Bath is the immersion of the body in water, or an apparatus for this purpose. The use of the bath as an institution apart from occasional immersion in rivers or the sea, is, as might be anticipated, an exceedingly old custom. Homer mentions the bath as one of the first refreshments offered to a guest; thus, when Ulysses enters the palace of Circe, a bath is prepared for him, and he is anointed after it with costly perfumes. No representation, however, of a bath as we understand it is given upon the Greek vases, bathers being represented either simply washing at an elevated basin, or having water poured over them from above. In later times, rooms, both public and private, were built expressly for bathing, the public baths of the Greeks being mostly connected with the gymnasia. Apparently, by an inversion of the later practice, it was customary in the Homeric epoch to take first a cold and then a hot bath; but the Lacedemonians substituted the hot-air sudorific bath, as less enervating than warm water, and in Athens at the time of Demosthenes and Socrates the warm bath was considered by the more rigorous as an effeminate custom.
The fullest details we have with respect to the bathing of the ancients apply to its luxurious development under the Romans. Their bathing establishments consisted of four main sections: the undressing room, with an adjoining chamber in which the bathers were anointed; a cold room with provision for a cold bath; a room heated moderately to serve as a preparation for the highest and lowest temperatures; and the sweating-room, at one extremity of which was a vapour-bath and at the other an ordinary hot bath. After going through the entirecourse both the Greeks and Romans made use of strigils or scrapers, either of horn or metal, to remove perspiration, oil, and impurities from the skin. Connected with the bath were walks, covered race-grounds, tennis-courts, and gardens, the whole, both in the external and internal decorations, being frequently on a palatial scale. The group of the Laocoon and the Parnese Hercules were both found in the ruins of Roman baths.
With respect to modern baths, that commonly in use in Russia consists of a single hall, built of wood, in the midst of which is a powerful metal oven, covered with heated stones, and surrounded with broad benches, on which the bathers take their places. Cold water is then poured upon the heated stones, and a thick, hot steam rises, which causes the sweat to issue from the whole body. The bather is then gently whipped with wet birch rods, rubbed with soap, and washed with lukewarm and cold water; of the latter, some pailfuls are poured over his head; or else he leaps, immediately after this sweating-bath, into a river or pond, or rolls in the snow.
The Turks, by their religion, are obliged to make repeated ablutions daily, and for this purpose there is, in every city, a public bath connected with a mosque. A favourite bath among them, however, is a modification of the hot-air sudorific-bath of the ancients introduced under the name of Turkish Bath into other than Islamic countries. A regular accompaniment of this bath, when properly given, is the operation known as 'kneading,' or massage, generally performed at the close of the sweating process, after the final rubbing of the bather with soap, and consisting in a systematic pressing and squeezing of the whole body, stretching the limbs, and manipulating all the joints as well as the fleshy and muscular parts.
Public baths were common in Europe during the late 19th century, but the first English public baths and wash-houses of the kind common in all cities during the late 19th century were established in Liverpool and near the London docks in 1844. In 1846 an act was passed for their encouragement, and a Baths and Wash-houses Act of 1878 authorized the establishment of cheap swimming-baths.
The principal natural warm baths in England are at Bath in Somersetshire (the hottest), and Brixton and Matlock in Derbyshire. The temperature of the Bath springs ranges from 109 to 117 degrees, while that of the Buxton and Matlockwaters scarcely exceeds 82 degrees. The baths of Harrogate, which are strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, are also of great repute for the cure of obstinate cutaneous diseases, indurations of the glands, etc. The most celebrated natural hot baths in Europe are those of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the various Baden in Germany; Toeplitz, in Bohemia; Bagnieres, Bareges, and Dax, in the south of France; and Spa, in Belgium. Besides the various kinds of water-bath with or without medication or natural mineral ingredients, there are also milk, oil, wine, earth, sand, mud, and electric baths, smoke-baths and gas-baths; but these are as a rule only indulged after specific prescription.
