement in flesh and strength for two years, when I
was again able to labor.  The change had been gradual, but the
result was most satisfactory.  Nigh unto  death, I have been raised
to comfortable health, and I  am  now at  the water-cure  house, at
Lebanon Springs, doing what I can  for the  benefit of the afflicted,
with full faith in the simplicity and efficacy of water in curing
diseases.  The treatment I pursued was the  simplest part of the
water-cure process as described in  the books generally, using no
powerful treatment.
                                        Isaac  Allen,  Jr.
  Chester, Vt., March 2d, 1847.

                        Lung  Fever.

  The  patient was  the same  lady  who had  the  inflammatory
rheumatism,  whose  case is reported under that  head, living
nearly   a half mile  from the  water-cure  house.  Her  health
had been quite good up to this  time, when by great exposure in
a cold damp day, she was  suddenly attacked with the  above
disease, it  being quite  prevalent  in this vicinity  this winter.
When I was called, she had  been  suffering for nearly two days,
and was in great distress.  Constant  inclination to cough, with a
little bloody  expectoration;  severe pain in the head, with fre-
quent wanderings of the mind  ;  partial deafness ; pulse 120 per
minute  when the fever was on;  each day severe rigors  and
chills, which lasted  about two hours, followed with a high  fever.
Appetite entirely gone ;  tongue much coated, and severe pleuri-
*'c pains and  stitches through the sides and chest generally.
  Under these symptoms, the  treatment was commenced by the 
ER1SYPELAS CONNECTED WITH VACCINATION.
67
 wet sheet  packing once a day, lying  till she was in a free per.
 spiration, when she was  sponged with  cold water.   Wet com-
 presses were worn constantly on the head and sides.   The first
 and second day it was done on her own responsibility.  The third
 day I took  charge of the case, and ordered the packing again, and
 also the fourth day ; no improvement in her  symptoms.  The
 fifth day there was no chill, but still very high fever, and much
 pain.   The  packing was not ordered, but she was sponged fre-
 quently while  the  fever was on,  with cold water, using much
 friction to  the extremities.   Being very thirsty she drank freely
 of cold water, and a mucilage of slippery elm in cold water.
   Hot fomentations (according to Dr.  Gully) were used on the
 sixth and  seventh  days, every six hours or  every twelve  hours,
 changing  the bandages once  in six minutes for  an hour each
 time.   These were used over the region of the pain.  The other
 parts of the  system were sponged with  tepid water every six or
 twelve hours, with much friction.   She soon began to mend, and
 on the eighth day all fever was gone, and the symptoms generally
 changed.  In two weeks  she was so far  recovered as to be able
 to be about the house, to oversee her domestic concerns.
   It is but just to make some explanation in this case, as it might
 seem to some that  it was  rather a slow  cure.  The attack was
 very violent.   It ran two days  while nothing was done more than
 she could  do for  herself, with the aid of  a little girl nine or ten
 years  old.  No steady nurse  could be  obtained  till the fourth
 day.   It was in her own house, where  things were not very con-
 venient for the treatment.   No medicine  was used internally, but
 small  cataplasms were  applied externally, the first days, by her
 own suggestion.   A stimulating liniment was applied once over
 the whole body.  What seemed to give relief was the hot fomen-
 tations.  These I have used before in such cases, with the same
 good  effect.  The  neighbors who watched  the progress of the
 cure, as sceptics in  regard  to  the practice, speak of it as a re-
 markably quick recovery, for so bad a case.

             Erisypelas connected with Vaccination.

   This case occurred about a year since, at the time when  the
small pox was in this vicinity.   The child being about ten months
old, was vaccinated for the kine pox at the same time that other
 children were, in this town,  who generally got along well.   The 
68                WATER CURE IN  AMERICA.

mother was subject to an erisypelatous humor, but the child had
seemed to be free from it.  As soon as the vaccine matter began
to  take effect,  an inflammation set in, which  spread  over the
whole arm, extending to the face and breast, with great swell-
ing.   A general symptomatic  fever set in, by which the  child
seemed to be entirely deprived of sleep, and whenever it would
doze, a sudden spasm generally took place, which seemed to
cause great distress.   These symptoms had been growing worse
and worse for  a number of hours, when it was concluded to try
the effect of the water treatment.   It was commenced by mak-
ing cool  applications  to the  arm and whole body.   These were
renewed upon  the arm every few minutes, and they were soon
applied very cold.  The heat in the arm was very great, and the
color of the skin was a  bright scarlet.  In about an hour after
the first  application, the child fell  asleep.  As the fever was
removed  the  cold bandages were changed less frequently, and
additions of dry  bandages  were made over the  wet ones, to
prevent being  cold.  The child rested well the first night, and
in the morning seemed much better.   The  scarlet color  of the
skin  was somewhat  diminished on  the arm, and the swelling
lessened.  The treatment was continued through  the day in a
modified  form  with  steady  improvement, when the child was
considered out of danger.   In a very  few days  it was  fully
restored,  and seemed to enjoy much better health after, than be-
fore the attack.
TESTIMONY OF THE SHAKERS OF  NEW LEBANON, N.  Y.

     Scrofula, Catarrh, Fevers, Dyspepsia, Consumption, fyc.

                               New Lebanon, March 5th, 1847.
  Respected Friend :—Agreeably to your request I  herewith
transmit to you a brief sketch  of the most prominent  cases  of
water cure that we  have  experienced in  our Society.
  We  do not wish to have  it understood that we  have as yet
given it more than  a partial and  limited trial, although we can
safely say it has  gradually been gaining in the estimation of the
Society from the first of  its application amongst us.
  The first  case treated amongst  us was of an obstinate scro-
fulous  nature, which had for nearly twenty years resisted  all 
        TESTIMONY  OF THE  SHAKERS OF NEW  LEBANON.      6&

medical  remedies that could be  applied in the old, allopathic
manner of practice.
  The patient was  a man  of a very scrofulous habit from  his
infancy,  had many sores  upon the neck when about the age of
fifteen or sixteen, was  treated by the  most skilful physicians
but with no other effect than giving temporary relief.   Thus  the
patient continued with the disorder shifting from place to place
in the system, until  about the age of twenty-eight years, at which
time the  disease seemed  mostly to concentrate  in the head, and
soon  assumed the  type of a most rigid  catarrh, causing  most
powerful  and fetid discharges from the glands of the head, with
almost continual sneezing at times, for hours together.
  The  bowels were constipated and wholly unnatural in  their
operation, being regulated only by means of medicines.  Spirits
greatly depressed, and life many times burdensome.  Continued
in  this condition  till  June 23d, 1844, when  by mere accident
Claridge's work  on Water  Cure fell into our  hands,  at which
time the patient  formed the resolution (as  all  other means  for
twenty years or more  had failed) to try thoroughly this novel
manner  of removing disease, according to the best of his know-
ledge, with the aid of the above work on the practice  of Water
Cure.
   Commenced  by  drinking freely and  taking repeated  head
baths, and one  mild douche  a day, with thorough friction and
brisk  exercise in the open air, and continued this mild applica-
tion for about seven  days ; then commenced  the Lein-tuch, or
wet sheet at night, continued  in it till morning, keeping only
comfortably warm  through the night; at all times wearing a
wet bandage upon  the forehead while in the wet sheet.   Now
commenced  showering and drinking freely  when first  rising
from the wet sheet in the  morning, with  brisk exercise  until
breakfast time.  At 10 or 11  o'clock a.m. took a good strong
douche, and generally one hip or sitz bath, and  at the same time
a foot bath, with bandage  upon  the head,  each day.  Drank
from twelve to fifteen glasses  of water per day, mostly in  the
fore part.  Continued this  course without much deviation for a
week, feeling quite improved  for the better.   Took about four
or  five wet sheets per week, not always,  however,  remaining in
them through the whole night.   In the  course  of three or four
weeks had two crises, though not very severe ; several sores  ap-
peared upon the surface of the body.   Continued this  treatment 
70
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
 with unabated  perseverance, though the wet sheet was mostly
 omitted after the first fortnight (more for want of time and place
 to attend regularly to it, than for  the  reason  that its powerful
 agency was not needed in the system).
   But after about four months' steady and persevering practice,
 there seemed to come one universal struggle in the system, be-
 tween health and disease, which should have the pre-eminence;
 and  by a steady use of the water, without any additional means
 whatever, health gained the ascendency, and has to the  present
 day  been fully able to hold  its  conquest, supported only by the
 pure crystal stream when needed, without any  of the collateral
 aid of drugs or medicines in any form, for which  great _thank-
 fulness is, and  ever will be, due on the part of the patient.
   There have been also many cases amongst us where  persons
 seemed  violently  attacked  with fevers, which  have invariably
 been thrown off by a seasonable and judicious application of the
 water treatment, and in some cases the fever had been raging for
 several days, unimpeded  by any medicine that could be given,
 and  a few hours' practice of  simple water  on the patient would
 entirely subdue the fever and restore the patient to a comfortable
 condition.
   Also many dyspeptic habits have been entirely removed after
 a short  application of the water practice, when all other medical
 aid  had failed.  In short, there  has been no case to our know-
 ledge, where the  water  practice has  been judiciously applied,
 and  the patient has  been willing to persevere in the same, but
 what has been greatly benefited, if not entirely cured  by this
 simple and natural mode of treatment.
   In some families of our Society, where both males and females
 have mostly adopted  the water  treatment for all medicinal pur-
 poses, in the short space of two years, such families have made
 great advancement on the side of health, and almost a universal
 omission of  the use of drugs or medicine of any  kind, other than
 pure soft water.  There has  also been one case where a  female,
 as some thought, was far gone with  a seated consumption,  and by
 the simple application of water was in less than one year again
 restored  to  perfect health.   Also various  kinds of kidney com-
plaints have been entirely cured or  greatly benefited, when  all
 other means had  failed, and the  patient had given up all hope
 of recovery. 
DIET.
71
  For want of  space, we omit the  religious  reflections,  state-
ment of doctrines, &c, which are  added to the  above, and which
are alluded to as reasons that while they feel sacredly bound to
acknowledge  and support every  good  and benevolent cause,
their  members  should not take the pioneership in any moral or
public reform, further than their example should impress it upon
the minds of the people,  &c.

                            Diet.

  The diet  at the Lebanon  establishment  is chiefly vegetable,
comprising  quite a variety of preparations of farinaceous food,
&c.  Meat  is  partaken  sparingly, at dinner only, and in some
cases is  excluded entirely.   No tea, coffee, or other stimulating
articles are  allowed.
                         Weak Eyes.

 From the Editors of the N. Y. Combiercial Advertiser :—
                          Two Cases.
   " From a very early age the writer was  sorely troubled with
what is called weakness of the eyes, making the use of green
glasses almost indispensable ;  subsequently a strong tendency to
myopism was developed, and  one  eye became positively near-
sighted ; about  twenty years  ago, the practice  of holding the
face in cold water, with the eyes open, was adopted, and has
been persevered in ever since, at the rate of seven or eight times
daily, and  the good effect has been manifest.*   The weakness
of the eyes has not been felt for many years; the myopism of
the one eye has  not increased, and in the other it has scarcely
become perceptible, although many hours are employed, every
day, in using the eyes at very short distances.   We have great
faith in cold water, applied to the  eyes, as well  as to other  por-
tions of the animal economy.
   " Another case.  The writer of this paragraph was troubled
with a  sore eye while  on  a voyage to Europe, which afflicted
him a good deal during  his absence.   On  his  return he con-
sulted  his  family physician, who  directed him to bathe the eye
in cold water;  he did so, and the  eye  has recovered its usual
strength."—N. Y. Com. Adv., Nov. llth, 1847.

  * In some cases the experienced Hydropathic practitioner would  pie-
scribe the general and derivative water  treatment rather than the appli-
cation of cold water  to the eyes  themselves.  See case of Ophthalmia,
page 251. Ed. 
72
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
       DR. R.  WESSELHCEFT'S  WATER-CURE

                   ESTABLISHMENT.




This institution is situated in the town of Brattleboro, Vt., and
a more suitable spot for such an undertaking could not well have
been chosen.  It combines  all the requisites for a successful
treatment, beautiful mountain scenery (mountains are necessary
to the cure, says the patriarch and founder of the system), pure
air, abundance of the purest and coldest spring water, and a lati-
tude sufficiently high to  render short the season of enervating
heat; for it is a  mistake to suppose  as many do that the  water-
treatment can be pursued  most successfully in a warm climate
or in the heat of summer.  On the contrary, the  most favorable,
and  paradoxical as it  may seem,  the  most  comfortable  time is
during cool weather, and even the severe cold  of winter is no
real obstacle to its continuance.                           •
  The town is romantically situated under the Chesterfield moun-
tain, which towers above it from the opposite  shore of the river
to the height of  1600 feet.   It covers a steep hill which forms
the western bank, and is bounded  on the  north by the beautiful
West River Valley, and on the south by the smaller one through
which the Little  Whetstone River empties into the Connecticut.
It is a  busy, thriving  place,  and  the  centre of much country
trade.
  The scenery on every hand is of the most romantic and beau-
tiful kind, thus offering inducements to the exercise which forms
so important a part of the cure.  The  establishment of Dr. W.
is situated in  a  retired and pleasant  street.  It was  opened in
May, 1845.  Originally two private dwellings, it has been rendered
capable, by enlargements and the addition of a new building, of
accommodating 130 patients.   The main buildings form a hollow
square, inclosing a green court with a fountain, and surrounded 
dr. r. wesselhceft's  water-cure establishment.
on three sides by a broad piazza which serves as a fine sheltered
place of exercise for the patients in bad weather.  One side of
the buildings is devoted to gentlemen, the other to ladies, and they
are connected by a dancing saloon and parlor in front, and by the
plunge  and other house baths in the rear.  Behind these is a
new building containing the  kitchen, dining hall eighty feet in
length, the Doctor's office, and in the second story a range of single
and double rooms.  Besides these buildings there is another con-
taining  a bowling alley, billiard room, and gymnasium.
  The  baths are supplied from springs in the hills  back of the
town.   The gentlemen's and ladies' large plunge-baths are thirty
feet long by twenty wide,  and five deep.  Water is constantly
running in and out;  there are also small plunge-baths, and
similar  ones  in the ladies'  house.  Besides this, there are small
plunges and douche for winter use, and  spacious rooms supplied
with warm and cold water for sitz and half-baths.   All  the bath-
ing rooms are heated.
  The out-door baths are situated on the high bank of Whetstone
Brook,  about  half a mile  off.  They are fed  by  never-failing
springs of water, and consist of the large douche twenty feet high,
three small douches, shower,  and rain-baths, running sitz-baths,
besides eye and  ear-baths, &c.  A short distance further is the
favorite wave-bath supplied by the flume  of a small woollen mill.
The whole apparatus is believed to be as complete as that of Eu-
ropean  establishments.
  The  springs in this region are  of rare purity.  A number are
true Silica springs.    The silex  slate of which the mountains
are formed, is rather a rare formation, and always rich in springs.
It was chosen by Dr. Wesselhoeft after a careful examination of
a great many other localities.   The analysis of the water by the
distinguished chemist, A. A. Hays, of the Roxbury Laboratory,
makes in
   "Spring First.   1.  The  weight  of  foreign matter  in 1000
grains of this sample,  is 0.0933.
  " Spring Second.   1.  One thousand grains of this sample con-
tain 0.220 grains of dry matter."
  [The details of the analysis relating to the kind of matter in
solution, &c, we omit for want of room.]
  Brattleboro is but one day's journey, chiefly  by railroad, from
Boston, New York, and Albany.   Patients will be carried direct-
ly by the stages to the establishment, where a superintendent will 
/4
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
be ready to  receive them.   Terms  are eleven dollars  per week
in winter, and ten in summer, payable weekly.   This includes
all expenses, except the washing of clothing.   Patients receive a
single room, or a place in a  double one.  Whoever wishes to oc-
cupy a double room alone pays an additional price, varying with
size and situation.
  Each patient must provide himself with the  following articles,
in order to undergo the sweating process :
  1. At least two good large woollen blankets.
  2. A feather bed, or three comforters.
  3. A sheet of coarse  linen,  which can  be cut, or at least one
piece of inch linen, six qrs. long,  and six qrs. wide;  also, pieces
of linen,  and cotton, for bandages.
  4. Two coarse cotton sheets.
  5. Six towels.
  6. One injection instrument.
  All these  articles may be  hired, or purchased, in the establish-
ment, or  village.
  Patients are attended  by  a  sufficient number of waiters  and
nurses.   The  number  of attendants in  the establishment is in
the winter months between thirty and forty.
  For gentlemen who keep  horses, there is a  stable attached to
the establishment, and an ostler to attend to them.
  Very sick, and helpless patients, for whom the ordinary attend-
ance would  not be sufficient, must  hire a nurse, or waiter, who
can be boarded at $2 50 per week.
  The doctor is to be found, during the day, at his office in  the
establishment,  where he dines.   His house is adjacent.
  There   are in  the village a number of boarding houses with
baths, where board can be had  at  from  $3 50 to $5 00 per week.
For medical attendance  and  the use of out-door baths, the charge
is $5 00  per week.  Poor patients the doctor will allow a reduc-
tion, if possible.
             DR. WESSELHOEFT'S CASES.

  The following cases are mostly abridged and condensed by the
editor of this book,  from Dr. W.'s original  accounts, which, as
they  comprised many details of symptoms and treatment,  as
changed from day to day, with letters  from the patients, &c. 
            spine and hip complaint, or  lumbago.         75

 were too lengthy for this work.  Dr. W. not having the leisure
 to re-write them, the editor has attempted to retain the most im-
 portant features in a brief space ; omitting entirely many cases,
 where the treatment was not detailed sufficiently to render them
 useful as examples.   Further particulars of some of them  can
 be found in Dr. W.'s monthly paper, the Green Mountain Spring.
   We have, in some of these articles, varied from our usual rule
 of inserting only actual cases, where Dr. W. has chosen to state
 the treatment which he has applied  to entire  classes of patients,
 instead of detailing that of particular individuals.
   Dr. W. has here selected  cases  treated  by  him some time
 since, as some patients prefer that their cases may not be recog-
 nised  by others living  in his  establishment.

             Spine and Hip Complaint, or Lumbago.
   In July, 1845, I was invited to call on a poor lady residing six
 miles off, and to give my  opinion about  her disease.  I found an
 unmarried lady  of thirty-six, with  sparkling black eyes, dark
 hair, and pale countenance, seated  in a rocking-chair.  My first
 impression was a favorable one, as the  movements of her head,
 the liveliness  of her eyes and features, did not express any deep
 disease.   But her lower  limbs were entirely useless, and her
 back, from the loins downward, so weak, as not to bear the weight
 of her body.   Although her lower muscles were not very  much
 emaciated, they were  flabby, and so wanting in vitality as to  be
 entirely  useless.   The spine was, however, perfectly straight, and
 she was  able to sit up the  greater  part of the day.   I observed,
 upon closer examination  of her skin,  that  her  face, neck, and
 chest, were covered with fine  yellowish-brown spots, which  I had
 not seen at first; they appeared to cover a pretty, white, fat skin.
   For fourteen years  she had been gradually losing the use of
 her limbs.  She had  been perfectly healthy, and,  according to
 her temperament, very active  before she was confined to  a life
 contrary to her nature.  Her  present disease began with  what
 was called by the physicians a rheumatic fever, which was often
 repeated, and  left her after each attack more and more lame.
  She had, however, retained for years the power to walk,  when
supported, or by crutches ; but for some four years  she had been
unable to use  her arms for such an  exertion, and she felt now as
if she should lose all the strength of her upper limbs too.
  She was now more and more under the necessity of lying on 
76
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
the bed for hours during the course of the day, and began to feel
extremely hopeless and unhappy.  Her feet and hands became
the most of the day, and even at night, icy cold.  In the hips and
loins she felt an irritating, disagreeable heat, often with pain.
Often she suffered  from fluttering, and  palpitation of the heart,
and across the stomach.   She had suffered years ago from piles.
  Her mind, although lively, was as inclined to the most sad and
melancholy representations as to hopes, and tears were constant-
ly flowing in such  moments.  A few  minutes later  she could
smile again, and even laugh as heartily as she wept before.  The
use of  her  hands  and eyes made her feel  immediately worse.
Thus she was sitting and living along, without occupation.  For
some time,  even talking,  and hearing  talk, produced a return of
her worst symptoms.
  She  had spent her little fortune upon  the physicians, and was
now entirely reduced to the mercy of her relations, to whom she
felt herself a great burden.   Her habit was costive, and she has
been constantly under the necessity of using cathartics.  The
menstrual courses, however, had all the time remained quite re-
gular,  although preceded  by considerable pains in her back.  Her
appetite was weak, her stomach constantly acid and sickish.
  Helpless as she was, I  could not apply any other use.of water
than drinking, the wet sheet, washings, and  injections.  A wet
bandage  round the abdomen and  back was  soon  added, but  I
found that all these  applications exhausted her strength more by
the exertion required to use them, than they changed her symp-
toms in any  respect.   She  could not  bear  to be  rubbed when
washed—it made her extremely nervous and irritable.
  For  a tub-bath  there was no  opportunity in the house where
she boarded, and no hand to assist her, if it had been there.
  Hip-baths she could not bear, partly from the inconvenience of
the position,  partly from dreadful  congestions of blood to her
chest.
  Foot-baths  of water one inch high she bore well, although her
feet remained a long time deadly cold  after them ; they were the
only part of the system where some rubbing was not decidedly
disagreeable to her.
   After the lapse of two months, I found her one day extremely
depressed and exhausted.   She had vomited a substance from her
stomach like black sand,  or dark bloody dust.  At the same time
her discharges  from the  bowels showed at first the same dark 
           SPINE AND HIP COMPLAINT,  OR LUMBAGO.         77

sandy matter, and  for some subsequent weeks remained sandy,
becoming more and more of a greenish and greyish cast.  Once
a week only came a natural  and not very abundant operation.
The same sandy sediment appeared  in her urine.  She lost du-
ring the course of these excretions, a good deal of strength and
vital heat.  Her appetite failed more, and  sickness and sourness
of the stomach at times became excessive.  A few minutes after
drinking much  cold water, she threw off  a good  deal of acidu-
lated, colorless water.
  After some time I observed that the brownish yellowish  spots
under her skin became more  and more red.  Sometimes I found
a complete suffusion of redness all over her neck and chest.
When it disappeared I found between the brown spots, intervals of
the natural white  skin,  which  increased and augmented from
time to time.
   Early in November I was able to give her a room in my house,
and put her under the special  care of my nurses.  I must observe
here that they were long prepared for this poor patient, and that
they received her  with the greatest curiosity and  interest.   She
was that very day brought the first time into a bathing tub and
gently rubbed with some warm water of the bath, all  over her body,
and particularly down the lower  part of the spine  and lower
limbs.   When I saw her after the bath she felt revived, and as-
sured me with a smile, she hoped now more than ever to become
restored,—she could not tell  me how well she felt.   The foot-
baths were now taken three  inches high, the evaporating  and
bathing process vigorously managed, with  proper pauses of both,
according to circumstances.  After some  weeks, pails  of water
were poured gently over her after the bath, bandages  applied to
the hips and thighs, and fresh water drunk and injected at regu-
lar times, and the whole diet  properly regulated.
  Although thus far, the main symptoms still continued, yet they
lost their violence,  and a change of the whole system appeared
to ripen  slowly.    The  sourness  and nausea of the stomach
troubled  her  not  every  day.  She  vomited once  a worm, after
drinking once a whole day without taking food.   Worms  have
never been detected in her evacuations. All the functions of the
system improve slowly, and she walks supported under the arms,
through her small room.   Her own  hopes are looking to future
health, and I myself feel as  if  there were some  foundation for
this hope. 
78
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
   The preceding account was written in Dec, 1845 ;  the follow
 ing, after the interval of one year.
   She perceived no change in the symptoms I  stated last year,
 until the spring of 1846.  In March a humor began to form :'n
 the lumbar region and on one hip.   It gained  every  day in ex-
 tent, and at last had spread considerably.  When it first appeared,
 her  stomach  got into  a very acid and  bilious state,  and  she
 vomited frequently great quantities of bile.  Her appetite failed ;
 she became more feeble than ever.  A kind of nervous dyspepsia
 produced other disagreeable symptoms  every day.   She felt  a
 " goneness" in  the stomach, chest, and throat to such a degree,
 that she would not talk, and even feared to swallow.  She wept
 much, life and hope seemed to become weaker with every hour.
 In May the humor disappeared.
   The very favorable weather last spring made it possible then,
 to make use of a douche-bath every day, and although it did not
 bring the humor back to the skin, it  had a most favorable effect
 upon the nerves.  She felt invigorated, till towards the month of
 August, when she relapsed.  I  then thought it best to allow her
 some rest from treatment.  In  August, therefore, I stopped  the
 douche and all applications of water, except a half-bath {shallow
 bath) every day, with rubbing.   For a short time, she felt better
 again, and I  believe, that the  frequent visits of compassionate
 souls, with whom she was obliged to talk, had a very bad influence
 upon her.  She  was constantly in  a state of  exhaustion, wept
 much and felt miserably, although her appetite was good and  she
 gained flesh and  strength anew.  Under these  circumstances, I
 acceded  willingly, about the end of  the year, to her proposition
 to leave the establishment for some time and to board in a private
 family in  the village, where she could be left alone.
   This intermission  of four weeks had  a most beneficial effect
 upon her.  I could perceive that she revived, and she returned
 with new  hope  to the establishment.   From January until now,
 I have prescribed a ■washing twice a day, and continued the wet
 bandage upon  loins  and  abdomen.   Her  desire to drink much
 water in order to relieve her sour stomach, I limited in the spring
of 1846 to six tumblers  full a day.   I persuaded her now to in-
dulge yet  less in drinking.  She has felt comfortably most of the
time since her bodily vigor has increased.  The color of her skin
has improved  in  a remarkable  degree, and she is  now  gaining
flesh.   The  burning in  the spine  and  hips  for some time, 
hemorrhage from the  liver,  &c.          79
became very intense, and a soreness extended itself all over the
spine.
   The bandage which she wore over the lower spine, was made
of two thicknesses of diaper-linen.   It has accidentally occurred
that the same portion of bandage, after being cleaned and wetted
anew, has been placed  on the very spot on which it was before,
so that the small place of the spine,  where the focus.of heat and
pains always has been,—between the vertebrae,—has been cov-
ered the whole  week by the same portion of bandage.   It had
been several times observed during  the last month that the ban-
dage began to be colored, after having lain on the spine for some
hours.  Last week the bandage was discovered to be so corroded
over the  spot  mentioned, that  the  slightest pressure  broke it
through, while the rest  of the linen was firm.   Both thicknesses
of linen had been corroded, the size of a silver dollar, and were
stained of a brownish  color.  As far as this color reached,  the
linen easily wore off, by rubbing it between the fingers.   On that
very place of the patient's spine a red ointment of Iodine, Anti-
monial Liniment, Cantharides, and  other torturing benefits, had
been rubbed in repeatedly, by physicians and  celebrated  bone-
setters.   I ordered,  to  lay a particular part of  a  new bandage,
for a whole week, upon said place of the spine, and the bandage
of the  patient presented again the same appearance,—being cor-
roded over  the affected part, and remaining  unchanged in  all
other portions.   It has never been wrung or rubbed in one place
more than another.   This continued  so  for eight weeks, when
she left for a visit to her relations,  from which she will soon
ieturn.

                Hemorrhage from the Liver, fyc.
                [Extracts from the lady's letter to Dr. W.]
   " My age is forty—have been married fourteen years ;  without
children ; my natural  constitution pretty  good; though  at  the
age of  fourteen suffered from general debility, and for a number
of years  was subject to great  irregularity in natural courses ;
my general  health remained good.
  " Two years ago, last October, I suppose I took cold at an un-
fortunate  period, and  the consequence was, a sudden slight hse-
morrhaffe  of the lungs—the  natural  evacuation did not  appear
until pnofher month.  There was no  repetition  of bleeding  for
some months and my general health did not suffer much ; although 
80
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
 the  state of my lungs was  evidently different  from what it had
 ever been before—a very little expectoration  of matter  in the
 morning, generally without coughing.  I  went  out  but  little
 through that winter, and was very careful not  to take cold,  as  I
 have been continually up to the  present time.   The latter part
 of the summer after my first  attack, I  had another, occurring
 under the same circumstances as the first, and  in a month after,
 another.   I was  never particularly reduced  by them—did not
 perceive any immediate weakness, yet there was a general debility
 increasing upon me, with a very slight acceleration of the pulse.
   " After this, I enjoyed comfortable health through the winter,
 remaining entirely in the house.   In the month  of May follow-
 ing I had another ill turn, a little different  from the others,  as it
 occurred just after  the menses ceased, attended with symptoms
 of pleurisy, and raising bloody phlegm on two successive days.
 1 soon got over this, and was better through the summer.
   " I went out occasionally until the last of November ; after that,
 but once ; or rather several times in one week, during the winter.
 I then took a severe cold which made me quite ill for some days,
 with considerable cough and expectoration, but no haemorrhage.
 I went out  again  in March, the  weather being  very mild  and
 pleasant.   In  April, I raised bloody matter quite a number of
 times in the course of ten  days—a little increase of cough since,
 with more expectoration, but no blood—no menses within seven
 weeks.   My stomach and bowels are generally as well  as could
 possibly be expected under the circumstances, having taken quite
 a variety of preparations, which undoubtedly more or less affect
 those organs.  My  digestive powers were originally very  strong
 —my bowels inclined to a  costive habit.  Within the  last  two
 years I have suffered some from the piles.  I am extremely sensi-
 tive to change of air—not so very  perceptible upon my lungs, as
 upon my whole person—the pores  of my skin  telling of the
 slightest  variation in clothing or warmth.  My  strength  has  kept
 up remarkably; I ride nine or ten miles without  fatigue—have
 this  past winter been able to sweep over a large carpet  with a
 broom without suffering—though I do not now feel able  to do so.
  " My throat has always been  easily affected by  cold, and there
 is generally a  slight white coat upon my tongue.  My appetite
 demands something inviting.
  " I have been taking Jayne's Expectorant, which appears to be
composed mostly of wild cherry.  This has suited me better  than 
              HEMORRHAGE FROM  THE LIVER, &C           81

any other article.   I took about five bottles.   I have been with-
out  two weeks, and miss the good effects ;  therefore I drink a
large quantity of cold water in the morning and always find that it
assists me to clear my lungs.   I have never dared to try cold or
even cool water upon my skin, it being so sensitive that I have feared
a sudden chill might produce haemorrhage. I have never journeyed
since my health became poor, ten miles being the furthest I have
been from my  home. I am now thinner in flesh than I have been
at any time.
   " I have enjoyed a remarkable exemption from acute suffering;
occasionally a  little pain about my sides and breast, which is soon
relieved by a stimulating plaster.  The matter that I expectorate
is generally of a yellowish hue—quite thick—sometimes appears
stringy—have  never raised frothy matter, nor have been  much
troubled with a tight cough."
   My answer was :
   " Mrs.     •— seems to be a sacrifice to a comfortable room,
sedentary life,  warm stoves, etc.
   " I believe that by a careful treatment the imminent danger may
be removed.   Her skin being extremely liable to  colds, wants to
be cultivated by pure and soft water, in order to make it stronger
to endure the influence of the  atmosphere.   If she is prepared
and  strengthened in  a proper way for this  purpose, the difficulty
of the lungs, which appears to  be haemorrhoidal, will, as I hope,
cease after some months."
  The lady  arrived here in August.  After having seen her,  and
having  examined  her  lungs, I  found myself confirmed  in  my
opinion.  Some large  brown spots on the forehead and cheeks
seemed to indicate stoppages of blood  in  the  liver.   She  had
almost lost  the use of her lower limbs from disuse, and  was ex-
tremely afraid of making  the slightest exertion for fear that  she
should excite her lungs.   Her common  summer dress consisted
of five complete garments.   Yielding at first to her inclination
respecting temperature, I had her bathed in water of 80° deg. F.
for general ablution, hip and foot-baths.  She consented to get her-
self fresh water to drink from the nearest spring—which is about
fifty rods from  the house—several  times in  the day.   Her dress,
however, was gradually diminished, but the flannel next her skin, 1
suppose, was never removed.   I  urged her to attempt  a more
vigorous application  of cold,  without regarding her little aches
and pains, and  finally,  was able to overcome even her  dread of 
82
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
wet sheets, after she saw that another lady who was suffering
from similar haemorrhages, bore them very well; and when her
menses became obstructed, which is a frequent occurence in the
water-cure, she was not frightened at being directed to take two
hip-baths a day, of  half an hour's duration.
   Thus we went on for seven weeks.   She  began to take walks
of four and five miles; and became  convinced of the benefit to
be derived from mountain air, after  ascending the neighboring
hills higher and higher each successive week.
   She felt herself  much stronger—and  began to talk of going
home,  when a few  harsh days in October reminded  her of her
home  comforts.  " Her husband  had promised to get her home
in the  Indian Summer."—I shook my head ;  because I thought
it a pity to lose the  best part of the fall;—but to no purpose.
   The ninth morning before her departure, she pronounced her-
self "  as well  as she  had ever been in her  life."   In the after-
noon, she walked up a high hill, when she sat down upon a rock
to rest  herself, and sat there some time.   In the  evening, she
was taken with pains in the right side, with chills along the spine,
and had considerable  fever.  She also raised about a spoonful of
bright, red  blood, and was exceedingly  alarmed, as it came  up
after a hacking cough.  I ordered several successive wet sheets,
followed by a  long  evaporation in the  night,  and a profuse wash-
ing  afterwards.   I  administered  some homoeopathic remedies.
I continued this treatment for several days, with the addition of
hip and foot baths;  and although there remained a pressure and
fulness in her  right side, there was no appearance of fever, when
at length she left the establishment for home, the last of October.
   I still expected she would  have a critical  turn;  and advised
her to  continue the water applications that  had produced such
favorable  results during the last few days.
   On the  4th of November I received the following letter :
   " I can  inform  Doctor W. of my  safe arrival  home.   I am
also under  the  necessity of informing you of the return of my
principal difficulty.   On my journey I washed myself over in the
morning, and  took a hip-bath at night, and  felt very well  until
yesterday afternoon.   I was walking up  a hill, and on coughing
raised  considerable bloody  matter, some of it quite  thick, and
looking rather  dark colored.  I continued to spit, occasionally,
bloody stuff till I went to bed, and a little towards morning, and
twice this morning, it had a stringy appearance, and looked, as if 
HEMORRHAGE  FROM  THE LIVER, &C.          83
it ought to be removed.  Not much effect produced in the feelings
at my chest—my face was immediately very much flushed, and
remained so for a long time.  I added wet bandages all over my
chest and sides,—took a foot-bath, and drank freely of water,__
ate no supper, and at bed time felt sleepy, and rested pretty well;
was  wrapped up, got warm, and was washed.
  " There has  been a slight pain low down towards my left side,
—a little feeling of heaviness while lying this morning, over the
centre, as I judge, of my lungs.  I now feel quite free and easy
about my chest and  sides."
  I answered the  very night, that I  did  not feel alarmed, and
gave her advice to follow the course upon which we had agreed,
as cautiously as possible ;  but to omit the wet sheet for some days
after a bleeding, and she now could finish  her cure very well at
home.
  The 6th of November she wrote:
  " The  expectoration of bloody matter still  continues, though
considerably abated to-day.   Yesterday morning at four o'clock,
I felt and heard a rattling  in my breathing, which continued a
while,  and I then coughed up  a very dark colored bloody sub-
stance, which looked as if it must have been in my breast some
time.  It seemed rather stringy at first, and settled in water.  I
drank  freely of cold  water, and raised a  great many times of
this  bad  matter, and I continued  to  discharge slightly colored
phlegm through the day, and before resting at night a little more,
similar to the first in the morning.   Rested pretty  well through
the night: between six and  seven spit several times, bloody, but
not so  dark as before ; a  little of the same kind since  dinner
to-day.   I have been  lightly washed  in the morning,  and taken
foot-baths,—kept much wet linen over my chest, and there is quite
a large and rather sore eruption all along under my breasts, several
blisters like burns as large as a cherry stone, the surface white,
and on the skin breaking, quite angry and sore under; an itch-
ing sensation some of the time.
  " I have taken light  food in small quantities.   I walk as much
as possible in the house, and admit the air freely.
  " I have never raised  so much blood  before, nor any  that
looked  nearly so bad."
  She  wrote on the 9th :
  " Within twelve  hours after the date of my last  to you, the
expectoration of bloody matter  ceased.  I have no more  cough 
84
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
now than I had at Brattleboro—no  particular pain or very bad
feeling anywhere—a little phlegm or matter  collects and passes
off occasionally—very little feeling of heat or burning—and my
tongue rather coated.  There has been no ' anguish burning, nor
smarting.'   The most that makes me uncomfortable now is the
disposition to coldness.   My appetite  very good—my  strength
not affected.
   " There is no appearance of menses or flowing piles.   I have
taken the injections as  directed.  The eruption has continued
and increased up to the present moment.   New bunches are con-
tinually  forming, and it has spread  upwards  and downwards
through the thickest part, is all  along  under my breasts, which
now look as if I had had a bad blister there, and there  are still
festers forming."
   The 24th of November she wrote as follows:
   " Since my last date  I have been in very comfortable health,
with the exception of soreness and pain produced by the eruption
and several boils.   Three  appeared on my left breast about the
same time,  as large as  a small  nutmeg,  which were very sore,
and discharged thick bad matter.   No  appearance of anything
like a core.   Small festers and blisters have continued from my
throat quite down to my limbs.   They now appear to be lessen-
ing considerably.   I have  now quite a large  boil low down on the
gland near  the right  thigh ;  it is very hard,  sore,  and inflamed,
and has begun to discharge thick bloody matter.  One is coming
on the upper part of my left  leg.
   " I am wrapped up every other morning, washed every morn-
ing, take my foot-baths, apply the cold bandages, and drink con-
siderable, go out some when I can."
   This lady is now entirely restored to health.   All that I desire
for her is that she will  not return to her  confined life ;  quit her
flannels ;  and continue cold washings every morning; observe a
simple, not  stimulating  diet;  use fresh  water for drink ; and
establish a  thorough  change in respect to hot and  narcotic beve-
rages, hot bread, and similar errors in diet.
   As to the case itself, I have only  to add, that the bloody expec-
torations came  from the liver.   I  am entirely satisfied that the
eruptions rendered her circulation  free  and healthy.  She has
never had any sweatings ;  she was  only wrapped in the wet sheet
for evaporating her skin.   The whole  course of the disease and
cure shows how weakened and  sensitive this organ was.   Boils 
SMALL  POX.
85
in the groins and the  perineum, and the neighboring parts, seem
to be a necessity, where piles and irregular menses are to be
removed.   The importance of the hip-baths  is fairly indicated
by  such symptoms, although it is not a good practice to order
them without the wet sheets, when there are bleeding piles.   The
use of wet bandages  around the  abdomen should never be neg-
lected  in such cases, and the patient should not forget that he has
to be still more careful  than  in other cases, not to let them be-
come  entirely  dry.  Injections of cold  water from  72 deg. F.
temperature, down to the coldest, according to the circumstances,
and particularly when  costiveness  prevails,  should  be freely
used.   I  have treated cases of internal piles with long lasting
obstructions of the bowels, by four or five injections a day of 1^
pints each.   They were not only borne well, and mostly sucked
up by  the bowels ; but they also made the patients feel comfort-
ably in the  head, and finally produced a natural operation, which
was followed by an uninterrupted  regularity in this  respect for
the whole cure and afterwards.   There is no danger of accustom-
ing the rectum, etc., to these applications ; as it becomes stronger
and is cured by them ;  they may be given  at  any time and be
omitted as soon as they  have attained the desired effect.   Their
temperature  is  more to be  regarded than  anything else.   Injec-
tions warmer  than 72  deg.  F.  have  generally a weakening
effect; but sometimes, they are at first not borne cooler.

                          Small Pox.

   Dr. Wesselhceft recommends  as  a  sure,  easy,  and specific
treatment of Small Pox, the plan of Dr. Fritz, of Tyrol, which
seems to  be a union of Hydropathy with the internal and external
use of milk, and sometimes butter:  the particulars are  given at
length in the Green Mountain Spring of February, 1846.
   In the  Fever stage of the  disease, Dr. W. states  that he has
found, during four years' practice,  the wet sheet effectual and
sufficient, also very useful in all  exanthematic, inflammatory,
bilious, mucous, nervous,  and putrid fevers :  the details of the
application  may be found as above.
   In reference to the patients generally, he remarks:
   Many  of the cases treated here, presented  themselves without
 any previous consultation  to  ascertain whether  they were cura- 
86
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
 ble by water or not.   Many others have  come here, in order to
 try and learn enough of the treatment to  carry it  on afterwards
 at home.   Some have left after a stay of twenty-four hours, for
 fear that they could not stand the applications of water.  Several
 have preferred  to  follow their own prescriptions  rather than
 mine—more or less.  Some desperate  cases  have  been  under-
 taken, with the hope  of effecting at least some  amelioration of
 suffering.   There  have  not been thirty out of one hundred and
 twenty-four, who  have not chosen to go home after  a slight im-
 provement.  Such  as were really determined to await a thorough
 treatment, have been cured, or are pressing towards it, with the
 exception of a few having incurable diseases.
   In the following  cases, the principal complaint  of the patient
 is generally stated, without the minor complications which fre-
 quently occur :

                           Scrofula.
   Scrofulous patients were numerous,   if there  are included
 amongst them such as had Humors or Rickets, resulting from it;
 and  those who were  affected with Amaurosis (incipient  blind-
 ness),  Specks on the  Cornea,  Blepharitis (sore eyes), Otorrhea
 (running  of the  ears), Deafness,  Laryngitis  (commonly  called
 Bronchitis), and Induration  of the Glands.
   Amongst thirty-six  patients  of this class, many have derived
 great benefit from  a shorter or longer cure ; a  few have re-
 mained long enough to be entirely cured of a disease which they
 partly inherited, or  which had, at least, originated in their earliest
 infancy.   A number are still under cure, and whatever progress
 they may have made towards a cure, they are, at  least, stronger
 and better; and a large proportion  are determined to persevere
 until their disease is completely eradicated.
  One of these cases has had a peculiar turn.   A  married lady,
 aged thirty-two, who had never' been attacked by an acute dis-
 ease, several years since, found  her eyes  losing their strength.
 After her first confinement, she suffered great pains in her eyes,
 whenever she attempted  to  use them, and bodily debility grew
 upon her, although she enjoyed  a  good  appetite.   In her child-
hood, she had suffered  from  scrofulous swellings and  humors, but
 for more than fifteen years  she had not  observed the slightest
trace of them.  For two years, she had been under Allopathic
treatment for her eyes, but  without any benefit.   Homoeopathic 
SCARLATINA--PARALYSIS.
87
treatment for seven months  had produced  no effect  whatever.
After a  short Hydropathic treatment,  her  bodily  strength re-
turned, and she could walk ten miles a day without fatigue.  But
her eyes remained  unaffected,  although  her countenance and
bodily strength  indicated complete  health.   In November she
had  a fever, which seemed  gastric, which  took away all her
strength, and after nine days  brought out a large number of pale
ringworms, which grew to a very large size.   The fever left her
after twenty-one days.   The  ringworms disappeared, and a great
number of small boils  broke  out.  Her eyes became  somewhat
stronger, but the cure  was not perfected, although  nothing was
neglected that might develope a complete crisis.  She was called
home in  January by sickness in  her  family,  and has given infor-
mation that new boils continue to come out.
   Two rickety children have developed large tumors ; one, on
the diseased leg ; the other, near the affected spine, but in neither
has there taken place any critical change, as it has been neces-
sary to conduct  the treatment with the greatest caution.  Both,
however, have improved  amazingly in flesh  and strength, and
continue to gain.  A third has  recovered from a slight spinal
curvature and enlargement of the abdomen  by means of a con-
stant diarrhoea ; and is now fat and strong.
   Several have  been relieved of inveterate  humors by a series
of boils or furuncles.   Many of them had  swallowed immense
quantities of quack-medicines—especially mercury pills, sarsa-
parilla bitters, Thomsonian specifics, and the like.   The critical
turns in such cases,  and also  the sweats, were attended by a dis-
agreeable, death-like smell, and the sweating sheets were colored
green, grey, red, &c,  for weeks.

                         Scarlatina.
   This disease, with and without complications of other diseases,
has been treated with great success:  of fifty cases  which  I
treated in the  summer of 1842 and 1843, I lost not one whom
I treated from the beginning.  For treatment, see " The G. M.
Spring," April, 1846.

                         Paralysis.
   There has been one  case of Apoplectic Paralysis, four weeks
under treatment.  Patient found relief, and intended to continue
at home.  I have not heard from him since his departure. 
88
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
  A gentleman of fifty, an officer in the army, was attacked, in
the Florida war, by fever and ague ; suffered at times from fluid
piles, and was two years ago seized  by an entire paralysis of the
lower limbs, which advanced upwards over the whole body.  At
times excruciating pains affected the limbs.   His body was  en-
tirely emaciated by disease and  pain.  He  has used the treat-
ment since August.  The piles returned first, and were followed
by furuncles.   One leg has recovered strength enough to support
him ; the other is daily gaining.  From time to time bleeding
piles have returned at shorter intervals, and  have been followed
by new attacks of pain in the limbs.  Both diseases seem iden-
tical.  There is every prospect that  he will be entirely restored,
if he has time enough  to  go  through the whole  cure.  He has
gained strength, can use his hands for writing  and dressing, and
walks now every  day from one house to the other and back, on
the arm of one waiter, to and from the dining room.  His bended
frame has become more and  more  erect, and every day he  as-
sumes more  and more the  appearance of a healthy man.
  A third case of paralysis of the right side, originating from a
cure of the itch by brimstone,  has made little progress.  A con-
stant giddiness, which seemed a consequence  of  the disease,
ceased after  a number of attacks of fluent coryza.  In one of
these attacks, he sneezed from  his nose several lumps of a skinny
and  organized  substance  infiltered  with watery slime.   From
that time the giddiness has diminished ; the use of the paralysed
arm  and hand  has returned, and his whole  system has  gained
more energy.   As he is in a situation to continue the cure, and
as pains very often  attack him in  the sheets, from the further
course of the treatment he may expect still greater benefits, and
a probable cure.
  Oct. 17, 1847.   Two years' treatment have not  completed a
cure in either case.  The former patient continues, the latter left
with the  intention to go to England or  Germany, to  continue
there.

                    Swelling of the Knee.
  Lymphatic swellings, in the knee-joint  and knee-pan, consti-
tute one of the  most dangerous forms of disease in the apparatus
of motion.  Their origin is sometimes inflammatory, and often
merely rheumatic.  In both cases, a quantity of water, larger or
smaller, is collected in the region of the knee.   These different 
ACCOUCHEMENT.
89
kinds of swelling are so often connected together, that it has
become a prevalent error to treat them both alike.
  For patients who  are unwilling to undergo all the tortures of
the usual treatment, the best mode is to spare the knee as much
as possible, and to keep the inflammation down  by cooling ban-
dages of cold water.
  In  bad cases—even the most dreadful ever heard of—Hydro-
pathy has still brought relief.  The effects of the knife, the moxae,
and  the  other infernal applications  can be neutralized and des-
troyed by water; even the metals can be dug out by it.  Priessnitz
has the honor first to have performed what has  hitherto  seemed
impossible.   The case of the Prussian Baron de  Falkenstein has
become celebrated all over the  world.
  The water-treatment, in most cases of this kind, needs a long
time for consummating a cure;  for it must first remove scrofula,
syphilis, and similar fundamental causes, if such  are  present,
before it can attack the secondary ailments of the system, which
usually disappear at the same time.  A mere inflammation of the
knee, whether of a rheumatic character or not, if of short stand-
ing, is quickly reduced and cured by the hydriatic treatment.
  A treatment with water requires the utmost care.  Dyscrasies
may have a local place for showing themselves, but they are in
the  whole  system.  Sweating,  cold general and  local  baths,
douches, cold and exciting bandages, according to  the measure
of pain and inflammation, with a proper quantity  of water for
drink, and  a healthy, not  irritating  diet, are the main  applica-
tions.   According to circumstances  and  the  concomitant symp-
toms  other  applications cannot be excluded.   Finally,  humors
will appear, and furuncles in most cases complete the  cure.

                       Accouchement.

  The following letter, addressed to a former patient, is so  general
in its scope and directions, as to be applicable to mothers and nurses
generally:
  Dear Friend :—Your favor  of July 19th was received, and I
advise as follows—because I cannot foresee any other  than  a
natural healthy  confinement:
  1.  Take  cold wash-baths  every morning until  your  confine-
ment, all over the body, and drink often some fresh  water during
the day. 
90
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
  2. Use no hot drinks, tea, coffee, etc., spices, and other irritat-
ing things, neither after being confined.
  3. When  your hour comes, make use of no artificial help or
application to quicken the delivery.  Let  the physician ascertain
if the child has a normal position, and let  nature operate.
  4. The  same with the after-birth, which  must not  be  taken
away by violence or art, except it is grown to the uterus.
  5. Keep yourself quiet as soon as  you are brought in a clean
situation, and be washed all over in water of 70°.  Keep all gos-
sips away, for at least nine days ;  do not talk, do not hear talking,
keep all quiet around  you, and try to sleep a little, to rest from
your efforts.  General washings of 72°, should be repeated every
forenoon.
  6. The fourth  and fifth  day the  first operation of  the  bowels
usually comes.   Until  that day the strained  abdominal  organs
remain  more or less inactive.  Take no  medicines or injection
before that  day to promote stools.  If it is  necessary, use  an
injection of water of 75°, one pint, on the fifth day, and retain it
a little.
  7. Eat only light water gruel, without spices, the first two
days;  then  take  rice  and similar mealy  substances,  boiled
chicken, mutton, etc.,  broth, pretty thin, like our soups.   After
the fourth day you can have some meat  in it, and eat to satisfy
your appetite, as soon as you have  had evacuation of the bowels.
Avoid  young vegetables and  fruits, as they may occasion grip-
ings to the child.  When it is six weeks old you may accustom
the child to such food for you.
  8. The new-born baby  must be washed in a wash-tub with
blood warm  water, 86° to 96°  F.,  and an egg and some sweet
butter mixed with the fingers and rubbed all over the  child's skin
to clean it entirely.  Duration of the bath three to four minutes.
  9. After it is dressed in a proper way, give  it a  little tepid
water sweetened  with white sugar.
  10. Two hours after delivery, lay the child on your breast, and
repeat it every two or three hours.   If it will not nurse, you must
let it go for two or three days, but all the  time continue to try it.
Finally it will succeed.
  11. Give the child no medicine or medicated substance whatever.
Let it lie next to you so that it is warmed by you.   Never let it be
placed by the fire or stove.  Costiveness may be  removed by lit- 
        LUNG  DISEASE  FROM  REPERCUSSION OF MEASLES.      91

tie  injections of tepid water; retention of urine  by a tepid bath
(85° to 90°), for five to ten minutes.
  12.  Do  nothing to suppress  the  sweats in  you or the  child,
rather support  them.
  13.  Let the  child be carried into the open air every day, after
it is three days old (in winter after it is a fortnight old).   And do
you yourself get into fresh air as soon as possible.


    Lung Disease  in consequence of Repercussion  of Measles.

  Mr.-----, from----, Mass., communicated the 8th of January
last, the following statement of his case :
  " Dear  Sir :—I address you respecting the  application  of
Hydropathy to lung complaints, having been confined about four
months with  a lung difficulty, caused  by taking  a bad cold.   I
have, however, so far recovered  as  to  be  able to go out  in the
middle of the day  and transact  business, and  have also  good
appetite and digestion, but my lungs  are  yet  in a weak  state,
and I have  pains  in my  sides  occasionally, and in my limbs,
and some headache, and  fear  that  my  system  is somewhat
deranged.   I am obliged to wear a Respirator when I go out.
  " I was induced to apply for medical  advice, and my physician
pronounced my case one of Bronchitis, and treated me as he best
knew how, I suppose, until within about three weeks, but I have
not gained for a month.  I cough and  raise but little, and that
mostly in the morning.  A stormy or damp lowering day affects me
unfavorably, and I seem to have in my head a sort of asthma  or
catarrh, connected with my other complaints.
  " I am now taking * Dr. Jayne's celebrated Expectorant,' and
an ' Extract of Potassium,' prescribed by my physician, and use
for  a mucilage drink, ' Elm bark Tea,' all of which seem to me
as preventatives instead of curatives."
  My answer was:
  "If the whole is a rheumatic  or catarrhal state of the  lungs,
and adjoining organs, a water-cure  might easily be of the best
consequences  for  you.  To  ascertain it,  take  a  wash-tub of
twenty-two to twenty-four inches diameter, fill  it  six or seven
inches high with fresh  water, which bring by hot water to  the
temperature of 72° F.  In this bath place  yourself, sitting, and
the  legs out, and remain in it for forty minutes.   If you then go
out  and feel a shivering and running chill over you, you may not 
92
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
use a water-cure;  if not, you can confidently come up expecting
to be cured."
   The  gentleman found  benefit from  the application  recom-
mended to him, and arrived here,  March  29th, and began the
cure with some  precautions taken by me.   Wet  bandages over
the lungs, foot-baths, half-baths, and  gradually the wet sheet, and
sweatings were applied.   I need not  say that the " Expectorant,"
&c,  were immediately  discontinued.  In  the fourth week  a
humor appeared on the  hands, and  afterwards  on the face  and
other parts of the  body, formed in  round  lenticular spots.  A
pressure with the finger upon one of these spots made it disappear,
and then reappear, the redness spreading from the centre to the
periphery.   All  the  catarrhal symptoms of morbilli or measles
were present in a slight degree.   Patient now told me that he had
had measles several years ago, and that he  was sick in his lungs
from that time, becoming worse and worse, as described in his letter.
The  eruption was standing for several days,  then disappeared, and
instead of it boils appeared.  After the lapse of six weeks he had
to leave  on business, for  nearly four weeks.  He resumed the
treatment; new morbilli and new furunculi and abscesses ap-
peared in several parts of the body, till he was entirely  free of
any  pain or trouble in his chest and  body.   He left the  last of
June in full health, with new hopes for life, a feeling of which he
had  been entirely deprived for the  last two years, the want of
which had compelled him to give up business in his 28th year.

Fever and Ague, Suppressed by Mercury and Quinine—and Spinal
                         Affection.

   Mr. H----, of A----, N.  Y. state, twenty-four years old, of a
stout, bony frame, a farmer by occupation, light hair, bright blue
eyes, pale, and meagre, and limping, arrived here April 2d,  to be
cured of fever, pain in the back and legs, which were both swol-
len.   His pulse was feverish, and  had been up to 100 for  a
long  time ; he looked old, and the flesh of  the face hanging and
sallow.   He was  in  a constant sweat, and  easily chilled.  The
stomach refused to retain any food, or if it did, a sour acrid taste
followed the sparest meal.  The pain in his back was produced
by a protrusion of the vertebrae, between the hips ;  from here it
followed the  ischiatic nerves.   He  had been afflicted by fever
and  ague two years previous, and  when feeble in consequence 
FEVER  AND AGUE.
93
of the attack, he tried to jump one day upon a horse, at which
time he first felt the pain  in the back and legs.  His lower spine
was particularly affected, and some vertebrae swollen.   His per-
spiration was of a  sickly, feverish smell, his  tongue coated, his
bowels relaxed, his appetite poor.
   He had used a great many remedies against these  different
evils, even  magnetism and the galvanic ring ! all in vain.   He
had found himself especially injured  by the electro-magnetic
fluid.
   In the water-cure, the patient showed a remarkable energy of
will.   Although wrapped in wool, he  threw it aside after a few
baths, and under  much pain and  great debility, made  the
strongest efforts  to  bring on reaction in the unusually  cold
spring season  of this year.
   After a few weeks his external  appearance changed, he looked
sound and fleshy, and  the  spinal affection was almost  entirely
removed.  In  the  fifth week a number of boils made  their ap-
pearance.  He was attacked by three severe sets, at intervals of
two or three weeks.   He felt better and stronger after each new
set, and  at length could walk fourteen to sixteen  miles a day,
without being tired.   A short time after  the last set had disap-
peared,  he began again to feel pains, lameness, and weakness in
the back and  hip, he threw up his food again, and  felt languid.
 Finally, he was  taken with an intermittent fever,  commencing
 with chills, and ending by heat and profuse sweat.
    The  treatment  followed all  his symptoms closely,  and  was
 changed according to their nature.   In five days the fever was
 entirely broken,  and the  patient began  to walk in his accustomed
 way by degrees.   A week after the latter attack, a fourth set of
 boils made their appearance.   At the  same time the eructations
 of food and sour substance  took  place again for some days, and
 finally a slimy diarrhoea lasting three days, restored to the limbs
 and  stomach all their natural energy  and vigor.   Patient left, a
 picture  of health,  in looks and feelings, the 11th of July.

                       Fever and Ague.

    Mr. S____, of C----, Conn., twenty-five years old, very tall,
 but of well shaped limbs, light hair, and a lymphatic complexion,
 arrived here the 4th of April;  had suffered from fever and ague
 several years  before, and had experienced several relapses since ; 
94
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
 had made for some time, hard studies for his profession, and was
 now interrupted in it, by a constant and insurmountable sleepiness,
 a constant feeling as if  fever and ague were about to commence
 again by slight attacks  after any exertion ;  a  miserable state of
 digestion, voracious appetite ;  pains  in  the  region  of the left
 kidney, and a constant  inclination to  pass  urine, with heat and
 smarting pain in  the neck of the bladder and uretha.
  The  treatment  was in his  case  particularly directed to recall
 the fever and ague, as there was indicated by its repeated attacks,
 a strife  to get rid of something.   It  returned  soon, but slightly.
 After five light but  regular  attacks, he vomited great quantities
 of bile and  slime, and the fever left him.   The rest of the symp-
 toms, especially the drowsiness, remained  the same.   He  had
 returns of biliousness until finally, from the 1st to the  6th of July,
 he became  attacked by a violent slimy diarrhoea, by which pieces
 of pellucid white mucous substances, two or three inches long, were
 evacuated daily.   Before these discharges  appeared, the pain in
 the back became very  bad, when exposing it  to the  force of the
 wave-bath or douche.
  After the  diarrhoea  was  over, all symptoms ceased at once,
 except  a small degree  of sleepiness, which I  do  not doubt  will
 yield to cold  applications of water at home in a short time.   His
 appearance was fresh and sprightly when he left, the 11th of July,
 to resume his studies.

            Summer Complaint.  Cholera Infantum.

  After stating  at some  length the symptoms and causes of this
 disease of young  children, Dr. W. says :
  A damp, well wrung-out bandage should be placed round the
child's abdomen,  and renewed day and night, as often as it be-
comes hot.   It must by  no means become entirely dry.   A bath
of ten, fifteen, and even more  minutes,  in water of 75° F., in
which the child is constantly rubbed, will  prove  strengthening,
and help to  cool down the fever and  inflammation.   It can be
repeated every  day as long as the fever, inflammation,  and the
looseness last.  After it, the child should be wrapped in a blanket
or wet sheet,  and  sweat some, and then be washed  in water of
 72° Fahrenheit.
  I have thus saved many tender lives, which have  been given
 up,  and I may say, that  I do not dread this disease, if the mothers, 
CHILBLAINS.
95
or nurses, are faithful, and  have courage  enough  to save their
darlings.  As nursing is considered extremely beneficial during
this disease, I have paid a great attention to what the nurses were
eating, and have forbidden  any hot bread, pies, cakes, biscuits,
green vegetables, and fruit;  also, coffee, tea, salaeratus, spices of
any name, too  much salt,  and  eggs.   The  nourishment of the
child,  by this  abstinence of deleterious substances, every day
becomes purer and better ; the mothers feel themselves becoming
stronger, by  a simple, nourishing diet, especially of mucilaginous
vegetables and some fresh meat; tepid milk, or cocoa for break-
fast and supper, and a good deal of  fresh water during the rest of
the day, particularly used as a daily wash-bath.
   After all is tried  that medical art has invented, try these sim-
ple, natural remedies, and you will find 99 per cent, of the chil-
dren, that died of this disease, will live.

                          Chilblains.
                         [From a Patient.J

   My son, aged ten years, for the last two winters has been much
troubled with itching, and occasional cracking of the skin on his
feet, especially around the heels and toes; and last winter, also,
under the  knees.   Last spring  he was, perhaps twice  a week,
wrapped in the wet sheet so as to sweat, and then put into a half-
bath of 72° F., for about five minutes.   About the same time, he
took the spring douche with a fall of six feet.  After a while, the
cold plunge-bath was substituted for the bath of 72° F., and some
weeks after commencing this treatment, a wet bandage was worn
around the left knee, under  which  the chilblains were most trou-
blesome.  In  a few days,  the  humor became more inflamed,
 spread considerably,  and several  small  boils  appeared in the
 midst, ripened, and went away ;  after which they began to appear
 on his shoulders, back, and indeed all over the body.  For three
 or four weeks in this stage, the treatment consisted of frequent
 changes of  cold  wet bandages, and tepid baths  and washings,
 with a sweating in  the sheets almost every day.  It is about two
 months since the humor and boils have disappeared,  and he has
 been in perfect health, and taken a warm or plunge bath two or
 three times  a day.
   Brattleboro, August 20, 1846. 
96
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
         Pompholyx Hydrogena.   Water-born Blisters.
                        [From a Patient.]

