Editing Bathing (section)

====Therapeutic bathing====
[[File:Aachen Kaiserbad 1682.jpg|thumb|Hot springs at [[Aachen]], Germany, 1682]]
[[File:Hydropathic applications at Graefenberg, per Claridge's Hydropathy book.jpg|thumb|upright|Hydropathic applications according to Claridge's Hydropathy book.]]
Public opinion about bathing began to shift in the middle and late 18th century, when writers argued that frequent bathing might lead to better health. Two English works on the medical uses of water were published in the 18th century that inaugurated the new fashion for [[hydrotherapy|therapeutic bathing]]. One of these was by Sir [[John Floyer (physician)|John Floyer]], a physician of [[Lichfield]], who, struck by the remedial use of certain springs by the neighbouring peasantry, investigated the history of cold bathing and published a book on the subject in 1702.
<ref>{{cite book |author=John Floyer & Edward Batnard |title=Psychrolousia. Or, the History of Cold Bathing: Both Ancient and Modern. In Two Parts. The First, written by Sir John Floyer, of Litchfield. The Second, treating the genuine life of Hot and Cold Baths..(exceedingly long subtitles) by Dr. Edward Batnard|year=1715|orig-year=1702| publisher= William Innys. Fourth Edition, with Appendix| location=London | url=https://archive.org/details/psychrolousiaor00bayngoog|access-date=2009-10-22}} Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)</ref> The book ran through six editions within a few years and the translation of this book into German was largely drawn upon by Dr J. S. Hahn of [[Silesia]] as the basis for his book called ''On the Healing Virtues of Cold Water, Inwardly and Outwardly Applied, as Proved by Experience'', published in 1738.<ref name="Metcalfe1898pp5-6">Hahn, J.S. (1738). ''On the Power and Effect of Cold Water.'' Cited in Richard Metcalfe (1898), pp.5–6. Per ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', this was also titled ''On the Healing Virtues of Cold Water, Inwardly and Outwardly applied, as proved by Experience''</ref>

The other work was a 1797 publication by Dr [[James Currie (physician)|James Currie]] of [[Liverpool]] on the use of hot and cold water in the treatment of fever and other illness, with a fourth edition published not long before his death in 1805.<ref>{{cite book |author=Currie, James|title=Including an Inquiry into the Circumstances that render Cold Drink, or the Cold Bath, Dangerous in Health, to which are added; Observations on the Nature of Fever; and on the effects of Opium, Alcohol, and Inanition|edition=4th, Corrected and Enlarged |volume=1|chapter=Medical Reports, on the Effects of Water, Cold and Warm, as a remedy in Fever and Other Diseases, Whether applied to the Surface of the Body or used Internally|year=1805 | publisher= T. Cadell and W. Davies| location = London | url=https://archive.org/details/medicalreportso00currgoog|access-date=2 December 2009}} Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)</ref>  It was also translated into German by Michaelis (1801) and [[Dietrich Hermann Hegewisch|Hegewisch]] (1807). It was highly popular and first placed the subject on a scientific basis. Hahn's writings had meanwhile created much enthusiasm among his countrymen, societies having been everywhere formed to promote the medicinal and dietetic use of water; in 1804 Professor E.F.C. Oertel of [[Ansbach|Anspach]] republished them and quickened the popular movement by the unqualified commendation of water drinking as a remedy for all diseases.
<ref>Claridge, Capt. R.T. (1843, 8th ed), pp.14 49, 54, 57, 68, 322, 335. Note: Pagination in online field does not match book pagination. Type "Oertel" into search field to find citations.</ref>

A popular revival followed the application of hydrotherapy around 1829, by [[Vincenz Priessnitz]], a peasant farmer in [[Lázně Jeseník|Gräfenberg]], then part of the [[Austrian Empire]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Hydropathy; or The Cold Water Cure, as practiced by Vincent Priessnitz, at Graefenberg, Silesia, Austria. |url=https://archive.org/details/hydropathyorcol00clargoog|last=Claridge|first=Capt. R.T.| edition=8th |year=1843| publisher=James Madden and Co|location=London|access-date=2009-10-29}} Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org). Note: The "Advertisement", pp.v-xi, appears from the 5th ed onwards, so references to time pertain to time as at 5th edition.</ref>
<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bradley|first=James|title=Cold cure: Hydrotherapy had exotic origins, but became a firm favourite of the Victorian elite|publisher=Wellcome Trust: News and Features|year=2003|url=http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2003/Features/WTD004517.htm|access-date=17 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011213445/http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2003/Features/WTD004517.htm|archive-date=11 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> This revival was continued by a Bavarian priest, [[Sebastian Kneipp]] (1821–1897), "an able and enthusiastic follower" of Priessnitz, "whose work he took up where Priessnitz left it", after he read a treatise on the cold water cure.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kneipp, Sebastian |title=My Water Cure, As Tested Through More than Thirty Years, and Described for the Healing of Diseases and the Preservation of Health |year=1891 | publisher= William Blackwood & Sons| location = Edinburgh & London | url=https://archive.org/stream/mywatercureastes00kneiuoft#page/n7/mode/2up|access-date=3 December 2009}} translation from the 30th German edition. Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org).</ref> In [[Bad Wörishofen|Wörishofen]] (south Germany), Kneipp  developed the systematic and controlled application of hydrotherapy for the support of medical treatment that was delivered only by doctors at that time. Kneipp's own book ''My Water Cure'' was published in 1886 with many subsequent editions, and translated into many languages.

[[Captain R. T. Claridge]] was responsible for introducing and promoting hydropathy in Britain, first in London in 1842, then with lecture tours in Ireland and Scotland in 1843. His 10-week tour in Ireland included Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Dublin and Belfast,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Ennis Turkish Baths 1869–1878|url=http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/ennis_turkish_baths_article.htm|last=Beirne|first=Peter|publisher=County Cork Library|page=see note 11|access-date=30 October 2009|archive-date=2 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202174111/http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/ennis_turkish_baths_article.htm|url-status=live}} Originally published in ''The Other Clare'' vol. 32 (2008) pp 12–17</ref> over June, July and August 1843, with two subsequent lectures in Glasgow.<ref>{{Cite book|year=1843|author=Anon.|title=Hydropathy, or the Cold Water Cure|series=The Substance of Two Lectures, delivered by Captain Claridge, F.S.A., at the Queens Concert Rooms, Glasgow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMoEAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Capt.+Claridge%22&pg=PA10|access-date=12 June 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Bethsabée, by Jean-Léon Gérôme.jpg|thumb|Painting by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]] of [[Bathsheba]] bathing while being watched by [[David|King David]]]]
The acceptance of [[germ theory]] in the late 1800s provided scientific reasons for frequent bathing.