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Bathing (Art of Swimming)

The Art of Swimming.

It has been observed before that men are drowned by raising their arms above water, the unbuoyed weight of which depresses the head; all other animals have neither motion nor ability to act in a similar manner, and therefore swim naturally. When a man therefore falls into deep water, he will rise to the surface and continue there if he does not elevate his hands. If he move his hands under the water in any manner he pleases his head will rise so high as to allow him liberty to breathe, and if he move his legs as in the act of walking (or rather of walking upstairs), his shoulders will rise above the water, so that he may use less exertion with his hands, or apply them to other purposes. These plain diréctions are recommended to the attention of those who the sea, a small portion of sulphate of magnesia excepted.

The Shower-bath.

The cold shower-bath is less alarming to nervous persons and less liable to produce cramps than cold immersion; it may be considered as the best and safest mode of cold bathing, and is recommended in many nervous complaints. It has also afforded relief in some cases of insanity. Substitute for a Shower-bath.

Where the saving of expense is an object, it may be effectually answered by filling a common watering pot with cold water. Let the patient sit undressed upon a stool, which may be placed in a large tub, and let the hair, if not cut short, be spread over the shoulders as loosely as possible. Now pour the water from the pot over the patient's head, face, neck, shoulders, and all parts of the body, progressively down to the feet, until the whole has been thoroughly wetted.

A large sponge may, in some measure, be substituted for the shower bath; particularly in affections of the head which arise from intemperance, have not learned to swim in their youth, and they night-watching, study, or other perplexity. Headwill, if attended to, be found highly advantageous in preserving life.

If a person falls into the water or gets out of his depth and cannot swim, and if he wishes to drown himself, let him kick and splash as violently as possible, and he will soon sink. On the contrary, if impressed with the idea that he is lighter than the water, he avoids all violent action and calmly but steadily strives to refrain from drawing his breath while under the water, and keeps his head raised as much as possible, and gently but constantly moves his hands and feet in a proper direction, there will be a great probability of his keeping afloat until some aid arrives.

Cramp in Bathing.

For the cure of the cramp when swimming, Dr.

Franklin recommends a vigorous and violent shock of the part affected by suddenly and forcibly stretching out the leg, which should be darted out of the water into the air if possible.

Precautions in Bathing.

Never venture into cold water when the body is much exhausted or relaxed with heat.

Dr. Franklin relates an instance within his own knowledge of four young men who, having worked at harvest in the heat of the day, with a view of refreshing themselves plunged into a spring of cold water; two died upon the spot, a third the next morning, and the fourth recovered with great difficulty. ache, from these causes, will be greatly alleviated by wiping the top and fore-part of the head with a sponge frequently dipped in water. The cold thus produced will check the determination of blood to the head, and has often been known to prevent delirium and insanity.

The Tepid-bath.

On immersing the body in a tepid-path, which takes its range from 85° to 90°, no striking sensation either of heat or cold is felt. But a person much chilled, will on entering the tepid-bath feel the water warm, while another who has been heated by exercise, will find it insensibly cold.

The tepid-bath is attended with several advantages: the surface of the skin is by it freed from that scaly matter, which always collects more or less on the healthiest person; the pores of the skin thus being free, the natural perspiration is promoted, the limbs are rendered supple, and any stiffness which may have been produced by exerproduced by exertion or fatigue, is removed. Such immersion has been found to allay thirst; a proof that a quantity of water is absorbed, and enters the body through the skin.

The tepid-bath seems the best adapted to the purposes of cleanliness and healthy exercise. Το delicate females and young children, it is of primary importance. Nothing can be more absurd than the common practice of mothers and nurses in washing children, no matter how sickly or unwell, with cold water, under the idea of bracing the constitution: whereas the use of tepid water alone, is not only the most agreeable, but the most proper fluid to excite the energies of the system in young children.

Be very careful where you bathe, even though ever so good a swimmer, lest there should be weeds to entangle the feet, or any thing else to endanger life. It is by the neglect of this precaution that many good swimmers expose themselves to greater danger than those who cannot swim at all, their very expertness thus becoming fatal to them by tempting them into places where their destruction | produced, which ought to be avoided by wiping is inevitable.

Sea-bathing.

The use of the tepid salt water bath, or indeed of sea-bathing itself, when the water is warm, (that is) betwen 60° and 70° of heat, is in many cases beneficial, when a colder temperature would be decidedly injurious.

It may be satisfactory to know that in situations distant from the shore, where sea-water cannot be had, artificial sea-water, made by dissolving 4 pounds of bay-salt in 16 gallons of fresh water, possesses all the properties of the water of Affusion with tepid water has generally the same result, except, that if the body continue exposed to the air after the affusion, a sensation of cold is dry the upper part of the body whilst the lower extremities are still covered with water.

There can be little doubt that human existence, by tepid bathing, temperance, and proper exercise, may be made more agreeable and also be prolonged.