TO WASH, OR NOT TO WASH?

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10765, 13 May 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

TO WASH, OR NOT TO WASH?

Authorities are sharrjly divided over the extraordinary pronouncement made by Sir Almroh Wright, the famous physician, concerning the advisability of washing. Sir Almroth regards washing as an over-estimated fetish. But his advice is scoffed at, or rather treated as a joke, by a number of people who have a good "deal to do with washing. Dr F. Yv. Alexander, medical of Poplar and a prominent authority m sanitation, roundly condemns the. heresy.

"It is too ridiculous to teil us not to wash and bathe/' he said. "What does Sir Almroth Wright think we have built all our baths and washhouses for:' The public would soon get into a pretty unpleasant condition if they gave "P «'«sli"But is then; not a chance that he was pulling people's legs? It rather seems as if lie was having a joke." Mr Thomas Barratt, of Messrs A. and F. Pears, the celebrated soap firm, characterised the decrying of washing as '•'absurd." "I can sum up my views, he said, "in the words 1 spoke to one of our shareholders some time ago: 'lf ever people give up sonp our perfumery sales will go up enormously.' "Sir Almroth Wright, when he condemns washing, is one man against a thousand." Mr Barratt added. "But :s he serious?" , ~ Mr Eustace Miles, athlete and allround reformer, is a devotee of washprovided it is done properly. His view is that the question should be, not' Do we wash too much?' but 'Do we wash properly?" He said:— ••It is rather a complicated question, because, of course, the skin, when it is constantly washed with hot water, does lose some of its protective powers. But • also, when it is washed, it loses some ot its waste products—some of its poison. "Bv which it loses most is a quesion. I thiiik, on the whole, considering how many mistakes people "make in diet, and also'by breathing foul air, that they -ret Wd of more poison by washing, and To the balance is pn the right side. This is what I consider the best way of washin" after exercise— though some are too ' lazv to do it: Have a hot bath and scrub vourself well. Follow that with a cold washing, and then very vigorously nib the skin with the hands after they i have been dipped in cold water. Finally rub with pure olive oil.' ' ' The manager of the Loudon and I rovincial Turkish Bath Company declared at the Jermyn street premises of the company that washing was ot the greatest assistance to the necessary natural „,„ r .,,« s that is always going on ot cbanging the skin. "There are 7.000,000 pores' in the human body. he said, "and they must be kept clear. I'or those who are unable to take exercise that will make them perspire, i urkisli baths are -necessary. They are not merelv refreshing, but they, are positively essential to the proper care of the skin Those who work at manual labor are able to perspire freely enough. Baths, perhaps, are not necessary for them to such an extent, A good rub down with a rough towel does a great deal of good, though after exercise anyone will find a Turkish bath comforting. I think, however, that the prevailing practice of taking cold. baths after athletics is very often carried to ext-emes. Many men who cannot really stand it take a cold bath just when thev have opened their pores, and :u must be a strain to them."