  On the morning of August 6th, I was awakened by an intense
itching on the lower part of my left ear and the chin, for an inch
or two nearest to it.  In an  hour or two it proved to be an erup-
tion, and not a musquito bite, as  I at first supposed.  The irrita-
tion was very troublesome.
  The next morning my forehead and neck were also covered,
and the  irritation was so great that I could not keep  my hands
from it.   It continued" to throb, and  burn, and  swell, after lying
in the damp sheet six hours,  as I  did this morning, and the color
was a deep crimson.
  On Saturday morning my left eye was entirely closed, even the
eye-lashes  being invisible, and  the  face  sadly swelled and dis-
torted.  A change  had taken place  in  the appearance of the
eruption, every pore containing watery particles, and the whole
region of the left eye looking like a well-filled blister.
  The doctor was in great admiration  at the " beautiful specimen
of erysipelas," and recommended wet  bandages, wrung very dry,
out  of tepid water, to be changed whenever very uncomfortable,
as the more warm and dry they were made, the more they would
bring out the  eruption.  They were  applied to face, ears, and
neck, giving great relief to the uneasiness.  They were changed
every hour or two,  according to  my feelings, and almost imme-
diately began to  be covered with  a yellowish matter of a peculiar
odor.   I would here say, that each day, until  the  seventh, the
bandages were more and more discolored ;  but at that time the
forehead, left ear, and cheek, were beginning to skin, and needed
bandages no longer.
  I continued to take  the perspiration once a day,  according to
directions, being washed off  each time in rain water.  On Mon-
day, the eruption began to appear on my body and limbs, to which
the  wet  linen bandages were also applied.  On Tuesday morning
the  swelling was great as ever in my  face, and it was impossible
to move a muscle ;  but my  eyes were both open, and forehead
becoming natural.  While  in the sheet, the swelling began to
subside, and each day after that,  some striking change took place
during the four or five  hours of being packed.
  On the sixth or seventh day, small  pustules also began to ap-
pear, which in a  day or two proved to be genuine boils.  They 
TYPHUS  OF THE LUNGS.—TYPHUS FEVER.
97
appeared in the midst of the eruption about my body and limbs,
and indeed soon absorbed it into themselves.  Now, on the eight-
eenth day after  the attack, I am just getting over the worst of
about twenty of  these  troublesome  guests.  The' doctor recom-
mends that I continue  the  sweating and douching for some six
weeks more, in order to bring out more of the same sort,  and in
this way cure the original disease.

                    Typhus of the Lungs.

  At. present I treat a case of typhus of the lungs, the second one
I have ever seen, merely by water, with the surest success. The
disease was in the second stage ;  in the  first  stage and a long
premonitory  disorder,  a number of domestic  and Thomsonian
remedies had  been used.  I found the skin dry, pulse 110, tongue
with a thick,  dirty  coat,  divided in the whole  length  from the
palate  to the tip, by a fiery  red stripe, dyspnoea (inability to
breathe) by spells for several hours, sensation of utmost weakness
in the lungs,  pains  in  the chest and the oesophagus down to the
stomach, and  even  to  the  bowels,  constipation, thirst.   Patient
was  wrapped  every day in sheets  till the  fever subsided, a wet
bandage constantly  worn  on  the chest, and this, as well  as the
back, washed with  entirely cold water in attacks of dyspnoea,
which ceased immediately in  consequence of  it;  foot-baths of
sixty degrees, two inches high,  and with rubbing of the feet, par-
ticularly the soles, prescribed  in case  the  bandages should not
remove the  dyspnoea,  and one dose of Ac.  Bryon, and Phos. Ac,
administered every  other  day,  according  to the  most pregnant
symptoms.  The eighth day  the  disease  appeared conquered,
appetite returned, and patient is now convalescent.

                        Typhus Fever.

  A remarkable circumstance  must be mentioned, that although
the gastro-typhoid  fever  last fall  made great  ravages, particu-
larly amongst young,  vigorous  people, even in  the street  where
the Establishment is situated, yet no case happened in the Estab-
lishment, and no case that was treated by water proved fatal.
As similar observations were made in 1842, during a great typhus
epidemic in Germany, in several German water-cure establish-
ments, this circumstance is worth notice, as it proves the influence
                         5 
98
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
of cold water  upon the nerves, when  used internally and exter-
nally in typhoid fevers.   As there is great difficulty in procuring
bathing tubs in poor families, I may observe  that  profuse  cold
washings with a wet towel all over the body, will answer l,\e pur-
pose in most cases.  As often  as the skin is too hot and dry, they
must be repeated often and prolonged in time accordingly.  A
blanket ought  to be placed under  the  patient to  prevent  the bed
from becoming wet.  The water spread  over the body by the
towel evaporates immediately in steam.  The wet sheet must also
be applied, but in the latter stages of the disease, patients are often
unable to lie in it for a long time, or to bear the frequent changes.
At such times baths of 15 to 30 minutes, and longer, till the skin
is cool and the pulse lower, are most efficient to turn the  disease.
A sheet applied after  the  patient  is taken out of the bath, pro-
duces, after  the chill is over,  the critical perspiration.  Washings
do not produce at once so great a change, but are not less  sure,
and always refreshing to the  patient.
  I have not seen  in this mode of treatment, what is called crisis
and critical days in typhus;  the disease ends always  by a lysis,
in stools and mild sweatings, lasting for several days.   The con-
valescence is quick, and patients  come almost always out of the
treatment more healthy than they ever have been before.
  No attempt, however, should be made to sweat patients the first
three days of  the real fever.   Often,, six days ought  to pass, be-
fore sweat can be  called forth.   The  cooling of the fever by re-
peated envelopments in the wet sheet  and blankets, is the surest
way to keep  down the disease ;  in the next  stage this will  be
done by bathings  or  washings, and  by sweatings; perspiration
will then come on easily.   Injections of water  of  72  degrees
Fahrenheit, must  be applied every day, if the bowels  are ob-
structed ; if they are loose, injections and a wet  fomentation over
the abdomen are indicated.
   I  consider  the management of these fevers  extremely easy
Whoever has  tried, or seen it once, will  not find the  slightest
trouble in applying it in all  cases.   All uncertainty connected
with the use of medicines, disappears in such fevers, and others
treated by water, and the favorable symptoms, particularly moist-
ure of the skin and eruptions,  indicate  soon the  victory.  Scar-
latina,  measles, and small-pox  are  not to be  dreaded if this
remedy be used. 
EFFECT* OF  IODINE.--BOILS.
99
                       Effects of Iodine.

   We would mention—although we have not room to insert in
 full—Dr. W.'s earnest caution and remonstrance against the use
 of  Iodine, which he regards as causing  the most distressing and
 incurable disorders, especially when its  vapor is inhaled, so en-
 feebling the  nervous system as to compel the use of opiates, thus
 plunging the poor victim into even more hopeless disease.   The
 entire hydropathic  treatment is necessary in such cases.

                            Boils.

   A lad of sixteen, working in a tannery, was often obliged to
 stand in the  cold and  acrid liquid,  in which the skins are pre-
 pared.   In consequence of this, a boil appeared on his right foot;
 he  resumed his work as soon as the boil  was open.  The tanning
 liquid stopped the discharge ; immediately the whole leg  began
 to swell, a dreadful inflammation, pain and fever came on ;  poul-
 tices, ointment, cataplasms of different kinds were applied ; med-
 icines given to still the fever and  pains, and everything done
 which the " law of the art" requires in such cases.
  In four weeks the hardy boy became a skeleton;  and all vital
 energy was  concentrated in  the one  leg, swollen  to more than
 double  the size of the other,  quite  up  to the hip.  Thus his
 mother, a poor widow, got him home ; she requested me to treat
 her son.  I found the  leg  very sensitive to the touch, from  the
 knee downwards, to the toes.  Near the shinbone were several
 red hard spots, the lowest of which was about  four inches above
 the ankle joint; the patient had no rest  day nor night, but a vo-
 racious appetite, a continual fever, and a very strong pulse from
 120 to 130.   The  slightest  exertion produced  a  copious sweat.
 Considering this last symptom as a leading one, I prescribed that
 the patient be washed over his whole body twice a day, but  par-
 ticularly the  sick limb.  I put around it  a dripping wet and cold
 bandage to  be changed every half hour day and  night, or,  at
 least,  as often as returning pain would require changing. I tried
 besides, by administering Aconite, Coffea  cruda, and Hepar sulph.
 to produce sleep ; each medicine had the desired effect, but only
for one night; it did not operate a second time.
  The seventh day, one hard bunch, which had become larger
and larger, broke near the ankle joint  and several pints of foetid 
100               WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
matter poured out; the pain and fever subsided, and now I ordered
the bandage  to be  changed only  when  getting dry ; to wrap the
boy in a wet  sheet once a day and to give  him a sweating with
profuse cold ablution immediately after.  The weakness was so
great, that during the first week, sweat came on after ten, fifteen,
or twenty minutes  ; but his strength  increased every day.  Four
weeks later he  was able to  walk, the  sore still discharging.  The
shinbone,  apparently, had been affected on the inner side, and at
some  three places eaten half an inch  wide  and deep ; it was
painful when touched, and the tissues  around  were filled with
matter.
   I continued the wet bandages,  poured cold  water  twice a day
over the leg, and ordered to persevere with the sweating and sub-
sequent cold  bathing  of the whole body.   All  the time the diet
had been  simple and pretty sparing, to  the great torment of the
patient; when  the fever had  entirely subsided  and the wound
had ceased to run, I  prescribed meat for him.  Soon a new boil
arose, broke and discharged after a few days.  The matter in the
affected places of the shinbone disappeared ; the healing and re-
storation were so rapid,  that a fortnight  afterwards the  bone had
recovered its natural  shape.   Patient walked about again, went
to work, and  when I examined the leg three weeks later, I found
it as strong and well  as the other. Dr.  H. of this place, a friend
of mine, but  not much  of a believer in the efficacy of water,
witnessed  the treatment and cure in all  its stages.

                 Rush of Blood to the Lungs.

   It happens  often  that congestion  of blood to the lungs, if not
properly treated, becomes  the cause of consumption.  A young
married lady  in this village, suffered from such congestion after
her first confinement, and was given up as consumptive.  I found
her in  a  continual fever,  with  night-sweats, pain  in the  head,
throat, and chest, and a troublesome nocturnal cough with green-
ish expectoration.  She was of fair complexion, light hair, and
though she did not leave her  room, nay, scarcely the bed  for  a
number of weeks,  her cheeks continued red and flushing.   The
veins  also on the forehead and  temples were always swollen.
Menses did not  return.
   I ordered a wet bandage on her throat and chest; every morn-
ing, immediately after leaving the bed, a washing in water of 74°, 
BRONCHITIS.
101
 also four hand and foot-baths one inch high, of the same tempera-
 ture, but gradually colder, with  good rubbing of the palms and
 soles, and gentle exercise in the air after each bath.  This treat-
 ment was  continued for seventeen  months, except that in the
 tenth month, evaporations in a wet sheet were prescribed, every
 other day, besides. Some  very large boils on the lower arm and
 trunk, settled the matter in the eleventh and twelfth months of the
 treatment.   After that time, she  had two light sweatings a week,
 in the wet sheet and wash-baths.   She is now well again, and
 blooming.

                          Bronchitis.

   Diseases of the throat, particularly the peculiar kind of swell-
 ing and  inflammation of the  tonsils, epiglottis and its  curtains,
 which here goes by the name of Bronchitis, have  been  treated
 frequently.  Last year, I expressed the opinion that in most cases,
 this disease is not what it is commonly treated for, and I now give
 it as my firm opinion, that chronic  bronchitis, in this country, is
 as rare as elsewhere, and that what is so called, is a far different
 disease.   Scrofula, generally connected  with some  mercurial
 disease in the mucous membrane of the throat; sexual excesses;
 too warm covering of the neck, in particular during the use of
 the organs of speech ; derangement of the stomach and neglected
 colds, are the causes  of  this  disease, for the most part prevalent
 in the male sex.
  There can  be no doubt  that this disease could  be reduced to
the scrofulous and  catarrhal forms,  if those persons who have to
speak  often,  long, and loud, would pay proper  attention  to  the
organs of speech,  and  not cover their  necks and gullets,  with
warm neckerchiefs, but on  the contrary, rub the throat often  with
cold  water and drink cold  water before going out  in the air, as
well  as immediately after  they return  to their rooms.   Should,
nevertheless, an affection of this kind show itself, they  ought di-
rectly to begin wearing day and night a thick, wet, well  wrung
out compress, closely covered with  a dry cloth, on the  throat,
particularly on the head  of the larynx, and besides  wash  Ihe
throat every three hours  and  gargle  with cold  water.
  Far gone  cases, badly treated by  allopathic  medicines and
warm gargles, require a  long water-cure; consisting in sweating
in sheets, moderately cold half-baths afterwards, sitz,—and in par- 
102
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
ticular, frequent foot-baths, washes and gargles of the throat with
spring water that contains much carbonic acid, and wearing con-
stantly wet bandages.   The latter,  however■, are more injurious
than  beneficial, unless worn  closely around the glands of the
neck  and quite up to the ears.  Douches may be used at the end
of the cure, as well as plunge-baths, for the disease is mostly con.
nected with a feeble skin, that is unable to keep the mucous r; em-
brane free from waste matter.
   For the  cure of this disease the  cold seasons are preferable.
Several cases  have ended with  boils on the arms and trunk; two
with very violent humors over the whole body, and one, which is
under treatment  yet,  appears  to take leave  by a  very painful
humor on the  feet, and by boils.

                      St. Vitus's Dance.

   One case of this disease in a girl of 13 1-2 years, was treated
by pouring  several pails full of cold  water over her at every at-
tack,  which  then ceased  immediately.   She  was  afterwards
wrapped in blankets, till a  light perspiration came on, and washed
until cool, with cold water.  A light diet and drinking of water
was ordered besides.  The attack  ceased within a  week.   She
grew considerably, but her nerves remained somewhat  out of
tune, till five  months later, when she was attacked with  a slow
typhus fever.   After her recovery from this disease, all  traces of
the disorder disappeared and she has had within the last year a
full and healthy bodily development.

Headache, Cold Feet, Costiveness, and slight attacks of Hypochon-
          dria and Hysteria, from depression of Spirits,

   Always find relief by cold washings, sitz, and  foot-baths, two
injections  a day  of one tumbler  of water of 72° each, wet band-
ages on the abdomen and loins, drinking of nothing but water ;  a
light diet, and removal of woollen underdresses.   A  considerable
number of such  patients  have  been treated, principally  of the
female sex, and of students, who, by their sedentary habits, con-
tract congestion of blood in the lower abdominal organs.

                     Cessation of  Menses,

   When not  of long standing, and when originating from colds 
        DYSPEPSIA  AND LIVER COMPLAINT, WITH WORMS.    103

unconnected with other diseases, has always found speedy relief
by two sitz and foot-baths a day, of 15 minutes each, and  three
or four sweats in  the morning, with a cold  ablution and  good
rubbing afterwards.  A number of such cases have been treated.

         Dyspepsia and Liver Complaint, with Worms.

  Dyspepsia has  appeared in connexion with most  of the  othei
diseases  I have  treated, generally  aggravated by enormous
quantities of medicine.
  Miss  N. N., 32 years of  age, rather tall  and muscular, with
dark  hair  and grey eyes ;  a dark  complexion, and  sluggish,
bilious temperament, had suffered  for a number of years from
biliousness, costiveness, profuse, painful, and too frequent  cata-
menia; pain in the  lower back and abdomen, and an increasing
bodily debility.  She felt all the time as ifi life were a burden.
She had used immense quantities  of blue Aloe-pills;  Sarsapa-
rilla—Tomato—and  other  bitters ;  physicians had given her
powders and bottles ; teas and elixirs of all tastes and colors, and
from  all the three  kingdoms of nature, but in particular  from the
mineral, when she tried to cure herself by turning to the  vege-
table  kingdom.  Under the  former treatment she once took a so-
lution of Iron  for six months, without interruption.  Thomsonians
had drugged and steamed her ; she had been bled  twenty  times
over,  had applied  corroding liniments of Antimony and Iodine,
had had sores, issues, and other tortures of the old school, but not
a single curative effect had  been perceived by the patient.
  I undertook the treatment with rather  too sanguine expecta-
tions.   I did not see any other disease than what had been pro-
duced by the  medicine.  Her primitive disorder, Dyspepsia of a
nervous nature, seemed gone, and to be transformed  by medicines
into a stoppage of  the liver, and costiveness, in consequence of a
vicious  formation  of bile.   The uterine  blood-system  also bore
the marks  of  the  disorder in  its circulation, and by the loss  of
blood, which  had  been too  great, the  system  had  become
debilitated.
  I began  the cure with  washings;  wet  bandages  over the
stomach and abdomen ;  drinking  of water;  injections  and sitz.
baths.  After a while  1  added a wet sheet;  boils appeared, and
I was sure that  all  would  go  on well.  The boils  healed, how-
ever ; the patient felt every day worse, lost strength  and vital 
104
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
heat, could not bear the  sheet in the hot summer, and began io
vomit large quantities  of bile and—worms! yes ! this was her
disease !   I caused her to drink  about sixteen tumblers of water,
and in order  to remove the costiveness, to  take four or five in-
jections every day, to be wrapped in blankets, if she felt too cold
in the sheets, if sickness at the stomach came on, to take a deep
hip-bath of thirty-five minutes, and to drink every ten minutes a
tumbler of water, to render vomiting easier and to cause evacu-
ation of the worms, to eat nothing but  peas, beans, coarse Gra-
ham bread, etc., no milk, no mealy substances, no meat.
   A few days later, she let me  know that she could not bear in-
jections ; they produced a violent pain in the region of the liver;
the pain produced sickness in the stomach, and the sickness pro-
duced violent vomitings of bile, also headache, and  such  a  de-
bility  that she was near dying.   But she did not die !   Finally,
evacuations came off,—immense quantities  of mucus  in  form
and consistency of natural faeces, and so frequently repeated for
weeks.   Upon  this, followed a bilious  diarrhoea of three days
duration ; after that was over, the evacuations continued  to be
frequent indeed, but consisted of tapes—two yards long ; often of
whole lumps of such tapes, as large as  a small egg.  The lumps
could be untwisted by water, and once more than six yards of
tape came from one lump.  These tapes consisted of thin stripes
of mucus, tinged  on the  sides or in the  middle, with  a yellow
vein.   Though I  had  seen the  like  tapes often,  I had never
thought of their having life ; but as she complained of a previous
movement  in the  bowels, before  they  were  evacuated, I was
staggered.  Finally, some worms made  their appearance together
with the tapes, and this was the symptom, that the  bowels had
been divested of the mucous membrane up to the duodenum ; for
here the worms must have had their residence ;  coming formerly
through the stomach and  oesophagus.
   Now I thought  the enemy conquered.  The pains remained in
the side, however ; vomiting continued ; she was more feeble than
ever,  which I considered  a consequence of the dreadful  evacua-
tions,  and decided on a tonical  treatment; ordered  a wave-bath,
besides two washings in fresh water every day ; allowed her to
eat some meat, farinaceous and slimy food, such as rice, sago, etc.
She became  stronger;  the yellowish hue of her skin changed ;
she felt a strong hope of recovering soon, and we made a pause in
the cure ; she went home, lived carefully according to my pre- 
ENTERALGIA  AND SCROFULA.
105
scription and returned after seven weeks, feeling as miserably as
ever.   The bandages  which she had constantly worn,  smelt
badly and were of a brown color  like Iron-rust.  The pain in
the region of the liver  remained, and vomiting of bile recurred
from time to time.  Theonly benefit she experienced, was relief
from costiveness.
   We began a new and moderate course, but  added a douche.
For a while, the patient  felt  stronger,  and both of us had great
hopes again. . About September  her bandages assumed another
color, and were for a short time of a bright yellow.  In October,
they turned blue, but now, are always of a  bright indigo blue,
over the whole length of the spine and  the region of the stomach
and liver.   She is better, but far  from being well.  There re-
mains still a pain as from pins in the stomach; slimy tapes  like
the first have made their re-appearance ; mucus comes with the
urine; menses, although regular, are painful and profuse, and a
numbness in the extremities has  been added to all.
   Her own family physician, who had done the most for her, as
often as he sees her, tells her that the water will kill her, that she
will become consumptive, &c. However,  she has seen  the great
changes that water has brought about.   Her bowels and menses
are regular, and she will  risk consumption and go on, for she is
able again to do a little work and to be useful to her family.   She
has had a bath and douche fitted up for  her, and  comes from time
to time, to report and to consult.

    Enteralgia {Tic Douloureux in the bowels) and Scrofula.

   A young gentleman  of 17, had  suffered from his third  year,
pain in the abdomen, exactly where the Ileum is inserted in the
Colon.  He could not  describe,  whether the pain had  its origin
in the integuments,  or in the.  bowels.  It came on sometimes with-
out any cause  whatever, and often  lasted for days and weeks.
Violent exercise,  colds and excesses in diet, usually brought on
the pain.   He  then turned pale, nay sallow,  and broad, dark
greenish circles appeared around his  eyes, although  his usual
complexion  was healthy, with the exception  of the skin on his
chin and forehead, which did not appear quite smooth and pure.
For the rest of the time he was lively and gay.  His stools, how-
ever, were rather irregular, and often clayish and dry.  I formed
the opinion,  that his liver did not act sufficiently, and that proba-
                      5* 
106
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
blyhe had become scrofulous  from the number of curative ex-
periments which had been  tried upon  him.  He had traces of
external applications on the place of pain, this being covered with
a thick and large  scar.   He  had taken much  medicine,  but
finally had objected to taking any more, and to having any new
external applications  made, as he suffered less pain  when with-
out them.  In the course of the water-cure,  which consisted of a
mild diet, perspiring in  a  wet  sheet, with half and plunge-baths
afterwards ;  two- sitz and one foot-bath a day, wet compresses
on the whole abdomen, injections, and  in the latter  part of the
cure, the douche, his face more  than any other part  of his body
was covered with scrofulous swellings and  small painful boils.
At the same time, the compresses showed all kinds of colors, in
consequence of exudation of the ointments and liniments applied.
Towards the end of the fifth month of his cure, the pains disap-
peared with  the said external  symptoms ; his digestion became
regular, and he left towards winter with but  a few slight indica-
tions of his old  sufferings,  which, however, disappeared totally
during a later stay of six  weeks, in the winter.

       Rheumatic Lameness, Torpid Liver, and Scrofula.

  Mrs.-----twenty-six years old, pretty large and fleshy, brown
hair and light eyes,  of a greyish complexion, had  been afflicted
from  her fourteenth  year  upwards,  with  pain and  occasional
swelling in the joints  of the extremities.  At last  it became ex-
tremely difficult for her to use her limbs. She had  never  been
a mother.  Her husband  and  friends felt  dissatisfied with her
fixed determination  to try  the cold water-cure, after having tried
every mineral spring, and all the most  celebrated physicians in
the country,  and only getting worse.
  She underwent the whole  cure ;  sweating, plunging, douching,
sitz-baths,  fomenting, compresses on  all her joints, wearing a
Neptune's  girdle (abdominal  bandage), drinking  from ten to
fourteen tumblers of water a day, and was  in the interval  from
the 16th of June to  the 24th of October, so  completely restored
to health, that she not only walked ten  or  twelve miles a day,
without trouble,  but recovered  all her natural gaiety and  elas-
ticity of mind and body.
  She left  me with the firm resolution to continue bathing  and
daily exercise.   When I  saw her about six weeks ago, she was 
DYSPEPSIA.
107
 perfectly free from her old difficulties, and in very happy spirits
 about the  future.  She never had what is called  a crisis, no hu-
 mor, no boils, no other perceptible excretions or secretions than
•the sweatings, which  were taken twice a day in the  last two
 months.   The compresses most of the time had  the appearance
 of being stained with a grey, greenish color.

                          Dyspepsia.

   Seven cases of nervous  dyspepsia, connected with and proba-
 bly originating from Hysteria, known  to physicians as  Hysteria
 Gastrica, or Pyrosis Hysterica, have been treated at the Establish-
 ment, since 1845.   I mentioned under the article Hysteria, that
 the patients raise a frothy water, which in some cases has a sour
 taste, most frequently in the morning,  after  drinking water : an
 acrid, burning sensation in the stomach produces a great desire
 for cooling drinks.   But, unfortunately, much drinking  in.such
 cases produces more froth and  acidulated water in the stomach,
 which rises to the mouth and must be thrown up.
   The disease  is not confined  to the female sex.  The cases I
 have treated, have been confined to unmarried patients.   All of
 them had a scrofulous tendency.  Two of the patients, after they
 had been a while at home and had rested themselves, recovered
 entirely.   At the same time, they disliked the water they had at
 home, on account of its bad taste, and would not drink more than
 two or three tumblers a day.  All lived near the sea-shore, and
 I presume  that  the water of their wells was  aluminous.    They
 had to abstain  as much as possible from drinking, and  to avoid
 roasted apples,  apple-sauce, mealy  and milky  food, sugar in
 every shape, butter  and  grease.   The treatment with water,
 meanwhile, must be carried on according to circumstances.
   Hvsteria has its particular turns.  I am inclined to think  that
 all the rules for treatment, given by the great lights upon water-
 treatment,   are  deficient  concerning this complaint.  A gentle
 treatment,  as  most of them prescribe, produces, except in a few
 instances, no  benefit: in certain cases, the most vigorous, cold
 applications, even rubbing  several times a day with  snow, have
 proved most beneficial.  But the constitution and state of the skin
 must be well weighed first, and the greatest caution is necessary.
 I have at this  moment a case of hysteria under  treatment, con-
 nected  with dyspepsia, spasms of the  stomach, congestions of 
108
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
blood to the lungs and head, piles, constipation of the most obsti-
nate nature ;  and who would believe it, that the most severe, icy
cold baths, heavy douches, and  the  like, produce  the greatest
benefit, whilst a gentle treatment rouses the disease  to  the dan-
gerous verge of hemorrhage ?  Such cases are not to be described.
They appear unreasonable, and still every practitioner will make
cures,  which  he cannot call rational, but  empiric.

            Rheumatism, and Scrofulous Affection.

  A young gentleman of  nineteen, of a scrofulous  habit, was
taken with rheumatic swellings in all his limbs.  There was no
visible inflammation when I first saw him, although  fever had set
in some weeks  before.  Want  of  appetite—rapidly increasing
emaciation and entire  powerlessness of  body—depression of
spirits—distraction  of mind—and sleeplessness at night, formed
the rest of the most appalling symptoms.   He had tried several
remedies without the slightest effect.   Before this attack, which
had  come on suddenly, he  had  complained for  months of weak-
ness and pain in the ankles and wrists, without being under the
necessity, however, of giving up his customary occupations.
  I state this case of rheumatism, in order to point  out its differ-
ence from what  is  commonly called acute  rheumatism, with a
shining redness of the swollen parts, and  very frequently, a rapid
change from  one place to another.
  The  treatment of both kinds of rheumatism is, as long as the
fever lasts, pretty much the same;  but the fever in this kind of
rheumatism is disposed to  cease after two or three days'  treat-
ment, without any  critical  excretion or secretion either by  urine
or sweat.   In most cases diarrhoea  ensues, lasting for weeks if
not carefully attended to, and  a great readiness for taking cold.
  As this was known to  me  before, I treated this patient by two
sweatings a day in sheets, then  ablutions with a wet  towel, the
water of 72°,  wet bandages on the  swollen  limbs, whether in or
out of wrappings, and drinking of eight or ten tumblers of water,
avoiding sitz  and foot-baths.   The  fever subsided gradually for
three days; the sweat had a very acrid  ammoniacal smell, and
tinged all the linen and bandages with the color of yellow.  This
continued for a fortnight, without showing the slightest influence
upon the rheumatic swellings.  The appetite becoming better,  I
reduced the diet to  a very meagre one.   After another fortnight, 
HIP COMPLAINT.   LUMBAGO.
109
 diarrhoea came on> which lasted for three days, but did not incom-
 mode the patient during the night.   Afterwards folhftved costive-
 ness for three days, which was a little relieved by two injections
 a day, of water of 72° temperature.  In  the  meanwhile  the
 swellings subsided,  but the  pain remained.  A new attack  of
 looseness ensued for  one day and a half, followed by costiveness
 for about two weeks.
   During this  attack,  the  limbs of the  patient again  became
 limber, and he walked  out, though still in pains and greatly in
 want of strength  as  to wrists and  ankles, for the latter easily
 snapped over.   A third attack of looseness, lasting for three clays,
 less violent than the former, but  carrying off large quantities  of
 slime and bile, had a most remarkable  effect.   The swelling  of
 the  limbs returned, larger than  ever, and was  accompanied by
 weakness and involuntary sweats, at the  least exertion.  This
 gave an indication for changing the temperature of  the  baths to
 60° and soon after  to  50°, to apply only one wrapping a day in
 the wet sheet, until  the  patient got warm, to give him the river-
 douche every forenoon, and  a hip-bath in the  afternoon of the
 same temperature as the morning bath.  In ten days the last
 attack was over ;  the patient went into the plunge-bath after the
 morning  sheet, took the  large river-douche, and left six weeks
 later, with very  little pain in  his  ankles, which ceased through
 means of wet bandages and daily washings, a month after his
 leaving the establishment.

                  Hip  Complaint.—Lumbago.
                                                            •
  The first case which came under my  treatment, was a  young
married lady, the mother of two children, who was brought sixty
miles in a coach, and  had to be  carried  most carefully  to her
room.   Every movement  affected her with the most excruciating
pain.  As soon as she was at rest,  I examined her spine.  1 found,
notwithstanding she had lain nine months on one place, her body
in extremely good condition ;  her  skin quite healthy and rosy, not
the slightest indication of any disorder in the formation of the spine
or its coverings, nor any trace of inflammation of the psoas muscle,
kidneys, etc., etc.
  The patient had employed a number of physicians,  and  all had
given the disease the name of Spine Complaint.  Some had found
out a deviation of the vc rtebrae ; some a neuralgia ; some a rheu- 
no
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
  matism;  some a vascular effusion or swelling;  some an injury
  in confinen%nt, etc., etc.
    The pain  seemed to have its seat between the  vertebrae of the
  loins,  but  she  could not tell in which of them, as it seemed to be
  largely diffused, coming from or  producing a burning pain in the
  hips.   It came  on and  left off, after lasting for  hours, but  for a
  long time  it  had never subsided  entirely.   She could bear to be
  touched on the  painful place,  except one little  spot,  where the
  manipulation made her cry out immediately.  The history of her
  disease showed that it was lumbago, or hip complaint, caused by
  rheumatism, in consequence of straining the spinal muscles  and
  ligaments during her  confinement.   According to this opinion, I
  applied a wet  bandage on  the spine, ordered general washings
  and rubbings,  and after four days,  a wrapping in a sheet before
  washing.  She bore  it very  well,  and felt  much  relieved  by
  several  hours  of quiet sleep in the sheet;  on return of pain, she
  was placed  the same day into a hip-bath, and was astonished to
  feel immediate relief,  which lasted for several hours.
    I perceived the disease to be of a rheumatic and not of a nervous
  nature, apparently connected with a slight stoppage of the blood,
  in the loins  and lumbar  regions.  Before long, black spots  as if
  from  sugillation of  blood,  made their  appearance  in  several
  places of the back and thighs.   She bore the wet sheet every
  day better ;  fourteen days afterwards she could stand the rubbing
  in a half-bath.   In the fourth week  she began to walk, and  after
  a treatment of  twelve  weeks, she  felt so  much improved  by
  plunges,  douches, wet sheets, hip-baths, and rubbings, that she
• was able to walk from six to seven  miles a day,  without increas-
  ing the  remaining pain in her back.  This  she still  had, when
  domestic affairs made it necessary for her to return home.   She
  continued there  the washings  and bathings as much as possible,
  and as in the spring there was yet  some pain left, she made the
  summer following, agreeably to my advice, a  stay  of several
  months in the  establishment of  my friend, Mr. D. Ruggles, in
  Bensonville, near Northampton,  Mass.,  where she was entirely
  relieved from all pain.

              Hip Complaint and Scrofulous Affection.

    In the more difficult and obstinate cases of this disease,  some
  substance or waste matter appears to be established in one or the 
HIP COMPLAINT  AND SCROFULOUS  AFFECTION.      Ill
other organ.   The case which I am about to state, will snow this,
as well as the injustice done to physicians,  if they do not detect
this  hidden cause or substance.   The means  known in regular
practice, are quite insufficient for the  purpose.
   Mrs.-----, twenty-nine years old, had in her infancy had the
small-pox, and probably in consequence, had become of a scrofu-
lous habit, which impaired  some of the natural functions.  She
married when twenty-three, but had no children.   Her constant
ailments ended in real  sickness every  month, as her menses were
preceded and followed  by leucorrhoea, and always set in, at least
one day, with excruciating pains, yearly  becoming more and
more  severe.  At last she  felt heaviness  and weakness in  the
lower abdomen ; her spine became curved in several places, and
finally, she was  hardly able to leave  her couch or bed.  When
standing or walking, she felt extreme pains in the loins and hips;
her skin was dry and of an  acrid smell; her appetite pretty
strong,  but her digestion weak ; the bowels alternately loose and
constipated, and her whole body emaciated.  She came to me in
a most helpless and hopeless state, bewailing her deplorable fate.
   Her cure began with washings and gentle rubbings, in water of
72°, which, after a week,  were repeated twice a day; two  sitz-
baths a day, often minutes and 72°, and foot-bath at night of the
same duration and temperature.   Although, she suffered excru-
ciating  pain at the time of catamenia, I did  not dare to give her
any bath, as she was still too weak.  After her menses, I applied
the wet sheet, which  made  her improve  rapidly in strength,
although the  symptoms  remained  the same.    At  the next
monthly turn,  she suffered  more than   ever,  and requested
of me  some  relief.   I  then  ordered a  sitz-bath  of 75°  to
be continued till the pain should  cease.   She was about  three
quarters of an hour in it,  when a violent uterin.e spasm ensued,
and a tough membrane was removed  by the nurse, which had
exactly the form and shape of the extended cavity of the uterus.
It was comparatively dry and tenacious, of a  yellow and dirty
color, and offensive smell.
  From this moment  she improved  rapidly;  grew fleshy;  the
pain disappeared from  the spine and  hips ;  leucorrhoea ceased,
and before three weeks were gone,  her spine became straighter
and stronger, and the  curvatures appeared  now to be mere con-
sequences of bodily weakness,  but not of scrofulous disease, for
which it had  been taken and treated.  She  left the establishment. 
112
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
after ten weeks, to  continue the  cure at home according to my
prescriptions.   I saw her in  the fall,  and was astonished to find
her cheeks red and  her limbs plump.   She has continued since,
to live upon a healthy diet, has used at least one general washing
every day, is now able to attend to her household, from morning
to night, and is about to become a mother.

                   Curvature of the  Spine.

  This disease  has often  been  considered  a consequence of
Scrofula.   The question has been, why the female sex furnishes
more  than two thirds of the cases.   It is probable, that by some
dietetical  error, the spinal  muscles of the female sex, in which
the  vascular system prevails, are  impaired and weakened.   The
spinal column never deviates, when  the muscles  are strong, and
for this reason, according to my experience, a correctly managed
water-cure in  connexion with gymnastics, is alone able to remove
the  hidden causes of this disease, and to prevent the life-long, bad
consequences of the mere orthopaedic  treatment so much in use.
One of these consequences is a constant and stupifying headache,
which  apparently has much to do with great weakness of the vas-
cular system,  as it is mostly connected with an irregular conges-
tion of the blood to the head and brain.
  This headache, likewise, is very often the  trouble of females
that never have done anything for the correction  of spinal devia-
tions ;  but then it has a less obstinate  character.   For, after the
muscles of  the spine have  been strengthened, and the skin and
nerves  invigorated, it usually ceases altogether.   Deviations of
the  spine often produce neuralgia, either under the shoulder blade
or in the nape of the  neck.  Patients under nineteen or twenty
years are easier.to cure of this neuralgia, than older ones.
  In these cases, washings and  rubbings of  the  spine with cold
water, several  times a day, wet compresses, wet  sheets for three
quarters •of  an hour, with a subsequent bath of 72°, which gra-
dually must be colder, and finally, a cold plunge  (provided other
circumstances allow it), foot and sitz-baths, and according to cir-
cumstances, even a small douche, may be applied.  The latter is
never  borne well before the congestion is conquered, which is
best done by long, shallow baths  and  rubbings,  particularly of
the  lower extremities.   Drinking until the  quantity  amounts to 
NEURALGIA OF THE SPINE, &C.
113
 ten tumblers of water, and more a day, and much exercise in the
 air with the bxly as erect as possible, are indispensable.
   A number of such cases have  been treated with more or less
 success.

                  Neuralgia of the Spine, SfC

   A lady of seventeen, from constant headache, lost her hair, and
 suffered besides from neuralgia of the spine.   She was extremely
 fretful and afraid of water.  After three months, she was free from
 pain in the head and spine; had become  fleshy, and her hair had
 grown  again.   Moreover,  her spine  had become stronger and
 straighter.  In the last week  she bore a small douche very well,
 which I have fitted up for such local purposes ; it comes sideways,
 has a stream of half an inch,  and to which can be given a great
 force.  It is particularly necessary that the stream strike  upon
 the weak muscles.
   Miss-----, twenty-seven years of age, of a robust body, and a
 teacher by profession,  from mental  exertion and study, like  a
 great many of her sex, who follow the profession of teaching, was
 suffering from neuralgia in the upper spine, connected with  a
 general rheumatism of the spinal  muscles.
   Anatomists had found a swelling of some vertebras of the lower
 spine,  which I, however, could not detect.  I  gave her the whole
 treatment at once, and she recovered  in three  weeks, and has felt
 well since.

    Consequences of a Curvature of the Spine,  and Dyspepsia.

   Mr.-----was in his  infancy scrofulous, and had been treated
 for curvature of the spine in the old orthopasdic way, having been
 violently stretched by machinery.  In after years he applied him-
 self to literature—visited a celebrated college—led a pretty eccen-
 tric life, studied the law, and soon found himself so unhappy and
 depressed in mind  and body, as to be unable to  attend to the duties
of his business.  He changed it therefore ; but ere long he found
himself in a like  uncomfortable situation.   He  adopted now  a
rural life, but continuing his great mental and bodily exertions, he
was attacked with great pain and bodily inertia;  and finally, with
a violent dizziness which prostrated him.
   Through all these sufferings ran a kind of  dyspepsia, which  I 
114
WATER CURE  IN ABIERICA.
 am unable to describe in all its turnings ; but it was evident, that
 a great derangement of the whole absorbing system and glands,
 produced the dyspeptic symptoms.   His lower spine had become
 extremely weak, and  he  was  attacked with a painful sensation
 which prevented him from stooping,  although no trace of piles or
 emaciation  was visible.   Thus he had attained  his forty-fourth
 year, feeling as if  he  could not  live much  longer.  His whole
 skin  presented  a kind of sallowness.   His  nerves were very
 much  affected.   His habits were natural.   But in spite of all
 his sufferings, the hope never left him,  that he yet had vigor of
 nature  enough, to carry him through a  cure.   I began his treat-
 ment with cold  baths, and a vigorous rubbing of the body, par-
 ticularly of the  spine, used the plunge-bath which  was 50°, in
 August.  Hip-baths,  foot-baths, drinking of fourteen to sixteen
 tumblers of water,  as well as thorough exercise every day, were
 prescribed,  besides.  After a  few weeks,  boils  formed on  the
 back, connected with great pain of the inguinal glands.  As soon
 as this first set of boils was healed, the treatment continuing all
 the same, I added perspiration in a  wet sheet  every other day,
 and  oftener.  New  boils  and  eruptions appeared in quick suc-
 cession, on all parts of the body.  No  other improvement, how-
 ever, was perceptible, than an increase of  flesh.   By the final
 addition of a douche, great quantities of slimy, and afterwards,
 of sour and  whitish matter like curd,  were expectorated every
 morning after drinking.  New  sets of boils appeared at the same
 time, but the vertigo of the head began to disappear.  It ceased
 entirely, as  occasional expectorations and  new boils continued.
 The cure lasted in the more strict manner for a year ;  after that
 period it was left off and resumed from time to time, always re-
 sulting in new humors and boils on the  skin, particularly  on  the
 lower  limbs.  The mind and  body of the patient, however, had
 been changed, and he has since been able to commence business
 again.

                         Headache.

  A young gentleman barrister had suffered for years from a
headache, which made the performance of his duties and studies
a great burden  to  him.   He was robust  and looked  healthy,
although he  never  was without  pain throughout the  head.  I
could not find out any cause for this disease, and  had no symp. 
                          HEADACHE.                     115

toms to judge by, whether the pain was of a nervous, or of a con-
gestive nature.   He was cured in ten weeks, by remaining in a
plunge-bath of 48° to  50° for ten minutes, and by head-baths,
followed immediately  by sitz, and foot-baths.  But  the  plunges
only,  had a decided effect.   It proves that a long plunge-bath,
although  rejected by most of the modern hydropathists,  but pre
scribed by Priessnitz under  certain  circumstances, is often of a
most beneficial effect,  when the lower situated organs  are to  be
brought  into antagonism with those  above them.  I do not see,
why it should not be as effective as baths of 96° (blood heat) and
100° for ten  to thirty minutes, given to a patient  by the  regular
practician.   In rush of blood to the head (congestion), cold shal-
low baths of thirty minutes,  with rubbings, have been substituted
as a rule, for hot and plunge-baths.
 TESTIMONY OF REV. E. R. TYLER, EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLANDER.
   This  able journal  opens  the  April  number (1847), with an
 article of some length from the editor, upon  Hydropathy.   As
 we learn he was himself a patient for  some months in a Hydro-
 pathic Establishment last winter, he doubtless speaks from  his
 own experience and observation, in so  strongly commending  the
 system.   We have only room  for a brief outline of this article.
   After  urging upon physicians the importance of  examining
 this system, giving a sketch of its history, authorities in its favor,
 and a general idea of the processes, he  recommends and predicts
 its introiuction into the ordinary daily  practice of physicians in
 families, especially in acute  and temporary attacks,  which  he
 thinks it  will control more readily than any other remedy.  More
 obstinate, confirmed chronic cases, he  justly commends to the
 establishments, where the baths, regimen, &c, are all under the
 eye of the practitioner ; by these means, he adds, " thousands of
 persons afflicted with chronic complaints of long standing, and not
 cured by the use of drugs, have  been restored to perfect health.
We record  the fact  with  some gratitude, and  indulge  the hope,
without the  extravagance of thinking  that the apothecary's occu-
pation is gone, that a new era of health is fairly  introduced." 
116
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
            DR.  ABEL UNDERHILL'S CASES.

   In the following cases, the treatment prescribed by Dr. Under-
bill (while he was in Cleveland, Ohio), was carried  out  by the
patients at their own homes, he not having any establishment in
which to receive them under his own supervision, at that time.

                    Abscess of the Lungs.

   This most interesting case was the first  bold effort I made with
water, after all hopes of recovery by medicine had been  given
over.   Mr. S. was in Illinois on the Mississippi River, and took
cold, which settled upon his lungs; being badly treated,  the in-
flammation terminated in abscess.  In this condition he returned
home to Massillon to die.   He was emaciated in flesh, and  had
hardly strength to walk.   His  family physician was called but
deemed it useless to attempt a cure, he therefore prescribed only
such things as he thought calculated to make him comfortable—
forty drops of  laudanum at night, chloride of soda to correct the
faetor of the expectoration, oil to move the  bowels, and wine or
brandy to support his strength.
   It was two weeks after his  arrival that I  first saw him,  and
conversed with him upon the subject  of  cold  water.   He  had
never  heard of treating  disease by  water ; I told  him frankly,
medicine could not cure him, and from my inexperience, I could
say but little for water, but were it my case I should try it.   After
a day's consideration, and  through the urgency of his wife, he
resolved to try it.    As  he was, he must die soon, and he could
do no more  under water-treatment.  Knowing  the disposition of
the profession to oppose and  condemn everything new, and if I
should be  unsuccessful to report that cold  water had killed  him,
I  invited  three physicians of Massillon to attend with me  and
examine the case.   Great care was taken in the examination by
auscultation and  percussion, as well as by measurement.    The
united opinion was, that the surface of the abscess was as large as 
                     ABSCESS  OF THE LUNGS.                117

 the palm of a man's hand, and from the spine to the breast bone he
 measured from one inch to one and a half less ov-r the diseased
 lobe than over the other.  They were unanimous in pronouncing
 the case incurable by medicine, or, as they believed, by any other
 agent.   The disease seemed to be  fast  creeping upon the other
 lung, for in coughing all sensation was in that lung.
   I find the following in my note-book of cases :
   Dec. 21, 1844.  Mr. G. D. Shepard.   Consumptive from acute
 inflammation of the lungs, of about two months' standing, terminat-
 ing in  abscess (very large) of the right lung;  expectoration
 purulent, fetid, and abundant, not much less than  a quart every
 twenty-four hours.  Declared to be in the last stages of consump-
 tion, and given over as incurable by his physicians.  Aged forty.
 The treatment was commenced with the wet sheet, in which he
 remained  until he perspired freely; this  required three hours at
 first.  After four or five  applications of the sheet, he slept in the
 wet jacket at night as a substitute ; washing after each application
 in cold water,  with thorough rubbing ; he drank freely of cistern
 water,  as  he had  much thirst, even  ten, twelve,  or fifteen
 tumblers-full  daily.   The hip-bath was used  at 11  o'clock.
 His cough  had been  inveterate and troublesome  at night, but
 although the laudanum and medicine was at once dispensed with,
 I found  as soon   as he  became warm in the  jacket,  he  slept
 sweetly and soundly all night without waking or coughing.  Under
 the jacket, he  perspired freely,  and  in the morning when it was
 removed, it was  found stiffened  with the  very pus or purulent
 matter  which  he  expectorated  through  the  day.  His  appetite
 was voracious and ungovernable, and this doubtless enabled him
 to endure sweating all night without loss of strength.
  I  have  obtained from  Mr. S., a brief account of his case for
 publication.   The fact he mentions  with  regard to the growth
 and  change in the appearance of the nails, is one I have fre-
 quently observed, and is strongly indicative of returning vitality
 and  health.

                           Cincinnati, Ohio, January 20th, 1847.
  Dear Sir :—When Doctor Underhill  commenced prescribing
for me, I was reduced to a skeleton, and did not breathe, but panted.
I was discharging, on an  average, one pint or more of matter a
day, from an abscess on my right lung, and it did not seem possi-
ble for me to live more than a week at furthest; so thought  all 
118
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
my friends; everything seemed to be turning into matter,  that
I was discharging constantly.   I could  lie only on my left side,
and had worn all  the skin off from the prominent  bones  on that
side;  my pulse was  running without  variation as high as 120 to
130 a minute.  He commenced his experiment of cold water-cure,
about the 21st of  December, 1844 (in the  village of Massillon),
by putting me in wet sheets for three hours at  11 o'clock,  in a
sitz-bath  for fifteen  minutes, then  washed  all over;  again, at
9 o'clock at  night, the  same operation.  On going to  bed, I  was
bound in a wet cloth and stayed  up with a strait jacket, in which
manner I lay all night, and sweat tremendously; in the morning,
got out of bed in a perspiration, and got into a tub of water,  and
was washed  all over and rubbed dry with a coarse towel;  all the
water used was uniformly as cold as ice ; after the third or fourth
day, I left off the wet sheet, but for three  months I kept  up the
other operations, of sleeping in the wet cloth, the bath, and washing.
   He said his object was to draw through the pores of the skin,
most of this  matter from my lungs.   I am happy  in saying that
his expectations were satisfactorily fulfilled, and that I owe  my life
to the cold water-cure.  Every night I put on clean cloths wet in
ice water, and on taking the  cloth off in the morning, it was com-
pletely saturated with the matter from my lungs, which had a very
offensive smell.   I did not use in the whole course of my treat-
ment any medicine, but one half bottle of Sands' Sarsaparilla, and
that did me  no good.
   This course was pursued for  two  months without my gaining
much, but I could feel gradual inprovement.  The skin had a
healthy appearance ; before, it was like parchment, without life ;
my blood now circulated more naturally,  and my feet and hands
were warm, which before  were  cold; my nails on my feet and
hands commenced growing rapidly—before, they had no life in
them and were brittle, breaking  off, and full of ridges; after this
they grew smooth.   A number of doctors visited and  examined
me every week, and said for a long time after I commenced this
treatment, that I  must die;  that if I got well, it was  like  raising
one from the dead.   The last month I gained strength and health
very fast, and left the house at the end of the third month; since
then I have  enjoyed good  health, and been able to do as good a
day's work  as I  ever was.  I have some soreness in my right
lung, and a severe  cold always affects me there.   I am a  firm 
HSPATIZED  LUNG.
119
 believer in this  cold water-cure, and shall  always  try it if at-
 tacked with any  complaint.
                                   From yours truly,
                                           G.  D.  Shepard.

   Remarks.   The treatment of this case was not very scientific ;
 it was my first attempt, and with very little reading at that time,
 upon the subject.   The  success of the treatment proved incon-
 testably its great value, even in extreme cases.   One great and
 important  fact this  case establishes  beyond controversy,—the
 power of water when applied for some  length of time over a part,
 of bringing morbid matter from an internal organ to the surface,
 through the pores of the skin ;  the same  fact I have witnessed in
 a number of other cases.

                       Hepatized Lung.

   When I first saw this case, it was clearly Tubercular Consump-
 tion, far advanced.  It  had  been so called by other physicians,
 and pronounced incurable.  1 felt that much doubt existed as to
 his being benefited.   He was  about twenty-three to twenty-five
 years old ; the treatment consisted in the daily use of the jacket
 to sweat in, washing, sitz-bath,  compress over the lungs and sto-
 mach at night, and along the spine ; drinking soft water, exercise
in the open air, &c.
   As a consequence of this treatment, the disease was arrested,
 and  has terminated  in  hepatization of  one lobe of the  lungs.
I have only seen Mr. Mc  C.  three  or  four times,  the treat-
ment having been mostly directed by letter.  During the winter
of 1845—6, he taught school three months, and  is able  to take
gentle exercise, and to converse without much  inconvenience.
He is  harassed sometimes with a cough, without much expec-
toration, owing doubtless to nervous irritability.  His case is an
interesting and instructive one, and the whole history of it is so
admirably  drawn up by himself,  at my request,  that I shall give
it in  his own language :—

                                     Jeromeville, Jan. 5, 1847.
   I have long been the victim  of disease, the result of a heredi
 tary scrofulous temperament.  Long  before any symptoms ap-
 peared, I was told that the same fate awaited me that had befallen 
120
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
a brother and a sister : viz. a consumptive's death.   About the
middle of the fall of 1842,1 was attacked with a bad cold, which
I neglected,  and which  finally settled  on my lungs.   I took a
few domestic medicines during  the  winter, when my cough be-
came unusually troublesome, and thus I continued to neglect my-
self  until the following May, when I was compelled to quit work
and  undergo a course of medicine.   (I was at this time engaged
in the printing business, in the town of Carrollton, Ohio.)  After
going through  the  usual routine of bleeding, blistering, &c, I
was  relieved in a few weeks' time, and got apparently as well as
usual, till  the influenza began to prevail, with which  my cough
again returned.  This  continued until August,  when I again
commenced the use of medicine, such as iodine, and cough mix-
tures, with bleeding, &c.  I  improved  slowly, but did not  feel
entirely relieved of my cough until January, 1844.   About this
time I went to Brownsville, Pa., and for seven or eight months,
I enjoyed  excellent health ; but this was not permitted  to last, for
in August, I got wet, caught cold, and my cough returned.
   At this time I weighed 175 pounds.   About the same time I was
afflicted with a diarrhoea, and in the course of a few weeks I was
reduced  to 130 pounds.  The chills  and  fevers returned, and I
became so hoarse  that  I could speak only in a whisper.  I ap-
plied to  a physician;  he pronounced the  disease  Bronchitis,
and  prescribed iodine, and several other remedies.   I got better,
 and  was able to attend  to my business, until  the latter  part of
 December, although I was afflicted with cough, chills, and fevers,
 during the whole time that intervened.  I returned  home to my
 parents, who then resided in Minerva, Stark  co., O.   I arrived
 at home, worn out, and  dispirited.   I again solicited medical aid.
 I was bled, blistered, and took iodine, digitalis,  and cough mix-
 tures.  This was in the beginning of January, 1845.
   In the following March I was attacked  with a severe and dan-
 gerous diarrhoea, but its progress was arrested by the skilful
 treatment I received.   This had reduced  me to  a mere skeleton.
 A short period after this, I weighed as little as 113 pounds.  1 re-
 cruited some little, and continued  the use  of medicine, until  it
 seemed to have lost its  effect entirely. This was about the latter
 part of May, 1845, at which time I heard many favorable reports
 relative to the action of cold water upon diseases of the lungs,
 as prescribed  by Dr.  Underhill, of Massillon.  I was urged to
 make the trial, but I thought long upon the subject, and dreaded 
HEPATIZED LUNG.                   \2\
 to undertake  it, lest  it should prove instant death.  About the
 first  of June,  I started for Massillon, a distance of twenty-four
 miles,  in  company with my brother, to  consult Dr. Underbill.
 At this time I was scarcely able to walk about.
   The doctor gave me directions how to proceed, and I returned
 home.  After a few operations, I began to feel like a new man.
 This inspired me with fresh confidence and hope, and I continued
 the applications perseveringly, and in about two months a crisis
 was produced. After I became relieved of this, I felt much better
 for a while ; but still the general disease remained,  and appeared
 unwilling to yield.  I persevered, however, and crisis after crisis
 was  produced, but still my enemy remained as unrelenting as
 ever, although my general health was  a  great deal better  tha ?
 when using medicine.  My  appetite returned, and has never
 failed me to this day.  The water applications produced regularity
 of the  bowels, strengthened me, and in a  general way, gave me
 great relief.  I could walk as much as six or eight miles every day,
 when the weather was favorable.  Previous to my commencing the
 use of the water, I was liable to catch fresh cold whenever there
 was a change in the atmosphere ; but since that time, I have never
 caught any cold that I know of.   I believe it  to be a sure pre-
 ventive of colds.
  I continued  its  use until about  the  beginning of September,
 1846, when it no longer afforded me  any  relief, and I was com-
 pelled to discontinue it.  I do sincerely believe that it has been
 the cause  of prolonging my life, and giving me more ease and
 comfort, in my afflicted situation, than all else that might have
 been  administered. My only regret is, that I did not learn earlier
 the remedial powers of cold water in  diseases of the lungs, for I
 believe if a timely use had been made of  it in my case, I should
 long ere this have  been in the enjoyment of health.  I enjoy up
 to this day, the beneficial effects which I have received from the
 use of cold water, for I have had no return of any of those symp-
 toms  of which I was relieved by its use.  I enjoy my rest at
 night, my appetite remains unimpaired,  my digestion is good,
 my bowels are  regular, and a perfect  harmony seems to prevail
 throughout my whole system; but  still   the disease  remains,
 although its ravages seem to have been stayed.  My confidence
in the powers of cold  water  as a remedial agent, when  timely
and properly administered, remains  unshaken, notwithstanding it
has proved ineffectual in the entire  removal of the  disease with
                       6 
122               WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.

which  I am afflicted.   So far as my own observation extends, I
never saw it employed in any case but it was marked with bene-
ficial results.
                                          Jas. McCormick.
  I wished to publish this case, because it as fully demonstrates
the power of water  in controlling diseased  action as where per-
fect cures  are effected in cases not  so far advanced; in such
cases, some of the faculty will say,  you were mistaken as to the
extent  of the disease ;  it was not  really seated, &c, &c.  But
in the foregoing case, no such quibble will answer ;  the progress
of the disease  for a time is evidently arrested, and that by the use
of water.   Mr. McCormick  will readily communicate with any
person who may desire further information  touching his case.

                   Tubercular Consumption.

   The following case of tubercular consumption will prove that
much more than would  naturally be anticipated, may follow our
efforts.  That these efforts  may sometimes prove successful or
partially so, is sufficient reason  why we should not reject  appli-
cants for treatment,  whose cases seem hopeless, and would be, had
we no more potent  agent than  drugs.   This case was  one of
more  than six months' standing ; and so sure was his physician
that cold water could not save him, that he said to a friend "he
would  die  as  surely as if the jugular vein was severed;"  he
judged from the known certainty that drugs could not save him,
as death usually followed their administration in such cases.
   When I was consulted,  he had  hectic,  short breath,  emaci-
ation, inability to take any exercise ; the mere act of ascending a
common flight of stairs, ever so  slowly, would  fatigue him for a
long time.  The chest was sunken.  Auscultation and percus-
sion showed much dull heavy sound in the lower portion of both
lungs.  In fact  respiration  was almost wholly confined  to the
upper  portion of the lungs, apparently not extending more than
two inches  below the collar bone, cough bad, unless  restrained,
and expectoration occasionally with specks of blood.  I confess
I did  not expect water to benefit this case ;  I thought the vital
powers were too feeble to react,  but the history, as drawn up by
the patient and forwarded to me for publication, will, doubtless,
be most interesting  to the reader. 
TUBERCULAR CONSUMPTION.
123
                               Massillon, O., January 4, 1847.
To A. Underhill, M.D.:—
  I deem it of importance to extend beyond my own home and
circle of acquaintance, the benefits of hydropathy, as received by
myself.  I therefore send you a history of my case and experi-
ence, which, if you should think worthy of record, you may use
as you think proper.
  Just two years previous to this date, I was attacked with hemor-
rhage of the lungs, as pronounced by my physician afterwards.
I had three different attacks, at intervals of twenty-four and forty-
eight hours.  On the third  attack, I became alarmed, and sought
medical aid of Dr. P. Wallace, who  immediately proceeded  to
cup me between the shoulder blades, and took nearly one gill of
blood, which he followed with  powerful  cathartics, and purged
me severely, producing (as I  suppose) a serious active  fever,
which was treated as fevers usually are by the faculty.   At the
end of four weeks I was so  reduced  as to alarm my  friends,
and I ceased taking the iodate of iron, prussic acid, and  black
drops, so termed, which I had  been taking freely for twelve or
fifteen days alternately, and commenced taking  balsam of wild
cherry, of my  own accord, to check  a severe cough which  I
found  growing  more severe, daily, as I continued the medicines
of the doctor.
  Up to my attack of hemorrhage, I had no cough of consequence.
At the end of two months from this time, I had so far recovered
as to resume  my  duties as book-keeper, which I continued for
about two  months, when I was obliged  to desist again, having
grown so weak as not to be able to walk one fourth of a mile.  At
a loss  what to do, I remained indifferent as to taking medicine,
except the  balsam of wild cherry, and  continually grew weaker
and  weaker, having night  sweats, and expecting soon to  be  at
rest with my fathers.   My hopes of living were  faint indeed.
My physician  had already pronounced my case pulmonary con-
sumption and  necessarily incurable :  I was setting my house in
order,  for  I felt  my departure  was nigh at hand, when  as  a
last  (and  as every one  thought a hopeless) resort, I applied to
Dr. Underhill, with a sad  countenance and drooping spirits, to
know if he would prescribe water for my case.   He examined
me and came to the conclusion to prescribe, though with consi-
derable reluctance, and doubt as to any beneficial result.
   He ordered for me the wet jacket at night covered with flannel, 
124
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
and let  me remain in it all night.  It was made with  arm-holes
so as closely to envelope the  chest, and large enough to  cover
the whole body.  When I commenced, for the first two weeks it
required one hour for me to get comfortably warm ; after getting
warm I always slept sweetly and soundly, not being disturbed  by
my cough.  In the morning I stripped all off and took a thorough
sponge  bath, rubbing  with coarse towels until I was in a fine
glow all over.   At two or three o'clock each day, I took a sitting
bath from twenty to thirty minutes, followed by a thorough ablu-
tion again of the whole body.   Perhaps it will  be well here to
state that my jacket, when taken off in the morning, appeared  as
stiff as  though it had  been dipped  in a  thick solution of gum
Arabic, from  what  had passed out  through  the  skin ; a stench
which  was scarcely endurable, also proceeded  from  it.  After
following  this treatment for  two weeks, I could only perceive
that I  was no  worse, if no better; an additional week gave me
evidence of some trifling improvement.  At the end of six weeks
I had gained  decidedly, and increased eight pounds in flesh;
had a good appetite, a healthy color, and  my cough  had greatly
subsided.
  In July following, I concluded to  take a trip up the lakes to
Mackinaw, to see the  country, and bathe in  the  pure  waters  of
Lake  Michigan.  I returned  after two months' absence, almost
a new man as to health, having kept up the treatment of wearing
the jacket at night  and bathing in the morning, and through the
day.  From the time I first commenced improving, until Febru-
ary following,  I had never taken cold ; most of  this time I had
so much action of my bowels,  that it might be called a  diarrhoea,
yet I gained both flesh and strength ; my physician said it was
crisis in my case.
  About the 10th of February I started in company with a friend
for  Pittsburgh,  Pa., a distance of 100 miles,  in an open buggy.
Soon after we left, a storm set in which continued six days, almost
without intermission ; it was rain at first, but soon turned to snow ;
through all this I travelled, getting slightly wet at times.  While
in the city I was so imprudent as to  take off my overshoes, and
walk about the streets without them when the ground was very
wet, thereby taking the most severe cold I ever had.   I however
resorted to the wet sheet sweating, and partially broke it up.
But in returning home I added  considerable  to it.  This did not 
TUBERCULAR CONSUMPTION.
125
yield to the common process of sweating.   Dr. U. was absent
at this time, and I could not avail myself of his advice.
   I continued to keep tolerably well until April, when I began
evidently  to run  down, not having kept  up the treatment as I
should have done,  and I became much discouraged.  About this
time I projected a  tour to the sea shore, but before I left, Dr. U.
returned and assured me that my lungs  could not bear the sharp
salt water  air,  and advised me to  return to a vigorous use of
water, as  my best and only chance of recovery.   But I had re-
solved to go, and  started, assuring the  doctor I would return if
it did not agree with me; this, however, nearly proved fatal, for
on reaching the coast, the air seemed to reduce me still lower.   I
at once returned to Ohio, and resumed the water treatment with
a hearty good will;  the result  has  been,  that at this time I am
more fleshy than I have been for four years.  My cough (which
was  almost insupportable) is gradually ceasing, and is not in the
least  troublesome,  my chest is expanding  and filling  up, and
everything bids fair to overcome the disease ; I endure as much
exercise in my business as persons in  health;  I continue  the
treatment, in whole or in part, daily.  And  now should I be so
fortunate  as to escape taking cold this winter  (which I  shall
endeavor to do), I am well convinced that a radical cure will yet
be effected in time, though  I am fully persuaded  that tubercles
were formed in my lungs,  and  had it not  been for cold water I
should long ere this have been dead.
                                Your ardent friend,
                                             J. Stocking.

