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diff --git a/75757-0.txt b/75757-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77f780c --- /dev/null +++ b/75757-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2166 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75757 *** + + + + + + +_Health Primers._ + +[Illustration] + + + + +Health Primers. + + +EDITORS. + + J. LANGDON DOWN, M.D., F.R.C.P. + HENRY POWER, M.B., F.R.C.S. + J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M.D. + JOHN TWEEDY, F.R.C.S. + + +BATHS AND BATHING. + +CONTRIBUTORS TO THE SERIES: + + _G. W. BALFOUR, M.D., St. And., F.R.C.P. Edin._ + + _J. CRICHTON-BROWNE, M.D. Edin., F.R.S. Edin._ + + _SIDNEY COUPLAND, M.D. Lond., M.R.C.P._ + + _JOHN CURNOW, M.D. Lond., F.R.C.P._ + + _J. LANGDON DOWN, M.D. Lond., F.R.C.P._ + + _TILBURY FOX, M.D. Lond., F.R.C.P._ + + _J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M.D. St. And., F.G.S., F.S.S._ + + _W. S. GREENFIELD, M.D. Lond., M.R.C.P._ + + _C. W. HEATON, F.C.S., F.I.C._ + + _HARRY LEACH, M.R.C.P._ + + _G. V. POORE, M.D. Lond., F.R.C.P._ + + _HENRY POWER, M.B. Lond., F.R.C.S._ + + _W. L. PURVES, M.D. Edin., M.R.C.S._ + + _J. NETTEN RADCLIFFE, Ex-Pres. Epidl. Soc., &c._ + + _C. H. RALFE, M.A., M.D., Cantab., F.R.C.P._ + + _S. RINGER, M.D. Lond., F.R.C.P._ + + _JOHN TWEEDY, F.R.C.S._ + + _JOHN WILLIAMS, M.D. Lond., M.R.C.P._ + + + LONDON: + HARDWICKE AND BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY. + 1879. + + + + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET + AND CHARING CROSS. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF BATHS 5 + + THE VARIETIES OF BATHS 20 + + BATHING LOCALITIES 45 + + THE USES OF BATHS 68 + + A VISIT TO A BATH 83 + + + + +BATHS AND BATHING. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF BATHS. + + +Since the influence of baths is exerted primarily upon the skin, and +through the medium of the skin, upon the deeper-lying tissues and +organs of the body, it is an absolute necessity for the reader at the +outset to be made aware of the structure of the skin and its functions, +as well as the relations which it bears to deeper-lying organs. + +If the skin, say of the thumb, be looked at with a lens of moderate +power, its surface is seen to be arranged in ridges and furrows, like a +ploughed field; and at frequent intervals along the ridges are little +depressions, which are known as the pores of the skin. These pores are +the openings of the sweat ducts, and it is through these pores that +the perspiration exudes. They are exceedingly numerous, and it has +been calculated that there are as many as 2,800 to every square inch +of surface, or about seven millions of them altogether. The ridges are +seen to be divided into a series of minute hillocks, or _papillæ_, +which are arranged in lines. These papillæ are the organs of touch, and +are probably as numerous as the pores. They contain in their interior +either loops of blood-vessels or nerve-endings. + +These nerve-endings in the papillæ are of three kinds, which are +readily distinguishable, and are known as tactile corpuscles, pacinian +bodies, or end bulbs, according to the form which they take. Between +the superficial and deep layers of the skin, the so-called cuticle and +cutis, is a layer which partakes somewhat of the character of both. +This is called the rete mucosum, and it is here that the pigment, found +in the skin of the negro and in certain parts of the skin of white +races also, is located. + +Beneath the skin, in the subcutaneous tissue, are situated the +sweat-glands, which are microscopical bundles of tubing, having one end +running through the skin to terminate in the pores. These tubes are, or +rather would be, if straightened out, about a quarter of an inch long; +and it is estimated that the length of them in the entire body is about +28 miles! They pass through the upper layer of the skin or cuticle +spirally, so that, although it is an easy matter for fluid to pass +_out_, the passage in the opposite direction is by no means so easy. +Each sweat-gland is plentifully supplied with blood-vessels, and is +surrounded by a thin muscular coat, which is presumably able to exert, +by its contraction, a certain amount of pressure, and so drive the +secretions of the gland onward towards the pore, or external aperture. + +The hair follicles, like the sweat-glands, are situated in the +subcutaneous tissue. They are hollow receptacles, from the bottom of +which the hairs grow. Alongside of each of these hair follicles is a +pair of glands, called the sebaceous glands, which provide that small +quantity of natural grease with which our hair is supplied. These +glands resemble little bunches of grapes. The hair follicles are also +furnished with a couple of small muscles, which, by their contraction, +can cause a sensible erection of the hair. In certain parts of the +skin there are glands which furnish a special odorous secretion. +These are most plentiful in the arm-pits and between the toes. In the +skin itself, and immediately beneath it, is a network of “lymphatic” +vessels, whose function, it would seem, is mainly to drain the tissue +of waste products. These vessels run towards the “lymphatic glands,” +which, when enlarged, are often recognisable at the side of the neck, +and which are very generally distributed throughout the body. In +certain parts of the skin are special cells containing pigment. + +Thus we see that the skin, which to the casual observer is an almost +structureless membrane, is in reality a most complex and elaborate +organ, richly supplied with blood-vessels, lymphatic vessels, and +nerves, having its millions of papillæ and pores, and its miles of +sweat-ducts. The hair follicles, with their sebaceous glands and +muscles, are also to be reckoned by the million, and its odoriferous +glands and special pigment-bearing cells probably by the thousand. + +What are the various uses of this elaborate organ? In the first place, +it serves as a protection to the softer parts beneath. Secondly, it +serves to regulate the temperature of the body, by preventing, on +the one hand, the too rapid radiation of the natural heat, and, on +the other, by providing a very large surface for the evaporation of +the constantly exuding perspiration, it prevents the overheating of +the body. Thirdly, it is constantly removing from the body certain +effete materials. These are the scales of the cuticle (which we remove +whenever we wash and rub the surface), the perspiration, and the +sebaceous, or greasy secretion. The amount of sweat varies immensely; +it may be almost nil, or as much as a pint in an hour. The secretion +of sweat is influenced by the temperature of the air, by exercise, +by the drinking of fluids (especially warm fluids), and notably by +the emotions. There can be no doubt that the secretion of a certain +amount of sweat is necessary for perfect health; and it is the common +experience of all that the checking of perspiration is very liable to +be followed by dangerous internal congestion. + +It has been demonstrated on some of the lower animals that, if the skin +be shaved and varnished, death speedily ensues. This has been spoken +of as a sort of cutaneous suffocation, death taking place owing to the +charging of the blood with matter which should have been removed by the +skin. It has been asserted, however, that death is due to cold in these +cases; and it has certainly been demonstrated that animals so treated +live much longer provided they be kept warm by a layer of cotton wool. +Sometimes the skin is superficially destroyed by accidental burning or +scalding, and it is well recognised that a burn or scald is dangerous +to life in proportion to its superficial extent, rather than to its +depth or severity. + +The blood-vessels of the skin vary much in size under different +circumstances, and the different degrees of pallor or redness of the +skin are due to the condition of these superficial blood-vessels. The +phenomenon of blushing is well known; and this should serve to remind +us that the emotions can not only influence the amount of perspiration, +but the size of the cutaneous blood-vessels. The intimate relations +existing between the skin and the great nerve-centres should never be +lost sight of. + +The cutaneous blood-vessels enlarge in certain fevers, as scarlet-fever +and measles; they can be made to enlarge also by the application +of warmth, or irritants, such as mustard, or the stroke of a whip. +Contraction of the blood-vessels is most marked in conditions of fear, +or as the result of the prolonged application of cold. + +Not only have the nerve-centres a great influence on the skin, but the +skin is capable of exerting a great influence on the nerve-centres. +This is not to be wondered at, when we bear in mind the myriads of +nerve-bearing papillæ with which the skin is beset. When the soles +of the feet are tickled, the legs are involuntarily moved; and when +the arm-pits and sides of the chest are tickled, loud laughter is the +result. These two phenomena are examples of what is known as _reflex +action_, i.e., the tickling produces an effect upon the nerve-endings +in the skin, and this effect travelling to the nerve-centres (the +spinal cord or brain) is _reflected_ to the muscles, and produces +movement of the leg or laughter. When the body is suddenly immersed in +cold water, a not uncommon result is a shivering and a chattering of +the teeth; and when cold water is sprinkled on the forehead or chest, +deep inspiration and a catching of the breath is produced. These are +examples of “reflex movements,” due to impressions made upon the nerves +of the skin; and since many of the results of bathing are undoubtedly +due to this kind of reflex action, it is very important to bear it +constantly in mind. The connection between the nervous centres (the +brain and spinal marrow) and the skin is shown also in the occurrence +of what is known as goose skin, or _cutis anserina_, which is caused +not only by the application of cold to the surface of the body, but +even more readily by the mental states which make the “Hair of our +flesh stand up.” The rationale of this phenomenon is the contraction +and shortening of the little muscles which we have seen to be in +intimate relationship with the hair follicles. There can be no doubt +also that the pigment cells, which are scattered thinly throughout our +skins, are subject to the control of the nervous centres, and it is +well known that the tint of the complexion will sometimes vary with +emotional states, as it certainly does with physical states. These +considerations are sufficient to show that the skin plays a most +important part in the animal economy, as a protective, a secreting, a +vascular, and a nervous organ. + +An all-important point to be determined with regard to the skin is +its power of _absorption_--that is, its power, if any, of allowing +substances to pass through it, and so reach the interior of the body. +It is well ascertained that, if the surface of the skin be broken, +absorption takes place with great rapidity, and that even when the +skin is not broken, it is comparatively easy to get absorption of +certain matters, such as mercurial ointment or extract of belladonna, +provided they be applied with a certain amount of friction. We saw that +the ducts of the sweat-glands perforated the skin spirally, and the +friction has the effect of opening the mouths of these little ducts, +so that the greasy or sticky preparation gets lodged within them and +absorbed. + +It has been proved with tolerable certainty that gases, such as +carbonic acid and oxygen, are capable of penetrating and permeating the +skin in small quantities, but it is extremely doubtful if water is ever +absorbed through the skin. It has been attempted to settle the question +by weighing the body before and after a prolonged immersion in the +water, but such experiments are so beset with fallacies that they are +almost worthless. The fact that shipwrecked sailors are in the habit of +successfully lessening their thirst by immersion of the body in water, +or by wetting their clothes, is well known, but this effect may be due +to the arrest of the cutaneous evaporation, or by an effect upon the +nerves. + +At all events it seems safest, in the present state of our knowledge, +to assume that water is not absorbed through the skin; or if it be, +that it is absorbed in such extremely small quantities that the effect +of baths can in no sense be due to the absorption of the water in +which the body is immersed. As to the absorption of the various salts +contained in sea-water or mineral waters, there is no evidence whatever +that these are ever absorbed even in the most minute quantities. If +the salt dissolved in sea-water were absorbed through the skin, it is +tolerably certain that sea-bathing, far from being the luxury which +it is, would be regarded as a highly dangerous and most unpleasant +practice. + +Baths of all kinds serve, or may be made to serve, as vehicles for +temperature, and by their aid we are enabled to surround the body +with a temperature which is different to its own. Before we can fully +understand the effect of hot and cold baths on the economy, it is +necessary to enter into some discussion of the nature and source of +the natural heat, of the body. The natural heat of the human body +is between 98° and 99° of Fahrenheit’s scale; and this temperature, +roughly speaking, is uniformly maintained by the healthy body under all +the varying circumstances to which it may be subjected. In the arctic +regions, and in the tropics the temperature of the body rests at 98·6°; +or, if variations occur, they are so slight in amount as to be hardly +noticeable. In a cold atmosphere, therefore, the body has the power of +maintaining its heat; and in a warm atmosphere it is equally able to +maintain its coolness. This is a remarkable fact, and is due to the +power possessed by the human body of adjusting the production and loss +of heat. Heat is produced in the body by the combustion of food and +tissues, exactly as heat is produced in a fireplace by the combustion +of coal. The amount and rapidity of this combustion necessarily varies +with the amount and nature of the food consumed and the activity of +exercise and other vital processes. The most active tissue in the body +is the blood; through its agency most of the combustion processes +are carried on, and by its rapid circulation to all parts of the +body the most distant points of the human frame are kept at the same +temperature. The temperature of the blood is due to the amount of +combustion taking place in the tissues, and the amount of combustion +taking place in the tissues is due to the amount and energy of their +blood supply, which last depends upon the force of the heart’s action +and the size of the blood-vessels which have the power of contracting +and dilating, and which are subordinated to the regulating influence of +the nerve-centres. If that part of the nerve-centres (the upper part +of the spinal cord) which controls the size of the vessels be injured +or destroyed, the combustion processes going on in the body seem to +get beyond control and the temperature may be dangerously increased or +decreased, the exact reason of one or the other phenomenon not being +known. The limits of body temperature which are compatible with life +are not very wide; for if the temperature rise to 109° or sink to 76° +death will inevitably result, and a rise or fall of 7° from the natural +temperature is decidedly dangerous. Seeing how narrow are the limits of +temperature within