If, then, the heat of the baths.was raised to so great a degree, some previous preparation was necessary. It is thought expedient at Bath, by previous evacuations to prevent the bad effects of a high temperature; and this the Romans obtained in their laconicum, where, by previous rubbing and warm air, the sweat would immediately break out on entering the bath. Asclepiades depended on the discharge by the skin to free the vessels from obstructions; and his followers, Era-sistratus and Chrysippus, would not admit of the more general evacuations, since that from the skin would not only supply their place, but be in other respects more beneficial.

To prepare for these evacuations the assae sudationes were employed; in the language of Galen, "to produce an uniform heat to expand the contracted apertures of the smaller passages, to relax what is tense, to melt what is condensed."the patient can then with advantage bear a considerable degree of heat; but in water too hot the smaller vessels are contracted rather than relaxed, and the excrementitious fluids retained rather then expelled, (Galen de Sanitate tuenda, iii. 4). This plainly proves what we have already stated, that the heat of their common baths was considerable; for we could not without some preparation endure the degrees of heat which would produce these effects; and the baths of that time, after the period of Pompey, are styled incendio similia. The great danger apprehended by the Roman physicians of the bath after eating, is an additional proof that the temperature was high; and Seneca mentioned as one of the duties of the ediles, enforcing cleanliness, et utilem, et salutarem tempera-turam. Perhaps this temperature may have been of service in stimulating the solids and giving additional vigour, since the athletae, after their exercises, were bathed in very hot water; and the bath waters of this country, which are of a considerable heat, seem of service in cases of relaxation, independent of their impregnations. But we must not anticipate what will be the subject of future consideration.

The warm bath was interposed between the hot and the cool to prevent a too sudden change, and, in Galen's language, to restore a clue symmetry to the skin and flesh. The utility of the third part is obvious, to prevent all danger from the cold of the atmosphere. The fever, however, excited by the great heat still kept up the perspiration, which was not wholly checked after leaving the frigidarium.

The stay in the different rooms was regulated by the physician according to the nature of the disease. Baccius has preserved a list of the complaints for which the warm bath was employed (lib. vii. cap. 19.), but has not explained the management adapted to different constitutions and different diseases. When the object was to relax, for instance, the patient was detained for some time in the moderately warm bath, but passed very quickly through the sweating rooms, where he was anointed, and only rinsed himself with the waters of the last bath. When the constitution was weak and relaxed, he was well sweated and rubbed in the first part, and had a larger quantity of colder water poured on him in the third. His stay in the second part was very short. The various modifications detailed at length in Galen and others, would detain us too long, and be uninteresting, as we cannot imitate them.

The danger, however, of coming into cool air from the bath is in a great degree imaginary; for the fever, or, more properly, the temperature, thus raised, will check the bad effects of a considerable degree of cold. The Russians and the Swedes use the warm vapour bath raised to a very considerable heat, and roll immediately afterwards in snow. This impunity may perhaps be, in part, derived from habit; but we have found little inconvenience arise in those not accustomed to such a change, when the heat previously excited was considerable.

It will be obvious, that we can learn nothing from the Greek or Roman physicians respecting the effects of bathing on the pulse, or the degree to which the heat of the body is increased. On the other hand, we cannot in our simpler operation attain all the effects of the balneum which they produced. We must now attend to the more modern use of this remedy, and its power in different diseases.

Warm bathing gives a softness and flexibility to the skin and muscles; and from some rarefaction of the blood, or from its determination to the surface, increases the bulk. It seems to increase all the secretions, as it certainly does those of the skin; nor after the sweat excited by bathing is the perspiration diminished, though the increase-of any evacuation, in general, occasions a temporary suppression afterwards: the pulse becomes fuller and quicker; the face flushed; the respiration laborious. A moderate stay in the bath increases the spirits as well as the activity, and improves the general health: continuing in too long induces languor and debility.

We do not recollect any direct experiments on this subject but those in a Thesis by Dr. Parr, which have been generally copied in every subsequent publication. He tried the effects of warm bathing at 96°, 98°, 100°, 102°, 104°, and 106°, of Fahrenheit. At 96° the general effects above mentioned were observed; the pulse, if at first slightly quickened, was soon natural; the respiration, in the earliest period a little more rapid, soon became free and easy, and but little change was produced in the heat of the body.

At 98° the pulse was slightly increased in quickness, and did not subside; but the heat appeared to remain stationary. There was no sweat, though a free copious perspiration: the urine was not increased; and, after some time, the pulse became slower than before the bathing. The cuticle was observed to be slightly corrugated.

At 100° the pulse was increased from 60° to 72°; the respiration much affected; the face red and swollen, and a copious sweat broke out: the cuticle appeared more corrugated. The heat was raised two degrees; and, after about ten minutes, faintness came on. The perspiration was free and copious; and, after a short time, every disagreeable symptom vanished; the pulse sinking a little below its natural standard.