Hydrotherapy comes home: Antonio Díaz Peña and the first printed manual in Uruguay. Montevideo, 1861
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35954/SM2025.44.2.8.e701Keywords:
balneology/history, water organoleptic characteristics, history of medicine, medicine, traditional, naturopathyAbstract
Hydrotherapy, a medical practice based on the use of water to promote healing, emerged in the 19th century as an alternative to orthodox medicine, which was dominated by invasive and often harmful methods such as bloodletting and the use of drugs. Practiced by so-called hydropaths, this doctrine was based on the stimulus-reaction-habituation triad, administering cold water in various forms: baths, rubs, or immersions. Despite its lack of proven effectiveness, hydropathy was popular and accepted in its day, partly because it did not harm the patient.
Antonio Díaz Peña was a leading figure in the dissemination of this practice in Montevideo. In 1861, he published his Manual de Hidropatía Doméstica (Manual of Domestic Hydrotherapy), an accessible and didactic work, largely translating or copying from European publications, especially those of the Englishman Edward Johnson. The work, printed in Montevideo and considered rare, promoted hydropathy as a “divine science” with roots in the sacrament of baptism, combining natural medicine with evangelical arguments. Díaz Peña defended hydrotherapy as a safe practice, recommending its use in hospitals and in everyday life, as well as proposing the incorporation of hydropaths into official medical institutions.
Orthodox doctors strongly opposed this, defending their monopoly and rejecting treatments that, although ineffective or dangerous, did not cause harm, unlike traditional therapies. Hydrotherapy, accompanied by a wave of publications and sanatoriums, even became a popular option in Montevideo, with clinics such as that of Luis Curbelo Báez. Although it has now fallen into oblivion, in its day it represented a notable alternative to conventional medicine, reflecting the resistance to change and the search for less invasive solutions at that time.
NOTE: This article was approved by the Editorial Committee.
Received for review: May 2025.
Accepted for publication: July 2025.
Correspondence: 21 de Septiembre 2713, Apt. 401, C.P. 11300, Tel.: (+598) 27101418, Montevideo, Uruguay. Contact email: asoiza@adinet.com.uy
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