  Remarks.—When it is remembered that the whole treatment
has been  carried  out at home or while  travelling, we are only
the more  astonished  at the result; true,  he is not perfectly re-
stored, but for  months he.has been  and still is engaged in ped-
dling with a team, and  is much exposed to the  weather, and
endures great fatigue ; his  temperament is active and he cannot
bear confinement.
  I think this and the preceding case (Mc Cormick's) prove that
disease of the lungs, even tubercular, of several months' standing,
may be arrested If not eradicated by a judicious use of water.
Many are of the opinion that when tubercles are formed and  ex-
pectoration is considerable, no means can stay the progress of the
disease.  The  same success may not follow in every instance 
126
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
but from cases which  have come  under my own  observation, I
am inclined to the opinion that tubercular consumption is more
easily arrested than bronchial.

                        Consumption.

  David Fosdick, of Cleveland, aged  nineteen, slender  constitu-
tion, apprenticed to the cabinet making, was  attacked in the fall
of 1844, with bleeding from the lungs ; this recurred at different
times, for which he was treated secundum artem.  I first  saw him
in the following spring.  He was much  emaciated in flesh, list-
less, appetite poor, expectoration large, streaked with blood occa-
sionally.  He had been pronounced incurable by one or two phy-
sicians, and was waiting  the result.
  By the daily use of the wet jacket, compress over the lungs and
along the spine at night, washing two or three times all over in
cold water, sitz-bath,  &c, &c, he was restored to health, which
he has enjoyed ever since, so far as disease of the lungs is con-
cerned.  In this case a crisis of  boils was produced.  Tubercles
in the  lungs  were evidently forming, but  from all appearances
they have either been arrested and remain  dormant, or have been
eradicated  by the use of water;  the latter I think most probable.
  I prefer the jacket  in diseases of the   lungs, to the  wet  sheet;
reaction is sooner  induced, and  the  concentration of  the vital
powers is greater upon the diseased part, than when the sheet is
applied to the whole surface; it should cover the whole  body and
fit it closely, hence it should be made with  arm-holes.   This
should be covered with one or more thicknesses of flannel to pre-
vent the escape of the animal heat.   Those who have been able
to sleep in  this all night without  too much sweating, have usually
improved best, not only by its allaying  the irritability of  the or-
ganic nerves, but by  causing a large amount of matter  to  escape
through the skin, thereby relieving the labor of the lungs in  ex-
pectorating it.
   This to my mind is the only philosophical and  rational treat-
ment in consumption.  If tubercles are the result of deteriorated
or vitiated  blood, then an application calculated to give tone and
power to the blood-making  organs, is the proper means to over-
come that  diathesis, and  to remove such as are already  formed
or forming. Energetic vital action is the only power that can remove
obstructed  or congested  matter  from the  system, and  restore to 
       BRONCHIAL CATARRH.--DYSPEPSIA.--DEAFNESS, &C.   127

the organs their normal  or healthy state;  why not then restore
that action to the lungs as well  as to any other internal organ 1

                      Bronchial Catarrh.

   Mrs. A., aged fifty-eight, took cold some five  years before  I
saw her (July, 1845), which settled upon the bronchia  and in the
head ;  her skin was torpid, and she seldom perspired, but when
she did, always felt relieved ; had considerable cough and expec-
toration ;  very nervous and sleepless, bowels constipated ;  appe-
tite variable ;  generally  able to keep  up and about.  The use of
the jacket,  and sweating, foot-bath,  sitz-bath, and  washing all
over in cold water, compress at night  over the stomach  and  along
the spine (to stimulate the ganglionic  and sensitive nerves), res-
tored this lady to health.  She had been treated by different phy-
sicians, and had gone through with the usual routine of treatment
prescribed in such cases, but without  essential benefit.

               Dyspepsia and Bronchial Affection.

   Mr. J.  P----, aged  fifty, a farmer, came to  me in August,
1845,  when 1  found  dyspepsia  with  bronchial trouble, and the
following condition ; general derangement of the  functions  of all
the internal   organs; bowels   constipated ;  appetite  variable;
cough  and expectoration;  urine turbid and often high-colored ;
skin dry  and  husky; at  times  considerable  thirst,   occasional
night sweats, &c, &c.   This case was treated  by sweating  in
the jacket, compress at night, on the  chest, and along  the spine;
sitz-baths, washings, injections  of  tepid or cold water, &c, &c.
He improved gradually,  and  when I last saw him, in the fall of
1846, he had gained much in flesh, and appeared quite well.

                        Deafness, 8fC.

   Mrs. R., aged thirty-five, had been in poor health, and under
the doctor's care much of the time for years ; had great nervous-
ness and a derangement  in all the internal viscera.   She applied
to me to prescribe water for her  numerous and  nameless  ills;
among others, she had  been deaf in one ear for ten  or eleven
years,  yet through  the use of the water by sweating, washing,
compresses, sitz-bath, &c, &c, not only her general health was 
128
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
innovated and much improved, but also perfect hearing was res-
tored in that ear, and has remained uninterrupted ever since.

                       Flesh Wound.

  Charles Breed, aged fifteen,  was bitten  by a  bull-dog in the
calf of the  leg, mangling  it in  a most horrid  manner.  The
animal being  chained, the  boy got hold of something and thus
pulled  the leg  from the jaws of the dog, while a female was beat-
ing the dog over the head to cause  him to let go.  The teeth
seemed to  have met through the thick  belly  of the  muscle
of the  calf of the leg, several places were torn from pne inch  to
two, and even three inches in length ;  in short, the whole calf of
the leg seemed  literally  torn to pieces, or chewed to shreds.  I
resolved to use water, and immediately enveloped the limb in a
large towel wet in cold well-water; in one hour all  the pain was re-
lieved, I then removed the towel, and with adhesive straps brought
the edges of the different wounds or openings together, enveloping
the limb in a dry flannel blanket  ; in about an hour  and a half
reaction came  on, and it became quitejvvarm and feverish ; I now
enveloped the whole  limb from the foot to the body, in a partially
wrung cloth, covering it  with a woollen  blanket of one  or two
thicknesses.  In this the limb was kept  constantly, night and
day, only removing it occasionally to wash  the limb and  wet the
bandage.
  After the first hour, he suffered no pain; when  the bandage
or towel became dry, it  would feel unpleasant; this he would
moisten with a sponge, and all would  be easy again.  But I did
anticipate that there would be considerable suppuration ; I did not
believe it possible that  those shreds of muscle, torn and  chewed
as they were,  could  heal by anything like first  intention, but I
was disappointed, for in ten days  he was hopping  about on that
limb, and in two weeks was able to work again.   No matter ever
formed that required even washing of  the parts, and had I drawn
the edges of the wounds in close  coaptation,  I am  confident all
would  have healed by the first intention.  No  more inflammation
was present than was necessary to carry on the  process  of heal-
ing.  One thing I deem important, and wish  particularly to call
the attention of the reader to; it is applying the  treatment to the
whole  limb.   In local wounds, sores,  ulcers,  &c, this increases
the  amount of healthy blood in the limb, and it is through the 
                            ASTHMA.                     129

blood that  all the vital processes are carried on.  The merely
local treatment of the old practice, to wounds, sores, and ulcers,
is the reason why they were so long in effecting cures, and why
they sometimes failed altogether.  In this  instance the general
health was good, and no compress over the stomach was required.
It has long been understood that it is difficult to heal wounds and
ulcers when the constitutional health  of the subject is much im-
paired.   In overcoming  this condition, water is  superior to all
other agents;  it fulfils the important object with great certainty,
and without damage to the  system.
  In the treatment of old sores and ulcers, I have found it equally
successful.

                          Asthma.

  J. Hine, aged over forty, had for more than fourteen years been
afflicted with Asthma.  He assured me that in that time, he had not
been able to sleep on a bed of any kind for more than one half the
nights,  and frequently he was so oppressed for breath, that during
cold nights, he was obliged to wrap himself up and sit under the
wood-house.  His constitution seemed to be giving way under it,
his shoulders drooped forward, and he was  emaciated in flesh.
  When I first saw him, he was confident nothing could be done
to relieve him.   He assured me he had  consulted the best phy-
sicians  in New England, Dr. David Hosack, of New York, phy-
sicians in western New York, and in  Ohio, and he  had become
satisfied that he could not  be  cured.   To all  this I replied, that
notwithstanding all that, if my views were right as to the pathology
of asthma, then water would  cure it, when it was  as yet only
functional, and if he would listen I would  explain it to him.  I
then showed him that one of the  offices of the skin and lungs was
to carry waste matter out of the system, and if the condition of
the skin was such, that it did not perform its part or share of the
work, the labor of the lungs must be increased, and that this was
his case.   He thought it reasonable, and by adopting the  daily
use of water so as to bring back to the  skin  its lost power and
functions, his  lungs would be relieved and  the  asthma cured,
This was the result.  It is now two  years since he was cured,
and I have never learned that he  has had the slightest return of the
malady since.   Mr. Hine now resides at Lafayette, Indiana, and
will substantiate  all I have said.
                        6* 
130               WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
   I hold that functional asthma is one of those diseases which can
be cured positively, by a judicious use of water.

                    Liver Complaint, Src

                                  Ravenna, Ohio, March, 1847.
  Doctor Abel Underhill—Dear  Sir :—In  compliance with
your  request, 1 proceed to communicate  some account of my
sickness, and my treatment by your direction, in the summer of
1845.   And first, I will mention, my health  had been bad, much
of the time for many years;  and after the birth of my children,
in February,  1842, I had been very  feeble. I had what some
call milk-leg, and a fever, so that I was unable to nurse, and was
for some months unable to labor at all.  My  stomach and bowels
continued very weak and irregular, and in the fall of 1842, I had
a severe attack of  pleurisy, which lasted several weeks.   In the
spring of 1843, I  had another attack of disease, an  irregular
flashy fever, accompanied by an alarming diarrhoea, and the at-
tending physician  informed us that my liver was  badly affected.
  By his advice I discontinued the use of tea, coffee,  fat meat,
and used but little butter and gravy.   I took  the  vapor-bath every
other day, and occasionally a lobelia  emetic, for  several weeks,
washing all over  with  water  after the sweating—beginning at
first with tepid water, and after some days using it cold.  I thus,
after a  few weeks, regained  comfortable  health, except  a pain
continued in my right side, or rather below my  right breast,  and
in my right shoulder, so that I was obliged  to omit my knitting
and sewing (though I could do light work about the house), until
September, 1844,  when I had another severe attack of sickness,
occasioned  as  we thought, and as our  physician informed us, by
ulcers breaking on the liver, causing much distress.
  From that, I partially recovered, but the pain continued in my
right  side  and shoulder, and my bowels were  never  in a good
state, but were ever  relaxed or costive, so that  my food afforded
but little nourishment;  and I had frequently a bad palpitation in
my heart.   Ulcers appeared to form and break about once  in a
month or six  weeks,  and the sickness and distress was more
poignant at each subsequent attack, until July, 1845.  About the
middle of July, 1845, an attack of sickness, in consequence, as we
supposed, of an  ulcer breaking on the liver, was worse than it
ever had been before, and almost discouraged  me.  I was then 
LIVER  COMPLAINT, &C.
131
taken with sickness (nausea), vertigo, and a sensation of faintness,
like suffocation, which prostrated my strength, and was but par-
tially relieved by vomiting, followed  by an alarming diarrhoea.
I thus became very weak, and  was confined to my bed about two
weeks, and had only so far recovered as to be just  able to walk
across the room, when we commenced the use of water, as the
last  alternative.
  Your letter of directions in reply to our application to you for
advice and  assistance, was dated July 27th,  1845, and we com-
menced treatment in accordance therewith, about the last day of
July, 1845.
  During the first week  of my treatment  with  water,  I  was
washed over with  soft cold water in the  morning on rising from
bed—having about a quart of water turned on slowly by an assist-
ant,  washing first the  hands and face, and head, then the body
and limbs—was then wiped dry with a towel, and  dressed, after
which I usually took some exercise.   At 3 o'clock,  P. M., I was
packed in a wet sheet  or  jacket, of  linen  cloth, under a feather
bed and coverlets, where  I  lay some two or three hours, usually
enjoying a comfortable sleep ;  and  after the first  three  or  four
days, I had  a pleasant and refreshing perspiration at each pack-
ing.  I was  then washed off quickly with  pure soft cold water,
as in the  morning, which was a most pleasant and invigorating
operation.   I then took a walk  in the open air, at first necessarily
a short one,  but at the end of  the first week I could walk  half a
mile.
   After the  first week,  besides the  morning ablution, I  took a
sitz-bath in the forenoon, packing  in the wet wrapper  in the
afternoon ; washing off and walking as before.   We  continued
nearly the same course of treatment until some time in November,
missing only a few days, and the morning ablution has  been  con-
tinued without much  intermission to the present time.   During
the treatment, and particularly while using the wet jacket, I drank
plentifully of cold soft water.  I should have mentioned that  I
had  again, in January, 1844, relapsed into  the  habit of drinking
tea,  and was less particular in my diet than I had been the year
 previous; and when commencing  the water-treatment,  I again
 dieted and  abstained from the use of tea.   My recovery under
 your treatment was very rapid, and before November  it was ap-
 parently complete ; only  my spine was  not as strong as before.
 Last summer was very  sickly in  this neighborhood; the  most 
132
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
sickly I had ever known in any place.   No person, I believe, in
the neighborhood escaped  having the fever or the ague,  but
myself.   I continued my  morning  washings, and on observing
any  symptoms  of ill health, I took the wet jacket, perspired
freely, washed off, exercised, and was well.
  I have never been in the  habit of taking drugs much, when
attacked with sickness.   Have, however, in hard attacks  taken
pepper and composition teas, sometimes " number six," and some-
times lobelia.
                                   Your friend,
                                                    C.  H.

                     Erysipelas Fever.

   About two weeks  ago I was called to see a girl of sixteen, of
full habit, and quite fleshy, whose health had been, poor for seve-
ral months.  Seven  days  previous to  my seeing  her,  she  was
attacked with erysipelas of the face and scalp, and  general fever
of a lower grade.  She had been treated by her brother, an allo-
pathic physician, and had  been  seen by another M.D.   When I
saw her, they had given her over to die.
   She had been delirious thirty hours; exercised no control over
the bowels or bladder ;  was picking and pulling the bed clothes,
requiring two persons to keep  her on the bed.  Extremities in-
clined to be cold  ; tongue black and dry, with  deep  red edges ;
talking and muttering, yet unconscious.   The inflammation and
swelling had left the surface,  and, as I think,  had  gone in, or
been driven in upon  the brain.
   In this extreme and almost hopeless condition, I took charge of
the case.   All medicine was discontinued at once.  I  commenced
with a compress  over the stomach,  gradually extending it until
the whole body was enveloped in the wet bandage.   Water, at a
temperature of about 70 or 75 deg.,  was applied freely to the
head,  changing  as often  as it became  quite warm ; dry warm
flannels were  applied  to the extremities, with a  jug of warm
water to the feet; these applications were all changed from  time
to time as was thought best, and once or twice each day the body
 was washed all over.   About three or four large spoonfuls of
 pure salt water were given  her  to drink,  as often  as every  half
hour.   All nourishment was refused, even toast  water.   I re-
 mained with the patient three days  and nights ;  after twenty-four 
ERYSIPELAS FEVER.
133
to thirty hours, so much consciousness returned as to control her
passages.
   The use of the water,  at 70 to 75 deg., to the  head, brought
back upon the surface the erysipelatous inflammation, relieving
the brain,  but with great exhaustion ; and it was not until the
fourth  day that  she could  remain awake for more than a few
minutes.
   The gradual improvement in the appearance of the tongue ;
the quieting and  more regular action of the pulse ; the less op-
pressive breathing, and the return of the inflammation to the sur-
face, were the indications  which gave hope  and encouragement
to persevere.
   It was not until the morning of the third day that I ventured
to use the entire wet sheet, owing to the impossibility of warming
the limbs below her knees.  But the result has been a complete
triumph  for water.  She  has  gradually and steadily improved
ever since, and no doubt  remains of her perfect  restoration to
health.
   The subject of the above,  Miss C. G.,  resides at  Tinker's
Creek, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, twelve miles from Cleveland.
 EXTRACT  OF LETTER  FROM  MISS  C.  E.  BEECHER, TO EDITORS OF
                     NEW YORK  OBSERVER.

                   Scrofula, Paralysis, fyc.

   " Among the cases I  have  remarked this summer, I would
mention one friend, a confirmed invalid of  fifteen or more years,
coming here unable to walk half a mile, and in four months leav-
ing, able to perform  such exploits as climbing a mountain here,
by a circuit of nine  miles, and claiming to feel  the health and
elastic vigor of childhood.  Another,  given  over by all  physi-
cians as the  victim  of  scrofulous  consumption,  and  who had
selected his place  for burial, after seven months' treatment, left,
declaring  himself a  new man, and anticipating health and long
life.  In my walks I often meet  two  little girls, brought here
emaciated and helpless, one with  a leg useless from infancy, the
other  with  distorted  spine.  They  gambol together  now, with
ruddy cheeks and vigorous health, so changed and improved that
a certain cure is fully anticipated by the physician.  I also meet
several gentlemen who came here helpless  paralytics, and one of
them  over sixty, who all are walking abroad anticipating an
entire cure.   I might mention many other interesting cases." 
134
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
WATER-CURE ESTABLISHMENT  AT  GREENWOOD
                         SPRING.
           Cuba, Alleghany  County, New York.

  A letter  from one of the  patients at the above place, after
describing the peculiar properties of the mineral spring, says :
  In the spring of the year 1846, Doctors S. O. Gleason and G.
B. Champlin,  having  found  within a few  rods of the mineral
spring four or five beautiful, clear, soft water springs, established
a water-cure house on the principles of Priessnitz.
  Notwithstanding it was somewhat late in the season, before
sufficient preparations  could  be made to  accommodate  many
patients, thirty or forty soon came, some of  whom said they had
tried  all kinds of medicines in vain, and unless they obtained
health here, they should  never try again, but go home and die.
Good success has generally attended them, and some of the cures
have been published.
  When I consider the healthiness of the climate, the  salubrity
of the atmosphere, the  purity of the soft water, from the numerous
springs, the romantic hills, the pleasant groves, overlooking the
majestic scenery in valleys far  below, I am of opinion  that no
part of the  United  States  affords a more  healthy and  desirable
retreat  for  sick and weary patients, than where  I  myself have
been cured of  a chronic inflammation of the liver.
                                              A Patient.

  Doctor Gilbert B. Champlin,  formerly of the. United  States
Army, sends us the following anecdote and cases.

                 Small Pox among the Indians.

  In the year 1813, while the  army lay not far from Buffalo, a
body  of friendly Indians  were encamped at no  great distance
from the main army.   Information was received  that  the small
pox had broken out among the Indians, and that three or  four of
the  surgeons, or mates, were to be detached to go and attend upon 
DYSPEPSIA AND  LIVER COMPLAINT.
135
them.   The order soon came,  and I chanced to be one  of the
number.   We repaired with promptness to the Indian camp, and
commenced  our medical  treatment, according to the rules laid
down in our books, for at that time I knew nothing but what I
learned  from my books.  Cathartics,  febrifuges,  diaphoretics,
&c, &c, were given, in hopes to allay the violence of the virus.
   But we soon found ourselves in trouble from a new and unex-
pected circumstance.  In spite of all our  exertions, some  of the
Indians would go and plunge headforemost into  a neighboring
creek of cold water ;  in some  instances while the eruption was
at its height!  We remonstrated with the chiefs  of the tribes ;
we begged and pleaded of theam to refrain from such awful prac-
tices ;  we told them  they would  surely die ; but all such persua-
sions proved of no effect;  they continued such practices daily in
spite of us.
   It was finally concluded, that I should be deputed  to the sur-
geon-general, to lay  our grievances  before him, and obtain his
instructions in the matter.  I accordingly waited upon him, and
told him that nearly  half of our patients were  plunging into cold
water, once or twice  every day. He agreed with me, that they
would stand a great  chance to die, but said, " they are  an un-
tamable set  of creatures, you must go back, sir, and do with
them the best you can."  I  immediately returned, and continued
our treatment according*to the books, but, in  spite of our books,
powders, and skill, a number  that we treated  died.  But,  to the
astonishment of us all, every one of them that plunged into the cold
water recovered !   Their skin was less pitted, and they came up
strong  and well.   The above circumstance led me to consider
much upon the use of cold water in every kind of inflammation.

                Dyspepsia and Liver Complaint.

   Mrs.  Fanny Spafford, of the state of Ohio,  hearing, by letter
from her friends, that Drs. Gleason and Champlin had established
hydropathy  at Greenwood  Spring,  in Allegany  County,  be-
came  determined to  visit the place, live or die.  She was con-
veyed by water to Buffalo ; from thence, by  easy  carriages, she
at last arrived safe.  For some years she had been afflicted with
dyspepsia and a liver  complaint; she was quite emaciated—a
mere skeleton.   Her physicians had concluded  there was no help
for her. 
136
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
  She commenced treatment the last of July, 1846 ;  the spray-
bath first, then the light  shower,  then the wet sheet, alternately
changing according to the  symptoms ;  the sitz-bath, half-bath,
&c.   The diet was  regulated, the skin was frequently rubbed
with coarse towels, for three weeks, but at  this time she was no
better.   The treatment, with alterations, was still continued with
energy, and on  the  fourth week,  an eruption appeared on the
surface of the  skin,  which her  physicians deemed  the  crisis.
From that time she began to mend ;  her appetite became good ;
the food sat well  upon her stomach ;  she soon became so strong
that she could walk a mile,  and bear  the douche-bath, where the
water fell seventeen  feet.   She stfll  continued to improve until
she left the establishment, in ten  weeks from her first arrival.
  I am permitted, through  the kindness of some of her friends,
to make an extract from one of her letters.   She says :
   " I arrived home safe ;  was quite as well  as when I left.   I
had  so altered that some of my neighbors  did not know me.   I
weigh  145 lbs.   My  husband is overjoyed to think I have gained
my health, and  I bless the day that I heard of the cold water
establishment in  Allegany."

                 Severe Wounds of  the Head.

   In the month of August, 1846, a son afld daughter of Mr. Keller
were riding along the road near Cuba, each of them upon a horse ;
at that time some boys were flying  a kite, but the wind having
died  away, the  kite  descended, which greatly frightened  the
horses; they ran and turned, throwing the children upon  the
ground, then  trampling them in the dust.   News came to Dr.
Gleason that two  children were killed and lay in the road ;  he
ran  to the  place;  they were, to  all appearance, lifeless; they
were taken up for dead, and immediately  conveyed to a house.
On examining the boy, it was found  that his nose was  split,  and
the scalp cut open and parted from the skull bone over the crown
of the head  to the back part of the  occiput, making a gash reach-
ing to the skull bone, of more than  nine inches;  another gash
of four inches was next discovered on the  side of the head near
the  temporal bone, all evidently done by the corks on  the shoes
of the horses.   The little girl's  head was bruised and  lacerated
in a similar manner : both  were senseless.
   After washing their wounds and adjusting the scalp, the writer 
SUPPOSED CONSUMPTION.
137
assisted Dr. G. in taking thirteen stitches in the wounds, after
which they were  dressed with  soft cloths dipped in cold water,
and changed as often as necessary.  They were  then put to bed,
but not a particle of what is called medicine was given them:
the cold water dressings were continued;  the  wounds  healed
kindly, and by the first intention, and in one week both of these
children were walking about.
   I have  just called  on the  father to see if the  case  is  rightly
reported;  he says it is, but wishes me to add, that he believes if
they had  been  treated in the old way, he should have lost them
both, and  then had thirty or forty  visits to pay for.

                   Supposed Consumption.

   Oscar Gallup,  aged eighteen years, of light  complexion and
blue eyes, narrow  chest, and of nervous temperament, was at-
tacked in  the spring of 1845  with  pain in his right side, extend-
ing to his shoulder;  a short, dry cough;  his pulse small, and
some difficulty of  breathing.  He was bled, blistered, and drugged
for about fourteen weeks, but  with no alleviation of his complaint.
Another physician was called, who went  through with a similar
course of treatment^ then another, who went on for many weeks,
but dissented from the other physicians, by the addition of a tea
made of tag alder bark.
   Thus for one whole  year was this poor young  man medically
treated by one and another, until almost every one concluded that
he had upon him  a seated consumption, and he was given up by
his physicians and friends.  He was unable to walk  and had col-
liquative  night sweats;  he'was a poor, emaciated  young man,
who had been under the  operation of poisonous  drugs for more
than one whole year, and was evidently growing worse all the
while.   His father finally consulted the physicians at the Hydro-
pathic  establishment at Greenwood Spring ;  they gave  him not
much encouragement, but promised to do for the young man the
best they could.   With much difficulty,.he was got to the board-
ing house; for some time it was doubtful whether he would live
or die, but with great care,  he was  so far revived as  to bear
more active treatment, which was  continued with prudence, and
in about seven weeks, the crisis was formed, by dark, livid spots
coming out on the surface of  the extremities, which did  not sup 
138
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
purate, but were very sore.   He began to grow fleshy, and in a
few weeks entirely recovered.
  He did not take a particle of medicine ; his diet was regulated ;
and by the judicious application of pure, soft, cold water,  he now
is well, and  enjoys as good  health  as any young man in the
county where  he lives.   He  says, " had  I  not gone to a cold-
water establishment, I should, ere  this, have  been  laid in the
grave-yard."
              Bronchitis, with Night Sweats, 8fC.

  I was attacked in the spring of 1846,  with  acute  bronchitis.
I followed a  strict course of  medical treatment, which served to
break up the disease for the  time, but left  me with a dry cough.
Soon after my recovery,  hoping to improve  my impaired  health
by travelling, I journeyed to Niagara Falls.  While there, owing
to  the excitement, fatigue, and exposure to the cold wind, and
damp spray  (which every one experiences in crossing just below
the falls), I  took a very heavy cold, which brought on a relapse,
attended  with  a constant  severe  cough, sore throat, pain in the
head, cold extremities, copious perspiration  at  night (which was
very  weakening), a painful pressure about the lungs, a difficulty
of breathing, at times a hoarse wheezing, and  occasional flashes
of fever,  which left me with  a feeling  of  exhaustion, pain in the
chest and the left side, &c, &c.  I remained in this situation for
some months, my cough  increasing, symptoms daily becoming
more alarming, and medical aid proving of no  avail.   My friends
becoming much alarmed, I with little faith,  but as a last resort,
placed myself under  the care of  Dr. G. B.   Champlin of  the
Water-Cure Establishment at Cuba.  While there, I was  enve-
loped in  the wet sheet daily, took  shower-baths, and each  day a
half-bath, which was  attended with  severe  rubbing  with coarse
towels, in order to draw circulation, if possible, to the seemingly
dead  surface.   This treatment, was continued for two months;
during this  time, great  care  was  taken  in regard  to  the diet,
which was  very light, the cravings of the appetite being left un-
satisfied.  Soon a change became apparent; my cough diminished
 slowly, and there was less soreness  about the throat; the  extre-
 mities assumed a more  natural  glow,  nocturnal perspirations
 ceased.   Subsequent to this, however, dark spots  appeared upon
 the  surface of the extremities, at  times  assuming  a very dark
 appearance, and very painful, like boils, although they did not 
SUPPOSED CONSUMPTION.
139
suppurate.  This  my physician thought to be  the crisis of my
disease.   Gradually my strength  returned, my cough  entirely
ceased, and I am now considerably convalescent.
                                    Angelina E. Russell.

                    Supposed Consumption.

  Mary Stearns, aged  about thirty, a married lady, residing in
Lodi,  Erie  county,  had been  laboring for a number of years
under what her physician termed a pulmonary complaint ; she had
not, however, much  cough, but considerable expectoration, with
almost constant pain  in the right side and shoulder, great  debility
and trembling,-together with a number of other causes  for female
debility.  She had consulted a number of respectable physicians
in Buffalo and other  places, who gave her little encouragement,
concluding that  her  fate was sealed, and that consumption, the
most flattering of all diseases, had fastened itself upon her with
such firmness that medicine  was useless.
  Emaciated, and discouraged,  she had  nearly lost hope of
ever being any better, when  a stranger told her that a new way
had been  discovered to cure diseases of the lungs.   She arose
from her couch, and determined to make one  more effort;  she
was brought to the Hydropathic establishment at Cuba in August,
1846, and  put  under the care  of  Drs. Champlin and Gleason,
who at that  time viewed her case as one which would yield to
prompt and cautious  use of the water-cure treatment.
  It  was commenced,  not however without some doubts.   The
wet  bandage  was applied  around  the  chest, three  times  in
twenty-four hours ; the foot-bath at evening.  For the  first week
no material  alteration appearing, the  same treatment  was  con-
tinued with the addition of the sitz and  shower-bath, and packing.
On the third  week, the  bad  symptoms began  to give way, and
she was evidently  better;  from that  time the packing was  con-
tinued, until almost every symptom of what was called  consump-
tion left her;  her  appetite was good, the lustre of her eye re-
turned ; her strength  was renovated ; her step was elastic, and her
mind cheerful.
  The above treatment was continued with  slight variations, and
she continued  to improve, under the various baths and applica-
tions, until she  could walk with  ease two miles, and considered
herself well and able to work.  She left the Cuba Establishment 
140
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
January 17th, 1847, saying, " I will now go  home and  comfort
and help my family."

               Dyspepsia with Nervous Debility.

  Mrs. Sarah Parker, aged about forty years, had been  for a
long time under medical treatment.   She was the wife of Alvin
E. Parker, Esq., a merchant living at Philipsburg, who had em-
ployed and consulted not less than twenty physicians in her case ;
many of them disagreed  as to the nature of  her disease ;  some
termed it a complaint of the liver, others, an affection of the heart,
others, a disease of the  lungs;  some said it was inflammation of
the diaphragm ; others, a general wasting of  the  whole system,
&c, &c.  Mr. Parker was at last  induced to bring his wife to
the Hydropathic  establishment at Cuba, and  on  consulting Drs.
Gleason  and Champlin, they pronounced her disease dyspepsia
with nervous debility, of long standing.
  Mr. Parker had no confidence in the water-cure, and said he
had paid out one hundred dollars for nostrums and  patent medi-
cines, all to no effect, but was willing to pay any  sum if his wife
could get help.  Dr. Gleason informed him  that, under proper
treatment, she would be as likely to recover there  as at any other
place.   They endeavored  to reason  with him, informing him of
the  affinity between the air we breathe, and  the  water we  use,
in the cure of diseases,  and that they  were as near akin as
brothers; that cold,  pure water, was one of the essentials of
animal as well as of vegetable life, and that men, women, and trees,
were now dying for the want of water.  Dr. Champlin informed
him that he had been a licensed  physician  between thirty and
forty years, and that he looked back with  horror upon the many
mistakes he had innocently made  during that time, among his
patients  ; one, in particular, was, that in a thousand cases, he had
denied patients with a parched tongue and burning fever,  the pri-
vilege of drinking  even the smallest quantity of cold water; but
he said he was educated so, and knew no better; he added that
medicine was not what it was represented to  be; that no  medi-
cine would go to a particular part and heal it; medicine  never
went to  the  lungs;  and that most learned  and wise physicians
had little or no faith in  medicine, for when they were taken sick
they would not take it; that some of the most learned and noble-
minded physicians in the world  were in favor of Hydropathy, 
DYSPEPSIA WITH NERVOUS DEBILITY.
141
which was only helping Mother Nature, who was the best friend
we ever had, &c, &c.  Still Mr. P. had no confidence, but owing
to the anxiety of his wife, he concluded to leave her three or four
weeks.
  She was immediately put under the care of Dr. Gleason, and
attended by  his wife.  Mild means were first resorted to, such as
the wet bandage around the thorax ; then the light shower-bath ;
the wet sheet, &c, for the  first week; but she was  no  better;
the next week, the same treatment, with a  small alteration.  She
was by this  time, perhaps worse ; she grew weaker, and could
eat little or nothing.  Her physician encouraged her to persevere
in the treatment.  Another week passed, with  no improvement;
the next week the treatment was changed; she was at this time
so emaciated, that many of the other patients became alarmed,
and actually believed she could not long survive, but Dr. G. still
pursued the treatment with energy.
   On the fifth week from the commencement, to  the joy of the
physicians, livid spots or bunches, almost  like boils, made their
appearance  on the extremities, which  they at once pronounced
the crisis.   The treatment was kept up ;  her appetite returned;
her strength became good ; the color returned to her face ; she
could eat almost any kind of food, and could take long walks.  She
left the establishment in just seven weeks from  the time she
came, as she said, better than she had been for four or five years,
and we understand she still remains well,
  This house is now conducted by Dr. Champlin.   It has three
stories in front, with wings  extending  100  feet;  is  properly
warmed  for winter  practice, and is situated 170 feet above the
village of Cuba.-  Dr. C. has  practised Hydropathy for seven
years.  Prices, $4 and $5 per week.
  Dr. Gleason has left Cuba, where (in connection with Dr.
Champlin) he and  Mrs. Gleason treated successfully above 100
patients during the last two seasons; they have opened a Water
Cure House at  " Glenhaven," in Scott, Cortland Co., N. Y., ten
miles north of Homer, and sixteen miles south of Skaneateles, (at
the head of the  lake.)  Dr. G. was a graduate of Castleton Medi-
cal College, Vt. 
142
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
             CASES FROM  DR. M. JEWETT.

               Magadore, Portage Co., Ohio, January 13th, 1847.
To the Editor :
  Sir,—1  have been invited by my friend, Dr. Underhill, to fur-
nish some  cases for your forthcoming work; I accordingly send *
you a few from my diary.
  I have had in operation in  this village, an establishment (the
first of the kind in the  state)  for the  accommodation of the  af-
flicted, where  I have been trying the virtues  of water, on a
limited scale truly, not being able to accommodate more than
ten or twelve patients.  I will give you two cases that occurred
in domestic practice, and some whom I treated at my house.

             Remitting Bilious and Typhus Fever.

   I was called, October 21st,  1845, to visit J. M., a young man,
who had been  under a physician's care for some days, confined
with what was termed in the commencement, a remitting bilious
fever, but it  had  now assumed a continued typhoid  type; heat
excessive, subsultus tendinum, mind  wandering, bowels  tympa-
nitic  and  loose, pulse 120, tongue  covered in the middle with
brown fur, edges red,  and  constantly parched, was  constantly
referring  all  his troubles to the head, complained of there being
" a fanning  mill in operation there," &c.  He had made in  the
beginning a fair trial of the virtues of quinine (the  great sheet
anchor of the allopathist in cases of the kind), and the usual
treatment in such  fevers.   The  physician in attendance consi-
dered the  case a very critical  one: I was under the necessity of
taking the charge of the patient.
   Treatment.—Cold water to drink, which had been denied him ;
cold ablutions, followed in fifteen minutes by the wet sheet, which I
directed to be wrung out of cold spring water every half hour or
hour, and applied until the fever subsided, and then let it remain
 until free sweating was induced ; this was commenced about 5, 
              INFLAMMATION OF THE  LUNGS, &C.           143

P. M., and continued until about 5, A. M., when a free perspiration
was  induced, which was allowed to continue for two  hours, fol-
lowed by cold ablution, friction, and a return to bed with a wet ban-
dage covering the bowels, which was kept on most of the time.
Fever did not return for a number of  hours ; when it did it  was
treated  as  before, but was subdued some  hours  sooner, and the
third accession of fever was put out with two or three applications
of the great anodyne fire  extinguisher,  and did not require  it
again.  Cold sponging and good nursing completed the treatment.
   His bowels soon became  natural as to fulness, and in  their
movements.   One thing I must here remark concerning this  case
—the offensiveness of the perspiration—the attendants in the room
adjoining were  under the necessity  of  protecting  their nasal
organs from the stench arising when he was taken out of the wet
sheet after sweating for an hour or two.   This symptom lessened
upon each renewal of the sweating.  He recovered rapidly, and
was soon heavier than he had ever been before.

 Epidemic  Typhoid Pneumonia.—Inflammation of the  Lungs,  fyc.

   February 11th, 1846, visited a son of F. J., of Brimfield,  who
had been sick for two weeks, with an epidemic typhoid pneumo-
nia  (then prevailing  in the  vicinity with much fatality).   The
symptoms  were, low muttering delirium, pulse 120, small and
weak, bowels moving  involuntarily,  discharges  fetid, muddy,
watery, and very frequent for the last twenty-four hours ; bowels
tympanitic, hacking  cough  with inability to raise at all;  lungs
charged with mucus; had been well  dosed with calomel, opium,
&c, powerful astringents had  failed to  arrest  the  colliquative
diarrhoea.   He had failed  rapidly  for the last forty-eight hours.
I  was called in consultation with Dr. Hastings, who had been in
attendance from the first; had  also the advice of  Dr. Burnet.
Here was  a case that allopathy could not reach.   Said Dr. B.,
" my opinion is, most unhesitatingly, that he must die."
   I  resolved  to try the  virtues of this life-giving  agent.   The
first sponging gave  me hopes of his recovery;  fifteen minutes
after sponging I put  him into the wet sheet, and kept him there
for three days with a moderate supply of bed clothes; changed
the  sheet  two or three times a day ; applied wet cloths  on his
 lungs and bowels every four hours or oftener, and sponged him
 all  over as often, using much  friction with  coarse  cloths and 
144               WATER CURE IN AMERICA.

brush; continued as they had been  giving  him  before, a little
brandy and  water, with as much  cold water as he could drink.
There was  no sweating, but  much  increase of the insensible
perspiration, which was very offensive ;  the bowels were checked
as by a charm, immediately on applying the  sheet, and  were
soon brought to a natural condition ;  tympanitis gone ; his cough
loosened, and he became able to raise; he lay more quiet, soon
became sensible, and in three  days, began  to  speak rationally.
His convalescence was now rapid.
  I do not remember, in a practice of a number of years, to have
seen a case where all the symptoms were so unpropitious as this,
cured by  drugs alone; not one  favorable symptom  presented
itself.  But this is only one of a number of similar cases which
I treated with the  main reliance upon water, always adapting the
temperature to the vitality  of the patient.   Several of them I
saw after  the  state of  collapse, when the bowels were  moving
involuntarily; with delirium, subsultus tendinum, petechiae,  and
other symptoms indicative of a speedy  termination.   I  had  the
misfortune to lose  one patient, and he had the disease seated upon
him  for three weeks  before I was called—a disease, which for
malignity exceeded any that ever visited this country—frequently
taking off half the members of a  family.

                     Acute Rheumatism.

   Mr. C. J.  was brought to my house June 14th, 1846, in the  fol-
lowing condition ; ankles, knees,  hips, hands, elbows, shoulders,
all swollen, red, and very painful with acute rheumatism; his back
also was much affected ;  had been in this condition for about  two
months, and the most of the  time  under medical treatment.
   I put him to bed at night with a wet jacket on, and  had  him
entirely covered with wet cloths, and slightly covered with flannel
in which he  slept much better than usual, all night; shower bath
in the morning, alcoholic vapor-bath at 10  A. M., followed by
shower.   In a  few days, he was able to take the douche  and
plunge-bath.  His  perspiration was very offensive at first, stain-
ino- the cloths very much.  He  left in one week from the day he
came, so well, that to show his  activity, he went over the fence
in front of my house without touching it, instead of going through
the gate.   He  had a slight  stiffness in one  shoulder, which en-
tirely disappeared in one week more. 
RHEUMATISM IN THE  LEG.
145
                   Rheumatism in the Leg.

  Mr. M., of Middlebury, came about the 1st of September, 1846,
has been for four weeks laboring under a severe sciatic rheuma-
tism of the  right  leg, so painful that  he has not had a night's
sleep since its commencement,  unless under the  influence of
large doses of opium.
   Treatment.—Wet sheet for two hours in the forenoon, followed
by the plunge-bath;  we wrapt him in wet  cloths at night; he  *
slept well, better than he had for weeks, and had little pain after-
wards.   In about one week, crisis occurred in the form of large
boils, following the course of the  sciatic nerve; they left  him
entirely free from his painful disorder.  This crisis was much
more speedy  than we generally look  for in cases of the kind;
the good result occurring so soon, is accounted for by his having
a good, strong constitution, and by the short  duration of the dis-
ease, compared with cases of the  kind usually presented  for
treatment.

   I might give numerous cases of  various kinds, should you de-
sire it, cases showing the applicability of hydropathy to phthisis
pulmonalis, brain  disease, ophthalmia, &c.   The practice of the
healing  art according to nature, is now fast  gaining ground in
this vicinity.   The  greatest  thing we have to fear is, its being
embraced by many irresponsible men, who  are  as  ignorant of
the cure as  they are of its  foundation—the  laws  of life.   No
man can  successfully practise  hydropathy  without  being  ac-
quainted with the laws which regulate the animal economy.
                                  Yours respectfully,
                                               M. Jewett.
7 
146
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
            CASES TREATED  BY  DR. SHEW.

   Most of the following cases, and all the accompanying remarks,
 were prepared for this work by Dr. Shew.  In his absence, how-
 ever, a few of them were abridged from his original notes by the
 editor.  Some of them have appeared, in whole or in part, in the
 Water-Cure Journal during several years past, portions of which
 are now out of print.

                   Bilious Remittent  Fever.

   Probably in no part of the country is there so much of " dosing
 and drugging" as in the west.   Cholagogues, bitters,  lozenges,
 balsams, extracts, tinctures, mixtures,  plasters,  ague and fever
 pills, and  preventives,  from a dollar and a half per box, or bottle,
 down to the lowest nostrum price, are everywhere heralded forth
 as perfect and guaranteed preventives of the diseases incident to
 the country.   How are people imposed  on through their own ig-
 norance, and the speculations of the villanous quack !   But the
 water-treatment is destined to do great good in the west.  Fevers,
 especially the intermittents, are there very common, as is gene-
 rally known; and that  the water-treatment, both as a means of
 prevention and as a cure, is a most valuable means in the diseases
 peculiar to that part of our country, I have abundant proof.
   The following case of a very worthy and enthusiastic advocate
 of the system, I will give as an example.  It is that  of Mr. S. T.
 Carey, merchant, of Angola, Steuben County, Indiana.  These
 are his words, which I take the liberty to use:
   " I was born of tolerably healthy parents, in Mendham, New
 Jersey.  My own  health was never very good.  I began life,
 doubtless,  as others have done, with a dose of drugs.  Whether,
 in my younger days, brimstone was forced down my throat, or
 roasted in  upon the cuticle, I cannot recollect;  but that drugs of
 different kinds were  frequently and plentifully given me,  I can
 distinctly  remember.   At an early age we removed  to Crawford
County, Ohio, not a very healthy part of the state.  The second 
BILIOUS  REMITTENT FEVER.
147
or third year I had the bilious fever, as it was called ; this lasted
me  a number of weeks.  I was purged and calomelized secun-
dum artem.
  " At the age of fourteen, I moved to La Grange County, Indi-
ana.  The first year here, I was taken with the ague and fever.
I was then dosed,  as a matter of course.  Afterwards, I went to
Adams County, Illinois, where I had the  bilious fever.  Then my
next move was to Angola, Indiana.   Have lived at this place"
about five years.   Two years ago the past summer, I had again
the  bilious fever,  a very severe attack.  I had before  this  ob-
tained  some  knowledge of  Hydropathy,  through  Dr.  Shew's
Water-Cure Journal.  I was convinced of the benefits of the
new mode, and, like some others, I resolved to ' throw physic to
the  dogs.'  So here came the test.   My friends said, ' now you
must have the doctor.'   I was very sick, I admit, but I told them,
if they would only provide me a good nurse, I would be  my own
doctor.
  " I had been in the habit of bathing, but  not of paying due re-
gard to diet.   My first application was  the wet sheet.   I took it
an hour, and  then  a bath in the  wash-tub.  Before taking  the
sheet my skin was parched and hot, and  the  pulse high, with
severe pain in the head.   In less  than half an hour  the pain
ceased, and I fell  into a quiet sleep.  The fever became much
abated.   I did not remain in the sheet so long as to allow the fever
to rise  again.  This was in the morning, the  fever  having com-
menced the  day before.  I fasted all day, and drank plentifully
of water, as thirst inclined me.  I took no more treatment this
day, slept well at night, rose  in the  morning, took a good bath,
and walked about among my friends in the village, feeling weak,
but nearly well.
  " I fatigued myself too much probably,  and through the mistaken
kindness of  friends, I over-ate.  This appeared to bring on  the
fever again the next day ;  at  any rate, it came on.  I again took
the  wet  sheet, and continued it twice  a day,  for a week;  the
fever coming on somewhat  every day, but more every second day.
Thus I again arrested  the  fever, but did  not regain my usual
health.   In about two weeks  I travelled to New York, and went
into Dr. Shew's Establishment about  the first of October.  In a
week's time I had so gained, that I felt better than I recollect of
having been for years.   With trifling exceptions, I have  enjoyed
remarkably good health  ever since. 
148
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
  " A number of individuals in  our village have practised the
same treatment with success.   I am prepared  to say,  that  our
mode, if properly practised, will  seldom fail in curing the fevers
peculiar to the west;  and that by daily bathing, proper attention
to diet,  and other hygienic habits, they can generally,  if not al-
ways, be prevented."
  October 25, 1847.

               Cramp or Spasm in the Stomach.

  The following case is not of great importance, but will serve
to illustrate the power of simple means, such as may be resorted
to with entire safety by any one, in cases of emergency, and when
a physician is not at hand.   Cramp in  the stomach is sometimes
extremely painful, dangerous,  and  troublesome to  manage.
  At sea, on our  homeward passage from England, on  board the
packet ship Switzerland, Capt. E. Knight, 29th November, 1846,
I was informed that Mrs. W-----, a very worthy English lady,
with a young infant at the  breast, wished me  to see her in the
steerage.   I found  her writhing and groaning with cramp in the
stomach ; the extremities were cold, and the surface pale.   She
could not lie, but was in a sitting posture, held by assistants.   The
wind was howling  through  the  shrouds, and the motion of the
vessel  so  great  that one was  compelled to lay hold of anything
near in order to stand.  I inquired whether Mrs. W-----had been
eating  anything that disagreed, when I was told that her bowels
had been out of order for some days.   She had lately taken her
meals  irregularly, and this day particularly, her food  had gone
badly.  She ate  about evening, and this had made her worse;
then, in an hour or so, a kind-hearted  old gentleman prepared a
nice dish of  coffee, with spices in it, which he thought would do  •
her good.   This, of course,  only made her the worse.
  The  treatment in such cases is simple and easily understood.
According to the old mode of practice, some would give an
emetic, tartarized  antimony, ipecac, the sulphates of copper or
zinc, flour of mustard, or perhaps what would  be least harmful
and most  efficient of all these, lobelia inflata.  By such means
the patient may often be relieved ;  but it is always at the expense
of  injury to the stomach, an evil, greater or less,  that should, if
possible, be avoided.   If the patient is a short, thick-necked, fat
person, and somewhat advanced  in  years, bleeding  would be 
CROUP AND MEASLES.
149
practised  before giving the emetic, with the view of preventing
apoplexy.  Others, again, would give large doses of some opiate,
solid opium, or what .would act more quickly, laudanum in very
large doses, as forty, fifty, or  even sixty drops, often repeated
until the effect is produced.   Those who have undergone any of
these (to us terrible  modes), and have also tested the effects of
water-treatment in like cases, can judge as to which are best.
  I told Mrs. W. I should treat  her differently from what she had
been accustomed to, but would  do precisely as if myself were in
her case.   I at once ordered an abundance of water, about blood-
warm, to make it as mawkish  as might be.  She then drank, at
my direction,  as quickly as possible, a number of tumblers, and
instantly copious vomiting took place.   A large  amount of acid
and undigested substance was thrown off.  She drank and vomited
again  and again, till the stomach became thoroughly cleansed.
The pain subsided, and  she went to rest; the feet were rubbed,
and abottle of moderately warm water was placed next them, and
she soon slept.  Next day she nearly fasted, taking only a little
water-gruel.   She  had no pain, grew stronger, and in every re-
spect better.   She omitted tea and coffee, and was careful in diet,
exercised on deck in the open air,  and thus grew better and bet-
ter,  the whole passage.
   In some cases of this kind it  is necessary, besides the vomiting,
to give injections.   There is no danger of vomiting and purging
too much, provided the water is pure, and used neither too cold
nor hot.   Quart after quart of lukewarm injections may be given,
until the  alimentary canal is thoroughly cleansed, and the pain
removed.  Frictions upon  the bowels, woollen cloths, or towels,
wrung out of  warm water, and the like, may be resorted  to.   I
have never in one  instance failed  soon to bring  relief  in  these
cases.  Once  in a hundred, spasm may be so severe that the wet
sheet  will be  needed  before  complete relief can  be obtained.
Mark  well the very small amount only of food allowable for some
days after attacks of this kind.

                     Croup and  Measles.

   March 12th, 1847.—Went to attend the little son, three years
old, of Mr. Osborne, of 444 Grand street.  He had been exposed
to the measles, and  the parents daily expected the coming  on of
this disease.  For three or  four  days, the  little boy had been 
150
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
coughing, and had the symptoms of  a considerable cold.   The
day before, there had been some sneezing and slight affection of
the eyes, which symptoms  usually  precede an  attack of the
measles.   In the evening, came on an attack of the croup.   The
room in which the children generally were, had a close coal stove,
and was,  therefore,  as is a common thing throughout the city,  most
of the time-too warm.  Mr. Osborn's children seem to have a pre-
disposition to colds and the croup.  Two have been lost under the
ordinary  modes of treatment the preceding year,—one of croup,
and the other of inflammation of the lungs.
   In this  case of the little boy, they gave some of Cox's hive syrup,
an antimonial preparation, for the purpose of producing vomiting.
There is  a great error among many with regard to giving emetics
in croup, and, by a wrong explanation, physicians often promul-
gate it.  In croup, as is well known, there  is always  a strong
tendency  to the formation  of a  false membrane  in the tfiroat.
Whether this membrane comes in  the  larynx that goes to the
lungs, or whether in the oesophagus, or meat pipe, that lies back
of the breathing pipe, is not at all considered.  The emetic, it is
supposed, causes the throwing up of  the phlegm and false mem-
brane, by actual contact with the part affected.   But it should be
remembered, that the medicine  passes only in the oesophagus.
Every one knows how much difficulty is  experienced, if a  little
of any substance is swallowed the " wrong way."  It is admitted,
however, that vomiting  does  bring some apparent relief in the
croup, and also, by  that process, there  is caused some expec-
toration from the throat.   Yet the harm done to the system by the
poisonous drug, far exceeds the good.
   Mr. and Mrs. Osborne had also made water  applications  to
some  extent.  Cloths wet in cold water were kept upon the throat
and chest; the body had been washed, but not in very cold water.
Water, as much as was desired, had likewise  been  given to drink.
All that was  done  with water was well, and  had,  no doubt,  done
considerable good.   He was allowed food as usual,  and this was
an unfortunate thing.
   At 12  o'clock, noon, I arrived at Mr. O.'s.   It was now about
eighteen  hours since the first appearance of the symptoms of croup.
I at once told the parents that I did not  believe the little child could
live.   There was that deep, hollow, stridulous or barking cough,
which every one fears so much, who has had  to deal with the
croup.   I  had  seen cases apparently as bad  as this,  perhaps 
CROUP  4.ND MEASLES.
151
worse, that had, under water treatment, resulted favorably.  But
in such cases, cures would be the exception, and not the rule.  It
was then understood that I would of course prefer not  to treat a
case of the kind, especially as the medicine mentioned,  had been
given.  I said, however, to the parents, " It is for you to decide.
You have called me, and now, after giving you my opinion, you
are to determine who is to treat your child.  If you desire me,
I shall be the last to give up, as long  as anything can be done."
After considering the matter a few minutes, they determined to
rely exclusively on the water, and trust for the result.
  First, then, the child had no more  food  for twenty-four hours.
He was encouraged to drink a little water often, and the  bowels
were kept open by injections.   He was bathed immediately (not
in water entirely cold, as the previous applications  had kept the
fever down very much) ; wet bandages were kept about the neck,
and large wet towels  about  the whole body and  lower limbs,
nearly to the feet;  and these all were  changed  every hour.
Thus, substantially, a wet sheet was used the whole of the time.
If the general fever  should  by any means come on, a thorough
ablution would be practised,  and  then again, immediately, the
wet cloths.   The  child was, of course, wrapped up sufficiently
to induce a comfortable degree of warmth, and had a general bath
or affusion about three or four  times in the twenty-four hours.
   At evening, the feverishness was  much reduced, and, on the
whole, the symptoms  a little better.   Still the croupy cough was
decidedly bad.   We had hoped that  the measles would soon ap-
pear upon the surface, in consequence of the wet cloths, and thus
some relief would be brought.   Those who  have witnessed the
water treatment in measles, must have observed the truly won-
derful effect of the wet sheet in bringing  out  the eruption, often
by a single  application, with a bath.  At evening there were
some  appearances of slight eruption about  the face and neck.
As the tendency to fever was  now less, the cloths about the neck
and body were changed once in two hours.  A bath (the extreme
chill removed from the  water) was given late in the evening.
   The little boy had passed  a better night  than the one preceding.
 The eruption now began to appear more  distinctly, but was yet
 very tardy.  We continued precisely the same  treatment.  Al-
 lowed the little fellow to taste of apple, a  small portion, when he
 chose, at the regular meal time, but nothing else.   The first day 
152
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
the appetite was most imperious : but this always takes place in
fasting.
  The same treatment was continued for three days, with tepid
injections daily, admitting  constantly fresh air to the room, and
giving a very small amount of nourishment not more than a half
ounce in all this time; boy grew better.   It was not  until this
time that the measles appeared fully and  in perfection over  the
whole surface.   I  had never seen a case near so  tardy under
water-treatment  as  this.   We gave now a little more nourish-
ment, but  yet  only a little  at  a time, and  but three times in
twenty-four-hours:  kept on  the  wet envelopment precisely  the
same as before, the  sooner to  poultice  away the eruption.  The
croupy cough  had diminished constantly, as the eruption came
out more and more.
  The next twenty-four  hours I was  away from the city.   On
returning, I found the wet cloths had acted like  a charm.   It
seemed as if in that time almost every trace of the eruption was
iiterally bleached away.   Some cough, of course, remains.
  The fifth  day, and  onward, the wet cloths were  applied two
hours forenoon and evening.   Sponging  the surface was per-
formed, after these applications, and the- mild  bath, by affusion,
morning, before  breakfast, and on going to rest; more nourish-
ment was given, and yet but a<small quantity at a time, and this
amount of treatment was  kept up for one week.
  Towards morning of this fifth  twenty-four hours, the little  fel-
low became  restless and  coughed.   The wet  cloths were  put
upon  the chest, and he then  became  quiet, and went again to
sleep.
  The lungs and throat, it will be recollected, are very liable to
become more easily affected after the  measles.  With this treat-
ment Mrs. Osborne will practise upon   her little boy.  I am now
confident no ill result will follow, and he will grow more and more
vigorous and strong.  It should be remarked, the face  and eyes
were  frequently washed, and light was admitted freely into  the
room.  Darkening  the room is injurious to the general system,
and causes weakness of the eyes.  Wash the parts and  accustom
them to the light.
   The favorable result in  this case was, I confess, quite different
from what I apprehended. 
MEASLES.
153
                          Measles

  A few days since, two or three children of Mr. H. P. Osborne
had the measles.   I was called but once to one of the  children;
Mrs. Osborne, having  studied the water-treatment considerably,
gave the wet sheet, and  thus  brought out  the eruption quickly.
She repeated it daily, gave baths, kept down the fever, and dieted,
and  all went on well.   These were good  instances of domestic
water-treatment.   The little girl I saw had passed through the
worst part of the time, but Mrs. C, not having seen the measles
treated by water, wished to know from me  whether she was pro-
ceeding properly.
  Another case occurred some days since ; a little daughter of Mr.
Joseph Allen, of MacDougal  street, seemed  to have a cold, and
was  coughing.  I ordered the wet sheet and an extra bath per
day ; to have her diet plain and spare, and if the cough yet proved
at all troublesome, to have the wet bandages upon the chest.  The
sheet and bath brought out the measles.  I  directed that the  sheet
be given twice a day, an hour each time, and a tepid bath as often
as the fever rose.   Wet bandages constantly upon the chest, and
injections to regulate the  bowels.  Everything went on favorably.
  My friend, Mr. Perry, 115 Orchard street, tells me he has just
been treating a child of his with water, for the measles.   Friends,
relations, and the doctor have expostulated, but all without effect.
Mr. P. tells me he is succeeding well.
  I have known no cases of measles to be lost, when water-treat-
ment  alone was practised, and I have repeatedly treated the first
cases of  a family of children, and the  succeeding  cases  were
managed by parents themselves.  This is, with some, an objec-
tion to the water-treatment.  It is so simple  that people learn a
great deal too much.   It spoils the trade.

                  Pregnancy  and Childbirth.

  In no part of medical practice is there so great and prevailing
prejudice to overcome,  as  in that which relates to pregnancy and
childbirth.   I will  therefore present  a few  facts, which I trust
may  do somewhat towards establishing the  principles of the new
system,  its safety, and most wonderful results,  in cases of this
kind. 
154
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
                                  New York, October 25, 1847.
  Case 1.—Four years  ago, and upwards, Mrs. M. L. Shew, of
the city of New York, was pregnant with her first child.  She
has, and had then, a frail constitution,  inherited  from consump-
tive parents.   She had also been much injured by the use of tea
and coffee, there being none to warn her of their pernicious effects.
She had also, before this pregnancy, been subject to miscarriages
and haemorrhages of different kinds.  By prudent management,
however,  at this  time, bathing daily, wearing at times the wet
girdle, exercising moderately and frequently in the open air, and
observing the  strictest  temperance and simplicity in diet, she
passed along remarkably well.  Four years and a half since her
confinement took place ; she experienced necessarily a tedious
labor ;  but through hydropathic treatment was enabled to sit up
and walk about the first day (the birth having taken place in the
morning) ; the second day to go in the open air, and the fourth
day to walk a distance of nearly two miles to the  Battery, resting
awhile, and then returning,  the  exercise causing not the least
harm, but, on  the contrary, decided benefit.

  Case 2.—On the 16th of September, in the year 1845, Mrs.
Shew came again to  confinement.  She had now arrived at the
close of a remarkably hot and  oppressive summer.  But it is to
be remarked she was out of the city most of the  time, a circum-
stance greatly in her favor.   Still there were various drawbacks
and hindrances to that quietude, contentment, and mental repose,
so necessary to the condition  she  was then in.   However,  by
means of daily  bathing, remaining much of the time of the hot
season in the open air and shade,  wearing usually a part of each
day the cooling wet girdle to refresh  the system, using the hip-
bath, and injections,  now and  then,  as occasion required, and
partaking  lightly of vegetable  food and fruits,  with  at  times a
little  milk, and of these but twice daily, so as not to oppress the
system, she passed through the summer remarkably well.  She
was indeed, much of the time,  able to endure more fatigue than
most  females in this country of ours.
  At the  time above mentioned labor took place,  and  was again,
necessarily, terribly  severe.   There  occurred  most  frightful
flooding,  and  after-pains of the severest  kind.   Yet, through a
very persevering treatment, she was by evening (the child having
been born early in the  morning) able to sit up, and walk a little 
PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH.
155
about the room.   She slept very well during the night, and on the
following morning, twenty-six hours after the birth, she took in her
own arms her child, and went down two pair of stairs, to the kitchen.
She felt that  she was perfectly able to  do this, and acted accord-
ingly on her  own responsibility.   She  was, however, very care-
ful this day ;  took but little nourishment, and in three days' time
moved to a large house, walking up and down stairs  numbers of
times during  the day, overseeing things as they were moved, and
so every day onward, continuing  her exercise.  Bathing  was
kept up as usual  daily, and she .partook now, as was her usual
habit, of the  plainest  food, but twice  per day, using no other
animal food,  except a  trifling quantity of milk, and no drink
whatever, but pure  soft water.
  Shall it now be said, that Mrs. Shew must have had the consti-
tution of one of a thousand ; like  that of now and then a wash-
erwoman, who, from necessity, gets up the  second day from con-
finement to do her housework  and  washing, and escapes, perhaps,
without harm ?  I answer, let those who are acquainted with the
facts  in her case, and are competent, judge.
  Those who will,  may peruse a more detailed account of this
case  in the Water-Cure Manual, page 245, or the Water-Cure
Journal, 1st half yearly volume, 1847,  page 145.

  Case 3.—In my note-book of last year I wrote substantially as
follows:
                                           "May 13th, 1846.
  " Mrs. Hendy,  of this city, consulted me about three months
ago concerning her  health.  She  bore, about two years  since,
her  first child, with which she  suffered  very considerably, it
being prematurely born.   Although her health had  been gene-
rally  good, she was now troubled with severe constipation, and
difficulty of breathing, indigestion, &c.
  " I directed her to commence bathing with tepid  water, once
daily, and after a few days (gradually  lowering the temperature
of the  water to  coldness) to perform two ablutions per day..
After a short time, her  husband obtained  a good  shower-bath ;
this she used  generally mornings on rising.  She  took also hip-
baths daily, and drank freely  of cold water, omitting altogether
her accustomed beverages, tea and coffee.   She discontinued the
use of butter and oily food,  and  partook  principally of farina-
ceous articles and  fruits.   Without the aid of  clysters, to which 
156
WATER CURE IN  AMERICA.
 she had an aversion, the  coarse  bread and fruits, together with
 bathing, effected an immediate change for the better in the con-
 dition of the  bowels.   The  constipation, although it had been
 long present,  was very soon entirely  removed.  Bodily vigor in-
 creased, the spirits improved, and the complexion became more
 clear and ruddy.  Daily  exercise in the open air  proved  highly
 beneficial.
   " Soon after midnight this morning (May 13th), Mrs. H. expe-
 rienced some  slight symptoms of approaching  labor.   She says:
 ' At four A. M. the true pains commenced,  and continued regu-
 larly.  At five, she gave birth to a fine, healthy male child.'
   " She was now made as comfortable as might be ;  wet  cloths
 were suitably arranged about the person, and she was left to rest,
 after having given directions  to her  husband as to the mode of
 performing the baths.
   " 1 o'clock P. M.—After leaving Mrs. H. she obtained good rest.
 She has had a bath, has taken light nourishment, and  is up in her
 room.  She is enjoined to be careful not to overdo.  She will re-
 cline frequently, and remain up  but a little while at a time.
   " At 9, P. M.—Mrs. H. has taken another bath, and feels as
 little like a patient as need be.
   " Second, third, and fourth days.—Mrs. H. has gone on carefully
 with bathing, exercise in  her room, plain diet, &c.  She is up
 nearly as much of the time as persons under ordinary circum-
 stances of health. She says her condition is wonderfully different
 from what it was at her previous confinement.  Her  infant, too,
 is thriving remarkably well.
   " Tenth day.—Mrs. H. has from day to day gone on with bath-
 ing, &c, and  with the best  results.   Few females in civic life
 enjoy as good health  as does Mrs. H. at the present time.
   "It should  be  remarked  that Mrs.  Hendy's health was so
good after the  birth of her infant, that she needed assistance only
twice for the washing of it; that thereafter, she not only took the
whole charge  of her  child, but attended also  to  her household
affairs.  If such cases are not strong enough triumphs of hydro-
pathy, we do not know what can  be."

