Description: Hydropathy advocates the reformation of such personal habits as diet, exercise, dress, and way of life. This book investigates the theories, practices, medical and social philosophies, institutions, and the most prominent proponents of the water-cure movement and studies them in relation to the diverse reform networks of the nineteenth century.
Review Quotes: "[Cayleff] is eloquent and convincing in her demonstration that water cure presented an alternative to the prevailing view of the inherent weakness of female physiology.... [This] richly textured book is a welcome contribution to the growing body of literature on gender and medical practice and should be read by all students of nineteenth-century American medicine."
--Bulletin of the History of Medicine