which life is possible, we cannot but be amazed at +the marvellous arrangements for maintaining the normal level of animal +heat. The body is cooled by the evaporation going on from the lungs; by +the more important evaporation going on from the skin (every one who +has covered a portion of the skin with spirit and has encouraged its +evaporation by blowing upon it knows practically the cooling effect +of evaporation), and by the radiation of heat from the surface of the +body, and the conduction of heat from the body by things in contact +with it. + +The _immediate_ effect of a cold bath is to chill the _surface_ of +the body, the temperature of which, as tested by a thermometer, may +fall several degrees. At the same time there is produced a pallor of +the surface and goose-skin. While the surface is cooled, however, +the blood itself undergoes an increase of temperature, due to an +increase of the combustion processes going on in the body, of which +we get additional evidence in the increase of the rate of the pulse +and respiration, and an augmented discharge of carbonic acid from the +lungs. There is a sudden sense of chilliness, and this impression, made +upon the nerves of the skin, produces, by its action on the brain and +spinal cord, some slight mental excitement and shivering of the limbs. +After the bath has been continued some little time the temperature of +the blood falls (sometimes as much as three or four degrees), the pulse +and respiration get slow, the shivering gives place to lassitude, and +the mental excitement to listlessness. On removal from the bath the +phenomenon of “reaction” sets in. The vessels of the skin enlarge, the +chilliness gives place to warmth, and the feeling of uneasiness is +succeeded by a sense of comfort. This reaction follows most quickly +when the bath is of short duration, and when its effects are suddenly +induced. The shorter the bath the less is the ultimate depression of +the temperature of the blood. The shorter the bath the greater is its +power of _stimulating_ function; the longer it is continued the greater +is the effect of _cooling_. + +The effect of a _warm_ bath is to raise slightly the temperature of the +surface and the temperature of the blood. The pulse and respiration are +both quickened, and the escape of carbonic acid from the lungs is also +increased. The blood-vessels of the skin get dilated, and the surface +is reddened in proportion to the heat of the water. Warm baths of a +moderate temperature can be borne for a longer time than cold baths; +but if the temperature be too high, and the bath too long-continued, +faintness is liable to occur. On removal from the hot bath the skin +is in a very delicate and susceptible state, and the vessels are +liable to “re-act” in the direction of extreme contraction, in which +case dangerous internal congestion may occur. If, however, the skin +be protected, and the patient be placed in a warm room, or in bed, +a violent perspiration will ensue. In the cold bath the muscles are +liable to become stiff; but in the warm bath a stiff and fatigued +muscle will resume its suppleness. After a hard day’s hunting a warm +bath is a well-known and agreeable luxury. + +The phenomenon which is popularly known as “reaction,” and which occurs +after both hot and cold baths, is a most remarkable one, and seems +to show that our bodies resent any interference with their function. +Thus experiments have shown that if the temperature of a healthy man +be raised or depressed by any artificial means, such as hot or cold +baths, the subsequent reaction in the direction of the depression or +exaltation of the temperature is such that the mean temperature of +health is accurately maintained. A German observer, Jurgensen, found +by a series of accurate observations on a patient who submitted to +a series of baths of a temperature of 50° Fahr., each bath lasting +twenty-five minutes, that notwithstanding the rapid abstraction of +heat, which gave rise to shivering, lasting for several hours, the +diminution of bodily temperature which occurred during the bath was +followed, after an interval of four or five hours, by an elevation +which precisely compensated it, so that the mean normal temperature was +maintained in spite of the interference of the physiologist. + +It will have been observed that the ultimate result of both hot and +cold bathing, if conducted in moderation, is about the same, viz., an +increased circulation of blood through the skin. In both cases also, +the combustion going on within the body is increased, as evidenced by +the escape of an increased quantity of carbonic acid from the lungs. +In the case of the cold bath, this increased combustion is due to the +stimulating effect of the cold water, while in the hot bath it is due +to the artificial heat facilitating the natural combustion processes +of the body. The effects of the hot and cold bath upon the combustion +processes going on in the body may, not inaptly, be compared to the +effect produced upon a furnace by the hot and cold blast, both of which +encourage combustion and increase the heat given off by the furnace; +but the hot blast so facilitates combustion that the same work is done +by its aid, with an expenditure of 2-1/2 tons of coal, that is done +by the cold blast with an expenditure of 8 tons of coal. If we want a +fire to burn well, we have several courses open to us; the first is to +poke it, which may be regarded as simple stimulation; the second is to +supply it with a cold blast, in which case we supply large quantities +of oxygen, but at the same time counteract the heating effect by +the coldness of the blast. By employing a hot blast, the combustion +is facilitated without any counteracting chilling. By each of these +methods we hasten the ultimate extinguishing of the fire, unless +fresh fuel be added. The employment of the hot blast entails the most +economical use of the fuel. + +It has been said, with regard to the use of baths, that _cold +stimulates, but heat facilitates function_. “Between the two +therapeutic opposites,” says Braun, “a similar relation exists, as +between winter and summer life, and between sea and mountain air. +The physician who has, to a certain extent, acquired an insight into +the diseased side of mankind, divides the chronically sick into two +groups, the one consisting of individuals whose organism has sufficient +capital to afford the strong reaction required, the other consisting of +persons needing nice management, and whose own power cannot be exposed +to any great demand. For the one there is the system of exercise, +cold treatment, cold baths, sea baths, and sea air; for the second, +indulgence, warm treatment, warm climate, warm baths, mountain air.” + +Seeing that both hot and cold baths increase the natural combustion +of the body, it will be evident that persons undergoing a course of +treatment by either method should be exceedingly careful that during +the progress of their course of treatment the best fuel only is placed +on the human furnace. They should eat the simplest and most nutritious +food, and breathe nothing but the purest air. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE VARIETIES OF BATHS. + + +The _tepid_ bath has a temperature of from 85° to 92° Fahr., the _warm_ +bath a temperature between 92° and 98° Fahr., and the _hot_ bath a +temperature of from 98° to 112° Fahr. + +The _cool_ bath has a temperature from 60° to 75° Fahr., and the _cold_ +bath is of a temperature below 60° Fahr., downwards to the freezing +point of water. + +Hot or cold water may be used locally. We are familiar with the +hip-bath and foot-bath, and occasionally we meet with baths of a +special shape, made for the reception of the arms or hands, in cases +where their local treatment has been deemed necessary. + +Various plans have been devised for increasing the stimulating effect +of water. One method of attaining this object is by keeping the water +constantly in motion, as is done in the so-called _wave bath_, common +in some parts of the Continent. Another way is by so increasing the +size of the bath that the patient is able to move freely in it. In a +big bath, not only is the good effect of exercise able to be added to +that of bathing, but the concussion of the water on the surface of the +body, and the constant change of the stratum of water in contact with +the body vastly increases the power of the bath in influencing the +temperature and stimulating the skin. + +The best of all baths is the _swimming bath_, for in it the bather can +indulge in a free exercise of his limbs, such as is hardly attainable +under any other circumstances. Swimming is a very valuable exercise, +because it employs the arms equally with the legs, and leads to a +healthy development of the muscles of the chest. Nearly all good +swimmers are big chested. + +The _douche_ is a name given to a stream of water, either hot or cold, +which is made to fall heavily or with force upon a part. It acts partly +by the force of mechanical impact, and partly by its temperature. It +is a very exhausting method of treatment, and must on no account be +used too long. A column of water 12 feet high, allowed to fall upon the +head, is so painful that Esquirol, who submitted to it, described it +as resembling the continued breaking of a column of ice on the head, +followed by a feeling of stupefaction, which lasted an hour afterwards. +The douche was formerly much used in lunatic asylums, and was regarded +as a specific against delusions, the unhappy creature possessed by +delusive ideas being held beneath the douche until he recanted; and +such was the agony thus caused, that the mere threat of the douche was +often sufficient to control the wildest of maniacs. Those who have +undergone the process of “shampooing the head,” as practised by the +hair-dressers of our time, will remember the effect of a stream of cold +water allowed to flow upon the head for too long a time. + +The most powerfully stimulating action is obtained by the use of the +_Scottish Douche_, which consists in the alternate use of streams of +cold and hot water. By the hot stream the “reaction” after the cold +stream is greatly encouraged. In most of the swimming baths to be found +on the Continent, a pump is provided, in order that a patient may +himself apply the douche to any joint requiring it, and at the same +time encourage his reactive glow, by the exercise of pumping. + +In most great bathing establishments two douches at least are provided, +one called the _descending douche_, which may be applied to the head, +shoulders, trunk, or limbs; and the other called the _ascending +douche_, which is designed for throwing a stream of water into the +bowel, a method of treatment which is advocated for conditions which it +is unnecessary to discuss in this place. + +_Hot and cold affusion_ are merely mild forms of the douche. + +The _shower bath_ differs from the douche only in the division of the +stream of water by causing it to flow through a suitable colander. This +method of treatment is severe and exhausting, and must be used with +caution, especially with weakly people. + +The _needle bath_ is merely a general shower bath. The bather stands +within a coil of pipes which are finely perforated, and the water +impinges in finely divided streams simultaneously upon every part of +the body. It is a powerful general stimulant. + +The _rain bath_ consists in the letting fall of large drops of water +from a great height upon the part which it is wished to affect. + +_Packing with the wet sheet_ is a mode of applying water to the body +which is the very reverse of some of the methods which we have been +considering, since the stimulating action of the water is reduced to +a minimum, and we get the refrigerating action only. It makes very +little difference whether the sheet used be moistened with hot or cold +water, since the temperature of the skin and the sheet very rapidly +approximate in any case, and the more rapid evaporation of the hot +water speedily induces a degree of cold quite equal to that of the +cold sheet. The patient should be stripped naked and should lie upon a +single blanket, the bed being protected by a mackintosh sheet placed +between the blanket and the mattress. He is then enveloped in the wet +sheet. If a maximum amount of refrigeration is desired he is left +uncovered so that evaporation may be encouraged. If, on the other hand, +we wish to encourage the action of the skin, several blankets are +placed over the sheet. + +Having discussed the various methods of using water as such for the +purposes of bathing, we may next turn our attention to the _vapour +bath_, which is a favourite method of making use of warmth and +moisture. Here and there throughout the world there are to be found +natural vapour baths; but, as generally employed, the vapour bath is +a very simple contrivance indeed, merely consisting of an apparatus +for conducting the steam of a kettle into a confined space in which +the patient sits. The head of the patient may be either placed in the +bath or not, and the effects of the bath may be expected to differ +according as the steam is inhaled into the lungs or not. The domestic +vapour bath may consist of a flannel steam-proof cloak, which is worn +by the patient, while beneath the chair on which he sits is placed a +small portable kettle heated by spirits of wine for the formation of +the steam. If the bather is unable to sit up, the steam may, with very +great ease, be conducted beneath the blankets of a bed. The vapour bath +can be borne much hotter than the water bath, the temperature varying +between 120° Fahr. and 150° Fahr. The loading of the atmosphere with +vapour, checks, or rather prevents, the natural evaporation of the +perspiration, so that while the body is very strongly heated by the +steam, the natural methods of cooling the body are arrested. From this +it will be gathered that the power of the vapour bath to raise the body +heat is very considerable, and indeed the temperature of the blood has +been known to rise as much as 5° Fahr. during a bath. This power of +raising the temperature of the body causes a very profuse perspiration, +so that the vapour bath is recognised as one of the quickest and most +effectual means of producing a copious action of the skin. The vapour +bath can be locally applied in a very manageable way, and there is +no difficulty in contriving an apparatus, by means of which the legs +alone, or one arm, or one leg, may be subjected to the action of the +vapour. If a quick reaction is desired a cold douche may be added to +the steam, and the so-called _Russian vapour bath_ consists of a vapour +bath of high temperature followed by a cold douche. + +_Air baths_ are baths from which we never escape except when we are +taking a water bath, our bodies naturally being always surrounded by +a layer of the atmosphere. _Cold-air baths_ are not much employed, +although they have been recommended; and we have heard of persons who +have sought to stimulate their skins and circulation by running naked +in the open air. The _hot-air bath_ has always, at least since the +days of ancient Rome, been a favourite luxury and means of treating +disease; these baths, which are also called Russian or Turkish baths, +consist really in a succession of processes, which, in the best +establishments, are as follows: The bather is received at a barrier, +where he is relieved of his boots and provided with check napkins in +which to swathe himself while bathing. Passing the barrier he arrives +at the tepidarium, a room of Eastern design, which attracts him by +its coolness, quietness, and cleanliness. A marble basin, filled +with water, into which a jet of water from a fountain falls with a +soothing splash, occupies the centre, while all round are divans +for reclining and conveniences for dressing and undressing. Through +a Moorish arch at the end a glimpse is caught of the sudatorium, +separated by a plate-glass partition from the tepidarium. Stripping +himself naked and donning his checks, the bather passes into the +sudatorium, an apartment with a domed roof, and having a marble floor +and red-brick walls. The temperature of this room is about 120° or +150°, and here the bather sits, reading or otherwise amusing himself +until perspiration is fully advanced. If perspiration is not free it +may be encouraged by a draught of cool water, which will be tendered +him by an attendant. If perspiration is slow in its advance, the heat +of the room causes discomfort. Some burning of the skin, quickness of +the heart’s action, and occasionally a throbbing tensive headache. A +drink of water generally has the effect of causing the whole surface to +bead with moisture, and then a sense of comfort succeeds to discomfort. +Perspiration being fairly started it may be still further encouraged +by removing into a still hotter apartment (of which there are three) +varying in temperature from about 150° Fahr. to 210° Fahr. In these hot +rooms (where it is necessary to wear thick list slippers to prevent +the feet being scorched by the hot marble) the perspiration, in some +persons, streams off the body, and when sufficient perspiratory action +has been allowed, the bather returns to the body of the sudatorium, +and, reclining on a marble slab, he is shampooed by an attendant. Next +the whole surface is thoroughly washed with hot soap and water and the +skin rubbed with a horse-hair glove; lastly, the process is finished +by the application of cold water, which is done in one of two ways, +either by the application of the cold douche, or by diving beneath the +glass screen which separates the sudatorium from the tepidarium into +the marble basin which fills the centre of the latter apartment. This +done the bather is rubbed dry, and then indulges for half an hour in +the _dolce far niente_, while he reclines on a divan, reads the paper, +sips a cup of coffee and smokes a cigarette. As to the value of the +Turkish bath we will speak hereafter, and we will content ourselves +in this place by warning the bather not to “overdo” it. He should be +guided by his sensations, and should not be tempted to go into this +room or that room, or submit to this or that process merely because a +friend does so with benefit, or without harm. He must remember that +constitutions differ, and if the bath is followed by headache, or a +feeling of faintness or lassitude or a want of appetite, he should take +this as a warning that the treatment has been too heroic. The strongest +Turkish bath is that in which the bather spends his time in the hottest +room and finishes with the douche (a process which few can stand); +the milder bath is that in which the highest temperature submitted to +is about 140°, and the dive into the basin is taken in lieu of the +douche. Those who take a Turkish bath for the first time should limit +themselves to its milder form. + +_Mineral Baths_ are baths composed of water in which a considerable +quantity of mineral matter has been dissolved, either by natural or +artificial processes. It must be remembered that ordinary water is very +far from pure, and that even rain-water, the purest of all natural +waters, contains a considerable number of saline ingredients dissolved +in it. Spring-water or river-water is very largely impregnated with +matter which it has dissolved. The water of London contains from +18 to 20 grains of chalk in solution in each gallon, besides other +ingredients. The chief of all “mineral waters” is sea-water, and it +is necessary that we should examine its composition somewhat closely. +The specific gravity of sea-water is 1027, and the quantity of salt +dissolved in it ranges from 3·5 to 4 per cent., being least in the +Black Sea and the Baltic, and most in the Mediterranean. The following +is the composition of the water of the English Channel:-- + + Water 963·8 + Chloride of sodium (common salt) 28·0 + Chloride of potassium 0·8 + Chloride of magnesium 4·0 + Sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salt) 2·0 + Sulphate of lime 1·4 + Bromide of magnesia } + Carbonate of lime } + Iodines } Traces. + Ammonia } + Oxide of iron } + ------- + 1,000·0 + ------- + +Sea-bathing is a very popular form of the natural bath, and it is +preferable to bathing in river-water or spring-water, because the +sea is seldom so cold as are the latter. A sea-bath has also another +great advantage over all other forms of bath, and that is that it is +taken in the purest air possible; and in considering the effects of +sea-bathing it is impossible to separate the effects of sea-air from +that of the sea-water. The sea-bather is also constantly inhaling the +spray of the sea-water, and thus obtains whatever benefit is to be got +in this way. If he can swim he enjoys all the benefit of exercise. The +motion of the water and the buffeting he gets from the waves act as a +powerful excitant to the skin, and lastly, the salt in the water adds +considerably to the stimulating action. Reaction more readily occurs +after a sea-bath than after a river-bath, and thus the liability to +“catch cold” is less, although the popular belief that it is impossible +to take cold from a wetting with salt water is far from being true. +Besides the water of the sea, there are many other _natural salt +waters_ which have a great reputation both for bathing and drinking. +These salt waters, which may be got of all strengths, from a strong +natural brine to a water in which the salt is scarcely recognisable, +all owe their stimulating power, as does sea-water, to the chloride of +sodium (common salt) and other chlorides which they contain. Salt-water +baths, or sool baths as they have been called, act as powerful +stimulants to the skin, and have a very great reputation in Germany and +other places, where the only seaboard is the ungenial northern coast. + +There are many _natural mineral waters_ which contain ingredients other +than common salt, and all of these are much used for bathing. We shall +give some details of these when we come to speak of bathing resorts, +and at present we shall content ourselves by giving merely a rough +classification of them. + +1. Many waters issue from the ground at a temperature sufficiently +hot, or even too hot (e.g. the geysers in Iceland) for bathing. Some +of these natural hot waters contain very small quantities indeed of +mineral matters, and these are known as _indifferent thermal springs._ + +2. Mineral waters containing common salt have been already alluded to. +They are known as _salt springs._ + +3. The so-called _alkaline springs_ contain as their chief ingredient +carbonate of soda. These waters are more used for drinking than for +bathing. The alkali which they contain helps undoubtedly to soften +the skin of the bather, and acts probably also as a stimulant to the +surface. + +4. The waters containing bitter _purgative salts_, such as Epsom salt +or Glauber’s salt, owe their reputation almost entirely to their power +when taken internally. When used for bathing it is probable that these +natural solutions of purgative salts are more stimulating to the skin +than ordinary water. + +5. The natural _chalybeate waters_, or waters containing iron, are but +little used for bathing, and it is exceedingly unlikely that the iron +contained in the water has any effect upon the bather. + +Although we have classified the waters, and have used that +classification which is generally adopted, it must be remembered that +the ingredients of waters are always multiple, and we usually find +that they contain alkaline salts, purging salts, iron salts, and brine +salts mixed together, so that it is difficult sometimes to determine +which is the predominating ingredient, and therefore to which class a +mineral water properly belongs. All water contains gas of some kind +dissolved in it, and it is well known that a glass of ordinary spring +water may be seen to contain bubbles of gas which adhere to the sides +of the glass, or come “winking at the brim.” The gases which waters +principally contain are atmospheric air, nitrogen, carbonic acid, and +sulphuretted hydrogen, and great stress has been laid upon the presence +in bathing waters of the three last-named gases. + +The action of bubbles of gas contained in water is, in part at least, +easy to understand. These bubbles give great mobility to the water, and +thus the particles of water in contact with the skin are incessantly +changing. Gas is soon driven out of water by the application of heat, +and it is only the cooler of the thermal springs which remain charged +with any considerable quantity of gas after the natural pressure, to +which they have been subjected in the earth, has been removed. + +The bubbles of gas, contained in the various gaseous waters, resting +upon the surface of the body, produce an agreeable sensation of mild +stimulation not unlike that which we feel when the surface of the +body is gently tickled. The gaseous baths belong necessarily to the +category of cool baths, and it is important to remember that waters +which have been boiled no longer retain any gas, which is all expelled +during the process of ebullition. When a gaseous water issues from +the earth at a temperature too low for bathing purposes, it is very +important that the water should be heated only to the temperature +required for bathing, which is generally between 60° Fahr. and 98° +Fahr. This is effected usually by means of a coil of hot water or +steam-pipes beneath the bottom of the bath, and, by turning a tap, the +bath attendant can produce any temperature which may be desired in a +very short time. Water which has been previously _boiled_ or _heated to +a high temperature_, and has been allowed to cool to fit it for bathing +purposes, contains very little or no gas, and cannot be regarded as +constituting a gaseous bath. Intending bathers should inquire very +carefully into the manner of heating baths at these establishments. If +the natural gaseous water be collected in reservoirs, and be allowed to +lie in these reservoirs for any length of time before being used for +the baths, the greater part of the contained gas will escape, and there +will be a great discrepancy between the actual condition of the water +used and the published analysis of such water. + +It is exceedingly unlikely that either carbonic acid or nitrogen +contained in water is absorbed by the skin. The effect of these gaseous +baths is due to their physical condition only (at least we have no +satisfactory evidence to the contrary), and in no way to the absorption +of the contained gases. Carbonic acid is only absorbed by the skin +under the influence of great pressure, and when thus absorbed it +produces a poisonous effect. + +At some bathing establishments, so-called baths of pure carbonic acid +are administered, the patient being made to sit in a reservoir of +the pure gas, but, of course, with his head out. We have also seen +arrangements for directing a jet of carbonic acid gas upon different +regions of the body, but we should be sorry to hazard any opinion as to +the _modus operandi_, or the results of such a practice. + +In an ordinary water-bath, strongly impregnated with carbonic acid, +there is occasionally some danger of too much gas escaping, and being +consequently inhaled in undue quantities by the occupant of the bath. + +_Sulphur baths_, or baths impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, +and having the well-known and offensive odour of rotten eggs, have +been used as remedies in disease from time immemorial. It must be +remembered that the so-called “sulphur waters” are of a very complex +nature, and contain many saline ingredients, in addition to the +sulphides of lime or soda, to the decomposition of which the presence +of the characteristic gas is due. Most of these waters have also a +high temperature, so that they must be considered as hot salt waters, +with the addition of sulphuretted hydrogen, and it becomes a difficult +matter to determine to which of their ingredients any good effect +which they may produce is due. It must be borne in mind, also, that +the amount of sulphuretted hydrogen contained even in the strongest of +these waters, notwithstanding that it is amply sufficient to offend the +sense of smell, is in reality very small, and there is no evidence that +this gas is ever absorbed through the skin from the bath. People who +visit sulphur baths generally drink the water, and while bathing they +certainly inhale an atmosphere more or less charged with sulphuretted +hydrogen. The general opinion at present is, that the effect of sulphur +waters, when used for baths, is the same as that of other hot and +saline springs, and that the sulphuretted hydrogen in the water is +inoperative. At some of the sulphur baths the attendants point to a +peculiar eruption on the skin, called La Poussée, as evidence of the +peculiar effect of sulphur, but this eruption does not differ from that +which so often results after a prolonged use of baths of any kind. + +There is no end to the varieties of baths which have been used at one +time and another for the relief of sickness, and we shall content +ourselves by a short allusion to some of the best known. + +_Mud baths, or moor baths_, are much used in some parts of Germany. +They consist of water mixed with moor earth, or the mud deposited +by some of the mineral springs. The resulting compound is thick +and stodgy, and, like loosely-made farinaceous puddings. They cool +unequally, and retain their heat for very long periods in the middle. +Chemically they are composed of the various matters, soluble and +insoluble, animal, vegetable, and mineral, of which mud or moor earth +is formed. Much of their virtue has been ascribed to _formic acid_, +a volatile body formed by ants, having a very pungent odour and +considerable stimulating power. These baths are generally supposed to +exert a very powerful action upon the skin. + +_Pine baths_ are in great repute in regions where pine-trees are +plentiful, as in the Black Forest, the Harz Mountains, and elsewhere. A +decoction is made of the fragrant tops of the pine-trees, and this is +added to the baths in varying quantities. It is also largely exported +in a concentrated form from the regions in which it is made. The smell +of the pine extract is most delicious, and the resin which it contains +has an undoubted stimulating action upon the skin. + +Blood, milk and whey, as well as various broths and decoctions of meat, +have been used in the belief that they imparted strength to the bather. +It is indeed a practice in some northern countries, even in the present +day, to envelop a weak or dying patient in the skin of a freshly killed +animal, the invalid thereby being supposed to imbibe some of the vital +power of the recently slaughtered beast. + +On the banks of the Nile, _slime_ has been used as a bath, and in some +places _sea-mud_ has been used for the same purpose. _Sand baths_, or +arenation, belong to the remedies which are hallowed by antiquity. The +patient is buried in the sand, and exposed to the full rays of the +sun, and the combined effect of the heat and the surface irritation +produces a copious perspiration. At some sea-bathing establishments +_baths