   Case 4.—Mrs. C----, of Philadelphia, had been a  great suf-
ferer for a few years, apparently from weakness produced by bad
treatment during pregnancy and confinement; she had borne two
children, with  terrible suffering, and was confined to her bed for 
PREGNANCY AND  CHILDBIRTH.
157
eight to ten weeks after each accouchement.   Before her third
pregnancy she concluded to throw away drugs, and try the water.
cure.
  She commenced  bathing twice a day, and wearing  the wet
girdle ; she gained in health and strength, and her old complaints
gradually gave way.   She soon changed from the delicate crea-
ture she had been for years, to  her former freshness and beauty.
Finding herself now again  pregnant, she added  the sitz-bath to
her usual treatment, and  ate only twice a day (as too much eat-
ing at such times she  imagined, makes  the child large and the
mother weak).   She walked often in the open air, and several
miles a day up  to the time  when confinement was daily expected.
   She now concluded to come with her husband and nurse to this
city, to be under my care.  She reached the Astor House in the
evening, and was taken in labor early on Wednesday morning.
The child was  born about two  hours after she began to feel ill.
After  the birth of the child  she slept two hours, and then had  a
bath.  After combing and  braiding her hair, she rested again. At
night  the bath was repeated, and she walked about the room,
feeling quite well.   Friday of  the same week, she rode out, and
Saturday evening, after testing  carefully her strength, she took the
cars  for Philadelphia,  where she arrived safely, feeling only a
little  nervous from  the excitement of travelling ;  but after a good
night's sleep, she was well again, walked about her  house, and
gave  orders to  her servants  as usual.
   Here then is a case of a delicate lady who, after having suffered
much debility  in bearing two  children, improves her health  by
water, air, exercise, and diet; comes from the city of Philadelphia,
 a distance of ninety-six miles, at  the very time  when she  is
 hourly expecting to be confined; gives birth to a child  on Wed-
 nesday morning, and returns to her home the same  week !

   Case 5.—About  the 1st of April,  1845, one of our assistants,
 John Dean, applied to us for advice, concerning his wife Lovinia's
 case,  she being  then  somewhat  past  the middle of  pregnancy.
 We prescribed general daily ablutions and sitz-baths, and recom-
 mended some change  towards  greater simplicity  in food, and the
 leaving off entirely of tea and  coffee.  Frequent exercise in the
 open  air  was also recommended, which advice was  faithfully put
 in practice.   The  wet body-bandage was worn  at  times, for the
 purpose  of preventing internal  pains.  There had been a good 
158
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
deal of headache, attended with excess of heat in the upper part
of the brain.  The baths were  found very effectual in removing
this symptom ; and at times, when it became more troublesome,
as many as three general shower or plunge-baths were taken in
a day.  Clysters of water were resorted to as often as the state
of the bowels demanded,—at times daily.
  Quite early in the season, the weather became extremely hot,
and remained so constantly until late in the season.   Still  the
baths and regulation of diet  enabled  Lovinia to continue active,
as she had ordinarily been.   Out-door exercise was kept up till
the very close of her period.
  About the middle of the month of July, after having walked a
number of miles the  day previously, labor commenced  in  the
night time, and lasted about eight hours.   It was her first child.
She was made comfortable, slept awhile, after which her husband
aided in performing a general ablution with slightly tepid water.
She  slept well the first night; performed again the following
morning another ablution, took sitz-bath  as usual, walked about,
declaring that she felt as well  as  ever, only a little weak.   In
two days' time she went about the neighborhood and called upon
some  people whom  she had formerly lived with, walking up and
down flights of stairs without inconvenience.
  We were at this time at Lebanon Springs.  A number of lady
visitors at that place soon called upon Lovinia to ascertain of her
what  wonderful and unheard of treatment she had undergone, to
enable her thus to set at defiance the ills that flesh  is supposed
necessarily to be heir to in childbirth.  So hard is it for people
to believe that simple water can be so useful on such occasions.

  Case 6.—June 30th, 1847.  Mrs. Shew attended in my absence
a few days since, a poor woman in this city, with her first child.
She had been  bathing, attending to diet,  &c, a few weeks only.
The day of labor and onward, she took two general baths.  She
was up and about the house each day.  The third day she  did
her family washing, attending  at the same time to her  young
infant.  Notwithstanding the weather  was  very hot,  and  the
woman  living in a dirty, confined part of the city, she got along
remarkably well.  She experienced no  ill effects from working
thus early, and has attended constantly to her household affairs.

  Case 7.—Nov., 1845.  Mrs. C, a poor woman of this city, not 
PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH.
159
long since, made known to me, that in her destitute condition she
would receive, as a great favor, if I would attend her in child-
birth.   She informed me that on previous like occasions, she had
suffered beyond description, both at the time of confinement and
subsequently.  She had  borne two  children—the first it  was
necessary  for her  physician  to destroy before  the birth could
take place.  The birth of the second was also attended with the
greatest difficulty.   It was now some weeks before her expected
time.  Her husband had deserted her, so that she was compelled
to follow her occupation (that of a sempstress), during the whole
day and much of the night.   From this constant sitting and' con-
finement within doors, she had become much enfeebled, and had
a severe and constant pain in  the side.
   " I directed her to wash the whole body daily twice, when not
chilly, in Croton  water, and to take each half day as much exer-
cise in the open air as she could possibly find time for,  and could
practise without causing too great fatigue.  The woman followed
the directions, and was at once sensibly benefited.   The  severe
pain in the side left her almost immediately.  When her period
arrived, delivery took place in a very short time, and with com-
paratively  little  suffering.   Bathing in mild forms was practised
the day of, and subsequent to, delivery, and  the  patient walked
about each day, and was scarcely confined a single hour.
   " There  is one fact to be mentioned in her management of the
infant.   She was directed  at first  to have it washed in  tepid
water.   Supposing  she would follow the  same  course  for the
future daily washings, I made no further inquiry till  some days
after, when I  ascertained that she had used the  water of the
natural  temperature.   I asked her why  she did not moderate the
temperature of the water as at first, and  as people generally do.
She  answered, that when she bathed herself before  the child's
birth, every bath  seemed to strengthen it very much ; and, there-
fore, she chose to use  the cold water now  for the same  reason.
She had the good  sense always to keep the child sufficiently
warm, particularly after the  bath.  It is proper to mention  that
the Croton  water at this time was not  far from  65°  F.  The
child  has been,  and is now, one  of the  healthiest and most
vigorous I  have ever seen of the age."
  The above  notes were written some months since.   The case
is again brought to mind, by the mother's coming to-day to work
for  us at her usual occupation.   She says,  " What a strange 
160               WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
thing  it is, my little baby has never  been sick  a single  hour.
What wouldn't I give if my other boy  could have been so."
The child is one of the brightest imaginable ;  knowing, observ-
ing, good  natured, and now, at the age of six  months, sits  near
his mother, playing, laughing, crowing—the most perfect picture
of health.   He  is every day once, and generally twice, washed
in cold water.

  Case 8.—Oct. 25, 1847.   The  same woman was again con-
fined early last spring.   She had been living, I found, in a small
cellar-room, where there were but three small panes of glass, and to
which the sun could never come.   The place was damp and dark,
and the air necessarily very foul, it being in  an alley in  which
many poor dirty  families were living.   Here the  poor woman
lived, paying an exorbitant rent, supporting herself and two chil-
dren by the hardest work rather than beg.
  The night of her confinement was a very stormy one.  The
wind  howled among the old buildings, tearing off shingles and
shutters, and the rain poured down in perfect torrents.   Ships
were lost  that night, and sailors, with the captain  and officers,
swept overboard.
  The labor this time, as before, was an easy one.   It took place
at midnight.   Everything went on well, and she  was,- after a
reasonable time, left to get sleep, as we supposed she would.  I
found, however,  in  the morning,  that, notwithstanding she had
been  wholly free from  pain, she had  not  slept  at all.  She
acknowledged that, powerful as had been the effects of water for
good at the previous time, the old ideas had yet haunted her, that
she must  either die, or submit to the application  of those  terrible
instruments that had been  used in her first  confinement.  She
now felt so rejoiced  at her getting through again safely, that she
could not sleep at all.   So  we found  her in the  morning early,
she, her two  children, and the new born  babe, all on one narrow
settee bed together,  apparently contented and happy.
   Two ladies who understood  these  matters of water-treatment,
went now, it  being Saturday morning, and administered our
patient a  bath.   The water  was moderated a  little, but left still
quite cool.  This day she could obtain no sleep, for she  had but
one room, and the children must remain  there.  She sat up con-
siderably, but not so much as to cause over-fatigue.   In the even-
ing the ladies went again, and administered the  bath.  She slept 
PREGNANCY AND  CHILDBIRTH.
161
well during the  night.  The next  morning, Sunday (the second
day), the ablution was administered at 7 o'clock, at which time the
patient  rose.  She  remained up all day, until 10 o'clock in the
evening, at which time  the ladies  again administered  the bath.
She slept well this night, was up all the next day, and so onward,
and has been constantly well up to the present time.

   Case 9.—Oct. 10th, 1847.  The wife of my worthy partner, Dr.
P. Roof,  was confined this morning.  She has all along observed
the hydropathic  regimen; bathing daily, with  exercise in the
open air, &c, &c.   Since labor, general baths are administered
twice daily.   She sat up the first day, more the  second, and
from the third onward, is about, quite like  others.   By the fifth
day, she was  able to ride with pleasure and benefit a long dis-
tance.   The seventh day she took the infant in her own arms on
her  accustomed ride.   This case was  one of " astonishment to
the natives " of  Oyster  Bay.
   Oct. 25th, Mrs. R. is now  perfectly well, strong, rugged, and
enduring, although naturally extremely delicate.   Every  day,
both mother and infant have had two ablutions.
   Dr.  Roof having kept a daily and minute account of the treat-
ment as he administered it from day to day, the first ten days,
the same will be given in a future number of the Water Cure
Journal.

   Case 10.—Oct. 13, 1847.   Mrs. O., of Grand  street, was con-
fined this morning at about 5 o'clock.  After resting awhile, she
was washed,-remaining in bed.  At evening she sat up and had
a general ablution before going to rest.
   Oct. 25.  Mrs. O. went on with  her daily baths, and  in two or
three days  walked  about the house, did sewing, &c, and has
been constantly  growing better ever since.

   Case 11.—Oct. 7th, 1847.   Near midnight, Mrs. D.  of Staten
Island  was confined with  her fourth  child.  She is a person of
scrofulous  tendency ; practised bathing for more  than a year,
dieting, &c.  She has, during this pregnancy, lived on the island,
where  the air is  much better than in the city.  A great deal of
treatment was necessary in this case, as the after-pains had be-
come exceedingly severe the  morning after the birth.   I was not
with her in the night; the pains were quelled, however, during 
162
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
the next day, and she was able to  sit up;  at  night she  slept
dreamless,  like the most  healthy child, and thus  every night
onward.  The second day she ate with the family, and the  third
day she rode in the morning a distance of eight or nine miles.
She has gone on well ever since.

   Case  12.—The  following case from my note-book will  give
something more of the details of treatment in cases  of childbirth
than the former cases.   Those  who  are interested  and wish to
peruse more cases of the kind  are  referred to the  Water Cure
Journal, especially of 1846, some copies of  which may yet be
obtained.
   Dec.  12th, 1845.  Was  called in the night between one and
two, by Mr. Brown, living at 40 Oliver street, to visit  his wife,
then in  labor.  At the  beginning of the evening  previous,  Mrs.
B. began to experience premonitory symptoms—took, as usual, a
sitting-bath, reclined upon the bed and slept  about  three hours,
when she was awakened at 10 o'clock  by labor  pains.   These
occurred regularly until the time of our arrival and onward, grow-
ing more and more effectual, until four in  the morning, at which
time she gave birth to a fine healthy daughter.   The after-birth
was cast off in a few minutes, after which Mrs. B. felt easy and
inclined to  rest.   After being made comfortable, she was desired
to sleep awhile, and  was told that she  would be refreshed  and
invigorated  by an ablution  after sleep, and that she would be
able to sit up a short time by the way of a change.
   9 A.  M.—Returned to see Mrs. B.  Found her quite comfort-
able, after-pains slight; had slept a part of the time.  From the
commencement of labor she had drunk as freely of Croton water
as was desired—had drunk nothing but cold water for about a year.
Had she been accustomed to warm or hot drinks  there would
have  been a liability to increase of after-pains  by taking   cold
water.  In  such  cases the drink must be warm,  unless there
is much feverishness  and thirst, in which case  the cold drink
would  be tolerated and  most agreeable.  Appetite was good.
Mrs. B. said she could relish anything;  was very fond of Indian
mush, with a little syrup;  thought she  had better not take any-
thing till dinner time—she would drink  water and be on the safe
side.  To this I of course  agreed.  She felt none of the giddi-
ness, nervousness, great weakness, and  depression of spirits she
had always hitherto felt after childbirth.   There was  now and then 
PREGNANCY AND  CHILDBIRTH.
163
 a slight after-pain.   She sits up little by little, and drinks water
 when she  feels an inclination.  She will take food once to-day,
 that is dinner, and I will come again by evening.
   7 P. M.—Returned  again.   Mrs. Brown has been  sitting up
 and bearing her weight at different  times during the day.  She
 ate of the  plain favorite dish, Indian  mush and  molasses, with a
 piece of dry bread, and water to drink.  The bread tasted very
 sweet, the appetite was so good.  The husband had now returned,
 and the bathing could be carried out.   A wash  tub was brought
 into the room, and placed  before the fire to be warmed.   At the
 same  time, water, warm and cold,  was procured.  A stick of
 wood was placed under one side of the  tub, and thus the two-fold
 object of a hip and general rubbing bath could be accomplished
 at the same  time.  Mrs. B.  walked to the tub, and her husband
 aiding, took a good bath.  The water was made mild, of about
 80° or 85° F.; while sitting in the  bath, the  body being well
 guarded all  about with blankets, a  good  deal  of rubbing  was
 practised upon different  parts  of the  system, and particularly
 the  back.   This  had the effect of promoting after-pains, and of
 strengthening the part, and in fact the whole system, very  much.
 The lower extremities were, of course, outside the  tub, and those
 were bathed  afterwards.  A night bath of this kind at such times
 seems, indeed, to increase  the  strength  tenfold.   Pains are re-
 lieved, the nerves strengthened, and a wonderful change wrought.
   Second day, Sunday, between eight and nine A. M.—Mrs. Brown
 slept well during  the  night, and until  late this morning.  All
 were  in bed  so  long,  and  as  Mrs.  B.  appeared  so well,
 it was thought best, for want of time, to omit the general bath
 until towards dinner.   Told her that, for a change, it would be best
 to go occasionally to other  parts of the house; but to be careful
 not to overdo, or to be up too long.  At any time pain or  weak-
 ness was felt in the back, a good rubbing of the part with the wet
 hand  or towel would  prove very serviceable.  Requested Mr.
 Brown that an enema of tepid water be administered.  This could
 be repeated twice if necessary to cause  the desired effect.
  At 6 o'clock P. M.—Mrs. B. has eaten to-day sparingly twice,
 a breakfast and dinner, the last  with  her family.   Has walked
 up and down stairs without inconvenience or assistance.
   Third day,  Wednesday, A.  M.—Mrs. B. rested well last night.
 Feeling a little fatigue the  preceding  evening, she  concluded to
omit the bath.  It  would have been refreshing, however, but this 
164
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
morning, she feels remarkably well, and  has been doing  light
work.  Has been up nearly all the  morning.  Took the sitting
and general rubbing bath early before breakfast.  Was cautioned
not to be up or to do too much.  Food  to be plain  as usual, and
the drink, cold water.
  7 P. M.—Mrs. B. has been up most of the day.   Appetite re-
markably good ; thinks she took a little cold by sitting uncon-
sciously in a draught of air.   A  carious tooth commenced ach-
ing, which proved a warning.  There  has been some feverish-
ness,  probably  nothing more than milk  fever.    This will be
prevented by the tepid  bath, the latter to be repeated as often as
the feverishness returns, if such should be the case.  There has
been some caking and  pain in the breasts.   The pain is effectu-
ally removed by perseverance in placing very warm or hot wet
napkins upon the breasts, covering these with dry warm flannels,
and repeating them very often until the pain is relieved.  Breasts
to be well drawn, and the bowels  moved by a full injection of
tepid  water.  If Mrs.  B. perseveres as she always has, she will
have  a good night's rest.
   Fourth day.—Mrs. B. rested well;  continues the baths, plain
diet, sitting up, and moderate exercise, as usual, and is progress-
ing rapidly towards firm health and strength.
   Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh days.—Mrs. B. proceeded cautiously,
and with the most favorable results.
   Eighth day, 11 A. M.—Mrs. B.  has  been about  all  the morn-
ing, has been giving  way to her great  propensity to industry,
practising at the wash-tub.   She does not believe at  all in idle-
ness.  The only danger is that she may do too much.
   Ninth day.—Mrs. B. is about as usual,—feels that she has an
abundance of  strength to walk some distance in the city.  She
could walk out with  impunity, notwithstanding  the  weather  is
very cold, but  it is  thought best on the  whole, since she  is so
much about house, and  pays so much  attention  to bathing and
ventilation, that she  should remain in doors yet, a little.
   She says that at the end  of three weeks from the birth of the
child next older, when beginning to attempt to sit up, she was
weaker than she has  been at any moment since  the birth of the
last one.  With all her children she has been very weak.
   Thus I might go on to a great length, in giving facts of a simi-
 lar kind, that have occurred in my practice in  the city of New
 York.   These, however, will suffice. 
PROLAPSUS UTERI.
165
  It is often said by medical men to their patients, that  such
modes are  dangerous in the extreme.   I will  merely add, and
with  deference, that I  have in  this city, as many know, prac-
tised the water treatment in a very considerable number of cases
of midwifery, and I affirm that  no case can be found  in which
we have had any serious difficulty, or in which we have not had most
remarkable success.   The treatment, instead of being dangerous,
is the only truly rational and scientific one, and must eventually
prevail.   I warn people,  however, against using ignorantly so
powerful an agent as cold  water, especially in cases of this kind.
Nowhere perhaps is there more  skill and good judgment to be
employed than here.*

  The following letter I insert here, in connexion with cases of
 females, although not treated by me :—

                        Prolapsus Uteri.

                                   " Barnstable, Jan. 15th, 1847.
 " Doctor Shew :—
   " Dear Sir—I have  long felt  a  desire to  communicate  the
 effects of water upon my person, but have  deferred, not feeling
 myself  competent for the task.   I now attempt a brief history of
 my troubles, and the manner  in which I was relieved.   In the
 early part of the year  1840, I was taken with the falling of the
 womb, attended with much inflammation.  This  prevented me
 from walking.   I immediately applied to a physician, who, think-
 ing I had taken cold, prescribed  accordingly.   He requested me
 to  exercise by walking, but upon attempting to do so, I was com-
 pletely  prostrated.   Thinking that he  did not understand the
 nature  of my disease,  I employed  aaother in his  stead.   He,

   * The great power of endurance of the  Indian women  of the forest,
  uncontaminated by the blighting influences of civilization, many have
  noticed.   Every one has read the account of their remarkable health dur-
  ing pregnancy and childbirth.  Washington Irving, in  his " Astoria," in
  giving an account of journeying through the  dreary deserts lying between
  the Snake and Columbia rivers, says,
   " And here we cannot but notice the wonderful patience, perseverance,
  and hardihood of the Indian women, as exemplified in the conduct of the
  poor squaw of the interpreter.  She was  now far advanced in pregnancy,
  and had two children to take care of; one four, and the other two years  of
  age.  The latter, of course, she frequently had to carry on her back,  in
  addition to the  burdens usually imposed upon the squaw; yet she had
  borne all her hardships without a murmur, and  throughout this weary and
  painful journey, had kept pace with the best pedestrians." 
166
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
too, insisted upon  my exercising much, but I failed rapidly un-
der his prescriptions.  After about ten months, finding his skill
exhausted, he left, me of his own accord.
  " By this time, my stomach and bowels had become very weak
and dyspeptic, and my nervous  system was much debilitated.   I
next employed a  Thompsonian physician, under  whose  treat-
ment I suffered severely.   His stimulants buoyed  me up  for  a
time, but, in the end, I was weak and miserable.   Death would
be more desirable.  For  four years I was afflicted thus, during
which  time  I had dyspepsia, dysentery, diarrhoea,  and colic.   I
then went to the Massachusetts General  Hospital.   I remained
there about three weeks, undergoing nearly the same treatment
as recommended by my former physicians.  Here  I got little or
no relief.   At the expiration of this time, I was visited by the
head physician of the  establishment,  Dr.  Bigelow, who imme-
diately informed me of the nature of my complaint.  He advised
me to try the water-cure.
   " This was the first time I had heard of water being used  to
cure disease ; still I did not  hesitate to give it a trial.  It being
new, I was  inspired  with  hope ;  I returned  home  and immedi-
ately commenced  the treatment.   1 used the sitting-bath  daily,
except when too  much  fatigued  to undergo  the  operation of  a
bath ;  I would, in such instances, apply ice to my bowels, letting
it remain on the parts  an hour at  a  time.  This I found  to be
very  soothing, and  always  refreshing.   I took a sponge-bath
occasionally, and  kept the head  cool.  This was  the  principal
treatment for two years.   During that time I gained slowly, but
gradually.  I now commenced the wet-sheet  and  shower-bath,
which had  a better effect  than  my former applications.   It
seemed to be the  finishing stroke.  1 soon began to walk about,
and, by perseverance  in  my efforts, I was at length able to dis-
pense with my chair, which I used to move about  the house in.
This chair was erected  on wheels for the purpose.  For  about
five months since, I have felt  quite  well, and have reason  to-
hope that I shall remain so.   I shall continue my baths as usjual;
                       " Very respectfully yours,
                                     "Mercy P. Howes."


                         Barrenness.

   A few months since, one of my patients, a gentleman of this
city, informed me that a lady relation of his, with whom  also I
am acquainted, had been married about eight years, remaining,
much to her sorrow, childless.   She  experienced  frequent mis-
carriages, accompanied with  much general debility.   About two
years since, the subject of water-treatment came under her ob- 
SEVERE  COLD ON THE LUNGS.
167
servation.  She at once commenced  a course of bathing, with
due  attention to regimen, &c.   She  became  much improved,
and, in due time, bore a  healthy, well-formed child.   She attri-
buted this most desirable  result to the effects of water in restoring
her general health.
  Another lady remained without offspring for fifteen years after
marriage.  Her  husband,  in  building a new house  since the
introduction  of Croton  water into this  city, erected  also con-
venient bathing fixtures.   The  lady practised perseveringly a
course of bathing, and became  much improved  in her  bodily
health.   She too was at length blessed with an offspring, and, as
she believed, in consequence  of  the  course she had pursued in
restoring her general health.
  I have known and  heard of numbers of cases in which, by a
prudent course of bathing, exercise,  &c, the use of a plain and
unstimulating diet, and  the observing of proper  temperance in
the marital  privileges, persons have  borne children when most
earnestly, and by a great variety of  means, that object had been
sought in vain.   Yet be it ever  remembered, that little is to be
expected from either water or diet without strict temperance in all
things.

   [The original plan of this work did not include cases of the
preceding class, which the editor thought might  be better pub-
lished in a volume devoted to similar subjects,  and  for which there
is ample material.   With this view,  he declined  some  valuable
cases, but has since been influenced, by advice of  others, to
publish the foregoing, which will, unquestionably, be very useful
to those who  for whose  benefit  they are  intended.  Much care
has certainly been taken to give  them in language appropriate
and unobjectionable in a work for general reading.]


                   Severe  Cold on the Lungs.

                  Case of Col.  J. W. Webb.

   In the Courier and Enquirer  of this city,  early in  1846,  the
editor, Col.  J. W. Webb, made the following remarks on water-
cure. 
168
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
  Bulwer on the Water-Cure.*—We lay before our readers to-day,
the letter of Bulwer, on the beneficial effects of cold water in the
cure of diseases;  and we ask for it  the  careful  attention of all
our readers.
  When this letter was first published, some three months since,
we  read it of course;  and  although astonished  at its develop-
ments, it is quite probable the whole  subject would have passed
without further notice, if a severe cold, under which the writer
of this was then laboring,  had not subsequently confined him to
the house for nearly six weeks, and finally driven him to a trial
of the " water-cure."  Suffice it  to say, that after neglecting a
cold for two months,  I was driven  to the necessity of placing my-
self under  the care of a very  skilful physician, and underwent
the usual course of treatment.  Week after week elapsed,  and
with but little, if  any relief;  and  the conviction forced itself
upon  my mind, that  I was in danger  of a permanent affection of
the lungs, unless some more efficient remedy was resorted to.
Under this  conviction, I presented myself to Dr. Shew, of Bond-
street, and  went through the bug-bear of the wet sheet !—which
Bulwer truly pronounces " a very luxurious remedy"—a " magic
girdle,  in which pain is lulled, fever cooled, and watchfulness
wrapped in slumber."   The effects were all but magical.
   When I resolved  upon curing my cold  in the usual mode, I
abandoned  the use of the shower-bath, which it was my custom
to take daily on rising, but by order of Dr. Shew, I resumed it,
and took two each day ; and this, with three applications of :the
wet sheet, and constant exposure, worked a radical cure in about
a week.  During the same period, three members of my family
experienced almost similar benefits  from the  use of cold water;
and we are now taking our accustomed shower-bath, without  any
intention of abandoning it hereafter,  at the very period when
" doubling  the dose" is evidently  more beneficial.
  That I am a firm believer in the "water-cure," in all affections
of the chest  and lungs, I  freely  admit; and although I cannot
believe in any universal panacea, I doubt not but  it will be found
equally beneficial  in many-other  complaints.   My own experi-
ence I feel it a duty to the public at large, thus promptly to relate,
and to inculcate,  as I always have,  a free use of cold water at
all times, and by all  persons,  in  almost any state of health.  It
is, I firmly believe,  a great preventive of  disease, and I know,
both from experience and observation in my own family, that in
affections of the chest,  it  is,  most unquestionably, an infallible
remedv.
  Under these circumstances, I  commend Bulwer's letter, and
the study  of the " water-cure," to all our readers, and to  the
  * This forcible and elegant letter has been published in a little pamphlet,
with other matter, called " Facts in Water-Cure," &c, at 12J cents. 
CHOLERA MORBUS.
169
  members of the medical  profession  in  particular.   Science is
  daily enlarging this sphere of usefulness, and there is no reason
  to doubt that hydropathy is destined to become a most important
  auxiliary to the judicious practice of medicine.
                                                 J. W. W.

    Remarks.— Col. Webb had,  about  two months before  he was
  treated  as above, taken a very severe cold  upon the luno-s, to
  which additions were afterwards received.  He was kept " housed
  up" most of the time, and  was told by his very worthy medical
  adviser,  that it would "be advisable for  him to spend the  win-
 ter in a warm climate.   But his new doctor told  him, that with
 the right use of Croton water, fresh  air, &c, New York city was
 a place warm enough  for one  of so much natural stamina  of
 constitution as he.

   At a considerably later date, Col. Webb published, editorially,
 in his widely known paper,  the following :

   " Water-Cure.—We some time since laid  before our readers
 the admirable letter of Bulwer, upon the  subject  of hydropathy,
 or the water-cure,  accompanied  by an assurance  that we had
 personally tested its efficacy.   Since  then, our experience and
 observation have  been greatly  enlarged, and cures  have been
 effected under our immediate observation, in cases involving all
 our sympathies  and affections.   We  do not feel  disposed to  be
 more specific in instancing cures through our  columns, but such
 is our thorough  conviction of the  efficacy of this new mode of
 treating  disease, such certain relief does it offer for nearly  or
 quite all the diseases ' which  flesh is heir to,' that we should be
 wanting  in sympathy for our  species,  if we did not urge  upon
 sufferers promptly to make themselves familiar with its blessings."

                       Cholera Morbus.

   February 26,  1847.—Was called,  to-day, at  12 M.,to see Mrs.
Riley, 69 years old, three days since from Ireland.   She ate, day
before yesterday, salt  mackerel, which seemed to disagree with
her  very  much.  A severe cholera morbus came on, and  her
daughter went to a druggist near by, and obtained of him a pre-
scription ;  but the medicine appeared to make her worse.  At all
events, the discharges grew  much  more frequent.  Last night,
she slept not a wink, the bowels kept acting every few minutes:
and  she was so weak and  giddy, she  could not possibly rise.
The room  was dark, dirty, and ill ventilated,   Here, too, were 
170
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
puny little children in the same room, whom we had taken away,
and the door swung back  and forth forth for a time, to change
the air.  Before doing this, however, we used water.
   The old  lady vomited just as I came in.   I thought I would
endeavor to  make  an  explanation that  all could understand, for
they had  called me  at  random, without  knowing  that I was a
water man.   As she  was vomiting, I  said, " You  have a great
deal of bad stuff in  your stomach and bowels.   We must give you
a good washing out."  The stomach and bowels were  well cleansed
by drinking  largely of lukewarm water,' which induced repeated
vomiting, and by three injections of about a quart each, of tepid
water.  The warm fomentation was placed over the  whole sto-
mach and bowels,  covered with flannels, and changed when dry.
She drank little and often to quench her thirst.
  She was soon relieved, fasted till night, slept some in the after-
noon ;  in the evening, ate a spoonful of oatmeal gruel.  She was
rubbed over the whole surface with towels from tepid water, she
being too aged and feeble to bear the water entirely cold.
  27th.—She slept well; flatulence was  relieved  naturally;  I
confined her to very small quantities of gruel, and a little crust
coffee  slightly sweetened, and  ordered bath at night, and occa-
sional injections, until the bowels resumed their natural action.
  In three days, she was well.
  Remarks.—This case is not  given to induce  the  belief that
similar cases generally can be managed  as effectually and briefly;
no, far from it.   But the case proves conclusively the good effects
of the copious use  of tepid injections of pure soft water, in loose-
ness of the  bowels.  I do not know that  this  part of the treat-
ment, or that of cleansing the stomach with pure water as the only
emetic, has been practised by others than myself.   Whether so
or not, both  of those modes will  be found most valuable in  a
variety of ailments which we meet in every day practice in acute
disease.   The  case  illustrates also the salutary effect of giving
a very small amount of nutriment only,  so  long as  the disease
remains—a sort of " hunger cure."

                        Brain Fever.

   Our friend, Mr. Cornelius, of Philadelphia, the far-famed maker
of chandeliers and fine lamps, informed us that about  three years
ago, his little son was ill of brain fever, and was actually  left  by 
NERVOUS AND  GENERAL DEBILITY.
171
the physicians as being in a perfectly hopeless condition.  He
had just  obtained one of our works upon water, and it occurred
to him that as the poor boy was given up, it could do no harm to
try our prescription.   He at once commenced placing cold wet
towels upon the head, and  was not a little surprised soon to find
the little patient evidently becoming better.   The cold water not
only removed the fever from the  head, but  seemed to  revive and
invigorate him.  He persevered in this way, and with  good nurs-
ing, the boy was soon out of danger.

                Nervous and General Debility.

                        Middletown, Fred. Co., Va., April, 1847.
   Dear Sir :—I now communicate to you the result of my ex-
periment with the water-cure treatment, as a therapeutic remedy.
   It is a matter of wonder  what an alteration has been wrought
in my appearance, since the day of my departure for your estab-
lishment.  Then my weight was only 95 lbs.—less than when I
entered my teens, nearly twenty years ago.   My circulation was
then  also quite partial; nervous excitability great, and almost
insupportable ; digestive apparatus feeble,  and  physical power
comparatively prostrated.   What now are  the cheering revela-
tions of a few brief months ?  A gain of  nearly, if not  quite,
30 lbs. of flesh (it has  been probably a month since I weighed,
and my weight then was 122£ lbs.); double the physical power,
and a considerable amendment of the digestive functions ; conse-
quently my chest and  stomach, which  were  before  very much
sunken or concave, are now convex, measuring probably three
to four inches more in circumference ;  my nervous excitability
is perceptibly  abated, and circulation has become quite general.
Hence my ability to withstand the vicissitudes of weather, and to
keep comfortable in a room, or out in the open air, which would
before have been intolerably chilly.  I can also retire to bed with
my legs and feet warm  and  comfortable, and that, too, without the
aid of any other heat than that which is generated through the
increased energy of my vital organs.  I have also a clear, healthy,
and ruddy complexion.
   The question may be asked, what has produced these wonder-
ful effects 1  "A plain  and  moderate diet, plenty of exercise, and
pure air,"—the editor of the New York Observer, and many others
would say.  I say, not so, for my experience for the last four or 
172
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
five years contradicts it;  but a moderate prosecution of the water-
cure treatment as taught at your establishment, in conjunction with
those necessary auxiliaries (the former mainly), effected them.
  Fruits, I seldom take,  finding them  apt to turn acid, but  my
food is chiefly farinaceous,  excluding meat,  butter, tea, and
coffee.
                                     Yours respectfully,
                                               H. H. Hite.

  Remarks.—It is now but little over half a year since Mr. Hite
was at our establishment, and commenced the cure.   The  benefit
he has received is certainly very great; yet this is only the mere
beginning of what will be.  Great as are the advantages of water-
cure, too  much *s generally expected from  it in a  short time,
whereas the full, permanent, and more substantial benefits of the
system are to be gained only through  years of practice.  Like
compound interest, there is in the treatment gain upon gain.
   Mr. Hite appears to be in error  in  regard to the use of fruits.
Acid fruits do not turn  acid in the stomach.   Sweet things turn
acid, as in the vinegar-making process. But fruits are generally
too much  sweetened in cooking, and then  acidity is brought on.
Mr. H. should persevere with the fruit, sweeten  less, and as the
digestive  organs become more invigorated, all healthful  articles
will be managed more readily.
   This case is one of the many in which, under a judicious water-
treatment, there  is so striking a gain of flesh  in the use of the
vegetable diet.   Of those who are too thin, more will be found to
gain, and  in a shorter  time, from such food,  with, at the same
time,  a moderate use of milk, than on all  the flesh-pot  food of
Christendom.  There is much prejudice concerning the so-called
vegetable diet, and the depraved appetites of the ignorant multi-
tude are  against it.   There  is a  reason why, according to the
Scriptures, the human family were, in the beginning, to subsist
on the vegetable  productions of the earth, and why the Jews, in
the hardness of  their hearts, were permitted  to use  only certain
 of the least objectionable  kinds of animal food.   There is, we  say,
 reason in  these things, and these shall one day become better un-
 derstood. 
           indigestion, weakness of nerves, cough.       173

 Indigestion,  General Debility, Weakness of Nerves, and Cough.
  Our intelligent friend, Mr. Farr, had been in our establishment
for a short time, under treatment for the above  disorders.
  About six months afterwards he writes:—
  " My health  has improved greatly since I left  your establish-
ment.   I returned home in the month of May last, halting several
times while on my way, and  wore constantly  a large wet ban-
dage  about the abdomen.   Immediately after  I reached  home,
I constructed comfortable shower and douche  baths,  and have
used  them regularly every day till the present time.  I have
taken for  weeks together, as many as three entire baths  daily,
besides wearing the wet bandage constantly day and night; and
in addition to this, I have taken the wet sheet, an hour at a time,
every  morning at 4 o'clock for several weeks in succession ;
besides I have  used the  sitting bath and foot  baths, as I thought
my case required—not omitting the thorough use of the general
bath every morning on rising, followed by a copious draught of
pure cold water;  all this treatment has been accompanied with
the strictest attention to diet, sleep and exercise.
  " In diet, I have taken no animal food whatever, excepting  in
a few instances, when  milk has been used in the preparation of
yeast for bread, and for other similar purposes.  My bread has
been made from the unbolted flour of wheat;  my food has been
that which the God of heaven gave to Adam for meat (Gen.  1st
chap.,  29th verse),  ' And  God  said,  Behold  I  have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the  earth,
and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree  yielding seed;
to you it shall be for meat.'  My drink has been nothing but pure
cold water.   My blood is cool, my nerves steady, my head free
from pains, my food digests with  ease, my mind is clear, my sleep
undisturbed.   In my whole system, nature seems again to have
resumed her wonted course, and acts throughout in  harmony with
herself;  my exercise has been moderate, but almost constant, and
in the open air.
                             " Adieu,
                                       " David M. Farr."

  At a later date he wrote us enthusiastically, as follows:—
  " I shall never forget nor regret the few days I  spent in your
institution, for they have been the means of bringing about a great
change, not only in my diet and manner of living, but also  in my 
174
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
general health.  I am  now able to labor  on the farm and per-
form more hard work in a day, than at  any time  for years
previously to my going to you.  And this improvement I owe
wholly to the  thorough and constant application  of  the means
you recommended.  More than one  year  has now elapsed  since
I commenced  the  treatment,  and from that day to this, I have
taken no medicine whatever, save food, water, and exercise.  My
constipation, headache, cough, and pains, have  all disappeared,
and such a thing as a cold, 1 am a perfect stranger to.
  " I found no use for any flannels in the coldest days of last win-
ter, and though frequently exposed to the severest storms, I never
before  passed  a  winter so comfortably;  and a summer's rain
shower, which I once so much  dreaded, has lost  its terrors.  O,
when will men learn that cold water properly applied, will warm
the system  incomparably more effectually than lamb's  wool,
feather beds, and the like appliances of civilized life!"

  Remarks.—The  cases of Mr. Hite and  Mr. Farr, among mul-
titudes of others  that I might  give,  are good  examples of what
the water-treatment will accomplish, in connexion with the  so-
called vegetable diet; I have known a very considerable number
of persons, who have been either entirely cured or greatly bene-
fited by adopting it, as recommended by  Mr. Graham and Dr.
Alcott.   These patients have generally had chronic ailments of
most obstinate character, such as have long and incorrigibly with-
stood all medical and domestic treatment, until the adoption of the
vegetable diet.
  Some of the most intractable forms of indigestion  have been
thus cured.   A  number of cases I  have known  in  which the
stomach and general system had become so exceedingly debili-
tated and weak, that almost any ordinary  form of nourishment
would be at once rejected, which have been cured by the use of
bread and water alone.   For weeks  and months, one patient took
no nourishment whatever but   brown bread, with soft  pure water
to drink ; gradually increasing the quantity as the stomach could
bear, but at  the same time very carefully  avoiding to oppress the
organ with too great an amount of even that simple form of nu-
triment.   I am bold to affirm that  there  are not  unfrequently
cases to be found, which cannot by water or by anything else
known, be cured, unless we  adopt  a course of rigid vegetable
diet.  I affirm also (and in this I have also the authority of Priess- 
          INDIGESTION,  WEAKNESS  OF NERVES, COUGH.       175

nitz himself), that the vegetable diet properly selected, including
also the use of  fruits and a very moderate portion of milk, is the
best in all conceivable cases.  Who does not know of  the hardi-
hood and  health, the untiring and almost  miraculous endurance
of the peasantry in Scotland, Russia, Germany, &c, with whom
animal  food  is  either  not used,  or in so small quantity and so
seldom  as to make no appreciable  difference in the health ?  In-
deed, the  mass of manual labor of the world is performed on the
strength gained from vegetable food.
   And  will it be said, that the food which is  found so serviceable
in enabling the human  body to withstand fatigue, exposure, cold,
and disease, is not  sufficient in cases of water treatment ?  Those
who make  this  affirmation  honestly, have yet to learn the first
lessons  of physiological and therapeutic science.  Nevertheless
it will be found that in all water establishments, wonders, great and
marvellous, will now and then be performed, so powerful are the
healing  virtues of pure cold water.   And yet, be it understood.
as the well-weighed  opinion of the writer,  that we are to expect
more  in  the prevention, treatment,  and cure of disease, from diet
than from  water.   Water, which  composes  at least eighty parts
in the one hundred, of the whole living body, by  weight, is a
most wonderful thing to help men on in their physical  sins—help
them to bear for a time, gluttony, and even drunkenness itself;
yet it will  be  found  true, that the regulating the  dietetic  habits
according to the true and well ascertained principles of physiological
science, is of more importance  to health, in the generality of cases,
than any  or all of  the modified uses of water*

  * Some of  the public journals have lately noticed, as a fact against vege-
table diet, the death of that worthy citizen and philanthropist, Roswell
Goss, who kept  for years a public house  in  this city on the vegetable
system.    Mr. Goss  was born of consumptive parents,  and his brothers
and sisters, I believe all,  or  nearly all of them, had before him fallen
victims to that fearful disease, tubercular consumption.
  An article in the Hampshire Gazette (Mass ), and another in the N. Y.
Tribune, give  Mr. Goss s  own  opinion of the beneficial effect upon  his
health, of  the vegetable diet, and his account of his subsequent change to
a mixed diet, together with excessive  exposure to cold and  damp while
travelling at the west, causing severe cold; this was neglected, then badly
treated, and soon tubercular consumption was irremediably fixed upon his
lungs.  He then, too late, resorted to water  treatment, with plain diet,
but in vain, and another victim of that fell disease was added to the graves
of his family.
  The article first referred to above,  dated Northampton, Mass., says:— 
176
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
       From the New York Evangelist, July 15, 1847.

             A Word  to Invalids on  Water-Cure.

   The  following  communication on  the  Water-Cure, we are
induced  to  publish, both for its  own  sake  and the  author's—
whom we know to have experienced extraordinary benefits from
the treatment he so highly commends,'and whose  cautious and
conservative views of things, entitle his opinion of a new theory
to more than ordinary confidence.—Ed. Evangelist.

       Dyspepsia,  General Decline, and Hypochondriasis.

   Permit me, through" your columns, to discharge a sacred duty
towards those who were once my fellow-sufferers from  Dyspepsia,
Nervous Debility, and depressing Hypochondria (and theij name is
Legion), by giving them the benefit of my experience  and obser-
vation,  after  some  eight  years of wretchedness, which at last
rendered  life a burden, destroying  all hope of happiness or use-
fulness.*   I the more readily seek this avenue of communication
to your  readers, with whom I have for so many  years perused
your paper, because I have  observed that clergymen, and men
of serious, sedentary, or studious habits, are the  favorite victims
of these  diseases.
   With a constitution never strong, and great  delicacy and sen-
sitiveness of the nervous system and  digestive organs, I in my

" The foregoing memoir of Mr. Goss was given by himself to the writer
and several friends in this place, a short time before his death, which
occurred Aug. 24, 1847."
  Rev. Mr. Metcalf, of the sect called " Bible Christians," in Philadelphia
(who  abstain religiously  from  all  intoxicating liquors and  from flesh),
states that during the yellow fever in 1318, and during the cholera, none
of their members were attacked, they living upon vegetables  and fruits as
usual.          •
  A similar testimony was borne by Mr. Sylvester Graham,  of the effect
of the vegetable diet in New York, during the same fearful epidemics.
These two examples may be found in  full, in my Water Cure Manual,
page 173.
  * Nov. 1, 1S47. In preparing my case for this work, I have added the
symptoms and treatment, and some other circumstances which escaped my
memory at the  time.   It  may be proper to observe that  my health has
been, upon the whole, steadily gaining, under very little treatment, such as
I could practise at home or at boarding  houses, without much trouble or
loss of time. 
      dyspepsia, general  decline, and hypochondriasis.  177

boyhood, unhappily sought mental occupation and pleasures, to
the  exclusion  of  those  invigorating  employments and  games
appropriate to the  proper development of the physical system.
   I also unfortunately imbibed a notion that bathing did not agree
with me, having once or twice experienced faintness  and other
unpleasant symptoms, after going into the water with other boys,
doubtless at improper times, or from some other imprudence.
As might be expected, my tastes  and duties  combining to keep
me seated and constantly  exerting  my  mind, my healtn and
spirits failed more and  more;  I was almost constantly afflicted
with the following symptoms;  general chilliness;  cold feet and
legs;  excess of bile; my  skin having a  dead, copper  color;
slight chronic catarrh; general irritation throughout the system,
but especially in the stomach ; confused and aching head ;  flush-
ings of the face ; dry and husky skin ;  distressing sensitiveness to
heat and cold, especially the latter;  great  depression of  spirits,
particularly in the morning; sluggish circulation, pulse often as
low as fifty ;  about noon  a dreadful sinking of strength and spirits,
when food  would irritate the stomach  like poison, and I was often
compelled to eat arrow-root only; digestion painful and irritating;
bowels torpid,  &c, &c.  Friends have since  told me that they
then considered me in a  decided and hopeless decline.
   Of course I was unfit  for duty or pleasure, and soon, notwith-
standing the kind  and earnest  efforts of physicians and  friends,
the sense of my physical sufferings, though not small, became
lost in the  more subtle and indescribable misery of a shattered
nervous system, whetted to a morbid acuteness of sensation, and
fixing  its fiend-like grasp on every prospect that can make life
tolerable, and at last throwing its black pall over even the hopes
of religion itself.  In those days of darkness, I do not know that
I should have been safe from suicide, but from religious considera-
tions, so unspeakably distressing were my sufferings.  Any per-
sons who are ignorant of such cases, and disposed to be sceptical,
may see them  ably illustrated in a little work entitled, " Effects
of Physical Causes on Religious Experience"—which every phy-
sician and pastor should read.   My reading of the scriptures was
now confined to the  pitiful  mournings of Job, and the grievous
complaints  of David in  Psalms vi., xxxviii., lxix., and lxxxviii.
I shunned all society, and would turn off to avoid the exertion of
speaking with my  esteemed friends.   Even  now  I shrink from
                       8* 
178
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
recapitulating the sufferings, mental and physical, which charac-
terized those years of misery.
  Blessed with a circle of kind and sympathizing relatives and
friends, no means were left  untried  for my recovery.  I ceased
from mental effort, and adopted more active habits.  I travelled;
1 visited Saratoga; I dieted.   All these  yielded  temporary pal-
liation.   I consulted the most skilful physicians in our cities, and
followed most of their prescriptions, for  a time, among which
were vegetable bitters ; various  tonics (all of which, generally,
only made my head ache  worse) ; nitrate of silver; hyosciamus;
assafcedita ; preparations  of iron;  quinine ;  soda ; ipecac (one
prescribed a course of emetics, three times a week) ; ale ; brandy
and  water;  congress  water; warm bath;  friction  with flesh
brush ; bath  of nitric  and  muriatic acid,  diluted;  blue pill ;
prussic acid ;  Beckwith's pills ; Sands' Sarsaparilla, &c, &c.
   I also tried Halsted's remedy  of kneading the bowels ;  under-
went the torture of  an issue  on my chest;  tried  some of the
Thompsonian medicines; was under a  celebrated Homoeopathic
physician  in  New York  for some  time; tried galvanic shocks,
and even animal magnetism, but alas, weak as I was, I had too
much  nerve to be " impressible," and a magnetiser who said  he
had seldom failed before,  could produce no effect upon me.*
   Several of  my physicians made some judicious prescriptions of
general regimen;  advised  travelling ; spending my winters at
the south, &c, and I noticed that the most experienced prescribed
the least medicine, admitting  the deplorable  uncertainty  of  its
 effect.   " There are four prescriptions," said one, " I cannot tell
 which will suit your case ;  after a  week or two, if one fails, try
 another."  They all failed.   Said another : " This mixture some-
 times acts like a charm ;" on me it acted like a poison.   He saw
 it, and promptly gave it up.  Said  the venerable head of a medi-
 cal school: " The powers  of  medicine cannot control these dis-
 eases ; I advise you  not  to look for relief from that  source ; an
 entire  change of your mode of life ; cessation from all mental
 exertion; a long  sea voyage ;  a year in Europe ; living in  the
 open  air;  these may do what  medicine cannot."   My readers

   * I never lost my consciousness of sensation and of self-control, except
 once under the influence of  the mighty  Letheon, which I recently inhaled
 for a very painful operation  on the teeth ; that most wonderfully effected
 the entire suspension of all physical sensation, leaving my mind and senses
 otherwise perfectly clear. 
      DYSPEPSIA, GENERAL DECLINE,  AND HYPOCHONDRIASIS.  179

may possibly imagine how all this sounded to a  weak, nervous
hypochondriac ; advice  much more easily given  than  followed.
I still remember with gratitude their kind though vain efforts to
encourage  and  assist me, and honor their integrity in acknow-
ledging the imperfection of their medical system.
  About this time, a physician  in New York, whose independ-
ence  and. candor  equalled  his  professional skill, prescribed  a
morning shower-bath daily, which checked the progress of my
disease ; and he, following the hint, and finding other means all
fail, after some  months, recommended the full hydropathic treat-
ment, a course of which  I took under Dr. Shew, of Bond street,
New  York, commencing the last  of  March, 1846.  I began
with several shower-baths daily, and the wet bandage around the
btomach  and bowels, using chiefly vegetable diet—coarse farina-
ceous food, with, for a part of the time, a little meat at dinner, and
a part of the time no meat nor butter,  and never any drink but
water, of which I took several glasses on  rising, and an hour be-
fore meals.   At first I  thought  this very  poor fare, but in a few
days my appetite became strong, and I never enjoyed  the  most
luxurious table,  as I  did the coarse  brown  bread, homminy,
crushed  wheat, fruits, &c.   I have never  been, nor am I now, a
Grahamite, but I will state the fact that after a little flatulence for
two or three weeks, I improved on the plain fare, and so did my
fellow patients.   From one hundred and  eight pounds, to which
I was previously reduced, I, in  a few  months, weighed  one
hundred and twenty-two  pounds.
  I soon threw off my flannels (this was in April), and am now
entering on the second winter without  them, and yet I have felt
the cold  less than I did before when cased  in all my underclothes
and overcoats, which I now seldom wear, except when compelled
to forego exercise.   The cold baths invigorated  me,  and cured
my chilliness  and catarrh; the wet sheet soothed my irritated
nervous system ;  the wet bandage relieved my stomach and bow-
els ;  the sitting-bath drew the excess of blood from my head, and
the entire course  produced the most striking results;  my health
and spirits  improving upon the whole, though with  temporary
drawbacks, crises, &c,  after the first day  ; until after six months
of bathing under Dr. Shew's  direction,   partly  at  home,  and
 without .ceasing more than several hours a day from my business,
 I had  attained  a  degree  of health, hardihood,  and cheerfulness,
 which I  had  never anticipated.   The crises, in my case, were, 
180
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
after several weeks, swelling about my ear, and boils in various
parts of the person.   Now 1 feel that I possess a capital of health,
and the wealth of worlds  would not induce me to part with it,
and go down' again  into the Egypt, from which the water-cure,
by the blessing of Providence, has  rescued  me.   Scarcely a day
has passed for months, that  my heart  has  not  overflowed with
gratitude  for the happy change,  and  this  letter is one of the
fruits  of it.
  Rising one hundred cases, of nearly all the diseases that  flesh
is heir to, were treated while  I was in Dr. Shew's establishment,
with most of which I made myself somewhat  familiar.  Many
of them were chronic cases of long standing,  which had with-
stood  the  ordinary  medical treatment,  and  the water-cure was
their last resort.  To  my surprise  I found, that with scarce an
exception, they all speedily improved in general  health, and none,
to my knowledge, were injured ;  many  left after a few weeks,
intending  to complete  their cure at home, and all 'who remained
for a length of time proportioned to the duration and malignity of
their disease, were cured.   Subsequent information, from friends
and acquaintances familiar with the establishments of Dr.  Shie-
ferdecker, of Philadelphia, Dr. Wesselhceft, of Brattleboro', Dr.
Bedortha,  of Lebanon, Dr.  Roof,  of Cooperstown,  and others,
shows that the general results of their practice are similar.
  Miss Catharine Beecher, with an ardent philanthropy in every
good cause within her reach, has published  in the New York Ob-
server,  and in your  paper, the results  of her  experience  and
observation, with which, in general, 1 think every intelligent and
candid person, who has had the means of judging, fully agrees.
  Within the  past six months,  I have urged and almost driven
some  half-score of friends  and acquaintances, who were sceptical
and apathetic  as to hydropathy, to try the experiment of a few
weeks'  treatment, and the results thus far have  been most happy.
I will briefly add here, that of the  cases which  have come under
my observation,  the  following have  appeared  to  be  the most
speedily and certainly relieved by this  treatment;  rheumatism,
gnut,  dyspepsia, nervous complaints, the bad  effects of the abuse
of mercury, iodine, and other powerful medicines, fevers, measles,
small-pox, and some other acute diseases.   The manner of treat-
in<r these and other diseases, is  laid down in the various valuable
works upon hydropathy,'but I would not  advise any one to under- 
           DISEASE OF  THE MIND.--HYPOCHONDRIASIS.       181

take his own treatment, who is able to avail himself of the advice
of an experienced practitioner.
   Now I think I can understand, as I never did before, the full
force of the frequent references to water in  Scripture, as the
emblem of salvation, and I can say with Southey;

          " Most blessed water !   Neither tongue can tell
            The blessedness thereof, nor heart can think,
            Save only those to whom it hath been given
            To taste of that divinest gift of heaven.
           I stopped and drank of that divinest well,
            Fresh from the rock of ages where it ran;
           It had a heavenly quality to quell
            All pain.  I rose a renovated man;
            And would not now when that relief is known,
            For worlds the needful suffering have  foregone."

   That these disconnected statements and hints may be useful to
some of your invalid readers, is the hope of your friend.

   June 21, 1S47.

            Disease of the Mind.—Hypochondriasis.

   How strangely  indeed  does  the mind sometimes  become af-
fected  in  disease !   Some  months  since,  a very  intelligent
professional gentleman came to me, all in a  tremor of excite-
ment, and  in  relating his sufferings,   said  that  there  was in
his  mind one all-prevailing idea :—A friend of his, a physician,
while dissecting a dead body, had contracted, through a cut in
the  finger, a  most loathsome secret disease.    My  patient, being
told of this  by his friend, became haunted night and day with the
belief that he, too,- should contract  the vile affection in some un-
avoidable way!   Touch what  he would, a door-latch, the  hand
of a friend, and even the food he ate,  the delusion possessed him
perpetually that he should, in some mysterious way, contract the
dreaded disease.
   Now all  this individual's fears were wholly  without reason, as
every one  acquainted with these  things knows ;  but such was
his actual state.  How come to pass such strange things ?  Show
us the persons who avoid all drugs, whether in  medicine, food, or
drink, live  plainly, temperately, and  an entirely moral and con-
sistent life.   Do we find among such, these  strange aberrations
of the intellect ?  Not at all.   The whole world understands that 
182
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
the cold water drinker—the  man " temperate in all things"—is
the most clear-headed, contented, and enduring man that can  be
found.
  Another case I will  mention.  One young gentleman, a student
at college, following  the example  of his  preceptors and  class-
mates,  ate and drank freely of the fine things;  taking strong tea
at night that he might sit up  to study, and coffee in the morning
to prop up the strength, and  dosing  a little now and then for
the stomach's sake.  But spite of all these good  things constipa-
tion would come on (" Providence  sent  it"), and  the spirits be-
gan to  flag.   At length  a fellow student became so depressed in
mind, that he attempted to destroy himself by cutting his throat.
The young man, our  patient, seeing him in this awful  condition
with his throat half cut, was so impressed with the scene, that he
could  think of nothing  but  that he himself was  in the greatest
danger of doing  the  same deed.  Such was  his state of mind
when he came to me  for relief.
   In both of the  above  cases,  as in others  of a  like kind which
we might mention, all  of these strange symptoms of mental de-
rangement were  in a few weeks driven to the winds by a short
course of the water treatment, with proper regimen.

       Hypochondriasis {Mental Disease) after Fever, fyc

   July 20th, 1847.—A few days ago, a Mr. C, of Brooklyn, was
 brought to our establishment, he having been prostrate on his bed
 since last fall, at which time he had what was termed a  bilious
 fever. This lasted a  number of weeks, and as the fever left him,
 he could  not by any means  be induced  to believe it was possible
 for him to rise and gain strength to go about.   He imagined he
 had the  most loathsome diseases—lhathis  body was literally de-
 caying, and that if any persons should come near him, they would
 certainly become  affected  by the contagion.   He evinced  the
 greatest  dread  of meeting   any  one, particularly  strangers.
 Through all this difficulty,  his worthy wife did all for him that a
 faithful  wife could do. And who  has not witnessed woman's
 affectionate and unremitting care,  exhibited through months  and
 years of  suffering, towards  the one of all others on  earth most
 loved  ?
    I saw  Mr. C. first,  three  days  ago, on Sunday morning.  I
 spoke pleasantly and cheerfully to him ;  told him I was glad  to 
     HYPOCHONDRIASIS (MENTAL DISEASE) AFTER FEVER, &C 183

see him so comfortable ; that he would soon become much better,
I had no doubt.   I  asked him to walk down  stairs  and sit with
me awhile in an arm-chair under the trees.  He said he  would
go.  I offered to help support him.  He said no, he  could  go
alone.   So he walked down, easily, a flight of stairs and through
a hall, a thing that his friends would have believed perfectly im-
possible.  I talked with him some time; directed him what treat-
ment to pursue,  and said I  would  see him  again at  evening.
Towards evening, I sent word to my patient that I would be glad
to see him again under  the trees.  He at once came down with-
out any assistance.   He had not been known to smile for months.
   I determined, if possible, by some means to change the direc-
tion of his thoughts, and commenced conversing with him about
various things connected with  his marriage.   Asked him how he
first happened" to become acquainted with Mrs. C.;  whether  he
came all this distance to find  her ; how many years it was since
that important period ;  how long it was after their first meeting
that he came to  the  point of  " popping the question;" whether
Mrs. C. looked upon the matter with favor at the time ;  and a
great many other silly or serious things connected with courtship
and marriage, more than I could remember now.   All this had
the  desired effect.   I felt myself in a playful  mood.   Mrs. C.
was also in very good spirits, and altogether the conversation went
off well.  The patient smiled  repeatedly, and  finally laughed out-
right ; thinking no doubt that  I was a singular genius to speak of
such light matters  to one who  saw everything  in  so  serious a
light as he.  This half hour's conversation had apparently a most
happy effect, for the next morning  he began  to speak to his wife
of their prospects, of what they would do when he became  better,
&c.  Before, he had indulged in no such hopes, but was always
looking on  the darkest side  of  things, and had not  once  smiled
 during  the months of his confinement.
   It should be mentioned that Mr. C. had, with his mental diffi-
culties, a most obstinate constipation.  For  this he had  taken
different kinds of pills,  and injections of everything but the right
one, viz. pure cold  water, with no permanent  good effect.  Often
 a week and  more, sometimes fourteen days were passed without
 any discharge whatever of the bowels!  Ho was directed to use
 moderately of the plainer forms of food, cracked wheat with but
 a trifle of milk,—this was to be his principal food.  He was  to
 take three to four ablutions in the twenty-four hours, and full in- 
184
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
jections of cold water three times per day.   Those who know the
virtues of the cracked wheat mush, and of the injections  of pure
water, will not be  surprised to hear that in three days' time the
bowels began to act naturally.  The patient  also went on im-
proving in every respect.  He walked about;  sat up much of
the time, and rode  frequently.
   Thus he went on for some weeks,  and when we last heard of
him he was doing remarkably well, and gaining in every respect.
   The question may arise, why did this man at once rise and go
about readily on my seeing him ?   Others had failed in all their
efforts to get him  up.   I believed, that notwithstanding he was
weak from being  so  long confined  to his bed, and  from other
causes, he could  yet rise without the least difficulty, were he only
made to believe  it, and  I formed  a strong determination that  I
would do so.   As the man obeyed me so well in every  respect,
and before there was time for water to have any decided effect,
in fact before he had used water at all (for  he would not bathe for
any one before I saw him), it was said by some, " That  is the
effect of  mesmerism ;  the  man goes about, plunges into cold
spring-water, goes to the table among others, rides, walks, &c,
&c.—anything the Doctor  orders him to do."  The mind has
doubtless a far greater effect over the powers and functions of the
body  than is generally imagined.   But of mesmerism  I know
nothing.

                      Injury  by  Drugs.

   August 15th, 1847.—I was  called some days ago to visit, pro-
fessionally, the wife of a farmer near our establishment at Syos-
set.   Her case is a striking exemplification of the  evil which
a little drugging, constantly kept up  for a length of time, will of-
tentimes cause.
   This lady had somehow, as many have, got  into the  habit of
dosing,  dosing, continually.   First she had a little headache—
then a dozen of pills must be taken ;  a little constipation—then a
dozen pills again;  a relax of  the bowels—then a dose  of calo-
mel  or  something  of that kind; and so on from one little bad
feeling to another—then  dosing—then feeling  bad,  and finally
worse and worse, until there was neither health nor comfort of body
or mind.  Once this lady was salivated by some son of Escula-
pius: then the teeth became loose and nearly all fell out. 
CONSTIPATION AND PILES.
185
  What can we do in  cases like this 1   The patient can neither
eat, drink, nor sleep.   She cannot labor or  let any others about
her.   She is miserable, and seems impelled by inevitable neces-
sity to make all others so who come within her reach.   There
are her never ending complaints about her feelings, and disrelish
for food.   If she takes the  tenth  part of an ordinary meal, the
stomach rejects it, or extreme  distress is caused.  The charming
pills  have   all  lost  their  good effects.   Everything  good  is
turned into bad.  Meat is poison, but poison is not meat.   Very
evidently, life cannot be sustained unless  some relief be ere long
obtained.
  I prescribed first, the taking of nothing in the world but cracked
wheat boiled, and eaten moistened with a little  milk.  Tea  and
coffee, and all the  " good things" are cut off.  Patient is told this
is the only hope.   Deny appetite, " take the cross" and  live,
perchance—or eat, drink, and die.   These are  the alternatives.
Patient affirms by the  blessing of God, she will try.  She goes
to camp-meeting a few days, and lives mostly in the open  air,
riding also a number of miles, morning and evening, and becomes
gradually, though slowly, better and stronger, and feels more com-
fortable than she has done for years.   She performs daily, slight
ablutions with tempered water,—these are all she can bear.  The
abstinence, air, and exercise, and not least of all, the avoidance of
all drugs and stimulants, even tea, coffee,  and salt;  these are the
means, and  the only possible means, which, if many months per-
severed in, may be of some benefit in so desperate a case.
  And now, after this decided mitigation of the symptoms, it is
doubtful whether this sufferer will not  go back like the inebriate
to his cups,  or the reformed man to his disgusting tobacco habit
again.  Such, alas, is too often the case.

