The mineral springs of the United States and Canada : with analyses and notes on the prominent spas of Europe, and a list of sea-side resorts

Front matter

Ataiuntt^ vt AI l-£t rente,

(Etmutin.

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Preface

For many years the author has desired to know whether there are any medicinal virtues in mineral waters. He has been accustomed to hear mineral springs mentioned with a smile by the majority of the members of the medical profession in the United States, while, on the other hand, patients are continually seeking springs without consulting their physician. Occasionally he has known medical gentlemen admit that patients afflicted with inveterate chronic diseases have resorted to mineral springs, and much to their surprise returned cured. Between this incredulity of the profession, and credulity pf the public, he has thought there may be a medium of truth. He knew that medical men of experience abroad frequently recommended their patients to visit certain spas for the relief of their maladies. That very eminent French physician, Trousseau, devoted much time to writing a work, in company with Laseque, entitled “ Etudes Therapeutiques sur les Eaux Minerales des Bords du Rhin,” and, throughout his clinical work, as well as the able work of Prof. Niemeyer, mineral waters are assigned an important place in the treatment of many chronic diseases. With impressions derived from such facts, the author sought libraries and book-stores

VI

PREFACE.

for information concerning the mineral springs of the United States, but found little or none.

In this volume the author has endeavored to arrange all the known facts concerning mineral waters, in such manner that they shall be readily accessible. For this purpose he has consulted the best European authors, their conclusions being drawn from hundreds of years of laborious investigation of the spas of Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy. It has been interesting in the course of this study to note how closely the conclusions drawn by them, concerning the action of different classes of waters, agree with the observations made at springs in this country independent of any knowledge of foreign research. The portion relating to the springs of the United States is the result of a selection of credible evidence regarding them, gained by correspondence and personal observation. Acknowledgment should here be made to Stephen Powers, Esq., of California, who has so greatly aided in procuring information concerning the springs of that State.

To facilitate comparison, the analyses of all the springs have been reduced to the wine pint, the original analyses from which they are taken being based on the wine gallon, the imperial gallon, the litre, a thousand parts, etc. Wherever the alkaline carbonates were estimated as bicarbonates in the original analysis, they have been reduced to carbonates. The carbonate of iron is alwaj^s understood to be the carbonate of the protoxide. In two or three of the analyses the uncombined elements were given, but the acids and bases have been combined according to approved methods, and the resultant salts appear. In some instances the springs wTere analyzed many years ago, previous to important discoveries

PREFACE.

vn in chemical science, and the water should be reanalyzed ; for, although the analysis of a water does not indicate its absolute medical value, nevertheless, in many instances, it is an exceedingly important guide to its use. All waters of value should be thoroughly analyzed ; and, though we cannot then account for their action, let us not close our eyes or ignore their efficacy, if such there be, but continue the search for the unknown quantities that elude our vision.

Although this country does not seem to present a complete list of the various classes of waters, still, for the treatment of many diseases, we have waters equal to any in the world, and one potent subdivision, the aluminous chalybeates (alum-waters), are found nowhere but in America of equal strength. However, when the waters of the Pacific coast shall be thoroughly analyzed, doubtless we shall find some of them equal the celebrated alkaline thermals of Vichy, and the muriated-alkaline thermals of Ems.

The list of springs is thought to be complete, but a few omissions may have occurred. The author will consider himself under obligations to any one who will favor him with information of springs not mentioned, however remote, provided they have been improved for public resort.

No. 224 Laurel Street,

Cincinnati, December, 1872.

Chapter I. Historical

Mineral Springs of Ancient Greece— Of Ancient Italy — Roman Baths— Baths of Caracalla — Method of Bathing — Perfumes — Laws regulating the Baths — Baise — Mediaeval Baths — Description of Baden, in Switzerland, in 1420 and 1570 — Description of Bath, England^ in 1668 — Modern Baths— Leuk, in Switzerland — Gambling at Baden-Baden . Page 1

Chapter II Mineral Waters

Definition of Mineral Water— Pure Water— River Water— Analyses of Rivers — Schuylkill— Croton — Charles — St. Lawrence — Origin of Springs — Due to Meteoric Water — Solvent Power of Water on Rocks — Formation of Springs — Saratoga — Tuscan Springs — Ascending Springs — Descending Springs — Intermittent Springs — Physical Characteristics of Water — Color — Odor — Taste — Texture — Temperature — Electricity — Magnetism . 14

