Show TREATMENT FOR RHEUMATISM The Russians Take an Ant Bath and Cure Themselves of the Disease The Russian peasants more especially those residing in the neighborhood of Moscow have a peculiar and original method of treating themselves for that bane of mankind rheumatism Many cures even in very bad cases are it is claimed effected by making the patient pa-tient take ant baths The manner of preparing these baths is as follows An anthill is sought and when found a sack is filled with ants ants eggs and if it be considered necessary neces-sary a certain Quantity of the earth which composes the hill The sack is then closed hermetically and carried to the home of the sufferer A warm bath is already prepared here and the sack is plunged bodily into the hot water Soon this latter begins to give off a peculiar pe-culiar pungent odor characteristic of formic acid The bath is now ready for the patients immersion The action of thp hnth on the skin Is i one of intense u nn n irritation and the result seems to be a 1 I drawing out of the evil and the consequent con-sequent disappearance of the rheumatic pains It is advisable for anyone who may be tempted to try this remedy to be careful care-ful not to remain too long in the ant bath as the consequences might be a total disorganization of the skin which would peel off due to the violent action of the acid |