Henry Baird Favill, AB, MD, LL.D., 1860-1916, a ... - University Library

i64 HENRY BAIRD FAVILL
the excretion of urine. That is typical, regular and reliable.
The other is something which I do not know by experience
but which statistically or experimentally is presented to
us: the fact that the toxicity of the urine, after and in connection
with the bath treatment, is said to be increased,
indicating larger excretion of toxins.
Of this there is little
doubt. At any rate, I am not in a position to deny it.
If, then, this is the theory that underlies these baths, and
the marked improvements of condition, and if time shall
prove this theory to be sound, there can be little doubt that
the bath treatment will be placed on a solid foundation.
There are, however, modifications of the bath treatment
which it is worth our while to discuss. Typically, a patient
is taken out of his bed, with a temperature of 103° -4° -5°,
as the case may be,
and suddenly immersed in a bath of a
temperature of 75° or 80°. It is understood by foreign
authorities and some of the best authorities in this country
that this plan yields better results than does any modification
thereof. My experience with that form of immersion
is so much less than my experience with another, that it is
with some diffidence I express the opinion, namely, that
there is a modification of the Brand treatment which, in
its clinical results, is as good, and which, in its practical
results, is much better.
In hospital, for two reasons, a modification is often
pursued. One is that the actual manual manipulation, the
help necessary to immerse patients in the tub, take them
out, and dispose of them in that way, is considerable, so much
so as to essentially make it almost impracticable in many
hospitals. It would not be impracticable, of course, in a
large and well regulated hospital. It is not an unfeasible
thing to administer the Brand treatment, pure and simple,
in a hospital.
In my own experience I have departed slightly from the
Brand method of treatment, for this reason, that my experience
has taught me what I believe to be true, namely, that