Chapter III. Classification

Its Necessity — Different Methods — Chemical Classification — The German — The French — Difficulties of Application — The Classification adopted 82

Chapter IV. Action Of Mineral Waters

Many visit Springs for Recreation alone — Quackish Advertising of Springs — Influence of Change of Air— Change of Scene— Objections on account of Uncertainty of Composition — Artificial Preparations not considered — Action of Ordinary Water — Necessity of Water in the Organism— Absorption — Diuretic Action — Cold Water increases Peristaltic Action of the Intestines — Immediate Action of Mineral Waters— Stimulant, Sedative, Eliminant, Remote Action — Alterative — Theory of Alterative Action — Alterative Action of each Mineral Water differs — Bath Fever — Action of Thermal Waters — Bath Eruptions— Quotation from Trousseau 36

Chapter V. Chemical Constituents

Impropriety of ignoring the Chemical Constituents of Mineral Waters — Demonstration by Struve that Waters are impregnated from the Constituents of Rocks— The Constitu-

X

CONTENTS.

ents of Mineral Waters usually invariable — Peculiar Yariation of the Spring’s of Saxon Switzerland— Sudden Changes from Earthquakes— Deposits from Mineral Waters — Constituents : Carbonates and Bicarbonates of Soda, Potassa, Magnesia, Lime, Lithia, Strontia, Iron, Manganese ; Chlorides of Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Caesium, Bubidium ; Sulphates of Soda, Magnesia, Lime, Potassa, Iron, Alumina; Iodides of Potassium, Sodium — Bromides — Phosphates — Silicates — Boracic Acid — Borate of Soda — Fluorides — Nitrates — Arsenic — Crenic and Apocrenic Acid — Organic Substances : Baregine, Glairine, Sulfurine, Microscopic Algae — Carbonic Acid— Sulphuretted Hydrogen — Carburetted Hydrogen — Oxygen and Nitrogen .... Page 48

CHAPTER YI.

TIIEEAPEUTICS.

Mineral Waters only applicable to Chronic Diseases— Appropriate Stage of Disease for using W aters— Rheumati sm — Gout — Syphilis — Metallic Poisoning — Diabetes Mellitus — Intermittent Fever — Chronic Dysentery — Anasarca — Cancer — Scrofula — Chlorosis — Hemiplegia— Paraplegia — Locomotor Ataxia — Neuralgia — Hysteria — Hypochondria — Chronic Laryngitis — Chronic Pharyngitis — Chronic Bronchitis — Asthma — Consumption — Dyspepsia— Gastritis — Gastric Ulcer — Gastralgia — Constipation — Hasmorrhoids — Engorged Liver — Gall-Stones — Fatty Liver — Jaundice — Gravel — Calculus— Y esical Catarrh — Albuminuria— Chronic Metritis — Amenorrhoea — Dysmenorrhoea — Leucorrhoea — Sterility — Eczema — Lichen — Psoriasis — Pityriasis — Scrofulides — Syphilides — Anchylosis— Contractions— Hydrarthrosis — Coxalgia — Caries — Ulcers — Old Wounds ... 66

CHAPTER YII.

SUGGESTIONS.

Prescription of Mineral Waters— Choice of a Resort— The Season— Bottled Waters— Extracts of Waters— Amusements — Time for drinking the Waters— Quantity— Preparatory Treatment— Boileau’s Experience in 1487 — Temperance in Diet— Duration of Treatment— Impropriety of changing from Spring to Spring — Resident Physician to be consulted— Time for Baths— Alibert’s Advice— The Whey-Cure — The Grape-Cure 111

CHAPTER YIII.

THE SKIN.

Anatomy— True Skin — Epidermis— Sweat-Glands— Sebaceous Glands— Functions of the Skin — Absorptions— Transpiration 120

CHAPTER IX

BATHS.

Cold Bath— Temperate Baths— Tepid Bath— Warm Bath— Hot Bath— Yapor-Bath— Russian Bath— Hot-Air Bath — Turkish Bath— Douches : Descending, Ascending, Fan, Ring, Universal— Spout-Bath— Sitz-Bath— Foot-Bath— Mineral Mud-Bath— Medicated Baths— Carbonic-Acid Bath 127

CHAPTER X.

ALKALINE WATERS.