of sea-weed_ are given, under the name of ozone baths, from the +belief, right or wrong, that sea-weed is impregnated with ozone. In +some old works we find baths of _dung_ strongly recommended; and even +at the present day it is the practice, among some of the half-civilised +Eastern nations, to smear the body with dung for the cure of all +varieties of ailments. Various refuse matters have been used as baths, +among which we may mention the _husk of the grape_, in countries where +the vine is largely cultivated, and the _refuse of the olive_ in +oil-making countries. + +Medicated baths may be artificially prepared, and many such are in +common use in medicine. Among these we may mention-- + +1. The group of so-called _emollient_ baths, which have the following +composition: To thirty gallons of water, there may be added from two +to six pounds of _bran_; or a pound of _potato flour_; or a couple of +pounds of _gelatine_; or a pound of _linseed meal_; or four pounds of +_marsh mallow_, or other herbs. + +2. _Alkaline baths_ are made by adding to thirty gallons of water, from +four to six ounces of carbonate of soda or potash, and occasionally an +equal quantity of borax. + +3. _Acid baths_ contain an ounce or more of muriatic, nitric or +nitro-muriatic acid, to each thirty gallons of water. + +4. Iodine or Bromine may be added to baths. + +The medicated vapour baths are of two kinds, _mercurial_ and _sulphur_, +both being contrived by evaporating flour of sulphur or calomel in +an iron pan. The sulphur bath thus administered emits the pungent +and suffocating vapour of sulphurous acid, the effects of which must +be exerted solely upon the body of the patient, since the inhalation +of any quantity, if not fatal, would prove a very serious annoyance. +We must not forget to mention the old domestic remedy of a bath of +_mustard and water_, which is among the most powerful stimulants to the +skin which we possess. + +The _Galvanic Bath_ has been much talked about of late years, and it +becomes necessary that we should discuss its merits. It consists merely +of a bath of water, through which a galvanic current is passed. It +can be easily administered in the following way:--Place an ordinary +bath upon a sheet of mackintosh, which, being a non-conductor of +electricity, has the effect of insulating the bath, as it is termed. +Then fill the bath with warm water to a convenient height, and to the +water add a handful of salt or a wine-glassful of vinegar in order +to increase its conducting power. Next get a galvanic battery, one +having 30 or 40 Leclanché Elements is sufficient, and place it on a +chair or on the floor beside the bath. To each of the poles of this +battery, positive and negative, affix a suitable length (3 or 4 yards) +of insulated telegraph wire, having its extremities freed from the +gutta-percha or other insulating material. Place a length of stout +broom-handle across the bath, resting on its two edges, and round the +middle of this twine the bright metal end of the wire in connection +with the positive pole of the battery, covering it with a piece of +flannel, or wrapping it round with a sponge. The bather then gets into +the bath, and takes hold of the centre of the broom-handle, previously +moistened, so that his hands are out of the bath. The end of the +negative wire is then placed in the bath itself, and as this is done +the bather will feel the shock of the electric current. The current in +this case travels from the positive pole of the battery through the +wire to the broom-handle, down the patient’s arms, through his body to +the water of the bath, and so to the negative pole. This form of bath +is a very powerful stimulant to the skin, but beyond its action on the +skin we know nothing. It is said that by its aid it is possible to +extract metallic bodies, such as mercury or lead, which may be lurking +in the body and causing harm. Of such a power there is no evidence +whatever. We have heard it said that at some galvanic baths visitors +have been shown discolorations on the side of the bath as evidence of +deposits of mercury, &c., but this is merely a quackish imposition, and +it is well that persons should be on their guard against it. + +The _electro-magnetic_ bath is given in the same way as the galvanic +bath, an electro-magnetic battery being substituted for the galvanic +battery. + +It will be well to close the chapter by offering a few hints to +bathers, and by laying down a few rules for their guidance. Bathing, in +all its forms, increases the internal work of the body; it increases +the action of the heart, the rate of respiration, the rapidity of +circulation, the rate of tissue change, and, in the case of hot baths, +the rate of perspiration through the skin. This necessarily makes a +call upon the vital forces, and causes a certain amount of exhaustion. +From this it follows that baths are best not taken at a time when +the body is much exhausted, and that exhausting exercise should not +be indulged in after a bath until a considerable period of time has +elapsed. + +Again, since bathing invariably affects the distribution of the +blood, causing, as the case may be, either a degree of bloodlessness +in internal organs, or, if the bath be cold, an undue congestion of +them, it is important not to overtax those organs during the period of +bathing. It is, therefore, never advisable to bathe directly before or +directly after a meal, since in both cases a want of digestion of the +material in the stomach is likely to result. + +Ancient writers are most explicit in their directions for bathers. +Thus Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, writing some four centuries +before the Christian era, says: “The person who takes the bath should +be orderly and reserved in his manner, should do nothing for himself, +but others should pour the water upon him and rub him; and plenty +of water, of various temperatures, should be in readiness for the +_douche_, and the affusions quickly made; and sponges should be used +instead of the strigil, and the body should be anointed when not +quite dry.... And a man should not be washed immediately after he has +taken a draught of Ptisan, or a drink; neither should he take Ptisan +as a drink immediately after the bath.” These directions are for the +use of invalids, such as are acutely ill, and the writer seems fully +to recognise that bathing in itself is an exhausting process. This +allusion to Ptisan is interesting, as showing how some of our commonest +domestic remedies come to us from a remote antiquity. The Greek word +πτισάνη signifies peeled (or “pearl”) barley, and the drink +made from it, the barley-water of to-day. + +As we have before mentioned incidentally, the proper ventilation of the +bathroom is a matter of prime importance; for since the respiration is +quickened by the act of bathing, it is evident that a foul atmosphere +in the bathroom is very liable to produce an ill-effect upon the +bather. Many of the swimming baths in London are very defective in this +respect, and we have been forcibly struck, in more than one of them, by +the ammoniacal odour proceeding from those sanitary offices which are a +necessary adjunct to every bathing establishment. It is a very common +custom in private houses to place the bath and the water-closet in the +same apartment. That this is an undesirable arrangement is evident, for +the water-closet is, of all places in a house, that in which a foul +atmosphere is most likely to be encountered. Although a bathroom should +be well ventilated, it should certainly not be draughty, for currents +of cold air blowing upon the moist skin of the bather are likely to +give “cold,” and produce internal congestions of various kinds. In +summer there is no difficulty in providing a sufficiency of fresh air, +but in winter it is not so easy. The best way, perhaps, to provide for +a constant renewal of air is to admit air by means of vertical tubes, +and to have in the room an open fireplace, in which a brisk fire should +be burning while the bath is being administered. + +In order to ensure a proper reaction after a cold bath, and to prevent +chill after a hot one, it is customary to provide the bather with a +supply of hot linen. This is a great comfort and a luxury, and may even +be looked upon as an absolute necessity for delicate persons. It is a +very general custom on the Continent for the bather, after removing +the greater part of the moisture from his body, to don a hot calico +Peignoir, or bathing-gown, which protects from chill, and at the same +time allows of the limbs being rubbed with towels. It is not necessary +to say much about towels. They are to be got of all qualities, from +those as soft as a cambric handkerchief to those which, in roughness, +approach the qualities of a curricomb. The bather may please himself +in this matter, and will choose a soft absorbent towel to remove the +moisture, and a hard one to rub the surface and produce the necessary +reaction. Horsehair gloves and various rubbers made of indiarubber, +&c., are in use, and require only to be mentioned. + +Friction and shampooing are valuable accessories to bathing, and serve, +as it were, to take the place of exercise in those diseases in which +the patient is unable to exercise his body thoroughly for himself. +Friction is applied to the skin merely to rub off the surface layers of +epithelium, to encourage the dilatation of the superficial vessels, and +the transudation of the sweat. Shampooing is a deeper and more forcible +kind of friction, in which the rubber kneads the muscles and allows +his fingers to press steadily upon and between them. This acts as a +stimulant to the muscles themselves, much in the same way, but in a far +milder degree, as an electric battery acts upon them. It must be borne +in mind, however, that friction and shampooing are both exhausting, +and must not be used to excess. While a patient is being shampooed, he +involuntarily resists the pressure of the shampooer, and we have seen +a patient reduced to a state of considerable exhaustion, after having +been for twenty minutes in the hands of a professional rubber. + +It is not necessary to make any remarks on the subject of soaps. Their +name is Legion, and the bather, guided by the light of common sense, +may make his choice. The ancients were accustomed to anoint their +bodies with a variety of smegmata, unguents and oils, both during and +after bathing. + +As to the temperature of the bath and its duration, although these +are both very important questions, it is impossible to lay down any +exact rules, for they must be settled according to the condition of +the bather. A physician, in ordering a course of baths for an invalid, +should state, in writing (in the form of a prescription) the frequency, +variety, temperature, and duration, as well as the time of day at which +they are to be taken. + +After a hot bath it is sometimes necessary to arrange that a weakly +patient shall go to bed for a couple of hours or more. To slake the +thirst, both during and after a bath, there is nothing better than pure +water. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +BATHING LOCALITIES. + + +In considering the various bathing localities it is only natural that +we should begin with London. We have no intention of speaking in detail +of the various baths with which private enterprise has provided the +inhabitants of London, for such a course would be quite foreign to the +intentions of this little work, which is intended merely to furnish +the reader with a few general principles which shall be of use to him +in selecting a bath. There is no kind of bath which cannot be got in +London, and between a dip in the Serpentine and the elaborate process +of the Turkish bath the bather has a wide choice. In proportion to +its size and the number of its inhabitants, however, the bathing +accommodation is very bad. The Thames is still a foul stream, and few +care to plunge into the sewage which flows down from Richmond and +surges back again from Barking. It is true that we have one large +swimming bath floating close to Hungerford Bridge, the water of which +is filtered in an ingenious way; but it may safely be said that, were +the water of the river cleaner, we should have fifty such baths instead +of one. We have often thought that a bathing establishment on a really +grand scale would be a success in London, and we hope some day to see +baths in our great metropolis, which should remind one of the palatial +establishment of Caracalla. A combination of a swimming bath, private +baths, Turkish baths, &c., with a first-rate gymnasium, reading-room, +lecture hall, and refreshment room, would surely meet with sufficient +patronage to pay, and we even believe that the introduction of +sea-water for such a purpose (an undertaking which has been started +more than once) would be sufficiently appreciated to ensure a dividend +to the promoters. + +England is naturally very well supplied with sea-bathing resorts, +and it is possible to get a sea-bath in our island combined with any +variety of climate, from the cold and bracing to the mild and relaxing. +Sea-air, the great value of which is well understood as a curative +agent, has certain peculiarities. It is necessarily the purest air +that can be got, and when the breeze is off the sea the air comes to +the shore practically uncontaminated and free from the exhalations +of animals or furnaces. It is said to be very rich in ozone, and +it certainly contains fine saline particles supplied to it by the +sea-spray, and possibly small quantities of iodine, which give to the +sea-breeze that peculiar odour which it undoubtedly possesses. Sea-air +is dense, and the barometer stands at its maximum at the sea-level. +Sea-air is warmer than the air of inland places, and it is more +equable in its temperature owing to the comparatively slight changes +in temperature which the sea itself undergoes. The effect of sea-air +is very stimulating, and sojourners by the sea have their appetites +increased and their vital functions quickened. While speaking of +sea-air we must remind the reader that the air of the seaside places +is often far from good, owing to the defective sanitary arrangements. +There are not a few towns on our coasts, the sewers of which are taken +out on to the beach where visitors most do congregate, and the smell +of sewage at low tide is often far from pleasant. In selecting a +sea-bathing place it is of importance to attend, not only to the aspect +and general situation of the town, but to inform oneself whether or +not it be thoroughly drained, the sewers being carried either inland +to a proper sewage farm or far out to sea well beyond low-water mark; +whether the water supply for drinking purposes be good and abundant, +and whether the general cleanliness of the town is properly attended +to. Climate is a very local phenomenon, and it is of as much importance +to see that the bedroom and sitting-room which an invalid has to +occupy are well ventilated and have a good aspect, as to attend to the +latitude and general aspect of the locality chosen. It is of little use +to send a patient to the sea if he has to spend the greater part of +his time in small rooms made unbearable by gaslights or the defective +drainage of the house; and an invalid with delicate lungs will derive +but little benefit from a sojourn in the south if his windows face the +north and he is afraid to open them. + +As to the time of year at which sea-baths should be taken, that of +course depends upon the locality visited. On the east coast, in +situations which are