HERBET'S TEPID DOUCHE.


Keeping the body clean is indispensable for the preservation of good
health, through obtaining an operation of the skin and expelling matter
whose presence aids in the development of diseases. It is unfortunately
necessary to say that, considering the population as a whole, the
proportion of those who take baths is very small. This is due to the
fact that the habit of cleanliness, which should become a necessity, has
not been early inculcated in every individual; and the reason that this
complement to education is not realized is because the means of
satisfying its exigencies are usually wanting.

We shall not speak of the improved processes that are used solely by the
rich or well-to-do, as these become impracticable where it is a question
of the working classes or of large masses of individuals. It is, in
fact, the last named category that interests us, and we are convinced
that if we get young soldiers and children to hold dirtiness in horror,
we shall be sure that they will later on take care of their bodies
themselves.

The most tempting solution of this question of washing seems to be found
in the use of large pools of running tepid water; but such a process is
too costly for general use, and the most economical one, without doubt,
consists in giving tepid douches.