The Cold Bath a Tonic by H. C. Menkel, M. D.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 1, 1910

The Cold Bath a Tonic

By H. C. Menkel, M. D.

H. C. MENKEL, M. D.

A cold application to the skin is one of the best general physiological tonics. The cold first causes the blood-vessels to contract; this is followed by a vigorous reaction, and the skin becomes red, due to an exhilarated blood circulation. This increased circulation is not limited to the skin only, but is shared by every organ and structure. An increased active circulation means increased nutrition, and increased resistive power against disease and disease germs. This is illustrated by the following experience:

Surgeon McGregor, formerly superintendent surgeon of the English army in Egypt, makes a very interesting observation concerning the value of the cold full bath. While he was in charge of the “Blues,” a famous old regiment, then located at Canterbury, an epidemic of typhus fever, generally complicated with pneumonia, broke out. The disease developed so rapidly that in a short time one fifth of his regiment were on the sick-list, and there were thirty-three cases of fever, with daily accessions to the number. At this juncture it occurred to McGregor, a disciple of Currie, who was familiar with the use of the bath in the treatment of cases of fever, that the cold bath might be used for prophylactic as well as curative purposes. Accordingly, to use his own words, “about the twelfth, at my earnest recommendation, all the regiment out of the hospital were marched three times a day to the riverside, and every man was made to bathe. The good effects of this were speedily manifest; the number of new fever cases decreased daily, and those that did appear wore a milder aspect. Many, indeed, yielded to the common treatment; in some cases an emetic, and in others the cold bath, at once cut short the disease. We lost no cases in October. Indeed, it was evident to all that after the general bathing of the regiment, the contagion was stopped; the few cases that occurred after this were stripped of all the alarming and dangerous symptoms with which the disease broke out. In all, there were sixty cases of fever, occurring from July to October 21, on which day the last case appeared. We lost six of this number.”

The immunity evidently conferred by the tri-daily bath was certainly more than a coincidence. It would seem eminently reasonable to suppose that if the cold bath aids recovery by stimulating the vital forces and increasing the vital resistance, and to such a degree that the patient already thoroughly infected with the disease is brought to a safe recovery, the application of the same measures before the contraction of the disease ought so to fortify the system as to enable it successfully to withstand the influence of the infectious element to which the malady owes its origin. The principles involved in this suggestion are worthy of thoughtful consideration. If the principle holds in relation to a single malady, it is equally sound in relation to all others which depend upon either infection or any other external cause — excepting, of course, accidents.

India.