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THE PRINCIPAL HEALTH-RESORTS 
 
 OF 
 
 EUROPE AND AFRICA 
 
THE 
 
 PEINCIPAL HEALTH-RESORTS 
 
 OF 
 
 EUROPE AND AFRICA 
 
 FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASES 
 
 c 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS MORE MADDEN, M.D., M.R.I.A. 
 <• > 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE DUBLIN OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY 
 
 LATELY EXAMINER IX OBSTETRIC MEDICINE IN THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY IN IRELAND 
 
 PHYSICIAN TO ST JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN 
 
 EX-ASSISTANT PHYSICIAN TO THE ROTUNDA LYING-IN HOSPITAL. ETC.. ETC., ET< . 
 
 Uo 
 
 1^1 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON 
 
 1876. 
 
CK 
 
 ^\ 
 
 
7// 
 
 TO 
 
 SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE, BART., 
 
 AS A SLIGHT TEIBUTE OF ADMIRATION FOR HIS CHARACTER AS A 
 PHILANTHROPIST ; 
 
 HIS LONG-TRIED, UNTIRING, AND SIGNAL SERVICES TO HUMANITY 
 WHEREVER OPPRESSED AND SUFFERING ; 
 
 AND, ABOVE ALL, IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF HIS PERSONAL 
 
 KINDNESS. IN FORMER YEARS AND DISTANT LANDS, 
 
 TO THOSE NEARLY AND DEARLY CONNECTED 
 
 WITH THE AUTHOR, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Change of climate and mineral waters are each year more 
 largely employed in the treatment of nearly every form of 
 chronic disease. Not withstanding the number of recent works 
 on the subject, there is still a great deficiency of accurate 
 information concerning even the most frequented health- 
 resorts. For the majority of such books being either written by 
 those residing in some sanatarium, the advantages of which are, 
 perhaps unconsciously, exaggerated; or else being merely copied 
 from these local advertisements, physicians at home are too 
 often misled, and their patients abroad suffer the consequences. 
 He who would attempt to supply the want of a comprehensive 
 and reliable guide-book to the various foreign health-resorts 
 should have extensive personal experience of many climes and 
 places, and himself be a physician, — 
 
 " — qui multorum providus nrbes, 
 Et mores hominum inspexit." 
 
 I may, therefore, premise that the following account of the 
 principal Southern and Oriental winter asylums and Con- 
 tinental spas, resorted to by British valetudinarians, is the 
 result of my own observations during several years of health- 
 travel in many lands. However much my opinions concerning 
 some of these places may be found to differ from those of 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 other writers, at any rate they have not been formed hastily, 
 nor without experience of the localities I have sought to 
 describe. For instance, one chapter — that on Malaga — is 
 founded on my observations there during three successive 
 winters, and another — on Lisbon — was written after a still 
 longer acquaintance with that climate. 
 
 For the favourable reception accorded to my former works 
 on medical climatology and mineral waters I was chiefly 
 indebted, next to the indulgence of my reviewers, to the cir- 
 cumstances which had caused me to visit or reside in the 
 various health-resorts I described. The accuracy of my 
 account of these places has been since attested by the freedom 
 with which they have been appropriated by some recent 
 authors. I therefore venture to hope that the following pages, 
 which have been so thoroughly re-written and revised, as 
 to form a substantially new work, may be found useful to 
 the travelling invalid, as well as to his medical adviser, as 
 a comprehensive and trustworthy hand-book of the foreign 
 Health-resorts and Spas. 
 
 The therapeutic benefits derivable from change of climate 
 
 and mineral springs have been somewhat unfairly ascribed 
 
 solely to the cessation of drugging which generally takes place 
 
 when a patient is sent abroad to a distant health-resort — 
 
 " For change of air there's much to say, 
 As Nature then has room to work her way; 
 And doing nothing often has prevail'd 
 When ten physicians have prescribed and fail'd." 
 
 Apart, however, from this negative service, the positive 
 
 remedial influence of change of air, and the potent effects of 
 
 mineral waters, have been recognized in every age, and were 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 quite as familiar to ancient and mediaeval medical writers 
 as to those of the present day. Thus Hippocrates, throughout 
 his works, and especially in the 45th of the second section 
 of the AOOPI2MOI, lays great stress on the use of change of 
 air, of country, and of modes of life. Ehazes, the Arabian 
 physician of the tenth century, enjoins patients suffering 
 from chronic disease — " Mutare de loco in locum, suscipere 
 itinera longa et indeterminata." Savonarola of Ferrara, the 
 father of the famous monk, and himself perhaps the most re- 
 nowned medical writer of the fifteenth century, dwells much 
 in his treatise on nervous maladies on the advantages of 
 change of air — "elongatio a patria." Gordonius, another 
 authority of the same period, advises that, in the event of 
 medicines failing in the treatment of dyspepsia or hypo- 
 chondriasis, the patient should be sent into distant countries 
 — " distrahatur ad longiniquas regiones." " Lselius a Fonte 
 Eugubinus," says Burton, " that great doctor, at the conclusion 
 of one of his consultations, most expressly approves of this 
 above all other remedies whatsoever." "Many other things 
 helped, but change of air was that which wrought the cure, 
 and did most good." " The sum of all," adds Burton, in his 
 " Anatomy of Melancholy," " is that variety of actions, objects, 
 air, and places are excellent good in this infirmity, and 
 in all others, are good for man and good for beast." Sir 
 Thomas Brown, who conjoined the highest qualities of a 
 physician with those of a philosopher, observes — "He is 
 happily seated who lives in places where air, earth, and water 
 promote not the infirmities of his weaker parts, or is early 
 removed into regions that correct them. . . . Death hath not 
 
 b 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 any particular stars in heaven, but malevolent places on 
 
 earth which single out our infirmities and strike at our weaker 
 
 parts ; in which concern passengers and migrant birds have 
 
 the great advantages who are naturally constituted for distant 
 
 habitations, whom no seas nor places limit." 
 
 It is not enough, however, to make long journeys in pursuit 
 
 of health — 
 
 " Ire per omnes 
 Terrasque, tractusque maris, coelumque profundus." 
 
 The invalid must make pleasant journeys, in good company, 
 and, above all, if possible, in good spirits. " I pity the man," 
 says Sterne, " who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and 
 cry ' 'Tis all barren ;' so it is, and so is all the world to him 
 who will not cultivate the fruits it offers." And how often 
 does the traveller meet in almost every place a tourist 
 of the family described by the author of the "Sentimental 
 Journey," who tells us that, " The learned Smellfungus 
 travelled from Boulogne to Paris, 'from Paris to Eome, and 
 so on ; but he set out with the spleen and jaundice, and every 
 object he passed by was discoloured or distorted. He wrote 
 an account of them, but it was nothing but the account of his 
 own miserable feelings. I met Smellfungus in the grand 
 portico of the Pantheon ; he was just coming out of it. ' It is 
 nothing but a huge cockpit,' said he. He had been flayed 
 alive, and divided, and used worse than St Bartholomew 
 at every stage he had come at. Til tell it/ cried Smell- 
 fungus, ' to the world.' . . . ' Sou had better tell it/ said I, 
 ' to your physician.'" 
 
 Yery just was Yorick's advice ; for in ninety-nine cases out 
 
PKEFACE. XI 
 
 of a hundred, this morbid state of mind arises either from 
 some physical disease, of which it may occasionally be the 
 only observable symptom, such as latent gout, hypochondriasis, 
 or derangement of digestion — or else, it is a precursor of 
 insanity, and, therefore, should be managed with extreme 
 forbearance and kindness, and treated by suitable remedies, 
 of which properly directed change of climate will often be 
 found one of the most efficacious. 
 
 The physiological influence of climate, although a subject 
 of the highest practical interest in connection with the thera- 
 peutic application of change of air, is far too wide a topic for 
 consideration in this place. That the human constitution is 
 powerfully acted on by climate is shown by the manifest 
 effects produced by change of country and of air on indi- 
 viduals in robust health, as exemplified by the history of all 
 colonization, which clearly proves that the various races of 
 mankind have each a certain fixed zone of temperature, within 
 the limits of which alone they can permanently thrive. And 
 though they may pass these boundaries for a short time, not 
 only with impunity, but, as will be shown in the following 
 pages, in many instances with the most striking remedial 
 results, yet if their exile from their native atmosphere be too 
 protracted, their constitutions become gradually altered, and 
 their health and vigour impaired. Moreover, should they now 
 marry and have children in the foreign clime, their offspring 
 will be in all respects a degenerate race. 
 
 Nearly all attempts on the part of Europeans to colonize 
 tropical countries have been attended with these results. Thus 
 the English, although two hundred years established in India, 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 have not succeeded to any extent in perpetuating their race in 
 that country, and would long 'since have been expelled from it 
 were not their numbers constantly recruited from the mother 
 country. The Portuguese settled before the English in Bengal 
 and Macao ; and not having been similarly reinforced, have 
 lost almost every trace of their European descent — 
 
 " 'Twas not the sires of such as these, 
 Who dared the elements and pathless seas ; 
 Who made proud Asia's monarchs feel, 
 How weak their gold against Europe's steel ; 
 But beings of another mould, 
 Kough, hardy, vigorous, manly, bold ! " 
 
 The power of acclimation is, of course, greatest in the 
 inhabitants of the temperate zone, who, being habituated to 
 sudden and frequent atmospheric vicissitudes, as well as more 
 highly civilized than those of any other region, are better 
 enabled to protect themselves from the perturbations of the 
 atmosphere and inclemencies of the season. And it is within 
 this zone that human life attains its longest average duration. 
 
 The natives of either very cold or tropical countries affected 
 by their climate, and not highly civilized, are incapable of 
 extensive migrations, and succumb readily to great and 
 sudden change of temperature. Several years ago I had 
 an opportunity of observing the susceptibility of Australian 
 aborigines to change of climate in the case of some native 
 Western- Australian children, with whom I came to Europe. 
 With them the cold, damp air of this country disagreed, 
 and even the mildest atmosphere of Italy did not substitute 
 for that of their own country, nor ward off death, which 
 took place in one case within a couple of years time, not from 
 
PREFACE. Xlll. 
 
 any distinct disease, but from general loss of health, apparently 
 the result not only of the alteration of the mode of life, but 
 still more the consequence of the chauge of clime, and, in 
 another was only averted by the return of the patient to his 
 native air. 
 
 Did space admit it would be easy to show that it is not 
 merely the physical constitution and bodily health of man 
 which are influenced by climate, but that his national pecu- 
 liarities are to some extent affected by this cause. Thus, for 
 instance, the cold and ungenial, but bracing, climates of Switzer- 
 land or Scotland, the rugged mountains they inhabit, and the 
 sterile soil they cultivate, have probably assisted in developing 
 the enterprising and hardy character of the Swiss mountaineer 
 or Scotch Highlander ; whilst the flat and monotonous land of 
 Holland, and its chill humid atmosphere, may thus have a part 
 in forming the sluggish disposition and phlegmatic tempera- 
 ment of the Dutch. The frequent changes of weather and of 
 temperature to which the inhabitants of this country are ex- 
 posed are, in like manner, reflected in the restless energy and 
 mental activity of the people. Nor does the bright cloudless 
 sky, and unvaryingly warm and sunny atmosphere of the south 
 of Spain or Italy, less powerfully foster the poetic or imagina- 
 tive faculties — perhaps at the expense of the more practical 
 and sterner qualities of the mind. 
 
 If such be the influence of climate on entire races, modify- 
 ing not only their external form, the relative importance of the 
 functions of many of their internal organs and the diseases 
 that prevail in each isothermal zone, how great must be its 
 influence on individual men, more especially when these are 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 in a weak and delicate state of health, and therefore infinitely 
 more susceptible of all the good effects of a suitable change of 
 air, as well as of the injurious results of inhabiting an un- 
 healthy or unsuitable climate. 
 
 The great majority of those who frequent the various winter 
 resorts described in this work suffer from pulmonary disease, 
 especially consumption or chronic bronchitis. In the first and 
 second chapters I have shown how the former may, when, 
 incipient, be warded off, or that, if already developed, in 
 many instances it may be completely arrested in its progress, 
 and also that the latter may be, in most cases, cured by a 
 judicious change of climate. Besides pulmonary invalids a 
 daily increasing proportion of the cases for which change 
 of air is now prescribed is furnished by valetudinarians 
 belonging to the wealthy classes of this country, who, having 
 no necessary occupation, have become prematurely exhausted, 
 or " used-up," by the laborious idleness of modern fashionable 
 life, and imagine themselves to be ailing when, in fact, they 
 are merely Uas4. The complaints of such patients consist of 
 disturbances of functions, and a long train of nervous symptoms 
 attributable to want of occupation, weariness of life, and 
 lassitude ; which, though they do not amount to actual illness, 
 will, undoubtedly, if not controlled and counteracted in due 
 time, merge into confirmed disease. Long experience has 
 proved that the most effectual way to prevent such a result 
 is to travel in pursuit of health, and thus create something to 
 do, something to look forward to, and to live for. 
 
 If inaction of mind or body furnishes so large a number of 
 valetudinarians requiring change of climate, the opposite 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 condition is not less prolific of analogous cases. Amongst 
 those whose position forces them to engage in too long-con- 
 tinued intellectual labour of any kind, whether it be in over 
 application of particular faculties or in inordinate exertion to 
 attain a status in science or in society ; to avoid being trodden 
 down or outstripped in the life-race of competition — there is 
 no lack of ailing persons, dyspeptic and hypochondriacal, not 
 absolutely sick, yet far from well, who must inevitably break 
 down if they have not change of air, relaxation of mind, and 
 removal from the sphere of their ordinary toils and cares. 
 
 The chronic diseases just referred to, in which change of 
 climate is resorted to with such advantage, are by no means 
 as numerous as those which may be cured by the judicious 
 employment of some of the spas, which are fully described in 
 the Second Part of this volume. Amongst the maladies in 
 the treatment of which mineral waters are more efficacious 
 than any other remedies, may be included gout and the pro- 
 tean complaints springing from the gouty diathesis, subacute 
 rheumatism, rheumatic arthritis, scrofula in all its forms, dys- 
 pepsia and hypocondriasis, sterility, and most of the chronic 
 diseases peculiar to women. In a word, morbid conditions the 
 most opposite, — those occasioned by an inactive life and those 
 originating from over-taxed powers of mind or body ; plethora, 
 and anaemia, the impoverished blood produced indirectly by im- 
 perfect digestion or resulting directly from haemorrhage or dis- 
 ease, and the vitiated blood laden with excess of nutriment, — 
 are all, as will be shown, in many instances curable by 
 mineral springs. In addition to those who thus really require 
 the special curative action of some mineral source, a large num- 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 ber now visit the health-resorts of the Upper-Engadine, the spas 
 of the Salzkammergut, or the other remote watering-places 
 described in this volume, who merely find in the state of their 
 health a plausible reason for indulging their innate and most 
 legitimate inclinations for travel. There is a fear of being 
 thought capable of seeking enjoyment for its own sake, pecu- 
 liar to English professional men. But once introduce the plea 
 of delicate health, and talk of change of air and mineral waters, 
 and all such difficulties vanish. Though it certainly seems 
 strange why the over- worked clergyman ; the lawyer, wearied 
 out by pouring over briefs ; or the physician, jaded by what 
 Dr Johnson contemptuously described as — " a continual 
 interruption of pleasure; a melancholy attendance on 
 misery," should of all classes of society be reluctant to 
 admit that they go abroad for the pleasure as well as for 
 the moral and physical benefit of change of scene and change 
 of air. 
 
 Properly used, travelling is the highest pleasure of which 
 an educated and civilized man is capable, for it multiplies his 
 enjoyments by crowding a greater number of impressions and 
 sensations into a given space of time than anything else can 
 do. An old English voyager has left so excellent a picture 
 of the benefits of travel that I cannot refrain from quoting his 
 words — "But what/' says Fynes Moryson, "if passengers 
 should come to a stately palace of a great king, were hee more 
 happy that is led only into the kitchen, and there hath a fat 
 messe of brewis presented to him, or rather hee who not only 
 dines at the king's table, but also with honour is conducted 
 through all the courts and chambers, to behold the stately 
 
PREFACE. XV11 
 
 building, pretious furniture, vessells of gold, and heaps of 
 treasure and Jewells ? Now such and no other is the theatre 
 of this world, in which the Almightie Maker hath manifested 
 his unspeakable glory. He that sayles in the deepe, sees the 
 wonders of God, and no lesse by land are these wonders daily 
 presented to the eyes of the beholders, and since the admirable 
 variety thereof represents to us the incomprehensible Majestie 
 of God, no doubt we are the more happy, the more fully we 
 contemplate the same." 
 
 To no tourist is it so important to* know how to travel with 
 advantage as to the valetudinarian pilgrim in pursuit of health ; 
 for on this greatly neglected art depends the whole comfort 
 and much of the benefit that may be derived from the journey. 
 No people travel so widely as the English and none travel so 
 well under difficult circumstances. Still no tourists seem to 
 be less popular on the Continent. Nor is it improbable that 
 those very qualities of endurance and resolution which so 
 peculiarly fit British travellers for enterprises none other 
 would undertake, incapacitate them from accommodating them- 
 selves sufficiently to foreign habits and customs. It has been 
 well observed that "the traveller should consider himself a 
 guest when abroad, and observe the same conformity with his 
 host's manners, as he would were he paying a visit to a private 
 house." But, unfortunately, this good advice is practically 
 ignored by the majority of our travelling compatriots, who 
 indulge in incessant depreciation of all the manners and insti- 
 tutions of foreign lands, or in invidious comparisons with 
 something they think much better at home. As the Spaniards 
 say, " Muchas veces la lengua corta la cabeza," and these rude 
 
XV111 PREFACE. 
 
 speeches are among the principal causes of our unpopularity 
 abroad. 
 
 It may seem superfluous even to allude to the respect 
 due by the traveller to the religious observances of the 
 countries he visits, however much they may differ from his 
 own. But I have more than once been present in foreign 
 cathedrals when tourists, in the outward semblance of gentle- 
 men, and I must add some dressed as ladies, have, by their 
 grossly irreverent and scoffing demeanour, wantonly out- 
 raged the most sacred feelings of congregations engaged in 
 solemn worship. And, therefore, I feel justified in recom- 
 mending any pilgrim in pursuit of health, whose zeal for his 
 own faith is so strong that he cannot repress the manifestation 
 of his intolerant contempt for the religious usages of others, 
 not to seek a sanatarium beyond the limits of his own 
 country. 
 
 Next to his prejudices, his luggage is the great incumbrance 
 of the traveller, and like them it should be reduced to the 
 minimum, for it is always far better to buy whatever one finds 
 wanting abroad than to have the trouble of carrying about 
 unnecessary articles. 
 
 The pilgrim in pursuit of health should, if possible, have 
 some one of similar tastes and habits for his travelling com- 
 panion. But the gregarious fashion of journeying now adopted 
 by many is, I think, quite unsuitable for a valetudinarian, nor 
 can I conceive any inducement which would persuade me to 
 join one of the caravans of tourists who, not knowing anything 
 of each other beforehand, bind themselves for a fixed period to 
 perambulate foreign countries together *under the direction 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 of a conductor, and may be daily seen scouring through 
 Continental cities after their leader, in the fashion of a flock 
 of sheep following the bell wether. But this is a mere matter 
 of taste and chacun a son gout. 
 
 With regard to the plan of this work I need not say much. 
 In the First Part I have given an account of the various 
 southern health-resorts, prefaced with some observations on 
 their special employment in different chronic maladies, par- 
 ticularly consumption and other pulmonary affections. In the 
 Second Part will be found a succinct description of the prin- 
 cipal Continental spas, together with an account of the thera- 
 peutic effects of mineral waters in various diseases. And in 
 both parts I have endeavoured to combine all the general in- 
 formation on these subjects which may be useful to the pre- 
 scribing physician with all those local details that are neces- 
 sary to the invalid traveller. Bearing in mind, however, the 
 fact, too often lost sight of in similar works, that a hand- 
 book should be portable as well as accurate, in order to accom- 
 plish my purpose within the compass of a volume which will 
 not add unduly to the incumbrances of the travelling valetudi- 
 narian, I have condensed the descriptive portion as much as 
 was possible without omitting any matter that seemed to me 
 essential to its design. Should this book be fortunate enough 
 to secure the approval of those for whose use it is thus 
 intended, I trust on a future occasion to supplement it by a 
 similar volume containing a full account of all the health- 
 resorts and spas of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 Although, for reasons already alluded to, in the following 
 account of the foreign health-resorts I have relied mainly on 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 my own notes and recollections of the various localities 
 described, I cannot omit acknowledging my obligations to the 
 resident physicians in nearly all these places, to whom I am 
 indebted, not only for valuable professional information and 
 important local details, but also, in many instances, for much 
 personal attention and kindness. 
 
 33 Merrion Square, South, 
 Dublin, July 1876. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 21, line 8, for " Tonas " read " Toros." 
 Page 30, line 18, for " Fandas " read " Fondas." 
 Page 139, line 22, for " Canards " read " Cornaro's." 
 Page 145, line 15, for " Homberg " read " Homburg." 
 Page 154, line 13, for " Homberg" read " Homburg." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAET FIEST. 
 
 ON CHANGE OF CLIMATE, AND THE SOUTHERN HEALTH 
 RESORTS OF EUROPE AND AFRICA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 On Change of Climate in the Treatment of Phthisis, . 1 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 On Change of Climate in various Chronic Diseases, . 12 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Mediterranean Coast of Spain and its Climates, . 1 8 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 Cadiz, Seville, and Gibraltar, .... 23 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 Malaga, ........ 29 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Lisbon, ........ 42 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 Madeira, ....... 48 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 Algiers, ........ 53 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 Morocco, ....... 62 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 Pau, Arcachon, and Biarritz, .... 69 
 
XX11 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 MONTPELLIER, ....... 79 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Hyeres and Cannes, . . . . . 83 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Nice, ........ 88 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Mentone and the Riviera, 93 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Pisa and Rome, .,„.... 97 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Naples, .....,,. 102 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Palermo, . . . , . . . .106 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Malta, . . . .109 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Climates op Egypt, . . . . . 113 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 THE SPAS AND THEIR USES. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Preliminary Observations on the Spas, . . , 124 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 On the Nature and Remedial Effects of Mineral and Ther- 
 mal "Waters, . . . . . .126 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Dyspepsia and the Spas, . . . . 139 
 
CONTENTS. XX111 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 Ox Gout and its Treatment by Mineral Waters, . . 142 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 On Mineral Waters in the Treatment op some of the Diseases 
 
 peculiar to Women, ..... 146 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Chandfontaine, . . . . . .154 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Spa, 156 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 Aix-la-Chapelle and Borcett, . , . .160 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 Ems, 164 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 SCHWALBACH AND SCHLANGENBAD, . . . .166 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Wiesbaden, . . . . . . .171 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Homburg, Nauheim, Neuenahr, and Kreuznach, . . 175 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Weilbach and Soden, . . . . . .183 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Kissingen, Booklet, and Bruckenau, ... 186 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 Carlsbad, ...... 191 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Marienbad and Franzensbad, ... 197 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Teplitz, Bilin, Pullna, and Sedlitz, .... 203 
 
XXIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYII. 
 
 (xASTEIN, IsCHL, AND BADEN NEAR VIENNA, . . . 209 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 
 
 Canstatt and Wildbad, . . , . . 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Baden-Baden, . . . . . . . . 218 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 The Swiss Baden, . . . , . .221 
 
 CHAPTER XLI, 
 
 Schinznach and Wildegg, ... . 224 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Ragatz, Pfeffers, the Engadine, St Moritz, Tarasp, and Leuk, 228 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Aix-les-Bains, ....... 236 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Vichy and the Mineral Springs of Auvergne, . . 239 
 
 CHAPTER XLV 
 
 The Spas of the Pyrenees — Cauterets, . . . 245 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 The Pyrenean Watering Places, continued, , . 250 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 Dax, Passy, Auteuil, Enghien, Plombieres, and Contrexville, 258 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 The Spas of Italy, ...... 263 
 
 Index, . 271 
 
SOUTHEKN HEALTH RESORTS 
 AND FOREIGN SPAS. 
 
 PAET FIEST. 
 
 ON CHANGE OF CLIMATE AND THE SOUTHEKN 
 HEALTH EESOETS OF EUROPE AND AFEICA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON CHANGE OF CLIMATE IN THE TREATMENT OF PHTHISIS. 
 
 Of the large and yearly increasing number of invalids, more 
 especially consumptive patients, who are now sent abroad 
 to winter in the various southern health resorts described in 
 the following pages, probably as many are injured by a wrong, 
 or by a too tardy change of climate as are served by the 
 judicious and timely use of this most valuable remedy. 
 Patients as a rule will not abandon the comforts of their 
 homes, or the avocations of their daily life, as long as they 
 can cling to them ; nor do physicians generally prescribe this 
 step until other treatment has failed, and then, when perhaps 
 the disease is far advanced, the patient may be induced to 
 try change of climate as a last resource. 
 
 The temperature of a locality, to which so much importance 
 is popularly assigned, is no criterion of its climate as a health 
 resort. Thus in Algiers and Malaga I have frequently seen a 
 
A CHANGE OF CLIMATE 
 
 sense of unbearable heat and exhaustion produced by the 
 " Simoom " and " Terral " winds, without any corresponding 
 alterations being occasioned in the readings of the thermo- 
 meter. The fact being that invalids are painfully sensible of 
 variations in the hygrometric state and electrical condition 
 of the atmosphere, which are in no way indicated by this 
 instrument, so much relied on. The effects of temperature 
 depend chiefly on the hygrometric state of the air, and" on 
 this is founded the division of winter resorts into dry, or 
 tonic, and humid, or sedative climates. A dry, warm atmo- 
 sphere stimulates the action of the heart and lungs, especially 
 quickening the circulation in the vessels of the skin, and 
 increasing its secretion and that of the liver, and consequently 
 lessening the elimination from the kindeys. The diseases 
 which prevail in hot, dry, tonic climates are, febrile, nervous, 
 hepatic and cutaneous disorders. Most cases of chronic 
 bronchitis, chronic rheumatism, debilitating mucous discharges, 
 and some cases of asthma, are relieved in a very marked 
 manner by an equable, dry, and 1 warm atmosphere. On the 
 other hand, consumption, attended by symptoms of much 
 irritation, with a short, hard cough ; dry asthma, and some 
 cases of chronic bronchitis, where there is little expectoration, 
 would be injured by a tonic climate. In so called sedative 
 winter climates, the atmosphere is not only warm but humid, 
 or even, as in some places, saturated with vesicular moisture. 
 In such climates the eliminations from the skin and lungs are 
 diminished, and the air necessarily containing less oxygen 
 than an equal volume of dry air, the breathing is hurried, the 
 process of respiration is less perfectly accomplished, and the 
 nervous energy and muscular power of the emigrant invalid 
 are diminished. These sedative climates, however, are suitable 
 in some few instances of chronic pulmonary diseases, such as 
 spasmodic asthma and chronic bronchitis, accompanied with 
 
IN THE TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION. 3 
 
 great irritability of the pulmonary mucous membrane and 
 frequent hard, dry cough. 
 
