S.KEY704] EXTERNAL APPLICATION 581
cartons, each of which contains the exact quantity necessary for one
bath, are very convenient. The bath temperature should be about
102° F. and its duration from ten to twenty minutes according to the
toleration of the patient's skin.
The volatile oil contained in the mustard irritates the skin and, no Cutaneous
doubt by the action of the H-substance, dilates the capillaries; the
deeper organs are correspondingly *decongested\ The flushing of the
skin with blood stimulates sweat secretion.
The mustard bath is for some unexplained reason one of the most Children's
reliable of domestic remedies in cases of infantile convulsions. diseases
In many forms of neuritis—sciatic, intercostal, or brachial—as well Rheumatic
as in cases of generalized fibrositis, a mustard bath relieves pain. diseases
Mud and peat baths
Mud is a mixture of finely comminuted rock particles with water. Mud and peat
Its consistency varies and it may either be deposited from suspension
in water or ejected from volcanoes. Peat is vegetable matter decom-
posed by water and partly carbonized by chemical change, often
forming bogs or mosses.
A general application of mud or peat can usually only be obtained Application
at spas. The usual procedure is to mix the mud or peat with either
plain or mineralized water and, after placing it in an ordinary reclining
or slipper bath, to heat it to the required temperature by a jet of steam.
After an immersion of from twenty to thirty minutes, the adherent
mud is washed off the body and the patient is packed in hot sheets and
left to sweat for about half an hour. The temperature of the bath is
usually about 104* F.; it is only given on alternate days at the most.
Another method is to apply the mud or peat as a general covering, after
which a mackintosh sheet and blankets are tucked round the body
for the usual time. A needle or shower spray followed by a warm dry
pack completes the treatment.
As mud and peat have a higher specific heat than plain water, it takes Effects
longer for the equalization of temperature to occur between the body
and the medium in which it is lying. Owing to the retention of heat,
a rise in the body temperature always occurs. With the evaporation of
the copious sweat which follows the bath the temperature soon returns
to normal.
A general cutaneous stimulation is also promoted by the vegetable
and mineral elements contained in the mud or peat; in short the effect
of a general application of mud is much like that of a universal
poultice.
Hyperaemia of the skin promotes absorption of oedematous swellings Indications
in the region of the joints or among muscular fibres and fascial planes;
thus, provided that the patient is sufficiently robust, mud baths are
indicated in the treatment of practically every kind of chronic rheum- chronic
atism, whether articular or non-articular. rheumatism
Owing to the decongestive effects of a generalized application, mud