# Animal bath

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An **animal bath** or ***balneum animale*** is a medical treatment in which the skin or carcass of a freshly slaughtered animal is wrapped around the patient. The idea was that the [vitality](/source/Vitalism) of the animal might be transferred to the patient and the warmth of the treatment may have had some therapeutic effect.[1]

The treatment has been used since antiquity and was thought to be effective for vulnerable newborn babies and [lameness](/source/Lameness).[1][2] One notable patient treated in this way was the young [Kaiser](/source/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor) whose left arm was [palsied](/source/Erb's_palsy) from birth. The arm was placed in the body of a freshly slaughtered [hare](/source/Hare) for 30 minutes twice a week to encourage it to grow normally.[3]

## References

1. Obladen, Michael (2021), "Vitalism and *balneum animale*", *Oxford Textbook of the Newborn: A Cultural and Medical History*, Oxford University Press, p. 34, ISBN 978-0-19-885480-7

1. "[Chambers's Encyclopædia](/source/Chambers's_Encyclop%C3%A6dia)", Vol. 1, W. & R. Chambers, 1868, p. 746

1. John C. G. Röhl (1998), *Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859-1888*, Cambridge University Press, p. 45, ISBN 9780521497527

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Animal bath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_bath) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_bath?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.