 A great change has come over medical opinion and practice 
 with regard to the choice of health resorts for consumptive 
 patients. Twenty years ago the great majority of these, 
 irrespective of the type or stage of the disease, when S3nt 
 abroad were recommended to visit sedative or humid warm 
 climates, such as Madeira, Rome, or Pisa. At present, how- 
 ever, nine-tenths of such patients are sent to winter on the 
 Riviera at Mce, Mentone, San Remo, or in Malaga, or Upper 
 Egypt, all dry, warm tonic climates; and in the greater 
 number of cases this preference for a dry climate for the 
 phthisical is certainly well founded. 
 
 The mean temperature of a health resort is of much less 
 importance for consumptive invalids than the rapidity and 
 frequency of the transitions between its highest and lowest 
 temperature, and preference should be given, ccetcris paribus, 
 to that place which possesses the most equable, rather than 
 the warmest winter climate. In the same way it is not 
 sufficient to know the annual rain-fall in any locality, but we 
 should take into account the number of days on which it rains. 
 Thus at Cannes the annual rain-fall is about five inches more 
 than in London ; but, notwithstanding this, Cannes is incom- 
 parably a drier climate than London; the number of rainy 
 days in the former being fifty- two, whilst in the latter it 
 amounts to one hundred and seventy-eight. There is no 
 circumstance connected with any health resort for pulmonary 
 invalids of greater importance than the force and direction of 
 the prevailing winds, and yet how much this consideration is 
 generally neglected, will be manifest to any one who examines 
 the position of some of the favourite winter resorts of southern 
 Europe. 
 
 Besides these, there are other reasons which serve to explain 
 
4 CHANGE OF CLIMATE 
 
 why change of climate so often fails to benefit phthisical 
 patients. One is the fact, that invalids who have put them- 
 selves to the expense and inconvenience of going abroad 
 for their health, are sometimes disposed to think that this 
 should suffice for their cure; and, accordingly neglect all 
 the other remedies, as well as those precautions which a 
 consumptive patient requires in whatever climate he may 
 reside. The last point I may allude to as a frequent source 
 of fallacy respecting the value of change of climate in the 
 treatment of consumption, arises from a faulty diagnosis by 
 which other chronic pulmonary diseases are still confounded 
 with it. 
 
 My experience as physician to three large institutions in 
 which the diseases of children are brought under my care, 
 has confirmed the observation made in my first work on 
 climatology several years ago, that there is no class of 
 patients in whom we may more confidently hope for the 
 beneficial effects of change of air than in the case of i children 
 predisposed by the scrofulous diathesis, or by hereditary taint 
 to consumption. The climate chosen for the treatment of 
 this predisposition to tubercular disease should be dry, bracing, 
 and equable. 
 
 The division generally adopted of phthisis into three stages, 
 is of practical utility in the remedial employment of change 
 of climate. To be used with success change of air must be 
 early had recourse to, and nothing can be more useless and 
 more cruel than to send a patient in the last stage of con- 
 sumption abroad, merely as a dernier resort. 
 
 In the first stage of the disease, a tonic, or dry, warm, mari- 
 time winter climate will be generally indicated. That is to say, 
 that whilst the tubercular deposit and pneumonic inflammation 
 is limited to a small portion of the pulmonary structure, the 
 cough and dyspncea slight, and the pulse not very quick, a 
 
IN THE TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION. 5 
 
 change of air from this cold and humid climate, to a dry, warm 
 atmosphere in winter, holds out a reasonable prospect of curing 
 our patient. The climates which are best adapted for this 
 condition are those of Upper and Middle Egypt, Western 
 Australia, and Malaga. 
 
 In the second stage of phthisis, a more sedative winter 
 climate is generally required than in the first. But even in 
 this stage four patients may be sent to a tonic winter climate, 
 such as Malaga, for one that may be recommended a sedative 
 climate, such as Eome, Pisa, Madeira, or one of our home 
 winter resorts of the same class, such as Queenstown, Torquay, 
 or Sidmouth. 
 
 In the third stage of consumption, the expediency of 
 change of climate becomes at times a subject of nearly as 
 much anxiety to the conscientious physician as it is to the 
 invalid under his care. In undertaking the risk of sending a 
 patient in this stage of phthisis abroad, the physician must be 
 guided altogether by the symptoms of each particular case, and 
 the general condition of each patient ; and if the tubercular ex- 
 cavations be small, and the infiltration of tubercles and accom- 
 panying inflammatory action be limited to a small portion of 
 the lung, the existence of the third stage of phthisis should not 
 prevent us from giving our patient a chance of prolonging his 
 life by a judicious change of climate. If, however, the patient's 
 strength is much impaired; if the vomicae are large or 
 numerous ; if the pneumonic inflammation and the tubercular 
 infiltration be widely diffused, and if profuse expectoration, 
 colliquative sweating, and diarrhoea are rapidly accelerating the 
 termination of the disease, then the only result of sending a 
 person in this condition to a foreign sanatorium would be, to 
 deprive him of the consolations and comforts of home in his 
 last moments. 
 
 An eminent modern writer goes so far as to say—" If we 
 
b CHANGE OF CLIMATE 
 
 have come to the conclusion that a consumptive patient has 
 tubercles we ought not to send him to Nice, Cairo, &c, but 
 ought to let him live his last days amongst his own friends and 
 die in his own house."* From my own experience, however, 
 I can contradict this theory, as I know a considerable number 
 of persons in whose lungs tubercles undoubtedly existed, and 
 who, had they been treated in accordance with this doctrine, 
 would have " died in their own houses " many years ago, but 
 being treated by a judicious change of climate are now not only 
 alive but in good health. I have myself attended patients 
 who, when they landed in Malaga, could hardly walk from 
 the jetty to their hotel on the adjoining Alameda, so weakened 
 were they by haemoptysis, unceasing cough, night sweats, and 
 purulent expectoration, and who presented all the physical signs 
 as well as the symptoms of a tubercular cavity in the lung ; 
 and yet within a few weeks I have seen the same invalids so 
 improved that they could ride to a picnic, enjoy themselves 
 there, and return home late at night apparently none the worse 
 for the fatigue and excitement they had gone through. But 
 I do not say that in such cases this improvement was often 
 permanent, and though the patient with characteristic hopeful- 
 ness might fondly persuade himself that the disease had yielded 
 to the remedial influence of the climate, yet in the majority 
 of instances the symptoms slowly returned, and the fatal event 
 was only postponed, for some time. 
 
 Facility of access is a point of great importance in the 
 selection of a climate for invalids. It is obvious that a 
 patient should be sent to a place which may be reached by an 
 easy journey, and that in case of need, he may communicate 
 quickly with his physician and friends at home. 
 
 With few exceptions the localities resorted to in winter by 
 
 * " Clinical Lectures on Pulmonary Consumption," by Felix Yon Niemeyer, 
 M.D., p. 7L 
 
IN THE TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION. 7 
 
 consumptive patients are situated on the sea ; and certainly 
 this predilection is well founded, for such situations are more 
 equable in temperature, being cooler in summer and warmer 
 in winter, and less subject to sudden transitions or great 
 extremes of temperature than inland places. 
 
 As a general rule, therefore, I would select a locality on the 
 sea-shore for the residence of consumptive patients, not only 
 for the reason just mentioned, but also on account of the 
 facilities for reaching such places by sea. As far as my 
 experience goes, there is no remedy so beneficial and so 
 universally applicable in cases of incipient consumption as a 
 sea voyage. And even in those cases of confirmed consumption, 
 when circumstances render a long voyage, for instance to 
 Australia, impracticable, the patient may generally travel to 
 his destination more advantageously by sea than by land. It 
 is evident that the monotony of a sea life, and the gentle 
 unceasing motion of a vessel must occasion less excitement 
 and fatigue than rapid land travelling would produce. 
 
 Change of air, however, appears to confer a sort of immunity 
 on invalid travellers, who oftentimes when journeying undergo 
 atmospheric changes and hardships which would probably 
 have proved fatal to the same persons at home. Moreover, 
 the change of living, of scene, and of place, and the freedom 
 from the ordinary anxieties and duties of life, are as service- 
 able to the general health of a consumptive traveller, as the 
 warm genial atmosphere of a southern winter resort is to the 
 pulmonary complaint from which he suffers. 
 
 Preference should always be given to those winter resorts 
 which present the greatest inducements and opportunities for 
 open air exercise ; and no small part of the benefit derivable 
 from removal to a southern health resort results from the 
 opportunities afforded in the latter of being much in the open 
 air, instead of being cooped up within doors as the patient 
 
8 CHANGE OF CLIMATE 
 
 would be during the greater part of winter, had he remained 
 at home. 
 
 For those cases of phthisis in which the circumstances 
 of the patient do not admit of the expense, or in which his 
 state of health could not endure the fatigue of a journey to a 
 foreign sanitorium in winter, we sometimes very advantageously 
 have recourse to one of our moderately warm and equable 
 British winter resorts, such as Torquay, Hastings, Worthing, 
 or Bournemouth,, which are all sedative, or slightly humid, as 
 well as sheltered climates. On the south-west coast of Ireland 
 there are several localities possessing similar climatic advan- 
 tages, and more especially along the shores of Kerry and Cork, 
 which are exposed to the influence of the warm Gulf-stream, 
 and are well protected by mountain ranges from cold northerly 
 and easterly winds, such as Glengariffe and Dingle, where the 
 arbutus, myrtle, and other southern plants grow freely in the 
 open air all the year round, and which may be resorted to with 
 advantage in the same class of cases as Sidmouth or Torquay. 
 One of the most genial winter climates in the British Islands 
 is that of Queenstown. 
 
 It has been already observed, however, that these sedative 
 climates are by no means universally serviceable to phthisi- 
 cal patients, who more generally require a somewhat dry, 
 tonic, moderately warm, and bracing atmosphere. Of such 
 climates, unfortunately, the number is extremely limited 
 in these islands, being chiefly confined to a narrow strip, 
 about six miles in length, situated on the north-east coast 
 of the Isle of Wight, i.e., the Undercliff, which undoubtedly 
 possesses the best tonic winter climate for consumptive 
 patients in the British Islands. There are, however, very 
 many instances in which change of air is urgently required 
 in the treatment of incipient phthisis, but in which the means 
 of the patient do not admit of residence sufficiently prolonged 
 
IN THE TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION. 9 
 
 in any of the health resorts described in the following pages. 
 And in some of these cases the physician might be able to 
 suggest a locality where the consumptive emigrant might find a 
 climate suitable for the cure of his disease, as well as a fair 
 field for the profitable exercise of his regained health and 
 vigour. My own personal acquaintance with colonial climates 
 is limited to Western Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. 
 The former, although the least prosperous of the Australian 
 colonies, possesses one of the best climates in the world, being 
 peculiarly equable, moderately warm, dry, and bracing. The 
 Cape Colony, on the contrary, is subject to sudden atmospheric 
 vicissitudes, rapid changes of temperature, and violent storms, 
 which must render it ineligible for this class of invalids. 
 But the uplands of the adjoining colony of Natal appear 
 to offer peculiar climatic advantages for phthisical immigrants. 
 
 It has been long observed that the inhabitants of elevated 
 mountain districts appear to be peculiarly exempt from con- 
 sumption, and an attempt has been made of late to turn this 
 observation to practical account by recommending such localities 
 as health resorts for the phthisical. It is, however, more than 
 doubtful if the fact that the hardy mountaineers who inhabit 
 Alpine districts and whose lives are passed under the most 
 favourable hygienic conditions as regards pure air and exercise — 
 the natural prophylactics against tubercular disease — are rarely 
 attacked by consumption, can be regarded as a proof that these 
 localities are therefore suitable winter resorts for patients 
 already phthisical, and whose state of health would in such 
 elevated, and oftentimes intensely cold and variable climates, 
 probably confine them to the house in the new sanitariums of 
 the Engadine, or other Alpine resorts, during the greatest part 
 of winter. 
 
 Still it would be difficult to deny or explain away the benefits 
 which have been thus derived from mountain climates in the 
 
10 CHANGE OF CLIMATE 
 
 treatment of certain cases of phthisical disease or predisposi- 
 tion. 
 
 Some years ago the late Dr Archibald Smith* called 
 attention to the exemption from phthisis enjoyed by the inhabi- 
 tants of some of the highest districts of the Peruvian Andes, 
 and the benefits derived by pulmonary invalids sent by the 
 local physicians from Lima to certain Andine valleys, such as 
 that of Jauja, upwards of 10,000 feet above the sea. Since then 
 similar advantages have been claimed by Dr Mattocks, f for 
 the cold, dry, climate of the high table-land of the state of 
 Minnesota, which lies nearly midway between the Atlantic 
 and Pacific coasts of the United States. And also by Dr 
 Weber, J Dr Kuchenmeister, § Dr Theodore Williams,1F and 
 other recent writers for certain more accessible European 
 mountain climates, especially St Moritz and Samaden in the 
 Upper Engadine, Davos in the Grisons, Koningswart near 
 Marienbad, and Gorbersdorf in Silesia. 
 
 Of all the conditions necessary for a healthy climate one of 
 the most essential is purity of the air ; that is, freedom from 
 malaria or miasmatic emanation, or from the atmospheric 
 contaminations produced by the crowding together- of vast 
 bodies of men, or evolved by manufacturing or chemical 
 processes. In this respect the Alpine climates of the Engadine 
 
 * Dr A. Smith " On the Climate of the Swiss Alps and Peruvian Andes Com- 
 pared." "Dublin Quarterly Medical Journal," vol. 91, p. 339. 
 
 t Dr Mattocks' "Report on Minnesota." In Dr Horace Dobell's "Reports 
 on the Progress of Practical and Scientific Medicine in Different Parts of the 
 World," p. 8-24. London, 1870. 
 
 J " On the Treatment of Phthisis by Prolonged Residence in Elevated 
 Regions," by Herman Weber, M.D., " Medico-Chirurgical Transactions," vol. 
 lii. p. 223. 
 
 § "Die Hochgelegenen Plateaus als Sanatorien fur Schwindsiichtige," von 
 Dr F. Kuchenmeister, Vienna, 1868. 
 
 II Dr Theodore Williams " On the Effects of Warm Climates in Consump- 
 tion." " Medical Chirurgical Transactions," vol. lv. p. 237. 
 
IN THE TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION. 11 
 
 or the Andine valleys of Peru are unquestionably better situated 
 than any of the health resorts of the Mediterranean. 
 
 On the other hand, it must be borne in view that the height 
 of a locality above the sea-level not only affects its temperature, 
 which falls 1° for every 400 feet of altitude, but also, and still 
 more directly, influences the pressure of the atmosphere, which 
 at sea-level amounts to nearly fifteen pounds on every square 
 inch of the surface of the body, and rapidly diminishes as we 
 ascend above this ; and that the lessened atmospheric pressure 
 of mountain health resorts must necessarily affect the balance of 
 the circulation, giving rise to congestions or haemorrhages, and 
 would appear to be especially contraindicated in cases of 
 consumption, already predisposed to haemoptysis. 
 
12 REMEDIAL INFLUENCE OF CHANGE OF AIR 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 ON CHANGE OF CLIMATE IN VARIOUS CHRONIC DISEASES. 
 
 The therapeutic influence of change of air is by no means 
 confined to the malady spoken of in the last chapter, but is 
 equally applicable, although less generally recognised, in cases 
 of chronic bronchial and laryngeal inflammation, asthma, hypo- 
 chondriasis, and the incipient stage of mental disease resulting 
 from overwork, chronic rheumatism, and rheumatic gout, and 
 above all in hysterical affections, and some other of the chronic 
 diseases peculiar to women, which will be again alluded to in 
 a subsequent chapter. 
 
 There is hardly any chronic disease in which the remedial 
 effects of change of air are so marked as chronic bronchitis, in 
 cases of which I have often seen the mere change from town 
 to a sheltered locality on the sea-side a few miles distant, cure 
 a winter cough that no medicine could relieve. There are two 
 varieties of chronic bronchitis requiring very different climates 
 for their cure, — first, a form characterized by a hard, dry cough, 
 with great irritability of the mucous membrane of the air 
 passages ; and, secondly, that in which the disease debilitates 
 and saps the constitution of the patient by profuse and con- 
 stant expectoration. In the first, Eome, Madeira, or any 
 other of the sedative winter climates may be advised. The 
 second, and by far the most numerous class of bronchitic 
 patients require a tonic or dry winter climate, such as Western 
 
IN CHRONIC DISEASES. 13 
 
 Australia, Upper or Middle Egypt, Malaga, Mce, or Heyers. 
 With some few patients Algiers, which holds an intermediate 
 place between tonic and sedative climates, agrees better than 
 any other. In chronic bronchial affections, however, it has 
 been generally observed that occasional change of air is better 
 than a continued residence in any climate however desirable. 
 
 The foregoing observations apply equally to the climatic 
 treatment of chronic laryngeal and asthmatic affections. 
 
 Cases of chronic rheumatism, rheumatic-gout, and other 
 diseases occasioned or aggravated by the sudden atmospheric 
 changes, cold and damp, of this climate are necessarily 
 benefited by a change to some warm, dry, and equable winter 
 resort. I may here, however, caution rheumatic patients, 
 who are sometimes recommended to winter in Pau, to avoid 
 that climate; for not only is the disease in question very 
 prevalent there, but also there is a great tendency to the 
 sudden development of any latent cardiac affections which are 
 so often met with in such cases. 
 
 In cases of dyspepsia, change of climate oftentimes proves 
 an effectual remedy. I shall, however, reserve any observa- 
 tions on this subject for the second part of the present volume. 
 
 There are few patients so little benefited by physic, and so 
 generally served by change of climate, as those who suffer 
 from hypocondriasis, in which complaint the moral effects of 
 travelling are no less marked then the physical. The primary 
 action of change of air in such cases, however, consists in 
 improvement of the digestive functions, soon followed by a 
 diminution of nervous irritability. Constant travelling for a 
 few months will generally be found more serviceable than a 
 prolonged residence in any health resort. It matters little 
 where the tour be made, provided always that it be in a dry 
 and bracing atmosphere, the object being to obtain a complete 
 change ; and therefore the further from England and English 
 
14 REMEDIAL INFLUENCE OF CHANGE OF AIR 
 
 associations the hypochondriac from these countries goes, the 
 better. 
 
 " The saddest and most humiliating subject of thought/' says 
 Dr Johnson, "is the uncertain possession of the tenure of 
 reason ;" and, unfortunately, it is a subject daily brought more 
 prominently before us, by the steady annual increase of late 
 years in the number of the insane in this country. Any 
 means, therefore, which affords even a hope of checking this 
 disease in its incipient stage, deserves attentive consideration. 
 And that we do possess such a means in change of climate is 
 unquestionable. 
 
 There are now many predisposing causes of insanity to which 
 our ancestors were much less exposed than 'we are. These 
 evils are necessarily attendant on living in a densely populated 
 state, where, by ill-directed education, divested of all moral 
 control, the mind is prematurely exhausted and injured often 
 at the very outset of the unceasing and increasing struggle not 
 only for fame or fortune, but even for existence. 
 
 In no malady is the adage " prevention is better than cure " 
 more applicable than in incipient insanity, and in no disease 
 are the good effects of change of climate so obvious. By this 
 measure not only is the patient for a time removed from the 
 circumstances and cares of life, by which his mind was over- 
 strained, whilst by the change of occupation and scene new 
 and more wholesome thoughts are suggested. 
 
 " Haply, the seas and countries different, 
 With variable objects, shall expel 
 This something — settled matter in his heart ; 
 Whereon his brain still beating, puts him thus 
 From fashion of himself." 
 
 Conjoined to this, are the good effects of the moral 
 restraint which such patients usually exercise over them- 
 selves, when in the presence of strangers, before whom they 
 
IN CHKONIC DISEASES. 15 
 
 often succeed in concealing the manifestations of those 
 peculiarities and eccentricities, which, were they allowed to go 
 on unchecked, would probably lead to confirmed mental disease. 
 Dr Willis, whose treatment of George III. brought him patients 
 from every part of Europe, remarked, that insane people who 
 were sent to him for advice from the Continent more frequently 
 recovered than his English patients did, and Esquirol, of Paris, 
 makes a similar observation. 
 
 Some cases marked by excessive irritability require a mild 
 sedative climate, and others, whose prominent symptoms are 
 those of depression and languor, will demand a dry and 
 stimulating atmosphere. But these varieties require a very 
 careful appreciation and intimate knowledge of the symptoms 
 of each case, and cannot be disposed of by any cursory general 
 remarks. 
 
 In some of the diseases peculiar to advanced age change of 
 climate will be found the best adjuvant to our efforts to 
 "Husband out life's taper at its close." This is especially 
 the case in climacteric disease, when the patient becomes con- 
 scious of a gradual decadence of all the mental as well as vital 
 powers without any specific complaint, accompanied by longing 
 for repose, which perhaps induced him to give up his long- 
 accustomed avocations, and to retire to some quiet country 
 place, in the futile hope that he may 
 
 " Crown in shades like these 
 A youth of labour with an age of ease !" 
 
 But very soon the individual discovers that long-accustomed 
 habits cannot be suddenly abandoned with impunity, and that 
 a man who for the best part of his life has been an actor on 
 the busy stage of city life, cannot in his old age learn to interest 
 himself in rural pursuits, and having leisure for reflection finds 
 that inaction is not rest, and that an active mind having no 
 employment will prey on itself ; the result being a despondent 
 
16 KEMEDIAL INFLUENCE OF CHANGE OF AIE. 
 
 spirit in an ailing body. Physic can do nothing to cure, and 
 very little even to relieve such a state, and then it is that 
 change of climate, which combines occupation with amusement, 
 often proves an invaluable resource. 
 
 Invalid travellers should bear in mind, that southern health 
 resorts are not necessarily places where the chances of life 
 for the fixed inhabitants are any better than those of even the 
 most unfavourably situated parts of our own cold, damp, 
 climate. On the contrary, in many foreign winter resorts no 
 system of hygiene exists, no effective sewerage is provided, and 
 no sanitary laws are enforced; and it is always therefore 
 essential to forewarn invalids going abroad to winter of this 
 drawback, and to urge them in such places to select their 
 residence in an open situation fully exposed to the sun and on 
 a rising ground. In most southern climates there is a 
 tendency to occasional sudden transitions from the prevailing 
 genial temperature to a keen sharp atmosphere accompanying 
 certain winds, which if they occur frequently, render the 
 locality unsuitable for a health resort. Moreover, the houses 
 in these places are generally constructed with the view of 
 affording protection from the summer heat, rather than shelter 
 from the inclemency of winter. The narrow streets which 
 exclude the sun, the large tireless apartments, with uncarpeted 
 floors, the imperfectly closing casements, the height of the 
 rooms, all indicate the necessity of a cautious and guarded 
 manner of living. Avoidance of the night air is essential for 
 pulmonary invalids in warm southern climates, where there 
 is generally not only a rapid abasement of temperature after 
 sunset, but also a profuse fall of dew during the night. 
 
 I would further counsel every traveller in a warm climate 
 to wear fine flannel inner clothing, no matter how hot the 
 weather may be ; and also, as British prescriptions are seldom 
 understood by foreign apothecaries, even when they may 
 
IN CHRONIC DISEASES. 17 
 
 profess to dispense them, — a fact of which I have seen some 
 unfortunate proofs whilst residing abroad, — I would recom- 
 mend the invalid to find room amongst his impedimenta for a 
 small stock of whatever medicine his physician may advise 
 before leaving England. 
 
 It too often happens that when patients go abroad they 
 think themselves released from any observance of medical 
 rules, which are as necessary to the invalid in foreign health 
 resorts as at home, and not only " throw physic to the dogs," 
 but indulge, without restraint, the appetite which travelling 
 seldom fails to bestow, even in southern climates, where the 
 quantity of animal food and alcoholic stimulants that may be 
 consumed in this country are no longer required, and will 
 not be tolerated by the system, and where the invalid traveller 
 should impress on his mind the old Salernitan precept-— 
 
 " Si tibi deficiant medici, niedici tibi fiant, 
 Hsec tria, mens laeta, requies, moderata dieta." 
 
18 THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF SPAIN AND ITS CLIMATES. 
 
 The health resorts of southern Spain are within easy reach 
 of English patients by railway direct from Paris, or by sea 
 from Marseilles, whence there are, almost daily, steamers for 
 Barcelona, and thence on to Malaga, with stoppages at all the 
 intervening ports. Having more than once tried each of these 
 routes, I have no doubt that, for an invalid, the latter is the 
 best. 
 
 Those who fear even the short passage across the stormy 
 Gulf of Lyons may, as I have said, reach Barcelona by rail- 
 way from Paris to Perpignan in twenty-five hours, thence by 
 diligence to Gerona in eight hours, and again by train to 
 Barcelona in four hours. My recollection of the fatigue 
 and discomfort I endured during this journey is too vivid to 
 allow me to recommend any ailing traveller to undertake it. 
 
 The inconveniences of land travelling in Spain, away from 
 the lines of railway which now connect all the great cities with 
 the southern French lines, render this mode of peregrination 
 unsuitable for the majority of valetudinarians. The way-side 
 nns or ventas are generally small, the usual accommodation 
 being limited to a single apartment, which serves as kitchen 
 and saloon. This is commonly crowded with muleteers, who 
 pass a considerable portion of the night in chanting some 
 interminable ballad to the tinkling accompaniment of a guitar. 
 
SPAIN AND ITS CLIMATES. 19 
 
 In these hostelries the fare and lodging are still the same as it 
 was in that venta of which Purchas, an English pilgrim who 
 visited Spain in the fourteenth century, has left an account. 
 
 " Bedding there is nothing fair, 
 Many pilgrims it doth afaire ; 
 Tables use they none to eat, 
 But on the bare floor they make their seat." 
 
 Very soon, however, will such places be unknown, even in 
 the bye-roads of Spain. Eailroads are fast intersecting every 
 province, the telegraph crosses every mountain, steamers visit 
 each port ; the camino de atajo will ere long be deserted ; the 
 arriero and contrabandist a metamorphosed into railway porters, 
 and the " posada " will be a thing of the past. 
 
 To return from this digression on Spanish travelling, into 
 which the diligence from Perpignan drove us, — Barcelona, 
 which, from its position and importance, should be the 
 capital of Spain, is situated on the sea, in a plain, nearly 
 encircled by mountains, upwards of two hundred miles south- 
 west of Marseilles, and contains a population of 150,000 
 inhabitants. The town is intersected by the Rarribla, once the 
 bed of a river, but now the most charming pas4o in all Spain. 
 Here are situated the principal hotels, of which the chief are 
 the Fonda de Quatro Naciones and the Oriente, as well as 
 most of the cafes and theatres. The streets of Barcelona 
 resemble those of a French, much more than a Spanish town ; 
 nor are the manners, dress, or even the language of the people 
 Spanish, as most of the lower class speak only the Catlan 
 patois. 
 
 The climate of Barcelona is humid and variable, being 
 subject in winter and spring to cold northerly winds, which, 
 alternating with a hot sun and warm southerly winds from 
 the African coast, occasion an atmospheric constitution neces- 
 sarily productive of pulmonary disease. The residents appear 
 
20 THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OE 
 
 to be well aware of the danger, since in the hottest summer 
 day and the coldest winter weather, they are to be seen con- 
 stantly wrapped in the same heavy woollen cloak ; and in 
 going round the hospitals I was struck by the number of cases 
 of phthisis and other forms of pulmonary disease. 
 
