SUMMARY (Ridvan Askin, edited by Deborah Madsen):

This manual introduces and explains the principles and practice of the water-cure. In addition to chapters on the qualities and varied internal and external applications of water, the book also contains an introductory chapter on Vincent Priessnitz, a short chapter on “Exercise, Air, Clothing, Light, and Sleep” (113), descriptions of various diseases and their water-cure treatments with case studies, and a separate chapter on diet as recommended and practiced by Priessnitz.

Generally, Shew advocates for “a very plain diet” (16), which predominantly means abstention from “tea and coffee drinking, the use of heating and stimulating condiments, greasy and concentrated forms of food, &c.” (52). Dietary recommendations for specific diseases and ailments invariably insist on simplicity and usually consist of some variety and combination of plant-based foods. Shew emphasizes Priessnitz's conviction that bread and water are the most important items of human nutrition, particularly “coarse or brown rye, and brown rye and barley bread” (251). According to Shew, the breakfast and supper Priessnitz serves usually only consist of “bread, butter, and milk, with the addition, perhaps, of fruit at certain seasons of the year.” Sometimes “boiled potatoes, unpeeled” are added at suppertime (252). For Shew, the priority is that  food be “of very plain character, containing never more than a very small amount of sugar, or other saccharine matter, no eggs, spices, or salt," and that it is "sufficiently free from concentration of every kind” (254). In passing, Shew references William Alcott (41), while Sylvester Graham and the Graham system are favorably discussed at some length (257-266).