Loretta reports:
From The New Female Instructor or Young Woman’s Guide to Domestic Happiness (first published in the 1830s):
"Hence tepid* baths are of eminent service where the body has been overheated, from whatever cause, whether after fatigue from travelling, or severe bodily exercise, or after violent exertion and perturbation of mind; as they allay the tempestuous and irregular movements of the body, and frequently, in the strictest sense, invigorate the system. By their softening, moistening, and tumefying power, they greatly contribute to the formation and growth of the bodies of young persons; and are of a singular benefit to those in whom we perceive a tendency to arrive too early at the consistence of a settled age; so that the warm bath is particularly adapted to prolong the state of youth, and retard for some time the approach of full manhood. This effect the tepid baths produce in a manner exactly alike, in the coldest as well as in the hottest climates."
* “about the temperature of the blood, between 96 and 98° of Fahrenheit”
This book review Susan found offers a nice summary of the complex subject we've tackled this week.
Above is a detail fromThomas Eakins's The Swimming Hole.
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