 Barcelona would be a very unfit winter abode for any con- 
 sumptive or bronchitic patient. During the month of January 
 I have seen the thermometer at 7 a.m. as low as 36°, and the 
 highest temperature during the day was 59° at noon. The 
 cold winds which come down with great force from the high 
 mountains behind the town, the intense cold which occasion- 
 ally occurs, and the rapid variations from a very high to a 
 very low temperature, all render this climate prejudicial to 
 consumptive cases. 
 
 The next port the steamer en route to Malaga touches at is 
 Valencia, which, could we credit some writers, should be that 
 happy clime that poets sing of, where — 
 
 " Unbent by winds, unchilled by snows, 
 Far from the winters of the west, 
 By every breeze and season blest," 
 
 the invalid might forget his ailments, and exult mentally and 
 corporeally in all the influences of a genial and balmy atmo- 
 sphere and never varying sunshine. But that, unfortunately, 
 this is not the case a short view of the territorial and climatic 
 aspects of Valencia will show. 
 
 This province, of old a kingdom, extends about two hundred 
 miles along the Mediterranean, varying in breadth from thirty 
 to sixty miles, and mainly consists of a gradation of mountains 
 and slopes ; which produce abundantly, figs, vines, and olives, 
 and are considered dry and healthy in summer, while the low- 
 lands, which are principally converted into swamps for the 
 cultivation of rice, are justly regarded as the reverse. 
 
 The city of Valencia is about three miles distant from the 
 
SPAIN AND ITS CLIMATES. 
 
 21 
 
 Mediterranean, one hundred and seventy miles to the south- 
 west of Barcelona ; and, together with its environs, contains a 
 population of upwards of 100,000 inhabitants. The streets 
 still retain a semi-Moorish character, being dark, narrow and 
 tortuous; the houses, too, have the flat roof peculiar to the 
 East, and are lofty and sombre-looking. 
 
 Valencia must be an extremely dull residence for foreign 
 invalids; for when the Cathedral, Plaza de Tonos, and 
 Hospital, — which latter is directed by sisters of charity, and 
 is one of the most magnificent and best-conducted institutions 
 for the sick poor that I have ever been through in any part of 
 the world, — have been visited, little remains to be seen. 
 
 The climate of Valencia is dry but changeable, and subject 
 to rapid variations of temperature, the thermometer after an 
 intensely hot day falling to a very low degree immediately the 
 sun has set, from which time the atmosphere becomes charged 
 with dew. According to Dr de Minano, the mean temperature 
 of the months in this city is as follows : — 
 
 
 o 
 
 January, 
 
 51 
 
 February, 
 
 55 
 
 March, . 
 
 59 
 
 April, 
 
 64 
 
 May, . 
 
 66 
 
 June, 
 
 71 
 
 July, 
 
 . . 78 
 
 August, . 
 
 77 
 
 September, 
 
 73 
 
 October, 
 
 66 
 
 November. 
 
 59 
 
 December, 
 
 46* 
 
 During the months of January and February my notes show 
 that on three consecutive days the mercury was considerably 
 below zero at 7 A.M., and I have noticed a difference of 15° 
 between that hour and midday. 
 
 During the summer the heat is oppressive, the thermometer 
 frequently standing for long periods at above 80° in the shade, 
 nor is the sultriness of the atmosphere tempered by the sea- 
 
 ■ * " Diccionario de Espana y Portugal," par El Doctor Don de T Minano, 
 p. 174. 
 
22 SPAIN AND ITS CLIMATES. 
 
 breeze, which in most other Mediterranean cities renders this 
 bearable. 
 
 The prevailing winds are — the east, which passing over 
 the sea is mild in winter, but at all seasons is humid; the 
 west and south-west winds come next in frequency, and often 
 blow with great force in winter, when they are cold and dry, 
 and in summer are hot and parching. The north wind is also 
 cold and dry, but is not prevalent, as the city is sheltered on 
 that side by the distant mountains of Aragon. The most 
 injurious, but, fortunately, the least frequent wind here is the 
 south, which is moist and warm, and passing over the swampy 
 rice grounds is pregnant with the seeds of malarious diseases. 
 
 A climate such as this can hardly be suitable as a health 
 resort. That it is not one for the consumptive is unquestion- 
 able, and during my two visits to Valencia I ascertained that 
 pulmonary diseases are prevalent. 
 
 Passing by Alicante and Cartagena, which in a sanatory 
 point of view present no attraction to the traveller in pursuit 
 of health, we next arrive at Almeria, the Portus Magnus of the 
 Eomans, now a very dull fourth-rate trading town, where most 
 of the steamers stop a few hours. The view from the port is 
 perfectly African in character. The barren coast and brown 
 hills around, where not a particle of verdure grows, are in 
 keeping with the ruined Moorish castle which stands on the 
 summit of the mountain, and the small whitewashed houses 
 below forming the town, the population of which amounts 
 to about 19,000. 
 
 There is now nothing of interest to be seen in Almeria, 
 which, however, was one of the chief cities of Spain under the 
 Moors, and almost the last of their strongholds. The climate 
 is nearly the same as that of Valencia, but the hardness of the 
 drinking water renders it still more unsuited to invalids. 
 
CADIZ, SEVILLE, AND GIBRALTAR. 
 
 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CADIZ, SEVILLE, AND GIBRALTAR. 
 
 The south-west of Spain may be more easily reached by 
 invalid travellers directly from England by sea than by any of 
 the routes described in the last chapter. Every week there 
 are departures from Southampton to Gibraltar, and also as 
 often from Liverpool and London. The average duration of 
 this voyage is five days, and its cost from Southampton £13. 
 Many of these steamers touch at Cadiz, which struck me as one 
 of the dullest towns in Spain, — the white walls which surround 
 it hardly containing a single object of interest to a visitor, 
 although this city is perhaps the most ancient in Europe, 
 being founded, according to the local historians, three hundred 
 years before Eome. 
 
 The climate of Cadiz affords a striking example of the 
 common fallacy of regarding the physiological action of climate 
 as in any degree indicated by the mean temperature of the 
 locality. The mean temperature of Cadiz is 62° ; winter, 52° ; 
 spring, 59°; summer, 70°; and autumn, 65°; and the average 
 temperature of the months is — 
 
 January, 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 July, 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 February, 
 
 53 
 
 August, 
 
 72 
 
 March, 
 
 55 
 
 September, 
 
 70 
 
 April, 
 
 59 
 
 October, 
 
 67 
 
 May, . 
 
 63 
 
 November, 
 
 58 
 
 June, 
 
 68 
 
 December, 
 
 53 
 
24 CADIZ, SEVILLE, AND GIBRALTAR. 
 
 The variations of temperature are here effected with extra- 
 ordinary rapidity, the situation of the town exposing it to the 
 full influence of the easterly winds, which sweep through the 
 Straits of Gibraltar. During the winter land winds from a 
 northerly direction are most frequent, and in spring the pre- 
 vailing winds are those from the sea. 
 
 Catarrhal and bronohitic affections are common in Cadiz, 
 occasioned by the ' atmospheric vicissitudes which render the 
 climate unsuitable for any pulmonary patient. 
 
 From Cadiz to Seville is but the journey of a few hours, 
 either by steamer up the Guadalquivir, or by railway via 
 Puerta Santa Maria and Jerez. 
 
 By all true Spaniards Seville has always been considered 
 the eighth wonder of the world. Their own proverb tells us — 
 
 " Quien no la visto a Sevilla, 
 No ha visto Mara villa." 
 
 The streets of Seville, as in all the Saracenic cities of 
 Andalusia, are narrow and crooked ; across them, in the hot 
 weather, canvass awnings are spread from the over-hanging 
 roofs of the opposite houses, and, owing to this contrivance, 
 even in the intense heats of summer, when the neighbouring 
 plain is burnt up to a barren waste, and when, as was the 
 case during my visit, the Guadalquivir ran nearly dry, they 
 maintained a delicious coolness. The principal streets 
 are — the Calle de la Sierpe and the Calle Francos, both close 
 to the Grand Plaza, which is one of the finest squares in 
 Europe, and in summer is the fashionable lounge of the 
 Sevillians, who here assemble to listen to the bands from eight 
 or nine o'clock in the evening till long past midnight. The 
 best hotels are in this square. 
 
 Of the many monuments of ancient art, Christian as well 
 as Saracenic, which Seville possesses, there is none comparable 
 
CADIZ, SEVILLE AND GIBRALTAR. 25 
 
 to the Cathedral, which has no rival except St Peter's. Its 
 foundation dates from the year 1407, when the chapter 
 resolved to " erect a church so great and so good that there 
 should be nothing equal to it." " Fagamos" said they, " una 
 Eglisia tal que la poster •idad nos tengan por locos " (" Let us 
 build such a church that posterity shall take us to have been 
 mad "). From that time, this body voluntarily gave up their 
 revenues and lived in community, in rigid poverty for more 
 than a hundred years, until, finally, the sacred edifice was 
 completed in 1519. " I do not hesitate," says Mr Eobertson 
 "to characterise the Cathedral of Seville as the noblest 
 temple in Christendom." 
 
 The Alcazar, which was built on the ruins of the palace of 
 the Eoman praetors of Seville by the western caliphs in the 
 10th century, is the most perfect specimen of Moorish art 
 remaining in Andalusia, with the exception of the Alhambra 
 of Granada. 
 
 Notwithstanding all its unrivalled attractions of an artistic 
 and antiquarian character, Seville has little to recommend it 
 as a sejour for the pilgrim in pursuit of health. The climate 
 is characterised by the tendency to sudden variations of tem- 
 perature, which is common to most of the southern cities of 
 Spain, though in very few of them is this so marked as in 
 Seville. 
 
 The winter is not as warm or equable here as it is on the 
 sea coast. But even at this season the actual cold experienced 
 is seldom very intense, for as Dr Gigot Suard states, "the 
 average temperature during the coldest days is from 39° to 41° 
 at sun-rise, and 50° to 55° during the rest of the day." * 
 
 In summer the excessive heat of the day contrasts strongly 
 with the piercing cold of the nights. The cold wind, to which 
 the sudden nocturnal abatement of temperature is due, brings 
 
 * "Des Climats sur le Rapport Hygienique et Medical," p. 561. 
 
26 CADIZ, SEVILLE, AND GIBEALTAR. 
 
 with, it, in addition to catarrhal and rheumatic affections, con- 
 tinued and intermittent fevers of a typhoid character, which 
 are particularly severe and common in the environs of the city. 
 
 Such a climate, and the diseases to which it gives rise, for in 
 winter catarrhs, bronchitis, and other pulmonary complaints, 
 sometimes leading to consumption, are prevalent, should warn 
 us that mistrusting the fallacious brilliancy of the sky, and 
 purity of the atmosphere, we should beware of sending patients 
 suffering from diseases of the respiratory organs, and especially 
 phthisical invalids, to winter in Seville. 
 
 I have no doubt, however, that in certain other chronic 
 maladies the climate of Seville might prove very beneficial. 
 I would include under this head many cases of chronic gastric 
 and liver disorders, and general relaxation of fibre, resulting 
 from long residence in tropical climates, and which unfit the 
 individual for withstanding the cold and damp of our northern 
 winters. 
 
 The most southern point of Europe, Gibraltar, demands a 
 brief notice in this place, having been recommended by some 
 writers as a proper winter residence for invalids, and also 
 because all the steamers from England to the South of Spain 
 touch here. Gibraltar is situated at the entrance of the 
 Mediterranean, fifteen hundred miles from Southampton, form- 
 ing a rocky peninsula nearly three miles in length, and 
 separated by a narrow sandy isthmus, which can be laid under 
 water at any time, from the main land. The rock rises 
 abruptly to a height of 1400 feet, and is intersected by deep 
 gullies, which act as reservoirs for the rain water, and add to 
 the general unhealthiness of the locality by the evaporation 
 they cause in summer and autumn. The population of the 
 town is upwards of 15,000, exclusive of the garrison, which 
 varies from 4000 to 5000 men. 
 
 Excepting for military men Gibraltar is a most uninteresting 
 
CADIZ, SEVILLE, AND GIBRALTAR 27 
 
 place. On no account should the invalid traveller be per- 
 suaded to see the "galleries" in the rock usually visited by 
 tourists, as in order to do so he must first undergo the long 
 ascent to the commencement of the cuttings, where he will 
 arrive fatigued and heated, and then suddenly will be exposed 
 to the bitterly cold, damp air, which rushes along these 
 passages, and which cannot fail to injure weakened or diseased 
 
 lungs. 
 
 A great drawback to Gibraltar is the want of good drinking 
 water, for that principally used is rain water, which being kept 
 in limestone tanks becomes a prolific cause of calculus and 
 other diseases. 
 
 The climate of Gibraltar is very similar to that of the 
 northern coast of Africa, to which its position so nearly 
 approximates, being, however, somewhat modified by the 
 almost insular situation of "The Bock." The mean annual 
 temperature is 64°, the maximum being 92° in July, and the 
 minimum 32° in February. The mean daily range of tempera- 
 ture is 13°. The mean temperature of winter is 58° ; that of 
 spring 66° ; summer 77° ; and autumn 67°. 
 
 These thermometrical details cannot, however, be relied on 
 as indications of the climate, for we shall often find in Gibraltar 
 that when the sun is most powerful, and the thermometer 
 consequently stands highest, at the same time a cold, searching, 
 easterly wind prevails, and even in the warmest weather the 
 shady sides of the streets are often felt to be unpleasantly 
 chilly. 
 
 The position of Gibraltar between the Atlantic and Mediter- 
 ranean accounts for the prevalence of strong winds, especially 
 from the east, on which side the town is much exposed. 
 Easterly winds occur on an average for 177 days annually, and 
 generally prevail from July to November, which is regarded as 
 the unhealthy season ; for this wind, which is so violent as to 
 
28 CADIZ, SEVILLE, AND GIBEALTAE. 
 
 render the bay of Gibraltar unsafe for shipping while it lasts, 
 being besides saturated with moisture, is no less injurious to 
 the pulmonary invalid. The westerly winds, which prevail on 
 an average for 188 days in the year, blow directly on the town, 
 but are dry and clear, and are usually considered healthy. 
 
 The year may be practically divided at Gibraltar into two 
 seasons, the rainy and the dry, the first commencing about the 
 end of September with very violent rains, which fall at intervals 
 until May, when the dry season succeeds. Thus in an average 
 year, from the 4th of August to the 1st of November, only 
 5 inches of rain fell, while from the 1st of November to the 
 30th of January, inclusively, 29 inches fell. The average 
 annual rain-fall, however, is but 34 inches. 
 
 The autumn months here are damp and unhealthy, the 
 atmosphere is thick and foggy, and heavy dews fall at night. 
 
 The mortality at Gibraltar is, as it always has been, very 
 high. " It is especially observable," says Captain Sayer, civil 
 magistrate at Gibraltar," that although the population has 
 been gradually decreasing since 1840, the death-rate has been 
 gradually increasing." The prevalent diseases are consumption, 
 affections of the pulmonary organs, and fevers. 
 
 In the last Eeport of the Army Medical Department we find 
 that out of a garrison of 4341 men, no less than 2543 were 
 admitted into hospital during the year.* 
 
 From the preceding details it will be seen, that the climate 
 of Gibraltar is prejudical to all invalids, and more especially 
 so to consumptive patients. The combination of an intensely 
 hot sun and cold wind, the great variation of temperature 
 between the sun and shade, the badness of the water, and the 
 evils peculiar to a small garrison town, all conduce to a state 
 of things hurtful alike to the moral tone and physical condition 
 of the inhabitants. 
 
 * " Army Medical Department Keports," vol. xv, p. 56, London, 1875. 
 
MALAGA. 29 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 MALAGA. 
 
 Malaga is one of the best winter-resorts in Europe for con- 
 sumptive patients requiring a warm, dry, tonic climate. I 
 have had great reason to speak favourably of this place, not 
 only from my own personal experience of its benefits some 
 years ago during three winter seasons, but also from a con- 
 siderable number of cases in which I have since then recom- 
 mended this climate with advantage. 
 
 The city of Malaga is situated eighty miles to the eastward of 
 Gibraltar, on a deep and beautiful bay, surrounded by an ex- 
 tensive plain, the vegetation of which is almost tropical in 
 character, opening on the Mediterranean to the south, and pro- 
 tected on the north, west, and east, by the lofty mountains of 
 Konda, Antequerra, and the Sierra Nevada. 
 
 From Paris this health resort may now be reached in three 
 days by railway via Madrid and Cordova ; but I should not 
 advise this very fatiguing journey to any invalid traveller who 
 may in preference select one of the routes mentioned in the 
 last chapter. 
 
 Of the early history of Malaga we have no authentic 
 record until the year 711 a.d., when the Moors invaded 
 Spain, from which time this place gradually rose into a 
 city of great commercial importance. Some vestiges of its 
 former greatness may yet be seen in the ruins of the castle on 
 
 , 
 
30 MALAGA. 
 
 the hill, and in the Atarazanas, or arsenal, in the falling walls 
 of which still rust the rings to which the Moorish galleys 
 were once secured, though it is now nearly half a mile from 
 the sea. The long-enduring sway of the Saracens in Malaga 
 terminated in 1487, when Ferdinard "El Catholico," after a 
 siege of three months, entered the town. 
 
 Since then, with the exception of its having been attacked 
 by Admiral Blake in .1658, and again captured by the French 
 under Sabastiani in 1810, Malaga has enjoyed a comparatively 
 tranquil existence down to a very recent period, when a series 
 of republican and communistic " pronunciamentos," or abortive 
 revolutions, having broken out and been put down, this place 
 has again settled down into a prosperous but dull commercial 
 town, and now contains a population of about 120,000 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The principal hotels are the Alameda, Victoria, and Oriente, 
 which are situated close together on the Alameda. The 
 usual charge in these " Fandas " is from thirty to forty reals, 
 or from six to nine shillings a day, this tariff including all 
 the ordinary expenses of living. 
 
 The Alameda or fashionable promenade, which at the com- 
 mencement of this century was partly covered by the sea, is 
 now separated from it by a couple of intervening streets, and 
 extends from the port on one side to the G-uadalmedina or 
 river of the city on the other, being about half a mile in length. 
 Owing to the gravelly absorbent nature of the soil, which dries 
 very quickly after rain, the Alameda affords the best pro- 
 menade in Malaga, unless when the t erred or levant e winds, 
 to which it is exposed, prevail. At all other times this walk 
 is the great resort of the foreign visitors. Here, too, may be 
 seen the sturdy contrabandista from Eonda, wrapped up to the 
 eyes in the folds of his ample cloak, basking in the warm 
 sunshine, or the tall peasant from the mountains in his pictur- 
 
MALAGA. 31 
 
 esque Andalusian costume, slowly stalking along with all the 
 grave dignity of an ancient Eoman. 
 
 " There of Nuniantian fire a swarthy spark 
 Still lightens in the sun-burnt native's eye ; 
 The stately port, slow step, and visage dark, 
 Still mark enduring pride and constancy." 
 
 Next, perhaps, passes a solemn Padre, reciting his breviary 
 beneath the shade of a sombrero nearly three feet long, or more 
 numerously the dark-eyed senoritas gracefully trip along, 
 exchanging electric glances and telegraphic signals from the 
 pliant fan with the young caballeros, who, during the time 
 of promenading, ride round and round the Alameda. 
 
 All the public buildings of Malaga are small and tasteless 
 except the Cathedral, a vast structure commenced in 1528, and 
 which still remains unfinished. The choir contains some very 
 beautiful specimens of wood-carving, attributed to Alonzo 
 Cano, as well as a few good pictures. These, however, can 
 hardly be seen, owing to the Spanish custom of darkening the 
 windows, although the general effect, is certainly rendered 
 more impressive by — 
 
 " The solemn gloom, 
 Of the long Gothic aisle and stone ribb'd roof, 
 O'er canoping shrine and gorgeous tomb, 
 Carved screen, and altar glimmering far aloof, 
 And blending with the shade." 
 
 There is a great contrast between the* modern part of 
 the town near the Alameda, and the older portions, which 
 have undergone little change for the last three centuries. The 
 latter are connected with the port by a street which intersects 
 the city, crossing the Plaza de la Constitucion and the Plaza 
 de la Merced, and terminating in the Calle de la Victoria, so 
 named from the triumpha entry of Ferdinand and Isabella 
 into Malaga. The streets in this quarter are extremely narrow 
 
32 MALAGA. 
 
 and dark, and the massive houses, with their grated windows, 
 have externally a gloomy and eastern appearance. 
 
 The rooms are spacious and lofty, though for the most part they 
 are but sparingly furnished. Fire-places are generally unknown 
 here, their place being supplied by the hraseros or pans of char- 
 coal, which are but a poor substitute for the cheerful blaze of an 
 open fire ; and the invalid on those few occasions, when he may 
 feel inclined to regret the comforts of an English fire-side, will 
 do well to wrap himself in his cloak, or retire to bed, rather 
 than sit poisoning himself over the noxious fumes of smoulder- 
 ing charcoal. 
 
 With respect to the living, it must be admitted that the 
 meat in Malaga is very inferior, in every respect, to that 
 used in this country. The fish, however, is so good, and 
 of so many various kinds, as in great measure to make up for 
 the shortcomings of the animal food, and invalids may manage 
 to live very well and very cheaply at the hotels on fish, kid, 
 poultry, game, especially partridge, which is a standing dish 
 here, even if they do not choose to venture on the meats 
 served at the table d'hote. 
 
 Spanish cookery is generally considered as intolerable by 
 British travellers, but I think this is mere prejudice; and 
 that garlic and oil, which enter so largely into all culinary 
 operations in Spain, are absolutely necessary (moderately 
 used) to supply the want of fat and of flavour in the meat, 
 and to render it digestible. 
 
 The physician who sends his patient to Malaga, should 
 impress on him the great importance of choosing an apartment 
 having a southern aspect, as there is often a difference of 
 10° in the temperature of rooms facing the Alameda, and 
 those at the back of the hotels. Besides the mere warmth, 
 the front rooms are more cheerful, and enjoy the advantage of 
 free exposure to the light and sun, a very essential matter for a 
 
MALAGA. 33 
 
 pulmonary invalid, who should recollect the Italian proverb — 
 " Where the sun does not enter the doctor must." 
 
 The hygienic condition of Malaga is as defective as it can 
 well be. In a great many of the houses there is no provision 
 for sewerage of any kind, and even in the more civilized part 
 of the city, on the Alameda, the drainage is very bad indeed. 
 
 It might be anticipated, from the great antiquity of this city, 
 and the high civilization of its successive conquerors — Greeks, 
 Eomans, and Saracens — that the antiquary might here reap 
 an abundant harvest of treasures of the olden time, but such is 
 not the case. The various races who have in succession peopled 
 this fair land, have all, with envious haste, endeavoured to 
 obliterate any trace of their predecessors. For instance, the 
 beautiful Moorish arch of the Atarazanas, which time had so 
 long spared, was not long since built up with brickwork and 
 totally defaced; and of the Greek and Eoman monuments 
 described in the " Conversaciones Malaguenas," at the end of 
 last century, hardly one now remains. 
 
 The chief resource for invalids in Malaga lies in the beauty 
 and variety of the walks and rides in the vicinity, which, 
 thanks to the usual fine weather, are nearly always accessible. 
 One of the most beautiful of these excursions is that along the 
 Granada road, behind the town, between the cemetery and 
 Moorish aqueduct, and ascending the mountain until we come 
 to the point where the road turns away from the sea, the view 
 from which is one of the finest imaginable. In front rise the 
 snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada ; to the south, the Atlas 
 Mountains of the opposite African coast, fully eighty miles 
 distant, are clearly defined ; while from west to east the vista 
 includes an uninterrupted prospect of the Mediterranean from 
 Gibraltar to the point near Velez Malaga. From this vast 
 range of view, the eye falls back with relief on the fertile plain 
 around the town, thickly planted with groves of oranges, olives, 
 
 c 
 
34 MALAGA. 
 
 and sugar-cane, and every eminence covered by the vine. In such 
 a scene the invalid may, for. the moment, forget all the ills that 
 flesh is heir to, and abandon himself to the enjoyment of — 
 
 " Forest and village, lawn and field, 
 Ocean and earth, with all they yield 
 Of glorious or of fair." 
 
 Another favourite ride is through the Vega, by the Churriana 
 road to the grounds of " El Ketiro," the country seat of the 
 Conde of Alcolea, some five miles from the town. These 
 gardens, when I first visited Malaga, were much resorted to by 
 pic-nic parties, and I have here seen invalids, who at home 
 never breathed the noon-day air except through a respirator, 
 without any precaution whatever, dancing in the open air, in 
 December or January, and suffer from no consequent ill result. 
 Very pleasant excursions may also be made to Velez Malaga, 
 Alhaurin, and Antequera, and to the sulphurous baths of 
 Carratraca, which are much resorted to in cutaneous affections, 
 as well as in some cases of chronic rheumatism and dyspepsia, 
 by those who can bear with impunity the attendant fatigue and 
 roughing ; and now by railway to Cordova and Granada. 
 
 Society in Malaga is almost entirely confined to the 
 mercantile class, many of whom are eminently hospitable and 
 courteous to strangers ; among the ladies, too, there are not a 
 few who fully justify the proverb that " Las Malaguenas," son 
 muy halaguenas, " are very bewitching." The Malaguenians of 
 the lower order, it must be admitted, bear a very indifferent 
 character throughout the rest of Spain, being regarded as 
 addicted to gambling, fond of drinking, not recognising the 
 distinction between meum and tuum, and especially are given 
 to the use of the knife, which even in trivial altercations is 
 drawn as readily as the fist would be resorted to in England. 
 
 Such are the characteristics which distinguish the lower order 
 of Malaguenians from Spaniards generally, who, and more 
 
MALAGA. 35 
 
 especially the Northern Spaniards, are as kindly, brave, trust- 
 worthy, industrious, and self-reliant a people as any in 
 existence. But in Malaga the great deterioration is probably 
 in some degree occasioned by the exciting and often variable 
 nature of the climate reflected in the passionate and uncertain 
 character of the inhabitants, who are further altered from the 
 national type by their semi-Moorish descent, and by the 
 admixture of races common to all large seaports. 
 
 The climate of Malaga is of a dry, warm, and equable 
 character, the thermometer varying little during the day, except 
 when the " terral," or " levante" winds prevail, both of which 
 produce great and rapid changes in the temperature. With 
 this exception the mean daily variation is very slight, amount- 
 ing according to my observations to about 3° per diem during 
 the winter months. Immediately after sunset, however, there 
 is a very sudden fall of temperature, accompanied, especially 
 during certain winds, by so profuse a fall of dew as to render 
 it unsafe for the invalid to venture out of doors at this time. 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Malaga is 65°, or 15° higher 
 than London, 1° lower than Algiers, 9° higher than Pau, and 
 7° lower than Cairo. The mean temperature of winter is 55°, 
 or 16° higher than London, exactly the same as Algiers, 13° 
 higher than Pau, and 3° lower than Cairo. The mean tempera- 
 ture of spring is 68°, or 20° higher than London, 2° higher than 
 Algiers, 14° higher than Pau, and 5° lower than Cairo. The 
 mean temperature of summer is 78°, or 16° higher than London, 
 1° higher than Algiers, 8° higher than Pau, and 7° lower than 
 Cairo. And lastly, in autumn the mean temperature of Malaga 
 is 60°, or 9° higher than that of London, 2° lower than Algiers, 
 2° higher than Pau, and 11° lower than that of Cairo. 
 