exposed to winds from the north and east, bathing +is only advisable during the three summer months of June, July, and +August. On the west coast it is possible to begin a little earlier, +and continue a little later; and in some situations in the south, the +season may be said to extend from the middle of April to November. In +these latter places, the temperature at midsummer is often unpleasantly +high, and the bathing season falls into abeyance for a time. There +are many considerations which influence people in their choice of a +bathing station, such as the size of a town, or whether it be gay or +quiet; its distance from London, its accessibility, the accommodation, +the expense, &c. A more important point, perhaps, is the nature of the +bottom, whether it be sandy or shingly. The great popularity of the +bathing resorts on the north coast of France and the Belgian coast is +due to the great expanse of fine sand of which the bottom is composed. + +In selecting a bathing place it is advisable, if reliable information +is not forthcoming from those who know it well, to look at the Ordnance +map of the town and district, and learn from an inspection of it, +not only the direction in which the locality looks sea-ward, but the +nature of the immediate surroundings of it; the position and height of +cliffs and hills, and the amount of protection against cold or heat. +The nature of the soil should also be ascertained, and the prevailing +character of the vegetation, and, if possible, the amount of rainfall +and the mean temperature of summer and winter. + +Many watering places possess, in a very restricted area, many climates. +Let us look at such a watering place as Bournemouth, and we shall be +able to explain what we mean. Bournemouth is a town of some six or +seven thousand inhabitants, built on a sandy soil, surrounded by pine +woods. It faces the south; the average rainfall is 30 inches per annum; +the temperature is equable, and frosts are comparatively rare, the mean +night temperature in the month of January being 35·6. The town is built +upon two bold cliffs, with a dip between them, and the surface of the +soil being very uneven, it is thus possible to get almost any climate. +In the dip between the cliffs are situations exposed only to the south, +and protected from all cold winds; and others facing only to the north. +On the east cliff one may live in a pine-wood, with the advantages of +moderate elevation, a southern aspect, and the protection of trees +which have the double advantage of being evergreen, and possessing a +foliage which does not rot and decompose in autumn. On the west cliff, +again, one may live in a house exposed to every wind that blows, in a +climate which may very justly be spoken of as bracing. + +It seems unnecessary to catalogue the various sea-bathing resorts +in Great Britain. They are numberless, and intending visitors are +influenced mainly by questions of accessibility and accommodation. +Those on the east coast are mostly bracing, those on the west are +more relaxing, while those on the southern coast are mostly warm and +available during the winter months. We must refer our readers to the +various guide-books and gazetteers for detailed information. + +We have next to consider the various mineral baths scattered about +Europe, and it must be admitted that the arrangements for bathing at +the various sources of mineral waters are much better carried out on +the Continent than in this country. In any course of treatment bathing +is generally only one element of the regimen to which an invalid is +directed to submit. Diet, climate, rest, and exercise, and the internal +administration of medicine or of mineral water, often are called into +requisition to perform their share in the cure; and while a patient +is bathing, and by bathing is stimulating or facilitating his animal +functions, it is of the greatest importance that he should live the +healthiest life imaginable. At most of the German baths a somewhat +strict surveillance of the bathers is maintained, and at those which +have the greatest reputation, it is almost impossible to get, in the +shape of food, anything of which the local physicians would disapprove. +It is too often the habit of the Englishman to go to a bath without +taking any advice as to his general mode of life while bathing, or +even whether he may expect benefit or harm from the treatment he is +prescribing for himself. The foreigner, on the other hand, submits in +all things to authority, and while “undergoing a cure” he is content to +have his time of rising and going to bed, his meals, his exercise, his +baths, and other treatment, all accurately regulated for him. It is on +this account, no doubt, that the German and French baths have so great +a reputation, for while visiting them the guests live by rule just as +athletes do in this country when they wish to bring themselves to the +highest pitch of health attainable in view of some muscular contest. +When the Englishman is told to visit this or that continental spring, +he may well ask, as did the captain of the host, “Are not Abana and +Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May +I not wash in them, and be clean?” He must remember, however, that, as +in Naaman’s case, obedience to the directions of the prophet resulted +in a cure, so he must seek out a spring where he will find a prophet; +to whose dictation he must be willing for a time in all things to +submit. + +When people visit a mineral spring they generally do so with the double +object of drinking the water and of bathing in it; with the drinking of +mineral water we have, in this volume, nothing to do, but merely with +bathing, and the reader will have gathered from the previous chapters, +that, when bathing only is concerned, the exact composition of the +water is not a matter of very great importance; since all baths act in +the same way, by stimulating the skin, and the water of the bath is +probably _never absorbed_. It is important to insist upon this point, +because we find in several bath-puffs the assertion that their effect +is due to the absorption through the skin of the material dissolved in +the water of the bath. Such an assertion is contrary to the teaching of +our leading physiologists. At all sea-bathing places the climate is, in +one respect, the amount of barometric pressure, similar. The advantage +of mineral baths over sea-baths very greatly lies in the fact that we +are not only able to choose our water but also to choose our climate, +and to have either a mountain climate with low barometric pressure, or +a sea-level climate with a high barometric pressure, or a climate where +the barometric pressure is intermediate between these two extremes. + +We must, in order to bring the effects of mountain climates vividly +before the mind of the reader, refer again to the comparison which we +have made elsewhere between the burning of fuel in a furnace, and the +combustion which is constantly going on in our bodies. Experiments made +by Professors Tyndall and Frankland on the combustion of candles at +different altitudes, seem to give the clue to the explanation of the +effects of mountain air upon our bodies. These gentlemen burnt candles +of equal weight, and under similar conditions at Chamouni, and also on +the top of Mont Blanc, which is 12,000 feet higher. They found that +the amount of candle consumed in equal periods of time was the same in +both situations, but that on the top of the mountain the candle gave +out considerably _less light_ than it did in the valley. The diminution +of the light was attributed with justice to the _completeness_ of the +combustion, for the light emitted by a flame is mainly due to the +unconsumed particles of carbon in a state of incandescence. Mountain +air, being much more rarified than the air of low-lying valleys, +contains much less oxygen in proportion to volume, but its lesser +density seems to enable the oxygen to assume, as it were, a greater +activity. + +It has also been found that bodies lose heat less rapidly in rarified +atmospheres, so that presumably there is less need for heat-production +on the mountain than on the plain; so that in mountain climates the +body is saved a certain proportion of the combustion necessary for the +generation of heat. + +Mountain air is pure, and removed from miasmata and exhalations, +whether from marshes or (being usually sparsely inhabited) men. It is +usually still and seldom foggy. The variations of temperature are very +great and very rapid, the visitor having often to undergo, within a +few hours, a tropical and an arctic climate. These rapid variations +serve probably to stimulate vital processes, and there can be little +doubt that they are important factors in the general effect produced by +mountain climates. + +The following notes made during a sojourn at Davos in Switzerland may +serve to bring some of the above facts in a more concrete form before +the reader. “The height above sea-level is between 5000 and 6000 feet, +and the barometer stands at about an average of 620 millimètres, +instead of 760, which is its average height at the sea-level, so that +the weight of the atmosphere is only 620/760, or rather more than +three-fourths of what to most of us is its normal weight. The result +of this is that under the influence of the sun’s rays evaporation is +marvellously rapid. The dew is gone in an instant, and the vapours of +the early morning seem to vanish at the first touch of the solar heat. +Thus it follows that although the rainfall is considerable, the dryness +of the air is, during the main part of the day, nearly absolute. The +range of temperature is apt to be very great, and the thermometer, +even in the height of summer, is frequently below freezing point in +the early morning and in the shade, while in the sunshine, towards +midday, the heat is simply scorching. For the most part, however, the +temperature is very pleasant in summer; and even invalids, if properly +provided with wraps, may spend almost all the hours of daylight out +of doors. The obvious results on a healthy person of living in such a +climate are (1) a slight increase in the rate of pulse and respiration; +(2) a craving for and an ease in performing muscular exercise; and +(3) a marked increase of the appetite, with a general feeling of +exhilaration. The air acts, in fact, as a powerful stimulant. Ladies, +and those who are not able to take much exercise, often have a +difficulty in sleeping, but this is never of long continuance. Owing, +it is said, to the diminished atmospheric pressure, the cutaneous +blood-vessels dilate, and the complexion becomes (with the help of the +sun) exceedingly ruddy, a fact which is particularly noticeable in the +inhabitants, whose red cheeks strike a stranger with astonishment.” + +There are of course many things to be considered in making selection +of a bath besides the height above sea-level. Attention must be paid +to the local configuration of the district, and the sanitary condition +of the town or village in which the healing spring is situated. It is +manifestly unadvisable for an invalid who has been sent to the Alps +for the benefit of a mountain climate to settle down in some narrow +gorge, exposed perhaps, only to one wind, into which the sun only peeps +at midday, where the climate knows no medium between the two extremes +of heat and cold, where the river perhaps has been converted into an +open sewer by the inhabitants, and where the population is a mixture +of the Goitrous and the Cretinous. Such localities are to be found, +and it may well happen that the invalid may go to the bath to be cured +of his gout, and return with typhoid or ague. Some few years back the +writer was travelling in the Vosges mountains, and stopped a night at +a well-known watering-place, taking up his abode in the Bad-haus. The +situation of the town was extremely picturesque; the valley in which +it lay was verdant, the hills were well clothed with foliage, and the +mineral springs of the district were such as might well be recommended +to many patients. The inhabitants, however, had seen fit to turn the +lovely stream which meandered through the valley into a sewer. Into +it abominations of every kind were thrown, and its pebbly bottom +had become obscured by broken crockery, old tin pots, old boots and +shoes, and other refuse. The swine were driven into it every morning +as if on purpose to defile it, and what should have been one of the +chief attractions of the district had become a pestilential nuisance, +exhaling filthy odours, and fit only to be bridged over and hidden +absolutely from the light. It is not sufficient in making choice of a +bathing place to consider only those dry facts which are capable of +being stated in figures, but the intending bather should seek reliable +information as to the sanitary condition of the town, as well as of the +hotel or lodging-house which he proposes to inhabit. This information +is only to be got from disinterested patients who have made a sojourn +in the locality. Guide books are seldom to be trusted, and special +treatises on the virtues of this or that bath are to be regarded as +the works of a fervid imagination in the absence of confirmatory +evidence. The most potent cause in establishing the popularity of this +or that bathing place has been the heat of the water, and there is +perhaps no hot spring in Europe which was not used for bathing by the +Romans, or which has not been used from times of remote antiquity by +the inhabitants of the district. It is so convenient and so cheap to +have hot water ready to hand without the necessity of huge furnaces, +enormous chimneys, expensive boilers, and endless pipes, that it is not +surprising that such a valuable natural gift should be appreciated. + +The best known hot bath in this country is the one at _Bath_, in +Somersetshire, the water of which proved so attractive to the +Romans that they founded the city of _Aquæ Solis_ here, in the 1st +century of the Christian era. It is needless for us to dwell upon +the popularity of Bath. There are four hot springs here which vary +in temperature between 120° Fahr. and 104° Fahr. The supply of water +is ample and abundant, and the accommodation for guests such as can +hardly be surpassed. The corporation of the city have lately erected a +magnificent suite of baths, and if they will but turn their attention +to the condition of the river Avon, and rigidly enforce the provisions +of the Pollution of Rivers Act, Bath may again become as popular as it +was in the days of Beau Nash. The elevation of Bath above the sea-level +is only about 100 feet. The constituents of the Bath water are chiefly +sulphate of lime with a little carbonate of iron, together with some +free carbonic acid and nitrogen. It has been called an earthy water, +but perhaps it is better to regard it as a simple hot water, the chief +virtue of which is its warmth. + +_Buxton_, in Derbyshire, is situated nearly 1000 feet above the +sea-level in an open hollow surrounded by hills. There is good reason +to believe that the water of Buxton was known to the Romans. The +temperature of the Buxton water is 82° Fahr. The amount of saline +ingredients is but small. The water is, however, impregnated with a +large quantity both of carbonic acid and nitrogen gas. The town is +amply provided with accommodation both for bathing and lodging. + +At _Clifton_, near Bristol, there are springs having a temperature +of 74° Fahr., and at _Mallow_, in Ireland, is a spring having a +temperature of about 70° Fahr., and containing, like the water of +Buxton, a large