Showers: from a violent treatment to an agent of cleansing

In the early nineteenth century, physicians designed the first manufactured showers for the purpose of curing the insane. Sustained falls of cold water were prescribed to cool hot, inflamed brains, and to instil fear to tame impetuous wills. By the middle of the century showers had appeared in both asylums and prisons, but shower-related deaths led to their decline. Rather than being abandoned, however, the shower was transformed by the use of warm water to economically wash the skins of prison and asylum populations. In stark contrast to an involuntary, deliberately unpleasant treatment, by the end of the century the shower was a desirable product for the improvement of personal hygiene and population health.

Hydrotherapy and medical entrepreneurship: the "water spell" of Ricardo Jorge

Between 1886 and 1893, the doctor and hygienist Ricardo Jorge was linked to a commercial and medical project on the waters of Gerês. Known for many centuries and used for therapeutic purposes, they were administered on an empirical basis. When new chemical analyses were first published, the empirical properties of these waters took on a new role in hydrotherapy based on their now proven mineral and medicinal qualities. The article discusses in detail Ricardo Jorge's business venture, framing it in the context of the economic collection and treatment potential of mineral waters and the revival of the phenomenon of hydrotherapy, legitimized by new developments in the chemical analysis of waters. The commercial failure to exploit the water resources highlights the difficulties of this project and the complexity of the professional practice of hydrological medicine, although it resulted in a strengthening of Ricardo's authority and prestige in the field of hydrotherapy.

Sebastian Kneipp and the Natural Cure Movement of Germany: Between Naturalism and Modern Medicine

This study discusses the historical significance of the Natural Cure Movement of Germany, centering on the Kneipp Cure, a form of hydrotherapy practiced by Father Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897). The Kneipp Cure rested on five main tenets: hydrotherapy, exercise, nutrition, herbalism, and the balance of mind and body. This study illuminates the reception of the Kneipp Cure in the context of the trilateral relationship among the Kneipp Cure, the Natural Cure Movement in general, and modern medicine. The Natural Cure Movement was ideologically based on naturalism, criticizing industrialization and urbanization. There existed various theories and methods in it, yet they shared holism and vitalism as common factors. The Natural Cure Movement of Germany began in the early 19th century. During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, it became merged in the Lebensreformbewegung (life reform movement) which campaigned for temperance, anti-tobacco, and anti-vaccination. The core of the Natural Cure Movement was to advocate the world view that nature should be respected and to recognize the natural healing powers of sunlight, air, water, etc. Among varied natural therapies, hydrotherapy spread out through the activities of some medical doctors and amateur healers such as Johann Siegmund Hahn and Vincenz Prie βnitz. Later, the supporters of hydrotherapy gathered together under the German Society of Naturopathy. Sebastian Kneipp, one of the forefathers of hydrotherapy, is distinguished from other proponents of natural therapies in two aspects. First, he did not refuse to employ vaccination and medication. Second, he sought to be recognized by the medical world through cooperating with medical doctors who supported his treatment. As a result, the Kneipp cure was able to be gradually accepted into the medical world despite the "quackery" controversy between modern medicine and the Natural Cure Movement. Nowadays, the name of Sebastian Kneipp remains deeply engraved on the memories of German people through various Kneipp spa products, as well as his books such as My water Cure and Thus Shalt Thou Live! Wörishofen, where Kneipp had served as catholic priest as well as hydrotherapist for 42 years from 1855, changed its name to "Bad Wörishofen" ("Wörishofen Spa" in German). The Kneipp Cure and the Natural Cure Movement became a source of ecologica l thought which is currently gaining more and more sympathy from German people. It is regarded as a lieu de mémoire (site of memory) reflecting the collective identity of German people.