 I was indebted to the late Dr Shortcliffe of Malaga for the 
 following valuable table, showing the — 
 
36 
 
 MALAGA. 
 
 Average Temperature at Malaga for a period of Ten 
 consecutive Years. 
 
 
 Mean Temperature. 
 
 Highest Temperature. 
 
 Lowest Temperature. 
 
 Months. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 a.m. 
 
 2 p.m. 
 
 11 p.m. 
 
 8 p.m. 
 
 2 p.m. 
 
 11 p.m. 
 
 8 a.m. 
 
 2 p.m. 
 
 1 p.m. 
 
 January.. 
 
 53-8 
 
 57-5 
 
 531 
 
 59 
 
 62 
 
 57 
 
 50 
 
 53 
 
 48 
 
 February . 
 
 54-6 
 
 57-3 
 
 54-9 
 
 60 
 
 64 
 
 61 
 
 46 
 
 52 
 
 44 
 
 March . . . 
 
 57'8 
 
 60-1 
 
 591 
 
 64 
 
 68 
 
 65 
 
 54 
 
 57 
 
 53 
 
 April 
 
 61-4 
 
 64-2 
 
 60-9 
 
 66 
 
 70 
 
 67 
 
 58 
 
 58 
 
 57 
 
 May 
 
 66*1 
 
 69'1 
 
 64-8 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 70 
 
 60 
 
 68 
 
 61 
 
 June 
 
 72-6 
 
 781 
 
 73-8 
 
 76 
 
 79 
 
 78 
 
 71 
 
 71 
 
 70 
 
 July ..... 
 
 76-8 
 
 79-9 
 
 76-1 
 
 80 
 
 85 
 
 79 
 
 75 
 
 77 
 
 73 
 
 August ... 
 
 77-6 
 
 799 
 
 76-9 
 
 80 
 
 86 
 
 81 
 
 74 
 
 78 
 
 75 
 
 September 
 
 72-5 
 
 76-1 
 
 73-8 
 
 79 
 
 84 
 
 77 
 
 69 
 
 75 
 
 69 
 
 October . . . 
 
 66-1 
 
 70-1 
 
 67-5 
 
 74 
 
 76 
 
 74 
 
 60 
 
 63 
 
 60 
 
 November 
 
 59-6 
 
 62-5 
 
 591 
 
 66 
 
 67 
 
 65 
 
 48 
 
 54 
 
 46 
 
 December 
 
 54-8 
 
 58-5 
 
 55-1 
 
 61 
 
 64 
 
 63 
 
 44 
 
 52 
 
 46 
 
 According to my own observations during the winter, the 
 mean temperature of the month of December was 59J° ; this 
 is calculated upon observations taken at 10 A.M. and 3 p.m. 
 each day, and therefore only shows the temperature of the day. 
 The mean daily variation between these hours was 2^-°, the 
 greatest variation was 5°, and the smallest variation 2°. The 
 highest temperature observed was 68°, and the lowest was 52°. 
 In January the mean temperature of the month was 57°; the 
 highest 61°, and the lowest in the day 50°. The greatest 
 variation in the day was 9°, the smallest 2°, and the mean 
 daily variation was 3°. During February the mean tempera- 
 ture was 58°, the highest temperature 66°; the lowest 50° ; 
 the greatest variation in the day 7°, the smallest 2°, and the 
 mean daily variation 3£°. 
 
 The annual rain-fall is comparatively small, and the month 
 of February is the most rainy period of the year. During the 
 three occasions I passed that month in Malaga, the weather 
 was generally so wet ami gloomy that invalids were confined 
 to their rooms for two-thirds of the time. This rain is usually 
 of a tropical character, falling in large drops and with much 
 
MALAGA. 37 
 
 force. When February has passed, the quantity of rain that 
 falls during the rest of the year is very small, amounting on 
 an average to 16 inches 5 lines per annum. The total number 
 of rainy days observed by Martinez during nine years was 
 262, or about 29 days annually, which is 90 days less rain 
 than in Pau, 88 less than Eome, 44 less than Madeira, 41 
 less than Algiers, 45 less than Nice, and 15 more than at 
 Cairo. 
 
 The mountains beyond the Vega almost completely shelter 
 the town from the north and west winds. The prevailing 
 winds are the east, or levante, which is cold and humid in 
 winter, the north-west, and the south-east. 
 
 The north-west wind, or " Terral," is termed un viento fatal. 
 It rushes through a gap in the Antequera Mountains, along the 
 valley of the Guadalmedina, and arrives in Malaga laden with 
 fine sand, which irritates the pulmonary mucous membrane. 
 In summer this wind is hot and dry, giving rise to a highly 
 irritable state of mind and body. In winter the Terral, 
 sweeping down the snow-clad mountains, is intensely cold as 
 well as dry. Its ill effects, however, cannot be measured by 
 the thermometer alone ; for the force and rapidity of its motion, 
 its aridity, and the quantity of impalpable sand it suspends, 
 all combine with its low temperature to injure the valetudi- 
 narian visitor, who should therefore be forewarned to remain 
 within doors as long as this wind prevails, which fortunately 
 is seldom more than three consecutive days. 
 
 The connection between defective hygiene and epidemic 
 disease has been too well illustrated in Malaga, which has been 
 repeatedly devastated by plague, yellow fever, cholera, and other 
 zymotics. In the first edition of my work "On Change of 
 Climate," I gave a very detailed account from old records of 
 no less than twenty-two pestilences, which have almost 
 depopulated Malaga at different times between 1493 and 
 
38 MALAGA. 
 
 1804. The earlier of these appear to have been epidemics of 
 genuine oriental plague, while the latter generally assumed the 
 form of yellow fever. Of late years these pestilences have not 
 returned, but Asiatic cholera has proved very fatal on several 
 occasions. 
 
 The prevailing diseases here are fevers, especially the ex- 
 anthemata, intermittent, and bilious fevers, acute diseases of 
 the air passages, gastric affections, purulent and strumous 
 ophthalmia, and elephantiasis arabum, elsewhere so rare in 
 Europe, but of which I have seen well-marked instances in 
 Malaga, where in one year no less than seven cases of this 
 disease were admitted into the civil hospital. 
 
 Senor Martinez Y. Montes, Physician-in-Chief to the Military 
 Hospital, has collected tables from which we find, that in 
 January the number of deaths was larger than in any other 
 month, while in May it was smaller. The total number of 
 adult deaths during the year was 9049. The greatest mortality 
 from any one disease was 711 from dropsy, and the smallest 
 was one death from hydrophobia. Acute and chronic diseases 
 of the respiratory organs, not including consumption, were the 
 cause of 1208 deaths. The mortality from phthisis was 407, 
 more than half of which, or 234, occurred in the civil hospital. 
 Cerebral affections are apparently a prolific source of mortality 
 here ; 742 fatal cases of these complaints occurred, of which 
 no less than 407 are set down to apoplexy .* 
 
 In Malaga the deaths occasioned by consumption among the 
 native population are less numerous than in any other European 
 southern locality resorted to by invalids in winter. This is, I 
 think, a very significant fact; for, as we might naturally 
 consider, a place where the mortality from phthisis was very 
 great an unsuitable residence for phthisical invalids, so a city 
 like Malaga, where the mortality from that disease is remark- 
 
 * Martinez, " Topografia Medica de la Ciudad de Malaga," p. 499. 
 
MALAGA. 39 
 
 ably small, should be a favourable locality for such patients. 
 Its superiority in this respect to our own climate is sufficiently 
 proved by the fact, that in this^country 125 deaths out of every 
 thousand are caused by consumption, while in Malaga only 34 
 deaths per thousand result from that disease. 
 
 When, however, we consider the mortality from all chronic 
 diseases of the air-passages, we find the superiority of this 
 climate is not so conspicuous as it might at first appear ; for 
 the deaths in Malaga from all chronic affections of the respira- 
 tory organs are very nearly as great as in London, amounting, 
 according to Senor Martinez Y. Montes, to nearly one-ninth 
 of the entire number recorded. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that of late years, ever since this 
 town has acquired a renown as a winter residence for phthisi- 
 cal patients, the mortality from this disease has increased 
 notably amongst the native population. And thus a belief in 
 the contagious nature of phthisis has now become so general 
 in Malaga, that many Spanish lodging-house proprietors refuse 
 to admit phthisical invalids as inmates. This opinion appears 
 to have more foundation in fact than is commonly supposed, 
 and I cannot doubt that, in hot climates at least, constant 
 communication with consumptive patients, and especially 
 sleeping in the same room with them, is very likely to prove 
 injurious to persons in delicate health, and may determine 
 the occurrence of phthisis in individuals who might otherwise 
 have escaped this malady. 
 
 The diseases which I have seen • most benefited by the 
 climate of Malaga were, consumption in its first stage and 
 the cachectic state which immediately precedes the deposition 
 of tubercles in the lungs. These cases may sometimes be 
 frequently cured, and more commonly the progress of the 
 disease may be checked for some time by the action of the 
 climate. Cases of chronic bronchitis and humoral asthma in 
 
40 MALAGA. 
 
 elderly persons occasionally improve materially here ; in other 
 instances, however, of a more irritative form of either complaint, 
 the climate of Malaga is too tonic or exciting, and may produce 
 much injury if improperly resorted to. 
 
 Another class of patients on whom this climate may be 
 expected to exert its most favourable influence, are children 
 predisposed to, or suffering from, any form of scrofula, whether 
 manifesting itself externally by swelling of the lymphatic 
 glands of the neck or elsewhere, or seated in the mesentery, or 
 assuming those premonitory symptoms which warn us that 
 tubercular disease of the lungs is not far ^off, and that nothing 
 is wanting but some slight exciting cause to call consumption 
 into active existence. In such cases a short residence in the 
 dry and tonic atmosphere of Malaga will oftentimes work 
 wonders. 
 
 It is quite as important to know what patients should avoid 
 any climate as to know what class should select it. Now, con- 
 sidering the great mortality from cerebral affections, and par- 
 ticularly apoplexy, in Malaga, I think that those predisposed to 
 such diseases should not choose this town for their residence. 
 Nor would I send a patient suffering from chronic rheumatism, 
 or rheumatic arthritis, or neuralgia, to Malaga; as the great 
 difference between the temperature of the day and night, and 
 the heavy dews that fall after sunset, render this town in such 
 cases inferior to other climates, such, for instance, as Western 
 Australia, Upper Egypt, and in some cases even Nice. Nor 
 can Malaga be advised to dyspeptic and hypochondriacal 
 invalids, as the dietary there is not generally suitable for these 
 cases. 
 
 The climate of Malaga was considered by the older native 
 writers, Don Fernandez Barea, Padre Garcia de la Lena, and 
 others to exert a relaxing and unfavourable influence on the con- 
 st:' tution of young persons under the age of puberty. But they 
 
MALAGA, 41 
 
 regarded this locality as an advantageous residence for the 
 old, and thought the climate a propitious one for them, 
 and calculated, by aiding in the alleviation of the many 
 physical annoyances of the aged, to add to the span of their 
 existence. 
 
A 
 
 44 LISBON. 
 
 the churches, defaced the paintings, and sold for waste paper 
 most of the valuable libraries of the conventual establishments. 
 The only one which escaped, and still exists, is the Irish 
 Dominican convent, which is some 200 years old. 
 
 Of late years, since I first visited Lisbon, the sanitary con- 
 dition of the city has been much improved. The streets are 
 cleaner, the sewerage is better, and in all the principal thorough- 
 fares gas has superseded the dim oil lamps that formerly gave 
 a faint twinkle through the night. But in the upper and older 
 quarters ancient customs still prevail. On my last visit to 
 Lisbon I was practically reminded that the old cry of agoa vai, 
 " water beware," though not so commonly heard as it was, is 
 not yet a thing of the past. On this occasion, returning home 
 one dark night, I heard the cry, and had barely time to take 
 refuge in an open doorway before the unsavoury shower fell 
 close beside me. 
 
 A very short stay will suffice to visit all the sights of Lisbon, 
 but an almost inexhaustible fund of beauty and variety will be 
 found in the various excursions in the adjacent country ; and 
 foremost among these is that to where 
 
 " Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes, 
 In variegated maze of mount and glen." 
 
 Cintra is now within an hour's drive from Lisbon by the steam 
 tramway. It would be utterly impossible, in the narrow limits 
 at my disposal, to attempt any description of the beauties of 
 this place, which in summer affords a delightful retreat from the 
 intense heat of Lisbon. For most invalids, however, the tran- 
 sition would be far too great. Thus, in the middle of June, I 
 have found the temperature of Cintra nearly 20° lower than 
 that of Lisbon. 
 
 The climate of Lisbon is warm, but humid and variable. 
 The mean annual temperature is about 61°; the mean tempera- 
 ture of winter is 54° ; spring, 59° ; summer, 68° ; and of autumn, 
 
LISBON. 45 
 
 59°. The minimum temperature of the year is seldom under 
 35°, but occasionally a slight frost occurs during the night in 
 December. The maximum annual heat in the sun is towards 
 the end of August, when the mercury at 2 p.m. sometimes rises 
 to 133°. The extremes of heat and cold annually observed 
 differ by between 50° and 60°. 
 
 These thermometrical details are deduced from the scattered 
 observations of various native and foreign observers, from 
 some tables quoted by Mr Murphy, and especially from two 
 papers by Senhor Franzini, in the Transactions of the Eoyal 
 Academy of Lisbon * all of which I have tabulated together. 
 
 No sufficient register of the hygrometric state of the atmo- 
 sphere has been kept, but it is well known by every observer 
 that the air in winter is here laden with vesicular moisture. 
 Senhor Franzini states that humid winds predominate over dry 
 ones in the proportion of 199 to 165. 
 
 Eain usually falls in heavy showers of brief duration. Thus 
 the number of days of settled rain in the year are comparatively 
 few, not exceeding 63, while the amount of rain is considerable, 
 amounting to upwards of 30 inches annually. One-half of this 
 quantity falls in winter, from November to the middle of 
 February ; the remainder being nearly equally divided between 
 spring and autumn, as there is little or no rain from June to 
 October. During the rainy weather the south-west wind is 
 prevalent. 
 
 To the stranger recently landed in Lisbon from England, in 
 winter, the weather will at first appear by comparison mild 
 and genial ; and so indeed it very often is. But still at this 
 season cold and damp winds from the westerly points are 
 prevalent. And although frost is a rare phenomena in the 
 
 * " Observa?oes Meteorologicas Feitas na Cidade de Lisboa, &c, par Marino 
 Miguel Franzini, in Memorias da Acadamia Real Das Sciencias de Lisboa, 
 torn. v. p. 92, 125, et torn. vii. p. 61, ad 93. 
 
44 LISBON. 
 
 the churches, defaced the paintings, and sold for waste paper 
 most of the valuable libraries of the conventual establishments. 
 The only one which escaped, and still exists, is the Irish 
 Dominican convent, which is some 200 years old. 
 
 Of late years, since I first visited Lisbon, the sanitary con- 
 dition of the city has been much improved. The streets are 
 cleaner, the sewerage is better, and in all the principal thorough- 
 fares gas has superseded the dim oil lamps that formerly gave 
 a faint twinkle through the night. But in the upper and older 
 quarters ancient customs still prevail. On my last visit to 
 Lisbon I was practically reminded that the old cry of agoa vai, 
 " water beware," though not so commonly heard as it was, is 
 not yet a thing of the past. On this occasion, returning home 
 one dark night, I heard the cry, and had barely time to take 
 refuge in an open doorway before the unsavoury shower fell 
 close beside me. 
 
 A very short stay will suffice to visit all the sights of Lisbon, 
 but an almost inexhaustible fund of beauty and variety will be 
 found in the various excursions in the adjacent country ; and 
 foremost among these is that to where 
 
 " Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes, 
 In variegated maze of mount and glen." 
 
 Cintra is now within an hour's drive from Lisbon by the steam 
 tramway. It would be utterly impossible, in the narrow limits 
 at my disposal, to attempt any description of the beauties of 
 this place, which in summer affords a delightful retreat from the 
 intense heat of Lisbon. For most invalids, however, the tran- 
 sition would be far too great. Thus, in the middle of June, I 
 have found the temperature of Cintra nearly 20° lower than 
 that of Lisbon. 
 
 The climate of Lisbon is warm, but humid and variable. 
 The mean annual temperature is about 61°; the mean tempera- 
 ture of winter is 54° ; spring, 59° ; summer, 68° ; and of autumn, 
 
LISBON. 45 
 
 59°. The minimum temperature of the year is seldom under 
 35°, but occasionally a slight frost occurs during the night in 
 December. The maximum annual heat in the sun is towards 
 the end of August, when the mercury at 2 p.m. sometimes rises 
 to 133°. The extremes of heat and cold annually observed 
 differ by between 50° and 60°. 
 
 These thermometrical details are deduced from the scattered 
 observations of various native and foreign observers, from 
 some tables quoted by Mr Murphy, and especially from two 
 papers by Senhor Franzini, in the Transactions of the Eoyal 
 Academy of Lisbon * all of which I have tabulated together. 
 
 No sufficient register of the hygrometric state of the atmo- 
 sphere has been kept, but it is well known by every observer 
 that the air in winter is here laden with vesicular moisture. 
 Senhor Franzini states that humid winds predominate over dry 
 ones in the proportion of 199 to 165. 
 
 Eain usually falls in heavy showers of brief duration. Thus 
 the number of days of settled rain in the year are comparatively 
 few, not exceeding 63, while the amount of rain is considerable, 
 amounting to upwards of 30 inches annually. One-half of this 
 quantity falls in winter, from November to the middle of 
 February ; the remainder being nearly equally divided between 
 spring and autumn, as there is little or no rain from June to 
 October. During the rainy weather the south-west wind is 
 prevalent. 
 
 To the stranger recently landed in Lisbon from England, in 
 winter, the weather will at first appear by comparison mild 
 and genial ; and so indeed it very often is. But still at this 
 season cold and damp winds from the westerly points are 
 prevalent. And although frost is a rare phenomena in the 
 
 * " Observa$oes Meteorologicas Feitas na Cidade de Lisboa, &c, par Marino 
 Miguel Franzini, in Memorias da Acadamia Real Das Sciencias de Lisboa, 
 torn. v. p. -92, 125, et torn. vii. p. 61, ad 93. 
 
 i 
 
46 LISBON. 
 
 town, yet the nights in the large fireless rooms of Lisbon are 
 often chilly and uncomfortable, and I have more than once 
 seen entire families muffled up to the eyebrows in every 
 procurable wrapper, cloak, and even blanket, shivering over 
 the brazeiro. But such weather is an exception to the usual 
 mildness of the winters, the temperature of which, though 
 much below that of several other health resorts, is, however, 
 ordinarily fully as many degrees higher than in the most 
 favoured of our home winter climates. In spring, however, 
 cold winds, accompanied with a very hot sun, are prevalent. 
 
 Of late years Lisbon has been little resorted to as a winter 
 residence by British invalids, although formerly it was one of 
 the most frequented of these places. 
 
 Among the diseases to which the climate of Lisbon appears 
 applicable, may be included chronic winter cough with in- 
 creased sensibility, and permanent sub-inflammatory condi- 
 tion of the pulmonary mucous membrane. This state, how- 
 ever, will demand a very careful diagnosis, bearing in mind 
 those forms of phthisis in which the climate would prove 
 injurious. Dyspepsia, attended by a similar state of the mucous 
 membrane of the stomach, will sometimes be cured by a change 
 from England to Libson. 
 
 That the climate of Lisbon acts unfavourably on the physical 
 development and constitution of young persons, is, I think, 
 established by the stunted and prematurely aged appearance 
 of the Portuguese children after the age of fourteen. Up to 
 this period they thrive equally well, and even grow faster 
 than do children in this country, but once passed that age their 
 growth becomes arrested, and their carriage and aspect are 
 those of old men, before they attain puberty. 
 
 In some measure, however, this must result from the excess 
 to which smoking is carried, even by young children. I have 
 often seen, with astonishment, boys whose age could not have 
 
LISBON. 47 
 
 exceeded six or seven years, gravely sucking a strong cigar, 
 with apparently the same gusto which our less precocious 
 infants derive from the forbidden delights of the sugarstick. 
 There can be no doubt that the influence of the nicotin thus 
 absorbed must be most injurious at this tender age. But even 
 irrespective of this, it would seem that the climate is unpro- 
 pitious to youth. 
 
48 MADEIRA. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 MADEIRA. 
 
 A few years ago Madeira was par excellence the winter resort 
 of English consumptive patients. Now, however, this island 
 is comparatively deserted by such persons, and having been 
 formerly recommended in cases in which it was not suitable, 
 has now come to be almost disused even where it might be 
 serviceable. Moreover, the tide of fashion, which influences the 
 choice of health resorts so largely, has for the present set in 
 other directions. The remoteness and comparative inacces- 
 sibility of this island, thirteen hundred miles from the nearest 
 English port, has also conduced to the preference now generally 
 given to nearer winter resorts. 
 
 From Southampton or Liverpool, Madeira may be reached in 
 about eight days by the steamers of the African, Union, or 
 Brazilian Mail Companies. 
 
 A remarkable illustration of the vague manner in which 
 health resorts are sometimes recommended may be found in 
 the last edition of Dr Constantine James' work on this subject, 
 in which he speaks of Madeira as the "Type des climats 
 d'hiver," * without distinguishing the fact that it is the type 
 only of one class of climates, by no means generally applicable 
 for pulmonary invalids. 
 
 * "Guide Fractique des Eaux Minerales et aux Stations Hivernales," par 
 le Dr Constantine James, IXrae edition, p. 573, Paris, 1875. 
 
MADEIRA. 
 
 49 
 
 Of all the climates described in this work, that of Madeira 
 is unquestionably the most equable. Thus, during winter and 
 spring, the mean range of temperature observed at Funchal was 
 only 15° in the twenty-four hours, whilst in Upper Egypt there 
 is an average range of 40° during these seasons. But still the 
 latter place is incomparably better suited for the majority of 
 phthisical invalids than the former, the atmosphere of Upper 
 Egypt being very dry and tonic, whilst that of Madeira is 
 essentially humid, and in many instances relaxing. 
 
 The extreme humidity of this climate is shown by the 
 impossibility of keeping steel instruments free from rust, or of 
 preserving any musical instrument in tune, or any article of 
 clothing, however carefully packed, from being injured by the 
 dampness of the air; as well as by the exuberant tropical 
 vegetation, which attracts the admiration of every visitor to this 
 island, and which, as rain falls only in small quantities, and at 
 very long intervals, must be maintained by the excessive 
 humidity of the atmosphere. 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Funchal is 66 0, 93, and 
 according to Dr Mason's observations,* the minimum external 
 temperature was 57° in January, and the maximum was 83° 
 during the prevalence of the hot African " Leste " wind in June. 
 Independently of this wind the maximum day temperature 
 was 79° in August. 
 
 External Temperature, Funchal, Madeira* 
 
 
 Mean 
 Maximum Tem- 
 perature in 
 the day. 
 
 Mean 
 Minimum Tem- 
 perature in 
 the night. 
 
 Mean Daily- 
 Range. 
 
 Mean Range 
 of the Twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 "Winter, 
 Spring, 
 Summer, . 
 Autumn, . 
 
 68-66 
 74-59 
 80-00 
 76-33 
 
 55-00 
 
 57-50 
 66-00 
 61-66 
 
 7-60 
 9-50 
 8-67 
 8-33 
 
 13-66 
 17-00 
 15-00 
 14-67 
 
 Year, 
 
 74-87 
 
 59-79 
 
 8-54 
 
 15-08 
 
 * "A Treatise on the Climate and Meteorology of Madeira," by the late J. A. 
 Mason, M.D., p. 183. 
 
50 MADEIRA. 
 
 The prevailing wind in Madeira is the north-east, except at 
 Funchal, where, owing to the position of the adjoining moun- 
 tains, southerly and south-west winds are more frequent. 
 Throughout the island generally, land and sea breezes alternate 
 regularly, and mark the changes of the seasons by the order in 
 which they occur, the one prevailing during the night, 
 and the other from sunrise until evening. In summer the 
 " Leste " wind from the African coast occurs periodically for a 
 few days, and is very similar to the " Terral " of Malaga, or the 
 " Khamsin " wind of Cairo, being not only intensely hot and 
 dry, but also laden with impalpable sand, and most irritating 
 to the lungs and injurious in its general effects. 
 
 It has been proved that " the inhabitants of Madeira are not 
 remarkable for longevity, but, on the contrary, in general die 
 very young ; " and though this fact has been explained in 
 various ways, it is nevertheless a strong a priori argument 
 against this island as a health resort. Amongst the prevail- 
 ing diseases of Madeira, consumption must be included; but 
 whether the prevalence of this disease amongst the native 
 population is to be ascribed to the climate, or to the unfavour- 
 able hygienic condition and meagre diet of the poorer classes, 
 has long been a disputed question. The results of the experi- 
 ment made a few years ago by the authorities of the Brompton 
 Hospital were by no means favourable to the reputation of 
 Madeira as a health resort for the consumptive. Twenty-six 
 carefully-selected cases of phthisis were sent to winter in 
 Madeira ; of these only two were decidedly improved, seven 
 were slightly improved, one died from haemoptysis, five re-, 
 turned worse than when they left home, and in twelve cases 
 no alteration could be observed in the patients' condition. 
 
 The cases in which a winter visit to Madeira might prove 
 serviceable are — in dry chronic bronchitis and winter cough, 
 with great irritability of the mucous membrane of the air 
 
TENERIFFE AND ST MICHAELS. 51 
 
 passages and little expectoration ; chronic laryngeal irritation, 
 and cases of spasmodic asthma of the same character ; and 
 also, with more caution, in a limited number of cases of 
 phthisis in its earliest stage, and marked by similar symptoms. 
 But to the majority of consumptive patients, especially if the 
 disease be advanced beyond the first stage, the humid, warm, 
 and relaxing atmosphere of Madeira would, I believe, be pre- 
 judicial. 
 