The practice of bathing as a method of cure in cases of disease falls under the head of hydrotherapathy; in the 19th century it was advised that even when bathing was employed simply for pleasure or purification due regard should be paid to the physiological condition of the bather. During the Victorian era in Britain writers were concerned about the potential dangers of bathing, and one warned:
'in many cases cold bathing should be avoided altogether, especially by those who have any tendency to spitting of blood or consumption, by gouty people, or by those who have any latent visceral disease or apoplectic tendency. Wherever the bath is followed by shivering instead of by a healthy reactionary glow, it is undesirable; and a cold bath in the morning after any debauchery or excess in eating or drinking on the previous evening is exceedingly imprudent. Delicate persons and children ought not to bathe in the sea before ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and in no case should bathing be indulged after a long fast. In cold streams and rivers additional precautions should be taken, the cold plunge, when heated or fatigued, being frequently attended with fatal results. Even warm baths are not wholly free from danger; apoplexy and death having been known to follow a hot bath when entered with a full stomach. As a rule the temperature should not exceed 105 degrees, and they should not be too long continued. Frequent indulgence in them has an enervating effect, though the majority of people need as yet no renewal of Hadrian's prohibitive legislation in this matter.'
The eminent author, George Black, in 1892, while generally encouraging bathing, and describing bathing as 'likely to be of excellent use and efficacy both in the prevention and cure of disease.' Also went on to warn:
'Baths should never be taken immediately after a meal, nor when the body is very much exhausted by fatigue or excitement of any kind, nor during nor just before menstruation; and they should be sparingly and guardedly used by pregnant women.' Research Bath
Mammalia is the mammal class of Craniates. The young are nourished by milk. The skin is covered in two types of glands: sweat glands and sebaceous glands. The sweat glands secrete a watery fluid to assist body cooling. The sebaceous glands secrete an oily fluid to maintain water resistance in the hair. The heart has two auricles and two ventricles. Research Mammalia
Mosquito is a term applied to any fly of the family Culicidae. The female mosquito has needle-like mouth-parts and sucks blood before laying eggs. Males feed on plant juices. Some mosquitoes carry diseases such as malaria. Human odour in general is attractive to mosquitoes, also lactic acid in sweat and heat at close range. Peoples' varying reactions to mosquito bites depend on the general allergic reaction and not on the degree of the bite; the allergic reaction is caused by the saliva injected from the mosquito's salivary glands to prevent coagulation of the host's blood. Natural mosquito repellents include lavender oil, citronella (from lemongrass), thyme, and eucalyptus oils.
Mosquitoes are remarkable for their quick genetic development, new species develop in around 100 years, as was discovered when mosquitoes became trapped in the London Underground system when it was built, and in 1998 were discovered to have become distinct species developing to feed first on rats and then on humans rather than their usual sheep hosts. Research Mosquito
Body temperature is the balance between the heat produced by the body and the heat lost from the body. In humans, as other mammals, the core temperature of the body remains constant despite the temperature of the surrounding environment. For the body to function optimally, the temperature must be maintained within narrow limits. There are two kinds of body temperature: core temperature and surface temperature. Core temperature is the temperature of the deep tissues of the body. It normally remains constant at about 98. 6 degrees Fahrenheit (37.0 degrees Celsius). However, body temperature varies from person to person and is affected by factors such as exercise, sleep, eating and drinking, and time of day.
The body's surface temperature rises and falls in response to the environment. Body temperature is maintained by the hypothalamus, which constantly monitors bloodtemperature and activates mechanisms to compensate for changes. When the body's surface temperature falls, the hypothalamus sends nerve impulses to the skin to stimulate shivering, which generates heat by muscle activity, and to restrict the blood vessels in the skin, which limits heat loss. When the surface temperature rises, the hypothalamus stimulates the sweat glands in the skin to produce sweat and dilates the blood vessels in the skin to increase heat loss. There is a danger to life should the body temperature drop and remain below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) or rise and remain at or above 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius). Chemical reactions in the body increase an average of about 120% for every 10 degree rise in temperature. Research Body Temperature
In medicine, a diaphoretic is an agent used for producing a greater degree of perspiration than is natural, but less than in sweating. The Turkishbath and a large part of hydropathic treatment, diluent drinks, etc, are employed for this purpose. Diaphoretics increase only the insensible perspiration, while sudorifics excite the sensible discharge called sweat. Research Diaphoretic
Rabies (Lyssa) is an acuteinfectious viral disease of the nervous system transmitted by the saliva of infected animals, particularly dogs. The animals most liable to be afflicted with rabies are dogs; but cats, wolves, foxes, etc, are also subject to it.