                    Constipation and Piles.

  At one time a very worthy and intelligent  physician came to
us to spend a few weeks.  His age was about fifty, and his habits
active.  For twenty years and upwards, he had suffered so much
from constipation,  and  occasionally piles, that scarcely a day had
passed without his being under the necessity of taking some form
of aperient or cathartic medicine.  And notwithstanding his great
care  in the use of remedies  of this kind,  he was many times
under the necessity of remaining in the privy a whole hour,  and 
186
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
compelled to make use of mechanical means to abstract from the
bowels some  indurated  fsecal matter.  Such, often, was all the
movement he could obtain, and many times not even that.   So
this friend bethought himself that he would try our prescriptions
awhile, since the ordinary means  had produced no permanently
good result.
  Cracked wheat, with brown  bread, milk-toast, and vegetables,
fruits,  &c,  were  made the principal  articles of  food.   The
teeth being almost useless by reason of decay, the cracked wheat
pudding or mush was relished  very much.  A moderate water
treatment, by bathing, wet-sheets, and injections,  was daily ad-
ministered.   In a very short time the bowels commenced  acting
vigorously and  healthfully.  There  was at times something of
what may be termed crisis diarrhoea, attended however with little
or no debility, and which was believed by  our friend to be only
the effects of nature in throwing off an  accumulation of morbid
matter from the system, and which could be attended only with
the very best of results.
   The good effects of the change in diet and  treatment adopted
in this case,  were very striking, but not more so than will often
be found to result from the like  means.   Some persons have been
cured of constipation in a very short time, through the observance
of a correct  diet, whereas they had remained for  many  weeks
without benefit in this particular, because in the establishment in
which  they had been, the diet was not calculated  to favor  the re-
moval  of the disease.  The cracked wheat, be  it  remembered
(that is, the best  of wheat coarsely ground, none of the bran
being removed, then boiled into a  mush or pudding, &c.), eaten
with a moderate portion of milk, stewed fruit, and the like, is one
of the best possible articles  that can be used for food, especially
when there is a tendency to that bad and troublesome symptom,
constipation of the bowels. 
CASES FURNISHED BY DR.  SHEW.
187
          CASES FURNISHED  BY DR. SHEW.

  In addition to the foregoing cases treated by Dr. Shew, he has
kindly sent us the following letters, cases, &c, from physicians,
clergymen, and patients, in other quarters, some of whom have
treated themselves and neighbors, or  acted upon the prescription
of others, with marked  success.  Dr. S. has added remarks to
some of them.—Ed.


  CASES FROM REV. MR. RUSSELL, OF FALL RIVER, MASS.

  Clergymen  have it in their power to do much  good in recom-
mending the water-treatment.   No class of men have so much
influence in directing the public mind as they.  We  are therefore
much gratified whenever we learn  that a minister of the gospel
has taken an active interest in the cause.   Be it  understood, the
writer is one of that  number who do not believe a knowledge  of
the  Latin and  Greek, of calomel, iodine, prussic acid,  arsenic,
&c, &c, necessary  in order to understand the  true principles
of the  healing art.   Hence, in all  medical works, and  espe-
cially such as are designed for the  general reader, the unne-
cessary use of technical words and phrases should be  avoided.
The celebrated Dr.  Currie, of England, in the preface  to his
invaluable work on water, written fifty years ago, said, " It were
better that medicine,  like other branches of natural knowledge,
were brought from its hiding places, and exhibited in the sim-
plicity of science, and the nakedness of truth."
  The Rev.  Mr.  R., in writing us for  the  purpose of sending
some names for the Water-Cure Journal, Manual, &c,  adds:—
  " I am practising the  water-cure here in connexion  with my
ministerial labors.  I feel it but an  act of humanity to do so.   I
have, thus far, the most encouraging success."

  Some weeks since, the same gentleman  sent  us some cases,
which are thankfully received, and we now publish them :— 
188
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
                             "Fall River, Mass., Feb. 10, 1847.
" Dear Sir :—
  *  *  *  *  "I have been greatly blessed in my own person,
and in  my family, by the water-cure, and have been the means,
I humbly trust, of saving several valuable lives  here, by the
treatment.  I will give a few cases which have come under my
own notice or care :—

                   Nervous Debility, fyc.
  " 1.  My Wife.—Her  case was one of weakness peculiar to
women, and  general nervous debility for two years.  She  had
been treated  by some of the most distinguished physicians of
Boston, such as Drs. Lewis, Lane, and Willard, but without any
great benefit.   This spring, as a last resort, she was induced to
place herself  under the care of Dr. Kitteridge, a distinguished
hydropath, and in three months her health was quite recovered.

                 " Supposed Consumption, fyc.
  " 2.  Mr. P. S. Brown, of Fall River.—In August last I found
him weak, emaciated, with  pains  in  his  side and  chest,  a dis-
tressing cough,  and  night  sweats.  Every  remedy  used had
proved  unavailing  and  he  was  sinking into the  grave.  His
friends had about given  him up, regarding  him in  a quipk  con-
sumption.  I persuaded him to accompany me to Lynn and to put
himself under the  care  of Dr.  Kitteridge.   He consented, and
did so.  He had  barely strength remaining, to endure the journey
by railroad.   I doubted of the result, but had  a faint hope.  His
friends generally thought he would  never return  alive.   The
water-cure was faithfully applied.  In two weeks the cough and
night sweats disappeared, and a good appetite was induced.  For
four weeks the pain in the side and in the chest gave way, and
he  returned  home, wonderfully improved.   He has continued
the treatment ever since, at  home, and  now looks like  a well
man, and attends to his business in all weathers.

                   " Supposed Consumption.
   " 3. Henry Potter, of Fall River.—Mr.  P. had been sick for
two years with what he and his physicians considered pulmonary
consumption.  For the  last year he  had  been confined  to the
house, and the  most  of the  time to the bed.  His cough was
excessive, and he was pale  and emaciated.   I called upon him
and recommended the water-cure as  a means of prolonging his
life.  He took hold of it  faithfully, and  has gained, in  about  as
many  weeks, nineteen  pounds of flesh.   He  is out every  day,
and appears like one  truly alive from the  dead.  His  health is
still rapidly improving. 
          EXTREME DEBILITY,  FROM  OVER-STRAJNING.       189

            " Extreme Debility, from Over-straining.
  " 4. Mr. Eben Thursten, of (Steep Brook) Fall River.—About
two years ago he injured himself by lifting, and felt, as he ex-
pressed it, ' something give way within.'   His health  rapidly
failed.  At last he was confined  to  the house, and mostly to the
bed, enduring great suffering,  from pains in  the chest  and sto-
mach.  He expected to live  but a few weeks.   All hope was
gone.  I heard of his  case and  visited  him.   With great  diffi-
culty I persuaded him to try the water-cure.   He consented  at
last, and immediately began to recover.   He  is now in full  flesh,
and  attends  to his business, saved from a premature grave, by
the blessing of God and cold water.
   " I could give you  many more cases.   But these will suffice
to justify my faith in the water-cure.
                            " Yours, most respectfullv,
                                        "P. R. Russell."

       CASES FROM DR. BRANCH,  OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

       •         " Abbeville Court House, S. C, June 5th, 1847.
 " Dr. Shew :—
   " Dear Sir—I have been engaged in the practice  of medicine
 for twenty-one years, and during that time have often witnessed,
 in my own practice, the happy effects of cold water, in allaying
 pain, and shortening  paroxysms of fever,—nay more, I have  in
 some instances  perfected  a crisis in severe attacks of fever, ac-
 companied with delirium, by the external as well as internal use
 of cold water, in the  short period of half an hour.   And, as I
 have the data, I can give you a  case in point:—

                   " Bilious Remittent Fever.
   " Sarah, a servant girl  in the family  of Mr. C, was attacked
 with bilious  remittent  fever, on the  20th of August, 1838. When
 called, I found her laboring under a high fever, accompanied with
 an  evident determination  to  the brain; a wiry pulse ; skin hot
 and dry ; tongue covered with a thick crust, and very dry ; teeth
 covered  with sordes ;  eyes red  and suffused.   I commenced my
 treatment by bleeding until the pulse was relaxed, as  was also
 the  skin,  delirium still remaining.  I then gave a full dose  of ca-
 lomel, followed  in five hours by castor  oil.   Saw the patient on
 the  22d (having  made my  first visit on the 21st); symptoms the
 same ; took  another portion of blood, and applied a large blister
 on the stomach, and  another on the back  of the  neck ;  gave
 broken doses of Dover's powders and calomel, and ordered foot-
 bath and  diaphoretic drinks.  23d—symptoms the same ; con-
 tinued the powders, applied blisters to the extremities, and  order- 
190
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
ed an anodyne at bed-time.  Was sent for in haste in the morn-
ing, and found all the symptoms aggravated, and concluded that
relief must soon be obtained, or all was over.
  " Although deranged, her thirst was so great, that when water
was  held  to  the  mouth, she  drank largely.  I  then  had her
stripped, wrapped her up in a very coarse wet sheet, and in half
an hour every symptom of fever  had passed off; she was  per-
fectly sensible; the tongue had  become soft and cool, and the
disease was entirely eradicated.   On  the 24th, the  patient was
walking about, cured.

                      " Typhus Fever.
  " I  recollect another case which illustrates the sudden  and
happy effects  of the timely use of cold water.  On the  30th of
June,  1828, I was called, in company with Dr. Ford, of the town
of C----, Vermont, to consult with Dr. N. of  the village of
M----, of that State, in  a case of typhus fever, of twenty-two
days' duration.  The patient, a son of Capt. E., had  taken an
active course  of medicine, and, as  is usual in typhus,  was ex-
tremely debilitated.    The  symptoms were those oi  a case
approaching a fatal crisis.  The  patient had not  the strength to
raise his hand.   Dr. N. said he  had done  all he could do,  and
inquired what I would advise ?  I frankly confessed That I thought
he would die  under any treatment.  Dr. Ford said he  believed
nothing could save him but a free application of cold water, and
he had confidence in that.   We  both consented  to its use, be-
lieving it,  at best, but a doubtful experiment, but we knew not
what  else  to  do.   The  wet-sheet  was used,  and frequently
renewed during  the  evening, and when I called the next day,
every symptom of fever had disappeared, and, to my utter asto-
nishment,  the patient was sitting, propped up in bed,  and in a
few days he was mingling with the busy crowd.
  " I have many other cases, but will not write them now.
                           " Your humble  servant,
                                    " Franklin Branch."

               TWO CASES FROM DR. CRANE

                          " Fever.
" Dr. Shew :—
  " We have tested the medical effects of the water-cure in our
own family, under the following circumstances:—
  " Our oldest daughter, about eleven  years of  age, arose one
morning with violent pain in the head, sore  throat, considerable
fever, and great thirst,  and  was  able to  sit  up but  a  few
moments.   After getting her  in bed, we commenced with the 
TWO CASES FROM DR.  CRANE.             191 ,
usual remedies, and continued to give them through the day and
night without the desired effect ; her  fever  increasing, we be-
came more anxious, and a  phy&ician was called, who immedi-
ately inquired if she had ever had the scarlet fever.
  " On ascertaining that she had, and very severely, he remarked
that  the appearance  of the skin and  other symptoms indicated
the scarlet fever.  This  was about  ten in  the morning.   He
ordered medicine  to be  be  given every half hour,  and if no
moisture appeared on the  surface in  the course of an hour or
two, the remedy to be repeated every fifteen minutes ; we  con-
tinued this treatment until  seven in the evening, without any
favorable  change in the  symptoms.   In fact the  child was evi-
dently growing  worse ;  her mind  wandered during the latter
part of the day, and  the  pulse was  rapid and strong.  I  went
out soon after dark, and was absent about an hour.
   "  On my return I  inquired after the child.   I was requested to
place my hand upon her forehead, which I found moist with per-
spiration.   At this moment I was not aware  of what had trans-
pired during my absence,  but  supposed the medicine had pro-
duced the change.   Mrs. C.  informed  me, that as  the remedies
would produce no  change, she  had ventured to wrap her in  a
sheet wet with cold water, with a  thick wool blanket  over it,
tucked closely about and under the  body.  In fifteen or  twenty
minutes   she perspired freely and slept,  but on awaking,  she
called for a fresh wet sheet, and continued  to do so until we
changed it six or seven times in about eight hours, in which time
the fever  had entirely left her,  and did not return.  She drank
four or five  tumblers of water during this  treatment, and the
next day was out of bed and dressed, feeling perfectly well, only
somewhat weak.                        J.  W. Crane,
                        " 11 Le Roy Place (Bleecker st.),
                                             " New York.
  " Feb. 15, 1846."


   Remarks.—We gladly insert this communication from our
friend Doctor Crane, and  we are authorized to say  that  some
months since the child's illness  above mentioned, she was again
attacked in a similar way, and has been cured as before.
   The case illustrates the power of water-cure over acute dis-
eases.  By observing a few simple rules, people can everywhere
practise safely in fever;  and if they will but  remain  calm and
self-possessed, and persevere, in almost  every conceivabfe  case,
a fever of whatever kind may be at once nipped in the bud.  By
affusion, wet-sheet, shower, or plunging-baths, or by a part or all
of these united, keeping the whole system cool if it is too  hot, or 
192
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
comfortable if it is too cold (using vapor and warm baths in the
latter case, alternating  with  the  cold), together with cleansing
and keeping  clear the  stomach and  bowels, and  diluting well
with water as a drink,—any person of good  common sense will
do incomparably better  work in all manner of fevers,  and, we
may add, in all  inflammatory diseases,  than a  score  of doctors
with their armament of  drugs.
  We go, in toto, against the idea that the  physician only  is to
administer  water.  Act  according to  these plain rules  we  have
given.   Take fifty wet sheets and baths in a day, if so many are
necessary to keep the system cool, or remain, as some have done,
for hours in water, until the fever is thoroughly broken up ; and
better still by far, regulate the  diet,  labor,  exercise, and daily
bathing, that these attacks may be avoided.   This is what hydro-
pathy brings us to ultimately.  Friends, heed well its precepts !

  Dr. Crane also sends  us the following :—

       Threatening Mortification—Amputation Prevented.

  Dear Sir,—Quite recently,  a friend from the  west  (Captain
Barney of  Cincinnati) related a case, which I think may be in-
teresting to your readers: A soldier in one of our western forts
received a  wound in his hand, which  became inflamed and swol-
len.   The  surgeon decided that the  arm  must be amputated to
save his life.  The  inflammation appeared  to advance  towards
the shoulders, and all efforts to arrest it had, so far, proved  una-
vailing.  The time was  appointed, and preparations were making
for the operation.  But the poor fellow, wishing to retain  his  right
arm as long as possible,  asked the privilege of keeping it for an-
other  day.  His  request was granted: he wandered about sad
and melancholy,  with his arm in a sling, the pain being so in-
tense that he found it impossible  to sit quietly, or  place himself
in any comfortable posture.  He had  not slept for a week, except
when under the  influence of narcotics.
  After spending some hours in this distressing  state of mind and
body, he espied a clear spring of  water, formed into a stream  by
running through the  bark of  a tree which  had been placed  there
for that purpose; he paused and  gazed upon it, and imagined  it
would feel  grateful and  refreshing to his inflamed hand and  arm.
As all hope of saving it  was gone, he  removed the bandages, and
sat down by the  stream,  placing the diseased  part so  that the
water could fall  upon it.   After remaining in this  position  some
time, the influence of this  cooling and  soothing remedy caused 
         RHEUM 4.TISM, STRANGURY, CONSTIPATION, &C.      193

him to fall asleep.   He remained in this state of forgetfiilness for
two or three hours, and awoke free from pain.
  He arose and returned to the camp;  and, on  the  bandage
being again removed by the  surgeon, he discovered  a great and
(to him) unaccountable change ;  the fungus flesh had sloughed
off, the inflammation had subsided;  the arm had diminished  in
size, and he continued entirely free from pain.  The surgeon in-
quired what had been done to effect such a change.  He told him ;
and his reply was, "You have saved your  arm."
                                           J. W. C, M.D.

           THE CASEOF "MARIA," A COLORED WOMAN.

  The following case, among a number  of  others,  is sent  us
by a worthy lady, who was,  the  past summer, sojourning  for a
time in the village of Fairfield, Conn.  From motives which every
one can appreciate, we do not feel  at liberty to use  her  name
here.  She is one who takes great interest in the new system, espe-
cially in its application to sickness among the poor.  She truly "goes
about doing good."   The case is a very striking one, and  is  an
example of what not unfrequently takes place in the treatment by
water—a cure so remarkable as scarcely  to be believed except
by eye-witnesses.

      Rheumatism, Strangury, Constipation, Lameness, 8fC.

                              " Fairfield, Conn., Aug. 22, 1845.
  " On my arrival here to  pass the summer, I was  directed to
Maria, a colored woman, of  51 years of age, to do my washing.
She hobbled to the door, apparently in great pain, and, in answer
to my inquiry, said she was so very unwell that she was afraid
to undertake my washing.
   " When I asked what was the matter, she replied,  ' Oh ! dear,
ma'am, everything—it seems to me that I have  every pain that
anybody ever had under the sun.'   And, indeed,  so  it seemed.
Rheumatism ;  strangury (so  that  her  only  relief for eighteen
months had befen by instruments);  constipation, which was never
relieved but by medicine ;  and headaches of the  most excruciat-
ing kind, which, for the time, caused partial blindness, and from
which at that moment she had been without relief for six weeks,
night and day.
  " There was also excruciating pain in her hip (an old disease,
caused by having been cruelly beaten by  her drunken husband,
which confined her to bed for nineteen months, and obliged  her to
use crutches for twelve years, though she now hobbled upon one),
                        9 
194
WATER CUKE  IN AMERICA.
and an entire loss of appetite, with emaciation.  The white of her
eyes was covered with a thick yellow mucous coat, threaded with
brown, and she could see but imperfectly.  She had, at that time,
great pain  at the pit  of the stomach, and habitual pain in tho
bowels.
  " Upon her right ribs  was a large swelling, which was caused
at ten  years of  age, by having  been cruelly  beaten, and  then
thrust by her mistress against the side of the house, which bent
inwards three of her ribs.  After this, the poor creature was long
deranged, and bed-ridden, with bleeding at the lungs and from the
stomach, and a cough which had never left her.   She was taken
into the family of a physician and kindly cared for;—took great
quantities of medicine, and was three times salivated.
  " It occurred  to me,  if a kind Providence had sustained her
through such complicated sufferings, she might be reserved to re-
joice in a restoration by the water-cure ; and, as the physicians had
abandoned her case as hopeless, I took courage to begin with
her.
   " She made a thorough ablution with soap and tepid water upon
going  to bed,  and in the morning  washed her head  and whole
body in cold water from the well—applied a wet bandage around
her" body,  which she changed frequently during the  day.  At
night she bathed as  in  the morning, always rubbing thoroughly
for some time, every  part of her body, till she was in a complete
glow and began to perspire.  Twice a day she used the sitz-bath
for twenty minutes—drank a great deal of cold water (nothing
can be finer than the water here);  lived upon farinaceous food,
vegetables, fruits, and milk.   She began to recover at once, and
after one week only of trial, she wept tears of joy.  ' Never in my
life did I expect to be so well,' she  said  to me.
   "As we had  to encounter great  prejudices and opposition (the
county people  exclaiming,  'she  will  certainly be  killed'),  I
visited her twice a day, and she deserves  great praise for her
faithful observance of all my directions.  After three weeks  she
was restored to  perfect health, and said to me that evening, ' I
have not an ache or pain of any kind, and I have been to church
 all day, and, for the  first time  in  twenty-five  years, sat without
 fatigue or pain.'
   " I have forgotten  to state  that  her menstruation continues  to
 this time,  and has always been attended with  such excruciating
 pains that she was confined to bed for a week or ten days, and her
 screams were heard  by all her neighbors.   Many of them have
 told me, that for weeks they have watched over her sick bed, ex-
 pecting  every moment to be her  last; so that her recovery is
 looked upon as a miracle.
    " From all and every one of the complaints  I have detailed, she
 has recovered,  and  begins to walk firmly without  her cane, and 
FEVER, RHEUMATISM, &C
195
for three weeks has done washing, in cold water, for twelve per-
sons.   The swelling upon the ribs  has disappeared.  Her appe-
tite is so good that she ' could eat all day,' and her sight is good
—the mucous coat entirely gone."
  Some days  after writing the  above, this lady gave us the fol-
lowing additional particulars concerning this  case:  " I am very
happy to inform you that Maria, whose case I have detailed, went
to church  yesterday (more than a quarter of a mile from  her
house) without her cane, suffering not the least pain  or  inconve-
nience, and mounted the  stairs  to the gallery.   It  is twenty-five
years since she has walked without her crutches, or hobbled upon
a cane."

   October  10th,  1847.—I have a number  of times heard of
Maria's  good health continuing, since her case was published.
A few days ago only, I was attending a patient  at Norwalk, Conn.,
not many miles from Fairfield, and at that time she yet remained
well.  It is now more than two years since she was cured.

                 From the Water-Cure Journal.

   We are glad to give this strong testimony of Dr. Caulkins, who
has had  abundant opportunity of testing the powers of water,  and
has done so very successfully.

                    Fever, Rheumatism, 8fC.

   " Facts, carefully observed, collected, and arranged, constitute
the basis of all science.   Such facts are rapidly establishing the
scientific treatment of diseases by water.   Such facts are demon-
strating  the vastly  important  truth, that water, used with  a  dis-
creet and persevering energy, in accordance with the true prin-
ciples of physiology, and with judicious discrimination in varying
conditions, is a universal cure.  Some of those facts have been
witnessed by  the writer.
   " More than fifteen years ago, he commenced the following treat-
ment in cases of fever: The patient stood or  sat in a large tub ;
two persons,—one before, the other behind,—each armed with a
bucket of cold water, made a simultaneous dash upon his breast
and shoulders.  Without drying the surface,  he was wrapped in
blankets, put  into bed and sweated.   When  the fever returned,
the dash was  repeated, or resort was had  to cold ablutions. Fre-
quent and very copious  injections of tepid water were  found of
much efficacy, in the relief of those distressing and oppressive
feelings which constitute so  much of a fever patient's  misery.
He was then enjoined to drink largely of cold water, and cold 
196
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
wet-cloths were kept applied to the burning feet, instead of stimu-
lating them with mustard poultices.  But little medicine was
used, yet the practice  was far more  successful than  any  the
writer had ever witnessed.
  " In 1833, the wife of the undersigned was so violently attacked
with inflammatory rheumatism, that she was soon unable to move
either of the lower extremities, and the pain was excruciating to
an almost intolerable degree.  The writer had them immersed in
a tub of cold spring water, and a  stream of the same-was kept
pouring on  them for hours.   In two days,  without a particle of
medicine, the disease was cured.
  " In the person of his son, the undersigned has recently cured,
by the same means, and the additional use of the wet-bandage,
one of the most dangerous and obstinate local  diseases known to
physicians, viz. inflammation of the knee-joint.
  " As a general conclusion, he is happy in  being afforded the op-
portunity and privilege of  giving  this testimony  to  the  public
through  the reforming  columns of a Water-Cure Journal:  that
in the treatment of various diseases he has been far more successful
with water as his medicine, than the most consummate  skill can be
with the whole armament of medicines known to the  learned or the
unlearned world.
                                  "T. N. Caulkins, M.D.
  "New York, February, 1846."

              " General Debility, Indigestion,  8fC.
" Dr. Shew :—
  " Dear Sir—The  following facts may not prove uninteresting
to your readers.  Previously to thirty years of age, I had lived
as good livers ordinarily do, according to the general acceptation
of the term.  I had sick headache frequently, which was  caused
by  my mode of living, without doubt.  My  first change  was
made on account of my wife's health,  as a matter of experiment
for one  year.   My wife had  a  serious complication  of difficul-
ties, not uncommon to females in this country, of abundance  and
wrong living—indigestion, liver complaint, rushing of blood to the
head, great uterine weakness,  attended with  pain and  soreness,
extreme nervousness, so that  the mere opening of a door  would
startle her,  and, in short, general weakness and prostration of the
whole system.   She had taken much medicine for  years, which
appeared to give  partial relief, but at  the  above-mentioned time
had lost its effect.
   " Our dietetic and hygienic changes about five  years  ago,
were as follows :  We at once wholly discontinued the use of tea
and coffee, taking water only, instead ; all  stimulating condi-
ments, spices, &c, were abandoned, except my wife used a very
little salt.   We used coarse wheaten bread instead of fine ;  par- 
       GENERAL DEBILITY AND DECLINE, CAUSED BY GRIEF.    197

took principally of farinaceous food and  fruits, using but little
milk and cream. We attended thoroughly to daily bathing, and,
on  the whole,  were  exceedingly  benefited.   My wife's nerves
soon became calm,  her pains were  greatly  relieved,  and the
general system became again quite  vigorous and  strong.  By
care in every respect, she is now able to keep  free from  pain,
and is capable of a good  share  of  endurance.  Through the
strengthening effect  of  water,  and the use  of plain and coarse
food, the functions of the stomach  and bowels are now well per-
formed, and particularly for the latter part of the time.
   " I did  not  at first expect to derive any benefit in  my own
case.  But I was happily disappointed.   From a short time after
the commencement, I have not had a single return of the sick
headache, and  am,  in  every respect, in  the enjoyment of firm
and uninterrupted health.
   " Our children are likewise  examples  illustrative of the good
effects of the use of water,  and correct diet.
                                       " Jesse Garretson.
  " New Lisbon, Columbiana Co., Ohio."

            TWO CASES FROM DR. H. H. BROWN

        " General Debility and Decline, caused by Grief.

   " On the 22d of September, 1844,  my advice was requested in
relation to the health of E. L.  S., aged nine years; with a feeble
constitution, having  a predominance  of  the  mental or nervous
temperament,   and who had recently been very deeply afflicted
by the death of  a beloved and affectionate mother, and this was pro-
bably one cause of her  present ill  health.   I found she had some
fever, though not of a high grade,  but little desire for food, a dry
cough, and a  gradual emaciation of  the  body and  limbs.  Her
father thought  she could not live long, unless she soon obtained
relief.  I advised a plain and sparing  vegetable diet, frequent ab-
lutions in cold water, and  as  much exercise  as she  could well
endure, in the  open  air: together with the maintenance of  as
quiet and cheerful a state of mind as possible.
   " I did not see her again until the 20th of October, when I found
that her  system had become  very much emaciated, resembling
more, in  countenance, a dead than a  living body, and that there
was great prostration of  her physical  and  mental energies.   She
was now but just able to sit  in  a chair, yet with all her prostra-
tion and debility, I found there was still lurking in her system a
feverish excitement,  which was almost imperceptible,  but which,
if in any way increased, or even if left unsubdued, would inevita-
bly soon  entirely exhaust her vital powers.   Her  friends were
fully of  the opinion that she  could live  but a few days longer, 
198
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
unless her disease was in some way arrested.   I was of the same
opinion.
  " Weak and emaciated as she was, at my suggestion, she  was
wrapped closely in a linen sheet wrung well out of cold water,
around which were drawn two or three  flannel blankets, and then
as much bed clothing was laid over her as she could comfortably
bear.   She soon became  quite warm,  and was  encouraged  to
drink all the cold water she would, while  in the wet sheet.   Af-
ter remaining in the sheet one hour and a  half, she was taken out
and washed all  over in water a little tepid, and thoroughly rub-
bed.  This process seemed at the time  to have a salutary effect
upon her, and  I advised that it be repeated as often as once in
one or two  days, and her diet plain, and small in quantity, as be-
fore, and that great exertions be made to divert her attention from
her troubles of body and mind, and, if possible,  to get her in-
terested in  some amusing recreation, as she had  a  settled disin-
clination to bodily and  mental exertion.
   " Her father—having broken away from the prevailing notions
of drugging, and having confidence in such a course as this—en-
deavored to follow, in every particular, my suggestions.  On the
day but one after the first application of the wet  sheet, she  was
again subjected to the same process of the wet sheet, followed by
ablution with cool water.   The effect of this second application
of the wet sheet was most striking  and happy.   So rapidly did
she recover from this time, that  it was not thought  necessary  to
apply the wet  sheet again.  A plain and spare  vegetable diet,
with water for drink,  daily ablutions with cold water, together
with the establishment of pleasing recreations attended with gentle
exercise, and pure air,  soon completed the case.  And having re-
covered her strength and  flesh, and  having—as the  result of her
correct habits—enjoyed  better health  since her  recovery than
formerly, her friends look upon her as one almost  raised from the
dead, simply by the use of nature's own  remedial  agent, water,
and the observance of  nature's laws."

                          Pleurisy.

   " Mr. H. B., aged 73 years, possessing a vigorous constitution,
and generally enjoying good health, was, during considerable part
of October and  November, 1844, more or less indisposed, although
able to be about the house most of the time.  On the 27th of No-
vember, he was attacked in the morning by a severe pain in his
right  side,  above the diaphragm.  The breathing soon became
hurried, and attended  with the most excruciating pain, and the
recumbant  posture soon became insupportable.   So  great was the
pain attendent  on the inflammation of the lungs,  causing  this
organ to press against the  inflamed pleura, that it  was with great 
PLEURISY.
199
difficulty  he could speak.   Being present,  I  advised  the  cold
water-treatment, to which he consented.
  " It being morning, he was immediately put into a sitz-bath, at
the temperature of about 60°, his limbs were thoroughly rubbed
during the bathing, and the  painful side frequently wet with the
water of the bath.  He remained in this  bath about three-quarters
of an hour, after which a wide bandage, wrung  out of cold water,
was  put  around the chest, and  changed  every few  minutes.
About noon, he took  a foot-bath of cold water, followed  by the
bandages, and  in  the evening, another sitz-bath.   Before night
the pain was greatly alleviated, so that he slept  most of the night.
The next  day,  he took a sitz-bath in the morning, and a foot-bath
in the afternoon, and continued the bandage, frequently changed,
through the day ;  although  before night the  pain in his side was
entirely gone, and the respiration easy and natural.  He took no
food on the 27th, and but little, and that of the plainest  kind—
unbolted wheat meal  bread—on the 28th.
   " In  about thirty-six  hours from the commencement  of this
most severe attack of pleurisy I ever witnessed, the disease was
entirely subdued  and  eradicated  from  the  system, so that  there
has  been  no return of it since.  From this time—although he had
been more or  less out of health for some weeks—he  gradually
improved,  and soon regained his usual health,  which  he has
enjoyed  ever  since.   Abstinence from  food,  the  application
of cold water in the  various ways here described, together with
the  free use of cold water as a drink, were the only means, resort-
ed to in the case ; yet, I hesitate not  to say, that there  are but
few, comparatively, of the regular physicians in our country who,
had they  seen  this patient at the acme of  his disease, but would
have pronounced  the course  pursued as  wholly  inadequate  to
the  removal of it, and  also, as  highly  dangerous;  and that
nothing short  of copious bleeding,  together with the  medicines
usually administered in that disease, could save  the patient from
 a speedy death.   The  usual  treatment,  of blood-letting,  blis-
 tering, &c, would have so  reduced the strength, and exhausted
 the  vital  powers of the  patient, that a long time would have been
 required  for him to  recover, if  indeed he could have survived
 such a course ; whereas, by the  hydropathic mode of  treatment
 employed in this case, the patient, instead of being reduced, was
 rather  invigorated, and  as  soon  as the disease was subdued, he
 was able to be about.
                                     " H. H. Brown, M.D."
   West Randolph,  Vt., April, 1845. 
200
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
          Fever, and Ague and Fever, treated at Sea.

  My  friend and patient, Capt. I. Kenney, writing from Vera
Cruz the past summer, says :—

  " I have -had the satisfaction of treating successfully, by water,
two or  three cases on our passage  from New York ; one was a
case of fever, another of ague  and fever of nine months' standing.
By  the use  of the wet sheet twice per day, wet bandages,  fre-
quent  baths, &c, the disease was thrown off completely, so  that
no further return of  it was experienced on the passage.  Once,
on a slight indication of its coming  on, a wet sheet and bath were
sufficient to check it.
  " The man told me that for three years his  health had been
such that he could not earn his living.   After going through the
process he declared he had not felt so strong for a long time, yet
I had  kept  him  on  what would be termed a very low  diet.  I
think this case  illustrates the value of cold water, even under
unfavorable circumstances;  the weather was very hot,  the man
slept with 100  other persons between  decks, the place  being
necessarily not over  well ventilated."

  The following case, treated by us some time since, was written
clit by a friend.

          .        Picionum—Painters' Colic.

  A case of this disease came under my  observation, a short
time since,  of the worst character.  A  regular  physician  had
attended the patient for  some time, who prescribed the  usual
course of drugging,  opium pills, &c, the patient all the  while
growing worse,  and  for the last  five days of the  physician's
attendance, there was no evacuation of the bowels.  Finally the
patient despairing of help  from drugs, concluded to try water-
cure.  At this time he was suffering from the most obstinate  and
long-continued costiveness, excruciating pain  about the region
of the navel, and violent spasms in the intestines and muscles of
the  abdomen.
  The first  prescription was  a full  clyster of  pure tepid water.
In a few moments there was a free evacuation  of the  bowels,
which  gave great relief.  Wet cloths were applied to the  abdo-
men, and the patient drank a tumbler of water,  when a second
clyster was given,  and  then he was covered up comfortably
in bed,  and  soon fell  asleep.   At  night  before retiring  he
was put into a tub half full of tepid  water, and thoroughly bathed,
and rubbed with the coarse towel and  flesh brush, from  head to
foot.   This  refreshed and  strengthened  him  very much.   He 
                RHEUMATISM.—(LUMBAGO,  &C.)            201

rested well through the night.   In the morning he used a thorough
hand  and rubbing  bath,  and applied the wet  bandage  to the
stomach,  a  tumbler or two  of water was drunk,  and  he ate
nothing but unbolted wheat meal water-gruel, and cracker, that
day.   This course was pursued two days, and the  patient was
entirely relieved, so that on the third day he went on a visit  to
his friends—comparatively well.

                Rheumatism.—{Lumbago, fyc.)
   Mr. John A. Deveau, of this  city, aged 46, a ship-wright by
occupation,  informs us that he was troubled for many years with
lumbago  (rheumatism in the back),  and  rheumatism in different
parts of the  system.   He had suffered often severely ; sometimes
it had been so bad as almost to prevent the power  of dressing
and undressing.  He  had, besides,  indigestion, with acidity  of
the stomach, &c.  His business exposed  him much to the heated
vapors caused by the steaming  of planks used in ship-building;
and in this way the rheumatism was kept  up, that is, by frequently
taking cold.
   About  the middle of February of the last winter, Mr. Deveau
was attacked severely with  the old complaint.  It  commenced
more particularly in one hip.  He  attempted to remove  it from
this part by a large blister.   This appeared to drive the pain to
the other hip.  He took a  good deal of colchicum,  the great
remedy,  so called, of the old school—applied lotions, ointments,
&c, &c, all without removing the disease.  He at length was
induced to commence cold bathing, with the hope of effecting  a
cure.   He  took always one cold bath each day, and at times
two.   A  short  time  only elapsed  before the  rheumatism was
driven to the winds, and has not troubled him  since, because  he
continues perseveringly the daily  bath.
   Some time after becoming cured, Mr.  D. made a considerable
change in diet.   He now feels more vigorous  and elastic, and  a
greater buoyancy of spirits, than he has within 25 years.   Many
cases  like the above have come under our observation.

          [From the  Water-Cure Journal, Dec. 15th, 1846.]
                DR. WM. A. ALCOTTS CASES.*

 " Mr. Editor :—                             .
   " In the beginning of your enterprise, I  promised you a tew
 facts in favor of the  application of cold water in disease, which

   * Author of those deservedly popular works,  The Young Woman's
 Guide—Young Man's Guide—Young Husband—Voung Wife-Young Mo-
 ther—Young Housekeeper-House  I Live In—Library of Health—Vege-
 table Diet, and other physiological works, &c. 
202
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
 I thought  might be  interesting to your readers.   That promise
 has never, until now, been fulfilled ; for which my only apology
 is,  constant, or almost constant, occupation.  Forgetfulness is of
 itself no apology.   But now for the facts, whether of much or
 little worth :—

                   [dr.  alcott's own  case.]

                       " Weak Eyes, fyc.

  " When I was a young man, in my father's family, my health
 failed.  I had heard  and read of cold bathing, and I determined
 to try it.   So  I suspended a corn basket near the ceiling of a
 small room, and with its aid had a  cold  shower-bath as regularly
 and slily  as  Sir Walter  Raleigh  had  his pipe.   The results,
 however, were somewhat different.  Sir Walter was only made
 more nervous and dyspeptic by his smoking, while I, by my cold
 bathing, was greatly  invigorated.
  " At  the time of commencing medical  studies, my eyes were
 very weak, and  had been so  for ten  years.  Their weakness
 commenced  at  the  close of an  attack  of measles.   Whether
 it was  the sequel  of the  disease,  or of  the  medicine, I never
 knew.   1 ought to add, however, that about two months after the
 measles broke up I had  a general  dropsy, which  lasted several
 months, for which  I  took  a vast deal of medicine,  and,  among
 other articles, I took, for weeks, if not for  a month, the blue  pill.
 But I wander  from my main  point, which was to say, that when
 I first commenced my medical studies, at the age  of twenty-five,
 my friends, as well as myself, doubted whether I could possibly
 succeed in my studies on account of the weakness of my eyes.
 But as soon as I began my studies, I began to bathe my eyes in
 cold water.   It was  my usual  practice  to hold them,  for some
 time, in the coldest water I could find, and to  open them  in  the
 water;  and to do this several times a day.  The  result was that
 my eyes grew strong during the whole time of my studies.

  Since writing these and  other communications upon hydropathy, Dr.
Alcott has become deeply interested in the  system of Dr. Jennings, of
 Oberlin,  as developed in his book, lately published, with a commendatory
preface by Dr. A., entitled, " Medical Reform ;" which tends to do away
with all treatment, except good nursing; inculcating  the " let alone "
system—on the  principle that what is commonly called diseased action,
is, in its normal tendencies, right action, &c.
  Dr. Alcott writes, however, his approval of the present work, and says,
 in a letter of May, 1847 : " My estimate of the water-cure system has by
no means been lowered by observation and reflection, and were it not  that
I think I am so circumstanced as to do more good in my own way, I would
devote myself exclusively to that cause." 
FEVER  AND DYSENTERY, &C, &C           203
                    " Fever and Dysentery.
  " While a medical student, I called one day at the house of an
old friend, who was  suffering from fever and dysentery, and, to
all appearance, declining.   One of his constant cries was, ' Give
me cold water.'   Observing that none was given  him, I said to
his mother, who  was his attendant, ' Why don't you give him
cold water V   She said the  physician  had forbidden it.   I  said
to her, ' I do not like to step between the physician  and  his pa-
tients ; but if I were in your situation  and his I would give him
cold water ; you need not give him a large quantity at a time :
" a little and often " will be  preferable.'   My advice  was fol-
lowed, and the young man recovered.
  " A neighbor of mine, near sixty years of age, was sick,  in a
manner not unlike that of the  young man of whom I have just
spoken.   The doctor  in this  case had  prohibited  cold  water.
Half a mile from  this house was a  spring of uncommonly cold
water.  Some time  in the night the sick  man called  up his  son,
and told him to go to the cold spring and bring him  a gallon of
water.  The son was  obliged to go.  The father drank freely
of the water, was better the next morning, and ultimately reco-
vered.  He is still living, at about the  age of eighty years.

                    "  Paralysis in the Knee.           ^
   " Some fifteen or  twenty  years ago, the father of W. C. Wood-
bridjre, the geographer, then about seventy  years  of  age, and
residing in Hartford,  Conn., was attacked in one of his knees
with paralysis.   The son advised him  to discontinue his tea and
coffee, and use the cold douche.   He did so, and  in  the progress
of a few  weeks, from  being unable to go up or down stairs, was
able to do both,  with nearly as much ease as his son, or myself,
or any other individual.

                     " Fever and Delirium.
   " One  of my children, then  about three years old, was one
 day attacked with  fever,   and  in the  night  gradually became
 delirious. I sponged  her with  cold water, and made her drink
 as  much  of  it as I  could,  without compulsion.   The next day
 she was still very sick.  We continued  the cold water, and she
 soon began to mend.   In two or three days she was completely
 restored.

               " Spinal Disease, Menorrhagia,  8fC.
   " A young lady,  residing for a short time in my own family,
 was suffering greatly from a  complication of diseases, among
 which were Ipinal  disease  and menorrhagia.   Though exceed- 
204
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
ingly afraid of cold water, she was persuaded to read some of
the best treatises on that subject, and at length became quite a
believer in hydropathy.   She resorted  to  the cold bath in gene-
ral, and to the  sitz-bath.   The  latter was pursued with a perse-
verance which bordered on obstinacy.  The consequence was a
considerable melioration of her condition.  It  is also worthy of
remark, that a dense eruption appeared over the  lower part of
her spine, just as she began to mend ;  elicited, it was most  evi-
dent, by the bathing.  For reasons which could be named, she
did not persevere in the use of the bath  long enough, or I be-
lieve she would in time have been completely restored.

               " Confinement—Cholera Infantum.

  " One individual, who had just  been  confined, but was  a  little
feverish, consented not only to drink cold  water, but  be sponged
with it.   Not, indeed, when the ' fever  was off,' as the saying is,
but during the time of the highest excitement.  Cold water, in
this  instance, acted  like  a charm.  Not a week elapsed,  if I
recollect  rightly, before she was  able to  bathe  in cold water in
the usual  manner, and with entire safety.  Since that time she
does not hesitate to bathe regularly, down to the day of her con-
finement, and to resume it as soon as all is over.
  " Fac% like these, in great numbers, coming under my obser-
vation, how could I help believing in the remedial power of cold
water ?   How could I help shutting medicine  out of my house,
except in  extreme cases ?  True,  they may be mere  trifles
to you, but they opened my eyes a little way.   I had not, indeed,
yet learned that  medicine could  be wholly dispensed with in
croup and cholera infantum, and that cold water could be substi-
tuted.  And yet, in one case  of cholera  infantum, which came
under my  notice, cold water,  drunk  freely, seemed to do more
good than all things else.  And what adds to my rejoicing, that
cold water is  coming into fashion for remedial purposes, is a
recollection of the eagerness with which  I have seen little  chil-
dren who could not speak, grasp  the tumbler of cold water, and
drink it as if it were nectar, and immediately begin to. rise, as it
were, from the dead.
  "I might relate other  cases, dear sir;  but enough for once.
I hardly need  to say that I am watching  the progress of hydro-
pathy,  in  these United States, with   intense  interest.   In the
hands of scientific men it will do much to  lessen the miseries of
mankind,  and  something  to  prevent  future suffering ;  in the
hands of fools, it will share the fate  of every other good  and
perfect gift of Jehovah.
  " One  more word.   While  I  have  much confidence  in the
remedial  power of cold water, I  have  also much confidence in 
ERYSIPELAS,  &C
205
keeping up the expectations of our patients ;  or, as I have some-
times expressed it, talking up-hill.   One secret  of the success
of Priessnitz consists in the fact that he has no downhill talking.
No one is expected to die,—all are expected to get well ; and as
a consequence  in part, almost all do get well.  I  hope the con-
versation will be up-hill at the institutions of the  same kind in
the United States.              Yours, truly,
                                       " Wm. A. Alcott."

                CASE  OF DR. WM.  A. ALCOTT.

                       Erysipelas, fyc

   " Mr. Editor :—I have given you, in a former number, a few
facts which came under my observation, from time to time, and
led me,  gradually, to place great confidence in the remedial
effects of  cold water.  One other  fact of great importance, but
which escaped  my. recollection at the time, I hasten to communi-
cate.
   " At the age of  fourteen, I had the measles.   As my friends
did not suspect the  cause of my disease,  they treated me with
stimulants ;  and among the rest, attempted, by high external heat,
to ' sweat' me, as they termed it.   But humanity is tough, and I
recovered in spite of them. In a few weeks, however,  I  was
seized with a general dropsy; on account of which, I took, for a
month or more, the blue  pill, alternated with Lee's pills, both of
which contain either mercury or calomel.   I was  also dosed with
digitalis.  It was not, however, till these were all laid aside, and
I drank large quantities of the tea of certain sweet roots—practi-
cally large quantities of water, since the roots could have had but
little effect—that I  began to recover.  And even then my reco-
very was  not perfect.   The measles or the medicines—joined,
perhaps, to other causes—had left me with weak eyes, and with a
very troublesome eruption of the skin.
   "The latter complaint, during hot weather especially, became
at length so severe, that I was obliged to abandon the  use of fer-
mented and spirituous liquors, and,  in truth, of all salted food.  I
was forced against my will to become, in some measure, a water
drinker, and almost, entirely a  ' vegetable  eater.'   I  returned,
however, at times,  in  the winter, to more stimulating drinks and
food ; and, as a just penalty, always suffered  again the following
summer.  Thus I  went on ; alternately living, when compelled,
more in accordance with physical law; and then again disobey-
ing, and suffering the penalty.
   " Driven, at length, from the farm on which I was brought up,
I became  a constant  school-master.   But though  I suffered less
here from external heat than on the farm, yet I allowed the good 
206
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
 people with whom I ' boarded  round,' to ply me with internal
 stimulants, especially high  seasoned food, till my eruptive affec-
 tion became as bad as ever.  In this condition I sought medical
 advice, and was led  to the  use of a wash of corrosive sublimate!
 After using this wash a while, 1 was attacked with a most violent
 erysipelas, of the right half of the head and face.   I sought again
 for medical aid ;  but medicine  had  no effect, and the danger  be-
 came imminent.
»    " In this extremity, I was  directed to  the  use of water.   My
 custom was to sit before a pail kept filled with the coldest water,
 and by means of wet cloths, apply it to the inflamed parts.  Many
 folds of linen  nearly ice cold, would  be  heated through in a few
 seconds, so great was the inflammation.
    " This treatment was continued—for so great was the pain that
 I could neither eat nor sleep—till at length the inflammation be-
 gan to abate.   Not, however, till gangrene had begun on the fore-
 head  and  eye-lids, as well as on the cranium ; the marks of which
 mortification I shall  bear till  I go to the grave.  But my life was
 spared, and I  attribute the hair-breadth escape, under God, to the
 timely application of cold water.
    " The eruptive affection, however, returned afterwards in hot
 weather, though with mitigated severity.  There were reasons,
 now, for  this  mitigation of suffering ; for it was about this  time
 that I began to be thorough in the external use of cold water. Still I
 suffered.   About fifteen or sixteen years ago, I laid aside all drinks
 but water, and soon  after, all animal food but milk  and its pro-
 ducts.  From this change, I  was a  greater gainer still.  It  was
 not, however,  till  I  had abandoned butter  and condiments,  and
 became a  thorough vegetable-eater and water-drinker, that I en-
 tirely recovered.
                                          " W. A. Alcott."


    The following letter, from a patient, is one of scores which we
 might give :—

                           "Dyspepsia.

    " I have suffered  from  indigestion, palpitation, great sinking at
  the stomach, constipation, piles, headache, weakness of the nerves,
  awful depression of spirits,  derangement of the menstrual func-
  tion, and,  in fact, more ailments than I can describe.  I have fol-
  lowed now for three weeks the course you recommended,—a ge-
  neral tepid-bath once  per day  early in the morning for the first
  week, and thereafter two per day (the second before the third or
  evening meal).  I have worn the wet bandage, covered with  flan-
  nel,  about the stomach.   This seems to have  strengthened the 
INTERMITTENT  FEVER.
207
back a great deal, and rendered me able to take much more  ex-
ercise in the open  air.  The hip-baths (two a day) have aided
much.    I have not got to using the Croton water quite cold, and
am more and more exhilarated by every bath.   The change in
my strength and  feelings  is most unaccountable.  If I  go on at
this rate, I do not know where  I shall end : with such improve-
ment, it cannot be long before I shall be more healtlry than I ever
have been.
   " I should mention, I at once wholly discontinued my tea and
coffee  habits.  The change, as you told me it  would be, was
hard at first.  You know I am a good patient, one that perseveres
in all your directions.  Butter, which I so much relished, 1 have
left off altogether, and begin  to doubt, myself, whether  I shall
ever need any more of it.   I  have never known before what it
was really to relish food,  certainly not for years,  until now.  My
appetite, which was fjefore  so  fickle, is now good enough, I as-
sure you."

              FROM DR.  H.  HARD,  OF INDIANA.
               Intermittent Fever :—Four Cases.
   " Facts  are worth  everything in forming an  estimate of the
value of any proposed improvement.   You may theorize for ever
upon the advantages of nature's medicine  for the cure of diseases,
and if you have not facts to sustain you, your reasoning will  fall
to the ground.   Fully aware of this truth, I feel like communi-
cating what I can for the benefit of your  readers.  If you deem
the following cases worthy of record, you are at liberty to publish
them.
   " I am using  all the exertions  in my power, to introduce  the
simple mode of treating disease by means of pure water, to the
consideration of the people of this  vicinity,—but meet with great
opposition from the prejudices of early education, and a somewhat
proper  hesitation in making a sudden  change in our modes of
life.  Let us try all things, and hold fast that which is  good.   I
do not think myself properly qualified to treat disease entirely by
means of water ; or I would abandon at once, and for ever,  the
administration of all poisonous drugs, believing them to  be  not
only useless but injurious in  all  cases whatever, i. e.  provided
proper modes of treating disease could be resorted to.

   " Case 1. __J----T----, aged about  30, was attacked, near
the 25th of July last, with  intermittent fever,  for which he was
purged with calomel, and took quinine; but the fever  returned
daily,  and increased in violence.   Being consulted, I  ordered
the wet  sheet upon the access of the fever, to be reapplied as
often as it became dry,  until sweat was produced, which was 
208
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
to be kept up  an hour or  more, and then  a  cold  bath, to be
followed immediately by exercise of walking, although the patient
had been confined to bed previously.  The wet sheet was applied
with several quilts and blankets ;  and in two hours  after the
bath was taken, the  patient  walked  a  distance  of a mile  to
meeting,  and  continued to  perspire  until night, at least  five
hours.
   The day following there was not any fever, but the sheet was
reapplied, and the patient  followed  his usual  occupation (that of
a farmer), for several days,  when, from having exerted himself
too violently to secure  some  grain from a shower, the disease
reappeared, but was cured by two more applications of the sheet,
and has not returned since.

   " Case 2.—Was  that of myself.   I  found  it very difficult  to
obtain help to apply the sheet: people  fancied  me crazy, and
refused to follow my directions, until  they "found  me determined
to apply the remedy myself with  the aid of my little son,  nine
years  of age.   I then procured assistance of one of my  neigh-
bors, and as soon as the cold stage  was off (it was a case of chill
and  fever,  and had  progressed to the third paroxysm), I had the
sheet applied, continued in it  2£  hours, used the  bath, and  have
had  none of the disease since.

   " Case 3.—Was  that of a lady 40 years of age, who had had
intermittent fever,  for  which large doses of quinine  had  been
prescribed.  Congestion of the  brain  followed, and when I was
called, it presented one of the most desperate cases I ever wit-
nessed.  I represented  to her friends the utter hopelessness of the
common modes of practice,  and  proposed the wet sheet,  with
artificial heat  to the lower extremities, from  the hips downward.
After  much hesitation, the remedy  was applied,  and on the
second day, and after the third  application of  the sheet, she
broke  out  into a  warm  natural perspiration, woke  up  as
from a sleep, and rapidly recovered without taking a particle oi
medicine, except lemon syrup, if that might be called medicine.

   " Case 4.—Was that of  a young  man 24 years of age, and
resembled, in all its leading features, Case 3d ;  was treated in the
same  manner, and is  now  walking about.   These  patients had
been given up by the  attending physician before I was called ;
both had been cupped and blistered  ; had  cold  applied to the
head,  &c.; and both had been abandoned to  their fate.   Both
have recovered, and, as all  must acknowledge, through the effi-
cacy of the water-cure treatment.
                                          " H.  Hard, M.D.
   "Plymouth, Marshall Co., la., Oct.  8th, 1845." 
         INFLAMMATION OF  THE CHEST, PLEURISY,  &C.      209

                CASES FROM SAMUEL KEESE.

  The following cases, sent us at different times during the last
two years by Friend Keese, of Peru, N. Y., show that much good
may be done without a medical  education, by caution  and good
sense, in the use of water.  We have often heard  of our  corre-
spondent's benevolent  labors  among the  sick, without  fee or
reward, and  are glad to give to the  public these  results, of his
practice.

   'Dr. Shew:—Esteemed Friend—Permit me to relate a few
cases of disease which I  have, in the course of the season, wit-
nessed and treated.   Among them are neuralgic and rheumatic
pains, and stiffness of the joints, with inability of action  in  the
limbs,—dyspepsia,  cholic, cholera morbus,  fevers of different
kinds and degrees of intensity, pleurisy, dysentery, tic douloureux,
with great  swelling  of the face, scalds, burns, wounds, sprains,
and bruises ;  female weaknesses and sufferings of various kinds,
sick and periodical head-ache, sour stomach, nausea, constipation,
and inflammatory sore throat or quinsy, erysipelas, &c. In none
of these instances has the result failed to meet our  most sanguine
hopes.   No medicine in any case  has been given.  Two cases I
will describe.

            "Inflammation of the Chest, Pleurisy, fyc.

   " Case 1.—A young woman was taken with pleurisy, high in-
flammation of the lungs and a harassing cough, pain in the head,
nausea, torpor of the bowels, a heavily coated tongue, rapid and
wiry pulse, and a  high general fever.  Pain in the side yielded
in  about eight  hours' treatment, soreness  remained twenty-four
hours  after.  Raised bloody, corrupted, and  frothy matter  from
her lungs.   Sometimes a chill would intervene,  so that active
treatment, with  warming application, drinking warm water, and
abundant friction, were called for  and applied.  Then again the
general fever, and especially the inflammation of the chest, would
rage so that the coldest wet sheet  in  winter (not frozen) was ap-
plied, with slight covering, changed in ten minutes for  another as
cold;  patient was packed and left one hour, during which, wet
towels, cold, were kept on  the throat and chest, changed every
five or ten minutes.   All this was followed by a thorough ablu-
tion and friction, and after a little rest, copious and  often repeated
injections, and drinking freely, until  a movement  of the bowels
was effected.  Injections were tempered according to the feeling
and choice of the patient.
   " At first the  attack was  regarded  as only an influenza, like 
210
WATER CURE  TN AMERICA.
many others of the same family, and was not met with the amount
of active treatment  the case required, to quell  it most speedily ;
and the consequence was, that nearly a week elapsed before the
fever ceased to  return.   Great debility and a  little flagging of
the pulse now were present.   I was told I must stimulate.   I re-
plied, ' I will try the  stimulus of cold water  first, add a little
chicken tea, &c.", and if we are like to fail, we will go for ether ;
give  cayenne next,  and even  brandy, rather than  let  her sink.
As this is the first case of such severity that I have  entirely con-
trolled, I will not incur too much  responsibility by  carrying out
a radical theory in so critical  a  case, unless it  is like to answer
the purpose.'
   " Patient slept continually.   Was with difficulty aroused enough
to drink a little water every  twenty  minutes, from nine to two
o'clock at night; all this time there was an entire loathing of every
kind of nourishment, even chicken tea or gruel,  and had  been, for
near a week. In the meantime, being closely watched, her respira-
tion and circulation were both found to improve, and by 2 A.M.,
was  more easily roused, and  became  more wakeful, took a little
nourishment, and in half an hour was able to get out on  the floor,
stand up alone, and wrap a  blanket about herself, which she did
to my surprise,  while I was out of the  room, there being no fe-
male attendant present.  She  would have waited on herself and
returned to  bed  without help, had I not discovered the movement,
which so astonished me that I hastily approached her,  fearing a
delirium had seized her.  But  all was quiet  and  regular, and
after taking a little more nourishment, she fell again into a sweet
sleep,  and  in the morning was comfortable, and willingly took
some light food.
   " The treatment was now suspended except  rubbing, wet and
dry,  and an occasional injection.   Next day, the tongue retain-
ing its coat, and stomach not getting right as we desired, an
emetic was given, by causing  her to drink six quarts of tepid and
lukewarm water in two hours ;  at intervals she vomited freely.
Repeated it towards night, and attempted it once more after a day
or two, with the best success  as to relief, though without vomit-
ing.   Much less water was this time taken.  Daily ablutions, and a
few more injections completed the cure in a few days.   Numbers
have died  with  this disorder—a kind of putrid fever,  called by
some, 'a new complaint,' 'pleurisy,'  &c.  Those  treated allo-
pathically,  who  lived, suffered greatly from one to  three weeks,
and then were slow in getting up.

          "Inflammation of the Throat, with Fever, fyc.

   "  Case 2.—Symptoms—high inflammation of the throat, diffi-
culty of breathing,  incapacity of  speech above a whisper, and 
INFLAMMATION OF  THE LUNGS.
211
inability to swallow the least quantity of pure liquid without great
effort; a rapid pulse and general  fever.  Such was the condition
of the wife of S. K. Smith, of this place, when I was called in
haste to see her immediately, which I did as soon as the distance of
half a dozen miles would permit.  The family having confidence in
water, had tried it,  as they said, thoroughly.  They had also sub-
sequently  applied  mustard-seed poultices,  until the throat  was
nearly blistered, and now, at the request of a neighbor, had upon
it a plaster of some  kind of salve.
  " A moment's inspection satisfied me that a wet sheet-packing,
and a frequent change of cold wet cloths, were called for.  The
plaster was removed and these applied. The cloths on the throat
were changed every five  minutes, while in the sheet one and half
hours.  Then a rubbing wet sheet, cold.   My  greatest  trouble
now was,  that  no  water could be  swallowed—inaction  of the
bowels and constipation prevailed ; but a repetition of some forty
injections in about four hours, overcame the obstruction, and gave
relief to all parts except the  throat.   Wet  sheet  repeated at  4,
P.M. and at 2, A.M.  Cloths upon the  throat, frequently changed
during  the whole time.  About nine,  the same evening, a tepid
half-bath,  with three attendants  pouring water over the whole
body, and  rubbing  briskly for the space of five minutes ; then
dressed for bed.  Much  care was needful to keep the feet warm.
Before daylight  she could  swallow water, and soon water-gruel,
and with moderate  treatment thereafter, rapidly improved, and
was well in a few days.  I saw her first at ten o'clock, A.M., and
left her comfortable at four the next  morning."

  In December, 1845, Mr. Keese sent  us the following :—

                 " Inflammation of the  Lungs.

  " All that I  have witnessed, increases my confidence in the
efficacy  of water  as a  restorative.   A few cases of my own
treating I will relate.
  " A friend of mine in Canada West,  when I arrived there, had
a son some twelve  or thirteen years of age, who was suffering
with a  severe inflammation of the lungs.   The father being a
kind of home-doctor, had bled him twice copiously, and then had a
blister over the whole of one side just filled (the flies not removed);
yet the patient seemed again  growing worse, having been tempo-
rarily  relieved the day  before by  bleeding and  physic.  The
father said he should have to let blood  again, but that he disliked
bleeding, and never resorted to it when he could succeed other-
wise.  I remonstrated against blood-letting,  and proposed water,
offering to  stop and  assist.
  " The father having considerable acquaintance with me, and 
212
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
apparently some confidence, soon consented, and  desired my in-
struction and assistance.   We commenced about sunset—present
symptoms, violent pain in head and side, great heat in head, high
pulse, dry skin, coated tongue, difficult or hard breathing, a tight
cough, an occasional raising of bloody froth, and a general fever.
The flies were first  removed, and the blisters, which were large,
were emptied, and the part covered with a greased cloth ;* a half
or sitz-bath (tepid) was given, with much rubbing of the lower
parts of the body, even  up to  the waist.   Cold wet cloths at  the
same time  were  kept  upon the  head.   He was  wiped  off,
rested in bed a few  minutes, and  then we applied  the wet sheet,
retaining the cold cloths upon the head.   He was  now a little re-
lieved of pain, but complained of great heat,f followed by perspi-
ration and comfort;  a  subsequent washing and  dry dress, and
fresh bed prepared him for sleep.
   " If my limits would permit, I  would give the whole treatment;
but suffice it to say, that  the inflammation and pain often return-
ed, and  were as often met with the cooling and soothing agent,
water, used in  the  various modes of  application, accordingly as
the symptoms arose during that night, the next day and night;
and on  the second  morning, after a good sleep,  the patient was
washed  in cold water, walked out  about the door,  breakfasted at
table, and said that he felt like going to work.   He was all the
time annoyed with  the '  hateful'  blister.  On meeting him this
morning, I said, ' I hope thou wilt never have another.'  ' I guess
not,' was the immediate reply of the father, ' and,' continued he,
' if thou wilt leave me thy water-book, I  will lay aside my lancet,
and practise water-cure.'  Being about to go,  I told him  I would,
and left them full of comfort from  the present, and hope in  the
future success of the new way.  In divers places and on various
occasions, during my western tour of nine months, did I witness1
equal success in the use  of water."

                   Swelling of the Knee.