Questioning the medical fringe: the "cultural doxy" of Catholic hydropathy in Belgium, 1890-1914

The relationship between orthodox (mainstream) medicine and heterodox (fringe) medicine during the nineteenth century continues to puzzle historians of medicine. Though many have qualified the sharp antagonism between the two as a (biased) historical construct, it remains difficult to lay bare the common problems that structured mainstream and fringe. In this contribution on the reception of hydrotherapy in the Belgian fin de siècle, I attempt to rethink the oppositional character of nineteenth-century fringe medicine at an empirical level. In many ways, I argue, Belgian hydropaths were prototypical proponents of medical heterodoxy, as they defended neohumoralist medical conceptions and shared an integrated Catholic "cosmology". Their moderate critique of bacteriological science, however, also echoed the unease felt by many established physicians. In their pretheoretical beliefs about the healer's intuition, they voiced traditional conceptions that stemmed not from the fringe but from everyday bedside medicine. The popularity of hydrotherapy, I argue, reflected one of many attempts to save a common "cultural doxy" shared by established physicians and heterodox healers alike, in the wake of bacteriology's analysis and standardization.

Hydropathy at home: the water cure and domestic healing in mid-nineteenth-century Britain

This article explores domestic practices of hydropathy in Britain, suggesting that these formed a major contribution to the popularity of the system in the mid-nineteenth century. Domestic hydropathy was encouraged by hydropathic practitioners in their manuals and in the training they provided at their establishments. We argue that hydropathy can be seen as belonging to two interacting spheres, the hydro and the home, and was associated with a mission to encourage self-healing practices as well as commercial interests. Home treatments were advocated as a follow-up to attendance at hydros and encouraged as a low-cost option for those unable to afford such visits. Domestic hydropathy emphasized the high profile of the patient and was depicted as being especially appropriate for women, though in many households it appears to have been a common concern between husbands and wives.

Hungern und Diät nach dem Vinzenz Prießnitz’schen Familien-Wasserbuch von 1847

Vinzenz Priessnitz (1799-1851) did not only carry out water treatments within the scope of his cure, but also movement therapy, aerial and solar baths, natural lifestyle and, above all, diet therapy. According to the literature Priessnitz only seldom allowed starvation within his cure because this would break his preferred principle of restoration. Nevertheless, the widely unknown 'Vinzenz Priessnitz family water book' which he dictated to his daughter Sophie in 1847, includes 13 orders of starvation for a series of indications (breast inflammations, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, cholera, intestines inflammation, tapeworm) and symptoms (diarrhoea and vomiting, heart cramp, head woe, faint, stone pains, feeling of sickness). Furthermore, it comprises diet recommendations on cold water drinking, milk and cold confection of pastry, compote and buttermilk, vegetables, fruit and strawberries, fruit and frozen food, no meat, little meat and cold food. In the view of the literature, these diet principles and means as well as their applications then and now are discussed. As for those days the Priessnitz diet was quite modern, manifold, logic and 'natural'.

Dr James Currie (1756-1805): Liverpool physician, campaigner, hydrotherapist and man of letters

James Currie was born and educated in Scotland but spent most of his professional life in Liverpool, where, as physician to the Liverpool Infirmary, he campaigned against the unsanitary living conditions in the rapidly growing port. He was an early advocate of water cures for fever and other maladies, on which subject he carried out experiments and published a seminal work. He was a pioneer in the use of the clinical thermometer. He was also an early advocate of the abolition of slavery and a man with literary and scientific interests, which brought him into contact with many of his most distinguished contemporaries. These included Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), William Wilberforce (1759-1833), Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) and Robert Burns (1759-96), of whose poetry Currie was the first editor. He died in August 1805 at Sidmouth in Devon, whose parish church carries his memorial.

[The reception of Sebastian Kneipp's hydrotherapeutic method. Its significance in contemporary medicine]

The reports of Władysław Jasiński (1827-1903), Józef Surzycki (1855-1937) and Józef P. Drzewiecki (1860-1907), XIX century Polish physicians from the hydrotherapeutic infirmary in Worishofen are described with full particulars. The Kneipp's hydrotherapeutic methods are presented in more details. The Worishofen's physicians at that time are outlined. The critical view of therapeutic methods in Worishofen by Polish physicians is depicted. The importance of hydrotherapeutic methods for contemporary and present medicine is thoroughly described.

