cautions, a most agreeable and healthful luxury. The sensation of
chilliness first felt is caused by the contraction of the skin and its
blood-vessels, so that the blood is forced back, as it were, into the
deeper parts of the body. This stimulates the nervous system, the
breathing becomes quicker and deeper, the heart beats more vigorously,
and, as a consequence, the warm blood is sent back to the skin with
increased force. This is known as the stage of reaction, which is best
increased by friction with a rough towel. This should produce the pleasant
feeling of a warm glow all over the body.

A cold bath which is not followed by reaction is likely to do more harm
than good. The lack of this reaction may be due to the water being too
cold, the bath too prolonged, or to the bather being in a low condition of
health. In brief, the ruddy glow which follows a cold bath is the main
secret of its favorable influence.

The temperature of the water should be adapted to the age and strength of
the bather. The young and robust can safely endure cold baths, that would
be of no benefit but indeed an injury to those of greater age or of less
vigorous conditions of health. After taking a bath the skin should be
rapidly and vigorously rubbed dry with a rough towel, and the clothing at
once put on.

247. Rules and Precautions in Bathing. Bathing in cold water should
not be indulged in after severe exercise or great fatigue, whether we are
heated or not. Serious results have ensued from cold baths when the body
is in a state of exhaustion or of profuse perspiration. A daily cold bath
when the body is comfortably warm, is a safe tonic for almost all persons
during the summer months, and tends especially to restore the appetite.
Cold baths, taken regularly, render persons who are susceptible to
colds much less liable to them, and less likely to be disturbed by sudden
changes of temperature. Persons suffering from heart disease or from
chronic disease of an important organ should not indulge in frequent cold
bathing except by medical advice. Owing to the relaxing nature of hot
baths, persons with weak hearts or suffering from debility may faint while
taking them.

Outdoor bathing should not be taken for at least an hour after a
full meal, and except for the robust it is not prudent to bathe with the
stomach empty, especially before breakfast. It is a wise rule, in outdoor
or sea bathing, to come out of the water as soon as the glow of r