lth or
disease. Young persons coming from inland situations are very apt to
become somewhat fevered by the change, and bilious disorder is a common
consequence of their approaching the sea; and in almost all persons
sea-bathing begets after a while a slight intermittent disorder, which
seldom goes quite off in less than a fortnight from the last bath. If
the bath be resorted to daily, this disorder usually comes on in about a
week; if only twice or thrice a week, it may not appear for a month, and
those who bathe only now and then, without regularity, do not seem to be
subject to it. I am disposed to think that this new action of the system
promotes the cure of glandular disease, but it may, if neglected,
conduce to internal disorder of a worse kind, and I have frequently seen
a dangerous remittent fever supervene upon it in delicate and excitable
children. These results prove the stimulating operation of sea-water,
and sufficiently show the necessity of caution in its use. Instead of
improving the powers of the body, it may produce debility by
over-exciting them; hence it is prudent in most cases not to bathe
oftener than every other day, and to use milder measures if, after the
second or third occasion, there is not a visible increase of vigor.
Where exercise can not be taken immediately after the bath, friction of
the body, especially over the back and stomach, is desirable. The best
time for cold bathing, where there is any debility, is about two hours
after breakfast. Early bathing is best for the robust. Let it be
remembered that cold acts always as a stimulant; whenever it does good,
it rouses the nervous system; it makes a greater demand for oxygen; it
enables the body to absorb more of the vital air, and thus it
facilitates the changes on which the energy of life depends. In this
respect it acts like all other stimulants proper to the body, and not
like alcoholic stimuli, which excite the brain, while they diminish the
influence of the vital air upon the blood, and favor capillary
obstructions and inflammations.

The influence of cold on the nervous system is no new discovery, for
ever since man has felt and inferred from his feeling, he must have
known that influence alike from experience and observation. Used as a
bath, we have seen that it may produce very contrary effects; like any
other powerful agent, it both excites and depresses. The first action of
nearly all remedies is to excite; from fire to frost,