Hydropathy patients soaked in cold baths, took showers, or were wrapped in cold wet compresses, sheets, belts, or special wet dresses, as well as drinking large amounts of water. Hydropathy became a popular craze – a treatment for existing medical problems, a preventative for future problems, and as well as a holistic lifestyle. These cartoons were published in the satirical booklet, Pleasures of the Water Cure, by Thomas Onwhyn (1857).
The pseudoscience of hydropathy had its critics. This rhyme was published in a 19th-century issue of The Knickerbocker magazine
It’s water, water everywhere,
And quarts to drink, if you can bear:
‘Tis well that we are made of clay
For common dust would wash away!
To learn more about the history of medicine and questionable cures, see Discovering Quacks, Utopias, and Cemeteries