Prominent Constituents— Action— Diseases to which they are applicable— Springs : Bladon, Congress, California; California Seltzer, Perry, Versailles, St. Louis, Michigan; Lower Soda, Oregon; Sheldon, Central, Vermont, Missisquoi, Middletown, Welden, Rockbridge Baths, Capon 1^4

CONTENTS.

xi

. CHAPTER XI.

SALINE WATERS.

Prominent Constituents— Action— Diseases to which, they arc applicable— Brines — Springs : St. Catharines, Caledonia, Plantagenet, Lansing, Spring Lake, Fruit Port, St. Louis, Missouri ; Saratoga, Ballston, Albany, Wilhoits, Charleston . . . Page 160

CHAPTER XII.

SULPHUR-WATERS.

Prominent Constituents— Action— Diseases to which they are applicable — Springs : Blount, Sandwich, Caledonia, Charlotsville, Piedmont, White Sulphur, California; Yallejo White Sulphur, Green-Cove, Indian, Georgia; French Lick, West Baden, Indian, Indiana; Lafayette, Lodi, Trinity, Upper Blue Lick, Lower Blue Lick, Paroquet, Big Bone, Olympian, Estill, Louisville, Drennon, Bedford, White Sulphur and Tar, White Sulphur, Louisiana ; De Soto, Alpena, Sharon, Massena, Chittenango, Richfield, Avon, Clifton, Cherry Talley, Columbia, Dryden, White Sulphur, New York; Longmuirs, Shocco, Warren, White Sulphur, North Carolina; White Sulphur, Ohio; Minnequa, York, Carlisle, Glenn, Sitka, Alburg, Highgate, Newbury, Jordans, Yellow, Virginia; Buffalo, Stribling, Coyners, Egglestons, Botetourt, Cold White, Montgomery White, Fauquier White, Roanoke Red, Huguenot, Burner’s, Daggar’s, Grayson, Greenbrier White, Salt, Red, Biue, ISO

CHAPTER XIII.

CHALYBEATE WATERS.

Prominent Constituents — Action— Diseases to which they are applicable— Springs : Bailey, Fry, Stafford, Catoosa, Madison, Greencastle, Knightstown, Schuyler County, Illinois ; Estill, Hopkinton, Owosso, Cooper’s Well, Ocean, Oak Orchard, Sharon, Schooley’s Mountain, Mineral Springs, New Jersey; Adams County, Ohio; Cresson, Blossburg, Fayette, Montvale, Beersheba, Rawley, Sweet Chalybeate, Rockbridge Alum, Bath Alum, Stribling, Bedford Alum, Virginia; Church Hill Alum, Pulaski Alum, Variety . 235

CHAPTER XIV.

PURGATIVE WATERS.

Prominent Constituents — Action — Diseases to which they are applicable — Springs : Crab- Orchard, Harrodsburg, Estill, Midland, Beer, Bedford, Virginia; Elgin . . .261

CHAPTER XV.

CALCIC WATERS.

Prominent Constituents— Action — Diseases to which they are applicable— Springs : Eaton Rapids, Butterworth, Hubbardston, Leslie, Yellow, Gettysburg, Clarendon, Alleghany, Holston, Berkeley, Sweet, Bethesda ’. 268

CHAPTER XVI.

THERMAL WATERS.

Prominent Characteristics — Action— Diseases to which they are applicable — Springs : Hot, Arkansas ; Calistoga, Geysers, California; Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Warner’s Ranch, San Bernardino, Skagg’s, Gilroy, Lake Tahoe, Idaho, Middle Park, Warm, Georgia; Warm, North Carolina; Agua Caliente, New Mexico; Lebanon, Puebla, Volcano, Des Chutes, Salt Lake, Hot, Virginia ; Warm, Virginia ; Healing, American Geysers . 2S4

Xll

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII.

UN CL AS SIFIED WATERS.

Springs : Summit Soda, Alabaster, Vichy, Tuscan, Bartlett, Adams, California ; Napa Soda, Harbines, San Rafael, Crystal, Rocky Mountain, St Leon, Varennes, Orange, Bethesda, Georgia ; Latonia, Togus, Berkshire Soda, Grand Ledge, Flints, Birch-Dale, Abenaquis, Amherst, Bradford, Vallonia, Piedmont, Elgin, Cappers, Orkney, Blue Ridge, Parkersburg, Shannondale Page 331

CHAPTER XVIII.

EUROPEAN SPAS.

