istinction between courage
and temerity, and he will speedily become a swimmer.

Before, however, we proceed to offer any remarks on swimming as an art,
we cannot refrain from calling the attention of our young friends to the
observations of a celebrated medical doctor who has thought profoundly
on the subject. "Immersion in cold water," says he, "is a custom which
lays claim to the most remote antiquity; indeed it must be coeval with
man himself. The necessity of water for the purpose of cleanliness, and
the pleasure arising from its application in hot countries, must have
very early recommended it to the human species; even the example of
other animals was sufficient to give the hint to man; by instinct many
of them are led to apply cold water in this manner, and some, when
deprived of its use, have been known to languish, and even to die."

The cold bath recommends itself in a variety of cases, and is peculiarly
beneficial to the inhabitants of populous cities who indulge in idleness
and lead sedentary lives: it accelerates the motion of the blood,
promotes the different secretions, and gives permanency to the solids.
But all these important purposes will be more easily answered by the
application of salt water; this also ought not only to be preferred on
account of its superior gravity, but also, "for its greater power of
stimulating the skin, which prevents the patient from catching cold."

It is necessary, however, to observe, that cold bathing is more likely
to prevent than to remove obstructions of the glandular or lymphatic
system; indeed, when these have arrived at a certain height, they are
not to be removed by any means; in this case, the cold bath will only
aggravate the symptoms, and hurry the unhappy patient into an untimely
grave. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance, previously to the
patient entering upon the use of the cold bath, to determine whether or
not he labours under any obstinate obstruction of the lungs or other
viscera, and when this is the case, cold bathing ought strictly to be
prohibited.

In what is called a plethoric state, or too great fulness of the body,
it is likewise dangerous to use the cold bath without due preparation.
In this case, there is danger of bursting a blood-vessel, or occasioning
an inflammation.

The ancient Romans and Greeks, we are told, when covered with sweat and
dust, used to plunge into rivers without receiving the smallest injury.
Though they might