perfectly the
various methods of using water in the treatment of fevers.

"There is no other single remedy that I consider so valuable in
the treatment of fever as the internal use of water. As above
stated, the patient should drink six or eight ounces every hour
during the waking hours, except for about two hours after food
is taken. The water should be thoroughly sterilized, and as a
rule may be taken either cool or hot. Ice water is
objectionable. Hot water is often preferable. This is a simple
remedy, but nevertheless is efficacious. It should be given to
the patient whether he calls for it or not, and it should be
considered an important part of his treatment. When water is
taken into the stomach and absorbed into the circulation, it
throws into solution the ptomaines which have been absorbed from
the intestines and are present in the circulation and tissues,
and thereby puts them in a favorable condition for elimination.
It increases the activity of the kidneys, and thus hastens and
increases the elimination of the poisons in the system.

"In the early stage of the fever, when the pulse is full, and
the action of the heart increased, it is best to give the
patient cool water. Later in the disease, when the action of the
heart is weak, and the patient feeble, it is best to give the
water hot.

"Winternitz, many years ago, demonstrated that hot water taken
into the stomach acts as a cardiac stimulant, and the increased
heart's action is immediate, or at least before the water has
time to absorb, which indicates that the water in the stomach
acts reflexly as a cardiac stimulant. The water after absorption
also increases the circulation by filling the blood-vessels, and
increasing arterial pressure. The writer has frequently noticed
a decided increase in the fullness, and rapidity of the pulse,
after a patient has drunk a glassful of hot water.

"The external use of water also forms an important part of the
treatment. The patient should be sponged off with tepid water
every hour or two when the temperature is 103 deg., or above. When
the temperature is less than this, it is not necessary to sponge
the body so frequently. Sometimes a hot sponge bath is more
efficacious in reducing the temperature than the tepid or cool
bath. The sponge bath reduces the temperature,