   " B. F. Smith was  taken with a severe  pain in the knee, and
after trying all of Thompson's remedies for five  days, they sent
for me, and at the  same time, by the attending  botanic physi-
cian's request, called  a certain regular practitioner for counsel.
The limb was exceedingly swollen from hip to ankle, or nearly
so, and about and above the knee much inflamed, with great pain,
which was so severe that for twenty-four hours the family were
alarmed at the failure of strength, and the signs of sinking under
it.  Indeed, his eyes were sunken, and countenance haggard.
  * A fine moist cloth, covered with a dry one, would have been better.
  f Care must be taken not  to allow of too much heat in the wet sheet,
else the fever increases. 
MEASLES.
213
During an  hour's consultation, he  often said,  ' Do  something
quickly.'   The Botanic doctor declared suppuration had already
commenced, the regular physician was not certain, and therefore
would allow cold applications a short time, until it could be as-
certained  that  matter was collecting, but both agreed that cold
must not be applied after that—that warm  poultices were in that
case to be used.
   " The regular physician soon left, having prescribed as above.
He believed that his applications would cause pain, in which case
opiates must be given ; cathartics also must be given, as the fever
which prevailed would make it indispensable.   The affected part
was hard, and of a purple color.   It was at length  decided that I
should try my way for twenty-four  hours, and  the Doctor (Bo-
tanic) might call again  then, and see the result.   I ordered the
limb first  cleansed with soap suds, as it had been poulticed, and
greased—caused him to  drink freely of soft water, and  applied
cold  wet  linen.   It was hot weather in August.   I watched him
closely, and found it  needful to change the cold cloths every ten
minutes,  day and night.   I gave a frequent wet rubbing over the
surface, sitz-baths and foot-baths—twice a day a wet sheet, and
once an injection (this last tepid, all the rest cold).
   " In less than an hour the pain left and never returned, although
the inflammation raged, and tongue remained  coated, and urine
very high colored (almost red) for four days, and  on  the eighth
day  after I saw him,  I made an  opening  near the  knee-pan,
which discharged copiously, then and subsequently,  black cor-
rupted blood, slightly streaked with yellow.   The third day after,
bloody water came out, and he began to walk, and got well mar-
vellously  quick—never having to insert a tent, as I was urged to
do, to keep it open, the water had  so  cooled  the system  and
moistened the skin, that no disposition to close appeared.  Wet
cloths were continued, but now from the brook, that was  not so
cold  as what had been used.
   " No medicine, either vegetable or mineral, was given during
the  whole time, )ret the cure  was  truly wonderful.   My own
opinion, with  many others, is that with warm  applications gan-
grene would have been the result."

   Our friend Keese seems untiring in the good work,  as will be
seen by the following communication at a still later date :—

                          " Measles.
                              " Peru,N  Y., 1th mo. 11th, 1846.
" Esteemed Friend :—
   " I have just reached home,  and found occasion immediately
to test the virtues of  water-cure in a case of measles  in its most
rapid and pressing character, and  find it to  act like  a  charm. 
214
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
The patient is now (the sixth day)  comfortable.   He  was  a
youna man of laborious habits, full of blood, and that bad, so that
a small eruption of the skin refused readily to heal; had frequent
boils, some of them not  gone when  the  measles broke out.   1
first saw him on  the third day  after the symptoms  appeared :
cough hard and dry;  extreme soreness, with great pain in the
stomach ; dry hot skin, great heat and pain in the head ;  breath-
ing affected ;  pulse  quick and hard ;  eruption not appeared.
  " The  leintuch (wet sheet) eased the head, removed the sore-
ness, brought out the eruption, reduced  the  pulse, and allayed
the heat (cold wet cloths were applied for some time to the head).
The fourth day, he had  four wet sheets, of half an  hour each,
followed  bv the cold wet rubbing sheet; drank freely of water
slightly tepid, with  injections of the  same  temperature,  always
with the  best results.   When, having  lain too long without treat-
ment, and, in  consequence, a hard,  dry cough, and no saliva,
great heat in the  head, &c, ensued—on the application of the wet
sheet all  would yield, and after a few minutes' flow of saliva and
constant  spitting, a  soothing sleep would  come  on, and a subse-
quent wet rubbing sheet  would leave  him  comfortable.   No
medicine, either mineral or vegetable, was given ; no drink  but
soft water ; no stimulants  or cordials, and his food was at long
intervals, a very little gruel or weak porridge.

                         " Fever, fyc.
   " At Rochester I was  called in to see and prescribe for a child
 four years of age,  with  one arm highly inflamed,  and a high
 fever.   The mother, with  praiseworthy firmness,  had  resisted
 for two successive  days  (previous to  my coming to the city)  the
 prescriptions of the physician, who told  her it was erysipelas of
 the most malignant kind, and, if cold  water was applied, it would
 kill the child.  But the mother, who, though young, had found, by
 observation  and experience, the benefit of diet and  bathing, as
 directed  by  Dr.  Graham, and  had   some  vague  knowledge of
 Priessnitz's more perfect  system, persisted, though  tremblingly,
 in washing the  body as often as it  became too hot,  and putting
 occasionally a wet cloth on the arm, so holding the enemy  in
 check, and waiting my  arrival.
    " A few minutes' conversation encouraged and instructed her
 in more active treatment,  and at the  end  of two hours, when I
 called again  for five minutes, the  little  patient was cool  and
 asleep.   I left for a week to go west, and on my return, found a
 brisk healthy  child, and happy  mother.
                             " Thine for progression,
                                          " Samuel Keese." 
        SUICIDAL PROPENSITY, &C.--THROAT DISEASE, &C.    215

                     Suicidal Propensity,  fyc.

  The  following case occurred, if I mistake not, in the spring
of 1845.  Capt. P., of Sacketts Harbor, N. Y., well known on
the lakes as a skilful and kind-hearted master, was for a long
time afflicted with a disease of the heart, which grew upon him
as he advanced in life.   He was at times  insane, and made fre-
quent attempts at  suicide,  by throwing  himself into  the  sea.
Fortunately, as soon as  he  came  in contact with the water he
was restored to his right mind, and thus was enabled to save his
life.
   At the time above referred to, he  had been  for several days
unusually restless.   It was with  the  greatest difficulty  that he
could sleep at night.  At about midnight, he arose,  dressed him-
self, and left the house.   His wife, unconscious  of  what he was
about to do, could but wait with anxiety for his  return.   Imme-
diately  upon leaving the  house, he repaired to a ledge of rocks
that overhung Lake Ontario, and made  a desperate  leap into the
watery  element.   Not until he arose to the surface, was he  con-
scious of the feat he had  performed.   He reached the shore, and
with  some  difficulty regained the heights;  then  immediately
repairing to his dwelling, he spent the remainder of the night in
sweet repose.
   The  fair inference  is, if he  had taken  a plunge-bath before
going to rest, it would  have undoubtedly saved  him the trouble
and danger of such a one afterwards.   Thus, a  number of times
Capt.  P. was prevented from  destroying  himself, merely by
plunging into cold water.  Similar cases have been  recorded at
different periods, and at different parts  of the world.
                                       La Morte Barney.
  Henderson, Jefferson Co.,N. Y., Oct. 15th, 1847.

          Throat Disease, Indigestion, Rheumatism, fyc.
   A gentleman had for a  number of years been afflicted with
a very troublesome chronic affection of the throat, so that  the
slightest atmospheric changes from dry to humid or wet, would
cause  coughing,  often severe, particularly  through the night,
depression of spirits, general weariness, sometimes attended  with
rheumatic and creeping  pains in the back of the neck.   Indiges-
tion, constipation,  flatulency, acidity of the stomach, &c, were
also the frequent  attendant symptoms;  but the  greatest trouble
was in the throat.
   The individual had  for years  considered it necessary, every
winter, to go to some of  the pleasantest  parts of the South, for the
sake of the warmer and  more  genial climate.   During last fall
he was prevailed  upon to commence a pretty thorough course of
sponge  bathing.   This  was continued for some  months  with 
216
WATER CVRE  IN AMERICA.
decided benefit, when at length shower bathing  from a powerful
Croton shower-bath was regularly practised, the result of which
is  that the throat is entirely cured, and the rheumatic affection
of the neck is also removed, as well as the indigestion and attendant
symptoms.   The general  health  is  much invigorated.  It was
much better during the last winter than previously when at  the
South.
  In this case the first medical advice in  the  larger cities had
been obtained and followed without any permanent benefit.   The
general habits of the individual have remained  the same.   The
diet has not  been materially changed, except that tea and coffee
have been discontinued.   The main cause of the great improve-
ment  has been  the use of the  shower-bath.  It has been taken
generally twice daily when the stomach was empty, as it always
should be.
                        Scarlet Rash.
   A lady of this  city,  without  the knowledge of any  medical
attendant whatever, treated the case of her own  fine boy, nine
months old, who had scarlet rash,  as follows: In the morning
the little fellow was  wrapped in a wet cloth with sufficient warm
blankets about, to retain the warmth and produce sweating.  The
first effect of the wet cloth was to cool the feverish system.  Its
second effect,  together with  the  retained  warmth, was  to bring
out perspiration.  The  child, although before very restless, was
soon  soothed into a sweet sleep.  In an hour or  two, he was
taken out and was well washed with tepid water.  In the evening,
as the symptoms were  somewhat returning, the same  process
was repeated, after which the child was quite well.

                     Hip Joint  Disease.
   A gentleman of sedentary habits,  who had lately lost his wife,
was attacked with a very singular affection of the hip joint.  The
limb  became lengthened, probably in consequence of a deposit
of some kind  of substance in the socket of the hip joint, so that
the heel could  not  be drawn up to the side of the other.   His
sufferings were at times excruciating.  Powerful treatment, both
local and general, was used without any permanent good effect.
When the disease  was at a high pitch, the man obtained a book
on water-cure, at  once  discontinued  all other  means,  and
commenced with  water.   He bandaged  the  joint above  and
below it, to produce the soothing, warming, and stimulating effect
of warmth  and moisture.  This quickly  afforded relief.   We
are  not  sure but that he also used a small wet  sheet from the
arm-pits to the  knees, to produce moderate sweating, with tepid
general  bathing and  frictions.   Whether  he  did or not,  this
would have been well.  He drank much of water and took plain 
INJURIOUS  EFFECTS OF  TOBACCO.
217
food  sparingly.   In a very short time he was perfectly comfort-
able, unless he moved about too much, and in the course of a few
weeks  became entirely well,  and is now an ardent preacher of
cold water.

                  Injurious Effects of Tobacco*

              " Stinking'st of the stinking kind,
               Filth of the mouth and fog of the mind,
               Africa, that brags her foison,
               Breeds no such prodigious poison,
               Henbane, nightshade, both together,
               Hemlock, aconite"----Charles Lamb.

   What a loathsome, disgusting habit is  that of using  tobacco !
How pervading and  inveterate !   Can a man  rid  himself of its
power ?  I tell you nay, unless he have the moral strength of a
Washington or a  Napoleon.   As things are now, very few indeed
are  ever  equal to the  task.   Men go  on resolving again and
again that they will cleanse themselves of the  filthy, pernicious
practice, and yet their resolutions have no more effect, nor yet as
much,  as those of the drunkard.  Ninety-nine  at least of the one
hundred who have  attempted to rid themselves  of the habit, will
bear testimony to the truth of what  I affirm.
   The experience  of the writer  may,  in  some  degree,  prove
interesting to such as are  earnestly desirous  to  rid  themselves
of the  evil in question.  For one,  I  feel proud of having  con-
quered it.
   The village in  which I was  reared is  noted  for the consump-
tion  of tobacco by its inhabitants.   Surrounded  by those who

                                * " Quincy, Mass.,  Aug. 19, 1845.
  " Dear Sir,—I have received your letter of the 13th instant, and shall
deem myself highly  honored by the inscription to me of your introduction
to the proposed publication of the Rev. J. B. Lane's work on Tobacco and
its mysteries.   In my early youth, I was addicted to the use of tobacco in
two of its mysteries, smoking and chewing.  I was warned by a medical
friend of the pernicious operation of this habit upon the stomach and the
nerves ; and the advice of the physician was fortified by my own experi-
ence.   More than thirty years  have passed  away since  I  deliberately
renounced the use of tobacco in all its forms; and although the resolution
was not carried into  execution  without a struggle of vitiated nature, I
never yielded to its impulses; and in the space of three or four months of
self-denial, they lost their stimulating power, and I have never since felt
it as a privation.
  I have often wished that every individual of the human race afflicted
with  this artificial passion, could prevail upon himself to try but for three
months the experiment which I have made ! sure that it would turn every
acre of tobacco-land into a wheat field, and add five  years of longevity
to the average of human life.
  I am, with great respect, dear sir, your friend and Christian brother,
                                          John Quincy Adams,
  Rev. S. H. Cox, D. D., Brooklyn, N. Y."
                          10 
218
WATElt CURE  IN AMERICA.
used it without regard to quantity, is it to be wondered at, that I
imbibed the habit at  an early age?   As is the case with most
who are slaves to tobacco, I had not the slightest idea of continu-
ing its use any length of time (for I was told that it was injurious),
but I had seen others use it with apparent impunity, and I felt a
desire to ferret  out its mysteries,  and know  how bad it was.
Under these circumstances I made the attempt to  use it,  but
found it very difficult  to succeed at  first; it  had, as usual, its
sickening effects—headache and  dizziness ; ere long the stomach
became accustomed to its effects, and a good quid at last seemed
to be received into the  system as a good old friend.
   After a time,  however,  I found  that the  poison was making
rapid inroads  upon the steadiness of  my nerves.   I was accus-
tomed to spend a part  of my leisure  hours in gunning.  A friend
accompanied me, who, by the way,  was a good shot, and as fond
of the sport as myself.   We would,  when game was scarce, pace
the  ground  and try our  skill at target shooting.  This  is  an
exercise that tries the strength of nerves, and although at first I
excelled my comrade,  I now  began  to experience frequent  trem-
blings and unsteadiness of the hand, which of course caused  bad
shots. The result was, my friend would not unfrequently come
off master of the field.  He did  not use tobacco, and I dared not
hint to him the cause of my late failure.  We met often, and I
always left  him with  the hope of being more  successful at  our
next trial.   But, alas! my hand grew more and more unsteady,
and as often as -I brought my piece  to  bear  upon its mark, so
often did my nervous  system prove treacherous;  at  last I was
obliged to hang up my rifle and seek other amusements.
   I now resolved to rid myself of the filthy habit,  leaving it off
by degrees ;  but you  may as well attempt to pull  a man out of
the fire by degrees ;  1 found I  must come to a decided stand.
One paper of tobacco per week was only adding fuel to the flame.
Everything now went wrong  unless accompanied by this perni-
cious stimulant.   For instance, if I  attempted to roll a log over,
I must roll at  the same time  a quid over in my mouth.  It was
impossible to keep my  mind upon a  subject any length of time,
unless of the most interesting nature.   Such was my case when
I left home in the fall  of 1845 for New York.   I used no tea  nor
coffee, and was well aware that  tobacco  was destined  to destroy
me unless speedily dispensed  with.
   At length I resorted to other means, such as exercise, plain diet,
and  much cold  bathing, which  had the desired effect.   If I  felt
that gnawing sensation or hankering  after it, I would immediately
take a cold bath, which not only dispersed those bad feelings,
but quieted  my  nervous system.   I confess that I at times was
obliged to put  something in my mouth as a substitute, but this I
could do without encroaching upon my  resolve.  Thus I soon 
        LIVER COMPLAINT--LAMENESS--SALT RHEUM,  &C.    219

had the satisfaction of overcoming the habit.   The cold bathing
and a non-stimulating diet broke the spell, and to them  I  owe
much.  Should I meet my friend and rival at the target  again,
I shall not hesitate to challenge him for a shot.
                                                     L. B.

          Liver Complaint—Lameness—Salt Rheum.

                  " Hampton, Windsor Co., Conn., July 12, 1847.
   " Dr. Shew.—A son  of mine,  who had  at  different  times
an affection  of the liver, with  settled fever,-was for  about eight
years able to do very little business of any kind.   We employed
a  number of physicians,  but apparently to no  good purpose.
Last fall and winter, he was at Northampton,* and became very
much improved.  We have the best of pure soft water, and he
has. erected  bathing  fixtures, and continues  the  treatment at
home.
   " Since my son's return, there was a man in our neighborhood
who could not walk or get about, except  with  a crutch.  He
asked my son if he thought water would help him.   He told  him
he  thought  it  would,  and  would advise him to try it;  still
he did  not  himself profess skill sufficient to  doctor much, but
would do the best he could.  In  a short time, by the use of wet
sheets and baths, he felt nothing of his difficulty, and, I  believe,
does not yet.  He lives  but one mile and a half from  us, and had
been troubled with the complaint for years.  But  people called
him foolish  and a madman when he began.  Our clergyman,
who rather ridiculed the idea of my son's trying the system, say-
ing it was nothing  but  another excitement, got up to speculate
upon,  is now almost daily practising  it, having become a very
strong advocate of the same.
  " I  would  also mention a young  man who had the  salt rheum
very badly,  so much so, that his hands were a running sore : he
was with my son for a few weeks, became entirely cured, and is
now gone  to  commence work.   I shall use what little influence I
may have, to promote the cause, as I feel a  deep interest in it.
                    " Respectfully yours,
                                      "Jonathan  Black."

          Fever and Ague—Bilious Intermittent Fever.

  Mr. Wm.  Bandle, of Hadley, Will  county, Illinois, writes us
as follows, July, 1847 :—

  " I  first made the  trial of the water-cure in my own case, which
  * Mr. Ruggles' establishment, we  suppose, as that was the only one there
at that time. 
220
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
was fever and ague, and succeeded in removing the disease en-
tirely.   I also tried it in the case of a member of my family, in
a severe  attack of bilious and intermittent fever, effecting a com-
plete cure  almost  immediately.   About a year since, a son of
ours, eighteen years of age,  was attacked,  and  after suffering
much pain, died in about three  months.   About the time we re-
ceived the  first Journal from  you, our second son was  attacked
apparently  with the same  symptoms  as  the  first.   We followed
your prescription as laid down in the Journal, and  he has so far
recovered as to be  able to do a good day's work.  In consequence
of this, and various other cases I might mention, I have taken in
hand to do  all I can for the system.   I  lecture once a week on
this subject, and travel from two to sixteen miles."

                        Rheumatism.
                CASE  OF  A BAPTIST  MINISTER.
  It is well known that the numerous body  of Christians called
Baptists, are in the habit of performing the ceremony of baptism
in the most inclement seasons of the year.  As an  argument in
favor of their administering this rite  by immersion, it has often
been said  that none  are  ever  injured by it,  however cold the
water may be when it is  performed.  Those who fear so  much
the effects  of cold water under ordinary circumstances, naturally
enough  attribute  this  immunity from harm  to a  superhuman
power.   Whether this be so or not, every one must be his own
 judge.   The fact certainly exists, that  persons seldom, if ever,
under these circumstances, receive any  harm.
   Not only is no  injury done to the health, in these cases, but
sometimes  great good.  My worthy co-worker, Mr. L. M. Barney,
hands me  an anecdote, penned down  as given by the individual
who related it to him, as follows : " Not long since,  a clergyman
called at our office, and appearing to be much interested  in the
 new system, I, through curiosity, asked  him what  first induced
 him to turn his mind to the subject.  He said he  had been for
 years afflicted with the rheumatism, which grew upon him as he
 became more advanced in life.   One piercing cold Sunday, about
 a year ago, in time of a revival, he was persuaded, against  his
 inclination, to preach.   A large congregation assembled, the
 room was  very warm, he became  much  excited, and at the end
 of his discourse was in a profuse perspiration. He was now pre-
 vailed upon to undertake the baptizing of a  number of persons.
 Putting his trust  in Providence, he was soon at the  water's edge. 
BRONCHITIS accidentally cured.
221
Not feeling able to perform the service of prayer, he requested a
brother to lead  in that exercise.  The latter, instead of making
the prayer as short as was desirable, continued it to an unusual
length.
   At  the conclusion,  the former had become so chilled, as to be
scarcely able to advance into the water.  With difficulty he suc-
ceeded in baptizing the proposed number, but, at last, found him-
self unable to come out from the cold element without assistance.
He was conveyed  to the nearest house, stripped, made dry,  and
wrapped in warm  blankets, and although very much chilled, he
became,  before long, comfortable.   The result was, that instead
of being killed, as was supposed would be the case, he was at once
relieved, and his  rheumatism left him.   Occasionally, since, he
has had  slight  returns of the disease, which have been as often
driven off by the application  of cold water.  Thus singularly
was this individual brought to  experience, in his own person, the
wonderful effects of cold water."

   Mr. Barney  also gives me the following:—

                 Bronchitis accidentally Cured:

   A gentleman of this  city (a patient of Dr. Shew's) tells me
the following story :   In the early part of last March, he went in
company with  a physician, on  a fishing excursion.  The latter
had an affection of the throat, which part he was very careful to
exclude  from  the cold, fearing  if the cold  air came in contact
with that part, it might end in serious consequences.  However,
they had not been engaged long at their sport,  ere a flaw struck
them, and upset the boat, leaving them in the  water.  They re-
mained in this predicament nearly half an hour:  a boat then
came to their rescue.   They reached the shore, and there being
no conveyance at hand, were obliged to run, as it were, for their
lives. They reached the house, and with some  difficulty relieved
themselves of their frozen clothing.  After 'some time, they be-
came warm.  They passed the  night there, and  their sleep  was
not troubled with frightful dreams.   In the morning, the  doctor
was at a loss to know what had become of his bronchitis.   In ac-
cidents  like the above, there seems never to be any harm done,
except the individual  becomes greatly exhausted,  or  the body
frozen.
  June 15, 1847. 
222
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
          From the Water-Cure Journal, February, IS 17.
                    Supposed Consumption.
                            Richmond,  Wayne county, Indiana.
  "Dear Sir,—In addition to the abundance of evidence offered
us in favor of water-cure, 1 feel it my duty to communicate to the
public, through your Journal, my success  in the treatment of a
few cases, one of which is as follows:—
  " Mrs. L. N., 25 years of age, was  brought to my house, Sep-
tember  10,  1846,  with  every appearance of being  in  the last
stage  of pulmonary consumption.  Her friends  and physicians
despaired of her life ; and, indeed, I thought hers a hopeless case.
She was taken into the house  by  the assistance of friends.   The
exertion of moving her from the  carriage caused violent fits  of
coughing, which ceased only at intervals of two or three  minutes
during the day, and, from that time, she would throw up large quan-
tities  of blood.  This  brought  on hectic fever,  night-sweats,
and a chill every morning.   Her form was very much emaciat-
ed, and  appetite poor.   This,  with the addition of diarrhoea to  an
alarming extent, is a brief sketch of her condition, when intrust-
ed to  my care.
   " Treatment:—Commenced by sponging her off in cold water,
mornings, wet sheet in the evening,  followed by sponging with
cold rain-water, and much  rubbing.   Remained in the sheet
until in a gentle perspiration,—wore a bandage about the chest.
Her appetite increased from the time she commenced the use  of
water.   Cough soon left her.   She followed the above course  of
treatment for three weeks, at the end of which time she was able
to return home, thinking herself well  (although  she was  not).   I
received letters from her several times after she  left, each stating
that  she was gradually getting better.  She  pursued the same
treatment at home  as she did when at my house, with but few ex-
ceptions.  Another letter came  from her about the 18th inst.,
stating that  she had wholly recovered.
                                     "Wm. Dulin, M.D."
   The seven following cases are extracted, by  permission, from
among others of much interest in  the Water-Cure Manual.  We
have  taken so few, because  that work is sold at so  low a price
as to  be within the reach of every one.   Ed.

   The following complicated case was written out by a medical
friend, as given by the patient himself.

   " Indigestion, Constipation, Piles, and  Sciatica, or Neuralgia
                         of the Leg.
   "Mr. Amza Smith, of Southbury,  Ct, aged  54, a shoemaker
by trade, in consequence of his  sedentary avocation, became  in 
       indigestion,  constipation, piles, AND  SCIATICA.    223

early life a victim of dyspepsia, and  was afflicted with the usual
symptoms of that complaint, such as constipation,  low spirits,
loss of appetite, furred tongue, acid stomach, pain in the bowels,
with  occasional spasms, knotting  up the abdomen, as  it were.
He had also been troubled with the piles, and such was the torpor
of the intestinal canal, that, for a period of ten months at a time,
he could obtain no movement from it without the aid of lavements
or medicine.
   " After suffering thus a long while, he resorted some years since
to the Thompsonian system  for relief.   During the  steaming,
&c,  to which he was subjected, a severe pain in the small of the
back, of which he then complained,  seemed to  be transferred  to
one  of his limbs,  and  a course of sweating  for twenty-one days
being persisted in, which brought no relief, resulted in the shift-
ing of the pain to a spot on the  outside of the other, the right leg.
Soon the cords of  this limb were drawn up, the knee remained
flexed, without power to extend, while the hip and lower part of
the abdomen, in the vicinity of the groin, shared in the suffering.
This became so  severe that  he was obliged to give up'his busi-
ness, and could get about only by the aid of a crutch.   In the
affected part there was a constant numbness, with a sensation of
pricking,  as if from ten thousand needles, and occasional attacks
of agonizing pain occurring in spasms, half a dozen times a  day,
and oftener, from which he could  only gain relief by such  des-
perate resorts as half-roasting the limb by thrusting  it under  a
hot stove, &c.—Once, while on a visit to  New York, a spasm
attacked him as he was hobbling about the street^ and so excru-
ciating was the pain, that he was compelled  to lie down on the
sidewalk, and there writhe and groan in the greatest agony.
   " Opiates were  tried, but they gave  only temporary relief,  if
they relieved at  all.  A thorough  steaming,  according to the
most approved practice of the Thompsonian  school, for three
nights in  succession, over hemlock  boughs, brought  no manner
of alleviation.
   " In this  pitiable condition he was induced to  give the water-
cure  system  a faithful trial.   Having  consulted Dr.  Shew,  of
New York, and perused his treatise on the subject, he commenced
on the 1st of January, 1845,  by using the cold foot-bath for half
an hour before breakfast, drinking  during  that  time a quart  of
cold  water, and taking what exercise within doors the crippled
state of his  limb would allow him.   Besides this he made use  of
the  cold sitz-bath, twice in the day, for half an hour at a time,
and had the affected limb douched by pouring cold water on the
hip.   This  last caused a singular  sensation, as if millions  of
insects were  driven down the leg  towards the feet.   He also
wore constantly an umschlag around his abdomen, and  cooling 
224
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
 bandages around  the scat of the  pain, which was confined to a
 space not much larger than a silver dollar would cover.
   " These processes at first  increased the pains ; he had horrid
 feelings for one or two nights.  However, he said nothing of this
 to his family, lest  they  should more earnestly beg him to desist
 from what seemed to them folly and madness, but  bravely perse-
 vered in the course he had marked out, making  use occasionally
 of the rubbing wet sheet, and lying all one night in wet drawers
 (sleeping well,  however,  and feeling  better for it), and  in the
 latter stages of his cure, even trying the effects  of the cold affu-
 sion, having buckets of  cold water dashed over him.
   " And now came the reward of his perseverance.  In one week
 he found  the pain  had very considerably remitted, and in  a fort-
 night he  loas able  to walk without crutch or staff.   By spring, he
 could go about pretty well, and work some on the farm on which
 he now lived, and  in the summer he did considerable labor.  In
 the month of  August  last, he assisted  a  carpenter who  was
 repairing his buildings for him ;  and during this period, in conse-
 quence of the fatigue to which he was  exposed, he plied the cold
 water  with double diligence.  This brought on a crisis,  in the
 form of a general eruption of little pimples, exuding serum, and
 roughening the skin, attended with very great itching,  which
 nothing but the  application of the coldest water would alleviate.
 Ere two months, however, this had all  passed away, and his skin
 became smooth.
   " He is now healthy and strong : has done more work this  spring
 (April, 1846) than for ten  years past.   Once could not mount a
 horse,  or climb a  fence, but  with the  greatest  difficulty, even
 when he had assistance  ; now he can  jump over a fence  as he
 could when a boy.  His old complaint,  the piles, has scarcely
 troubled him at all for a year past.  Has hardly  had any ailment
 for months, save a slight cold, which he  took on his  journey to
 the city ;  and this  he '  would have had off before now, had he
 been at  home,' where  he  could  resort to  his  favorite means.
 His tongue now is  clean, though the coat he used to have upon
 it  could  never be removed  by  medicine.  For the last  fifteen
 months,  he has never  lacked an appetite  for  his  meals.  In
 regard to diet, it  ought to be stated, that, from  the first, Mr. S.
 ' docked  off  his tea  and  coffee  and the use of grease.'  He
 breakfasts on potatoes, the coarse bread, fried pudding, &c.;  eats
meat but  once a day, and  is confident that he can work longer
 without weariness upon  brown bread and potatoes and cold water,
than he could when he took beef-steak and coffee for his morning
meal.  Indeed,  he has  tried a different diet, while in all other
respects continuing the hydropathic treatment,  and  found  that
then he did not feel so well or gain so fast.
  " Mr. Smith, in concluding the account of his  case  (which we 
SMALL-POX.
225
have given above, substantially as we took it down from his lips),
observed: ' There is one thing about  it, my cure  has cost  me
nothing, only my labor; I have had  nothing  to  pay for medi-
cines.'   Health, however, he regarded as a blessing worth labor-
ing for ;  and going to work in the right way, his faithfulness has
had  its recompense, in his perfect recovery from a severe and
obstinate neuralgic  affection,  of a class in which the medical
profession are in most  cases compelled to confess the impotence
of all the resources of their art."
   In a letter of Sept. 29, 1847, Mr. Smith writes that he is zeal-
ously engaged  in making known the new system, by circulating
books, &c.   He adds,  " I am in good health, and gaining all  the
time, on brown bread and potatoes.   I  bless the Lord  for  the
cold-water system.
                        "Yours,  &c,
                                           " Amza Smith."

                         Small-Pox.

   Robert H. Hughes, son of Mr. Hughes, 15 Desbrosses street,
sickened on  the 30th  of January, 1845,  with  a severe and con-
tinued pain in the region of  the stomach;  had chills alternating
with high fever; tongue thickly coated.   He ate nothing the next
day, and drank only lemonade.  At noon of the second after the
attack, the editor was called.   In addition to the above symptoms,
there was obstinate constipation.   Pulse 112 in the minute.
   The treatment recommended was simple, and as follows: Two
full  clysters of tepid water were to be given, the one immediate-
ly following the other.  These caused  the  bowels to act freely,
giving at once  considerable relief.   The young man was then al-
lowed to rest for a few minutes, while water was  being prepared
for an ablution, or, as Professor Elliotson would say, for giving the
patient " a good sousing in a wash tub."   A bucket of water put
in an ordinary tub, the water having the extreme chill taken off.
The head, neck, and body were quickly washed  over, the water
being freely poured upon the different parts, and the whole sur-
face being rubbed briskly and  constantly with a wet brush, until
the  surface was  completely red.  This wet brush rubbing is  a
better means of exciting quickly the skin than rubbing  merely
with the wet hand.  The operation was performed quickly, yet
it caused  considerable  shivering and  chattering of the teeth.
With  a  view of  preventing the severe pain in the stomach  and
side, a large wet towel wrung out of moderately warm water, was
put  about the body,  so as to act as a fomentation or poultice,  and
this was well covered with a bandage of  dry muslin  cloth,  one
foot and a half in width, and four  vards  long.   For the comfort
                      10* 
226
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
of the patient, as well as to prevent shivering, moderately warm
bricks were placed at the feet and the region of the stomach.
   The  effect of  this purging,  washing,  and  bandaging  was
striking.  The time occupied from the commencement until the
patient was warm  and comfortable  in  bed, was about thirty mi-
nutes.   Yet,  in this short space, the severe pain had almost entire-
ly subsided,  and,  indeed, in  a short time  after, it was entirely
gone.  The  pulse had fallen from 112 to 85 in a minute, and a
refreshing sleep soon followed.   The same applications were di-
rected to be made in the evening, and the patient was thus enabled
to obtain a very good night's  rest.  The  next day, the washing,
bandaging, and clysters were repeated morning and evening, and
the washing  and bandaging  at noon.  It was  believed that, by
this means, the patient drinking at the same time as much water
as he could  conveniently bear, and taking only a  little water-
gruel for nourishment, the  fever would soon subside.  Still the
complaint seemed to be hanging about him.   On the  morning of
the third day of the treatment, an eruption  appeared  upon differ-
ent parts of the body.  The patient was questioned as to whether
he had been  exposed to  any of the eruptive diseases,  which he
had not knowingly.  It was stated to him and the parents, that
whatever the disease  might prove to be, the indications of treat-
ment were plain and the  same—to wash the body as  often as ne-
cessary to keep it cool, or,  in other words, to keep down the
fever, to apply wet bandages on  every part of  the  body where
there was any pain, smarting, or discomfort from the eruptions;
to abstain from nutriment, except a little water-gruel two or three
times a day, and to drink not only as much Croton water  as the
thirst craved, but as much as could be taken without decided dis-
comfort, and daily to open the bowels by clysters.  Through such
treatment the young man  was kept quite  free  from pain,  and
comparatively comfortable.    In the course of a day or two more,
there was no  difficulty in determining  the case to be  one of real
small-pox.  The same general  treatment was continued,  and at
the middle of the second week from the appearance of the erup-
tion, the young man was  so far recovered as to walk out in the
city, and was, in fact, quite well.  He has  continued to grow
firmer and stronger in health  continually since.
  Few constitutions are in so bad a condition as was that of the
young  man  before this attack.   Within four or five years past,
he had been taken  ill apparently in the same way as at this time,
except that each attack was more severe than the one  preceding ;
and, indeed, the one next previous to this last was of such  severi-
ty, that medical attendance  was necessary for three months.   In
consequence of these attacks and the medicines taken, together
with laboring habitually in a confined atmosphere, and the habit-
ual use of the ordinary pernicious diet  of civic life, the constitu- 
SMALL-POX.
227
tion was brought into a condition highly susceptible to disease,
and such as, under the ordinary drug-treatment, would, to say the
least, be in a very unfavorable condition to combat  this terrible
disease, small pox.
   A remarkable fact in  the effects of water in this disease is
this:  If everything is well managed, the body kept cool by bath-
ing, drinking, and  cool air to breathe,  and if every part upon
which eruption exists is kept covered with clean, moist cloths, of
temperature to suit the feelings of comfort  as a rule, not a mark
is left  by the disease.  This fact  was established  long ago; and
yet the cooling treatment so grateful, as well as efficacious, is yet
so contrary to the generally received opinions, that it has seldom
been adopted. In reference to the use of water, there has been as
much error in the world concerning this disease, as concerning other
inflammatory and febrile affections. It is, however, fortunately, now
beginning to be well understood, that in all inflammations and fevers,
whenever there  is thirst, this dictate of nature should.be freely
and fully answered;  that whenever the whole body or any of its
parts  are hotter than natural, it is perfectly safe with cold water
to cool the  whole body or  any of its parts;  that cold water is in-
comparably the  best febrifuge in nature.  Comparatively a few
years  ago  only, in this  country, as well  as  in most  parts of
Europe, it would be considered the height of madness to use cold
water in burning fevers and inflammations.

                          Small-Pox.

   The  following case of  my  friend, Mr. D. D. Spencer, editor
of the Ithaca Chronicle, I have been kindly permitted to publish.
It is with feelings of sadness, that  I cannot find words to express,
that I  record  the death of two of Mr. Spencer's little  sons, lost
by the small-pox, under the ordinary modes of treatment.
   Mr.  D. D. Spencer, of  Ithaca,  N. Y.,  after a visit to the city
of New York, was somewhat affected, the fourth day after his
return home,  with sickness at  the  stomach  and feverishness,
which  symptoms continued during that  day (Tuesday) and the
two following days, increasing somewhat in force.   As he was
pursuing the water-cure treatment, under the advice of Dr. Shew,
of New York, for a rheumatic affection, he  took on Tuesday two
shower-baths,  morning and afternoon ;  wearing the wet girdle
on that day, and  during his subsequent  indisposition.  On Wed-
nesday the  wet sheet  in the morning, followed by cold  bath, by
affusion and shower-bath at a subsequent hour of the day.  On
Thursday,  the same  as on Tuesday.   On Friday morning, the
wet sheet, followed by cold bath as before.   At this time appear-
ances indicating  an eruption appeared  upon some  parts of the 
228
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
body.  The wet girdle was worn during the night;  and on Satur-
day, when the morning shower-bath was taken, a very full erup-
tion appeared over the whole system.
  Totally unconscious of  any  exposure by which he could have
imbibed infection,  he  was  entirely ignorant  of the character of
the  eruption ; and a physician of considerable eminence  and
long experience, who  was  consulted on this point, thought it pre-
sented the  character  of chicken-pox,  but was not liable to be
communicated to,  or  endanger  any one else.   The water-cure
treatment was continued ; a second shower-bath  on Saturday,
and shower-bath on Sunday morning,  with  the  girdle, night as
well as day.  On Monday morning, the eruption being quite full
and fresh, the wet  sheet was taken, with cold affusions, by pour-
ing cold water over the shoulders ; the only unpleasant effect being
slight cramping of the  calves of the legs on  the application
of the cold  bath,  which was immediately  subdued by  rubbing
with a coarse towel.  After  this, the wet sheet was discontinued,
till  the eruption  disappeared ; but the other applications (the
daily baths) were continued, the large  douche being  substituted
for the second shower.  It should be stated, that,  from the com-
mencement  of the symptoms, costiveness ensued, and cold water
clysters were used on retiring, and full injections of tepid water
every morning; and  the  stomach evacuated (by vomiting)  on
one occasion, before the appearance of the  eruption, by the use
of warm water.   Not a particle of medicine  was taken,  othe/
than pure soft water.
  During all this time  the  patient was not  confined to  bed, or
room, or house, for a  single  hour, by the force of the disease, but
took his  usual  daily  exercise, and  attended  to a considerable
extent to business.  And it is a remarkable  fact, that though in
constant  intercourse  with friends and the  public, in thronged
streets, and  on one occasion  in a large  public assembly, he  com-
municated the disease to no  one except the members of his own
family.
  So  here  is a case where a patient had  the small-pox, in the
varioloid form (having been  vaccinated with the kine pock in his
childhood), with a  very general and full eruption from the crown
of his head to the soles of  his feet, and was  successfully treated
by the water-cure, administered by himself,  all in total  uncon-
sciousness of the nature of the disease, till after  his recovery
from it!  The water-cure  worked like a charm, and it is believed
saved a whole village from infection.   The nearly simultaneous
appearance  of the disease in  the different members  of his  family
was the first intimation of its real character; and  it should  be
added, that  under  other treatment, in the hands of skilful physi-
cians, a less amount  of eruption was  attended with much  more
serious consequences. 
SEVERE SCALD.
229
                   Severe Scald.—Case 1st.

  " The  cold  water case mentioned in the first number of the
Regenerator*  is a  much stronger  one than  there  stated.  It
came to my knowledge in this wise :   In the 12th month of 1843,
as I was going to Piqua, I met a wagon with a sick person in
it, lying upon  a bed.  He seemed to be travelling in much pain.
I inquired the cause of his  suffering, and was told that he was
scalded by the bursting of steam works, in a tan-yard near Piqua,
about fourteen days before ;  that  he  was an apprentice to Mr.
McTurnahan,  a tanner,  and  that Mr. McT. was  also scalded,
with two of his sons.  But the old man, who was the most scalded
of any, jumped  immediately into  the  pool, which was  slightly
frozen over, and came out entirely well.
   " This tale  appeared  so marvellous, that I concluded  to call
at the residence of Mr. McTurnahan, and make further inquiries.
I did so;  and was  informed by the  old man, that he, his  two
sons,  and apprentice, were  standing near the boiler of heating
water when it burst.  He stood in such a position as to take the
strongest current of water and steam.   This is the only evidence
that he has, that  he was scalded as the others, for he jumped
immediately into the pool, and directed the boys to  follow him.
On coming out, and feeling the pain continue, he went in again.
The skin peeled off a little from the lower part of his arms and
a little from  his breast.   This was all the  mark he had  upon
him,  and it had  not hindered him from  his work at all.   He
supposes he was not in the  water more than five minutes.
   " His oldest son came to the brink of the pool, and stepped in
about half way up to his knees.   He  then stopped to unbutton
his clothes, and see how badly he was hurt.   Finding the skin
peel off with his clothes, as he took them down, he  concluded to
go into the house, and send for the doctor.   It was within three
or four days of six months before he was able to go about again.
But so far as he  went into  the pool  there was no mark of hot
water upon him.   The  youngest son  was scalded only upon his
legs.   He went  immediately into  the pool,  as his father  had
directed.   The only mark left upon him was  a small sore on one
of his heels.
   " The apprentice went into the house and was doctored accord-
ing to custom.   It was two weeks before he could be taken home
upon a bed, and four months  before he could  go about.
   " I have called several times at McTurnahan's, once in com-
pany with Samuel  Jay and Walter  D. Jay,  members of the

   * A semi-monthly paper, published at Fruit Hills, Warren county, Ohio,
by Orson S. Murray.  The case given is to be fully relied on as being true
and correct. 
230
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
Society of Friends, who lived in Miami county.   The statement
he makes is uniform, and I think may be relied upon.
                    " Thine, &c.       Augustus Wattles.
  " Mercer county, O., 5th mo. 1st, 1816."

  To those who have never witnessed the effects of cold water
in scalds or burns, statements like the  above appear like  mere
idle  fiction ; but those who  have witnessed  such effects, recog-
nise, at once, upon the face of such narrations, their truth.   We
will add a case of our own, illustrative of these effects.

                      Scald.—Case 2d.

  A few weeks since,  we were  sent for, in great haste, to visit
the infant child of Mrs. Campbell, a sempstress of this city.  The
message was, that the child was severely scalded.   We hastened
to the woman's residence, and there learned the  following parti-
culars.   The  little fellow  (being ten  months old, and a cold
water child, so called) was,  as  usual,  running  about the  room
playfully, when  he drew  upon  himself, from a bench or low
table, a large pitcher full of  hot water.   The fluid  passed upon
his neck, shoulder, down the arm, upon the side, abdomen, over
about  one-third of the back, and  upon one foot.  The whole
extent of these parts  was  scalded, and in places blisters rose,
apparently  as  thick as  one's  finger.  In  consequence of  the
wonderful effects of water,  which the  mother had herself experi-
enced before the  birth  of her infant, as  well as at that time, and
subsequently, and what she  had witnessed in rearing the child
thus far, he never having  had an hour's sickness from the first,
or taken a single particle  of medicine, she  had  very naturally
the greatest confidence in the new treatment.  She preferred, in
fact, rather  to treat the case herself than have a physician of the
ordinary practice, such a one having  been called, through mis-
take of the messenger, and arriving very soon after the accident.
The mother said there  was a mistake,  he was not the  right
doctor: so he took a look at the  little patient, well wrapped  up in
a wet sheet (it being, no  doubt, the  first time he had ever wit-
nessed the application), and then left.
  Immediately after the  accident, the little sufferer began  to
collapse, as  the term is ; he grew pale and cold, and had a severe
chill.  The mother instantly wrapped him in a folded wet sheet;
but his appearing to be cold,  led her quickly to place about .him
an  abundance  of warm blankets, outside the sheet.  It was  not
long  before what is called,  in such  cases,  re-action, began to
take place; the circulation and heat increased, and, at the  same
time, the pain.  All these symptoms were in themselves favor-
able, but demanded at once the most  prompt  treatment.  The 
RHEUMATISM.
231
mother had already, before we arrived, very properly commenced
cooling the affected parts, by frequently changing the wet cloths.
We told her to have the child held  over a tub of water, and to
pour cold water constantly upon the cloths,  these remaining upon
the scalded parts, and to continue this process as long as the pain
remained.   She kept on  thus cooling the  scalded surface, until
her suffering child ceased his piteous moaning, and went to sleep.
This  must have taken  place between two and three hours after
the accident.   He slept awhile,  and  awoke apparently as bright
as usual.   Still, so much  of the surface was either blistered or
abraded, that he could scarcely  move without causing much dis-
tress.  Those parts were directed to be kept  constantly covered
with  fine linen cloths,  wet, and these to  be covered  with dry
ones,  so  that the system  might not become  too much  chilled.
The child was to have as much water as he chose to drink,  to be
fed very sparingly, and the windows were  to be left open both
night  and  day, for  the admission of fresh  air.   The  mother
followed the directions faithfully, and, in a very short time, the
parts were perfectly healed.   During the  first afternoon, every
trace of the  inflammation, where  the surface was  not actually
destroyed,  was  removed.  The fire, as some  would  say, was
completely drawn out.
   The cure, in this  case, might properly be  divided into two
more prominent parts:  first, the cooling means used until the
abnormal heat was  removed;  and   secondly,  the  soothing or
poultice effect of the moist applications that were continued until
the healing of the parts was fully accomplished.  What is there
that will at all compare with  the pure element in causing animal
as  well as vegetable growth ?  Throughout  all nature, in both
vegetable and animal bodies, water  is the great  fluid through
which the vital processes are carried on.
  We think the medical friend who  saw this  case, in connexion
with us, will agree  that  burns of apparently not more than one-
third  of the severity "of this, frequently cause  death  in a few
hours.

                        Rheumatism.

           CASE OF PROFESSOR IVES,  OF  NEW YORK.
  This is the case of  Mr.  Ives, of the  Musical Academy, Hous-
ton  street, a well known author and teacher  in music.   The facts
concerning his case  are known to our friend, Dr.  Crane, of Leroy
Place, to Park Benjamin,  Esq., who was  then  residing in the
same  house with Prof. Ives,  to  the Rev. Wm. H. Channing,  to
Mr. Osborne  Macdaniel, who also  rendered efficient aid in the
treatment of the case,  and to a large number of Prof.  Ives' pupils
and friends. 
232
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
   Towards the close  of the past winter (1845), Mr. Ives was
 seized with a most violent attack of rheumatic fever.   His health,
 as is usual in such cases, had for  some time been growing poor.
 The hands, wrists,  elbows, feet, ancles, and knees, soon  became
 exceedingly swollen, hot, and painful, and the whole system, at
 the same time, deeply  affected  with general fever.
   Previously to my being  called  to attend  Prof. Ives, a variety
 of means had been resorted to by the two attending  physicians.
 Gum guiacum, a powerful stimulant, diaphoretic, and cathartic,
 and repeated  and powerful doses of colchicum, a violent acrid,
 narcoticmedicine, had been administered.  Two days  previous
 to my first visit, the rheumatism went to the heart.  This hap-
 pens not unfrequently,  and if the attack  be severe, the symptom
 is always to be looked  upon as  a very dangerous one.  There is
 reason to believe that it is often caused by the mischievous medi-
 cines administered.  The mucous membrane of the stomach and
 bowels becomes exceedingly irritated and inflamed, and the heart,
 having  strong sympathy with those  internal parts, becomes af-
 fected.   That such a result is caused by the too free use of pow-
 erful  medicine is not merely an opinion of hydropathists, but of
 some of the most experienced in  the old practice.  In this case,
 the attack of the heart was so severe  as to cause delirium.   It
 seemed, the patient  said, as  if a  gimblet were being bored through
 the heart.
   Mr. Ives, from the first, had  an  inclination to use water.  On
 asking the attending physicians  (there were  two) whether this
 remedy  could not  be  advantageously used,  he  was answered,
 "What!   Use  the  very thing to cause rheumatism, would you?"
 At length, finding  no  relief, growing constantly  worse, and not
 being able to get any rest, and suffering more than can be de-
 scribed, I was sent for soon after the middle of the night, two
 weeks after the attack.  Considering the bad work that had been
 done, fearing more, by far, the effects of the medicines that had
 been  administered  than the disease, I was reluctant to proceed.
 I knew  full well, however,  that the body, all in fever and suffer-
 ing as it was,  and those  swollen, inflamed, and  painful parts,
 could all speedily be cooled to the natural temperature;  and that
 in so doing, the pain would at once subside, and thus the sufferer
 would be brought into  the condition the most favorable for reco-
 very that the case would admit  of.
   A lengthy  detail of the  treatment  cannot here  be given.
 Thick woollen shirts, that had been left upon the  body since the
 first attack, were cut into shreds,—this mode being the only one
 by which they could be removed.  Mr. Ives had been charged to
 avoid the slightest change of air.  The garments, therefore, could
not be removed.  It is  not  easy to conceive of the great amount
of acid, fetid perspiration with which  these garments were satu- 
RHEUMATISM.
233
rated, and the whole surface covered.  The body was kept well
guarded  from cold.  A thorough cleansing was given  by means
of towels wet  in  tepid water.  During this  operation,  a most
loathsome stench filled the room.   So grateful and  cooling was
this process (for tepid water as well  as cold, is  cooling), that it
was with difficulty that Mr. Ives could remain awake till it was
finished.  Observing the great relief  so quickly given, Mrs. Ives
said, "If you cure  that man, never shall I forget your''   She had
considered  his  case entirely  hopeless,  and  it  was  generally
believed  by  Mr.  Ives'   friends that  he  could  not  recover.
The swelled joints, and almost the  entire body, were then, after
the cleansing, bandaged in wet cloths, arranged  so as to cause  a
soothing or poultice effect, and changed before becoming dry or
hot.   The treatment was  persevered in ; three and four ablutions
daily were given.   A variety of modes in the use of water were
resorted to, as the. symptoms from time to time demanded, the
object of all of Whicfi was to cause in the whole system and each
of its  parts the natural  degree of coolness, to keep the  bowels
open and the stomach  free from irritation, and to prevent, as far
as possible, all pain, to insure sound, quiet,  and  refreshing sleep,
and by all natural means to invigorate the whole system.  The
directions were fully and  faithfully carried out, and the ever
 assiduous attention of Mrs. Ives was no small item in the  success
of the cure.   In  three days'  time, Mr. Ives  was able again  to
 stand  upon  his feet, and in two weeks  was able to walk about, and
 in two or three days more, Avent about the city.   He has been
 well ever since.
   Remarks.—I am confident that in Mr. Ives' case, the treatment
 of his first two physicians had, according to the ordinary modes,
 been judicious. #They, without doubt, managed  precisely as they
 would have done  were they in a similar manner afflicted.  Like
 results can, by judicious management, easily be caused in every
 case of acute rheumatic fever.  Every trial of the kind serves
 only the more  strongly to convince  me that all other modes of
 treatment now or ever  known, in point of efficacy,  are mere
 child's play,  compared with this of water.
   We deem it necessary that, concerning the treatment of a case
 so important  as the  above, some further explanations be given.
 The notes were written very  hastily, and without sufficient  ex-
 actness. The general principles of  the treatment adapted to all
 cases  of a similar kind, we think, we can make plain to all.
   1.  We are to  observe that  Mr. Ives had had fourteen days a
 very  high general rheumatic fever, which  also invaded all  the
 larger joints.
   2.  That about the eleventh day the disease  attacked  also  the
 heart, always a dangerous symptom. 
234
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
   3. That energetic means had been resorted to without any ap-
parent degree of success to arrest the disease.
   4. That Mr. Ives had been growing constantly worse, until the
Water treatment was commenced.
   5. That at the time of commencing this treatment, the suffer-
ings were such as wholly to prevent sleep.   There was a con-
stant desire  to change, and yet  with the aid of  two  or three
strong  men,  the  greatest difficulty was experienced  in  being
moved.
   6. That the affection of the heart was constant, and at times so
painful as to cause delirium.
   7. That among other, so-called remedies, colchicum,  the great
dependence in the old mode for curing this disease, was given to
the utmost extent that was thought safe.
   The reader, then, can imagine the state of the  patient.   It is
in the night time, towards morning. The night thus far has been
spent sleepless and in groans ;  the limbs rfmind one more of an
elephant's limbs, so much are they swollen.  It is impossible to
move without causing  the greatest pain.  The whole system is,
as it were, burning with fever, .the pulse being above  100, full,
tense, and throbbing.  What is to be done in  so formidable  a
case ?   Surely, there stands  a large  centre table, well covered
with vials, potions, and a magnetic apparatus.  If all these have
been tried, under the care of two physicians well skilled in their
use, what is to be expected of pure, clean water ?  It is  proper to
mention, likewise, that, as in houses generally, except  those re-
cently  built, there  is no bath-room, no apparatus  for bathing,—
certainly it falls to our lot sometimes to do good work, if such we
can, with  very poor means.
   The first thing that nature demands of us in such a case, is to
relieve  the pain.   The body was cleansed piecemeal, by rubbing
with towels, because the disease had proceeded so far  that cold
water  would have  been too  powerful;  it would have  caused
spasms, which might have proved dangerous. Things being thus
arranged,  the excess of heat in the whole system, and particular-
ly of the painful parts, being removed, and the pulse being cor-
respondingly  lowered,  and  some  cold water  drunk,  it was
the most natural thing  that sweet and refreshing sleep should be
enjoyed ;  still, under such circumstances, it would be but com-
paratively a short time before the feverishness and pains  would
begin to return, when the same processes would again  be neces-
sary, within three or four hours at least.   From four to six times
per day, these bandages were changed,  and the swollen, painful
parts were well rubbed with the wet  hand, and the whole body
washed three and four times in the twenty-four hours.  For ever,
in gout and rheumatism, there is not the least danger of applying
the cooling means, so long as they are  agreeable, and the parts 
TETANUS--LOCK-JAW.
235
are hotter than is natural.  It is altogether absurd to suppose, as
is  often done, that these diseases are  some mischievous  sprite,
which the least application of cold is liable quickly to transfer to
some internal organ or part.
   As the feverishness becomes  reduced, less and less of the cool-
ing means are demanded.  In Mr. Ives'  case, the difficulty of
moving was so great for the first two days, that the wet sheet was
not used.   The  bandages, however,  covered the  larger part of
the surface, causing the same  effects.   After two or three days,
the wet sheet was applied at  nights at about ten, in which Mr.
Ives slept very soundly in a half-raised position,  until  waking,
which  was four or five  hours, an ablution was  performed, and
some hours more of good rest were  experienced.  The first two
or three  days of the  treatment, at least two-thirds of the whole
time was spent in refreshing sleep.   The  bowels were regulated
daily by clysters of tepid water ; water as much as was desired
was drunk; and a very important thing not to be omitted, is, that
not a  particle of food was taken  until the third day.  Why add
fuel to the fire, so long as any general fever  remained ?   Food
would only increase it.
   In about two weeks, as we  have said, Mr. Ives was out;  but
as is  always the case  in this disease, some  of the symptoms
for a while remained.  The  daily baths were kept up as  during
the treatment after the first two or three days, by sitting in a tub
of water, the water  being poured upon the body, and the body
well rubbed ; but still more efficient means were needed.  Ac-
cording to our advice, it was not long before Mr.  Ives had a Cro-
ton  shower-bath arranged, which, being  taken daily, in a few
weeks expelled  wholly the disease.   He has taken the cold  bath
ever since, and  now,  in the midst of winter, is as well, if not bet-
ter, than ever in his life.
   By  the daily  use of the shower-bath, Mr. Ives has kept per-
 fectly free  from the disease, now  about two years.   He  has
 enjoyed most excellent  health ever since the  cure, with scarce
 an hour's exception.  He feels  that  his system  has been very
 materially benefited  by the  water treatment  and the course he
 has pursued.

                      Tetanus—Lock-Jaw.

   This disease, as is generally understood, arises from wounds
 and injuries.  It is a most formidable and dangerous affection.
    Treatment.—I have never yet had  occasion to treat tetanus, only
 to prescribe when there has been danger of its coming on.   I have
 at this time (Feb. 22d, 1847),  a case  like this.   Mr. Perry, of
 Orchard street, cut  his  hand  one week ago.   He is a machinist
 by occupation, and thinks his  health has  been injured by gases, 
236
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
and by verdigris flying off from copper in the form of dust.   He
has taken colds  very Easily.   He took a cold  in the wound, and
it swelled prodigiously ; he used poultices of different kinds, but
it grew worse and worse.  Very severe pain was experienced in
the hand and up the arm (a nerve no  doubt was wounded), and
there was also constant pain in  the back.   He was very feverish,
and could get no rest.  Last evening he had himself placed in a
wet sheet; put on  a large wet girdle ; wet bandages  all about the
arm, and the hand in  water.   This stopped the pain completely
in the hand, and he appeared better in every  respect.  He sent
for me, and I directed him  to  use, in addition to the hand-bath
and the wet-girdle, the half-bath quite cold, but not the coldest;
to renew his bandages often  upon the arm;  take the-elbow-bath ;
drink water very often, eat no food for some days, or at most not
until all pain and  fever have subsided ; and to take  the half-bath
as often as the pain in the back returns.   The hand to be kept
in cold water most of the time,  enough to prevent all pain in that
part.   This morning,  I find Mr. Perry decidedly better, the pulse
at eighty instead of one hundred,  as  when I  first  saw him  last
night.   The hand  is  yet much swollen, and some  days  will be
required for this to be thrown off.
   In cases of considerable debility, when there is danger of lock-
jaw, or when the disease is  already present, we must be careful
not to make too short and sudden an impression by means of cold.
This  caution  is particularly needed  when powerful  medicines
have been given.   Warm  baths, which have been recommended,
it is now acknowledged do harm.   The half-bath is an invaluable
means, and must  be persevered in.   If we conclude to dash on
the cold water, we must be sure that the patient has considerable
strength, and that the paroxysm is at a high pitch, otherwise we
may do harm.   The dashing of the coldest water upon horses in
this disease, has been known  to cure it.   The water must be
continued for some time.*
  * In speaking of the effects of refrigeration in this disease, Professor
Elliotson gives the following  cases :—" There is a case mentioned  by Sir
James McGrigor, in the  sixth volume of the ' Medical-Chirurgical Trans-
actions,' and also in his reports  of the diseases of the Peninsular war. It
proceeded from a slight  wound in  the finger.  The patient (a soldier, of
course) was carried in a bullock-car after the battalion to which he be-
longed, in a state of severe tetanus, in  the midst of pouring rain, which
completely drenched him in the  early part of  the day—the heat being
fifty-two degrees; and then they ascended  the highest mountain  in Gal-
licia, the snow on the summit of which was knee-deep !  And there the
temperature was only thirty degrees.   He was  exposed in this condition
from six o'clock till  ten o'clock at night, and arrived at his journey's end,
half starved from cold, but perfectly cured of his tetanus.   Whether  such
a mode would succeed, if it were put into practice intentionally, I  do not
know.  I stumbled on a similar case, published in 1827 :  a horse, which
was in a state of tetanus, happened to be in a wet park, and was drenched
with rain—precisely as was the case with this unfortunate man, and the 
FEVER.
237
              TWO CASES FROM MR. J.  A.  SPEAR.

                            Fever.
  The following case is like  a great many that have happened
by individuals getting at water in spite of the injunctions of phy-
sicians, and the  entreaties of  friends, and  thus being unexpect-
edly cured :—
                                     Braintree, March 17, 1847.
Dr. Shew :—
  There are many in this vicinity who are  in favor of both warm
and  cold water  as a  medicine.  More  than  twenty years  ago,
a very wealthy  and influential man in this town (as the story is
told) was sick of a violent fever; he pleaded for  water a  long
time, and was denied.   At length, being entirely out of patience
with the doctor  and all who took care  of  him, he  called  a ser-
vant-man into the room where  he was, who, he thought, would
be the last one to disobey him, and ordered all the others out of
the room.   Now, said the Major to the servant, go to the distillery,
and get such a  tub, and place it by the side of my bed.  It was
done.   Now, said he, bring  me  in  four buckets of water,  and
set them by the  side of the tub.  That was  done.   He drank
freely, ordered  a board  laid across the tub, and demanded assist-
ance in getting  upon it.  Now, said he, pour those four buckets
of  water on me.  When he had received  two of. them, he  made
all possible haste for the bed,  without assistance, and escaped the
other  two.   The result was  a  powerful  sweat, and end  of the
fever.  If  people in this  vicinity are  at any  time too  much
alarmed about  a little cold water, they at once have the  above
fact sounded in  their  ears, which  serves to calm their troubled
fears not a  little.

                             Fever.

   Two  years ago  last  autumn, being unavoidably exposed,  I
took  a violent  cold.  First symptoms were  pains in  back  and

horse also did perfectly well.  Whether the depressing power of cold and
wet, regularly kept up, for a certain  number of hours, has a tendency to
cure the disease, I do  not  say; but  I  think that, in a disease of violent
excitement as this is, the constant—not sudden,  but constant refrigeration
(by means of a low temperature, united with  moisture), is likely to be of
great service..  There are at least two such cases on record, and it is sur-
prising to find a soldier, so exposed from morning to evening, recover, and
especially in so short a time as one day."
  [Sir C. Scudamore bears similar testimony, citing the case of one of his
horses, which was seized with lockjaw, and given up by the farriers;
Professor Coleman advised repeated affusions of the spine with cold water,
which relieved the spasm  in an hour, and complete recovery ensued.—
Ed.] 
238
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
hips, violent pains in my head, sickness, chilliness, and languor.
I went to bed, taking some things to produce a sweat that night,
but failed.   The  next  day took what is called a sweat,  which
was continued  a number of hours, and  then gradually allowed
myself to become cool ; drank cold water all the time freely.
About midnight found  I  had strong  fever symptoms.   Another
sweat was forced soon,  and  continued till seven  or eight in  the
morning; it was then  suffered  to  abate.  Soon found I  had all
the symptoms of a settled fever upon me.  Then took a shower-
bath, and sweated from eight to twelve  hours.  I had then lain
as long as I could endure  it; the remedy was worse than  the
disease.  I wrapped in blankets and sat in a chair .until morning.
Pain in my head continued, but flesh was cool, and pulse more
calm.  Was urged to lie down, but the bed and I had not settled
our difficulty so quickly, and with faltering steps I made for the
potatoe-field, thinking  to labor  a  few minutes;  I  accomplished
considerable labor  by night, and felt  the  better for exercise.
Pain in my head abated a little.
   This was Saturday : on  Monday night, I was out a little too
late, and brought  on a relapse.  Tuesday morning the  pain in
my head was violent.   I was then past labor for the present: the
inflammation in my head  increased all day : the veins in  my
temples were, swollen and  throbbing.  There  was some talk in
the family about my being  distracted.  I was sane, however, but
judged I should not be  so long, if the pain and inflammation con-
tinued to increase.  I called for  a  tub of warm water for  my
feet; I placed three chairs together, and lay down in them upon
my back, with my feet in the tub of warm water, while my head
rested  on the edge of the further chair, so as to let the water run
from  it into a tub which was placed there to catch it; from  the
nose  of  a  pitcher I received a stream of cold  water upon my
forehead, nearly  one  half of the  time, from six until  eleven
o'clock.   When the cold  had  become  so intense  that  I could
endure it no longer, I would  rub my forehead  half a minute,
during which time the  water was  not poured.   After  showering
in this way ten or  fifteen  minutes, I would  sit up in my chair
about  as long, and then take another  showering.  During the
whole time, my feet and  legs were immersed in warm water,
eight or  ten inches deep, and the warmth increased, as fast as I
could endure it.  At about eleven  my head felt relieved, and the
disease cried for quarter.
                        Yours for suffering humanity,
                                              J. A. Spear.