Alkaline, Waters : Vichy, Ems, Fachingen — Saline Waters : Homburg, Kissingen, Wiesbaden, Baden-Baden, Bourbonne, Selters — Brine-Batlis: Kreuznach, Nauheim — Sulphur- Waters : Aix-la-Chapelle, Aix-les-Bains, Bareges, Baneres-de-Luchon, Nenndorf, Meinberg— Chalybeate Waters: Schwalbach, Pyrmont, Spa, S t. -Moritz — Purgative Waters: Polina, Friedrichshall, Sedlitz, Carlsbad, Marienbad, Franzensbad — Calcic Waters: Contrexville, Bagneres-de-Bigorre, Leuk, W ildungen — Thermal Waters: Gastein, Toplitz, Schlangenbad, Plombieres 341

CHAPTER XIX.

SEA-SIDE RESORTS.

The Sea — Sea-Air — Analysis of Sea-Water— Phosphorescence— Temperature — Sea-Bath — Resuscitation from Drowning — Resorts : Cushing’s Island, Rye, Hampton, Swampscott, Nahant, Chelsea, Newport, Narragansett Pier, Long Branch, Coney Island, Rockaway, Cape May, Atlantic City 373

MINERAL SPRINGS.

Chapter I. Historical

The pages of ancient authors frequently contain records of resorts where the sick bathed in healing waters or drank of medicinal fountains. In Greece the temples of A5sculapius were frequently erected near springs reputed to possess curative power. The ancient Athenians, during the summer months, sought the thermal — saline — sulphur baths of AEdipsus in the island of Euboea, about sixty miles by sea from Athens. They have been known from remotest antiquity, and are a favorite resort at the present day. During the Mithridatic war, Sylla sought them, and Strabo tells us (book i., chap, iii., Proleg.) that, following an earthquake, these waters disappeared for three days, and reappeared at several different points. On the opposite side of the channel from HEdipsus, on the main-land, is the celebrated pass of Thermopylae, so named from the hot sulphur-springs in the vicinity. They flow from the base of Mount CEta, and fall into the sea. Springs formed a favorite site for the establishment of temples. Near the Temple of Jupiter Ammon was an intermittent spring (Herodotus iv., 181). Delphi had its Fountain of Casotis (Pausanius x., 24, § 7), and these waters, now known as St. Nicholas, rise south of Lesche, and flow beneath the Temple of Apollo.

In the pages of Latin writers we frequently meet with ailu- 1

MINERAL SPRINGS.

sions to medicinal springs, testifying the esteem in which they were held by the Romans. Horace, in describing the fictitious fame that the cold-water cure obtained at Rome, under the influence of a charlatan named Musa, speaks thus :

“ Of Yelia and Salernum tell me, pray,

The climate and the natives, and the way ;

For Baiae now is lost on me, and I,

Once its stanch friend, am now its enemy,

Through Musa’s fault, who makes me undergo His cold-bath treatment, spite of frost and snow.

Good sooth, the town is filled with spleen to see Its steamy baths attract no company ;

To find its sulphur-wells, which found out pain From joint and sinew, treated with disdain By chests and heads, now grown so bold They brave cold water in the depth of cold ;

And finding down at Clusium what they want,

Or Gabbi, say, make that their winter haunt.”

(Epist. i., 15. Conington’s Translation of Horace.)

Unfortunately for Musa, the ill success of his mode of treatment soon caused a return to the mineral waters of Baiae, which continued to be sought by multitudes, and are resorted to at the present day.

Pliny tells us in his Natural History (book xxxi., § 1) that all waters are gifts of the earth. He says : “ They spring wholesome from the earth on every side and in a thousand lands; the cold, the hot, the hot and cold together, as at Tarbellum (Dax) in Aquitania, or in the Pyrenees, where they are separated only by a small interval, or yet the warm and tepid, announcing relief to the sick, and flowing from the earth only for man, of all living things. Under various names they add to the number of divinities, and establish villages.” He also names the diseases for which certain waters were considered beneficial — the springs of Sineus a for sterility ; those of JEnaria (Ischia, of to-day) for calculous affections. Of the latter, it is said by a late writer : “ The attractions of this country and its waters are sufficient to merit with us the

HISTORICAL.

popularity they enjoyed with the ancients, and which is testified by numerous Latin inscriptions.”

