BIGWIGS OF BATHING

Vincenz Priessnitz Austrian, 1799-1851

Often considered the founder of modern hydrotherapy, Priessnitz is credited with creating the ‘wet compress’. When this idea failed to work, he introduced the notion of partial baths. Although he himself was almost illiterate, his work was documented by other doctors, who took his research and utilised it to further develop his methods. He conducted his work in Graefenberg, half-way up a mountain, where he was particularly talented at treating patients suffering from mercury poisoning.

MONTEZUMA AZTEC, 1466-1520

The last Aztec emperor, who