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CHAPTER XV.

THE BATH AS PROMOTIVE OF HEALTH AND BEAUTY.

E may rest assured, judging by the present general tendencies of mankind, that, although bathing must be of the highest antiquity, it was resorted to of old, as well as now, by the multitude only for the sake of its directly pleasurable effects, instead of from motives of cleanliness and promotion of good physical condition and beauty. As in duty bound, in this era of demand for reasons for all assertions, we proceed to give those for the faith within us, as shown by our conclusion.

The physician is, of all men living, the one who has most to do with the literally naked facts in the case before us. He it is who is called upon to make physical examination of applicants for enlistment in the military service, and many others rendered necessary by accident or sudden invasion of disease, which in sum yield him on this subject ample fund of information. No such witness can conscientiously say that more than a fraction of the cases so presenting themselves evidence due regard for the social and hygienic demands of extreme nicety of person. He knows that examinations for enlistment are generally followed by grateful ventilation of the rooms where they have been held. Such, however, is the effect of military instruction in personal habits, and of military discipline in the promotion of selfrespect, that in the vast majority of cases they result in permanent change in men previously negligent of cleanliness. He has similar experience, through the fact that he is often summoned to go to the assistance of persons who have met with some serious accident, or who, without time for adequate preparation, perhaps in dense ignorance of their shortcomings in the matter of neatness, are suddenly compelled to seek him for

medical advice. If the whole male population of a country could at any early period of life be temporarily enrolled, with the sole object of establishing cleanliness as a habit, the effect would be to raise the standard of health among the people.

It is notorious that, as among different nations, some are more than others addicted to the practice of bathing. This is frequently ascribable to climate. One would scarcely expect of an Esquimau that he should bathe as frequently as the inhabitant of a more genial climate, seeing that he has not always even water plenteously at his disposal, to say nothing of its temperature when procurable in large quantities. But, this duly recognized, it remains true that, irrespective of climate, certain peoples more than others practice bathing. As we all believe that Englishmen's talk about "tubbing," by which they mean virtually a sponge-bath, is an exaggeration of their recognized relative. virtue in respect of personal cleanliness, as compared with other -nations generally, it is thus admitted to have a basis in fact. It does not rest on so firm a one, however, as it would, if they did not favorably contrast themselves with the French especially, the popular English prejudice as to whose general remissness in this department of manners Punch satirized on the occasion of the Crystal Palace Exhibition by a caricature representing two puzzled Frenchmen gazing earnestly at a pitcher and basin, one saying to the other, "Qu'est-ce que c'est que cela, Alphonse?"

To state the case unqualifiedly, as the English do in their own favor, as against the French, is very misleading. It thus signifies nothing less than that all Frenchmen are dirty, and all Englishmen clean. But it must be remembered that the English are far greater travelers than are the French, world-wide travelers, while the French nationally are no travelers at all, and that the traveling and writing class belong also to the bathing class of any nation. Thus it happens that the tin tub of the Englishman has penetrated the jungles of the world, astonishing even the

tiger lurking in his lair to watch the passing caravan; and thus it happens that Englishmen, who are most imitative of all that originates with Britain, have, to a man, come to associate their tub with the glories of England, and to embalm its virtues in the story of their countless wanderings through a "nasty" world. The English thus, in part fortuitously, in part by design, have had their bathing more en évidence than have the French, and therefore it would be unsafe to infer, because the writing class among Frenchmen seldom mention their personal habits in bathing, that they or their compatriots are universally neglectful of it.

We shall, perhaps, come as nearly as possible to the truth, so far as it can be contained in a general statement, if we should say that the English, as compared with the French, are a cleaner people, but that the higher classes in both countries stand in that respect more nearly on a par than the English would lead us to believe, with whom tubbing and talk about tubbing is somewhat of a fad. We think that, if the reader knows anything of the great facilities for private bathing existing in the principal cities of this country, he can have no doubt of the general and constant use of the bath among all but the lowest classes, and yet we never hear Americans boasting of their tubbing or bathing, although thousands upon thousands of them, both men and women, take a bath of some kind, generally of total immersion, every day of their lives.

We have appealed to the prevalence of the private bath in our cities as the best possible evidence of general bathing here among even people in the humbler walks of life. If we chose, we could go on to demonstrate, from personal observation, that these baths are habitually used. But if they exist, that ought to be sufficient evidence that they are used. People would not go to the expense of having tubs and paying extra water-rates if they derived no advantage from the bathing-facilities. And just as we deem the prevalence of the bath-tub and of water

facilities in our cities to be good evidence of general bathing among all but the lowest classes, so we find the general absence of these in farm-houses to be equally good evidence of general neglect in the country of the social and hygienic practice of the bath. We can remember in our experience but one veritable farm-house where such facilities existed. They were secured by means of a tub in one of the upper stories, for whose supply water was pumped into a reservoir by means of an hydraulic ram in a neighboring rapid brook. It would be in vain to answer that the latter opportunity is not afforded by every situation. It can be readily granted, when replying that there are scarcely any situations where the construction of a small tank to receive the rain-fall from the roof would not be feasible. There are many farm-houses where a small windmill is used for the delivery of a supply of water to cattle, where not a drop is devoted to a reservoir for purposes of ablution. The city-bred look dejectedly around them when inducted into their farm-house bed-rooms, as they catch sight of the Lilliputian towel, pitcher, and basin, rarely of a foot-tub or larger receptacle for bathing purposes. If the length of their stay necessitates a bath, it is only by superlative efforts, perhaps the expressage of a tub to the scene, that their intention can be accomplished. If the visitor be a man, the time be summer, and some kindly stream flow or brook brawl in the neighborhood, the difficulty is solved. Otherwise, the unfortunate sojourner in the land is forced to content himself with the bountiful supply of water that the wash-hand basin will hold.

It is to be hoped that, in the course of time, this neglect, evidenced by the dearth of bathing appliances in the country, will be remedied by increased knowledge of their desirability for comfort and beauty, and appreciation aroused as to the practice of bathing as a social obligation in the interest of personal agreeableness and immunity from sickness and disease. Habit in the individual becomes confirmed. It is transmitted