 The foregoing account of the climate of Madeira might, with 
 very little alteration, be applied to two other groups of not 
 far distant islands, also situated in the North Eastern 
 Atlantic Ocean, and which have been as deservedly recom- 
 mended as health resorts in the same class of cases as Madeira. 
 viz., the Canaries and the Azores. Some years ago I had an 
 opportunity of visiting both these groups. The best known 
 of the Canaries — Teneriffe — lies some two hundred and fifty 
 miles to the south of Madeira, and is only sixty miles distant 
 from the African coast. This island, the circumference of 
 which is less than a hundred and fifty miles, has been so often 
 described by tourists, and is now so little visited by health- 
 travellers, as to render any detailed account superfluous. The 
 voyage by steam from Liverpool to Teneriffe varies from eight 
 to ten days, and costs about twenty pounds. There is pretty 
 good hotel accommodation at Santa Crux, the capital of the 
 Island. The mean annual temperature of this town is 6° 
 higher than that of Funchal. But the climate is much less 
 equable than that of Madeira ; thus, according to Sir James 
 Clark, the difference between the mean temperature of the 
 winter and summer at Funchal is nine degrees, whilst at 
 Santa Crux it amounts to twelve degrees. The mean annual 
 temperature is 71° ; that of- winter 65°; spring, 69° ; summer, 
 77° ; and autumn, 74°. The annual rainfall is somewhat less 
 than that of Madeira, nor is the atmosphere quite so humid 
 
52 TENERIFFE AND ST MICHAELS. 
 
 and relaxing. But its proximity to the African coast exposes 
 this island to harsh dry easterly "winds from the Lybian 
 deserts ; and, moreover, the distance from England, and com- 
 parative deficiency of hotel accommodation and resources for 
 foreign visitors, render this island still less adapted as a 
 health resort for British pulmonary invalids. 
 
 The Azores being two hundred and fifty miles to the north- 
 west of Madeira, enjoy a cooler but more humid, relax- 
 ing, and equable climate than that sanatorium. The prin- 
 cipal of these islands as a health resort is St Michael's, the 
 mean annual temperature of which is five degrees lower than 
 that of Funchal ; and that of winter two degrees under that of 
 the latter town. The prevailing winds in St Michael's are 
 northerly and easterly ; the annual rainfall is about thirty 
 inches, and the atmosphere is still more saturated with 
 moisture than that of Madeira. I need not dwell further on 
 the climate, which, although one of the warmest and most 
 equable in the world, is far too relaxing for the great majority 
 of pulmonary sufferers, though it might advantageously be 
 employed in some cases of spasmodic asthma, dry chronic 
 bronchitis, and laryngeal irritation, were it not for the disad- 
 vantages of a health resort so remote, difficult of access, and 
 unprovided with many of those comforts and resources which 
 are regarded as indispensable by invalids. 
 
ALGIERS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ALGIERS. 
 
 Few of the ordinary winter resorts of invalids are more easily 
 approached from England than Algiers, as there are regular 
 departures from Marseilles every second day, for that city, by 
 the steamers of the " Messageries Maritimes " and those of the 
 " Compagnie Valery." This voyage, in fair weather, and 
 under ordinary circumstances, is a mere pleasure excursion, 
 occupying from thirty-six to forty hours. 
 
 The first view of Algiers from the bay is very picturesque ; 
 from the water's edge a triangle of houses extend to the top of 
 the hill, the apex being crowned by the ancient fortress of the 
 " Casbah," the last refuge of the Deys. The snow-white walls 
 of the city glistening under an African sky, the lofty minarets 
 still surmounted by the crescent, the grave turbaned figures 
 we see loitering about the mole, — all give an oriental character 
 to the scene. 
 
 There is a wide choice of hotels, of which the best seemed to 
 us, after having tried others, the Hotel d'Europe, where we 
 remained the greatest part of our stay in Algiers. The usual 
 charge in all of them is from twelve to fifteen francs a-day, 
 including breakfast, dinner, and apartments. 
 
 The markets are well supplied, and the prices are somewhat 
 less than in this country, but the meat is not equal to ours. 
 Fruit is abundant; and as a proof of the mildness of the 
 
54 ALGIERS. 
 
 climate, I may mention that during December we had green 
 peas and fresh strawberries, grown in the open air, almost 
 every day at dinner. 
 
 The streets in the higher quarters of the city still retain 
 their oriental aspect to a remarkable extent, being tortuous, 
 dirty, and so narrow that in many two horsemen can with 
 great difficulty pass each other. When a string of donkeys 
 laden with projecting sacks appears in one of these lanes, 
 all the passers-by are forced to retreat into the nearest door- 
 way, and woe betide the luckless individual who fails to 
 secure this timely shelter. 
 
 In the modern part of the city, near the port, the streets are 
 wide, well paved, and kept perfectly clean. Nearly all these 
 communicate with the Place du Gouvernement, which over- 
 looks the harbour, and around which most of the hotels and 
 cafes are situated. The chief thoroughfares, such as the Bab- 
 el -Oued and its continuation, the Eue Bab-Azoun, the Rue de 
 Chartres, &c, are well lighted with gas, and contain shops that 
 would not discredit Paris itself. All these streets are built 
 with arcades overhanging the footpaths, and thus a dry walk, 
 in wet weather, and a cool retreat from the scorching sun in 
 summer, is secured. By invalids, however, these colonnades, 
 in which even on the hottest day there is always a cold 
 draught, should be carefully avoided, and are most injurious. 
 
 In the way of amusements there is little to tempt the 
 stranger, and even the gay and mercurial French seem to be 
 easily affected by the hot Algerian climate. They soon become 
 bilious and gloomy, and appear to consider only how they 
 may most quickly amass sufficient means to enable them to 
 leave the colony and return to France. A large and handsome 
 theatre has, however, been erected in the Place Bresson, but is 
 very poorly supported. 
 
 One of the chief advantages of Algiers consists in the 
 
ALGIERS. 
 
 55 
 
 number of opportunities for agreeable excursions from the 
 town, and the beauty and variety of these. 
 
 To antiquaries Algiers presents an almost virgin field of 
 research and discovery ; rich in monuments of Carthaginian 
 and Eoman antiquity, and in remains, too, of a date long 
 antecedent to either. A paper on some of these, read before 
 the Eoyal Irish Academy, by my father, Dr E. E. Madden, 
 contains, I believe, the first account given of " The Dolmens of 
 Bainam." 
 
 According to M. de Pietra Santa, the mean annual tem- 
 perature of Algiers is 66°. The mean temperature of winter 
 is 55°; spring, 66°; summer, 77°; and autumn, 62°. During a 
 period of seven years, Dr Armand * tells us that the thermo- 
 meter only once fell to zero. 
 
 In considering the climatology of Algiers, I have adapted 
 Dr Armand's division of the year into two seasons, the first 
 that of the rains, commencing in November and terminating 
 at the end of April, and the second that of the heats, which 
 endures from May to October, inclusively. 
 
 Temperature of the Coast of Algeria during the cool and 
 vjet season. 
 
 
 Maximum. 
 
 Minimum. 
 
 Mean. 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 November, 
 
 68 
 
 57 
 
 63 
 
 December, 
 
 60 
 
 50 
 
 55 
 
 January, . 
 
 60 
 
 50 
 
 55 
 
 February, . 
 
 54 
 
 46 
 
 50 
 
 March, 
 
 64 
 
 55 
 
 58 
 
 April, 
 
 70 
 
 58 
 
 64 
 
 During these months snow falls in considerable quantities 
 on the mountains, at the height of 500 metres above the level 
 of the sea. Snow very rarely falls in the valleys along the 
 
 L Algerie Medical, " p. 49. 
 
56 AL&IEKS. 
 
 coast, and when it does fall, generally thaws as soon as it 
 touches the ground. 
 
 The effects of the extreme cold of the African mountains 
 were dreadfully experienced by the French troops at the 
 retreat of Constantine, which, according to Dr Armand, a 
 physician attached to the French army, " resembled on a small 
 scale the horrors of the retreat from Eussia. The column of 
 Setif, on the 2d and 3d of January, were assailed and dispersed 
 by a snow-storm in the mountains of Bou-Taleb, and entered 
 Setif on the 4th, with 532 cases of partial congelations of the 
 extremities, and leaving 208 dead on the road." * 
 
 During the month of December, the thermometer in the 
 open air and in the shade, in a westerly aspect, was very 
 carefully observed by me in Algiers at regular times, twice 
 daily, and also at various hours between 4 a.m. and 11 P.M. 
 At no period of the day did the heat ever exceed 68J°. The 
 mean temperature at noon during the month was 66°. The 
 mean temperature of the night was 58£°, and the lowest tem- 
 perature observed at any period of the day or night was on 
 Christmas day at 4 A.M., when the temperature was 56°, and 
 at noon was only 60°. The mean variation up to the 24th 
 was 7i°, and the greatest variation during the twenty-four 
 hours was on the 14th December, when the temperature at 
 noon was 68|-°, and at 8 p.m. had fallen to 59°, being a varia- 
 tion of 9 J°. 
 
 In 1738 Dr Shaw, who for twelve years, while chaplain to 
 the English .Factory, kept a very accurate meteorological 
 register at Algiers, tells us that the average annual rain-fall 
 was 27 or 28 inches.-f- It would seem from this that the 
 climate had become damper since his time, for, according to 
 nearly all the modern observers, the annual rain-fall now 
 
 ' * "L'Algerie Medical," p. 42. 
 t Shaw's " Travels," Oxford, 1738, folio, p. 218. { 
 
ALGIEES. 57 
 
 amounts to close on 32 inches, and the average number of 
 rainy days in the year is from 55 to 60. 
 
 Six-sevenths of the annual rain-fall, and seven-eighths of 
 the total annual number of rainy days, occur between 
 November and April inclusively. These rains occasionally 
 give rise to veritable inundations. Fortunately, however, these 
 are seldom very serious, and the floods oftentimes prove bene- 
 ficial in their after effects, fertilising lands that would other- 
 wise be parched up into a barren desert. 
 
 In summer, notwithstanding the sea-breeze which generally 
 prevails along the coast, the thermometer attains a height 
 unknown in any part of Europe, accompanied by a sultry 
 stillness of the air, destructive to vegetation and injurious to 
 animal existence. Such was the weather which the poet 
 Campbell, in his epistle to Horace Smith, alludes to — 
 
 "Dear Horace ! be melted to tears, 
 For I'm melting with heat as I rhyme ; 
 Though the name of this place is All-jeers 
 'Tis no joke to fall in with its clime." 
 
 The hygrometric state of the air differs materially in the 
 lowlands and mountain districts, being generally dry in 
 elevated places ; while in the valleys the atmosphere during 
 the night is saturated with moisture, giving rise to damp and 
 foggy weather, which, occurring after the intense heat of the 
 day, occasions much mischief, and partially explains how it is 
 that fever is endemic in some localities. 
 
 Westerly winds are most prevalent in Algiers. Those of the 
 east are next in frequency, and are generally attended with 
 broken weather and cold mists. 
 
 At all seasons the temperature of this place is subject to 
 great and sudden changes. Profuse dew falls at night, and 
 the atmosphere after sunset becomes loaded with moisture. 
 For this reason it is never safe for valetudinarians to be 
 
58 ALGIEKS. 
 
 abroad before the sun has some power in the morning, nor 
 after sunset at all. Exposure to the night air is not only 
 dangerous to European invalids, but prejudicial to persons in 
 health. 
 
 Throughout the whole of Algeria there is a great tendency 
 to febrile affections, though they are less common in the city 
 of Algiers and the adjacent villages than in any other part of 
 the colony. Wherever there are marshes, or lakes, or when soil, 
 not previously cultivated, has been cleared for the first time, 
 there intermittent fevers prevail. In chronic cases a remark- 
 able enlargement of the spleen takes place, that organ, as I 
 have seen in several instances in the civil hospital of Algiers, 
 apparently occupying nearly the entire abdominal cavity. 
 These fievres paludeens, have been the bane of Algeria, and 
 owing to this cause the population has in some localities been 
 renewed three times since the Erench colonization. This 
 tendency to malarial fever renders great caution necessary on 
 the part of invalid visitors. I myself suffered from a severe 
 attack of this kind, following fatigue and exposure to the sun 
 during a short excursion on the verge of the desert. This 
 assumed an intermittent type, and, even long after my depar- 
 ture from the colony, recurred again and again on the slightest 
 exciting cause. 
 
 The Algerian climate is very fatal to European children 
 between the age of six months and two years ; the mortality 
 at this period of life, according to Drs Eoley and Martin, 
 authors of an official work intended to encourage emigration 
 to the colony, amounting to 440 per 1000, or nearly one-half. 
 " This," they justly observe, " is enormous, and indicates the 
 almost impossibility of rearing in Africa European children, 
 who have been brought over during dentition."* 
 
 * "Histoire Statistique de la Colonisation, Algerienne au Point de vue du 
 Peuplement et de L'Hygiene," p. 107. 
 
ALGIEKS. 59 
 
 From the same valuable work we also learn how greatly 
 the death-rate of this colony exceeds that of the mother 
 country. 
 
 Affections of the eyes, especially scrofulous ophthalmia, are 
 common, and so is scrofula in all its forms. In the civil 
 hospital at Mustapha, the physician pointed out to me several 
 well-marked cases of scrofulous disease of the bones. He 
 accounted for the prevalence of this malady by the very poor 
 food on which the lower class of the natives subsist, and partly, 
 also, by the crowded state and defective ventilation of their 
 dwellings. 
 
 It has long been a disputed question whether pulmonary 
 consumption is prevalent in Algeria or not ; and also whether 
 this climate is a suitable one as a health resort for the phthi- 
 sical, or the contrary. Nearly forty years ago, when this 
 matter was brought under the consideration of the French 
 Academy of Medicine, it was declared that — " it was doubtful 
 if the climate of Algiers was favourable to the cure of con- 
 sumption ; "* and even at the present time little more can be 
 said. 
 
 The prevalence of scrofula supports the statement of Drs 
 Armand,-(- Deleau, and Laveran,j physicians of the French 
 army in Algeria, that phthisis is common among the native 
 Arabs. This opinion is also maintained by the Tebibs, or 
 native doctors, who, moreover, believe phthisis to be conta- 
 gious. 
 
 Many writers, however, consider that consumption is all 
 but unknown in Algeria, and that, when it does occur, it is 
 only the development of disease existing before arrival in the 
 colony, or inherited from phthisical parents. Dr Odrultz,§ 
 
 * "Bulletin de L'Academie Royal de Medicine," 1836, vol. i. p. 43, &c. 
 
 t " L'Algerie Medical," p. 375. 
 
 i " Memoires de Med. Milit." t. lii. 
 
 § " Annuaire Therapeutique de M. Bouchardat. " 
 
 X 
 
60 ALGIERS. 
 
 Dr Bodichon,* Dr De Pietra Santa,-)- Dr Feuillet^ and some 
 other recent writers support this opinion. 
 
 From what I saw myself during my stay in Algiers, I have 
 no doubt that consumption is by no means unfrequent amongst 
 the resident population, although it is less common than in 
 England or France, and that other diseases of the respiratory 
 organs are prevalent in this colony. Thus, out of five hundred 
 and forty patients in the civil hospital of Algiers when I visited 
 it, no less than fifty were pulmonary cases. And I believe 
 that unless great precaution be observed by invalid visitors to 
 Algiers, in their dress, mode of living, and above all in the 
 careful avoidance of exposure to the night air and cold winds, 
 and a constant recollection of the remarkable difference of 
 temperature which exists between the sun and shade, this 
 climate is a hazardous one for persons suffering from pulmon- 
 ary complaints. 
 
 Cases of phthisis, accompanied with hectic sweats, are often 
 aggravated here, and I have heard invalids complaining that 
 their night perspirations, which had been controlled by change 
 of air in the journey from England, again returned after a few 
 days' residence in Algiers. 
 
 Eor a patient in the third stage of consumption it would be 
 difficult to select a more unsuitable climate than this, or one 
 where the disorganization of the pulmonary structure and 
 death of the patient would be more likely to be accelerated. 
 
 Some cases of chronic bronchitis derive remarkable benefit 
 from the climate of Algiers. Several instances fell under my 
 observation of elderly persons suffering from this disease, and 
 from senile catarrh, who here regained, to an unexpected 
 extent, their general health, after having gone the rounds of 
 
 * " Algeria as a Winter Residence for the Efiglish," p. 44. 
 
 + "Journal of Practical Medicine and Surgery," vol. xxxi. No. 10, p. 469. 
 
 $ " De La Phthisic Pulraonaire en Algerie," 2d edition, p. 15. 
 
ALGIERS. 61 
 
 all the wintering places in the south of France and Italy 
 without any amelioration. But other cases of the same disease 
 have also come under my notice, in which, the climate of 
 Algiers having proved ineffectual or injurious, Malaga was suc- 
 cessfully resorted to. 
 
62 MOROCCO. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 MOEOCCO. 
 
 Within four hours' sail of Gibraltar, with which there is 
 almost daily communication by steamer, is an empire almost 
 as large as Spain, no small part of which is blessed with a 
 most genial climate, and possesses the most fertile soil in the 
 world. Extending from the Atlantic on the west, to Algeria 
 on the east, and from the Mediterranean stretching far into 
 the Great Sahara on the south, Morocco includes a territory 
 of upwards of 150,000 square miles, a considerable part of 
 which is to this day almost a terra incognita. 
 
 The following brief account of my visit to Morocco may 
 perhaps serve to direct the attention of others to this climate, 
 and its possible therapeutic influences : — Arriving at Tangiers 
 by steamer from Gibraltar, the town was not seen until we 
 were close to the land, as, although built on a hill, the houses 
 are for the most part flat-roofed and low. This hill is 
 surmounted by an old Moorish Casbah or castle, whose 
 dilapidated white- washed walls would make a poor defence 
 against modern artillery. Below this rises the lofty minaret 
 of the Jamaa Kiber, or principal mosque, while nearer the 
 port the forest of masts made it appear in the distance as if 
 some crowded dock was placed there. These, however, were 
 but the flag-staffs of the various consuls, who each deem it a 
 point of national honour to have a taller pole than their 
 
MOROCCO. 63 
 
 neighbours. All this presented such a contrast to the place 
 we had just left, that it was difficult to imagine that Gibraltar 
 was only thirty-eight miles distant. The steamer was forced 
 to anchor a long distance from the land, as the port was 
 destroyed when the English evacuated Tangiers in 1684, and 
 has never been restored since. 
 
 The town is surrounded by semi-ruinous walls, passing 
 through which we entered the main street; this traverses the 
 city from east to west, and is tolerably wide and clean, 
 containing the principal shops and bazaars, as well as the 
 Jamaa Kebir, or great mosque, a large, but very ugly, brick 
 building, a little above which the street expands into the 
 market-place. 
 
 There are some four or five hotels in Tangiers. These for 
 the most part are comfortable and very moderate ; thus in the 
 best of these we lived very well for rather less than seven 
 shillings a day. 
 
 While we were in Tangiers the annual caravan of Hadjis, or 
 pilgrims to Mecca, arrived from the interior, and remained here 
 for some days, waiting for the steamers by which they were to 
 perform their voyage to the East. Amongst these pilgrims 
 were men of every hue, from the perfectly white and dignified 
 Moor of El-Garb, clad in a rich and most becoming costume, 
 to the jet black native of Soudan, whose only clothing was a 
 narrow cloth around the loins, and perhaps a ragged blanket 
 thrown loosely over one shoulder. 
 
 In the encampment of these Hadjis, outside the walls of 
 Tangiers, we witnessed a most extraordinary performance. 
 In the centre of a great crowd of Hadjis were a party of four 
 or five negroes, dancing and screaming to the music of a kind 
 of rude tambourine. Suddenly the music, if the noise could 
 be so called, stopped for a minute, and one of the per- 
 formers came forward holding a stick, to the end of which a 
 
64 MOEOCCO. 
 
 large clasp-knife was fastened in one hand, and having in 
 the other a cannon ball, weighing about ten or twelve pounds ; 
 which was handed round and examined by several of our party. 
 The dancing and shouting recommenced, and the actors gradu- 
 ally worked themselves into a state of extreme excitement ; the 
 chief now sat down in the centre of the ring, and poising the 
 ball in his right hand, threw it by a powerful effort several 
 feet into the air, and stooping forward received it in a slanting 
 direction on the upper part of the frontal bone, the force of 
 the blow producing a dull sound which was distinctly heard 
 by every one in the circle; and the blood, now oozing in 
 streams from the bare scalp, covered the man's whole face. 
 After rushing round and round, singing and dancing for some 
 moments, he repeated the same thing three or four times, and 
 then fell senseless to the ground ; the others dancing about 
 him until he came to, when he at once commenced cutting 
 himself about the head and face, with the knife I have before 
 mentioned, and then, when his features were so gashed and 
 disfigured as to be hardly discernible, he threw himself down 
 and remained lying on his face, biting the earth until I came 
 away, one of the performers meanwhile going about soliciting 
 money, of which he got very little. Close by was a rival 
 exhibition of snake-charmers, who were freely handling large 
 serpents. 
 
 How the first of these feats was accomplished I am utterly 
 unable to explain, for had the same blow been given to any 
 European cranium, I have no doubt that a depressed fracture 
 would have been the result; and even supposing that this 
 negro's skull was of sufficient thickness to sustain the force of 
 such a blow without serious mischief, I cannot conceive how 
 the repeated shock of so great a concussion could have been 
 borne without occasioning fatal injury to the brain. 
 
 The environs of Tangiers are interesting, especially the cliffs 
 
MOROCCO, 65 
 
 on the west of the town, which command a very extensive 
 and beautiful view of the straits and Spanish coast from 
 Trafalgar to Gibraltar. Here the outlines of old English 
 batteries may still be traced ; and half -buried in the sand we 
 found several rust-consumed cannon, stamped with the 
 English arms of the time of Charles II. On the south side of 
 the city ruins of a very remote antiquity are discernible ; 
 these are supposed to have belonged to the ancient Tingis; 
 and in the same neighbourhood several of the arches of an 
 extremely graceful Eoman bridge stand in tolerable preserva- 
 tion. Outside the land gate is the SoJc-el-ivahad, where the 
 principal market is held every Sunday; beyond is the 
 neglected and ill-kept cemetery, above which, on the hill, is a 
 white bee-hive shaped coubba or Santon's tomb. 
 
 The natural history of northern Morocco differs little from 
 that of Andalusia, the only difference perceptible being that 
 the soil in Barbary is far more productive than it is on the 
 other side of the straits, although the cultivation is of the 
 rudest kind. In the province of El-Garb two crops in the 
 year are of ordinary occurrence, and Gibraltar depends en- 
 tirely on Morocco for its excellent supply of oranges, lemons, 
 grapes, figs, melons, and dates, which are all sold here at 
 fabulously cheap prices. 
 
 No very accurate details of the climate have, I believe, been 
 yet published. During my stay in spring the weather was 
 mild and genial, and at mid-day was even too hot for much 
 exercise. The position of the town, however, exposes it com- 
 pletely to the cold damp winds, which rush through the 
 funnel-shaped straits from the Atlantic, while its aspect, 
 being open to the east, must render it even more subject to 
 this wind than Gibraltar ' is. The annual rainfall is about 
 thirty inches, which, as in most parts of Africa, principally 
 occurs at one season, during the months of October and 
 
 E 
 
66 MOKOCCO. 
 
 November. The rains being succeeded by great heat, vegeta- 
 tion is consequently rapid and early; thus in January the 
 fields are already covered with flowers, and in March the 
 barley crop is reaped. Though the climate is hot it is not 
 parched or arid, as the province of El-Garb is protected by the 
 interposition of the two ranges of the greater and lesser Atlas 
 mountains on the south and south-east from the hot winds of 
 the desert. Its proximity to the Mediterranean and Atlantic 
 on the north and west also modifies the temperature, which 
 in this province seldom falls below 40° in winter, or rises 
 above 86° in summer. 
 
 From the climate we next come to examine the diseases to 
 which it gives rise. Ophthalmia is very prevalent in Tangiers ; 
 so is catarrh, especially in the Jewish quarter, where many 
 of the inhabitants present a pallid, unhealthy, and even 
 phthisical appearance. Elephantiasis Arabum is common, and 
 I have seen a mendicant outside the gate of Tangiers exhibit- 
 ing a leg enlarged by this disease to nearly three times the 
 size of its fellow. 
 
 Mr Jackson, who resided for sixteen years in the Barbary 
 States, asserts that leprosy, called Murd Jeddem, is endemic 
 throughout Morocco ; * and Mr Lempriere says that " the 
 leprous affection appears to be hereditary, and has the appear- 
 ance of being the true leprosy of the ancients. It breaks out 
 in great blotches over the whole body, in some few forming 
 one continual sore, which frequently heals up, and at stated 
 times breaks out afresh, but is never thoroughly cured." f 
 Constitutional syphilis, or Murd Kibeer, is remarkably wide- 
 spread throughout this country, and the true Oriental plague 
 has repeatedly almost depopulated Morocco. 
 
 * "An Account of the Empire of Morocco," &c, p. 154. 
 t "A Tour from Gibraltar to Morocco," by William Lempriere, Surgeon, p. 
 9, 2d edition. 
 
MOROCCO. 67 
 
 To this long catalogue of ills must be added every form of 
 scrofulous disease, and during the stay of the Hadj in Tangiers 
 I had an opportunity of observing the number of persons 
 evidently of the strumous diathesis who were here collected 
 together from every part of the empire. This must, to some 
 extent, be attributable to the utter neglect of hygiene and 
 poverty of diet of the lower classes. But still, the mere 
 prevalence of scrofula in any country from whatever cause it 
 may arise, should make us most cautious in selecting that 
 place as a health resort for the consumptive. 
 
 I have not, however, had sufficient personal experience of 
 this climate, in affections of the respiratory organs, to enable 
 me to speak absolutely of its action in these cases. Several 
 invalids who were of our party seemed to derive benefit from 
 their stay in Tangiers; this, however, was probably owing 
 to the superiority ' of the living here to that of Malaga, where 
 they had been spending the winter. For the same reason I 
 think that invalids suffering from dyspepsia and hypochon- 
 driasis, and possibly persons in whom climacteric disease has 
 begun to manifest itself, as well as that large class of whom I 
 have treated in the beginning of this work, namely, valetudin- 
 arians, not actually ill, but whose state is best described by 
 the vague term, " out of health," may in some cases derive 
 advantage from a short visit to Tangiers. 
 
 At right angles to, and j only fourteen miles distant from, 
 Gibraltar, stands its formidable rival, the Spanish key of the 
 Mediterranean — Ceuta, which, like Gibraltar, is built on a 
 rocky peninsula jutting out into the straits, of which it forms 
 the south-eastern point. This peninsula, nearly three miles 
 in length, terminates in the bold headland of El Minah, and 
 is formed by seven hills. One of these mountains, now known 
 as Mount Hacho, is supposed to be the Abyla, or southern 
 pillar of Hercules. 
 
68 MOEOCCO. 
 
 In most respects Ceuta resembles its opposite neighbour, its 
 situation beingvery similar, being, like it, a small, strongly- 
 fortified town and convict settlement in a foreign land, and, 
 notwithstanding its extreme antiquity, is almost as destitute of 
 any object of interest within its walls. The environs, however, 
 are strikingly beautiful and wonderfully fertile, producing ex- 
 cellent oranges, as well as figs, melons, grapes, and sugar-cane. 
 
 The climate of Ceuta differs little from that of Gibraltar, 
 although somewhat warmer and better sheltered from cold, 
 harsh winds. In this respect it is also more advantageously 
 situated than Tangiers. 
 
 Tetuan or Tetawan is about twenty-five miles south of 
 Ceuta, and is nearly four miles inland. It was formerly a 
 place of some importance, but has now fallen into decay and 
 ruin. The environs are highly cultivated, however, and pro- 
 duce the finest fruit in the world. 
 
