ready for
instant absorption, we should be able to abolish our kitchens, and at
once enter upon that golden age in which there would be no dyspepsia
hydraheaded; no disease of any kind, not even drunkenness, and where
death would be only as the last flicker of the burned-up candle.

In this case, as in all other cases, the desire for water was abolished
before hunger became marked. In this connection I will suggest to the
reader that thirst is a morbid condition to be avoided as far as
possible; that water is its only need, and no mortal ever needs a drop
for health's sake except when thirsty. Making water-tanks of human
stomachs is without the shade of physiological reason, and the alleged
results for good are not based on a shade of scientific evidence: these
are based wholly in the minds of the credulous enthusiasts who prescribe
them. Taking large quantities of water without thirst only entails added
work upon the kidneys, and thus it becomes a factor in the development
of Bright's disease and other forms where the tendency exists. The
actual need of water is always made clear in every case; the need always
disappears before hunger can become possible.

As to the use of water on the body, this physiology has to be taken into
account. The skin is covered with scales that are constantly dropping
off as they mature, each to uncover a bright, clean one. As the skin is
not an absorbent membrane, and as old scales are constantly dropping
off, the need of frequent baths is more a need to satisfy the personal
sense of cleanliness than a physiological need. These scales should not
be either soaked off or brushed off in a wholesale way; the oil in the
skin is a protection against weather-changes, and is also a necessity to
its functional integrity, and therefore should not be dissolved and
washed off by soaps that are strongly alkaline.

The body itself is very sensitive to contact with water below the
natural temperature of the skin. The plunge bath is specially depressing
to every human energy, and should never be indulged by the debilitated.
The daily bathings of nursing children are cruel and life-depressing.
Their little bodies are always clean in the physiological sense when
their clothes are kept clean; hence once a week ought to satisfy all
mothers.

The question of how often to bathe must be considered along these
physiological lines. They whose employments soil their clothes and
bodies spend the least time in c