[Priest Sebastian Kneipp and his hydrotherapeutic method. Point of view after over one hundred years]

Vincenz Priestnitz (1799-1851) and Wilhelm Winternitz (1835-1905) were creators of world hydrotherapy. Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1893), the priest at Worishofen, the owner of the hydro-therapeutic infirmary where are found precursors of many hydro-therapeutic methods. He was the author of several popular books based on his experience. The book "My water treatment" is best known. He was also a builder of the curative houses, such as: Sebastianeum, Kneip pianeum, Kinder-Asyl. About 25 thousand people from far-away lands yearly were Kneipp's patients. Pourning, wrapings, compresses, rinsing off, total-baths and partial-baths were used often. The aim of this paper is to present Kneipp's silhouette and his sometimes uncritical hydro-therapeutic methods.

Treatments for depression: wisdom imparted from treatments discarded

Many different forms of treatment have been used with patients suffering from depression. It can be difficult to examine current treatments and anticipate problems, mistakes, and limitations. However, a historical perspective allows an appreciation of the strengths and limitations of older treatments, and sheds light on current strategies. A variety of effective treatments have been discarded and forgotten. Important lessons can be learned by reviewing the history of treatments for depression. Many treatment strategies were based on accidental discovery, but nonetheless were found effective in reducing the symptoms of depression. Both case examples and group studies have documented the effectiveness of these older treatments. A review of discarded treatments reveals how a biological model can be limited in its ability to produce a lasting cure. Caution and skepticism are encouraged when innovative treatments are proposed.

[Some knowledge to the art of medicine: a short view over two alternative methods in Iceland]

Homeopathy was taken up by a vicar in Northern Iceland around 1850 and was very well received right from the beginning. Soon other lay-men and folk-healers took up homeopathy, either partly or entirely, and their practice expanded quickly. Hydropathy was brought to the country at about the same time as homeopathy, but it was brought by a physician, Jón Hjatalín, who became Director General of Public Health in Iceland in 1855. He introduced the method to other physicians by his teachings and to the public in his writings. By his untiring preachings about the benefits of water he most likely got the public to think and act about hygiene sooner than they would have done otherwise. Regarding homeopathy, Dr. Hjaltalín, tried repeatedly to point out that those who wanted to practice it, had to have some qualifications but both the population and the authorities saw that as unnecessary and the Icelandic parliament (Altinget) sided strongly with the homeopaths, even to the point of taking a stand against the physicians. The parliament tried to legalise homeopathy and in 1911 it passed a law that made it legal for anybody to practice homeopathy. No licence or proof of qualification was demanded. The result was that almost every folk-healer took up homeopathy, to a lesser or greater degree, with or without much knowledge of the method. A comparison of the number of patients who visited a homeopath and a local doctor in the same area show that as soon as a doctor became easily accessible, and medicine became better and safer, patients preferred the doctor to the homeopath. The numbers also show that the homeopath always kept a number of patients, indicating that there may always be a market for some alternative to doctors.

[Pouring water over the body--hydrotherapy prescriptions in the late Middle Ages]

Once identified, an illness is met or fought against by an appropriate therapy. The diverse use of water holds a significant place among the therapeutic means which had been developed in Western medicine ever since antiquity. The essay deals with one particular form of application, namely, the gush of water. Focus is laid on the period around 1500. As the relevant medical treatises are based directly on Greek or Roman authors (Hippocrate, Galen, Celsus) or are even commentaries of Arabic handbooks in their Latin translations (Avicenna, Rhazes), antique medicine inevitably had also to be taken into account. The pouring of water, alone or in combination with other prescriptions, was applicable in a variety of illnesses as fevers, pains of the joints, psychic diseases, or even headaches. To counteract the causes (or symptoms) of a disease the water quality could be adjusted by changing its temperature, by adding certain substances (oils, herb extracts or decoctions) or by varying the way of application. The gush of water could serve many purposes and was prescribed to soothe, to refrigerate, to stop a swelling, to widen pores, to shock the patient and even, given the underlying humoural conception of men's nature, to draw away humours from one part of the body to another. The water gush, hence, was not restricted to be used in the case of one particular illness only but was considered an almost general therapeutic means.