The early symptoms of rabies in the dog are such as restlessness and general uneasiness, irritability, sullenness, an inclination for indigestible and unnatural food, and often a propensity to lap its own urine. As the disease proceeds the eyes become red, bright, and fierce, with some degree of strabismus or squinting; twitch-ings occur round the eye, and gradually spread over the whole face. After the second day the dog usually begins to lose perfect control over the voluntary muscles. He catches at his food, and either bolts it almost unchewed, or, in the attempt to chew it, suffers it to drop from his mouth. This want of power over the muscles of the jaw, tongue, and throat increases until the lower jaw becomes dependent, the tongue protrudes from the mouth, and is of a dark, and almost black colour. A peculiar kind of delirium also comes on, and the animal snaps at imaginary objects. His thirst is excessive, although there is occasionally a want of power to lap. His desire to do mischief depends much on his previous disposition and habits. He utters also a peculiar howl, and his bark is altogether dissimilar from his usual tone. In the latter stages of the disease a viscid saliva flows from his mouth, and his breathing is attended with a harsh, grating sound.
The loss of power over the voluntary muscles extends, after the third day, throughout his whole frame, he staggers in his gait, and frequently falls. On the fourth or fifth day of the disease the dog dies, sometimes in convulsions, but more frequently without a struggle.
With regard to man the rabid virus seems to be more violent when it proceeds from wolves than from dogs. It appears to be contained solely in the saliva of the animal, and does not produce any effect on the healthy skin. But if the skin is deprived of the epidermis, or if the virus is applied to a wound, the inoculation will take effect. The development of the rabid symptoms is rarely immediate; it seldom takes place before the fortieth or after the sixtieth day, but in some cases has occurred after six months or even longer. It begins with a slight pain in the scar of the bite, sometimes attended with a chill; the pain extends and reaches the base of the breast, if the bite was on the lower limbs, or the throat, if on the upper extremities. The patient becomes dejected, morose, and taciturn. He prefers solitude, and avoids bright light; frightful dreams disturb his sleep;
the eyes become brilliant; pains in the neck and throat ensue. These symptoms precede the rabid symptoms two or three days. They are followed by a general shuddering at the approach of any liquid or smooth body, attended with a sensation of oppression, deep sighs and convulsive starts, in which the muscular strength is much increased. A foamy, viscid slaver is discharged from the mouth; the deglutition of solid matters is difficult; the respiration hard; the skin warm, burning, and afterwards covered with sweat; the pulse strong; the fit is often followed by a syncope; the fits return at first every few hours, then at shorter intervals, and death takes place generally on the second or third day. The treatment for rabies at the start of the 20th century consisted in preventing its development, which may be effected by applying a ligature, where possible, to impede the circulation from the wound, by sucking it, and thoroughly cauterizing it either with nitrate of silver or with iron heated to a white heat, the pain of cautery being less as the temperature is greater. If these means are not available, any burning substance and most acids were used.
Louis Pasteur put forward a method of preventing the development of the disease by a system of successive inoculations with rabid virus of greater and greater intensity; the inoculation being made the first day with marrow which has been extracted from the rabid animal 12, 10, and 8 days; then the second day with marrow extracted 6, 4, and 2 days; the third day with one day's marrow, etc. Louis Pasteur's method was favourably reported on by an English commission (1886-1887), but there is doubt regarding the number of cures really performed. As a contemporary critic of the Pasteur system remarked, every one who is bitten and inoculated is counted in the list of cures, though there is nothing to prove that he ever contracted the rabies. Despite the lack of scientific proof, Pasteur's dubious innoculation are still in use 100 years later, and there is still no cure for rabies though with careful medical attention patients have survived. Research Rabies
The skin (cutaneous membrane) is the large, supple membrane that covers the entire surface of the body, and as such has the largest surface area of any organ in the body and is also the heaviest. The skin is composed of two tissues, an outer layer called the epidermis and an inner layer called the dermis or corium. On the surface are the sensitive papillae, and within are certain organs with special functions, the sweat glands, hair follicles, and sebaceous glands. The skin protects the internal organs of the body against infection, injury, and harmful sun rays. It also plays an important role in the regulation of body temperature. Although the skin of an average-sized adult may weigh as much as twenty pounds, it is only paper thin in some places and not much thicker in others.
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Bath