When the seat of the Roman Empire was transferred to the East, the well-known baths of Brusa, about sixty miles from Constantinople, were developed ; and at this day they are the most celebrated* baths in the Orient. Wherever the Romans penetrated the then Western wilds of Europe, they sought out the mineral springs of the country, and we find remains of their baths at Aix in Savoy, Aix in Provence ; Bagneres de Bigorre and Bagneres de Luchon in the Pyrenees, Alhama and Caldas in Spain, Wiesbaden, Baden in Switzerland, and at Bath, or Aqua Solis, in England. The Latin word aqua , changed into Acqui, Aigues, Aix, Ax, and Dax, as applied to modern towns, remains to tell of their early celebrity as watering-places.

If there were historic records of the barbarous tribes of Germania, Gallia, and Hispania, we would doubtless learn that the same fountains were held in esteem by them which were subsequently resorted to by the Romans.

In the brilliant days of imperial Rome, bathing formed a chief enjoyment of patrician and plebeian. The luxury of warm bathing was indulged in to such excess that at one time eight hundred thermge could be counted within the city, and several of these would accommodate three thousand bathers at one time. Many of these structures covered entire squares, and were adorned with every architectural beauty. An approach to them showed beautiful marble porticos supported by many-fluted columns, and entering and passing out might be seen orators, poets, senators, and sometimes the emperor. Within was a labyrinth of marble halls and colonnades decorated with statuary and mosaics by the masters, and in various spacious chambers scholars discoursed to an attentive auditory. Other apartments were devoted to athletic exercise, which was usually taken before entering the bath. After the bath, those who had leisure might pass an hour in the well-arranged librarjq or saunter in the gardens of rare flowers and exotic plants within the enclosure. The grandeur of these

MINERAL SPRINGS.

structures may be imagined when we are told that the baths of Diocletian were the repository of the famous Ulpian Library ; that one of the halls of these baths forms the present magnificent Church of the Carthusians ; and that the baths of Agrippa had for a vestibule that relic of antiquity so well described by Byron :

Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods,

From Jove to Jesus — spared and blest by time,

Looking tranquillity, while falls or nods,

Arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods His way through thorns to ashes — glorious dome !

Many traces of the Roman baths still remain, but the most familiar ruins are those of the baths of Caracalla. They were commenced by Antoninus Caracalla about the year a. d. 212. Subsequently they were enlarged by Elagabulus, and completed by Alexander Severus. They occupy an area nearly a mile in circuit, including the enclosure, and the bath-structure covered a space seven hundred and twenty feet long and three hundred and seventy-five feet wide. Within the enclosure were porticos, gardens, a stadium, and a large reservoir into which the Antonine Aqueduct emptied, and in front ran the Via Novo, one of the most magnificent streets in Rome during the time of the Antonines.

On page 5 we insert one-half of the ground-plan taken from Bell’s work on baths, Dr. Bell having borrowed it from Cameron’s “ Baths of the Romans.” The other half of the building corresponds to this in every particular.

Outside the bath-building, and within the enclosure, was a pavilion for spectators, whence they could see the exercises in the open air, apartments for those who had care of the baths, exedrae where gymnastic exercises were taught, retiring-chambers for those who exercised in the stadium, atrias to

HISTORICAL.

HALF OF THE PLAN OF THE BATHS OF CARACALLA. THE SIDE IN THE LINE V X RACING THE VIA NOYO ; THE OPPOSITE SIDE OPENING UPON THE GARDENS.

A. Vestibule on entering the thermae, on each side of which were libraries.

B. Vestibule for spectators and the clothes of those who were bathing.

C. Piscina, or large reservoir for swimming.

D. Peristyle, having a piscina in the middle for warm bathing.

E. Ephebium, or place for exercise.

F F. Rooms where the athletae prepared for their exercises.

G G. Various halls or recesses for the use of those who frequented the baths.

H. Xystum, or portico for the athletae to exercise under in bad weather.

K. Exedrae, or large recesses for the use of philosophers.

L. Rooms for conversation.

M. Aphodyterium, or undressing-room.

N. Celia Solaris, one hundred and eleven feet in diameter, in which were the labra of the

baths for ordinary bathing. Spartianus says this apartment could not be equalled by the architects of his age ; that the window-lattices were overlaid with brass or copper, of which materials the whole vault was made, “and so vast was its extent that learned mechanicians declare it impossible to make one like it.”