 The climate is similar to that of Tangiers, though in one 
 respect superior to it, being in a great measure sheltered 
 from the damp winds to which that place is exposed. It 
 would, however, be impracticable for any invalid to remain in 
 this town, from the total want of all the conveniences of life, 
 as well as from the difficulty, not to say danger, of living 
 amongst an uncivilised and fanatical Mahometan population, 
 who regard all Europeans with contempt and aversion. The 
 same observation applies equally to the much superior climate 
 of El Araiche, a very ancient Moorish town, situated just 
 within the mouth of the river Kos, about forty-five miles 
 south of Cape Spartal, which may be reached by a journey of 
 a day and a half from Tangiers, and which has also been recom- 
 mended as a winter residence for invalids ; but on account of 
 the greater difficulty of access, and total want of accommoda- 
 tion, is still more unsuitable as a health resort for European 
 valetudinarians. 
 
PAIL 69 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAU, ARCACHON, AND BIARRITZ. 
 
 With one exception, the most frequented winter health resort 
 in Europe is Pau. In the following chapter, founded on my 
 own experience during two visits at long intervals, I shall 
 endeavour to enable the reader to judge whether the reputation 
 which each year attracts so large a number of British invalids 
 to this place is well founded or not. 
 
 Pau, the ancient capital of Beam and Navarre, which may 
 be reached in eighteen hours by train from Paris, via 
 Bordeaux and Dax, is situated on a small table-land about 
 700 feet above the sea, in the department of the lower 
 Pyrenees, one hundred and fifty miles from Bordeaux, and 
 twenty miles from the nearest part of the Pyrenees. The 
 platform on which the town stands is intersected by a deep 
 ravine, through which a scanty and very dirty rivulet flows, 
 " stealing and giving odours." On the north of this ravine is 
 the new town, in which are many of the public buildings, and 
 most of the houses inhabited by foreign visitors. 
 
 The old town, on the opposite side of the river, as seen from 
 the bridge, reminds one somewhat of Edinburgh on a small 
 scale. In this quarter are the Prefecture, the Chateau Henri 
 IV., and the Place Royal, where stands the beautiful statue of 
 Henry of Navarre, erected by Louis Philippe. This promenade 
 
70 PAU. 
 
 commands an exquisite view of the rich valley of the Gave, 
 and an unbroken vista of the Pyrenees for fully sixty miles. 
 
 The streets of Pau are dirty and badly paved, but the shops 
 are well supplied with goods suited for English customers. The 
 hotels, especially the Hotel Beau Sej our and the Hotel de laPoste, 
 are comfortable and not expensive. Apartments may also be 
 had at all prices, from one thousand to ten thousand francs for 
 the season from October to May. It is essential to choose rooms 
 commanding a northern aspect, and having fire-places, as there 
 is a difference here generally of 10° or 12° between the north 
 and south side of the same house, and the nights are always, 
 and the days generally, cold enough to render a fire necessary 
 in winter. In most of the houses the sewerage is very defective, 
 and the effluvia in the halls and staircases, especially in wet 
 weather, may be better imagined than described. 
 
 The climate of Pau has been written up very assiduously, 
 and highly extolled for its peculiar advantages during eight 
 months of the year, including the entire of the winter, as 
 an especially well-adapted place for invalids labouring under 
 diseases of the respiratory organs. But no amount of eulogy 
 affects the temperature of a locality, or improves the hygro- 
 metric condition of its atmosphere. And, therefore, though 
 the books that have been written on Pau have answered 
 their purpose most successfully, by annually bringing crowds 
 of invalid travellers to spend the winter months in a locality 
 in favour of which they have read such strong and circum- 
 stantial statements, still the climate remains what it was be- 
 fore the books were written — essentially cold, variable, damp, 
 and dreary during the winter. 
 
 I should feel some hesitation in offering so unfavourable an 
 opinion of this climate, which is almost universally regarded 
 as one of the finest in the south of Europe, if I had not had 
 some personal experience of its action on invalids in whom I 
 
PAU. 71 
 
 was interested. Moreover, I have been favoured with very 
 extensive unpublished meteorological and other observations, a 
 resume of which will be found in this chapter. 
 
 Confiding in the works on this climate I had read, I arrived 
 in Pau from Algiers in the beginning of January, expecting 
 to find a mild, equable, and genial climate. I was soon 
 undeceived, however ; the change was literally from an atmo- 
 sphere warm and bright as summer in this country, to one 
 nearly as cold and damp as that of London in mid-winter. The 
 evenings were foggy and the mornings misty, and during the 
 month of January there were few days on which any person 
 suffering from pulmonary disease could go out of doors with- 
 out prejudice to health. At Algiers, during the month of 
 December, the thermometer as observed by me never fell 
 below 54° at any hour of the day or night; while at Pau during 
 the same month, according to the observation of M. Weil, 
 the mean temperature of the day was considerably under 
 the lowest temperature of the twenty-four hours at Algiers, 
 being 45 £°, and the thermometer fell eleven times to zero. 
 
 Probably the best mode of studying a climate is by com- 
 paring it with others, and therefore I will now contrast Pau 
 with Dublin, which may be considered a specimen of a bad 
 climate ; and likewise with Malaga, which I regard as a very 
 good one. The mean annual temperature of Pau is 56°, or 7° 
 higher than that of Dublin and 9° lower than that of Malaga. 
 The mean temperature of winter is 42°, or 3° higher than 
 Dublin and 13° lower than Malaga. The mean temperature 
 of spring is 54°, or 7° higher than Dublin and 14° lower than 
 Malaga. In summer the mean temperature of Pau is 70°, or 
 11° higher than Dublin and 8° lower than Malaga. And, 
 lastly, the mean temperature of autumn is 58°, which is 
 8° higher than that of Dublin and 2° lower than that of 
 Malaga. 
 
72 
 
 PAU. 
 
 From this we learn that in winter, when this town is 
 crowded by English invalids, the temperature of Pau is only 
 3° higher than that of one of the worst climates in Great 
 Britain, and is 13° lower than that of Malaga. In spring, 
 however, the climate is somewhat better. 
 
 The following tables, the first of which is copied from the 
 registry in the club at Pau, and the second arranged from a 
 valuable register kindly given me by M. Weil of that town, 
 will afford the reader some idea of the character of this 
 climate. 
 
 Table showing the comparative Meteorology of Pau and of 
 Kew Observatory during an average Winter. 
 
 
 October. 
 
 November. 
 
 December. 
 
 Pau. 
 
 Kew. 
 
 Pau. 
 
 Kew. 
 
 Pau. 
 
 Kew. 
 
 Mean temperature at 9 a. m. , 
 Mean of the highest temperature ) 
 
 by day in each twenty-four hours \ 
 Mean of the lowest temperature by ) 
 
 night in each twenty-four hours ) 
 Mean temperature of the months ) 
 
 calculated from preceding obser- > 
 
 vations, . . . . ) 
 Number of days in which the ) 
 
 thermometer fell to freezing > 
 
 point, ) 
 
 Number of days on which rain fell 
 Amount of rain in inches and ) 
 
 hundredths, \ 
 Mean amount of cloud, 
 Mean moisture of air, 
 
 60'5 
 70-5 
 
 52 
 60-4 
 
 
 
 7 
 1-28 
 
 4-2 
 
 •79 
 
 55-6 
 61-6 
 
 48 
 55'1 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 074 
 
 7 
 •85 
 
 447 
 57-3 
 
 41-8 
 49-1 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 2-734 
 
 53 
 
 •82 
 
 41 
 46'6 
 
 33'2 
 39-5 
 
 13 
 
 20 
 1-054 
 
 6-1 
 
 •85 
 
 41-7 
 
 52 
 37-9 
 
 45 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 1-275 
 
 4 
 •83 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 34-8 
 40 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 0-925 
 
 6 
 •83 
 
 Pau is one of the most variable climates in the south of 
 Europe. Thus, for instance, I have seen a difference of 20° 
 between nine a.m. and noon. I need hardly add that such 
 sudden changes of temperature must be injurious to con- 
 sumptive patients. 
 
 It must be , admitted, that if we contrast the comparative 
 number of rainy days at Pau and Dublin, the advantage will 
 
PAU. 
 
 73 
 
 be on the side of the former. Thus, in Dublin, the average 
 annual number of wet days is 224, while in Pau there are 
 only 119 ; yet in Pau " it never rains but it pours," for the 
 actual quantity of rain which falls is 42 inches, or 15 inches 
 more than at Dublin, and 26 inches more than at Malaga, 
 where there are only about 30 rainy days annually. 
 
 Temperature at Pau. 
 
 Date. 
 
 December. 
 
 January. 
 
 February. 
 
 March. 
 
 c 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 6 
 
 a 
 
 c 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 © 
 
 a 
 
 
 ;£ 
 
 o 
 
 p. 
 
 03 
 
 o 
 
 &< 
 
 si 
 
 o 
 
 p5 
 
 ej 
 
 o 
 
 Pi 
 
 
 Ci 
 
 £ 
 
 M 
 
 Ci 
 
 fc 
 
 a 
 
 OJ 
 
 (25 
 
 M 
 
 C5 
 
 fe 
 
 TO 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Q 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 1st 
 
 43 
 
 52 
 
 54 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 53 
 
 55 
 
 2d 
 
 41 
 
 52 
 
 54 
 
 41 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 50 
 
 42 
 
 53 
 
 57 
 
 3d 
 
 37 
 
 52 
 
 52 
 
 41 
 
 46 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 44 
 
 57 
 
 59 
 
 4th 
 
 37 
 
 50 
 
 52 
 
 33 
 
 41 
 
 39 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 42 
 
 39 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 5th 
 
 36 
 
 45 
 
 46 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 44 
 
 39 
 
 41 
 
 39 
 
 41 
 
 46 
 
 50 
 
 6th 
 
 43 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 41 
 
 46 
 
 44 
 
 39 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 42 
 
 53 
 
 59 
 
 7th 
 
 54 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 41 
 
 46 
 
 46 
 
 37 
 
 41 
 
 37 
 
 44 
 
 59 
 
 64 
 
 8th 
 
 43 
 
 54 
 
 55 
 
 39 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 50 
 
 66 
 
 71 
 
 9th 
 
 45 
 
 52 
 
 54 
 
 46 
 
 48 
 
 53 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 53 
 
 69 
 
 71 
 
 10th 
 
 49 
 
 54 
 
 55 
 
 50 
 
 59 
 
 59 
 
 21 
 
 28 
 
 30 
 
 48 
 
 53 
 
 46 
 
 11th 
 
 49 
 
 54 
 
 54 
 
 42 
 
 53 
 
 55 
 
 21 
 
 28 
 
 35 
 
 44 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 12th 
 
 41 
 
 54 
 
 55 
 
 41 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 23 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 46 
 
 13th 
 
 43 
 
 52 
 
 54 
 
 46 
 
 44 
 
 42 
 
 24 
 
 37 
 
 37 
 
 42 
 
 41 
 
 41 
 
 14th 
 
 43 
 
 49 
 
 50 
 
 41 
 
 41 
 
 41 
 
 28 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 41 
 
 50 
 
 51 
 
 15th 
 
 41 
 
 52 
 
 54 
 
 39 
 
 41 
 
 41 
 
 48 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 16th 
 
 43 
 
 52 
 
 49 
 
 37 
 
 39 
 
 37 
 
 37 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 17th 
 
 43 
 
 46 
 
 45 
 
 26 
 
 35 
 
 37 
 
 37 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 18th 
 
 43 
 
 45 
 
 45 
 
 26 
 
 30 
 
 33 
 
 39 
 
 50 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 19th 
 
 41 
 
 45 
 
 43 
 
 26 
 
 35 
 
 37 
 
 37 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 
 
 
 20th 
 
 37 
 
 37 
 
 40 
 
 32 
 
 39 
 
 41 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 21st 
 
 40 
 
 41 
 
 41 
 
 32 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 39 
 
 46 
 
 42 
 
 
 
 
 22d 
 
 34 
 
 43 
 
 46 
 
 41 
 
 46 
 
 48 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 
 
 
 23d 
 
 37 
 
 49 
 
 49 
 
 42 
 
 50 
 
 51 
 
 37 
 
 39 
 
 42 
 
 
 
 
 24th 
 
 36 
 
 46 
 
 49 
 
 48 
 
 57 
 
 57 
 
 42 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 25th 
 
 36 
 
 46 
 
 46 
 
 46 
 
 53 
 
 50 
 
 37 
 
 41 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 26th 
 
 36 
 
 50 
 
 49 
 
 46 
 
 51 
 
 50 
 
 42 
 
 48 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 27th 
 
 36 
 
 43 
 
 43 
 
 35 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 44 
 
 50 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 28th 
 
 30 
 
 49 
 
 43 
 
 41 
 
 55 
 
 57 
 
 35 
 
 37 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 29th 
 
 36 
 
 43 
 
 43 
 
 41 
 
 55 
 
 57 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30th 
 
 34 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 42 
 
 46 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31st 
 
 34 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The hygrometric aspect of this climate seems to me to be 
 completely misunderstood: In his well-known work on Pau, 
 Sir Alexander Taylor makes the assertion, which has so often 
 been copied by other writers as to be now regarded as an 
 
74 pau. 
 
 established fact, that " there is a peculiar absence of free 
 communicable humidity in the atmosphere at Pau."* 
 
 If we test this statement by comparing the climate of Pau 
 with some place where there is no " peculiar absence of free 
 communicable humidity in the atmosphere," such as Kew, 
 near London, for instance, we shall find little proof of this 
 boasted superiority ; thus during the month of November, in 
 the first winter that I visited Pau, the mean moisture of the 
 air denoted by the hygrometer was '82 at Pau, compared with 
 '85 at Kew ; and in December the mean moisture of the air 
 at Pau was '83, which was exactly the same as at Kew. 
 
 During my two visits to Pau, in October and January, 
 there was a continual combination of cold and fogs in the 
 mornings and evenings. In January the thermometer wa^ 
 frequently below freezing point during the night, and there 
 were few days on which some rain did not fall. 
 
 It is certainly true, however, that there is here a peculiar 
 stillness of the atmosphere, and generally a great freedom 
 from harsh and violent winds, which is especially obvious in 
 spring. This, though in some respects an advantage, is not 
 an unqualified one, the stagnation of the air giving rise to a 
 weak and languid circulation, generally accompanied by a 
 corresponding state of mental and physical relaxation and 
 inertia. And it has been remarked that the Bearnaise differ 
 from the French in general, in being of less excitable disposi- 
 tion and more placid temperament. Prom this sedative 
 action it has been argued that the climate should prove 
 useful in chronic diseases attended by much vascular 
 excitement, and indeed I was told by some of the English 
 residents in Pau, that they had noticed a considerable reduc- 
 tion in the frequency of the pulse on their first arrival. I 
 
 * ' ' The Curative Influence of the Climate of Pau and the Mineral "Waters 
 of the Pyrenees on Disease," by Alexander Taylor, M.D., p. 42. 
 
PAU AND ARCACHON. 75 
 
 may remark that this effect was not produced on those whom 
 I had an opportunity of observing, but, on the contrary, the 
 opposite symptoms followed the arrival in Pau of two 
 persons under my immediate notice. In both cases the 
 acceleration of the pulse was caused by the cold, damp, and 
 ungenial climate of Pau aggravating the ailments of these 
 individuals. 
 
 Eheumatism is a common complaint here, and a strong 
 presumption is thus afforded that the climate is unsuited for 
 persons suffering from that affection. Sir Alexander Taylor 
 admits that bronchitis is not unfrequent in Pau during the 
 winter and spring, but he considers that it is of a less severe 
 character than in this country. 
 
 From the foregoing account of this climate and its effects I 
 draw the conclusion, that the variable temperature of Pau 
 renders that town unsuited for the winter residence of consump- 
 tive patients, in whom the disease has progressed to its second 
 or third stage. It would be a bad abode in most cases of chronic 
 bronchitis, and, according to the testimony of an eminent resi- 
 dent physician, peculiarly unsuitable in cases of fatty degenera- 
 tion and certain other chronic diseases of the heart. 
 
 On the other hand, this climate may occasionally act 
 beneficially in some cases of incipient phthisis, when a pure 
 mountain air is required ; and perhaps also in some instances 
 of that disease in its first stage. But even in such cases I 
 think that a more bracing and more equable climate is 
 generally required. 
 
 With regard to asthmatic patients I must, however, modify 
 what I said in my first work on this subject, as further experi- 
 ence has convinced me that in many cases of spasmodic asthma, 
 Pau agrees better than any other climate. 
 
 Arcachon has of late years come into vogue as a spring 
 and winter residence for pulmonary invalids, and there- 
 
 v 
 
76 ARCACHON. 
 
 fore on my return from my last visit to Pau I made a short 
 stay in this village. Arcachon lies an hour's journey by rail- 
 way to the south-west of Bordeaux, being situated in a pine 
 forest, and on the shore of an immense lagoon, which opens 
 by a narrow channel into the Bay of Biscay. 
 
 As Arcachon is chiefly known as a health resort for British 
 invalids, in consequence of Sir Dominic Corrgian's recommenda- 
 tion of it in a presidential address delivered some years ago, 
 and as this is now out of print, and contains the best account 
 yet published of Arcachon, I shall here summarise that 
 eminent physician's graphic description of this health resort. 
 According to Sir Dominic Corrigan, Arcachon owes its exist- 
 ence to the commander of a merchant vessel, who, in 1826, 
 established an hotel in this place. "Adopting the style to 
 which he had been accustomed in India, he built his first 
 establishment of wood after the model of a 'bungalow' — a 
 one-storied house with a verandah running round it, into which 
 all the rooms open. The model has been universally adopted, 
 and the watering-place of Arcachon now consists of hundreds 
 of such isolated houses, with magnolias, oleanders, and orange 
 trees around them, giving the whole place the picturesque 
 appearance of clusters of Indian bungalows in an American 
 pine clearing. In 1844 the opening of a railway gave a fresh 
 impetus to its progress, and Arcachon is now, apparently and 
 deservedly, one of the most favourite spring residences on the 
 south-west coast of France for invalids labouring under some 
 forms of pulmonary affections. I have obtained some short 
 notes of the temperature from Dr Hameau, the resident physi- 
 cian, and he assures me that during the last winter — which had 
 been unusually severe — the thermometer (Fahrenheit) only 
 fell four times in December, and three times in February to 
 freezing point, and this was on the beach. In January and 
 February, it appears from his tables that the temperature in 
 
AKCACHON AND BIAEEITZ. 77 
 
 the forest is usually abou t44° to 50° of Fahrenheit. . . . 
 Arcachon is free from the vicinity of any high mountain 
 ranges that might pour down upon it cold, dry, and harsh air, 
 while it is sheltered by sandhills of moderate elevation ; and it 
 presents with this the additional advantage of sea air without 
 the violence of sea gales. There is another peculiarity to which 
 much of the salubrity of the air of Arcachon, as a residence, 
 is attributed — for it has a high local repute in pulmonary 
 affections — and that is the great belt of pine forest which 
 extends for many miles around it. The whole air is perceptibly 
 impregnated with the balsamic odour of turpentine, and we 
 know that the balsams and turpentines in vapour are remedial 
 agents of much power in bronchial affections/' * 
 
 On the same coast, and also within the limits of the 
 same vast sandy plain in which Arcachon is situated, is 
 another locality which has still more recently been recom- 
 mended as a winter resort, namely — Biarritz. Since I first 
 visited the district of the Landes the population of Biarritz 
 has more than trebled ; and, chiefly owing to the preference 
 given to it by the ex-Imperial family of France, this town has 
 been metamorphosed from a mere fishing village into one of 
 the most fashionable sea-side watering-places in Europe. It 
 is unnecessary to describe a locality so well known and so 
 accessible, being within five hours' journey by train from 
 Bordeaux, and only six miles from Bayonne. Nor would I have 
 made any reference to this town were it not that, not satisfied 
 with the repute which Biarritz has justly acquired as the first 
 amongst the sea-side resorts of France, an attempt has been 
 made by some writers to take advantage of the prevailing 
 opinion in favour of tonic winter climates for pulmonary inva- 
 lids, and to write Biarritz, as other places have been, and with 
 
 * Sir D. Corrigan, " Introductory Address Medical Society College of 
 Physicians," p. 12. 
 
78 BIARRITZ. 
 
 even less justice written, into value as a fitting winter resi- 
 dence for consumptive patients. But notwithstanding its 
 unquestionable advantages of facility of access, beauty of 
 situation, and excellence of accommodation and living, still 
 the position of this town, which is fully exposed to violent 
 Atlantic storms and consequent frequent and sudden changes 
 of temperature during the winter and spring seasons, the pre- 
 valence of humid south-westerly winds, and the large number 
 of wet days, amounting on an average to one hundred and 
 twenty annually, obviously render Biarritz unsuitable as a 
 winter abode for pulmonary invalids. 
 
MONTPELLIER. 79 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MONTPELLIER. 
 
 Towards the close of the last century Montpellier was the 
 best known and most frequented health resort on the Con- 
 tinent. But its reputation in this way has long been eclipsed 
 by other localities now in fashion. 
 
 This place is within sixteen hours' journey of Paris by the 
 Marseilles line, a branch of which, from Tarascon, passes the 
 town. 
 
 Montpellier is situated on a hill in the centre of an extensive 
 sandy plain, evidently once the bed of the sea, from which it 
 is now six miles distant. The streets are narrow and very steep, 
 the principal leading up to the " Place du Peyrou," from which 
 the tourist may enjoy one of the most beautiful views in the 
 south of Europe. 
 
 The town contains little to attract the notice of the visitor, 
 with the exception of the Musee Pabre, the Jardin des Plants, 
 and the ancient building occupied by the Eaculty of Medicine, 
 amongst whose students I was once enrolled, and might there- 
 fore be suspected of partiality if I were to say more than that, 
 from its foundation in the tenth century down to the present 
 day, this school has maintained a reputation unsurpassed by 
 any of the larger and more modern centres of medical educa- 
 tion. The classes are not very largely attended, however, and 
 
80 MONTPELLIER. 
 
 the nnmber of those who are here invested in the robe of 
 Kabelais is now comparatively small. 
 
 In the vicinity of Montpellier the line of coast from the 
 embouchure of the Ehone as far as Cette is bordered by lakes 
 and marshes. The ground on which the town stands is of a 
 loose gravelly formation, and in the neighbourhood a consider- 
 able amount of mercury is found in small cylindrical veins in 
 the soil, and the peasants attribute the mortality amongst 
 cattle, in certain localities, to mercurial exhalations from the 
 earth. 
 
 The winter climate of Montpellier, although warm, is ex- 
 tremely variable. The mean annual temperature is 56°, 
 which, compared with Malaga and with London, is 9° lower 
 than the former and 6° higher than the latter city. As a 
 comparison of this kind seems to me the best way of under- 
 standing the value of meteorological observations, I shall also 
 apply it to the seasons. Thus the mean temperature of winter 
 at Montpellier is 41°, or 14° lower than Malaga and 2° higher 
 than London ; the mean temperature of spring is 55°, or 13° 
 lower than Malaga and 7° higher than London. The hottest 
 month is July, and the coldest is January, and the mean daily 
 range of temperature is 12°. 
 
 Within the last sixty years the climate of Montpellier has 
 become considerably drier than it was. In the latter part of 
 the 18th century the annual rainfall was 778 millimetres, and 
 in the first half of the present century it only amounted to 662 
 millimetres, being a decrease of 116 millimetres a year within 
 this period. The annual number of rainy days has fallen from 
 179 to 58 within the same time. The maximum number of 
 wet days occurs in October, and the minimum in February. 
 
 The prevailing winds in Montpellier are, first, the north- 
 west or " Magistraou." This blows for about 78 days 
 annually, and during its prevalence the town is healthier than 
 
MONTPELLIEft. 81 
 
 at any other time. The north wind or " Tramontana " is felt 
 about 74 days in the year, and in winter, when it is termed the 
 " Bise," is cold and harsh, but in summer is hot and parched. 
 The east is a rainy wind, occurring on about 60 days annually, 
 and crossing the marshes of Aiguesmorts, arrives at Mont- 
 pellier pregnant with malaria. Southerly winds generally 
 prevail in summer, and are cool and humid. 
 
 Although snow is rarely seen here, hard frosts are common 
 during the winter, and violent hailstorms recur periodically 
 every few years. Fogs are seldom observed, but the dew-fall 
 is very considerable, so as to render it essential for invalids to 
 remain within doors after sunset. 
 
 The atmospheric constitution of Montpellier is characterised 
 by dryness and moderate warmth, accompanied by a tendency 
 to great and sudden alterations of temperature, and the 
 occasional prevalence of strong winds. It is manifest that 
 a combination such as this cannot agree in cases of con- 
 sumption. 
 
 In his excellent work, Dr Eodriguez has shown that 
 " pulmonary consumption has increased in Montpellier since 
 the close of the last century ; it is often hereditary, and its 
 exciting cause is generally ascribed to catarrh.'" " It is not 
 uncommon," he tells us, "to meet with acute inflammatory 
 phthisis or galloping consumption, especially in young- 
 girls."* Montpellier cannot therefore be recommended as a 
 desirable winter resort for those suffering from phthisis, 
 although even in that disease I am inclined to believe that 
 this climate is as good as that of some other places recently 
 brought into vogue as health resorts. 
 
 The cases which I think most likely to be benefited by the 
 climate of Montpellier are cases of humoral asthma, and chronic 
 laryngeal and bronchitic affections, attended with profuse 
 
 * " Clinique Medical de Montpellier," par le Dr Rodriguez, p. 382. 
 
 F 
 
82 MONTPELLIEE. 
 
 expectoration, and not accompanied with much irritation. 
 These may in some cases improve rapidly under the influ- 
 ence of this climate, provided great care be taken to avoid 
 exposure to the bise and mar in winds. 
 
 The climate of Montpellier may be also tried in some 
 forms of dyspepsia, climacteric disease, and hypochondriasis, 
 attended with a slow circulation, and where the feelings are 
 not morbidly acute. 
 
HYEKES AND CANNES. 83 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HYEEES AND CANNES. 
 
 Fkom Montpellier to Hyeres, there is a wide transition of 
 climate, although both towns are within the ancient limits of 
 " Fair Provence." For brilliant as is generally the sun, cloud- 
 less the sky, and serene the atmosphere of this entire region, 
 yet the extreme inconstancy of the temperature renders the 
 greater part of it unsuitable for the residence of pulmonary 
 invalids. So changeable indeed is the climate, that Louis 
 XIV., who certainly knew something about ladies, if nothing 
 about climates, very happily compared it to " une coquette 
 jparfume'e dont il fallait se m^fierT 
 
 A long narrow strip of land extends along the Mediter- 
 ranean from Toulon to Mce, and thence is continuous with 
 the Eiviera del Ponente. This is included between the 
 secondary chain of the Maritime Alps and the sea, and being 
 protected by these mountains from all cold winds, and espe- 
 cially from the " Mistral," is thus blessed with a climate very 
 different from that of Provence in general. Enjoying the 
 advantages of this situation in a more than ordinary degree is 
 the locality now to be described. 
 
