The Cold Bath in Typhoid Fever.—M. Josias reports his experience in the systematic use of the cold bath in the treatment of typhoid fever. During the years 1888 and 1889 he has treated in various hospitals 36 cases by this method, giving the bath at 18° every three hours when the bodily temperature reached or exceeded 39°. One patient died, the mortality therefore being 2.77 per cent. Regarding sex 29 patients were males and 7 females. The cases treated may be divided as follows: Benign, regular and hyperpyretic, 27; grave, with or without complications, 9; relapses, in spite of the cold bath, 4; relapses, treated by the cold bath when the cases had previously been treated by another method.
These 36 patients took 2,227 baths at 18°, an average number of 61 for each patient. The baths were always begun as soon as the diagnosis of typhoid fever