quantity of free nitrogen gas. A great deal has been +written about the virtues of free nitrogen in water, but without, as it +seems to us, sufficient evidence. + +There are many hot springs in Europe which are very largely frequented +by invalids. We can, however, do little more than tabulate the chief, +indifferent, and earthy thermal springs, giving the chief facts +concerning each. + +At _Leuk_, in Switzerland, situated at the foot of the Gemmi Pass, +we find a water possessing a natural temperature of 102° Fahr. to +120° Fahr., situated 4600 feet above the sea-level. The water is +indifferent, and it is the custom here for bathers to remain many hours +consecutively in the water. Ladies and gentlemen bathe in the same +bath, and it is no uncommon thing for the bathers to be seen taking +their luncheon or playing dominoes upon floating tables. + +At _Pfaffers_ and _Ragatz_, near the town of Coire, in Switzerland, are +found indifferent springs, situated between 1500 and 2000 feet above +the sea-level, and having a temperature of 100° Fahr. + +_Gastein_ is a much frequented and very fashionable bath in the +Austrian Salzkammergut, some twelve or thirteen hours’ drive from +Salzburg. The height above sea-level is 3300 feet, and the temperature +of the water varies from 96° Fahr. to 114° Fahr. + +_Bormio_, at the foot of the Stelvio Pass, on the southern slope of the +Alps, has an altitude of over 4000 feet, and water of a temperature of +104° Fahr. + +_Wildbad_, in the Black Forest, has been for many years a favourite +bath with the English. The elevation is 1300 feet, and the temperature +of the water a little over 100° Fahr. + +_Wiesbaden_, the capital of Nassau, possesses both hot and cold +springs. The former have a temperature of 160° Fahr., and contain a +fair amount of chlorides. The town is beautifully situated among the +Taunus Hills, and has an elevation of 300 feet above the sea-level. + +_Teplitz_, in Bohemia, is a fashionable bathing resort. The town +is well ordered, and healthfully situated, being 600 feet above +the sea-level, and supplied with natural thermal springs, having a +temperature ranging from 78° Fahr. to 120° Fahr. + +_Schlangenbad_, among the Taunus Hills, is a quiet bathing-place, with +a natural tepid water having a temperature ranging between 80° and 90° +Fahr. The Schlangenbad water only contains 2-1/2 grains of solids to +the pint, so that it may safely be regarded as an “indifferent” spring. +Sir Francis Head, the author of the ‘Bubbles from the Brunnens of +Nassau,’ visited Schlangenbad in 1836, and we feel constrained to make +the following extract from his work, as typically illustrating the kind +of belief which gathers round a natural spring:-- + +“In the history of the little Duchy of Nassau, the discovery of this +spring forms a story full of innocence and simplicity. Once upon a time +there was a heifer, with which everything in nature seemed to disagree. +The more she ate the thinner she grew; the more her mother licked her +hide, the rougher and the more staring was her coat. Not a fly in +the forest would bite her; never was she seen to chew the cud, but, +hidebound and melancholy, her hips seemed actually to be protruding +from her skin. What was the matter with her no one knew; what could +cure her no one could divine. In short, deserted by her master and +her species, she was, as the faculty would term it, ‘given over.’ In +a few weeks, however, she suddenly reappeared among the herd, with +ribs covered with flesh, eyes like a deer, and skin sleek as a mole’s; +breath sweetly smelling of milk, saliva hanging in ringlets from her +jaw! Every day seemed to re-establish her health, and the phenomenon +was so striking that the herdsman, feeling induced to watch her, +discovered that regularly every evening she wormed her way in secret +into the forest, until she reached an unknown spring of water, from +which, having refreshed herself, she quietly returned to the valley. +This trifling circumstance, scarcely known, was almost forgotten by +the peasant, when a young Nassau lady began to show exactly the same +incomprehensible symptoms as the heifer. Mother, sisters, friends, +father, all tried to cure her, but in vain, and the physician had +actually + + ‘Taken his leave with sighs and sorrow, + Despairing of his fee to-morrow,’ + +when the herdsman, happening to hear of her case, prevailed upon her +at last to try the heifer’s secret remedy. She did so, and in a very +short time, to the utter astonishment of her friends, she became one of +the stoutest and roundest young women in the duchy.” Sir Francis Head +goes on to describe how he was conducted along subterranean passages to +the source of the baths, and was astonished to find serpents swimming +in the water, and still more astonished to hear his cicerone declare, +“_C’est ce qui donne la qualité à ces eaux!_” Schlangen, or serpents, +are very common in this part of the duchy of Nassau, and hence the name +Schlangenbad. + +_Baden-Baden_ is at once one of the most frequented and most +picturesque baths in Europe. The temperature of the water varies from +115° Fahr. to 144° Fahr, and the elevation above the sea-level is 616 +feet. The waters contain only 22 grains of solid ingredients to the +pint, the chief of which is common salt (16-1/2 grains). + +The celebrated hot purgative water of _Carlsbad_, although formerly +used for bathing, is now chiefly employed for drinking. + +Bathing is carried on to a very large extent at _Vichy_ (in the +Department of Allier, in France), although these waters are chiefly +used as internal remedies. + +_Plombières_, among the Vosges Mountains, has an elevation of 1310 +feet. The water contains only 2 grains of solid ingredients to the +pint, but the temperature is high, varying from 80° Fahr. to 160° Fahr. + +Some of the hot springs at _Ems_, such as the Fürstenbrunnen, with a +temperature of 95° Fahr., and the Neuequelle, with a temperature of +117° Fahr., are used for bathing. + +At _Aix-les-Bains_, in Savoy, 768 feet above the sea-level, will be +found two hot springs, varying in temperature from 106° Fahr. to 116° +Fahr. These waters contain less than 4 grains of solid ingredients +to the pint, but one of them, containing an appreciable amount of +sulphuretted hydrogen, is known as the sulphur spring. Aix was known +to the Romans, and in the modern town will be found every bathing +appliance which art can contrive. + +At _Mont Doré_ and at _Bourboule_, in the department of Puy de Dôme, in +France, at an elevation of 3400 feet above the sea, are thermal springs +having a temperature of 104° Fahr. to 114° Fahr. + +Having enumerated the chief warm baths in Europe, we will proceed to +catalogue some of the best known of the salt baths. + +_Droitwich_, in Worcestershire, is perhaps the only place in England +where concentrated salt baths can be obtained. The brine of Droitwich +is said to contain as much as 2760 grains to the pint. The town is +uninteresting. + +At _Ischl_, in the Salzkammergut, is a concentrated brine containing +1900 grains to the pint. It is 2000 feet above the sea-level, and the +country is charmingly picturesque. + +_Kreuznach_, not far from Bingen on the Rhine, has a strong salt +spring, and is much resorted to by scrofulous patients. The mother-lye +of Kreuznach is said to contain 2400 grains to the pint. These strong +brines are only used after proper dilution. + +The water of _Soden_, in the Taunus hills, contains 160 grains to the +pint; and at _Homburg_ are found several springs which have about 90 +grains to the pint. + +_Kissingen_ is a fashionable watering place in the north of Bavaria, +with an elevation of about 800 feet above the sea-level. Here will be +found all the accessories of bath life. The water contains about 60 +grains of solid ingredients to the pint. + +The _Wood Hall Spa_, near Lincoln, is a salt spring containing as much +as 160 grains to the pint. + +_Rehme_, in Westphalia, is situated on the Cologne and Minden railway. +The water has nearly 250 grains of salt to the pint, and is very highly +charged with carbonic acid. The natural temperature of the water is 92° +Fahr. There is every facility at Rehme for administering baths of all +kinds and of all degrees of concentration. + +_Nauheim_ is not far from Homburg, among the Taunus hills, and +possesses a water very similar to that of Rehme, having from 170 to 291 +grains to the pint, being highly charged with carbonic acid, and having +a temperature of from 80° Fahr. to 94° Fahr. The elevation of Nauheim +above the sea-level is 450 feet. The salt baths of Rehme and Nauheim +enjoy a very wide reputation. + +Although sulphur waters are not so much used for bathing as formerly +was the case, this little book would not be complete without some +notice of the chief sulphur springs. + +_Harrogate_, in Yorkshire, has been well known for more than three +centuries, and although the sulphuretted hydrogen, by its predominant +smell, gives the chief character to the Harrogate springs, they +have an equal claim to be called saline or chalybeate, for they are +strongly impregnated with salt and with iron, so that the taste has +been compared to a mixture of rotten eggs and the scourings of a gun. +The old sulphur spring contains 137 grains of solid contents to the +pint, and is strongly impregnated with carbonic acid and sulphuretted +hydrogen. Harrogate is now a fashionable watering place, with every +accommodation for visitors. The situation of the town is open and airy, +and the climate is decidedly bracing. + +_Gilsland_, in Cumberland, has a sulphur spring of some repute. + +The Pyrenees is the district _par excellence_ of sulphur springs. +_Baréges_ is the most famous of the Pyrenean baths, situated 4000 feet +above the level of the sea. Its water, which has a natural temperature +of 86° Fahr. to 111° Fahr., contains only 1·657 grains to the pint, +of which ·360 grain is sodium sulphide. This becoming decomposed on +exposure, forms the sulphuretted hydrogen which gives the character to +the spring. These sulphur waters contain a peculiar gelatinous organic +substance which has been called barégine, and which has been supposed +by some authorities, but on insufficient grounds, to give the peculiar +virtue to the water. + +_Cauterets_, in the Pyrenees, 3000 feet above sea-level, with a sulphur +water having a natural temperature of 98° Fahr. to 130° Fahr. + +_Bagnères de Luchon_, 2000 feet above sea-level, with a natural hot +sulphurous water. + +_Eaux Bonnes_ and _Eaux Chaudes_, 2000 feet above the sea. + +At _Aix-les-Bains_, in Savoy, one of the springs is strongly +impregnated with sulphur. + +_Aix-la-Chapelle_, in Rhenish Prussia, is 450 feet above the sea. The +water contains about 30 grains of solid contents to the pint, and is +strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. + +Any water may be used for bathing purposes, and it is almost always the +custom for visitors who go to a spring for the purpose of _drinking_ +the water, to take some _baths_ as well, the baths often being composed +of the same water as that used for drinking. It is not generally +believed that there is any particular virtue in baths composed of +alkaline waters, such as those to be found at Vichy, nor in purgative +waters, like those at Carlsbad, nor in iron waters like those at +Tunbridge Wells, Spa or Schwalbach. Hot bathing, however, may be +expected to help the effect which it is sought to bring about by taking +the water internally, and it has not unfrequently been the case that +the effect of drinking has been attributed to the bathing. + +It is worthy of remark that, at some places where miracles are claimed +to be wrought by the effect of water (as, for example, at Malvern), +the water used is remarkable merely for its great purity and almost +absolute freedom from mineral ingredients. + +It is not a little remarkable that some waters, which were formerly +used almost exclusively for _bathing_, are now used almost as +exclusively for drinking. Carlsbad affords an instance of this. The +word _bad_, when used as an affix, generally indicates that the water +is or has been used mainly for bathing. The word _brunn_, or _brunnen_, +however, usually implies that the spring has been mainly employed for +drinking purposes. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE USES OF BATHS. + + +We do not propose to enter at all fully into the question of the place +which baths ought to occupy as remedies for disease; but we shall +merely indicate some of the chief conditions for which bathing might +reasonably be expected to be of service. It has been generally claimed +for baths that they cure everything; and, in fact, the many unfounded +assertions as to the remedial powers of hot and cold water, which have +been made by professed hydropathists and others, have done much to +bring these very useful agents into disrepute. + +It proved very puzzling to the acute mind of the author of the ‘Bubbles +from the Brunnens,’ that the baths and waters which he encountered in +his travels seemed capable of curing everything; and it was difficult +to understand how patients whose conditions were in no way similar +should apparently derive equal benefit from precisely the same +treatment; and perhaps we shall not be wrong in assuming that the very +healthy mode of life which is pursued by visitors to baths has much to +do with the good results of treatment. + +The most common purpose for which baths are used is the cleansing +of the skin, and the importance of this, of course, cannot be +over-estimated. When we speak of a clean skin we mean a skin with clean +pores as well as a clean surface. The indolent and luxurious man, whose +skin is spotlessly clean, but whose sense of the proprieties is such +that he never indulges in a good vulgar sweat, has not, in reality, +so healthy and clean a skin as the navvy, whose myriad sweat-ducts +are constantly being flushed by the hardness of his work; but whose +skin surface, possibly, is soiled with the various grimy particles +with which his labour has brought him in contact. A clean skin is an +impossibility without perspiration; and if the necessary perspiration +be not brought about by the ordinary business of life, it is advisable +to encourage it by artificial means. Hence bathing is more necessary to +the man of sedentary occupation than to one who knows the daily luxury +of physical exertion. For the purposes of cleansing, the bath should +be warm, the skin should be well soaped, and a subsequent thorough +friction with a rough towel should be indulged in. This process has the +effect of removing the outer layer of the cuticle, of softening the +secretion lying in the mouths of the sweat-ducts, and by the action +of the heat dilating the blood-vessels of the skin and encouraging +perspiration. Its utility and its comfort are so well known that there +is no necessity for making any formal remarks thereupon. + +Perhaps there is no better form of exercise than that to be found in a +good swimming bath, always provided that an open river or the sea is +not at hand. The swimmer exercises every muscle in his body; and, if +swimming be vigorously kept up, there is nothing which more speedily +induces fatigue. For an athlete in training a daily swim ought to be a +part of his course of exercise. We wish there were more swimming baths +in London than there are. Such as exist are all overcrowded in the +summer, and in many of them the ventilation is not of the best. To take +violent exercise in a close, badly-ventilated room must be wrong, and +we would advise no one to patronise a bath which smells in the least +degree