O. Laconicum, or hot-air bath.

P. Caldarium, or hot- vapor bath.

Q. Tepidarium, or tepid-water bath.

R. Frigidarium, or cold-water bath.

8. Elaeosthesium, or room for oils.

T. Conisterium, or room where athletae, after being anointed with oil, were sprinkled with dust so they might take surer hold in wrestling.

U U. Vestibules.

MINERAL SPRINGS.

the academies, temples, piazzas for the masters to walk in, and covered baths for those who did not choose to exercise in the xystus.

It would appear from this description that the baths were divided into the warm-water baths — those apartments in which the piscinae are located — and the hot-air and vapor-baths comprising the laconicum and the caldarium, which were heated to from 110° to 160° Fahr. Many bathers seldom entered these apartments. Those who frequented the baths disrobed in the contiguous vestibules, and placed their clothing in charge of servants, who received small sums of money for keeping guard. They then went to the elasosthesium and anointed the entire body with a cheap kind of oil, and afterward repaired to one of the many spaces devoted to gymnastic exercises. After exercising a sufficient time, they entered an adjoining warm-bath. Here numbers might be seen seated on the marble steps of the bath, which were just below the surface of the water. After ablution, thejT seated themselves on these steps and scraped the entire body with the strigil , a blunt instrument similar in shape to a small sickle, and made of bone, iron, bronze, or silver — most frequently of bronze. The wealthy had the operation performed by an attendant slave. It is said that it was not an agreeable proceeding, and that the Emperor Augustus was a sufferer by having it performed too roughly. Afterward the bather was washed by vases of water poured over him, and then thoroughly dried with cotton and linen cloths, and covered with a light shaggy mantle called gausape. Fastidious persons of wealth, in addition to the process described, had slaves go over their bodies with tweezers and pluck out every hair ; the nails of feet and hands were then trimmed ; and, finally, highly-perfumed oils in vases of alabaster or bronze were brought from the elaeosthesium, and the entire body, not omitting the soles of the feet, was anointed. The clothing was then resumed, and they passed into the tepidarium, where they remained some time, so as not to be too suddenly chilled on going from the warm bath into the external air. The tepidarium in these baths, it

HISTORICAL.

seems, was only used for this purpose ; water being employed only as a convenient method of regulating the temperature of the chamber. In smaller thermae, however, and in provincial cities, this apartment was undoubtedly used for bathing. In this description of bathing the laconicum and caldarium are omitted. They were sought by those who desired, for the purpose of producing excessive perspiration in a similar way to the Turkish and Russian baths.

A word may be said concerning the oils and perfumes. They were of great variety, and universally employed, both by men and women. The rhodinium, extracted from roses, lirinium from the lily, myrrhinum from myrrh, baccarinum from foxglove, and cyprinum from the flowers of the privettree, were favorites. Also, cinnamomium, very costly, made from cinnamon, irinum, an oil made from the iris, balaninum, the oil of the nuts of the ben-tree found in India and Arabia, serpyillinum from wild-thyme, sysymbrium from water-mint, amaracinum from sweet-marjoram, nardinum from lavender. These scents and oils were used by preference for different parts of the body, some being considered best adapted to the head, face, and neck, others to the muscles and extremities.

A story of Hadrian, quoted by most writers on ancient baths, is told by Spartianus : “ The Emperor Hadrian, who went to the public baths and bathed with the common people, seeing one day a veteran, whom he had known among the Roman troops, rubbing his back and other parts of his body against the marble, asked him why he did so. The veteran answered that he had no slave to rub him, whereupon the emperor gave him two slaves and wherewithal to maintain them. Another day, several old men, enticed by the good fortune of the veteran, rubbed themselves also against the marble before the emperor, believing by this means to excite the liberality of Hadrian, who, perceiving their drift, caused them to be told to rub each other.”

In addition to the large number of public baths, there were many private baths in the residences of wealthy citizens. Seneca, when contrasting the luxuries of his own day with

MINERAL SPRINGS.

the simplicity of the republic, describes them thus: “That person is now held to be poor and sordid whose walls shine not with a profusion of the most costly materials, the marbles of Egypt inlaid with those of Numidia ; unless the walls are set with mosaics in imitation of painting ; unless the chambers are covered with glass ; unless the Thracian stone, formerly a rare sight even in temples, surrounds those capacious basins into which we cast our bodies, weakened by immoderate sweats. And the water is conveyed through silver pipes. As yet, I speak only of plebeian baths ; what shall I say when I come to those of freedmen ? What a profusion of columns do I see supporting nothing, but placed as an ornament, merely on account of the expense! What quantities of water murmuring down steps ! We are come to that pitch of luxury that we disdain to tread on any thing but precious stones.”

