lly, the generally-adopted method of applying the heat to the
bather might be greatly improved, but practically it has been found the
best. Into these questions, however, I shall enter when treating of the
heating and ventilating of the bath. For the present, it will suffice to
say that the chief object to be attained in the bath is the supplying of
an abundance of _pure hot air_ to the various sudorific chambers, and
the rapid withdrawal of the foul air and exhalations.

Since the disposition of the various apartments is governed by the
methods of bathing in vogue, it will be necessary to first give the
reader a brief account of the various processes undergone by the bather.
The object of the profuse perspiration to be attained is twofold--(1) To
cleanse the blood of impurities; and (2) to loosen the dead scales of
the epidermis, or scarf-skin, that spreads itself everywhere over the
true skin or cuticle. Besides this, however, physiologists tell us that
the heat itself has a beneficial effect on the body in other ways, and
is, in cases of disease, a most powerful curative and remedial agent.
This latter fact explains the necessity for the high temperatures
employed, as mere perspiration could be attained with a comparatively
low degree of heat.

The course of treatment to be undergone by the bather, as given by Sir
Erasmus Wilson, is--(1) Exposure of the naked body to hot dry air. (2)
Ablution with warm and cold water. (3) Cooling and drying the skin. In
addition to these, however, there should be added the process of
"massage" or shampooing before washing.

The perspiration is attained in the various hot rooms--the _Tepidarium_,
_Calidarium_, and _Laconicum_. The nature of these apartments--which I
shall hereinafter consider in detail--must be determined by the
pretensions of the establishment.

Perspiration having been induced, the bather submits to the kneading of
the muscles of the trunk and limbs by the shampooer. For this operation,
which restores tone and vigour to the muscular and nervous system, a
separate and distinct apartment should, in high class baths, be
provided. Vigorous friction with a coarse glove succeeds the shampooing.
This detaches the dead portions of the epidermis, and is an operation
generally practised in the _Lavatorium_--a washing room adjoining the
shampooing room. In the same place the bather receives copious ablutions
with warm water. The less robust conclude the cleansing process wi