               Dyspepsia, General Debility, fyc.
   C. G. Heath, Esq., of Ithaca, N. Y.,  was  at our establishment
 in the city (not  the most  favorable place), for only about one 
SPINAL DISEASE.
239
month, following out the treatment thereafter at home.   He had
suffered much and long from the effects of severe and  obstinate
indigestion :  general debility, loss of flesh, lassitude, constipation,
&c, &c, were among the symptoms of the hydra-headed disease.
  In a letter of March 13, 1847, enclosing money for our water-
cure publications, which he was  making efforts to circulate, he
says:—
  " Soon  after I  left you I had a tremendous boil or carbuncle
on my left shoulder, which  lasted two months.  It formed nine
different heads, and broke or opened in as many places.   I had
perhaps fifty or sixty smaller ones  on me at different times during
the summer.  I have  reason  to  speak well of the Water-Cure,
as I have received great  benefit from it, and  as some of my
friends say, it has  rescued  me from the very gates of death.   I
have gained from  twelve  to  fifteen  pounds in weight, and feel
more like living than I have for many years.
   " I have so much confidence in the water-treatment, that I feel
anxious to  have an establishment of the  kind started in our
village.   The location here is admirable for it, and  the marked
effect  and  benefit received by  D.  D. Spencer (editor  Ithaca
Chronicle)  and  myself (two of the hardest cases in town), have
given  the system such credit that I think a house here  might  be
filled with patients in a short time.

                        Spinal Disease.

   In November  or December, 1845, Miss  Elizabeth Potter, of
North Brookfield, Mass., was  brought to our  Institution, in this
city, to  undergo a course  of water treatment.  She  had been,
for seven years,  afflicted with a most severe and painful spinal
disease, and was, for a larger part of the time, confined  to her
bed.
   In the beginning of her illness, when about eleven  years of
age, she  was bled very  profusely for an  inflammation  of the
lungs, and  became greatly prostrated, after which  she never
regained her former health.   The lower limbs ceased growing,
having a shrunken and wasted appearance.
   Medical aid was thoroughly tried:  she had issues,  setons,
blisters,  powerful narcotics, and was  repeatedly salivated;  in
short, the Materia Medica was exhausted, but in vain, though she
had, during her illness, more than twenty physicians.   She was
an  excellent scholar, but had been unable to read or write for
years.  It might be truly said of her, that she had  "suffered 
240
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
many things of many physicians, and was nothing bettered, but
rather grew worse."
  For some months, Miss Elizabeth had been using water, under
our directions,  at home, and had  received  some benefit; still,
when she was  brought to us, accompanied  by her mother and
family physician, her weakness was  such, that she could not at
all be raised in the sitting posture, and could  be  conveyed only
upon  a feather bed.
  The treatment was commenced with  tepid applications, viz.
the rubbing wet sheet, towel washings, wet  girdle, wet sheet,
hip-bath, and injections ; the temperature being gradually lowered
for several weeks, until cold water  was  used, when shower-baths,
small douche,  plunge-bath,  and lastly, the  large douche, were
added.   Considerable friction and kneading of the lower limbs
were  practised, and she was urged to exert herself to walk—all
with  good effect.  The treatment  was,  however, very  much
varied from day to  day, as  symptoms  changed, of which no
accurate account can be here given.
   She ate usually twice a day ;  no flesh meat, butter, spices, or
salt, and no milk except what was  used  in cooking, very little
sweet, and no drink  but  cold water; potatoes warmed  in milk,
and brown bread agreed with her best, and were to her the staff
of life.   So sensitive was the entire mucous  membrane from the
excessive use of drugs, that she could bear but very little of even
this plain and simple food, without distress.
   From  an early period of the treatment, and afterwards, various
crises appeared, as feverishness, pains, depression of spirits, erup-
tions, small boils, symptoms of hysteria, critical action of the
bowels,  &c.  She remained with us  about four months; and, by
very  praiseworthy perseverance on her own part, as well  as on
that of her mother, she became, little by little, able to sit and stand,
and, finally, to  walk;  and, in the  course of a few months, was
able to get about, and attend to reading, drawing, painting, light
work, &c, although still far from  well.
   Early last spring she returned to us, and went through a more
vigorous course of treatment, for four months,  with very decided
improvement, and, on her return home, she was regarded, in the
vicinity of her residence, as a most  wonderful instance of recovery
from  hopeless  disease, and,  as such, is visited by many persons
from  a distance.  She continues to gain under a moderate treat-
ment at home.
  47 Bond Street, Oct. 1, 1847. 
SPINAL DISEASE.
241
                       Spinal Disease.

  Miss Isabella Thompson, daughter of  the  late Judge Thomp-
son, of Burlington, Vermont, suffered similarly to Miss Potter, but
not for so long a time.   She had  previously been  occupied in
teaching  Music, French, &c, but had not, for  about two years,
been able to read or write a word.  During this time, she  had
been almost constantly under the  effects of powerful narcotics,
and other medicines,  and  her system was so sensitive, that  she
Could be  carried into the light, only by having over her face very
thick veils.  Scarcely any light could be borne  in her room,  and
her voice was  hardly above  a whisper.   It was  supposed neces-
sary, before  she was  brought to us,  to administer daily, powerful
opiates.
  This young lady was  brought to our establishment, in Bond
street, about the  first of June, 1846, where her  treatment was
similar to that of Miss  Potter,  as described in  the  preceding
case.   We had the utmost difficulty to induce her to  leave off the
ruinous opiates on which  she  had become accustomed to rely;
she felt as if she could not live without  them :  the quantity was
diminished by degrees for a few days,  when they  were  finally
and entirely discontinued.
  Miss Thompson remained with us some four months; under a
very diligent treatment, she  improved, from week  to week; and,
in about two months, was able to correspond, by letter, with  her
friends.   She became able to walk her  room, went,  from time to
time,  to  the parlor,  to enjoy society, and partook meals at  the
table with others.   She rode a little in the open  air, and could go
miles in  the city, before  we left.  Unfortunately for her conva-
lescence, she at this  time  heard of the  death  of a brother by
drowning, which  had  a very depressing effect upon her.  She re'-
turned home about the first of November, where she continued a
light treatment,  but without any marked change.   Early  last
summer,  she came to  us at Syosset,  where a more full treatment
was resumed, and she spent much of her time in the open air, took
long walks, was very  faithful and thorough in following the pre-
scribed baths and diet, improved very decidedly,  and left a few
weeks since, with the prospect of comparative  health and com-
fort.
  November, 1847.
11 
242
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
              LETTER FROM A SCHOOL TEACHER.

               " General Nervous Debility, fyc.
" Dr. J. Shew :—
  " Dear Sir—I am 20 years of age and my occupation is school
teaching.  In June last, my health was miserable. I was troubled
with pain  in  my  stomach and a depressing lassitude of the
whole system,  so that a short walk fatigued me extremely, and
made me very nervous.   All  my labors,  whether  mental  or
physical, were forced.   I  concluded that I  should have to relin-
quish school teaching, and resort to some of the ' cure-alls.'
  "At this time your work on water.cure came into my hands ; I
read it and took courage.  I immediately commenced the  treat-
ment by going to the adjacent  bay, and bathing, washing, and
rubbing my whole body till a glow was produced ; dressed, walked
to my room, undressed, and used a stiff flesh-brush from five to
twenty  minutes over my entire body, with all  my might.   I
drank from six to fifteen  tumblers of cold water daily,  mostly
before breakfast and dinner, and always before my meals.  Oc-
casionally, after  commencing school  in the morning,  I  felt  a
dullness, caused  by not taking  sufficient exercise,  and then I
took a draught of cold water and walked briskly till  I perspired
freely,  and felt well the  rest of the  day.   I find it  absolutely
necessary  to take  active exercise (the more the better)  after
bathing or drinking cold water,  and that immediately.
  " The pain  in my stomach left me  in about a week from the
time I commenced the treatment, and my legs began  to. itch, and
smart,  and burn,  and purple spots and  blotches appeared and
discharged, so that I was  a horrible sight to behold.   For about
two weeks I suffered much from the burning and itching, yet felt
much better in body and mind.   Every morning when I got to
the bay, I rubbed and scratched myself till my whole body was
covered with discharges from the blotches, and  horrible was the
sight!   Then  I bathed  and washed thoroughly, and the burning
and itching were allayed, and  did not trouble me till  the next
morning.   I treated myself the same every morning,  and felt
better and full of courage.   In a few days several boils appeared,
which discharged  freely.   The  blisters began to disappear and
the itching subsided.   My health improved and strength in-
creased, so that in a few weeks  I could run, and jump, and ride
on horseback,  without fatigue, which  I could not do  before.   In
the course  of two months  a great change  was wrought in my
system and spirit.   A regeneration was fairly begun.
  " I will here mention, that I had the measles in 1842, and did
nothing to purify  my system.  My eyes have been weak since,
have also  been more nervous.   I had  the  same taste in my
mouth when I began to break out, in  consequence of the water- 
        CONSUMPTIVE TENDENCY, DIARRHOEA, AND  PILES.    243

cure treatment, that I  experienced when  I  had the  measles,
showing  that  the  impurities  generated by the  measles  were
secreted in the .system for years, inducing diseases more virulent
and enervating.   I have practised  the inspiration of air daily,
until my lungs were full, then drumming on  my breast, so that
in two months' time I have increased the circumference around
my chest,  two or three inches.  During the years 1833-40 I
was about three-fourths  a Grahamite.   My  health was  the  best
then that it ever has been.   I was stronger  and could endure
much more hardship than when  I  used flesh-meat, tea, coffee,
&c.
   " Some  tell  me when I mention daily bathing,  ' You'll kill
yourself—the doctors say it is not good  to bathe during dog-days,'
&c, &c, but I have  been firm, and am reaping  a glorious har-
vest, while those who cried down the water-cure,  are now enjoy-
ing the ague and fever, cold chills, bilious  fever, &c,  and still
say to me,  ' You'll be sick by and by, don't boast too soon,' &c.
                                " Yours, &c,
                                         " G. W. Rollins.
  " St. Mary's Co., Maryland, Sept. 1, 1844."


          Consumptive Tendency, Diarrhoea,  and Piles.
" Dr.  Shew :—
   " As experience and  facts,  rightly interpreted, are efficient
means in promulgating  the truth, and as I  feel a desire  that all
people should have  a knowledge of this greatest of blessings-
water-cure, I give you a  few  facts  relative  to my experience in
the use of  water as a remedial and  health-preserving agent :—
   " I  inherited a constitutional  predisposition to consumption,
and about ten years ago was  on the  ' verge of the grave/ and
should long ere this have < gone to that bourne from whence no
traveller returns,' had not the course of the fell  destroyer been
arrested by abstinence from that  poisonous aliment upon which it
feeds,  and  adherence to nature's directions as indicated in the phy-
siological law.  From that time to  this, hardly a  day has passed
that I have not bathed  my whole  body with cold water.   And
while I have been positive, all the time, that water would < fulfil
all indicatiens,'  and recommended it  in all cases—abjuring all
drugs,—still,  I  did  not dream of the modes of application as
practised by Priessnitz, nor of the powerful  and immediate  effect
produced by the treatment.
   " From  causes before stated, and a  recent departure from true
health conditions to  some extent, morbific action,  and many of
the old symptoms  appeared, and  I had occasion to make trial of
water-cure treatment on myself, for a diarrhoea of the most ener-
vating character, which the strictest abstinence did not remove, 
244
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
and for piles of the worst  description.   The wet sheet and the
free use of water internally, cured me of the diarrhoea, and the
syringe, sitz-bath,  and douche,  cured me of the piles.  When-
ever a symptom of either appears, it is now immediately removed
by the water-cure  treatment.                             w •
  " New York, Dec. 1, 1844."

                      Delirium Tremens.

  In the spring of 1846, I treated the following desperate case of
delirium tremens.   The  subject was  an elderly gentleman,  a
physician, who had been in the English naval or military service
some  years ago; he had been for a long time intemperate ; had
no wife, children, or other near relatives, to  care for and attend
him.*
  In  hopes  of doing him  good, Dr. Eleazer Parmly had taken
him, miserable as  he was, under his  roof, and  for months  exer-
cised a fatherly care over him.   Occasionally he would break
away from all restraint, and return to his cups.   He had experi-
enced attacks of delirium  tremens, at  different times, for years
past.   The  present attack was a very  severe one.   Dr.  Ludlow
and Dr. J. W. Francis, of this city, had treated him  for (I think)
upwards of a week.   During this  time he had  not slept or taken
nourishment.   They  had  administered  powerful  emetics and
opiates.  That the treatment was thorough enough, according  to
the regular modes, no one  acquainted with these gentlemen will
doubt.  So, after having done all they could, they gave him up.
One of these physicians, being sent for on the night before I saw
him,  replied,  " Nothing more can  be done, die he must."
   I was told, when I was  sent  for, that the patient  had been  in
spasms the previous night,  which had  now returned, and it was
feared that he would die before I could get to him ; but, on reach-
ing him, I found his pulse too strong for that, and, if undisturbed

   * The whole tendency of Hydropathy is eminently favorable  to the
Temperance  Cause.   Father Mathew  says, "I find it a most  powerful
auxiliary in persuading men to take the Total Abstinence Pledge."  It is
also an invaluable means, not only of speedily relieving fits of intoxication,
but of forestalling the recurrence of that fatal and ungovernable thirst for
liquor, which the poor victim of intemperance so often vainly resolves and
strives to resist.  The comparative ease with which habitual stimulants
 are abandoned, under the water-cure, is proverbial, the water itself, skil-
 fully applied, supplying an excitement  in its place.   Ed. 
DELIRIUM TREMENS.
245
by  medicines, I thought he  would not die for many hours, at
least.  The patient, as is usual in this disease, was perpetually
haunted with ideas of the most frightful  kind; the whole world
was against him—soldiers, officers, magistrates, in short, every-
body ;  even the  very demons of " the pit that is bottomless," he
imagined were surrounding him, to torment him to death.  What,
then, are the  indications of treatment in so  formidable a case ?
Unlike, perhaps, the majority of cases of this disease, here was a
full, hard  pulse, attended with  considerable pyrexia (general
feverishness).   This, then, is first to be reduced.   The nervous
system, so  irritated, over-excited, and unstrung,  must in some
way be soothed, quieted, and restored, in order that  refreshing
sleep may again be enjoyed.
  First, then,  iced water was given plentifully, and ice to eat;
secondly, and  at the same time,  wet towels, with pieces  of ice
between them, were applied to the  head,  chest, abdomen,  and
thighs; those  upon his trunk the  old man gathered about him as
his  best friends.   They were  frequently renewed, so  as to
assuage the feverishness,  at the same time carefully watching the
pulse, that he should not be too much reduced.  The treatment
was commenced about the  middle of the day, and, for the first
twenty-four hours, the applications were sufficiently extensive to
be nearly equivalent to an ice-cold wet sheet: meantime, copious
cold injections were given,  with a  most salutary effect.  The
system  became  much calmed, still he could not sleep.  He ate,
during this time, an enormous  quantity of ice, taking it almost
continually.   The subsequent treatment was similar in kind, but
moderated  in degree.  At least forty-eight  hours elapsed before
he  took nourishment  or obtained sleep.   Half baths were  also
used the second and  third  days, for an hour  at a time.  The
patient  improved rapidly under  this  course, and,  on  the fourth
day, had grown so much better, as  to be able to ride a number
of  miles, and  to walk over one  mile, and thus continued to im-
prove.
   The  treatment, after my first  seeing the patient, was purely
hydropathic, although the above-named physicians, who met with
me, strongly recommended a combination of the old with the new
system.  Once only, a cup of weak  tea was allowed  at evening,
which, doubtless, served to make him more wakeful.
   In cases of this disease, where  there is not increase of circula-
tion and feverishness, the treatment should be as continuous, but 
246
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
more mild.  In all cases, large and  repeated injections of cold
water have a most salutary effect.   At night, or whenever other
applications are inconvenient, these may be resorted to with  fre-
quency, and will be found to have  a  very soothing influence.
  In the above case, I could hardly have succeeded without the
aid of Dr. Dunning (associate of Dr. Parmly), who, although
then in very delicate health, remained up with him the whole of
the first night.

                 Rheumatism, Dyspepsia, fyc.

             FROM THE ITHACA (n. Y.) CHRONICLE.

   Mr. D. D. Spencer, editor of the Chronicle, was  treated  in our
establishment several  weeks,  in the spring of 1846, for severe
rheumatism.  The following  is from a series of articles, which
he wrote on his return home.
   " The halting,  moping, decrepid, afflicted, and miserable rheu-
matic, finds relief from his pains, suspension of his torments, and
a new spring to his locomotive powers, as the animal  tissues  be-
come renewed, the functional  derangements restored, and under
the blessing of Providence he rejoices in  a new edition of life,
revised and improved.  An establishment for the water-cure has
the least appearance of an  hospital, though  every grade of disease
is received and treated. In fact,  you can  scarcely find a more
happy set of fellows anywhere, than a company of patients at
 such a resort.
   " Those who have derived benefit from the water-cure are en-
 thusiastic in its praise.   ' Sir,' said an intelligent and apparently-
 well  educated  physician of long practice in Connecticut, to me,
 ' I  would  not exchange the  benefit which the water-cure  has
 been to me for fifty thousand  dollars.'  For fifteen years he has
 been a miserable dyspeptic, until he resorted to the establishment
 of Dr. Wesselhoeft, at Brattleboro, last October, and commenced
 a test of the water-cure upon himself—now apparently of good
 health, and full of the powers of life.  His regular  practice he
 intends to resign to other hands, and arrange a  water-cure estab-
 lishment.   An aged gentleman from Troy affirmed  that he  had
 been afflicted with almost every disease  in the  catalogue, and
 was near the grave.   Now he is full of energy, and as lively as
 a boy ; with thirty-five pounds additional weight, and an elasticity
 of mind  not within the powers  of estimate.   And< such  is the
 uniform testimony of all who speak from personal experience on
 the subject." 
WATER-CURE ESTABLISHMENT  OF  DRS. PEIRSON
                     AND  MEEKER.

This is a large double  house, containing five  stories and  base-
ment, having the Croton water on each floor.   It contains  sixty
rooms, sixteen of which  are of unusual  size.   The house  is in
the immediate vicinity of Broadway, and overlooks Union Square.
Its bathing accommodations are well  arranged, consisting of one
large plunge-bath eight by four feet, one douche with a perpendi-
cular fall of twenty-five feet,  two small plunge-baths, four  small
douches  of  various  calibre,  three shower-baths,  warm water
throughout the house, besides portable shower  and  douche-baths
for the use of patients confined to their rooms.
  Dr. Meeker finished his  education at the Medical University
of Berlin, in Prussia ; thence he went to Graefenberg, and  spent
a year at  the establishment of Priessnitz.  Dr. M. was also ex-
amined  and  admitted a member of the  Hydropathic Society of
Germany.   Dr. Peirson had been practising Hydropathy in New
York city about a  year, when he associated  himself with Dr.
Meeker, and fitted up their  present  establishment.

                COUNTRY ESTABLISHMENT,
           At  the  Orange Mountains, New Jersey,

Fifteen miles from New York, on the Morris and Essex railroad,
where  the proprietors of the  New York Water-Cure Establish-
ment have in progress  of  erection,  buildings  for  an extensive
institution in the country,  to be carried on in connexion with
their city establishment.
  The buildings have been  planned especially with  a view to the
convenience  and comfort of the  patient, and are designed  to be
entirely adapted to  the administration of the water-cure.  The
site is  well  selected,  commanding  an extensive view  of  New
York and the  harbor, as far down  as  the Narrows ;  also  of
Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hoboken, New Brunswick, and  Amboy 
""■^                "AIM IJUKJS  1SH AMEKICA.

on the ocean, and also of all the smaller towns and villages in the
vicinity.
  To each room is attached  its own bathing-room, containing all
the necessary apparatus for bathing, except the large swimming-
bath and heavy douche, the latter of which will be situated in the
glen, a few rods up the mountain.               •
  The water is clear, limpid, and soft, issuing from the bubbling
springs of the  mountain, one hundred feet  above the road, near
which  the establishment is situated.
  The cars of the Morris and Essex railroad pass and repass the
establishment several times daily, to and from  New York, thus
enabling persons, who desire it, to spend the business part of the
day in the city, and  also to enjoy nearly full treatment in the
country.
  Patients will also  have the  privilege of passing their time al-
ternately, or as they may wish, at the country or city establish-
ment.
  The country  establishment will be opened on the first day of May,
1848.
                         Dr. F. D. PEIRSON,
                         Dr. C. H. MEEKER,
                     Office at the City Establishment,
                          Nos. 18 and 20 Fourteenth street.


CASES  TREATED BY DRS. PEIRSON  AND  MEEKER.

                     Chronic Diarrhea.

  The  subject  was 25  years of  age,  a  lieutenant  in  the
navy.   Excess of high  living, and immoderate use of wine  and
other less objectionable  drinks, had gradually given rise to this
obstinate complaint in him, which was now of two years' standing;
his body was bloated, and his strength and capability of bearing
fatigue were much diminished.
  The treatment we prescribed consisted of  a  shallow tepid
rubbing  bath  in the morning, followed by a cold shower, wet
sheet envelopment at noon, followed  by the rubbing wet sheet
or small douche, and sitz-bath  of half an hour in the afternoon.
  By the aid  of abstemious diet, regular  exercise, and daily
drinking often glasses of cold  water, he improved sensibly from
the outset, and when he left us,  a few weeks after commencing 
INFLAMMATION OF THE  LUNGS.
249
treatment,  his digestive  organs were  much strengthened,  the
general tone of his system much improved, and a great alteration
had manifested itself in the condition of his disease.
  After leaving  us, he pursued the same treatment as nearly as
possible, and when we by chance met with him, about two months
afterwards, he quite  surprised us by his healthy, robust appear-
ance, and upon inquiry, he informed us, that he had  continued
in the water-treatment and diet as closely as his business and
circumstances permitted, and had experienced constant improve^
ment in his general health as well as  in his  local complaint, of
which he considered himself now radically cured.

                  Inflammation of the Lungs.

  The subject was a boy, 7 years of agve, son  of Mr. Nash  of
West  Market St.,  Newark,  N. J.  He had taken  cold some
days previous, which  was permitted  to continue without any
endeavor  to  check it,  until  finally,  the  aggravation  of the
symptoms  and  the  prostration  of strength  made  the danger
apparent.   When we saw the child, it was confined, from loss of
strength, to its bed, and was suffering  under  great congestion to
the chest, which evinced itself in the bloodlessness and icy cold-
ness of the extremities and limbs, violent hard cough,  with  high
fever and rapid pulse.
  We immediately enveloped the child  in a double wet sheet,
which was renewed  three times successively, always  changing
the  sheet so soon as the child was thoroughly heated, which,
from the  high  degree of  fever, required from 15 to 20 minutes
only, although the sheet was each time doubled, and not strongly
wrung out.  After the third application of the double  wet sheet,
we  prepared a  bath in  a common  wash tub of 70°  Fah.,  in
which we placed the child and rubbed him thoroughly 30 minutes,
pouring cold water from a bowl upon his  chest almost constantly.
In the bath the cough ceased entirely,  but returned again  after
an hour or less,  though with  diminished  violence.  A  compress
wrung out of cold water, was kept constantly upon  the chest,
and  a similar  one upon  the  abdomen, with  directions  to renew
them  as often as they became heated.  Water was given to
drink according to thirst.   Towards evening we left directions
to administer a single wet sheet envelopment, followed by a
                        11* 
250
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
bath of five minutes, of similar temperature with the previous
one.
   Next morning we  found  the child little if any improved, the
lower extremities cold as on the day previous, but fever not quite
so high.   We administered one double wet sheet, followed in the
course of an hour  by another, which  reached  above the knees,
leaving the feet and legs in the dry blanket  envelopment.   This
procedure succeeded  entirely in restoring warmth and increased
circulation to the  lower extremities,  and  was  followed by  a
rubbing  sitz-bath, whereby the feet were not immersed in the
water, but were  constantly  rubbed with  wet hands.   This bath
was continued ten minutes, at the  expiration of which time the
feet and legs were still in a fine glow of warmth.   The  water
was 65° Fah.   In the evening, the patient  always had a single
wet sheet and short  bath of 3 to  5 minutes.   The compresses
upon  the  chest  and abdomen were worn constantly, night  and
day.   Water  was allowed to be drunk according to thirst; diet,
light  farinaceous food with milk.   This treatment was pursued
according to directions, and three days after, we had the pleasure
to see the child quite  restored to health.

            Ophthalmia—Inflammation of the Eyes.

   The  subject was a son of Mr. Ball,  of Washington street,
Newark—a lad sixteen years of age ; he had labored for four years
under  severe chronic inflammation of  the eyes, and was unable
to go out of the house  or do anything which required the  least
use of the organs of sight.  In the  winter of 1846-7, soon  aftei
my return  from  Europe, the  parents  came to  me, anxious to
know if I could do anything which would be of service in restoring
perfect sight and healthfulness to their son's  eyes.  I immediate-
ly assured them  that  Priessnitz paid particular attention to such
infirmities, and having personally witnessed  the successful treat-
ment of many such patients,  I put all confidence in the efficiency
of the hydriatic method.
   He had been almost totally blind for four months, but when I
saw him, his sight was somewhat improved,  still very imperfect,
and quite unserviceable, as he could not  endure the least ray of
light upon his eyes.  Their painful  sensibility to the smallest de-
gree of light, compelled  me to make a very hasty examination ;
a high, inflamed, red color, with considerable excoriation, marked 
          OPHTHALMIA--INFLAMMATION OF  THE EYES.       251

the eyelids and adjacent parts, while the whole ball of the eye
itself appeared of a thick whitish grey, no distinct color to the
retina or  pupil being perceptible.  Finding all salves and medi-
cal applications of no service, his physician ordered him to im-
merse his face and eyes daily in cold water, and continue the ap-
plication a half hour or more, which was the only treatment he
was undergoing at the time I first saw him.
   Treatment: My first  procedure was to do entirely away with
the cold eye and face-bath,  since that was continually aggravat-
ing the complaint, by causing a preternatural determination of
the humors and blood to the enfeebled organ, consequently stimu-
lating an inflammation there ;* in its stead I prescribed a tepid eye
and face-bath twice daily, attended with constant washing of the
eyes  with the hands, also a  warming  cold water compress, to be
worn constantly day and night on the eyes.  That was the only
local treatment  used during the whole cure.   The general treat-
ment, upon which always more depends, and which is far more
important than the local, was, for the first month, envelopment in
the wet sheet morning and afternoon, in which the patient  per-
spired, every Monday and Tuesday mornings ; towards the end of
the month, every Wednesday morning also.  The wet sheet  was
followed by the tepid half-bath, 70° Fah.
   The beneficial effects of  this treatment manifested themselves
immediately, and the patient had  made rapid strides in  improve-
ment before the end of the month.
   In  the  course of the  second month,  I added the  rubbing  wet
sheet at 11 o'clock, followed by an air-bath and tepid sitz-bath.
Although  now all the general treatment  was with cold water,  still
in the above-mentioned  local treatment, tepid water was perse-
vered in, as a means of  allaying inflammation, and still of pre-
venting an undue determination of blood and humors to the face.
The sitz-bath was also tepid, so as gently to relieve any such de-
termination, and  at  the same time cause  no violent reaction to
those  parts as an after-effect of the derivation.  In  this manner
the patient, went on steadily and  rapidly progressing ;  after  two
months the general  health,  whtch had  also suffered much, was
fully re-established, and after six  weeks, not the slightest trace of
the former chronic affection of the eyes was perceptible, except

  * This is an important point; strong local  treatment exclusively, is, in
many cases decidedly injurious.—Ed. 
252
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
the loss of his eyelashes, which the corrosive salves before em-
ployed, had occasioned.
  The last four weeks of his  treatment, the patient employed
cold water for every application of local  as well as of general
treatment.                                              M.

                 Inflammation  of the Bowels.

     From the Water-Cure Reporter, by Drs. Peirson 8f Meeker.

  On the 4th of September,  1847, I was called  in to see a child
of eighteen  months (son of  Mr. Stratton, foreman of the  lndia-
Rubber Factory at Harlem), laboring under a severe and danger-
ous  malady,—inflammation  of  the bowels.  It was  the  fourth
day of the child's sickness,  which had been attended by one of
the  best physicians of  New York.   On Monday  morning,  a
second physician was called in, who immediately pronounced the
child in a very dangerous, and almost hopeless situation, and told
the parents that he  had been called  in too late.  The physician
then examined the child, and found it had considerable inflammation
in the bowels: the abdomen was quite swollen, and all evacua-
tions were obstructed.   He  left medicines, upon the  speedy bene-
ficial operation of which he rested  all hopes of cure.  As the
medicine took no  effect, and the child continued  to grow worse all
day and the  following night, it became  evident that something
else must soon be  done, or life  could not be sustained  much
longer.
   While affairs were thus,  I was called.   The inflammation  in
the bowels was much aggravated, the child's abdomen distended
to almost double its capacity ; much medicine in its stomach and
bowels, no evacuation having taken place since the  illness of the
child.  The  large bowel, through which all excrementitious mat-
ter  must pass, on its way to evacuation,  was  completely closed
by the inflammation.   On the  Saturday previous, the child had
received an injection  of warm water and  molasses.    The physi-
cian, however, prohibited an injeetion of any kind, saying, that it
would irritate the already inflamed bowels.
   When 1 arrived  at the house,  I found  the child  in the  above-
mentioned condition;  also mustard plasters had, according to the
physician's  order,  been  constantly kept  on  the stomach and
bowels, which had just been removed an hour before my arrival. 
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.
253
 On first sight, I doubted if it were expedient to attempt the case,
 not that I doubted the power of the water-cure, even in apparent-
 ly  hopeless  circumstances ;  but when a medicinal  course of
 treatment has forestalled ours, and medicinal poison has been ad-
 ministered, until the patient is reduced to the last stage  of the
 disease, i. e. the stage immediately preceding that of dissolution,
,then it is always somewhat doubtful whether relief is  still possi-
 ble.   But when this disease, or others of like stamp, or univer-
 sally, all pure, acute diseases are treated  at  the outset strictly
 hydropathically, then, no danger is to be apprehended, for  a case
 is not known, or  on record, wherein  an acute disease, taken  in
 hand immediately,  has ever resisted  such treatment.  In  fact,
 they are held of such little moment in  Graefenberg, that they are
 there viewed in the light of simple crises, and one smiles at the
 idea of danger  arising  from* them.
    But to return to the  child : as no time was to be lost, and I be-
 lieved  the child curable, I  immediately removed the mustard
 plaster, and applied to the abdomen fomentations of water of 80°
 Fah.   The whole body was then precisely like  an inflated blad-
 der, painfully sensitive to the slightest pressure.   The  compress
 I  continued  to renew as  often  as it became  heated, which was
 every five or  ten  minutes, so high  was the inflammation.  In
 about fifteen minutes,  I gave an injection of one gill of temperate
 water, which was repeated every one or two hours, at each repe-
 tition  a few degrees colder;  the irritability and soreness of  the
  whole body was so great, that I did not venture on a  whole-bath,
  or even ablution.  But I perceived that the abdominal compress
  did good  service, and  was gradually reducing the inflammation,
  and that  the  cool water of  the injection  finally reached  the
  inflamed spot  in the large bowel; a passage began to be effected,
  and about sixteen  hours  after my arrival at the house, the child
  was much relieved by copious evacuation.  An injection  of near-
  ly cold water  was  now administered, and followed in less than
  half an hour by another evacuation.   About  ten o'clock,  the next
  morning,  a  general-bath was given, after which the child slept
  till noon, when, upon awaking, it showed  a desire for food.  ^ It
  was allowed a little milk, with a few  crumbs of bread, after which
  I  left, having been with it  constantly nearly twenty-four hours,
  and I considered  it almost entirely cured.   At the desire of the
  parents,  I called to see them once or twice more, and found the
  child playing and amusing itself in its usual  manner.      M. 
254
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
                       Prolapsus Uteri.

  A lady of about 33 years of age, came to our Establishment on
the  12th of August, 1847 :  she had been confined to her bed
most of the  time  for two years, the  last three months of which
time she had been under the care of Dr. V. of Brooklyn, a phy-
sician of much repute in cases of female complaints, but she had
experienced no perceptible  improvement.  When she came  to
us,  she was unable  to  walk twice across  the  room, could not
stand still in one position at all,  on account of a great weakness
in the back, and for the same reason was unable to sit upright on
a chair,  had also constant pain in  the weak part of the back;
bowels quite inactive and constipated.  Her peculiar complaint,
the  falling  of the womb,  was  also much aggravated by these
contemporaneous  complaints.
  Her treatment  was, in the commencement of it, very mild,
consisting of towel  baths, with  gentle friction twice daily, viz.
morning and evening.   This was continued two weeks with an
occasional wet sheet  envelopment when  her strength permitted.
After the fourth  week, her  strength  gradually increasing, she
was daily enveloped  in the wet  sheet, followed  by the dripping
rubbing-sheet.  Sitz-bath  at noon of one minute only.   In the
course of another week, the sitz-bath was prolonged to five minutes,
wet sheet envelopment  daily, and also rubbing  wet sheet.  Her
improvement was constant  and steady,  though  gradual, and
surpassed our anticipations.   This treatment was persevered  in
for  two weeks, when we dispensed with  the rubbing wet sheet,
and ordered in its stead  the  light douche.   Under this treatment
and with unimportant variation, the patient continued to improve
pretty  rapidly, and in the incredibly  short space of ten  weeks,
appeared to be quite relieved of her main difficulty.   She could
walk out and go about as usual, go up and down stairs with ease,
and her general health was good.   After this, she remained
with us a few weeks, and finding her health continued excellent,
bid us adieu.

                  Incipient While Swelling.

  Mr.-------,  a lawyer from Rochester, came  to our Establish-
ment, Sept. 5th, with his left knee joint much swollen, and very
painful.  His countenance  indicated intense sufferino-.   He was
unable to move the  joint or to bear scarcely  any weight  on 
INCIPIENT WHITE SWELLING.
255
the limb.  The  pain  had  been  increasing  steadily  for  six
days, and had now arrived at such a degree of intensity, that it
was  almost  beyOnd endurance.   He  had not  had  an hour's
sleep for the last two nights.   He had,  a few weeks since, been
confined with an  attack of bilious fever, from which he had so
far recovered that  his physician thought he might visit the city
without injury  to his health.  During and after the fever, he
labored under violent  pains  in the bowels, and dysentery, for
which he was copiously dosed and drugged, but without result,
until the white swelling began to appear, which relieved entirely
the complaint in  the bowels,  and was  evidently a transmutation
of the disease, caused  by the free administration of poisonous
drugs.
   His complexion was sallow, tongue  coated,  no appetite, pulse
one hundred  and  twenty, and his whole nervous system was very
much irritated and deranged.  He commenced with  the  wet
sheet envelopment, wet towel compress on limb in addition, in
which, for the time being, the  pain left  him, and he became quite
comfortable ; he  remained in the  envelopment  one hour, when
he was rubbed in a shallow bath at 70° Fah., after which he felt
much refreshed,  and sat up a short time.  A bandage wet with
ice-water was applied to the limb, which  application  served to
confine  the pain within the  bounds of endurance, but when it
was suffered  to get hot, the pain was most excruciating.  Indeed,
such intense  and continued bodily suffering we have never before
witnessed: for the first  twenty-four hours, except while in the
wet sheet or  shallow bath, the patient could not lie in one position
ten consecutive  minutes, and he assured us repeatedly, that  had
 he not known of the water-cure, and  confidently believed that it
 would  soon  assuage his  sufferings, he would have called in a
surgeon and  had the limb amputated.   At  this time, and during
the  first 24  hours, the pain in his back was almost as severe as
that of the knee joint, and at times seemed to predominate, but
in the wet sheet and bath, all pain left him, and, for the first 36
hours, the only sleep that visited his agonized  body was while in
the wet envelopment.
   For  the first  four days, this application was made but once
daily ;  he took, however, the small plunge, light douche, or shal-
low-bath, generally twice during the  day and evening.   The
local applications to the knee and  back had to be changed every
 fifteen  to thirty minutes through  the day and night, for the first 
256
WATER CURE IN AMERICA.
 thirty-six hours, when  the intensity of the  pains began to abate,
 after which the local treatment consisted in frequent and prolong-
 ed wet friction of the knee and the neighboring»parts, affusion of
 cold water from a pitcher ten to  twenty minutes at a time, and
 constant wearing and renewal of the wet cold compress.   The
 general treatment consisted in the wet sheet-packing twice daily,
 followed by the half-bath, or small douche.
   In seven days, the patient began to straighten his leg quite natu-
 rally,  and was able to bear a  little of his weight upon it.  From
 this time he improved very rapidly, and on the ninth day of his
 treatment, came down stairs and  took his seat at the table.   His
 sallow complexion had quite cleared up, tongue resumed the na-
 tural  red color of health, and appetite was not wanting.   The
 next day, he walked out to the omnibus and  took  a long ride ;
 and on the third day thereafter, walked very well with the  help
 of his  cane, his limb feeling quite strong, and his general health
 perfect.   On the eleventh day, finding himself so much improv-
 ed, and his knee nearly well (the  swelling having almost entirely
 disappeared), he returned  to  Rochester and resumed the duties
 of his profession.

                        Elephantiasis.
   In the winter of 1846, saw Mr.  D. of this city,  who had had for
 a  long time an  enlargement of one leg, from a thickening of the
 skin and cellular membrane.  It was rough, wrinkled, and scaly.
 He had made a variety of applications, and among  other things,
 wore a seton—all  to no purpose.  He was put under the  full
 general hydropathic treatment, with the douche locally.  After
 two  weeks a fine rash appeared, when the absorbents seemed
 active,  the  limb  began to diminish in size,  and  the  skin  to
 resume its natural color, temperature, and smoothness.   In a few
 weeks, by continuing the treatment, it was restored  to its natural
 condition.

                     Uterine Hemorrhage.
   In February  last, Mrs. S.  of New  York, was attacked with
 violent hemorrhage  from the  uterus.  She  was of middle  age
 and  good  constitution, the attack evidently resulting from over-
doing,  having the care of her family and nursing  at the same
time.  When we saw her, she was  so  reduced that it was with
difficulty she could  get  about  the  house.   The  cold sitz-baths, 
          LIVER COMPLAINT.--QUINSY.--HYDROPHOBIA.      257

with compresses around the abdomen, soon checked the hemor-
rhage entirely, and by moderate general bathing she  became
invigorated  in  a few days, and  able  to  resume her  domestic
duties, seemingly quite well.

                       Liver Complaint.
  In  the  early part of last winter, Mr. J., of this city, came to
us complaining  of general debility, loss of appetite,  constipated
bowels, emaciation, cold  extremities, and other indications of a
chronic derangement of the liver.   He was  also afflicted with
sores on different parts of his  hands, caused by slight injuries,
which refused to heal.   The course of treatment consisted of the
wet sheet packing, sponge-bath, douche and sitz-baths, which he
continued about four weeks, when a decided  crisis occurred, in
the form  of boils.  At the end of two months he was perfectly
restored, and looked and  felt, as he said himself, " like a new
man."
                          Quinsy.
  Many persons are  liable to severe attacks of this disease once
or twice a year, or oftener.   It may be entirely cured, and  this
habit of disease broken  up,  by dressing  the  neck lightly,  and
bathing the head  and neck  thoroughly with  cold water every
morning.   We have known several cases effectually cured by
this means alone, in this city.

             FROM DR. SHIEFERDECKER.

  The  two following very important cases, by some blunder at
the Post Office, were  not received  in time  to insert in their
proper places.

                 Hydrophobia in the first stage.

  We  understand, by  Hydrophobia, a very dangerous,  acute
nervous disease, connected with terrible fits, and caused by the
transfer of  the  poison of mad  dogs and  other animals, into the
human  system,  (Hydrophobia vera) or by other causes (Hydro-
phobia spuria).  No other disorder has such a specific character,
and  none shows the  utter insufficiency and imperfection of the
drug school, so fully as this  horrible disease.  Harless says, in
his work on the treatment of  hydrophobia :—" Against  hydro- 
258               WATER  CURE IX AMERICA.

phobia  vera,   we  possess not  one  even  somewhat  certain
remedy.  The science is so entirely destitute of a remedy against
this desperate  condition, that it cannot show one single authenti-
cated case of a cure of real hydrophobia."
  Priessnitz's  unerring genius has the merit of giving us,  in the
judicious and  prompt application of his system, a  means, the
success of which  he himself proved (for want of a human sub-
ject) on different mad dogs.*
  Being, for myse'f, firmly convinced that, if  water  should fail,
everything else would be of far less  avail, I felt perfectly justi-
fied in trying on a boy, what Priessnitz had applied successfully
on dogs, under precisely  the same circumstances.  In August
1842, I was called by a Mr. Carl Schmidt, whose boy had been,
about four weeks  before,  bitten in the  right heel by a dog, in
Second  Street,  while jumping  from the steps of an omnibus.
  He was 12  years  old, had  been medically  attended, and his
wound  had healed.   The scar had opened  again, appeared
cedematous  and erysipelatous ;  discharged a  sharp, thin, dark
colored fluid,  and produced a burning  and itching pain ;  there
were, in the whole leg, drawing pains, which extended over the
whole side where the  bite  was ; these pains followed precisely
the course of the nerves, which go upward from the region of
the wound to  the brain and  spine.  They produced a painful
sensation of dryness in the throat, and a burning  feeling in the
stomach ; there were some twitchings in the affected leg,  and a
sensation of a  kind of paralysis, whilst it was somewhat swollen.
Connected with these, there appeared  all the symptoms of a great
excitability  and predominant  suffering of  the nervous  system,
viz., general restlessness, anxiety, bad dreams,  interrupted  sleep,
a heightened acuteness of the senses ; bright, red eyes, shunning
the light, contracted pupil,  &c, chilliness, periodical  pressure in
the  chest, frequent,  small spastically-contracted pulse,   want
of appetite, sickness of the  stomach, pale,  sometime flushed face,
melancholy.   Every  trial  to  drink,  at once produced anguish,
and the patient, though thirsty, would push  back  any vessel con-
taining fluid, with horror ; he felt an impediment,  and  an impossi-
bility in swallowing, which suddenly originated with every trial
to drink.
  * This is also stated by Sir Charles Scudamore, M.D., F.R.S.,  etc., in
his " Medical Visit to Graefenberg," in which he strongly recommends the
most  active of the water-cure processes, as well worthy of a trial.  Ed. 
      HYSTERIA, WITH CONSTANT TENDENCY TO L0CK-J4W.   259

  I put the patient immediately in an ice-cold half bath, in which
I kept him with the help of some men, constantly pouring  cold
water over him, until he began to look very blue, and  until  the
whole  nervous system  was roused to an enormous trembling.
Thus perfectly exhausted, I put bim in dry blankets, and packed
him as tight as possible.   When he had begun to sweat, I gave
him water to drink as much as he could  swallow ; he sweated
three hours, and was then washed with water of 70° Fah.   As
soon as any sign of distress re-appeared, 1 immediately renewed
the same process.   Thus the attacks soon  became less  frequent,
and after three days, the patient seemed to be well, with the  ex-
ception of the wound on the heel, which mended after the  first
sweat, and showed, on the third day,  nothing differing from any-
other wound but some bluish color.   1 kept this wound open by
exciting bandages for four weeks longer, had the patient washed
every day twice, ordered him to drink great quantities  of water,
and to take every  exercise he could.   He is entirely well.
   Since  the above  case,  two years  ago, one of my  servants,
Heinrich Sherer, was bitten by a dog, in five different  places of
the body.   I had cause  to suspect the dog,, and I therefore  used
the following treatment, which I recommend as a general pre-
ventive.   I put the man immediately  in a half bath of 68° Fah.,
had him rubbed  all over the body, and kept him in the  water till
he  was chilled through.   After that I  had  him packed in woollen
blankets as tightly as possible, let him sweat  for four hours, and
gave  him  a very large quantity of water to drink.  He was then
washed off in water of about 60° F.,  well dried, and took much
exercise.   The  wounds I  syringed daily, and applied exciting
compresses to them.


         Hysteria, with Constant Tendency to Lock-jaw.

   I understand,  by hysteria, a  diseased condition of the female
sex, which is similar to hypochondria, and  in its symptoms as
proteus-like as that disease.  The case I now mention but briefly,
is of  so singular and important a character, that it seems wrong
to withhold it from the public.
   The patient, who is a lady of the highest respectability in this
city,  after  everything had been done,  and  every physician of
eminence had been tried without any  success, was recommended 
 260              WATER  CURE IN AMERICA.

 by Drs. Jeanes and Hollick, to try a water-cure treatment under
 my directions, as a last resort.
   I cannot attempt, in these lines, to give a full description of all
 the symptoms, which I found by a careful examination.  Besides
 the usual  morbid affections  of the  whole  nervous system, and
 anomalies in the muscular system, there were the greatest disturb-
 ances in the circulation of the blood, and in the respiration.   The
 secretions were changed, the skin  dry and parched,  &c.; the
 bowels were very much constipated ;  the motus peristalticus was,
 in consequence of the partial spastic contractions of the intestines
 and of the miserable digestion,  much suffering ;  the motus anti-
 peristaltics had  got the mastership, and caused a very distress-
 ing choking sensation.  This latter  symptom  had become so
 bad, that the patient was not able to swallow anything but one
 or two soft-boiled eggs a day ;  she had to keep constantly some-
 thing  in her mouth  to excite the  production of saliva, and was
 thus emaciated to the utmost extent;  death would have seemed
 relief.   The nights passed without  refreshing sleep, which was
 constantly interrupted by the swallowing.  She could not swallow
 any meat or bread, nor drink any water, everything would choke
 her till she spit it out.  She  was not able  to use any exercise,
 on  account of her debility,  and riding in a carriage, or in any
 other  manner, would lock her jaws, in which she felt a constant
 distressing drawing.   This horrible  condition  was always the
 same, the usual intermissions in hysterical attacks had ceased to
 appear, and the patient sank  rapidly.
   On the 2d of April, 1847, I undertook this desperate case, and
 on the 21st of June,  of the same year, when, with a number of
 patients, I left the city for the country, Mrs. H.  was able to ride
 up to the neighborhood of Doylestown, about 30 miles from here,
 is  now strong, and  considers  herself well, though  I think  it
 necessary to continue some treatment, which is always  more
 effective during the winter than in the summer.
  On account of the bad and inactive condition of the skin, and
 of the  debility of the whole  system, I began the treatment with
two daily Abreibungs (or rubbing  wet sheets), which I soon
combined with foot-baths of the depth of an inch, for 5 minutes.
 Then  I had her  packed twice a day, for  a shorter  or longer
time,  in  wet sheets, applied  the  warming compress  over the
whole abdomen, back, and neck, two injections daily, which were
very useful, and then sitting-baths, from 12 minutes increasing 
             WATER-CURE AT COOPERSTOWN,  N.  Y.         261

to 45 minutes, and finished with half baths.   Thus, with great
care, constantly accommodating the treatment to the momentary
condition, without losing sight of the final aim, I  was enabled to
accomplish this remarkable cure, by the sole use  of water, of
from 70° to 50° Fah. temperature.  The " Abreibungs," in all
bad nervous cases, are the only applications which can be used
with safety as  a general  bath.   When Mrs. H.  tried,  in my
absence, the plunge-bath  for a few days, she soon found herself
decidedly worse.
  The  after-cure  Mrs. H. now  undergoes,  consists in a daily
Abreibung and one sitz, or foot-bath, according to circumstances.
All the disturbed  functions  are  now  normal, and only when
she tries to swallow a large quantity of water at once, she feels
in her  throat some spasmodic contraction, which I have no doubt
will soon be remedied also.
                                  Ch. Shieferdecker, M.D.
  Philadelphia, Oct., 1847.


       WATER-CURE  AT COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.

   The following notice is copied from Dr. Wesselhoeft's " Green
Mountain Spring," published at Brattleborough, Vermont:

   Dr.  Wesselhceft : Dear Sir,—Dr. Philip Roof, on  his return
from Graefenberg, some  months  since, selected Cooperstown as
the place most  admirably adapted  by Nature for a Hydropathic
establishment.   It lies on the margin of Lake Otsego, a beautiful
sheet of nine miles long, surrounded by wild and romantic hills,
which  abound  in places  of interest, associated with the popular
tales of the American novelist, Cooper, whose residence is  here.
" Mount Vision," whose  commanding view of the  lake and  sur-
rounding country,  first  attracted the founder  of the  place—
" Leatherstocking's Cave," " Otsego Rock"—and many other in-
teresting places, are still the favorite resort of the numerous visi-
tors to this delightful summer retreat.  The Susquehanna River
constitutes the eastern, as the lake does the northern boundary of
the village ; both afford many pleasant  and shady bathing-places,
and the Otsego bass, salmon-trout, &c, are famous among sports-
men and epicures.   No  more delightful scene can  be imagined,
on a summer's day, than the cool and placid lake, sprinkled with
sail and row-boats, little pleasure parties, sailing matches, and 
262
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
fishermen ;  the various gravelly points and groves, enlivened by
little groups of happy visitors, in pic-nics ; musical and dancing
parties—artists or amateurs sketching the scenery—or the more
contemplative, lying on the grassy mounds, drinking in a more
quiet enjoyment.   Nor is the  scene less exciting, when, in win-
ter, the  lake's glassy  surface  is alive with merry and athletic
skaters.
  Cooperstown,  the " Templeton"  of the " Pioneers," has long
been known as one  of  the  most delightful villages in  the  State.
It is on high ground (some  1100 feet above the Mohawk), and the
air  in summer is cool  and invigorating.  An  eminent writer, in
noticing the beauty of the lady residents, attributes it to the " sa-
lubrity of the climate,  favoring the development of their  forms
and  constitutions."   He remarks, also,  the general refinement
and liberal tastes  of the inhabitants ;  music is  cultivated in most
of the  families.   The  author of the " Historical Collections and
Pictorial History  of the State of  New York,"  says in that work,
" the society is refined and intelligent;  this, with the uncommon
beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the  healthiness  of the
climate, will, ere long, render it a summer residence for the Hite
of our large cities."  It lies sixty-six miles west of Albany, and
is reached in eight or nine  hours from that city, by means of the
Utica railroad, which runs  within twenty-two miles of the village,
where post-coaches  wait daily  for passengers.
  Numerous cold springs are found among the surrounding hills,
several of which  are already conducted into  the village.   The
expenses of living  are  so  low, that persons of the most limited
means can reside here  with the greatest economy.
  Dr. Roof and his family were themselves cured of disease by
Hydropathy, and  after  considerable observation of the system in
this country, becoming satisfied of its superiority,  they sailed for
Germany, and spent three months at Graefenberg, in daily inter-
course  with Priessnitz  and his seven  hundred  patients, in study
and inquiry into the means of cure there.   They have recently
returned, and have  treated  the few patients whom  they could ac-
commodate, with  marked  success.  Dr. Roof is well  known in
this section, as a gentleman of  respectability, intelligence, and
caution, and the friends of  Hydropathy hope for much good from
his energy and enthusiasm  in the great cause.
                       Yours, truly,                       »
  Cooperstown, February 26, 1847. 
               INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM, &C           263

  Dr.  Roof continued at Cooperstown during  the  summer of
1847, under the disadvantage of insufficient accommodations as
to buildings, and too limited supply of water, which needed to be
conducted  in more plentifully  from the neighboring hills.  In
September, he joined Dr. Shew at Syosset, L. I., where they are
conducting an establishment in connexion.
  Cooperstown is,  therefore, at present (November 1,  1847),
without any water-cure house, or physician devoted to that  prac-
tice  exclusively, although some of the regular physicians use
water quite freely in their prescriptions.
  Drs. Shew and Roof have recently  visited Cooperstown, to ex-
amine  the locality and springs, with reference to their fitness for
the location of a large  Hydropathic Establishment, in accordance
with the desire of many of the inhabitants.   They state that they
consider it one of  the most appropriate locations in the whole
country, for such  an  institution.  The water of one copious and
convenient spring  has been  analysed by  Dr.  Chilton,  of New
York, and has but 2£  grains of mineral matter to the  gallon, being
water of rare purity.
   The four following cases, among those which Dr. Roof treated
at Cooperstown. were furnished by him in June last, and as only
several months had then elapsed since his commencing practice,
very few cases of special interest had  sufficiently matured to in-
duce him to report them,  although quite a number had been suc-
cessfully treated.   We regret  that Dr.  R. has studied  brevity
quite so  much in the reports of his cases, which might well have
been considerably extended by giving more details.

                   DR.  ROOF'S CASES.

    Inflammatory Rheumatism and Inflammation  of the Throat.

   Mrs. A. F., a widow, in my employment, recently from  Eng-
land, aged twenty-six years, was violently  attacked in the month
of  February  last,  with  inflammatory  rheumatism,  together
with acute inflammation of the  throat.  She resolved to try the
water-treatment.  The symptoms were, severe  pain in the right
shoulder, arm, knee  and ankle joints, and hands,  all of which
were much swollen ;   loss of appetite, great restlessness, tongue
furred, pulse  rapid, small and  often suppressed ;  skin dry, red,
and hot, considerable  fever, together with  pain and swelling in 
264
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
the throat, which rendered swallowing and respiration very diffi-
cult.
   The  treatment consisted chiefly in wet  sheet envelopments,
followed by shallow-baths  at a temperature  of  70° at first, and
gradually  lowered  to 55°: cooling,  and  sometimes warming
bandages applied to  painful parts, clysters  and frequent water
drinking in small quantities at a time, &c.   Ten days after  the
attack,  the patient went about her  work as usual.

                 Congested and Swollen Liver.
   Reuben Chase, of Burlington, Otsego county,  aged 20, having
been advised by his medical attendants to make a trial of the water-
cure as the only resort, was brought  to my establishment on the 15th
of April, 1847.  He was truly in  a deplorable  condition, being
exceedingly weak, much emaciated, with ghastly, sallow counte-
nance, tongue brown, black rings under the eyes, restlessness at
night, loss of appetite, pain in the right side, swelled liver, &c.
   Previous to his seeking relief from the water-cure, he had been
attacked with  bilious fever,  for which he was treated,  first,  by
Allopathic, and subsequently by  the Homoeopathic practice ;
though the fever subsided, both failed  in restoring him to health.
He was treated one  month in my establishment,  when it became
necessary for  him to go home, where  I advised  him to continue
the treatment to a  moderate extent,  which he did for three
weeks more ; at the expiration of  this time, he  was enabled to
commence labor again, on his  father's farm, and is now in the
enjoyment of good health.
  The dripping sheet three times a day, was used for four days,
then the envelopment every morning  in the wet sheet, followed
at first by the tepid, and soon the cold shallow-bath;  next, the
tepid sitting-bath for twenty minutes, once a  day; also two drip-
ping sheet washings, warming bandages, and an occasional foot-
bath.   The sitting-baths were administered cold after one week's
use of them.
  The sweating proeess was not used.

                         Neuralgia.
  Miss-------, a young lady, aged twenty, had been  suffering
upwards of six years from  a lame shoulder, accompanied with
severe  neuralgic  pains, sometimes depriving her of sleep, and
causing an occasional resort to powerful narcotics.   Numbers of 
           SPINAL  IRRITATION, DYSPEPSIA,  &C.—DIET.       265

the medical faculty had been consulted, and had prescribed for her}
some pronouncing  it chronic, rheumatism,  others,  spinal  com-
plaint, &c. ;  but not one had succeeded  further than to afford
temporary relief through cupping.   She at last tried Hydropathy,
and continued six weeks in the establishment, when she left, free
from pain or lameness of any kind, and in perfect general health.
She continues the treatment at home for greater security against a
return of the disease.
   Treatment:—Envelopments in the wet  sheet, morning  and
evening for half an hour;  tepid shallow-baths, the  temperature
of which was gradually lowered until  the cold plunge was sub-
stituted ; dripping  sheet  washings,  foot-baths, and  finally the
douche ; cooling and warming bandages were also used, water
drinking, &c.   She left the  establishment some  months since,
and her health has continued good.
                Spinal Irritation, Dyspepsia, fyc.
   Mrs. Crego, from Chenango county, in consequence of spinal
irritation, female weaknesses, dyspepsia, palpitation of the heart,
&c, was brought  to my establishment on a bed,  not  having
strength sufficient to sit up.   Circumstances did not allow of her
remaining over seven weeks, when she  left,  vastly improved—so
much  so as to be able to sit erect  in a  wagon, and ride home, a
distance of twenty-five  miles, and was  able  to walk a considera-
ble distance with very little fatigue.  Could she have continued
the treatment four or five months, there can be no question but
that she  would have  been permanently cured.  The amount of
benefit which this lady received in the short space of seven weeks
was deemed very remarkable.
   The treatment for the first two weeks was very mild, in conse-
quence of her extreme weakness;  after that, two envelopments in
the wet sheet daily, morning and afternoon,  of half  an hour, fol-
lowed by tepid shallow-bath : at eleven o'clock each day, tepid
sitting-bath for  twenty minutes, and dripping sheet:  bandages
were constantly worn over the whole length of the spine.
                            Diet.
   The diet  in  the  establishment  was chiefly  vegetable; at
dinner only, meat was  furnished,  and  I have found  patients to
improve most rapidly under a plain, coarse, farinaceous diet, with
fruits, &c, and very  little meat.  Cold  water was the only
drink.
                    12 
266
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
               CASES FROM DR. TRALL.

  In  a  recent  advertisement,  Dr. R.  T.  Trall  announces
that he  receives patients at his new and commodious establish-
ment at St. John's Park, No. 15  Laight street, New York.  Con-
sultations mornings and evenings.   Dr. T. has been practising
Hydropathy for  several years, but we  have received no cases
directly from him.  The  following were published in the New
York Sun, three years ago :—

                           Croup.

  M. Y. Beach, Esq.,—Having observed in the  Sun, a statement,
that you had received a recipe for curing this fatal malady with
cold water, &c, in which you say you would like  to hear of
" some well authenticated cases," I am induced to make you this
communication ; believing, as I do, that if the practice above in-
timated could be generally understood and faithfully carried out,
it would very materially lessen the havoc made by this  fell de-
stroyer  among our juvenile population.
  The following cases are well authenticated.   Being in  Boston,
Mass., in March,  1841, two cases had just been published in one
of the  daily papers,  of which I took the  following note at the
time :  Mr. Allen, of Elliot street, states that a son of his, about
three years of age, had previously been the  subject of two severe
attacks  of croup.  In each case a  physician was immediately
called, who administered the usual course of emetics, expectorants,
paregoric, &c, and the child recovered, not however without a
serious  febrile or  inflammatory affection  for nearly a week, the
result, as Mr. Allen says, of  either the disease  or the  treatment.
Upon the third attack, having incidentally heard of this plan, he
adopted it; and very speedily and perfectly removed the disease,
no unpleasant consequences following.
  "The other case, which occurred soon after in the same fami-
ly, is given in  detail.   This child was attacked very suddenly in
the night, with an alarming cough, hoarseness, singing sound in
the trachea, difficult  and suffocating breathing, &c.   He imme-
diately bathed  the whole body in  cold water,  and applied cold
wet napkins of six or eight folds around the  throat.   The  breath-
ing soon became more free, and the speech relieved.   After  this
the whole body was rubbed dry with a flannel cloth, until a warm
perspirable action in the  skin was produced;—the wet cloths
being still continued  around the  neck, until  the local symptoms
were entirely relieved.  The next day this child was much bet-
ter than any previous case had been so soon  after the attack." 
DR. KITTREDGE'S ESTABLISHMENT, &C.          267
  About this  time, a case was  also published that occurred in
Rochester, N.Y., and which was as promptly cured in precisely
the same way.  I have also heard of several other cases, in dif-
ferent  sections of our  country,  thus successfully treated, within
the last three or four years, the particulars of which I cannot now
recall to mind.  I have  myself lately treated various inflamma-
tory affections  of  the  throat, lungs, and windpipe,  closely simu-
lating  croup,  in  pathological character, with bathings, frictions,
and cold wet local applications,  and always with results far  more
satisfactory than I have seen from any other treatment.

  Here, Dr. T. gives the rationale of the water applications, and
adds—

  I conclude  by expressing  the opinion, that this  practice is as
much more rational  in philosophy than that of bleeding, blister-
ing, warm fomentations to the throat, &c, as it  has been  more
successful in its results.
                               R. T.  Trall,  M.D.,
                                          and Hydropathist.
  New York, November, 1844.
      WATEREORD  (Me.) ESTABLISHMENT, &c.