 The town of Hyeres is situated in the department of the 
 Var, near the western boundary of the Gulf of Lyons, about 
 two miles from the shore, and is connected with Paris by the 
 railway to Toulon, from which it is nearly twelve miles distant 
 on the road to St Tropez. The town is small, having a popu- 
 
84 HYEKES AND CANNES. 
 
 lation of some 10,000 inhabitants. The older portion is built 
 on the side of a precipitous hill. 
 
 Foreign invalids for the most part inhabit the modern part 
 of the town about the Place de Palniiers, Place Koyal, and 
 Place de la Kade, where the best lodging-houses and hotels are 
 situated. There is a " Cercle " or club, and a lending library, 
 both well supplied with English books and papers. An 
 English Protestant church has also been erected in the Place 
 de Palmiers. English physicians reside in the neighbourhood, 
 and amongst these I may be pardoned for mentioning the 
 name of my friend Dr Griffiths, who has been for many years 
 in extensive practice in Hyeres, and to whom I am indebted 
 for valuable information respecting the climate. Living is 
 cheap and good; and all the necessaries, and most of the 
 commodities, a sick man requires, are to be easily procured 
 here. 
 
 The climate of Hyeres is warmer and more equable in 
 winter than that of Nice ; it is also stated to be drier, but at 
 the same time less exciting than that town. The average 
 number of rainy days in Hyeres being only 40, while in the 
 latter locality it amounts to 60 days yearly ; and the number 
 of inches of rain annually is about 27, which is a little more 
 than at Nice. 
 
 During the winter the prevalent winds are north, north-east, 
 south, and south-east ; and in spring they are thus arranged 
 by M. Carriere, in the order of their frequency — east, south- 
 east, and north-east. 
 
 Dr Griffiths, in a note appended to some valuable meteoro- 
 logical tables with which he favoured me, says,- — " The rain, it 
 will be observed, mostly falls at night, so that there is rarely a 
 day when the invalid may not go out for some little time. 
 The 'Mistral', (N.W. wind), as described in 'Murray,' is 
 almost never seen in Heyres; and when it does prevail, is 
 
HYEKES AND CANNES. 85 
 
 not to be compared, for dust and discomfort, to the ' Terral ' 
 in Malaga." 
 
 Snow is seldom seen here, and according to Dr Gigot-Suard 
 it only snows once every three years, and then, but for a very 
 short time* 
 
 Generally the climate may be said to be fitted for children 
 or young persons of a lymphatic temperament, or of a 
 scrofulous diathesis, either predisposed to consumption, or 
 suffering from the first stage of that disease. 
 
 Bearing in mind that the atmosphere though drier, is at 
 the same time less exciting than that of Nice, a residence 
 in Hyeres would be likely to prove useful in cases of 
 chronic mucous discharges, chronic bronchitis, neuralgia, atonic 
 dyspepsia, and some other diseases, in which the climate of 
 Nice would be unduly tonic, or stimulating. 
 
 Cannes is situated at the extremity of the bay of the same 
 name, on the road from Toulon to Nice, and is about twenty- 
 one miles to the south-west of the latter town. The plain on 
 which it stands is enclosed on the north and west by the 
 Maritime Alps and the Estrelles, but on the east this mountain 
 barrier is not complete; while towards the south the plain 
 is open to the Mediterranean. 
 
 Opposite to the town are "les isles de Lerins," of which the 
 larger, St Marguerite, is famous for having been the scene of 
 the long incarceration of the mysterious "Man in the Iron 
 Mask," in the seventeenth century. 
 
 In the valley of Cannes, vegetation is peculiarly luxuriant. 
 The natural beauty of the scenery is much increased by the 
 soil being mainly devoted to the culture of odoriferous plants 
 and flowers, from which perfumes are [here very extensively 
 manufactured. 
 
 The town, though a thriving place, and possessing a 
 
 * Gigot-Suard, "Des Climates, " p. 154. 
 
86 HYERES AND CANNES. 
 
 population close on 5000 inhabitants, contains in itself but 
 little to interest the casual visitor. The principal street, 
 containing a few hotels and lodging-houses, is built along 
 the high road to Italy, and is separated from the beach by a 
 public promenade. On the hill above this is the ancient 
 Church of "Notre Dame d'Esperance," a shrine renowned 
 among the mariners of Provence. 
 
 On the same side are the environs, chiefly inhabited by 
 foreign invalids, and also the Scottish church, above which is 
 the magnificent castle of the Dake de Valambrosa. 
 
 The climate of Cannes is peculiarly equable as well as 
 moderately warm in winter. The mean annual temperature 
 is about 60°; and Dr Seve, of this town, gives as the result of 
 the observations of fourteen years, the following table of 
 the mean temperature of the seasons : — 
 
 Winter, . . 50° I Summer, . . 71° 
 Spring, . . 62° I Autumn, . . 55° 
 
 The prevalent wind at Cannes is the sea-breeze from the east 
 and south-east. North and west winds are, to a certain 
 extent, excluded by the maritime Alps on the one side, and 
 the chain of the Estrelles on the other. Violent winds, and 
 the " Mistral," are said to be less felt here than at Hyeres. 
 
 The annual number of rainy days at Cannes is fifty- two, or 
 twelve more than at Hyeres, and eight less than at Mce. 
 Whilst with regard to the actual amount of rain which falls, 
 the proportion is reversed, as the annual rainfall at Cannes 
 amounts to 25 inches, being 2 inches less than that of Hyeres, 
 and the same as Mce. 
 
 The exciting character of the climate of Cannes is, by native 
 authors, attributed to a highly electrical condition of the 
 atmosphere. 
 
 I have very little to add with respect to the sanative appli- 
 cation of this climate ; but its electrical condition, its equable 
 
HYERES AND CANNES. 87 
 
 warmth and dryness, and the stimulating properties of the 
 atmosphere, all would indicate its fitness for scrofulous and 
 lymphatic temperaments. It might probably be also resorted 
 to in some few cases of consumption occurring in persons of 
 these temperaments, and marked by symptoms of langour and 
 debility ; in similar cases of chronic bronchitis, and in certain 
 low nervous affections. 
 
88 NICE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 NICE. 
 
 As a sanatorium for foreign invalids, Nice possesses some 
 natural advantages, as well as many artificial ones. Among 
 these may be included the many facilities for reaching it by 
 land and sea, the beauty of its situation, and the superiority of 
 the accommodation it affords; all of which are important 
 accessories to the purity of its atmosphere, and the serenity of 
 its sky. So far back as the fourth century we find these latter 
 celebrated by Ausonius : — - 
 
 " Nicsea est Natale solum, dementia coeli 
 Mitis, ubi est riguse larga indulgentia terrae, 
 Ver longum, brumseque breves, juga frondea subsunt." 
 
 Situated on the verge of a valley formed on three sides by 
 the Maritime Alps, and opening to the Mediterranean on 
 the south, Nice lies 170 miles from Marseilles, and 213 miles 
 from Genoa. The mountains, which in great measure shelter 
 the valley of the Paillon from cold and harsh winds, also 
 serve to concentrate and radiate the solar rays on the town, 
 and in some degree account for the peculiar mildness of the 
 climate during the winter. 
 
 The town is built around the base "of a lofty promontory 
 surmounted by the ruins of a fortress. To the east of this 
 rock is the port, and around its base, on that side, are congre- 
 gated the crowded, narrow streets of the old town. The river 
 
NICE. 89 
 
 Paillon, which flows through the town, is bordered on its 
 eastern quay by a handsome boulevard which connects the 
 port with the new town. Opposite the Pont Neuf is the 
 suburb of the Croix de Marbre, which is principally occupied 
 by foreign invalids, of whom the majority are English or 
 Americans. The hotels, of which the visitor has his choice 
 of at least a score, are chiefly situated on the western side of 
 the river, or in the Promenade des Anglais, and are generally 
 better than in most French provincial towns, and also some- 
 what more expensive. 
 
 Next to the climate of a place, the agrtmens or amusements 
 it possesses are justly the most important consideration for the 
 invalid visitor, who having abandoned his accustomed employ- 
 ment, and seldom bringing books with him, depends on them for 
 the means of occupying his mind, and spending his time. These 
 are better provided for in Nice than in any other southern 
 city I am acquainted with, except Naples. Moreover, even in 
 the depth of winter there are very few days in Nice on which 
 some hours of sunshine and warmth do not occur, and, con- 
 joined to the advantages of good roads, easy conveyances for 
 reaching the many places of interest about, and the exquisite 
 beauty of the scenery in the neighbourhood, afford the most 
 delicate valetudinarian an opportunity and temptation for 
 going out, and thus availing himself of the great accessories 
 to health — pure air and moderate exercise. 
 
 The climate of Nice is essentially of a dry, warm, tonic, and 
 exciting nature. According to the Chevalier Macario, whose 
 calculations are founded on the observations of preceding 
 writers for the last fifty years, the mean annual temperature 
 of Nice is 60°; that of winter 48°, spring 55°, summer 71°, 
 and autumn 62°. The temperature is very steady, the varia- 
 tions from month to month not exceeding from 2° to 3°. 
 
 There are, on an average, 229 bright, cloudless days annually 
 
90 NICE. 
 
 at Nice, 66 cloudy days, and about 60 rainy days, the average 
 rainfall amounting to 26 inches, of which one-half falls in 
 autumn, and one-fourth from October to February. 
 
 In winter the prevailing winds in the order of their frequency 
 are north, east, and south ; and in spring east and south winds. 
 The northerly winds from the snow-covered Alps are attended 
 by cold, dry weather, and principally prevail in spring, at 
 which season, conjointly with the east or west winds, they 
 occasionally blow with great violence along the valley of the 
 Paillon, and those parts of the town that border on the river. 
 
 The " Mistral " is shut out to some extent by the mountains 
 between Freju sand Cannes ; still, a cold, dry, irritating wind 
 from the north-west occasionally occurs, but only lasts for a 
 few hours. The east winds in spring are the great drawback 
 to Nice, and during their prevalence no invalid should think 
 of leaving the house. 
 
 We have now to consider the practical application of the 
 foregoing observations. And on this subject we find the most 
 contradictory opinions expressed by various writers on the 
 climate. The majority of invalids who are sent to Nice suffer 
 from pulmonic disease of some kind, " Voulez-vous savoir" 
 tersely asks Monsieur Champouillon, " ce que deviennent les 
 tuberculeux d Nice? Allez au cimetiere." Dr Fodere of 
 Strasburg, who lived in Nice for several years, says — " Here 
 the disease is not chronic as in Switzerland, or in Alsace ; 
 but I have very often seen it terminate within forty days, 
 and a physician of the. country I have just named would be 
 astonished with the rapidity with which haemoptysis sets in, 
 the tubercles suppurate, and the lungs are destroyed."* 
 
 Dr Farr says— " Independently of the ' Mistral,' the easterly 
 wind sets in with the first moon in March. I besought those 
 
 * " Voyage aux Alpes Maritimes, ou Histoire Naturelle, Du Pays de Nice." 
 p. 184. 
 
NICE. 91 
 
 whom I attended, and many whom I did not, to quit Nice 
 before the birth of this fatal moon ; but they heeded not my 
 counsel, and thought that I had over-rated the danger. They 
 remained, and the day after this easterly wind began ; of the 
 thirty, I only met one afterwards, and him I had often 
 previously pronounced to have no disease of the lungs." * 
 
 A resident physician, Dr Wahu, states that — " It would be 
 the greatest mistake to assert that Nice, on account of its 
 climate and hygienic conditions, is the locality which agrees 
 with phthisical patients."t 
 
 The late Sir James Clark says — " Indeed, sending patients 
 labouring under confirmed phthisis to Mce will, in a great 
 majority of cases, prove more frequently injurious than 
 beneficial.''^ 
 
 To the preceding citations against the climate of Nice I had 
 intended to add others equally strong in its favour, from the 
 works of resident physicians, who either entirely deny, or 
 explain away, the foregoing conclusions. 
 
 Amongst these I had taken extracts from Eichelmi,§ 
 Eoubaudi,|| Chevalier Macario,1F Dr Edwin Lee,** and some 
 others. But it has been deemed advisable to leave out these 
 quotations, since they only serve to illustrate the difficulty and 
 uncertainty of the study of climate. 
 
 I have already characterised the climate of Nice as being 
 moderately warm, dry, and somewhat exciting, therefore it may 
 be expected to agree best with those forms of disease in which 
 debility and langour, attended by profuse expectoration, or some 
 other exhausting discharge, are prominent symptoms. A 
 
 * Dr W. Farr, " On the Climate of Nice," p. 16. 
 
 t Le Dr A. Wahu, " Conseiller Medical de l'Etranger a Nice," p. 17. 
 
 Z " The Influence of Climate," &c, p. 123. 
 
 § " Essai sur les Agrements et sur la Salubrite du Climat de Nice." 
 
 || "Nice et ses Environs." 
 
 IF " De l'lnfluence Medicatrice du Climat de Nice." 
 
 ** " Nice and its Climate." 
 
92 NICE. 
 
 residence in Nice often proves eminently serviceable to children 
 of a weak and relaxed constitution, predisposed to any of the 
 forms of scrofula, and therefore to consumption. It is also 
 resorted to, though with less marked benefit, in cases of con- 
 sumption, either in its premonitory state, or at any rate before 
 it has passed into the second stage, occurring in a torpid or 
 leuco-phlegmatic habit of body, and not accompanied by 
 symptoms of active inflammation. 
 
 Patients suffering from chronic bronchitis and senile winter 
 cough, often derive singular benefit from the climate of Nice, 
 the effect of which seems to consist in a diminution of the 
 excessive mucous discharge, that is often the chief cause of the 
 patient's weakness. And in cases of humoral asthma I have 
 hesitated between recommending Nice or Malaga. 
 
 Cases of chronic rheumatism occurring in persons of scrofulous 
 habit occasionally derive advantage from a residence in this 
 town ; but it must be recollected that the climate is not exempt 
 from great and sudden atmospheric vicissitudes, and that 
 rheumatic patients must be very cautious to avoid exposure to 
 these. Change of climate undoubtedly exercises a wonderful 
 control over the manifestations of gout, and in most cases a dry, 
 warm climate, such as this, is calculated to be useful. 
 
 The hills of Cimies, and Carabacel, to F the north-east of the 
 town, contain some of the best residences in the vicinity of 
 Nice, and the climate would render them all that could be 
 desired, were it not that the deficiency of good drinking water 
 is a very considerable drawback. To the north are Le Eay 
 and St Barthelemy, which have a similar aspect to Cimies, 
 and are suited for the same class of patients. 
 
MENTONE AND THE RIVIERE. 93 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 MENTONE AND THE RIVIERA, 
 
 Within an hour's journey by railway from Nice is a locality 
 which has been very assiduously and ably written into vogue 
 as a winter resort for pulmonary invalids, and has rapidly risen 
 from an obscure village to the position of one of the best known 
 and most fashionable health resorts of southern Europe. The 
 reputation which Mentone has thus acquired is chiefly due to 
 Dr J. H. Bennet who, having here regained his own health, 
 impaired by arduous professional labour in London, concluded 
 that the climate which agreed so well with himself must needs 
 suit other invalids, and published a work which, from its first 
 edition to the last expanded treatise he has recently brought 
 out on the same subject, has throughout one predominant 
 theme, namely, the reiteration of the asserted superiority 
 of the Mentonian climate. 
 
 Mentone, or Menton as the Erench call it, is an ancient 
 Italian-looking town, charmingly situated on the sea-shore, 
 about twenty miles east of Nice, with which it is connected 
 by railway. The town itself consists of a long, straggling 
 street running parallel to the shore, and of a few lanes which 
 ascend the hill, whilst outside the town are scattered on all 
 sides a considerable number of large hotels and villa residences 
 which are chiefly occupied by English, American, and other 
 foreign invalid visitors. 
 
 To meet the wants of so large a transitory population 
 
94 
 
 MENTONE AND THE KIVIEKA. 
 
 English shops have been opened, English doctors have estal> 
 lished themselves, and a club with assembly rooms, concert 
 hall, &c, set up. The principal hotels are tolerably good, and 
 the charges are about the same as at Nice. 
 
 Before Dr Bennet became the panegyrist of the Mentonian 
 climate, this place had been favourably noticed as a health 
 resort in M. Carriere's well-known work on the Italian 
 climates, and long previously its supposed advantages had 
 been pointed out by Dr Eodere of Strasburg. The advantages 
 attributed by those and other writers to the climate of 
 Mentone are, a warm and equable temperature, exemption 
 from harsh and cold winds, and particularly the " Mistral," a 
 somewhat sedative atmosphere, facility of approach, and 
 convenient residences suitable for invalids. 
 
 According to M. Brea, the mean annual temperature of 
 Mentone is 60°; the maximum observed was 80° in August, 
 and the minimum 32° in January. 
 
 Mean Temperature, of the Months. 
 
 January, . 
 
 o 
 
 . 48 
 
 May, 
 
 . 63 
 
 September, 
 
 o 
 
 . 69 
 
 February, 
 
 . 48 
 
 June, 
 
 . 70 
 
 October, . 
 
 . 64 
 
 March, 
 
 . 52 
 
 July, 
 
 . 75 
 
 November, 
 
 . 54 
 
 April, 
 
 . 57 
 
 August, 
 
 . 75 
 
 December, 
 
 . 49 
 
 Resume of the state of the Weather during 3645 days (M. Br 6a). 
 
 Fine, 2140 
 
 Partly clear, partly cloudy, . . 457 
 
 Cloudy, 248 
 
 Rainy, 800 
 
 Total, . 
 
 3645* 
 
 The author of a recent English work on Mentone, tells us, 
 that the " Mistral " wind is unknown in that favoured climate, 
 
 * "Tableaux Synoptiques des observations meteorologiques faites a Menton 
 (Alpes Maritimes), par M. de Brea, Sous-Intendant Militaire en retraite." 
 
MENTONE AND THE RIVIERE. 95 
 
 but at the time of my visit to Mentone in March, I was 
 informed that the " Mistral " had been raging for some days 
 previously, and my informant was much amused at my 
 incredulity on the subject. 
 
 Nor, considering the position of this village, is it possible 
 that it can be exempt from strong and cold winds ; situated in 
 front of Corsica, whose mountains are covered with snow 
 during the winter, it cannot escape the ill effects of that 
 proximity. 
 
 Dr Bennet, in the first edition of his work on Mentone, 
 says : — " To live at Mentone is really like living on ship 
 board, for, as already stated, the greater part of the inhabited 
 tract is a mere ledge at the foot of the mountains. There are 
 very few houses inland."* In this passage Dr Bennet has, how- 
 ever unintentionally, made use of a strong argument against 
 Mentone as a residence for invalids ; for, as Sir Dominic 
 Corrigan well observed in the monograph I have already 
 quoted : — " No locality that is small in extent, no matter how 
 favourable it may seem, is desirable; for if a turn round a hill, 
 or a different aspect at a short distance, give a considerable 
 change of temperature, the locality is unsuitable, both on this 
 account and because the resident is there confined to too small 
 a space, and body and mind suffer." 
 
 Dr Edwin Lee in his " Notice of Menton," says — " Inflam- 
 mation of the lungs, pleura, and air-passages, not unfrequently 
 terminating after repeated attacks, or from debility of con- 
 stitution in phthisis, is of frequent occurrence amongst the 
 inhabitants, especially of the lower class, who, being badly 
 fed and clothed, are sooner affected by atmospherical changes. 
 Consumption, likewise, sometimes occurs, irrespective of any 
 such acute attacks from anti-hygienic causes analagous to 
 those I have specified in the account of Nice. The enervating 
 
 * " Mentone and the Riviera," by J. H. Bennet, M.D., p. 61. 
 
96 MENTONE AND THE RIVIERA. 
 
 influence of the climate of Menton on those destined to pass 
 the whole year there, produces, however, some diseases which 
 are comparatively infrequent at Mce." * 
 
 For my own part, I need hardly add that I do not share 
 the opinion of those who consider Mentone the Utopia for 
 invalids generally, and the climate par excellence for pul- 
 monary sufferers in particular. 
 
 Less than an hour's journey by the railway beyond 
 Mentone, and just within the Italian frontier, is the rival 
 health resort of San Eemo, which, being some fifteen miles 
 further from the gambling tables of Monaco, which are the 
 real though unacknowledged centre of attraction for some 
 tourists to the Eiviera del Ponente, is as yet less crowded by 
 foreign valetudinarians. However, it already attracts a con- 
 siderable number of winter residents; and having excellent 
 hotel and lodging-house accommodation, and enjoying a 
 climate very similar in all respects to that of Mentone, may 
 be resorted to, or should be avoided by, the same classes of 
 travellers for health. In fact the whole Eiviera from Nice to 
 Spezia is studded over with small towns, such as Bordighera, 
 Savona, Voltri, Kervi, and many others, which, having the 
 same advantages of picturesque position and mildness of 
 climate as Mentone, require only improved accommodation 
 and well written and roseate-coloured medico-descriptive 
 eulogy 'from some resident physician, to attract as many of 
 the wealthy valetudinarian population of these islands, who 
 are always seeking a new health resort, in which to escape 
 the leaden sky and ungenial atmosphere of our winter climate. 
 
 * "A Notice of Menton, supplementary to Nice and its Climate," by Edwin 
 Lee, M.D., p. 21. 
 
PISA AND ROME. 97 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 PISA AND ROME. 
 
 The prevailing opinion in favour of dry or tonic climates as 
 health resorts for pulmonary invalids, well founded as it is in 
 the majority of cases of phthisis, has led to the comparative 
 abandonment of sanatoriums such as Pisa, which, though not 
 belonging to that category, are valuable in other chronic 
 diseases. 
 
 It would be superfluous in a work on climatology to enter 
 into any general description of a city so familiarly known as 
 this. But it will be necessary, however, to indicate briefly 
 the topographical peculiarities which influence its climate. 
 
 Pisa, then, is situated near the maritime extremity of the 
 rich alluvial valley of the Arno, thirteen miles north of 
 Leghorn and forty-five miles west of Florence, with both of 
 which it is connected by railway. 
 
 The surrounding country spreads out towards the north- 
 west into an extensive plain extending to the sea, near which 
 the soil becomes swampy, and forms the well-known unhealthy 
 fens of the Maremma Pisana, and Maremma Yolterrana; 
 whilst on the opposite side of the town the chains of the 
 Apennines extend. 
 
 The city is encompassed by lofty walls nearly six miles in 
 circumference, which contain within them a population of 
 about 22,000 inhabitants. Some writers attribute the peculiar 
 
 G 
 
98 PISA AND KOM& 
 
 stillness of the atmosphere of Pisa to these walls, which they 
 suppose act as barriers against the force of the winds. 
 
 Pisa is divided into two very different climates by the 
 Arno, which is here much wider, and if possible still more 
 turbid, than at Florence. In its course through the town the 
 river describes a curve, the convexity of which is directed to 
 the north, and the LuDgo l'Arno to the south. This disposition 
 serves to concentrate the solar rays on the former side, to the 
 disadvantage of the other, and therefore on the Lungo l'Arno 
 are situated the principal hotels and houses inhabited by 
 foreigners, and no pulmonary invalid should think of resid- 
 ing on the opposite side, where the houses are damp and 
 perceptibly colder. 
 
 To the visitor newly arrived from Paris or Naples, where 
 pleasure and gaiety seem to be the chief business of life, Pisa 
 presents a dreary and desolate aspect, and the traveller, who, 
 recollecting the story of her long enduring greatness and rapid 
 decadence, now visits her, may here learn a wholesome 
 lesson on the instability of national prosperity. 
 
 The climate of Pisa is essentially humid and warm, ap- 
 proaching in these respects closer to that of Madeira than 
 any other part of Europe. The humidity of the atmosphere, 
 characteristic of Pisa, is a necessary consequence of the position 
 of the town, and of the direction of the prevailing winds, 
 which all pass over large surfaces more or less completely 
 covered by water. 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Pisa is 59°; and that 
 of the seasons is — winter 44°; spring 57°; summer 73°; and 
 autumn 62°. 
 
 The prevailing winds are those from the south and south 
 west, as the town is protected from the north-west to the 
 south-east by the high mountains in that direction. The 
 south wind is warm and moist in winter, and is favourable to 
 
PISA AND ROME. 99 
 
 the class of invalids for whom this climate is adapted. But in 
 summer it is dreaded as the hot " Scirocco," and brings with it 
 the seeds of disease, from its passage over the stagnant 
 Maremma. 
 
 Pisa possesses an atmosphere eminently sedative, and anti- 
 phlogistic. Irritation of the pulmonary mucous membrane, 
 accompanied by a hard, dry cough, is assuaged, expectoration 
 is increased, and the pulse becomes slower and softer. 
 
 Such effects point out the power of the climate in allaying 
 dry chronic bronchitis, especially in the aged, and at the same 
 time warn us against sending consumptive patients generally, 
 and more especially in the second stage, to this place, where 
 the relaxing influence of the warm, moist atmosphere, would 
 soon manifest itself in the augmented expectoration, diminished 
 strength, and accompanying night perspirations, or diarrhoea, 
 which would in all probability hasten the fate of the sufferer. 
 
 In many cases of consumption it has been observed, that 
 even a short residence in the warm, humid, and relaxing atmo- 
 sphere of Pisa has been followed by severe haemoptysis. 
 
 For children also the Pisan climate is generally too relaxing, 
 and the body does not here acquire that healthy tone produced 
 by a more bracing atmosphere. 
 
 Eome belongs to the same class of climates as Pisa and 
 Madeira, being humid and warm in winter and spring, but less 
 equable than either of these health resorts. The late Sir 
 James Clark, however, considered that in range of temperature 
 Eome has the advantage of Pisa ; and from his own experience 
 arrived at the conclusion that " the climate of Eome in regard 
 to its physical qualities is altogether the best of any in 
 Italy/'* More recent writers, however, do not agree in this 
 opinion. 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Eome is 60°, or 8° lower 
 * Sir James Clark "On the Influence of Climate," &c. p. 143. 
 
100 PISA AND ROME. 
 
 than Madeira, and the same as that of Pisa. The mean tem- 
 perature of winter is 49°, or 11° lower than Madeira and 2° 
 higher than Pisa ; the mean temperature of spring is 58°, or 4° 
 lower than Madeira and 1° higher than Pisa; in summer the 
 mean temperature of Eome is 74°, or 3° higher than Madeira 
 and 3° lower than Pisa ; and in autumn the mean tempera- 
 ture of Eome is 62°, or 4° lower than Madeira and 1° higher 
 than Pisa. 
 
 The annual number of rainy days in Eome is 117. During 
 the winter and spring southerly winds are prevalent; but 
 before and after sun-set a cold, northerly breeze is commonly 
 observed at these seasons The atmosphere of Eome is gene- 
 rally peculiarly still during the winter. But this stillness is 
 occasionally interrupted by a strong, harsh, north-east wind, 
 known as the " Tramontana," the " Aquilo " of the Ancients, 
 the ill effects of which were graphically described by Celsus. 
 This wind, like the " Terral " of Malaga, seldom lasts longer 
 than three days, during which no consumptive or bronchitic 
 patient should venture out of doors. Towards the middle of 
 March sharp easterly winds generally set in, and, being 
 accompanied with a hot sun and cloudless sky, are attended 
 with all the ill effects of a great and sudden change of 
 temperature, to which no pulmonary patient should be ex- 
 posed, but should leave before this time. 
 