stuffy. Swimming should be practised not more than once a day, +and about midway between two meals. The bather, at the commencement of +his course, should not remain more than five minutes in the water; and +if his bath be not followed by a healthy glow, he will recognise that +even that is too much for him. The time of the bath may be gradually +extended. + +The cold bath in the morning is a luxury of which most of us know the +value. It cleanses, stimulates, and braces; and, if used in moderation, +conduces to health. A word of caution is necessary to those who use +their “morning tub” too heroically. The best criterion as to the +advisability of continuing its use is the readiness and completeness of +the reaction; and, if there is any feeling of chilliness, languor, or +want of appetite, with an inability to eat breakfast, it is as well to +ask whether, possibly, the cold bath had better be moderated. Persons +who suffer from rheumatic pains, or sciatica, or neuralgia, ought also +to be careful about continuing a practice which may be too severe for +them. It is always easy to add a small quantity of warm water to the +bath. There can be no doubt that a daily bath is absolutely necessary +for the health of children who are tender-skinned and too young to +attend to their personal cleanliness. + +There are certain diseases in which cold bathing is of acknowledged +service:-- + +Foremost among these is _fever_, and it is not too much to say that +many lives have been saved by the timely use of the cold bath. The use +of it, however, requires great judgment and knowledge, and it is not +applicable to every case, and is not without danger. In this country +its use is restricted almost entirely to those cases in which the +fever runs a very severe course, in which the bodily temperature rises +above 105° Fahr., and the patient attains what is technically known +as a condition of hyperpyrexia. The use of cold baths in fevers has +been known from time immemorial, although it has only attracted the +attention of modern physicians during the last ten or fifteen years. +The usual method of employing this treatment is to immerse the patient +in a bath of about 90° Fahr., or 95° Fahr., and by means of removal +of hot water and its renewal by cold, gradually, in about 20 minutes, +to reduce the temperature to 60° Fahr. In this way the temperature of +the patient may be reduced as much as four or five degrees, and his +sufferings are usually very much diminished. Cold bathing cannot be +said to _cure_ the fever, but it prevents some of its worst results, +and may enable the patient to pass through a trying ordeal unscathed. +All forms of fever may, occasionally, be treated with cold baths; but +this method of treatment in no case shortens the course of the fever. + +Cold bathing is of considerable use in some nervous affections, such +as hysteria, St. Vitus’s dance, and spasmodic croup. These affections +often, if not always, depend upon a depressed condition of health, and +a cold bath of short duration (before a fire in winter), and followed +by a brisk rubbing, is a very efficient means for their relief. + +Rickets is benefited by cold bathing; but for the relief of this and +other conditions of weakness the greatest moderation must be observed. + +Cold water is sometimes of use when locally applied, and seems to act +as a wholesome stimulant to parts which have become stiffened by want +of use, such as strained and sprained joints. In some skin diseases +benefit will be derived by the use of cold water. This is particularly +the case in itching of the skin or _Prurigo_, and _Acne_. + +Warm baths are far more generally useful in diseases than cold baths. +For the removal of the thickenings around joints, which have been +caused by gout or rheumatism or “rheumatic gout,” bathing in tepid or +hot water is justly considered as a powerful means of alleviation, +and as a valuable accessory to treatment by diet and regimen. The hot +water of Bath and the tepid water of Buxton have long enjoyed a great +reputation for gout and rheumatic gout, and there are many baths on +the Continent, which have a reputation, equally high, in the treatment +of these affections, such as _Teplitz_, _Gastein_, _Wiesbaden_, and +_Wildbad_. The treatment of gout by bathing is usually aided by the +internal administration of mineral water, but into this question we are +unable to enter, notwithstanding its great importance. + +For exudations round joints, which have arisen from causes other than +gout and rheumatism, warm bathing is of very great service, as well as +in relieving the stiffness and thickenings which sometimes occur as the +result of severe wounds. + +For _paralysis_ warm bathing is often of great use, provided the cause +of the paralysis be a removable one. Formerly, the principal method of +treating cases of lead paralysis occurring in the cider counties of the +West of England, was the sending of the patient to the warm springs at +Bath, and the results were generally very good. There are many forms +of paralysis which could not be benefited by treatment with hot water +or anything else; but it is impossible, in an elementary treatise, to +enter into a question requiring a high degree of medical knowledge for +its proper appreciation. + +For neuralgia, sciatica, lumbago, and many forms of muscular +rheumatism, hot bathing may be employed with advantage. + +For Bright’s disease of the kidneys, warm baths, vapour baths, and +Turkish baths, are all employed with benefit. + +An occasional Turkish or hot bath is a very great aid to the well-being +of dwellers in cities who get an insufficiency of air and exercise, +since it produces an activity of the skin which can only be brought +about by such means or by violent exertion. + +A common cold may sometimes be cured by means of a Turkish bath. To +bring about this result, however, the treatment must be applied in +the very earliest stages of the disease, when the slight tension in +the head, or a trifling feeling of chilliness, is warning the patient +of his coming trouble, and before the running of the eyes and nose +has thoroughly set in. A Turkish bath in this very earliest stage of +a cold will sometimes cut the disease short, but such a result is, +unfortunately, by no means invariable. + +Warm baths, as aiding the action of the skin, have been regarded as +of some value, when combined with proper diet and regimen, in the +treatment of diabetes. + +In diseases of the skin warm bathing is occasionally of service. For +_psoriasis_ a soaking in hot water has the effect of removing the +scales from the body, but it has probably no real curative influence +on the disease. In acne, chloasma, and diseases which are fostered by +a want of attention to cleanliness, warm bathing is of great service, +especially when aided by a liberal supply of soap and the rigorous use +of the flesh-brush and rough towel. + +Although we are all ready, perhaps too ready, to recognise the great +value of water applied externally, we are not always so quick at +recognising the evil effects of an excessive use of baths. + +Professor Hebra, of Vienna, one of the greatest authorities living +on the diseases of the skin, speaks in very decided tones of the +occasional harmful action which water exerts upon the skin. “It is,” he +says, “almost universally believed that the frequent use of vapour and +shower baths, frequent bathing in warm or cold water, frequent washing +and scrubbing, are healthful operations which can never do any harm. + +“Against this opinion I must enter my decided protest. On the one hand, +we know that there are millions of human beings who have never bathed +in warm or cold water all their lives long, who, at the utmost, give +their hands and face a superficial rinse once a week, and nevertheless +enjoy up to old age a state of health which may well be envied. On the +other hand, none can prove by statistics that the frequent use of the +various kinds of baths protect people from sickness, or that washing +in cold water strengthens the body against catarrh and rheumatism and +catching cold. So long as bathings are accompanied by a feeling of +comfort, and are not followed by any eruptions on the skin, they may, +no doubt, be allowed as a pastime, an amusement, an aquatic sport; but +whenever the skin thus repeatedly irritated begins to react--as soon as +itching, more or less severe, follows; as soon as persistent redness or +wheals, or pimples or watery heads make their appearance--it is high +time to leave off bathing and washing if we do not wish to produce +diseases of the skin, which often take months and years before they +disappear, and give the patient unspeakable misery.” + +Simple baths do not irritate the skin so much as when combined with +shampooing and wet packing and shower-baths, or when a vapour bath is +made more efficient by friction and by the various manipulations of the +Turkish or Russian bath. The result of such attacks upon the skin are +seldom long to wait for. Sooner or later a continual redness appears, +followed by burning or itching; then come pimples, boils, and pustules; +and though in past times these eruptions were regarded as critical and +beneficial we must now look on them in their true light, as simply the +injurious results of the action of water. + +Hebra has used the warm bath with success in alleviating the pain and +misery arising from extensive burns of the skin, and he has also used +it for some of the more troublesome of the scaly and itching diseases +of the skin. Although he seems more alive than most authors to the +evil effects produced by the irritation of water in cases which are +unsuited for it, he has, on the other hand, surpassed every one in the +extensive and continuous use of warm water. He says, “I began with two +hours, then advanced to days, and at last extended the duration of the +warm bath from one to nine months. I find that people can eat, drink, +and sleep just as well in a continuous warm bath as out of it; that +nutrition, respiration, and excretion go on as before.” + +Hebra asserts that in the external use of water it is a matter of small +moment whether we apply the water hot or cold to the part; that the +water soon approximates in temperature to that of the part to which it +is applied; and that in this matter the wishes and inclinations of the +patient need alone be consulted. With regard to _salt baths_, we may +remind the reader that they may be used either cold or hot, and that +they may thus be used in almost all those cases (some skin diseases +excepted) in which baths of hot or cold water are found useful. When +salt is added to the water, the stimulating effect upon the skin is +increased, and the bath may be considered by so much the more powerful. +Sea water, natural salt waters, and even crystals of sea-salt, or +common salt added to ordinary water, have so firm a place among popular +remedies that it is almost superfluous to make any formal remarks upon +them. + +It is perhaps in the treatment of scrofulous affections that sea +bathing and salt water have their greatest reputation. The sea-bathing +infirmary at Margate is too well known, and its work too highly valued +to need any words of approbation from the author of this Primer. +It is probable that the inhalation of sea-air has more to do with +the successful treatment of scrofula than the bathing in sea water, +although we have no wish to cast a doubt upon the efficacy in the +treatment of such diseases of a systematic stimulation of the skin. + +Dr. Jacob of Cudowa, in Silesia, has made a series of experiments on +the power of stimulating the skin which is possessed by various kinds +of baths. He has proved that mud and bran baths of the same consistence +produce the same alterations in the circulation, which are to be +regarded as the real expression of the amount of skin-stimulation. It +has been ascertained also that mud baths retain the heat of the bather +more effectually than simple water baths. A carbonic acid bath is said +to have the greatest stimulating action on the skin; a saline bath the +next greatest, and mud and pure water follow next. A carbonic acid bath +is also said to have the greatest power of causing general stimulation +and excitement. As to the cooling effect of these varieties of baths, +Dr. Jacob has noted that a water bath of an hour’s duration, and of a +temperature of 91·4°, lowers the bodily temperature of a healthy man +about ·9°; the mud bath of same duration and temperature 1·5°; the salt +bath 2°, and the carbonic acid bath about 2·6°. + +_Sulphur baths_ in former times enjoyed a very great reputation in +the treatment of skin diseases, gout, rheumatism, and the effects of +metallic poisons, especially lead and mercury. There is, however, +probably nothing peculiarly beneficial in the sulphur, and the good +effect of these baths is due more to the heat of the water than to +anything else. Many of the sulphur springs may rightly be regarded as +salt waters also, and they have a great power of skin-stimulation, a +power which adds immensely to their therapeutic efficacy. The bather +in sulphur water is constantly inhaling the vapour of sulphuretted +hydrogen, and this fact may have not a little to do with the good +effects of the water. A course of bathing at a sulphur spring is +generally combined with the internal administration of the water, and +it is consequently a very difficult problem to determine whether the +internal or external administration of the water has the greater effect +in producing the desired cure. + +Steel baths, or baths containing iron, have fallen almost entirely into +disuse, and any effect which was formerly attributed to the chalybeate +water is now with more probability ascribed to the water and its +temperature. The change in this respect is scarcely greater than that +which has taken place at Carlsbad, where purgative waters, formerly +used chiefly for bathing, are now almost exclusively employed for +drinking. + +The author of the ‘Bubbles from the Brunnens’ thus describes his +feelings while taking a steel bath at Langen Schwalbach, some forty +years ago:-- + +“As soon as the patient was ready to enter his bath, the first thing +which crossed his naked mind, as he stood shivering on the brink, was a +disinclination to dip even his foot into a mixture which looked about +as thick as a horse-pond, and about the colour of mulligatawny soup. +However, having come as far as Langen Schwalbach, there was nothing to +say but ‘_en avant_,’ and so, descending the steps, I got into stuff +so deeply coloured with the red oxide of iron that the body, when a +couple of inches below the surface, was invisible. The temperature +of the water felt neither hot nor cold, but I was no sooner immersed +in it than I felt that it was evidently of a strengthening, bracing +nature, and I could almost have fancied myself with a set of hides in +a tan-pit. The half-hour which every day I was sentenced to spend in +this red decoction, was by far the longest in the twenty-four hours, +and I was always very glad when my chronometer, which I regularly hung +on a nail before my eyes, pointed permission to me to extricate myself +from the mess. While the body was floating, hardly knowing whether to +sink or swim, I found it was very difficult for the mind to enjoy any +sort of recreation, or to reflect for two minutes on any one subject; +and as, half shivering, I lay watching the minute-hand of my dial, it +appeared the slowest traveller in existence.” + +In the delightful book from which the above quotation is taken, no +mention is made of the disease, if any, for the relief of which the +author underwent the unpleasant ordeal of the iron bath. The reader, +however, will have no difficulty in surmising that the good he derived +at Langen Schwalbach was due more to the change of air and scene +and occupation than to the disagreeable bathing process to which he +submitted daily. There is, or has been, a great deal of superstition +in medicine, and the public have, or used to have, a surprising amount +of faith in nasty medicines. In old dispensatories will be found the +records of prescriptions into the composition of which there entered +hideous and nameless abominations, and we are very much inclined to +think that the lingering belief in steel baths, sulphur baths, and mud +baths is but the remnant of a dying faith in nasty prescriptions, and +the necessity of doing penance. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A VISIT TO A BATH. + + +When the doctor’s fiat goes forth that his patient is to visit this or +that bath for the benefit of his health, far more is implied in the +injunction than the mere use of water, whether mineral or indifferent, +hot or cold. It means that the sufferer is to leave his usual place +of abode, and the climate which may perhaps have been instrumental +in working him ill; to forsake the numerous causes of mental worry +and bodily fatigue which may be connected with his occupation or his +family cares; to bid adieu for a while to the cook--good, bad, or +indifferent--who perhaps has tickled his palate to the ruin of his +stomach, and the cellar which has daily furnished those wines which, +gravitating to the toes, have necessitated the big boot and the stout +staff; to turn his back for a season on all that is implied in the +words “good society,” and exchange all these for something else. +Whether that exchange will be beneficial or otherwise will depend upon +the knowledge of the patient possessed by the adviser--knowledge, not +only of his constitution and his ailments, but of his pocket and his +inclinations. The man of cultured mind, like Sir Francis Head, whose +diary of life at Langen Schwalbach forms so charming a volume, who is +able to find amusement in the contemplation of human nature, or of +natural phenomena, who + + “Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, + Sermons in stones, and good in everything;” + +whose resources are within himself, will find his recreation +everywhere, and provided the place to which he is sent be wholesome, +he will get all the benefits which are derivable from change of scene +and air. It would be cruel and useless, however, to send the votary +of pleasure to a resort where art provides nothing for the amusement +of the guests, and equally useless to condemn a man accustomed to a +simple country life to mingle all day long in a fashionable crowd, +intent on artificial joys. There is no doubt that on the Continent +the arrangements for the comfort and amusement of guests visiting a +bath are more perfect than they are in this country; and the invalid +who crosses the “silver streak” which separates us from the rest of +Europe will find a greater difficulty in continuing in that groove of +existence which, mayhap, has been prejudicial to him. On the other +hand it must not be forgotten that to many persons foreign travel +is exceedingly distasteful. There are many who know no language but +English, and whose prejudices are so in favour of English manners and +customs that they cannot be induced to fall in with Continental habits. +We remember seeing a gentleman at a fashionable bath abroad, whither +he had been sent for the relief of his gout, who was evidently most +grievously bored by the process of cure. He associated with none, dined +alone, and day after day partook, in a solitary corner of a restaurant, +of a fried sole, a mutton chop, stilton cheese, and a pint of dry +sherry. + +A man who thus carries his own atmosphere with him, and who +persistently goes against the stream, wrapping himself in insular +prejudice, will find very little benefit in foreign travel or in change +of scene. + +There are few bathing places, either in this country or on the +continent, where the drinking of water does not hold a position in +the “cure” which patients are prepared to undergo, at least equal to +the bathing. Drinking of mineral water and bathing go everywhere hand +in hand, although at different spas the one or the other method of +treatment will be found to preponderate. With the drinking of water we +have, as we have before said, nothing, at present, to do; but, although +in theory it is easy enough to separate the effects of bathing from +those of water drinking, it is found less easy to do so in practice. + +What Epidaurus was in the palmy days of Greece when thousands flocked +to seek health and recreation at its renowned temple of Æsculapius; +what Baiæ was to the luxurious Romans who came to its famous warm +springs, impelled equally by fashion and disease; what Bath was when +at the zenith of its popularity; such is the Badstadt of the present +time. The throng in the town in the height of the season (July and +August) is very great, and the crowd of visitors is as fashionable as +it is cosmopolitan. Here are German petty potentates, Russian princes, +English nobles, and wealthy Americans, by scores; and there can be +no doubt that the charm of a fashionable watering-place like this is +by many found in the fact that all men are, more or less, upon an +equality where there is only one fountain from which they all must +drink, and one source in which they all must bathe. The duke, whose +pedigree reaches back to the Dark Ages, must equally wait his turn +with the merchant whose wealth is of yesterday’s creation; and in +waiting-rooms of bath-houses, at tables-d’hôte, and at the brink of +healing fountains, blood which is of the bluest tint comes into very +close contact with that which is of other shades. + +The town of Badstadt is most charmingly situated upon an elevated +plateau, some 600 or 700 feet above sea-level, and in the midst of +delightful scenery, which is to be found among the mountains which +surround the town on every side but one. The mountains are clothed to +their summits with pine, and these pine woods are amongst the most +favoured places to which the “cure guests” of Badstadt resort. In the +depths of the pine forest there is always, even in the hottest day, a +refreshing coolness and an invigorating aroma, and to wander here with +a book, or a companion and some luncheon, is a most pleasant method of +killing the sultry hours of noon. One day is pretty much like another +at Badstadt, although here is just sufficient variety to obviate any +feeling of irksomeness. What will the fashionable Londoner think +when, at six o’clock in the morning, he finds that he can no longer +sleep because every one in the hotel is already stirring? There is +nothing for it but to go with the stream, to get up and dress oneself +(in the nattiest of lounging coats if of the male sex, in the most +bewitching of light summer costumes if of the female), and away with +the rest of the world to drink the water at the Betsinda Quelle, the +most fashionable spring in all Europe. It is not seven o’clock, we are +nearly four hours earlier from our beds than is our wont, the fresh +morning air is bracing and delightful, the sun has not yet dissipated +the dew, and yet the whole world of Badstadt is alive. Here beneath +the trees of the Cur-garten are some 2000 or 3000 fashionables, all +sauntering and talking, so that the hum of conversation is audible at +a great distance, and forms a not inharmonious obbligato to the music +of the orchestra in the Kiosk which is hard by. Few prettier sights +than this can be seen or imagined. The avenue of limes offers in +either direction, a most attractive vista; the sunlight comes glinting +through the fret-work of leaves upon the gravel, creating little +dancing shadows and lighting up the many and varied colours of the +ladies’ costumes; the roses in the neighbouring flower-beds lend their +bright colours to give the eye additional pleasure, while their aroma +tickles yet another sense; and the ear is pleased by a performance, by +an excellent band, of the best compositions of the best masters. The +focus, as it were, of all this gaiety is the Betsinda Quelle, and most +of the guests may be seen to advance to the edge of the health-giving +fountain, which is enclosed in a sunken ornamental basin, and tender +a glass for the prescribed dose of the water. The water contains a +good deal of common salt and not much else, and is nearly as nasty as +sea-water; but it is surprising to see how methodically and with how +little fuss the _habitués_ get through their allotted portion. The +physician probably said to this or that patient: “You are to drink two +glasses of the Betsinda, and you are to walk for twenty minutes after +each glass;” and one may see hundreds, who, watch in hand, carry out +their directions to the letter. He who frequents the springs regularly +will soon recognise that, morning after morning, the same people arrive +at the same time, consume the ordained number of glasses and disappear. +The majority of these, it must be confessed, do not appear to be very +ill, although here and there may be seen some whose faces bear evidence +of disease, whose limbs are crippled with gout or rheumatism, and who +accomplish the morning promenade with the aid of sticks or crutches, +or, in place of walking, perform a cruise upon wheels in an invalid +chair. Badstadt is above all things a pleasant place, and everything +has been done that money can accomplish to charm the senses and make +life agreeable. The notables of society are its chief patrons, and +there can be no doubt that the majority of the visitors come here +for the season, strange as it may seem, that they may meet the same +persons that they have been meeting earlier in the year in the “Row,” +upon the lawn at Goodwood, or in the salons of Paris. “Good Society,” +by which term we mean those wealthy and noble individuals who prefer +an artificial to a natural existence, annually makes itself ill by +attending too assiduously to its duties. Having risen from its bed some +eight hours later than the sun; having dined largely every night on a +mixture of all that is rich and unwholesome; and having freely partaken +with its meals of all manner of liquids other than water; having danced +night after night in rooms reeking of androsmia (which is polite Greek +for the “smell of humanity”), and rendered stifling by wax lights or +gas; having retired to bed just before sunrise, and, in short, having +shown an unaccountable dislike for the light of heaven, and an equally +unaccountable preference for those wretched and poisonous substitutes +which our dark northern latitudes have rendered necessary, Society +takes itself to Badstadt to try the experiment of undoing all the +mischief which has been brought about by its own folly. The morning +promenade is an integral and most important factor in the Badstadt +cure; and the potations of salt water have not only a cleansing and +“alterative” effect, but they damp the appetite a little, and help to +prevent Society from taking too much food. The Badstadt breakfasts are +very simple repasts; one cup of coffee and delicious bread, butter is +not allowed except to a favoured few who can find some good excuse for +being treated exceptionally; eggs are a luxury which the local doctors +regard with manifest dislike; and as for the chops, devilled kidneys, +fried bacon, bits of fish, cold grouse, dabs of marmalade, and other +“necessaries,” which Society takes at home, they are not to be thought +of. + +After the frugal repast of coffee and bread has been disposed of, a +novel or the newspaper serves to wile away an hour or so, and then the +all-important time for bathing is at hand. The baths are of all kinds +here, and are made of mineral water or simple water, according to the +fancy of the patient or the prescription of the “Bad-artzt” (as the +local practitioners are called). Both before and after the bath the +patient scrupulously observes the directions of Hippocrates, and is +careful to keep both body and mind in a state of complete rest, so that +sufficient power may be left to thoroughly digest the mid-day meal, +which the English call luncheon and the Germans dinner. With those +who are wise this meal is as simple as it can be made, and consists +of a portion of braised or stewed meat, vegetable, and some simple +farinaceous pudding. As for wine, half a bottle of weak Rhenish or +Moselle is all that is allowed; visitors being especially warned to +avoid even the stronger of the Rhenish wines, such as Rüdesheimer or +Steinberger, vintages, towards which those English who have well-filled +pockets are very apt to gravitate. In the middle of the day the Germans +habitually take their heartiest meal, and towards one o’clock a stream +sets in the direction of the ‘Adler’ or the ‘König Wilhelm,’ where +possibly the same sixty or eighty persons meet day after day at the +table d’hôte. These repasts are often regulated by the advice of the +local physicians, and one great advantage of patronising them lies in +the fact that it is impossible to get viands which are at all difficult +of digestion, or which are likely to disagree with the waters. After +dinner comes an open-air concert beneath the trees, in the garden of +the Cur-haus, and the process of digestion is allowed to complete +itself in the fresh air, while the ears are tickled by the sound of +first-rate music. + +For those who wish to read, the salons of the Cur-haus are always open, +and every journal of note which is published in San Francisco or St. +Petersburg, or any of the intermediate cities, is freely placed at +the disposal of the guests. When we say freely placed we mean freely +to those who pay the “Cure tax,” a small sum which is levied from all +who come to participate in the enjoyments which are provided by the +Badstadters for their guests. + +The afternoon is devoted to a drive or a leisurely walk to the +neighbouring forest; and at six o’clock the English return to dine; +and at seven or half-past seven the Germans come home to supper. The +_cuisine_ at the Cur-haus, being modelled on Parisian lines, attracts +many of the guests who cannot submit to the Spartan _régime_ of +Badstadt in its entirety; and there may be seen occupying the small +tables on the terrace snug parties of three or four having just one +of those very “little dinners” which have been the main cause of +that indisposition which has made a “cure” necessary. The evenings +are usually occupied by promenading in front of the Cur-haus, and +occasionally a display of fireworks, or an illumination is provided. +There is a theatre too, at which the best actors and singers appear +during the season; but these after-dinner amusements are mostly of +short duration, and, as a rule, Badstadt retires to bed not later than +ten o’clock. + +Thus it will be seen that life at a bath is spent largely in the open +air, that the amusements and the routine of each day are regulated +mainly with a view to health, that the diet is restrained within the +limits of prudence, and that “early to bed and early to rise” is a wise +maxim, to which a rigid adherence is expected of all who come in quest +of health to the baths and springs of Badstadt. It is not surprising +that the Badstadt waters should be regarded as a panacea throughout the +whole of Europe. + + +LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING +CROSS. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75757 *** |