When the thermae first became public institutions, laws were passed regulating their use. They were placed in charge of the officials, called sediles, whose duty it was to see that the rules concerning the baths were enforced. The hours of bathing were from two o’clock in the afternoon till dusk, between two and three being the hour most favorable. Notice was given that the baths were ready by ringing a bell, the warm water being then drawn into the various piscinae. Hadrian forbade that any should bathe before two o’clock, and any who bathed after four o’clock were charged a hundred quadrantes, about equivalent to thirty cents of our currency. The usual price of a bath was one-third of a cent. Subsequently, to ingratiate themselves with the populace, the emperors permitted the baths to be opened earlier and closed later ; and, under Alexander Severus, they were not only permitted to be opened before daybreak, but oil was furnished for lighting at the public expense. The baths were a place of general resort, and on public holidays it was customary to keep them open the entire day. They were then thronged by the lower classes. The emperors amused the people with baths, that their own derelictions might be forgotten.

HISTORICAL.

There were separate thermas for females, those most celebrated being the baths of Agrippina. However, with the degeneracy of public morals, it became necessary to pass most stringent laws forbidding women, under the severest penalties, from bathing with men, and, on the contrary, punishing those men with death who should be found in baths devoted to females.

It is difficult for us, living in this busy age, to understand how the people of Rome found time every day to frequent the baths. A bath, with all the accessories, must have occupied from one to two hours ; and yet we read of citizens of distinction who bathed four and five times each day. Can we wonder that the degeneracy of public morals which permitted such excesses, was followed by effeminacy of the people, and finally by the downfall of Rome ?

During the summer months the Romans resorted to Bake, ten miles from Naples, on the gulf. It was not only the wonderful mineral springs of hot and cold water, and the phenomena of extinct volcanoes, that were attractive. The surrounding country was charmingly beautiful, and was associated with the earliest epoch of Roman history. Near by was the most ancient city of Cumae, with its sibyl ; the Lake of Avernus, with its entrance to hell; the Forum Vulcani, the promontory of Misenum, the Phlegraean fields, and the Elysian plains. Amid these scenes the wealthy Romans erected elaborate villas and pursued the luxurious pleasures of the capital. A lively description of those baths is given by Seneca in Epistles 51 and 56 : “ He tells us that, while at Baiae, he lived near the great bath-house, and was continually annoyed by the noise. Early in the morning the splashing of bathers greeted his ears, for they bathed at all hours. He was disturbed by the excited cries of those playing at ball, and by the deep-drawn sighs of those who swung heavy weights. Here one was trying his voice in song, there another was engaged in loud dispute, or perhaps a cry was raised at the detection of a thief caught stealing clothes of one of the bathers, no unusual occurrence. Then there were

MINERAL SPRINGS.

the shrill cries of the venders of eatables, especially the libum, or sweet-cake, long popular with bathers, and a remnant of which is still found in some of the German baths. He also tells us that it was common to see tipsy people wandering along the sea-shore, and to hear the shores of the Lucrine Lake resounding with the songs of pleasure-parties of men and women who skimmed about in gayly-painted boats of every variety of shape and color, decked out with crowns and chaplets of roses. All ancient writers describe these aquatic excursions as scenes of voluptuous pleasure ; there was also abundance of gambling ; and, on the whole, Seneca described Bake as a sort of vortex of luxury and harbor of vice.” 1

Passing over a period of a thousand years, during which we have no record of bathing-resorts, we come to the following description of Baden, in Switzerland, canton of Aargau, by Poggio Bracciolini, 1420 : “ Baden, though offering no great natural beauty, and nothing in the way of agreeable relaxation, presented such other pleasures that you might imagine Venus with her troop had deserted Cyprus and come to live at the baths. There were two public and about twenty-eight private baths attached to the hotels. In the public bath men and women bathe together in a state of entire nudity. In the private baths the men and women used at least partial clothing, and there was a partition between the men’s and women’s baths, with openings, however, which made it easy for them to talk to each other. People used often to bathe three or four times a day ; indeed, to spend a great part of their time in the baths, to ask their friends to come and spend the day with them ; they played at cards, and had their meals supplied to them on floating tables, and there was no lack of good eating and drinking.”