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Drawing of several women sitting in shallow tubs, underneath a faucet, being bathed by another, drying with a towel, sitting on a swing.
People sitting in shallow baths receiving hydrotherapy cures at Gräfenberg, Germany. (Photo: Wellcome Images).

First hydropathy clinic opens in the United States.

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People sitting in shallow baths receiving hydrotherapy cures at Gräfenberg, Germany. (Photo: Wellcome Images).

Hydropathy, or the "water cure," uses everything from ice baths to wet towel wraps and the ingestion of water in varying temperatures and amounts to support healing. More than 200 such clinics will open in the U.S. over the next 50 years. They are generally opened as retreats that are focused on rest and relaxation in beautiful rural areas. Hydropathy schools, journals, and clinics will proliferate. Hydropathic doctors are critical of both allopathic and homeopathic traditions, which they see as focused on "pill-giving."