Women : their diseases and their treatment / by John King.

  • King, John, 1813-1893.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Women : their diseases and their treatment / by John King. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    tion. And when an exposure to pure air is accompanied with, moderate exercise, the system at once feels their invigorating influences. Cleanliness of person is a most important item to the female. Between the skin and the internal organs of the body there is an intimate sympathy, so that whenever the functions of the former are deranged or obstructed, the latter are certain to suffer in proportion. Beside which, the skin is designed to eliminate from the system a large amount of the decomposed and useless matter of the body, a retention of which always gives rise to disease. Hence, the necessity of keeping the sur- face of the body in a clean condition; not merely to remove dirt from parts constantly exposed to view, but from the whole person. The face, neck, limbs, feet, and whole body, as well as the genital parts, should be bathed at least as often as twice a week, with soap and water, and in drying the limbs and body a coarse towel should be applied with brisk friction, so as to produce an agreeable glow upon the surface. In order to pre- vent taking a cold from the evaporation of the water chill- ing the surface and contracting the pores of the skin, it will be the better plan to bathe one limb at a time and then dry it, then one side of the body, followed by the other, and so on. Married females should likewise, in addition to the above, make frequent use of vaginal injections of cold water, with or without the addition of Castile soap, from which they will derive much benefit, and which will prevent or relieve unpleasant symptoms arising from a relaxed or diseased state of these parts. As singular as it may appear in this enlightened age, there are many females, otherwise well educated, who seldom or never bathe their bodies, and who look with suspicion upon those who do, especially if, at the same time, vaginal injections are used; they cannot conceive that any others than those laboring under some filthy disease would require these neces- sary measures for health and personal comfort. Should any such peruse these pages, it is to be hoped they will divest themselves of such erroneous impressions, and secure the advantages to be derived by pursuing the course here recom- mended.