  The following  notice is from the New  York Tribune, of (we
believe) April, 1847 :—
  " Dr. E. A. Kittredge, an eminent  practitioner, formerly of
Physic, and more recently of Water-cure, at Lynn, Mass., has just
opened, in conjunction with Mr. C. Farrar, a spacious Hydropathic
Institute at Waterford, Me., in the midst  of the grandest moun-
tain scenery, on the road  from Portland to the White Mountains,
where the springs cannot be  excelled for coldness and purity.
Board and treatment $6 per  week;  passage from Boston  $2.
Knowing  Dr. Kittredge, we  believe this will  soon  be  one of the
most eminently successful establishments in the country."*

  We have heard very favorable accounts of Dr. Kittredge, and
regret not having received some cases which he intended to send
us,  but was  too much  engaged with patients, &c, at the time.
The following is from the Lynn Pioneer, of December 31, 1846:

  * Closed in  fall of 1847, to re-open under another physician' in spring of
1848, Dr. Kittredge having returned permanently to Lynn, Mass. His pub-
lished articles and Lectures on Hydropathy, in Boston and elsewhere, are in-
structive, pithy, original in style, popular, and convincing. 
268
WATF.R CURE  IN AMERICA.
                       Dyspepsia, SfC
   " I promised myself, long ago, that if ever I wrote another arti-
cle, it should be devoted to the praises of cold water as a remedy
for the ills of the body.  But I feel that  all the praises I  might
bestow upon its healing and soothing virtues would not have that
convincing and powerful effect upon the  mind, that a simple ex-
perience would ; so I have concluded to relate, in as plain and
brief a manner as possible,  my history  under the Hydropathic
treatment.
   On the 23d  of  November, 1845, I contracted  a violent cold,
which caused inflammation of the chest and prostration of my di-
gestive  organs.  I resorted to sweating, emetics, pills, &c, and
not succeeding,  I  called in a  respectable physician, who did all
he could to remove the disease.   In vain were all  the medicines
taken—in vain were all the efforts used to restore me to health.
Dyspepsia, and all its horrors, were upon me, and  my sufferings
were intense.   I could not rest day or night; all was dark and
gloomy,—life  seemed a  burden.  My  stomach  would  reject
almost everything  I would  eat, and that which remained created
pain and distress.   1 could not sit long  enough to read a short
paragraph in a paper, without feeling great pain.  In short, I was
a poor, weak, debilitated creature, and  began to despair of  being
restored  to health  again.   I lingered along in this way until  the
last of February, 1846.
   I had heard of the  wonderful cures performed by water ;  the
remedy was  at  hand, and  all I wanted  was a  man of skill  to
apply it.  Dr. E.  A.  Kittredge had gone in search of this skill,
—and  found it,—and  as soon as he arrived  from Europe, I called
upon him, and related my case to him.   He said he could, by the
aid of water, restore me.   He ordered, in the first place,  a dis-
charge of all my former agents ; which order I immediately com-
plied with, by throwing away about fifty pills, and various other
drugs and medicines.  I must give up the use of tea and  coffee,
tobacco (if I used it), and all stimulating substances.  I must
take a  ' wet sheet'  every morning—wear a ' wet  jacket,' and
use the ' sitz-bath' (sitting in  cold  water) twice a day, with all
the exercise  I  might feel  disposed to take.   I  followed  his in-
structions to the letter ; and, in a fortnight, I felt like a new man.
It seemed as though a heavy  burden was  removed from me, and
life appeared  new and beautiful again.   So great was my joy
that I would run, jump, skip, and hop like a young buck.  I was
continually speaking and singing of the virtues of cold water.
   But I  am wandering. I  continued the  ' wet  sheet' four weeks,
and wore my jacket day and night for  eight weeks.  In  about
six weeks after I adopted the  treatment, I began  to experience a
'crisis.'   The water in which I  rinsed  my jacket was quite
green, and would appear so after changing the water three or four 
water-cure at milledgeville,  ga.          269
times ;  and after the green substance appeared to be out of the
system, the jacket,  or water,  began to draw with  more force,
until my body, or as much of  it as the jacket covered, was com-
pletely covered with the humor.   I continued the treatment until
the ninth of June, when I felt relieved of all my bad symptoms,
and health resumed  her sway.
   I have tried water in a number of instances during the sum-
mer, and find it a  * sovereign  balm'  for wounded parts.  I was
afflicted with inflammation of the eyes ;  I applied cold water poul-
tices, and the inflammation disappeared.  Onions and other things
were recommended, but water was  the most simple and  easy
remedy.   And  now let me once more urge upon  all who are
sick  and  suffering, to try the hydropathic treatment and  be
sound.                                           _
                                          W. A. Fraser."
   Dec. 3, 1846.

            WATER-CURE AT MILLEDGEVILLE, GA.

    We received a letter from Dr. Coyle, many months since, pro-
 mising reports of some cases treated by him, and highly approv-
 ing of the present work, but we have not since  heard from him,
 other than in a published letter, from which we present  the  fol-
 lowing extracts:—

 Doctor Shew :
    Happening to meet with  some of your latest numbers ot  the
 "Water Cure  Journal,"  and finding  through their  pages no
 notice of the Milledgeville Institution, established by Dr. T. Carle-
 ton Coyle, suffer me to announce, that, in March last, this gentle-
 man established  himself at  the Jerret Spring,  in the  city of
 Milledgeville, Geo.  When I visited that place in  April, he  had
 it in  successful operation  for a limited number of patients,  and
 has  since made  extensive additions,  having leased the Spring
 of the Corporation  for ninety-nine years, and (as he writes me)
 has now upwards of sixty patients, in and out of the institution.
 He also says, that he  wonders why his  brethren of the old school
 are  so tardy  in  introducing this  God-send  remedy  to  their
 wretched patients.
    I am Sir, myself, decidedly an advocate of the hydropathic
 method'of curing diseases,  &c, having had treatment exhibited
 to mvself and  family, and witnessed its wonderful effects upon
 others, as administered by Dr. Coyle,  in the city of Savannah ;
 and I feel anxious that suffering humanity should receive all the
 testimony in my power, in order to bring this blessing into general
 use   Those, Sir, who will " wash " will be " healed ! 
270
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
  I will trespass on your columns so far as to request the publi-
cation  of Mrs. Waite's letter to her  husband.  Mr. and Mrs.
Waite  were formerly residents of New York city, now living at
Savannah.
  With a desire that your interesting journal may find  its way
into the hands of the healthy, as well as the afflicted, that they
may learn wisdom from  its perusal,  I subscribe myself your
humble servant,
                                   G. R. LlLLIBRIDGE,
                          Late Editor Savannah "Daily Sun."


  Paralysis—Supposed Consumption—Disease of Kidneys, fyc.

                               Milledgeville, Ga., June 8, 1846.
  " My dear husband,—I  wrote  you a  few days ago, announcing
my safe arrival at the cold water fountains at this place, but did
not give you the particulars of the  establishment.  I will now
try to sketch,—to merely glance at the interior of the institution.
It is but a few short months since this it  was opened, and now
it is crowded with the afflicted of the land.
  It is astonishing  how soon the patients become convalescent.
No one could  for a moment conceive what astounding results  I
have learned of the water-cure since I came to this place.  Here
may be seen the pious and zealous  divine, his nervous system  a
perfect wreck, occasioned  by too much  zeal in his sacred calling;
the youthful and accomplished  lady,  emaciated and wan with
that hectic glow, which tells too  plainly of the devouring disease
(consumption) within;  the talented  physician of the old school,
his constitution ruined with the too great quantity of drugs, which
he has resorted to  in  order  to  resuscitate a constitution broken
down in the arduous duties of his calling, and the accomplished
gentleman, with his constitution  ruined by the abuse of mercury.
  One  man had  been  afflicted for  twenty-five  years .with
paralysis of the extremities; for a long time he  could  not  use
his hands ; for the last ten years he did not walk without the aid
of two  servants ; none of the offices of nature  could be performed
without the use of vast quantities of pills; a grievous burden to
himself and  all around him, resorted  to the water-cure about
three months ago, and,  to the astonishment of all,  is now conva-
lescing fast.   A most amiable and accomplished lady, laboring
under  consumption, in its  advanced  stage,  given  up  by  her
physicians (like so many  before her) as incurable, and  carried
to the fountains of cold  water, about  four weeks ago, in almost  a
dying state, is now nearly well.   She could not walk, nor speak
above a whisper ;  now she takes  long walks without fatigue, sings
delightfully, and is as gay as any in the circle of her friends.   I 
NERVOUS DEBILITY.
271
saw her, a few days ago, lead off a cotillion, amid a company of
young ladies, assembled to take exercise before their bath.
  A young man, strong and vigorous but a few years ago, was
afflicted with that fell destroyer of our race, consumption, resorted
to the masters of the healing art in the north, the south, the east,
and the west, but without effect,—was given up as incurable  by
all,—and came  hither a few weeks ago.  Through his  case, it
now can be said, that consumption may be cured by the powerful
effects of cold water.
  Another one, a young gentleman  of fine promise, tells me that
he had for years been drugged by all the doctors far and near, for a
disease of the kidneys ; was finally recommended to travel; and
even that would only prolong  his existence for a short time.  He
came to this establishment but a little  while ago, in  a most re-
duced  state, and is now  able to walk, ride, run, and attend to
business.  But I will not trespass on your patience, by enu-
merating any more of them, though I might  fill a newspaper
with them.  Suffice it to say, that  all the patients who are here
(and they were all  hard cases) are reaping  the  most decided
benefit, and are of the most decided opinion that  cold water is
the only universal elixir for disease.   And they are all as happy
as so many school-boys let loose from confinement.
                            I am,  etc.,
                                        Isabella Waite."
   To William Waite, Savannah, Ga.

                      Nervous Debility.

   From  Hon. Vespasian Ellis,  late Charge' d'Affaires to
                        Venezuela,  etc.

To the Editor :
   Dear Sir, —In compliance with your wishes,  I will state briefly
the effects of using cold water upon my health, which had been,
for many years, down to last  fall, in a  wretched condition.
   For about twenty years I  led a very sedentary life, devoting
myself assiduously to my professional pursuits, and frequently
writing and studying from ten to fourteen hours in twenty-four.
During this time I used  coffee  very freely at every meal, the'
immediate effects of which were always exhilarating.  I very
seldom indulged in the use of ardent spirits or wines, coffee being
my favorite drink.   For ten  years, or more, down to last year,
I suffered much from both nervousness  and giddiness.  Bleeding
was my usual  remedy, whenever a tendency of blood to my head
unfitted me (as was often the  case) for  study or writing, and, for
five or six years, I  was bled from  three to five  times a year.
Temporary relief was always obtained by this  means.  But  my 
272
WATER CURE  IN  AMERICA.
spirits became  much depressed ;  I was feeble and languid, and,
in short, wholly unfit for either bodily or mental  exertion, and
was most  rapidly  sinking.   I  read medical works, and  con-
sulted medical men, without learning  any mode of relief.   A
year ago this month, I resolved to abandon the use  of coffee, and
to substitute cold water in its place, at  my  meals, and also to
abstain from blood-letting entirely.   I commenced by drinking a
pint of cold water early every morning, and by using it in small
quantities at my meals.  I adopted Graham bread, and occasion-
ally hominy, in  lieu of meats, for my breakfasts ;  used meat
only for dinner, and that sparingly, and ate very light  suppers.
The effect  upon my health was beneficial and immediate.   Early
last summer I commenced bathing, trying first one  and  then an-
other  of the various modes now in  use.  The sitz-bath afforded
the greatest relief,  in all respects.   I  have occasionally, how-
ever, taken the shower-bath, for a few seconds, on my head, and
afterwards more  powerfully, upon  my body, and the effect has
been good.  I am inclined  to give the sitz-bath the credit mainly
for removing my giddiness, and restoring my nervous system to
its proper tone.   However, as I have given you the facts, I will
leave  you to philosophize upon the true  causes of my restoration.
I am forty-seven years of age, and  am now in better health than
I have before enjoyed in twenty years.   1 am free from giddi-
ness and nervousness, my strength has increased  four-fold, my
appetite is excellent, and  my weight  has much  increased ;  I
sleep   soundly, and awake  with  great regularity at  sunrise,
feeling no  languor  through the day, and I am, in  fact, entirely
renovated.   It is  my settled purpose never again to touch coffee,
tea, spirits, or wines.  Water, and occasionally milk, will be my
drinks for the residue of my life.
  I now practise drinking from  two to three tumblers of fresh
water  every morning, at intervals, between sunrise and break-
fast, and one tumbler before each of my other meals,  and 1 feel
no  desire  to  taste  my  former  favorite,  but most  pernicious
beverage.
  If I  may be  allowed  to express an opinion, founded upon my
own experience,  I  would say, that, by adopting a similar  mode
of living to that above described  as being now pursued bv my-
self, any man, in  ordinary health, may prolong his life for mwiv
years,  and  three-fourths of  all who are  invalids may  rega'v
health  and  activity.
                    Your obedient servant,
                                         Vespasian Ellis
  New York, Oct. 1, 1847. 
WATER CURE ESTABLISHMENTS.              273
NOTICES OF WATER CURE  ESTABLISHMENTS

       NOT PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED  IN THIS WORK.
                         LOWELL, MASS.
   Dr. R. Darrah, Proprietor.  Dr.  H. Foster, Physician.—Situated
 fifteen minutes' walk  from the city of  Lowell.  Opened 1st June, 1847.
 Ladies and gentlemen have entire sets of baths separate.  Rooms for forty
 patients.  Terms, $6 per week.

                      NORTHAMPTON, MASS.
   By Mr. D. Ruggles,  at Bensonville, near Northampton.—This is
 a building erected for the purpose, and will accommodate forty patients.
 Mr. Ruggles is spoken of by Drs. Wesselhceft and Shew in their journals,
 as a worthy and respectable  man of color, and deserving  of patronage;
 during a practice of rising three years, we learn he has been very success-
 ful.   Terms, $5 50 per  week, and upwards.  Mr. Ruggles  is partially
 blind, and judges of the condition of the patient and  of the applicability
 of the water processes, by the degree of electric  power or action of  the
 skin, which he ascertains by feeling.

                      NORTHAMPTON, MASS.
   By Dr. Denniston.—This is  a new  and large building erected by Mr.
 Samuel  Whitmarsh, and known as the Round Hill, House.  It has a
 Gymnasium attached, and accommodates rising 100 patients.  The water
is  raised  from a well of fifty feet deep by a steam engine.  [This house was
closed Nov., 1847, Dr. Denniston having withdrawn.]

                     NEW  PRESTON,  CONN.
  In Litchfield  Co., Conn., we  are informed, a German physician is prac-
tising Hydropathy with success, and  has a good number of patients.  No
further particulars have come to us.

                           TROY,  N. Y.
  By Dr. W. A. Hamilton, late of Albany.—The building is  of brick, large
and handsome, fifteen minutes walk from the principal hotels, &c, overlook-
ing the cities of Troy and Albany, and accommodates forty patients.  A spring
of pure soft water, from higher ground, supplies the house.   Terms, $7 Per
week and upwards.   Opened April, 1847.

                         CHESTER, PA.
   The Yellow   Springs Establishment.   By Drs. George   Lingen and
Charles  Hoffendahl.—The  proprietor  advertises  spacious buildings, with
piazzas, pleasure grounds, and all requisite baths.  Location, thirty-two miles
from Philadelphia, and  in a healthy country.   Terms,  $10 per week.  Ad-
dress  letters  to Chester  Springs, Pa.  Dr. H. was for many years a physi-
cian of considerable practice in Boston, and a member of the  Massachusetts
Medical Society.
                         12* 
274                 WATER  CURE  IN AMERICA.
                         BETHLEHEM, PA.
  By Dr. Oppell.—In the pleasant valley of  the  Lehigh, and located
among the Moravian brethren.  The climate is very  mild, and the water
good.  Dr. Oppell has practised Hydropathy for several years with success.

                       BROWNSVILLE, PA.
  A short distance  from Pittsburg by water;  in a hilly and picturesque
country.   Opened August, 1847.   Terms, $6 per week.  Dr C  Baelz,
Physician, S. Griffith, manager of boarding department.

                            SALEM, 0.
  By Dr.  Cope  (late Editor Water Cure Advocate)  and  Dr. Hole.—
They state in their notice, that such  is their  confidence in Hydropathy,
both in chronic and acute cases, that  when called early, and due attention
is given by nurses, if they fail to effect cure*, they will ask no fees.

                           OXFORD, GA.
  We learn  that the establishment advertised by Drs.  Gaither and Smith, in
Oct. 1846, did not go into operation;  that Dr. Coyle of the Milledgeville
Water Cure  House, was  solicited to visit there  statedly, but being  unable to
leave his own numerous patients,  the  matter was delayed until April, 1848,
when Dr. Coyle, having made arrangements to associate with him two physi-
cians from the North, they will open the Oxford  establishment  in connection.
Dr. C. has commenced a Hydropathic Journal, monthly, 16 pages, SI per
year, 3 copies for $2, or 10 for $•>.

                          BILOXI, MISS.
  By Dr. Byrenheidt.—This  House was opened in June,  1844, situated
on the Bay  of Biloxi, midway  hetween Mobile and  New Orleans.  About
twenty patients can be accommodated.  Terms, $70 per month.

                           UTICA, N. Y.
  By Dr. Richard Holland, at "  Grsefenberg," on Frankfort Hill, four miles
from Utica.  The elevation is 700 feet above the  Mohawk, commanding a fine
prospect, &c.  The  building, erected  for the purpose,  (after examining the
plans of the other principal establishments) is 40 by 94 feet, of 3 stories, be-
sides  basement.   Water plentiful  and good.    Prices, $5 to  $8  per week.
Opened Nov. 1847.  Post-Office address, Utica. 
WATER CURE  ESTABLISHMENTS.
275
      LIST   OF  WATER  CURE   ESTABLISHMENTS

                 IN THE UNITED STATES, 1848.*
                                                                PAGE.
Brattleboro, Vt., Dr. Robert Wesselhceft,.....72
Bethlehem, Pa., Dr. Oppell,.......274
Biloxi, Miss., Dr. Byrenheidt,    ..-----"
Brownsville, Pa., Dr. C. Baelz,    ..-----"
Cuba, N. Y., Dr. Champlin,    -.....-    -    134
Chester, Pa., Drs. Lingen and Hoffendahl,.....274
Cooperstown, N. Y, Dr. P. Roof (until September, 1847),      -    -    261
Fallston, O., Drs. Morris & Co.,     ...         ...
Glenhavon, near Homer, N. Y., Dr. S. O. Gleason,       -    -    -    141
Lowell, Mass., Drs. Darrah and Foster,   ---.--    273
Mogadore, O.,  Dr. M. Jewett,       .......142
Milledgeville, Ga., Dr. T. C. Coyle,       ......269
New York City, Drs. Shaw and  Roof, 47 Bond street,
     "     "     Drs. Peirson and Meeker,.....247
     «     «     Dr. R. T. Trail,.......266
     "     "     Mrs. M. S. Gove, 261 Tenth street,
New Lebanon Springs, N. Y., Dr. Bedortha and Messrs. Cambell,   -    38
New Preston,  Conn.,      -             ......273
Northampton, Mass., (Bensonville), Mr. D. Ruggles,
       "      Dr. Denniston,        -------
Oxford, Ga., Dr. Coyle and others,       ......27*
Orange Mountain, N. J., Drs. Peirson and Meeker,  now building,   -    247
Philadelphia, Pa., Dr. Ch. Shieferdecker,       .....J}
Salem, O., Drs. Cope and Hole,.......274
 Syosset (Oyster Bay), L. I., Drs. Shew and Roof (in summer),
 Troy, N.  Y., Drs. Wick and  Hamilton,.....        2/3
 Utica, N. Y., (4 miles from) Dr.  Holland,      -    -    -             274
 Waterford, Me., Dr.-----,........2bl
   The brief space left us compels the use of a smaller type for the remainder of the
 W*rThis list comprises all the Establishments that have come to our knowledge; but
 theJare doubtless others which may be mentioned in succeeding editions. Notices of this
 work being in preparation, were published a year since, inviting all water practitioners to
 contribute8toi£ pages, and  all  responses have been noticed.  In addition to the above
also be the case witn some „u«» «. a",„ "1^ "07 physTcransTnTlfquarters of the Union,
wVoTa^VX^ 
276
WATER  CURE IN AMERICA.
         HYDROPATHIC   BOOKS,   &c.*

                              AMERICAN.
VlNCENZ PREISSNITZ : OR THE POWER  OF WATER IN HEALING DIS-
  EASES.   By Dr. Ch. Shieferdecker.  18mo., 140 pages.  2d ed. Phi-
  ladelphia, 1844.   Price 37 1-2 cts.
  This little work contains a sketch of Preissnitz.—The Allopathists' opinion of their
own  system—the  author's opinion of the same—an examination of Homoeopathy—the
Hydriatric Method of Cure, with several cases; and Diet—in which the author maintains
the general principle that the productions of each zone are the proper food for its inhabit-
ants ; as, fat in Labrador, spices on the Moluccas, coffee in Arabia, tea in China, &c.—
with other valuable matter.
  The work Is written in a pithy, forcible, and clear style, and shows the author  to be a
man of thought, and deeply in earnest.  Without adopting all the very high claims here
advanced for and respecting the water cure, we would say that we know of nothing on
the subject in so brief a space, more worthy of perusal.
  Dr. S. characterizes with great severity, every departure from the original and pure  Hy-
driatric system (as he prefers to term it), of which he has given his views in brief on
page 9 Of this work

Hydriatrics;  or, Manual of Water-Cure,  especially  according to
  Preissnitz, being translations from the German of Munde and others.  By
  Francis Graeter.   18mo.  New York:  William Radde.  1846.  Price
  50 cts.
This book has passed through several editions, and is now  nearly out of print.  The
claim upon its title of being " especially according to Preissnitz," is one which nearly all
the works on this system equally profess.  It contains much valuable information.

Hydropathy;  or, the Water-Cure—its Principles, Modes of Treat-
  ment, &c.   Illustrated with many cases.   Compiled chiefly from  the
  most eminent European authors on the subject.   By Joel Shew,  M. D.
  Second edition.  12mo.  New York:  Wiley & Putnam.  1845. Price  $1.
This work embodies much valuable information.  The Evening Mirror remarks upon it:—
" This system will cure  most curable complaints, and  Dr. Shew's valuable work gives
sound general views of health and of the treatment of disease, and we can safely recom-
mend it to our readers."

Water-Cure  for  Ladies.   A popular work  on  the Health,  Diet  of
  health and Regimen of Females and Children, and the preservation  and
  cure of diseases: with a full account  of  the processes of Water-Cure.
  Illustrated with various cases.   By Mrs.  M. L. Shew; revised  by Joel
  Shew, M.D., Pp. 156.  New York : Wiley  & Putnam.  1845.  Price 50  cts.
Thb Tribune jastly remarks:—" This book is full of excellent advice and instruction for
all, whether believers in water-cure or not.  Its directions for the preservation, as well as
restoration, of health are very good, plain, and practical.
  * All of these books which are printed in the  United States may be  obtained  of their
respective publishers—some  of them at the offices  of the Water-Cure Journal—and at
somo bookstores, and nearly all of them of Leavitt,  Trow & Co., 191 Broadway, New
York. 
HYDROPATHIC  BOOKS,  &C.
277
Hand Book of Hydropathy ;  or,  a Popular Account of the Treatment
  and Prevention  of Diseases  by. the means  of Water.   Edited by Joel
  Shew, M.D.  New York : Wiley & Putnam.  Price 50 cts.  This work
  gives a succinct and condensed view of the Water Treatment, as appli-
  cable in different diseases to which the human system is subject.

The three preceding works of Dr. Shew have had a respectable circulation, and have done
much towards interesting and informing the public upon the subject of water treatment.
They were not stereotyped, and the editions are now nearly exhausted.


Facts in Hydropathy; or, Water-Cure   A collection of cases, with
  details of treatment, showing the safest and most effectual known means
  to be used in gout, rheumatism, hypochondriasis, fevers,  consumption,
  &c.  Compiled from various authorities.  To which is prefixed Bulwer's
  letter on Water-Cure.   By Joel Shew, M.D.,  Practitioner of Water-
  Cure.  18mo.  108 pages.  Cooperstown : H. & E  Phinney.   1847.  3d
  edition.   12 1-2 cts.   $1 per dozen.

This is quite a small book, designed as a tract for cheap and extensive distribution among
those who are too poor or too indifferent to read larger works. We need not say that Bul-
wer's admirable letter is worth the price of the book.   Dr. Wesselhoeft (in  a notice of
several pages) says, " We recommend  this little book to everybody. The popular prac-
tice needs no system, it requires only examples, and  a good collection of such examples is
of the greatest usefulness:  the most of these are instructive, inasmuch as they are clear
and distinct."


The  Water-Cure Manual.   A  popular work, embracing descriptions
   of the various  modes of Bathing, hygienic  and  curative effects of air,
   exercise, clothing, occupation, diet, water-drinking, &c, together with
   descriptions of diseases, and  the Hydropathic  means to  be employed
   therein.   With a portrait of Preissnitz.   By Joel Shew, M. D., Prac-
   titioner  of Water-Cure.   3d ed.   12mo.  288 pages.   New York:  Cady
   & Burgess.  1847.  Price 75 cts. in cloth.  50 cts. in paper covers.  For
   sale also by the author, 47 Bond street, New York.

This is the last and best work of Dr. Shew upon Hydropathy, and, although bearing some
marks of haste in its style and arrangement, still, as a book of general reference  and use-
fulness, for physicians, families, or individuals (especially in  acute cases), it excels any
single work of its size  and price published in the United States.  The various reprints of
English books are full, scientific, and valuable, upon certain classes of diseases; but this
Manual is more general and complete, embracing the substance of the  author's former
works, condensed and improved, with  valuable additions arising from  his late visit to
Graefenberg, and his extensive practise of rising four years in the city of New York.  It
 is written In strong common sense style, and embraces many valuable extracts from works
 of  acknowledged authority.  The New York Tribune remarks : " An intelligent mother,
 familiar with the contents of this work, may safely and successfully treat her own family
 in cases of slight and  simple illness ;  when the symptoms are dangerous or doubtful, the
 guidance of a medical man will, of course, be sought and followed  Still there are thou-
 sands of cases constantly occurring, wherein prompt and decisive action must be taken
 before the assistance of a doctor can  be procured.  This book ought to  find a place in
 every family of which some member can read : it  is very lucid  and terse, embodying a
 large fund of information with regard to the nature and causes of disease, the true general
 principles of medical action, and the specific treatment of many of the most common and
 inveterate ailments which afflict humanity—Dyspepsia, Rheumatism, Consumption, &c.
 &c.  This is the best work yet issued  on our side of the ocean from the school of Hydro-
 pathy."  To all who have taken an interest in  the progress of this new system  in our
 country, Dr.  Shew is known as a pioneer, by his publication of the Water-Cure Journal
 (which is still continued), and of various popular books on the same subject, as well as by
 his successful practice 
27*
WATER  CURE  IN  AMERICA.
Anatomy and Physiology for Women, with general directions in re-
  gard to health,  and  an appendix  upon  the  philosophy and practice ol
  Water-Cure.   With  cases.   By  Mrs. M.  S. Gove.    ISmo.   Harpers
  1846.  Price 75 cts.
Mrs. Gove has been favorably known for several years as a lecturer to ladies upon the
above subjects, and as a practitioner of Hydropathy in cases of women and children.  We
did not receive a copy of this work in time  for examination.

The  Green  Mountain Spring :  Devoted to discussion and information
  concerning the popular and medical uses of water : to  reports  of cases
  of water-cure treatment;  to the nurture and education of children, and
  to diet and health.   Brattleboro, Vt.: Edited and published by Robert
  Wesselhoeft,  M.  D.  16 pages.  Monthly.   $1  per  year; 6 copies
  for $5.
This periodical was commenced January, 1846.  The translations from the German of
Drs. Kuster, Haller, Gleich, Krause,  and others, and the general intelligence on Hydro
pathy from that country, are very valuable in this paper, and we believe not elsewhere to
be found.  When examining the numbers already published, to extract some cases and in-
formation for this work, we noticed many other  valuable articles which we should gladly
have appropriated, had our limits permitted.  Some of these are mentioned in connexion
with Dr. W.'s cases in this work.  We would also refer to the article " On the Formation
of Hydropathic Establishments," by Dr. Weiss,  in the number for June, 1846, as interest-
ing to water practitioners, as are also some of the reviews of English and German Hydro-
pathic works. The value of the cases reported in this journal, may be inferred from those
published in this work from the same source.  Many of the editorial articles evince con-
siderable learning, research, and  an inclination to  metaphysical discussion.  No practi-
tioner of the healing art should be without this and Dr. Shew's journal; nor, indeed,
should any friend of reform who  can afford it,  omit to subscribe, and extend their circu-
lation.
The  Water-Cure Journal: Devoted to the  popular  explanation  of
  Hydropathy, including bathing  in its various forms, diet,  drinks, air,
  exercise, clothing, &c, as affecting bodily  and mental health.   By Joel
  Shew, M.D.,  47 Bond street.   New York: 16  pages.  Monthly.  $1
  per year in advance;  three  copies for $2;  ten  copies  to  one  address
  for $5.
This journal was commenced by Dr. Shew as editor, and Messrs. Cambell and Whitmarsh
as proprietors, in November, 1844, being the  earliest Hydropathic publication in the United
States, of which we have heard.  It has done very much to make known the new  sys-
tem, and to render its principles and practice understood and available by individuals and
families.  Indeed it is a favorite object with Dr. Shew, to teach the  people  how to  pre-
serve or attain health for themselves and families, without resort to any  practitioner or
establishment even of Hydropathy, and to this end he lays unusual stress upon diet and
regimen.  (See p. 175 of this work.)
  Some of the numbers have been too much occupied  by extracts from books which are
accessible  to the public, and, in some few instances, personalities have been admitted, in
the  warmth of controversy, which we consider  irrelevant and discourteous.  As a whole,
however, it is a most valuable popular work, and, in extracting from it for our book, we
were struck with the great amount of valuable  information which it embodies.
  We have understood, to our regret, that neither this nor Dr. Wesselhoeft's journal re-
ceives the pecuniary support from subscribers  which they deserve  and require.  It has
long been  our opinion that the water practitioners in this country should combine their
subscription lists and all their efforts to sustain one valuable periodical; this would be
more satisfactory to their readers, more useful  to the cause, and more economical to the
proprietors.   Publications upon Reform seldom  pay their expenses.  A  Hydropathic
Journal by Dr. Dexter of Morristown, N. J., and another by Dr. Cope of Salem, O., were
discontinued after a short time.  This may suggest to others, the far safer and cheaper
course of writing in the journals already established, whose columna are cheerfully opened
to appropriate communications. 
HYDROPATHIC BOOKS,  &C.
279
The  New York Water-Cure  Reporter : devoted to the elucidation,
  discussion, and advancement, of the true science and practice  of the
  water-cure.   By Drs.  F. D. Peirson and C H. Meeker, Nos. 18 and
  20  Fourteenth street. New York.   Monthly:  16 pages.  50  cts. per
  year ;  three copies for $1 ; seven copies for $2. and twelve for $3.
The first number of this periodical has just appeared (for Nov., 1847), containing  transla-
tions from the German, selections, and some useful original cases.  In future numbers,
the editors promise, in addition to the above, original reports of cases treated by Preissnitz
and others. Dr. Peirson has been practising Hydropathy in New York for a  year.  Dr.
Meeker is a young gentleman of liberal education, and enthusiastic in his profession, who
has just returned from Graefenberg. From the character and style of their cases in this
work (pages 247 to 257), we are led to expect some valuable articles.
                    WORKS IN PREPARATION.

Medical Testimony  to  the Water-Cure :  being experiences  and
  opinions of Hydropathy by eminent physicians, European and American;
  with notes, etc.
This volume will embrace the reports of distinguished practitioners of the Allopathic or
"regular"  schools of medicine, who have examined or witnessed the application of the
water-cure  processes,  as well as of some of those who have adopted the new system.
Among them may be mentioned Drs. Forbes, Abdy, Smethurst, Edward Johnson, Eras-
mus Wilson, James Wilson, Gully,  Carpenter, Scudamore, and others in England, and
Drs. Lee (editor of the American Medical Journal), North,  Warren, and others in the
United States.

Water-Cure for the People : containing brief and clear directions
  for the treatment of diseases,  according to the  improved practice of
  Vincent Preissnitz,  from the  best and  latest authorities.  18mo.  150
  pages.  25 cts.
A popular guide for individual and domestic practice.

A Special Advice for the  Treatment of Acute  Diseases, particu-
  larly of children.  By Ch.  Shieferdecker, M.D.  Philadelphia.  18mo
  150 pages.
This work is intended to enable every father of a family to be his own family physician.

Water-Cure for Women : A work descriptive of the functions and con-
  ditions of  the female system, menstruation, pregnancy,  childbirth, and
  the modes of  the water treatment to be  practised therein;  together
  with the general management of the treatment of infants and  children.
  By Joel Shew, M.D.  Price 50 cts.  (mailable).

Tobacco, Tea, Coffee, Spices, and Salt, and their effects on human
  health.   By  Joel Shew, M.D.  Price 25 cts. (mailable).

A Complete and Compendious Hydrotherapy, embodying the theory
  and practice of the Hydriatic art, in strict adherence to the rules  and
  method of Preissnitz.
In this work, the author states his  design is to correct some exaggerations and misstate-
ments heretofore  made in  relation  to the  practice at Graefenberg, and to give a true
account of the  actual means there so successfully employed. Drs. Peirson and  Meeker
are now translating this book from the German of Krause 
280
WATER  CURE  IN  AMERICA.
              REPRINTS  FROM  ENGLISH  WORKS.

The Water-Cure in Chronic Diseases :  An Exposition of the causes.
  progress, and  termination of various chronic diseases of the digestive
  organs, lungs, nerves, limbs, and skin; and of their treatment by water,
  and other hygienic  means.   By James Manby Gully, M.D.   12mo.
  405  pages, with plate.   Price $1,25.   New York : Wiley & Putnam
  1847.
Dr. Gully is a thoroughly-bred physician, a member of the principal medical societies of
Great Britain, now Principal of the Hydropathic Institute at Malvern, and co-editor of tbe
(London) Water-Cure Journal.  The present work gives the result of four years' extensive
practice of Hydropathy, and is pronounced by some of the principal water practitioners in
this country, the most valuable scientific work upon the subject which has ever been
published.  The rationale of the system is here exhibited, by which the reader may see
that it is profoundly scientific and analogical.  The author holds that in all cases of chro-
nic disease, of whatever nature, a  disordered state of the great internal organs exists,
which it requires the  power of the water-treatment to bring to a healthy state.  He com-
plains much of the practice of the water-cure by ignorant persons, and claims that what
he has written is the simple  truth, whether it raise or lessen the reputation  of that
method.  His book is  well arranged, minute in its  rules and directions, exact in its state-
ments, and lucid in its style.
  Per contra, we must regret the disparaging remarks of the author in his preface, respect-
ing  other practitioners and their books, many of which have been extensively useful,
though differing from  Dr. G. in certain respects.  Upon the whole, however, we can say,
with the editors of The Presbyterian .-—"When such a man as the author of this treatise,
with all the advantages of education and science, affirms its  efficacy in cases of disease
the  most unmanageable under the ordinary treatment, we think our medical  men should
at least investigate it thoroughly.  In the hands of empirics and pretenders, it may prove
extremely dangerous."
  Dr. Gully remarks (page 148), that " no means exist of curing  either incipient or con-
firmed consumption."  The experience of several of our American practitioners  gives a
different result, and some of the cases of consumption  in this work will, we doubt not,
be interesting to Dr. G. and to those who have formed similar opinions.

Results of Hydropathy : or, Constipation not  a disease of the Bowels;
  Indigestion not  a disease of the Stomach : with an exposition of the true
  nature and cause of these ailments, explaining  the reason why they  are
  so certainly cured by the Hydropathic  treatment:  with  cases cured  at
  Stanstead Bury House, &c.  By Edward Johnson, M.D.  12mo.  181
  pages.   New York:  Wiley & Putnam.   1846.  Price  50  cts.
Dr. Johnson gives us, in  this work,  the results of his experience in the Hydropathic
treatment, as practised by himself at the Stanstead Bury House, in England.  Drugs, he
admits, do occasional good, but, considering the amount  of harm they do is greater than
the amount of good, he adopts the  water-cure as his main dependence, resorting to the
assistance of drugs only in certain peculiar cases.
  Dr. Johnson is unquestionably a learned and intelligent physician, and the results of his
experience are well worthy of examination.

Miscellanies of the Graefenberg  Water-Cure  : translated from
  the German (3d ed.)  of Dr. J. H. Rausse, by C. H. Meeker, M.A., M D.
  12mo.  New York.:  Peirson & Meeker.   1847.   Price 50  cts. in  paper
  covers.
This book contains a  natural theory and classification of disease, on the ground that mor-
bid  matter in the system is the cause  of disease; and a physiological and pathological
demonstration of the superior efficacy and certainty of the water-cure, deduced from
recognised fundamental principles of physiology, as well as from the results of the new
method.  The work is, therefore, no therapy, and will not, alone, enable any one to direct
the  details of water-cures.  It shows that many so-called acute diseases are often  a bless-
ing  under hydropathic treatment, &c,  &.c.  The book is from the  pen of Dr. Rausse, a 
HYDROPATHIC BOOKS,  &C.
281
successful and scientific practitionei of water-cure in Germany, and is the result of eighl
years' study of the various branches of science connected therewith: three years were
spent among the Aborigines of America in observation of the effects upon health, of a
life of original simplicity.  We learn that this work is highly esteemed at Graefenberg.
and  meets the approbation of several of our practitioners who have examined it. Dr
Meeker's translation Is just published.

The Water-Cure :  or, Hydropathy.   By John Forbes, M.D , F.R.S.,
   editor of the British  and Foreign  Medical Review, the Cyclopaedia ol
   Practical Medicine, etc., etc.
We  have placed this little work in the hands of physicians and others strongly attached
to the regular medical practice, who have acknowledged it to be candid, discriminating,
learned, and conclusive.    He makes, in a brief space, a general examination of the
whole subject, and,  in conclusion, recommends strongly to physicians, a thorough trial  of
hydropathy, especially in cases of gout, rheumatism, dyspepsia, nervous affections, general
debility, chronic diarrhoea,  hemorrhoids, &c, &c.  He adds:  that the system, properly
managed, is a safe one, and that its accessories, as found in water-cure establishments,
make a resort  to them generally preferable to attempting the process  at home.  Dr.
Forbes has just published some additional remarks on this subject, which, with the above,
and  other results of the examinations of eminent physicians,  will probably be collected
and  published during the coining year, in a convenient volume.  A pamphlet edition of
the work under notice, was published in Philadelphia some months since, but we believe
is not now to be found, at least in New York.

The  Philosophy of the Water-Cure : A development of  the true
   principles of health  and longevity.  By John Balbirnie, M.D.  With
   Bulwer's Letter.  18mo.  144 pages.  New York : Wilson  & Co.  1847.
   Price 25 cts.
This little work contains a theory of animal life, principles of pathology, and rationale
of Hydropathy, the effects of water, descriptions of the processes, principles, and pre-
cepts of hygiene, application of the system to various diseases, etc., etc.  We think it ably
written, and that it has been very useful; its very low price has  contributed to give it a
circulation, as  we learn, of 15,000 copies already.

The Practice  of the Water-Cure :  with  authenticated  evidence  of
   its efficacy and safety—containing, also, a detailed account of the various
   processes  used in the water-treatment; a sketch of  its history and pro-
   gress, and various cases of cure.   By Drs. Wilson and Gully, practi-
   tioners at the water-cure  establishment  at Malvern, England.   18mo.
   New York : Wilson &  Co.   1847.   Price 25 cts.
The publishers have done a great service to the American public, in furnishing this and
Dr. Balbirnie's book at so low a price.  This work has already reached the sixth thousand,
although it has been published but a short time.


 The following  three works have  a bearing upon our subject, which we
              think entitles them to a place in our catalogue :
Medical Reform :  A treatise on man's physical being and disorders, em-
   bracing an outline of a theory  of human  life, and  a theory of disease,
   its nature, cause, and remedy.   By Isaac Jennings, M.D.   375 pages.
   Oberlin, Ohio: Fitch & Jennings.  1847.   Price $1.
Although not a Hydropathic publication, we deem this work a valuable illustration of
the  uncertainty, inefficiency, and danger of the ordinary modes of treatment. His facts,
in our opinion, go to establish the same important conclusion which the celebrated Dr.
Forbes  of London, has announced, i. e. that Nature alone will do better than any of the
prevailing modes of medical  practice.  A  review of this work (from  the  Chronotype)
appeared in the Water-Cure  Journal, of October, 1847.  See also  a brief noUce on page
202 of this work. 
282
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
Homceopathy, Allopathy, and " Young Physic"   By John Forbes,
  M D., F.R S., editor of the British and  Foreign Medical Review, of the
  Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine, etc.,  etc.
An edition of this remarkable article was published in pamphlet form in Philadelphia, In
1846, and, we believe, is now out of print.  It will probably be republished in 1848, with
additions and other articles, by its author, and  more professional testimonials of similar
purport, and in favor of the Hydropathic mode.   The  author incidentally mentions
Hydropathy as " furnishing perhaps the best evidence we have of the curative powers of
art."  We have only room to quote the conclusions to which his reasonings and facta
inevitably led him, viz. :—
  " In a large proportion of cases treated by Allopathic (or regular) physicians, the dis
ease is cured by nature and not by them.
  " In a lesser, but not a small proportion, the disease is cured by nature in spite of them ;
in other words, their interference opposing instead of assisting the cure.
  " Consequently, in a considerable proportion of diseases, it would fare as well or better
with patients, in the actual condition of the medical art, if all remedies, at least all active
remedies, especially drugs, were abandoned."

A Practical Treatise on Healthy Skin,  with  rules for the domestic
  and medical treatment  of cutaneous  diseases.   By Erasmus Wilson,
  F.R.S.,etc.  12mo.  264 pages.  Six engravings.  New York : D. Apple-
  ton  & Co.   Price $1.
This author  is not Dr. Wilson the Hydropathist of Malvern, although he gives strong
incidental  testimony to the new system.  He  is connected with several of the  large
English hospitals, as lecturer and consulting surgeon,  etc.  Some twenty  pages of the
work are devoted to Hydropathy, from which we condense a few extracts :—
  " The water practice has effected important results in the treatment of disease.  Medi
cal men may be jealous that these benefits have been ' conjured from the vasty deep' by
other hands than those of the high priests of Therapeia ; but they have no just reason
of complaint;  the treatment  of disease by  water has been neglected.   It is true
Preissnitz has brought it to extraordinary perfection without the knowlege of anatomy,
physiology, &c, but he would have done infinitely more had he received a medical edu-
cation."
  In the course of the  chapter, Dr. Wilson examines the various principal modes of apply-
ing  water, commends  strongly the wet-sheet, wet-bandage, the cold-bath after the warm-
ing or sweating process, &c, and, in considering the  advantages of water-cure establish-
ments, he " trusts the day is not far distant, when we shall see such  institutions in the
neighborhood of all  our large cities, and at our watering places."   This is  fast being
accomplished. 
ENGLISH  PUBLICATIONS ON HYDROPATHY.
293
ENGLISH PUBLICATIONS ON  HYDROPATHY.
  The following list has been prepared with considerable care, from London and New
York catalogues of Foreign books, from Foreign Medical Journals, and other works, with
the assistance of Mr. D. Davidson, London (of Messrs. Wiley & Putnam's Literary Agency,
a warm friend of Hydropathy from personal experience).  The list, though  undoubt-
edly inmcoplete, is far more extensive than any one which we have been able to find.
Works which have been reprinted in the United States, are not included, as the American
editions are always much cheaper.  The following can be procured through Messrs. W. &
P. as above, or through other importers, by six or eight weeks' notice. The prices are in
English sterling currency, and the importing duty is ten per cent.
  Abdy (E.), on Diseases cured by  cold water.  8vo.   4s 6d.
  Bushnan (J. S.), Observations on Hydropathy,  with an account of the
principal cold-water establishments of Germany.  12mo.  Loud. 1846.  4s.
  Beamish (R.), on the Cold-Water Cure.   12mo. 4s.
  Claridge (Capt. R. T.), Hydropathy; or, the Cold Water Cure, as prac-
tised by Vincent Preissnitz  at Graefenberg, Silesia, Austria.   3d ed.  8vo.
London,  1842.   5s.
  The first book on the Water-Cure System of Preissnitz ever published in England.
  Clark (A.), Essay on Bathing.  12mo.  4s.  6d.
  Cubitt (W. R.), Essay on Bathing.   12mo.   4s.
  Currie (James), Medical Report on use of Water in Fevers,  &c.   1805.
  Floyer  (J.), History  of Cold  Bathing, ancient and  modern.  2d ed.
London,  1706.
  Gibbs (John), Letters from Graefenberg  in  1843,  1844, 1845, and 1846,
with the report and extracts from the correspondence of the  Enniscorthy
Hydropathic Society.  London, 1847.
  Graham (T. J.), The Cold Water System, an essay upon its merits and
application, with cases, &c.  London, 1843.   7s.  6d.
  Graham (R. H.), Graefenberg, a true report of  the water cure. 8vo.  6s.
  This work, although giving strong testimony to the Hydropathic treatment, is  stated by
mriters from Graefenberg to be untrue and unjust to Preissnitz.
  Gully (J. M.), and W. McLeod, The Water Cure Journal, monthly, com-
menced August, 1847.   London.  6d. each.
  Gully (J. M.), The Simple treatment  of Disease, deduced from the me-
thod of expectancy and revulsion.  18mo.   4s. 6d.
  Horseli (W.), Hydropathy for the People, with remarks on drugs, regi-
me, &c.  ISmo.
  nydropathic Society of London,  Reports of,  London.
  Hot Water-Cure sought in Germany.  8vo.   10s. 6d.
  Hand Book for Bathers : or, Hints on the  various kinds of Baths, their ap-
plication, &c.  12mo.   Is.
  Johnson (E ), Theory, Principle, and Practice  of Water Cure, shown to
be in accordance with medical science and  common sense, with cases.  2d
ed.   Enlarged, &c.  3s. 
284
WATER CURE  IN AMERICA.
   Lane (R. J.), Life at the Water-Cure: or, a Month at Malvern. 8vo. 14s
  This is a pleasant, chatty, gossiping book, relating all the details of the author's occu-
pation, walks, baths, conversations, &c, during his cure.  It has also a great deal of space,
and a meadow of margin.
   Lee (E.), Hydropathy and Homoeopathy impartially appreciated, with
notes, &c.  3d ed.   London, 1847.
   Lee (E.), The Baths of Germany, their efficacy, &c.  Notices of French
and Swiss Baths, and an appendix on Water Cure.   8vo.   6s.
   Lee (E.), Mineral Springs of England, with remarks on bathing. 12mo.  4s.
   Mayo (H), On Cold Water Cure, its use and  abuse.  12mo.  2s. 6d.
   Smethurst, (T.) Hydrotherapia: or, the Water Cure. A practical view of
the cure, &c, founded on observations made at Graefenberg.  8vo.   Lon-
don, 1843.  6s.
   Scudamore (C), A Medical Visit  to Graefenberg in 1843, for the purpose
of investigating the water-cure treatment.  London, 1843.   4s.
  A candid and elegantly written tribute to Hydropathy from a very high source.
   Weiss  (J.), Hand-Book of Hydropathy, for professional and domestic use ;
with an appendix on the best mode of forming Hydropathic establishments,
being the results of  12 years' experience at Graefenberg and Freywaldau
8vo.  London, 1843.  7.  6d.
  An able  and comprehensive work, from one of the most devoted and experienced Hy-
dropathists in Europe.

   Wilson (J.), A Practical Treatise on the Cure of Diseases by Water &c
&c.   3d  ed.  8vo.  London, 1842.  Is. 6d.
   Wilson (J.) & Gully, The Dangers of the  Water Cure, and  it» efficacy
examined.  London,1843.
   Wright (H. C), Six Months at Graefenberg,  &c.
  Wilson (J ), Stomach Complaints and Drug Diseases; their causes, con-
sequences, and cure  by water, &c, with two letters on results of the water
cure at Malvern.   3d ed. London,  1843.   5s.
  Wesley (Rev. John), Primitive Physic : or, an Easy and Natural Method
ot curing most Diseases, (by means of water, &c.)   34th ed.  1747.
  We believe this portion of the works of the founder of Methodism has not been re-
printed, being probably thought too radical.
4 
INDEX.
               A.
Abscess, of Chest, &c, 58 ; of lungs,
  116.
Accouchement (see Childbirth).
Adams, J. Q., against Tobacco, 217.
Ague and Fever,  93, 200, 119.
Alcott, Dr. W. A., case of, 202,205 ;
  cases from, 201.
Allen, Amos, case of, 64.
Amputation prevented (see Mortifi-
  cation).
Asthma, 129.
Atrophia Dorsi, 19

                B.
Baelz, Dr. C, establishment of, 274.
Baldness, 54.
Bardwell, Dr., case of, 60.
Barrenness, 166.
Beecher, Miss C. E., testimony of,
  6,133.
Bedortha, Dr. N., cases treated by,
  38, 71 ; Prefatory  remarks of, 41.
Bensonville  (Northampton, Mass.),
  establishment at, 273.
Bethlehem (Pa.), establishment  at,
  274.
Bible Christians, on diet, 176.
Biloxi (Miss.), establishment at, 274.
Blisters, water-born, 96.
Boils, 99.
 Books, 276—284.
 Bowels,  Inflammation of,. 252 ; and
   spinal disease, 49.
 Brain, Inflammation of, 16 ; conges-
   tion of, 52; fever, 170.
 Branch, Dr., cases from, 189.
 Brattleboro', establishment at, 72.
 British and  Foreign Medical Re-
   view, extracts from, 4.
 Bronchitis,  37, 101, 138, 221; and
   congestion of brain, 52 ; and dys-
   pepsia, 127, 215.
 Bronchial catarrh, 127,
 Brown, Dr. H. H., cases from, 197.
 Brownsville (Pa.), establishment at,
   274.
 Byrenheidt,  Dr., establishment of,
   274.
                C.
Catarrh, bronchial, 127.
Caulkins, Dr. T. N., testimony of,
  195.
Cephalsea rheumatica congestiva, 21.
Champlin & Gleason, Drs. (see Glea-
  son.)
Chester  (Pa.),  establishment  at,
  273.
Chest, inflammation of, 209.
Chilblains, 95.
Childbirth and pregnancy, 89, 153—
  165, 204.
Chlorosis, &c, 27.
Cholera infantum, 94, 204.
■------morbus, 169.
Chorea, 20, 102.
Cleveland (O.), Dr. Underhill'scases
  at, 116—133.
Congestion of lungs, 100.
Cold, 35, 167.
Commercial Advertiser,  cases  of
   editors, 71.
Constipation and  piles, 185,  222;
   and rheumatism, 193.
Contents, iii.
Consumption, 70,126 ; phthisis pul-
   monalis,  18,  32;  supposed,  61,
   119, 137, 139, 188, 207,  222; and
   dyspepsia, 47 ; and headache, 53;
   and spinal disease, 60 ; tubercu-
   lar, 122 ; with diarrhoea and piles,
   243.
 Coop«rstown, water-cure at, 261.
 Cope, Dr. J. D. & Hole, establish-
   ment of, 274.
 Courier & Enquirer, case of editor,
   167.
 Coyle, Dr. T. C,  establishment of,
   269;  cases treated by, 269—271.
 Crane, Dr. J. W., cases  from, 190.
 Cramp in stomach, 138.
 Croup and measles, 149.
 Cuba (N.  Y.), establishment at,
   134.

                D.
 Darrah &  Foster, Drs.,  establish-
   ment of, 273. 
286
INDEX.
Debility, general, 33 ; nervous, with
  dyspepsia, 140, 196,238 ; nervous
  and general, 171, 173, 242; from
  over-straining, 189;  from grief,
  197.
Deafness, 127.
Decline, 33.
Delirium tremens, 244.
Denniston, Dr.,  establishment  of,
  273.
Depression of  spirits  (see  Hypo-
  chondriasis).
Diarrhoea  and  consumption, 243;
  chronic,  248.
Diet, Dr. Bedortha's views of, 71 ;
  Dr.  Shew's do.,  174; Dr. Shief-
  erdecker's do., 9 ; Dr. Roof's do ,
  265; testimony for vegetable, 196 ;
  experience of Dr. Alcott, 205.
Dilopia, 12, 36
Dropsy, 28.
Drugs, injury from, 1S4.
Dulin,  Dr. Wm., case by, 222.
Dysentery and fever, 203.
Dyspepsia, 63,  65,  70, 206, 246;
  blennorrhcea,  25 ; and  complica-
  tion, 43,113, 222, 268; and sup-
  posed consumption, 47 ; and liver
  complaint,   135;  and  do., with
  worms, 103 ;  and hypochondria-
  sis,  64 ;  and  hysteria,  107 ; and
  bronchitis, 127 ; and nervous de-
  bility,  140,  173, 176,  188, 196,
  238; and spinal  disease, 265.

                E.
Elephantiasis,  256.
Ellis, Hon. V., case of, 271
Encephalitis  exudatoria  infantum,
  16.
Enterragia and scrofula, 105.
Epilepsy, 22.
Erysipelas, 55, 67, 205 ; and fever,
  132.
Eyes, weak, 71, 202; inflammation
  of, 250.

                F.
Fall River, Mass., cases at, 187.
Fallston, O., establishment at, 275.
Fatal cases, 51.
Female diseases, 27, 43, 57, 196.
Fever, 70, 190, 203, 237 ;  and ague,
  93,200,219; do. suppressed, 13,
  92; do., with  spinal  disease, 92;
  brain,  170; erysipelas,  132, 214;
  intermittent, 207 ; do. and inflam-
  mation of lungs, 54 ;  do., bilious,
  219; puerperal,with neuralgia, 57;
  remitting bilious, 146, 189; do.,
  and typhus, 142 ; typhus, 97,190 ;
  and  rheumatism, &c, 195; and
  dysentery, 203.
Forbes, Dr., extracts from, 4.
Foster, Dr  H. & Darrah. establish-
  ment of, 273.
                G.
Georgia, Establishment at Oxford,274.
  Do. at Milledgeville, 269.
Gleason & Champlin,  Drs. cases
  treated by, 134, 141.
Goss, Roswell, case of, 175.
Gove,  Mrs. M.  S., establishment  of,
  275.
Greenwood Spring (see Cuba).

                H.
Hamilton,  Dr. W.  A., Troy, N. Y.,
  establishment of, 273.
Hard, Dr., cases treated by, 207.
Headache, 53, 114; rheumatic, 29.
Hemorrhage from  liver, &c, 79;
  uterine, 256.
Hip  disease, 216 ;  (ischias  nervosa
  postica), 15 ; (sciatica), 41 ; (lum-
  bago), 109; do. and spinal com-
  plaint, 75 ; and scrofula, 110.
Hoffendahl,Dr., & Lingen, establish-
  ment of,  273.
Hole, Dr , & Cope, establishment of,
  274.
Holland, Dr., establishment of, 274.
Hydropathic establishments,  11, 38,
  72, 134, 142, 247, 207,  273—275,
  list of, 275 ; publications, Ameri-
  can,   276—279 ;  in  preparation,
  279 ;  reprints, 280, 281; do. For-
  eign, 283, 2S4.
Hydrophobia in  first stage, 257.
Hypochondriasis, 181, 182, 215; and
  dyspepsia, 64, 176.
Hysteria, .23, 107; with tendency to
  lock-jaw, 259.

                I.
Indigestion (see  dyspepsia).
Iodine, injurious effects of, 99.
Indian women in childbirth, 165.
Inflammation of  brain, 16; of bow-
  els,  49,  252;  of lungs, 54,  143,
  211, 249 ; of chest, 209 ; of throat,
  210 ;  of eyes, 250.
Invalids, a word  to, on water cure,
  176.
Ithaca  Chronicle, testimony of edi-
  tors, 246.
Ischias nervosa postica, 15.
Ives, Prof, case  of, 231. 
INDEX.
287
                J.
Jennings, Dr., work on Medical Re-
  form, 202.
Jewett, Dr.  M., cases treated  by,
  142—145

                K.
Keese,  Samuel, cases treated  by,
  209, 214.
Kidneys, disease of, 270.
Kittredge, Dr.,  establishment  of,
  267 ;  case treated by, 268.
Knee, swelling of, 88, 212, 254; pa-
  ralysis of, 203.

                L
Lameness, 219.
Liebig, testimony of, 6.
Lingen, Dr. G., & Hoffendahl, 273.
Liver, hemorrhage  from,  79 ; com-
  plaint,  130, 219,  257 ;  do., with
  worms, 103 ; do., with dyspepsia,
  135 ;  congested and swollen, 264.
Livesey, Rev. William, case  of, 32.
Lock-jaw, 235, 259.
Lowell, Mass.,  establishment  at,
  273.
Lumbago, 109, 201;  with spinal dis-
  ease, 75.
Lungs, inflammation of, 54,143,211,
  249 ; typhus of, 97;  congestion of,
  100 ; abscess  of, 116 ; hepatized,
  119;  severe cold on,  167 ; dis-
  ease (pneumonorrhazia), 11; from
  suppressed measles,  91; fever, 66.

                M.
Mania, 31.
Measles,  56,  153, 213; and croup,
  149;  suppressed, 91.
Meeker & Peirson, Drs.  (see Peir-
  son).
Menstruation, suppressed, 27, 102.
Milledgeville, Ga., establishment at,
  219.
Mind, disease of (see hypochondria-
  sis).
Mogadore, O., water cure at, 142.
Mortification prevented, 192.

                N.
Nervous debility, general,  171, 173,
  188; with dyspepsia,  140,  173,
  176, 188, 196, 238, 242.
New Englander, the, extract from,
  115.
New Lebanon, establishment at, 38.
New Preston, Conn., establishment
  at, 273.
New  York, Shew & Roofs  estab-
  lishment at, 146 ; Peirson & Meek-
  er's do., 247;  Trail's do.,  266;
  Mrs. Gove's do., 275; Evangelist,
  extract from, 176.
Neuralgia and complication, 41; and
  fever, 57; of spine, 113;  of leg,
  222 ; of shoulder, &c, 264.
Northampton, Mass., establishments
  at, 273.

               O.
Oppell, Dr., establishment of, 274.
Ophthalmia, 250.
Oxford, Ga., establishment at, 274.

               P.
Painters' colic, 200.
Paralysis, 33,  59,  270 ; apoplectic,
  87 ; in knee, 203.
Patients,  address of  distinguished,
  7.
Peirson  & Meeker, Drs., establish-
  ment  of, 247 ;  cases  treated by,
  24S-257.
Peru (N. Y.), cases treated at, 209.
Philadelphia, establishment at, 11.
Phthisis pulmonalis,  18.
Pictonum, 200.
Piles, 85, 243;  and  constipation,
  185, 222.
Pleurisy, 198, 209.
Pneumorrhagia, 11.
Pneumonia typhoid, 143.
Pompholyx hydrogena, 96.
Pregnancy and childbirth, 89, 153—
  165.
Prolapsus uteri, 43, 165, 254.
Publications (see hydropathic)

               Q.
Quinsey, 257.

               R.
Raphania, 21.
Rheumatism,  201,  215, 220, 231,
  246; nervous, 41 ; inflammatory,
  58, 195, 263 ; acute, 144 ; in leg,
  145.
Rheumatic headache, 29 ;  lameness,
  scrofula, &c, 106, 108, 195.
Roof, Dr.  P., cases of, 261—266.
Rubeola, 56.
Ruggles, D., establishment of, 273.
Russell, Rev. P. R., cases from, 187.

                S.
Safety of the water-cure, 4, 5,6, etc.
Salem (O.), establishment at, 274. 
288
INDEX.
Savannah Sun, letter from editors
  of, 269.
Scald, 229, 230.
Scarlatina, 87, 216.
Sciatica, 41, 222.
Scrofula,  53, 68, 86 ; with dyspep-
  sia, 51 ; with spinal disease, 62 ;
  with  tic  douloureux, 105; with
  rheumatism,  106; with  hip dis-
  ease, 110.
Scudamore, Sir C,  testimony of,
  4,236, 267.
Shakers of Lebanon, testimony of,
  68.
Shew, Dr., cases  treated by,  146,
  186, 223, 241 ; cases furnished by,
  187—246;  and  Roof, establish-
  ments of, 275.
Shieferdecker, Dr., preface to cases
  of, 9; Hydriatric institution of,
  11; cases treated by, 11—37, 257,
  261.
Small pox, 13, 85,  134, 225, 227.
Smith, Amza, case of, 122.
Smith, Dr., & Gaither, establish-
  ment of. Discontinued.
Spinal curvature, 45,112,113; with
  neuralgia, 113;  disease, 19, 45,
  239,  241 ;  and  inflammation of
  bowels, 49 ;  and  supposed  con-
  sumption, 60 ; and scrofula, 62 ;
  and hip disease,  75;  and  fever
  and ague, 92; and menorrhagia,
  205 ; and dyspepsia, 265.
Spencer, D. D., case of, 227.
Stomach, spasms in the, 148.
Strangury, 193.
Starks, Harvey, case of, 47.
Suicidal propensity, 215.
Summer complaint, 94, 204.
Swelling of knee  88, 212, 254.
Syosset, establishment at, 275.
                T.
Tabes infantum, 14.
Testimonies to water-cure, 4—7,68
Tetanus, 235, 259.
Throat  disease, 37, 215 ;  inflamma-
  tion of, 210, 263.
Tic douloureux, 41; in bowels, with
  scrofula, 105.
Tobacco, injurious effects of, 217.
Trail, Dr. R. T.,  establishment of,
  266 ;  cases from, 266, 267.
Troy  (N. Y.), establishment at, 273.
Typhus  of lungs, 97.
Tyler, Rev. E. R., testimony of, 115
Underhill, Dr. Abel,  cases treated
  by,  116, 133, in Cleaveland, and
  Massillon, Ohio.
Uterine, hemorrhage,  256.
Utica, establishment near, 274.

               V.
Vaccination with erysipelas, 67.
Varioloid, 227.
Vitus's  dance, 20, 102.

                W.
Water,  analysis of, at  Brattleboro',
  73; do. at Cooperstown, 263.
Water-cure establishments, publica-
  tions, &c. (see Hydropathic).
Waterford (Me.), establishment at,
  267.
Weakness (see Debility).
Webb, Col. J. W., case of, 167.
Wesselhoeft,  Dr., establishment of,
  72 ; cases treated by, 74, 115.
White swelling, incipient, 254.
Worms, with dyspepsia, 103.
Wounds, 128 ; of head, 136.

                Y.
Yellow  Springs (Chester, Pa.), es-
  tablishment at, 273. 
 
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