 The prevailing diseases here are nervous and spasmodic 
 affections and cerebral diseases, particularly apoplexy, at all 
 seasons. In winter pneumonia and pleuritis are common, and 
 in summer and autumn febrile disorders predominate. For 
 this reason Eome should be avoided by valetudinarians from 
 June to October, as malarial fevers are then endemic. 
 
 It is almost useless to reiterate the hackneyed but well- 
 founded warning to invalid visitors in Eome as to the danger 
 they so recklessly expose themselves to in passing from the 
 
PISA AND ROME. 101 
 
 warm and sunny streets into the chilly galleries and palaces 
 which invite their inspection on every side. The only safe re- 
 sort for the valetudinarian pilgrim to Eome is that mighty 
 shrine — 
 
 " — the vast and wondrous dome, 
 To which Diana's marvel was a cell." 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that, notwithstanding its vast ex- 
 panse and complete shade, the atmosphere of St Peter's is 
 equally genial and uniform at all seasons, and may be visited 
 all times with safety by any invalid. 
 
 In cases of chronic bronchitis and winter cough, attended 
 with great irritability of the respiratory organs, constant hard 
 teasing cough, and little expectoration, as well as in similar 
 cases of chronic laryngeal disease and spasmodic asthma ; and 
 also in chronic rheumatism, rheumatic gout, and gouty 
 bronchitis, there is hardly any European climate so suitable 
 for a winter resort as this. But in consumption the sanative 
 influence of the Eoman climate must be admitted to be limited 
 to a comparatively small number of cases, and I need not here 
 repeat what I have said on this point in the first chapter of 
 this work. 
 
102 NAPLES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI 
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 Naples has been long esteemed as the beau idM of all that 
 is beautiful in situation, or delightful in climate. "Vedi 
 Napoli," says her own proverb, " e poi muori," — 
 
 " And sooth to say who sees her will retain, 
 In his mind's eye a gorgeous soil and clime, 
 The last to vanish with the lapse of time." * 
 
 The easiest and most advantageous route by which the 
 invalid traveller can reach Naples is direct from Liverpool, 
 London, or Glasgow, from each of which ports there are regular 
 fornightly sailings by large and commodious steamers. Those, 
 however, who dread crossing the Bay of Biscay may still reach 
 Naples, with comparatively little fatigue, via Marseilles, in 
 four days from London. The Mont Cenis route, though 
 occupying only a little more than half that time, is not, I 
 think, generally suitable for invalid travellers. 
 
 As seen from the bay, Naples has been said to form a vast 
 triangle, the base of which rests on the shore, and the apex 
 is placed at Capo di Monte. The city is divided into nearly 
 equal parts by the Via Nazionale, as the Strada Toledo is now 
 called, and its continuation, the Strada Nuova di Capodimonte, 
 which intersects it for close on three miles. The lower part, 
 
 * Dr William Beattie, "The Pilgrim in Italy," Cant. 2d. 
 
NAPLES. 103 
 
 formed by small narrow streets, extends towards the eastern 
 side of the bay, and on the other side, which lies above, and 
 parallel to the shore, towards Posilipo, contains the best 
 quarters, the Chiatamone, Santa Lucia, and the Chiaja. The 
 hotels, which are principally patronised by our compatriots, 
 are those on the Chiaja, which, however, are expensive, and, as 
 far as my experience goes, not over comfortable. Therefore I 
 should recommend those who purpose spending the winter 
 in Naples to procure lodgings in a good situation, or to locate 
 himself in one of the numerous Pensions which may be found 
 along the Eiviere di Chiaja, the Corso Vittoria Emanuele, and 
 almost all the principal streets. Before deciding on a resi- 
 dence, however, the invalid visitor should consult some local 
 practitioner, since so great are the differences in aspect between 
 the different parts of the city, that Naples has been said to 
 possess two perfectly distinct climates, of which the western, 
 or more elevated part is exposed to the harsh cold north-west 
 wind, while the eastern side, or that lying along the plain, is 
 protected from the north, but fully exposed to the relaxing, 
 moist, and warm southerly winds. 
 
 In no respect does Naples contrast so favourably with every 
 other place frequented by invalids, as in the number and 
 variety of resources for passing time agreeably which it 
 possesses, and the opportunities which it thus affords of with- 
 drawing the attention of the valetudinarian from his ailments. 
 Beyond the city walls extends on every side a country 
 unequalled for the beauty of its scenery, as well as in the 
 historic interest attaching to each spot. And within its limits, 
 nothing has been left undone by man, to adapt to his tastes 
 and pleasures the paradise which nature has given him to 
 inhabit. The most magnificent churches ; the most extensive 
 museums, numerous palaces, libraries, — the envy of the learned 
 of every land, — the most beautiful gardens ; and theatres, such 
 
104 NAPLES. 
 
 as the San Carlo, the most splendid in Europe, being here 
 collected together, 
 
 The climate of Naples is dry and warm in winter, but at 
 the same time is most changeable and uncertain at all seasons. 
 The mean annual temperature is 61°, that of winter 48°, spring 
 58°, summer 70°, and autumn 64°. Compared with Malaga 
 the mean temperature of Naples is 4° lower ; that of winter 7° 
 lower, spring 10° lower, summer 8° lower, and autumn 4° 
 higher than Malaga. 
 
 According to the observations of M. De Eenzi, extending 
 over twenty years, the mean annual rainfall is about 29 
 inches,* of which the largest proportion falls in autumn, and 
 when westerly winds suddenly succeed to a south wind, as the 
 atmosphere is then saturated with vapour, which is condensed 
 by the cool west wind, and falls as rain. The average number 
 of rainy days is about 100, of cloudy days 120, and of fine 
 days about 145. 
 
 The position of the hills, which encircle the city, protects 
 Naples to some extent from northerly winds. The prevailing 
 winds are, — the south-west or " Libeccio," which is often ac- 
 companied by severe gales and cloudy weather; the south, 
 or " Scirocco," attended by an oppressive heat, causing great 
 depression of mind and lassitude of body ; the west, or 
 " Ponente," during which the sky is generally serene, and the 
 temperature warm in winter and cool in summer ; and the 
 north-west, or "Maestro," which resembles the " Mistral " of 
 Provence. 
 
 No pulmonary patient should remain in Naples during 
 the spring, whilst the cold and ungenial easterly and 
 " maestro " winds are prevalent, occasioning rheumatism and 
 pleurisy. The best time for such patients to inhabit Naples 
 is from the end of autumn until Christmas. For those, who 
 
 * "Topografia di Napoli," p. 57. 
 
NAPLES. 105 
 
 from choice or necessity, remain, as I have done, in Naples in 
 summer, the opposite shores of the bay afford a wide selection 
 of cool and agreeable retreats from the heated and not very 
 odoriferous atmosphere of the port and adjacent parts of the 
 city. 
 
 The frequency of sudden changes in the temperature, 
 hygrometrical condition, force, direction, and pressure of the 
 air, as well as the volcanic agencies in constant operation in 
 the vicinity of the town, all contribute to produce an atmo- 
 sphere highly charged with electricity. This manifests itself 
 by the common occurrence of atmospheric perturbations, such 
 as thunder storms, and in the nervous excitement and uncom- 
 fortable sensations which all, and especially invalids, complain 
 of at such times. 
 
 Amongst endemic diseases, rheumatism and catarrh are 
 common. Strangers are very liable to pneumonia and pleurisy ; 
 and phthisis undoubtedly occasions a large proportion of the 
 total mortality. 
 
 With regard to the therapeutic application of the climate of 
 Naples, it must be admitted that this city possesses great 
 advantages for hypochondriacal and melancholic patients ; 
 for most cases of dyspepsia; for persons suffering from 
 climacteric disease, or from impaired health, the consequence 
 of long residence in tropical climates. In such cases the 
 mental impressions produced by the cloudless sky and 
 beautiful scenery of Naples, will seldom fail to co-operate 
 with the stimulating and electrical atmosphere in arousing the 
 nervous energies, and exciting the action of the heart, both of 
 which in these cases are generally weak and torpid. 
 
 Tor pulmonary patients, however, and especially for con- 
 sumptive invalids, Naples is not a suitable health resort. 
 
106 PALERMO. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PALERMO. 
 
 From Naples the voyage to Palermo may be accomplished in 
 ten hours, by steamers starting every other day. 
 
 Palermo is situated on the northern coast of the island, and 
 is built on a well-sheltered bay, extending from the base of 
 the rocky " Monte Pellegrino," on the west, to a slope of richly 
 cultivated gardens, which gradually ascend to Cape Zaffarano 
 on the opposite side. The plain, aptly termed by the natives 
 the " La Conca d'Oro " or Golden Shell, is defended from all 
 harsh and cold winds by the mountains around the city, and 
 is perhaps the most beautiful, as it certainly is one of the 
 most highly cultivated, valleys in Europe, not excepting even 
 the Vega of Malaga. 
 
 From the roadstead the city seems crowded with churches 
 and palaces, whose tapering steeples and swelling domes rise 
 above the massive fortifications that enclose the town. Along 
 the beach extends the Marina, which is little inferior to the 
 Chiaja of Naples. The streets are clean and regularly paved 
 with lava, but offer to the stranger a picture of the close 
 relationship of splendour and poverty, the immense palaces 
 which adorn many of them being occupied on the ground floor 
 by poor shops and cobbler's stalls. The principal thorough- 
 fares, however, such as the Cassaro, or Strada Toledo and 
 Strada Nuova, each over a mile in length, are handsomely and 
 
PALEKMO. 107 
 
 regularly built, and intersect the town, forming by their 
 junction a fine square, the Piazza Yillena. 
 
 In no part of the world does cultivation appear to be carried 
 to a greater extent than here, and nowhere does the fertility 
 of the earth more abundantly repay the toil expended on it. 
 The usual produce of wheat is from ten to sixteen fold, and in 
 favourable years even thirty fold. Grapes are no less abun- 
 dant, there being some twenty different species in the island, 
 of which the most esteemed are the Muscatel and Canicula. 
 The orange and lemon trees flourish in every valley, and the 
 stunted olive grows almost wildly. Among the other produc- 
 tions, figs, almonds, saffron, and pistacio nuts may be instanced 
 in proof of the mildness of the climate. 
 
 The mean annual rainfall in Palermo averages about 25 
 inches, or 3 inches more than London. The mean annual 
 temperature is 62°, or 12° higher than London, 1° higher than 
 Xaples, 3° lower than Malaga, and 8° higher than Pau. The 
 thermometer in the hottest days seldom rises as high as 90° 
 or 92° (in shade), or falls lower than 36° even in the depth of 
 winter ; and Captain Smith tells us that in one year " there 
 were 121 overcast and cloudy days, on 85 of which rain fell ; 
 36 misty days ; and 159 fine bright days."* 
 
 The prevailing winds are the^northerly and westerly, both 
 considered dry and healthy, and a variety of the " Mistral " 
 called by the Palermitans " Mamatili," and enjoyed by them 
 as an agreeable sea-breeze. Occasionally, in summer, the 
 " Scirocco " prevails, and is more severely felt in Palermo than 
 in any other part of Southern Europe. 
 
 Fogs are said to be of very rare occurrence here, but I have 
 seen as dense a fog as ever I witnessed off the Sicilian coast, 
 so thick, indeed, was it, that our captain was obliged to lie 
 
 * " A Memoir descriptive of Sicily and the Islands," &c, by Captain Smith, 
 E.N. p. 4. 
 
108 PALERMO. 
 
 to for some hours, to the great alarm of the Neapolitan pas- 
 sengers. These fogs have not, however, the same depressing 
 and injurious effects as ours, but are rather a thick warm 
 haze, possessing singular refractive powers, magnifying and 
 altering surrounding objects to a surprising extent, and 
 occasionally giving rise to the celebrated spectral illusion of 
 the Fata Morgana. 
 
 The nights are generally cold, and the quantity of dew 
 which falls after sunset is sufficient to compensate for the 
 want of rain ; this should warn the invalid to avoid exposure 
 to the night air. 
 
 Whether the climate of Palermo be suited or not for con- 
 sumptive patients, is a disputed question. But it cannot, I 
 think, be doubted, that during the winter it is in some 
 respects superior to Naples for such invalids. Towards the 
 commencement of spring, however, cold and harsh winds 
 predominate; and I know of two cases within my own 
 practice that proved fatal here at this season, in both of 
 which the sufferers had improved in health during the 
 preceding winter at Malaga. 
 
 I would recommend the climate of Palermo to the majority 
 of dyspeptic and hypochondriacal patients, and, in fine, to 
 nearly the same class of invalids to whom I stated the climate 
 of Naples would probably be of service. 
 
MALTA. 109 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 MALTA. 
 
 For the British valetudinarian in search of a southern health 
 resort, Malta would at first sight appear to offer peculiar 
 advantages. It is certainly further to the southward than 
 any other part of Europe. It is easy of access from England ; 
 the expenses of living are moderate ; and all the surroundings 
 of the invalid in Malta are more English than in the other 
 foreign winter resorts described in these pages. But whether 
 the climate is as suitable for pulmonary invalids as some con- 
 tend or not, is a question which the following details will 
 enable the reader to judge for himself. 
 
 The island of Malta, which lies about sixty miles south of 
 Cape Passaro in Sicily, and two hundred miles from the 
 African coast, is close on sixty miles in circumference, and 
 presents a rocky arid plain sloping from the south-west to the 
 north-east. The geological formation of the island explains 
 the almost tropical temperature which prevails here in 
 summer, and the slight difference between the heat of the day 
 and night at this season ; for the barren limestone rock 
 absorbs the excessive solar heat during the day, and slowly 
 radiates this during the night, thus equalising the temperature 
 of the twenty-four hours. ' 
 
 Valetta is situated on the western side of an elevated 
 Peninsula, Mount Xiberras, between the great harbour, " Di 
 
110 MALTA. 
 
 Libera Pratica," the finest natural haven in Europe, and the 
 
 small port of Marsamuscetta. 
 
 On landing we disembark at the famous "Nix Mangiare " 
 
 stairs, so named from the unceasing cry of the importunate 
 
 beggars, who here appeal to each new arrival ; and passing 
 
 through the well-stocked fruit market ascend the long stone 
 
 stairs that lead to the Strada Eeale, the principal street of the 
 
 town. This runs through the whole length of the city from 
 
 the fort at the entrance of the harbour, traversing the Piazza, 
 
 where the palace of the Grand-Master, now the residence of 
 
 th£ Governor, is situated, and terminating at the Porta Eeale 
 
 or gate on the inland side of the town. The houses in this, as 
 
 in most of the other parts of the city, are handsomely and 
 
 regularly built of cut stone, and the streets are kept strictly 
 
 clean. The other streets either run parallel with the Strada 
 
 Eeale, or communicate with it by flights of steps once 
 
 apostrophized by Lord Byron — 
 
 " Adieu, ye cursed streets of stairs, 
 How surely he who mounts them swears." 
 
 The many public edifices and monuments of the Knights of 
 St John which Valetta possesses, the cathedral, public libraries, 
 university, hospitals, and fortifications, together with the 
 interesting excursions that may be made into the interior of 
 the island, — for instance to Citta Vecchia, or to the Catacombs 
 and Grotto of St Paul, near Eabbato ; and the short and 
 delightful sail to Calypso's fabled island of Gozo ; are all to be 
 included among the attractions of this town as a residence for 
 dyspeptic and hypochondriacal sufferers. 
 
 Living is remarkably economical, particularly in the parts 
 of the island furthest from Valetta, and though prices have 
 risen considerably of late, yet still, house-rent and lodgings are 
 very cheap, -and even in Valetta I was agreeably surprised at 
 the small amount of my hotel bill. 
 
MALTA. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Malta is 63°, the maximum 
 90°, and the minimum within doors is 46°. According to 
 Bear- Admiral Smith, the average annual rainfall here is 15 
 inches ; and the average annual number of days on which rain 
 falls, is sixty-eight. The following table shows the tempera- 
 ture of Malta for one year, as observed at 9 a.m., noon, and 
 3 p.m. daily : — 
 
 j Maximum. 
 
 Med. 
 
 Minimum. 
 
 January, . 
 
 o 
 
 56 
 
 o 
 
 534 
 
 o 
 
 51 
 
 February, 
 
 
 58 
 
 554 
 
 53 
 
 March, 
 
 
 59 
 
 57* 
 
 56 
 
 April, 
 
 
 62 
 
 60^ 
 
 59 
 
 May, 
 
 
 71 
 
 70 
 
 69 
 
 June, 
 
 
 75 
 
 74 
 
 73 
 
 July, 
 
 
 82 
 
 794 
 
 77 
 
 August, 
 
 
 82 
 
 80 
 
 78 
 
 September, 
 
 
 77 
 
 764 
 
 76 
 
 October, . 
 
 
 70 
 
 694 
 
 69 
 
 November, 
 
 
 65 
 
 64 
 
 63 
 
 December, 
 
 
 58 
 
 564 
 
 55 
 
 The climate is, however, rendered variable, and therefore 
 injurious to invalids, by the harshness and violence of the 
 prevailing winds. These are the south-east or " Scirocco " and 
 the north-west. The former chiefly occurs during autumn, 
 and the latter prevails from December to March, and is a 
 cold piercing wind laden with fine sand, and occasioning great 
 discomfort, especially to pulmonary invalids. 
 
 It is stated that the inhabitants of Malta are generally 
 long-lived and healthy, and Abela adduces several instances 
 of extraordinary longevity here. 
 
 The prevailing diseases of Malta are chiefly those endemic 
 in tropical countries, to the climate of which that of this island 
 to some extent approximates. Fever causes a considerable mor- 
 tality, and dysentery, diarrhoea, and ophthalmia are amongst 
 the endemic complaints. Consumption is by no means as rare 
 in Malta as might be supposed from the high temperature and 
 
112 MALTA. 
 
 southern latitude of the island. At the period Dr Hennen 
 wrote (and the climate has in no wise changed since then), 
 it appears that one-third of the total mortality in the hospitals 
 of Malta was occasioned by pulmonary diseases, of which 
 consumption caused one-fourth. 
 
 Little, however, need he said here on the therapeutic applica- 
 tion of the Maltese climate, since comparatively few patients 
 are now sent thither from this country. On one point, how- 
 ever, I have little doubt, and that is, the utter unfitness of 
 Malta for the majority of bronchitic and consumptive patients. 
 My reasons for this opinion are, the great tendency of this 
 climate to sudden atmospheric vicissitudes, and the frequent 
 occurrence of harsh and violent winds, especially from 
 December to March, when such invalids most require a warm 
 and equable climate. 
 
 B at for the numerous class of slightly ailing valetudinarians 
 and imaginary invalids, for some cases of chronic rheumatism, 
 scrofula, hypochondriasis, and derangements of the digestive 
 organs, Malta will be as useful for a change of residence and 
 change of air as any equally warm southern climate would 
 be, and, moreover, possesses some collateral advantages en- 
 joyed by few other of these places. 
 
THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 113 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 
 
 Eighteen centuries ago Egypt was to the Koman physicians 
 and their consumptive patients what Mce and the Eiviera 
 are to ourselves at the present day. And after many ages of 
 desuetude we find the ancient fame of the Egyptian health 
 resorts again revived, these being now comparatively easy of 
 access. Alexandria may be reached in six days from London 
 via Brindisi ; or in two days longer by the Trieste route. 
 Invalid travellers who are not generally pressed for time 
 would seldom be served by such rapid and fatiguing journey- 
 ing, and should in preference select either the passage from 
 Marseilles to Alexandria, or what would be still better for 
 most consumptive patients, the voyage from England by 
 steamer to Alexandria in fourteen or fifteen days. 
 
 The climate of Alexandria is peculiarly unsuitable to 
 valetudinarians, and hence I shall omit any description of 
 this city. With respect to the antiquities and monuments of 
 Alexandria, ample accounts will be found in the ordinary 
 guide-books ; and I can only advise the invalid traveller to 
 devote as short a time as possible to antiquarian pursuits here, 
 and to quit this pernicious climate with as little delay as 
 circumstances will admit: The situation of Alexandria on a 
 low sandy peniusula between the sea and the vast swamp 
 known as Lake Mareotis, from which there is a continual 
 
 h 
 
114 THE QLIMATES OF EGYPT. 
 
 malarial exhalation, is sufficient to explain the remarkable 
 insalubrity of this town, where fevers, dysentery and oph- 
 thalmia are endemic. 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Alexandria is about 10° 
 lower than that of Cairo. During my visit in September, 
 the mean daily temperature was 87°, and that summer the 
 thermometer had repeatedly risen to 115° in the shade. At 
 night the dew-fall far exceeds that occurring in any part of 
 Europe ; so much so, that a few minutes' exposure in the 
 evening is sufficient to wet a thick coat through. The 
 characteristic of this climate, however, is the humidity of 
 the atmosphere, in which respect the entire Delta contrasts 
 remarkably with the dry climates of Upper and Middle 
 Egypt. 
 
 " In lower Egypt," says Dr R K. Madden, " the mummies 
 go to pieces on exposure to external air ; and in Alexandria, 
 where the air is excessively moist, I observed several mummies 
 melt away in -a magazine where I kept them, and decomposi- 
 tion took place after an exposure of forty hours to the humid 
 atmosphere, though the same bodies had resisted corruption in 
 a dry air for perhaps forty centuries.""" 
 
 The Eev. Dr Barclay, in his valuable work on the climate 
 of Egypt, says — "How far Alexandria during the months 
 of March and April may be a more suitable residence for 
 those whose complaints require a climate at once warm, 
 equable, and moist, I leave it to gentlemen of the medical 
 profession to judge ; but I do think myself fully warranted 
 to denounce it as a most unsuitable place for bronchitic 
 patients. During all the time I was there I felt as if inhaling 
 steam ; my breathing was excessively affected, and my whole 
 system was languid and relaxed. The effects, however, by the 
 
 * "Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine," by R. R. Madden, 
 M.D., vol. ii. p. 76. 
 
THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 115 
 
 time I had been twenty-four hours at sea, were completely 
 dispelled, leaving no doubt whatever as to their cause."* 
 
 My only reason for referring at all to the climate of 
 Alexandria is that its true character does not seem to be 
 sufficiently recognised in this country; for I have myself 
 known instances in which consumptive patients were sent out 
 to Egypt, and allowed to winter in Alexandria, in complete 
 ignorance of the essential difference between the damp atmo- 
 sphere of Alexandria and the perfectly dry air of Thebes. A 
 mistake, of which the result was speedily fatal in one case, 
 and in another proved very injurious. 
 
 Cairo is but eight hours' journey by train from Alexandria, 
 and is built on a sandy slope between the Mokattam Hills on 
 the east and the Nile, which, though a couple of miles 
 distant, infiltrates the loose subsoil, rendering the western side 
 of the city damp and unhealthy. 
 
 No eastern town that I have visted has retained its peculiar 
 Oriental aspect so little changed as Cairo, notwithstanding 
 its long - continued and daily - increasing intercourse with 
 Europe. Steam and rail, which in every other land have 
 advanced material civilization, at least, have in Egypt proved 
 no match for the dead weight, the vis inertia of Turkish and 
 Mahometan institutions. 
 
 The visitor, having first secured his hotel, should loose no 
 time in ascending to the Citadel, where he will obtain a coup 
 d'ceil of Cairo worth all the descriptions ever penned. 
 
 Below the spectator, the outlines of the city extend over an 
 area of more than three miles; the tapering minarets of 
 upwards of three hundred mosques rising over the flat-roofed 
 houses that form the narrow lanes, through which an occa- 
 sional opening affords a glimpse of the bustling bazaars, 
 crowded with men clad in every variety of Oriental and 
 
 * " The Climate of Egypt," by the Eev. Thomas Barclay, D.D., p. 63. 
 
116 THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 
 
 European garb. The peculiar clearness of the atmosphere, 
 presenting every object with a brilliancy and telescopic 
 distinctness unknown in Europe. Beyond the city flows the 
 mighty river, whose sources have baffled discovery from the 
 days of Herodotus to those of Livingstone and Cameron. On 
 the north-east are the sites of Memphis and Heliopolis, and 
 further still the vast outlines of the pyramids, surrounded 
 by the desert, which extends in an interminable dreary land- 
 scape till lost in the distance. 
 
 The city is divided into quarters named after the class who 
 reside in each. The hotels are chiefly situated in the Franks' 
 quarter in the square of Esbekieh, and for the most part 
 are immense half-furnished buildings. When the charm of 
 novelty has worn off by a few days' stay, and the Citadel, 
 bazaars, baths, and mosque of Sultan Hassan have been 
 visited, Cairo contains nothing else to interest the tourist. 
 
 It has been stated by recent writers, that the modes of 
 travelling are now so improved in Egypt, that every invalid 
 who goes to Cairo may easily and safely visit the Pyramids. 
 Being anxious, however, to prevent valetudinarians from 
 falling into this mistake, I venture to extract from my journal 
 an unvarnished account of a visit to the pyramids. 
 
 September 5th. — Having provided myself with a guide, and 
 escorted by three Arabs, I started from Shepard's Hotel at nine 
 o'clock at night, and in less than an hour's time arrived at Old 
 Cairo, where, as the new bridge over the Nile was not then 
 open, we aroused a sleeping ferryman who, indignant at his 
 slumbers being interrupted by a kick in the gluteal region from 
 the guide, refused to carry us across the river at any price. 
 A long and angry discussion now ensued ; in the midst of 
 this altercation a guard of soldiers appeared, who, with perfect 
 impartiality,- marched us all, bystanders as well as combatants, 
 off to the guard-house, some half-mile distant. 
 
THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 117 
 
 A small bribe having been judiciously administered by the 
 guide, the officer on duty ordered the boatman to cross the 
 river forthwith, and sent a soldier to enforce the injunction. 
 We got on board, but as some fatality would have it, a new 
 dispute now arose ; the ferryman demanding ninety piastres, 
 the usual charge being eighteenpence. Again the soldier was 
 appealed to, and promptly settled the matter, for, entering 
 the boat, to my horror, he commenced belabouring the man 
 with the flat of his sword, accompanying each blow with 
 sundry valedictory remarks on the ancient ferryman's deceased 
 parents. This course proved very efficacious, for the price now 
 fell to six shillings ; and thus, finally, we crossed, having lost 
 above an hour in the dispute. 
 
 As we passed through Ghizeh we encountered two mar- 
 riage processions, the performers in which seemed almost 
 mad with excitement. 
 
 Escaping "rfroni these we passed at once into the silent 
 country, which, brilliantly lighted up by the full moon, and 
 covered as far as the eye could reach by the inundation, now 
 at its height, seemed to be a vast inland sea, only intersected 
 by the narrow serpentine causeway on which we rode, and 
 along which, every now and then, we passed by groups of 
 fellahs lying asleep, this being the only dry ground about. 
 
 Soon after leaving the village the pyramids appeared in 
 sight; their vast proportions, exaggerated by the uncertain 
 moonlight, seemed close at hand. We now left the causeway, 
 and at last entered on the dry sands of the desert, through 
 which our donkeys struggled, plunging up to their knees. 
 At length we arrived at the mound of rubbish which lies 
 before the grand pyramids, weary and exhausted, at two 
 o'clock in the morning. 
 
 Having lighted our torches, we squeezed through the nar- 
 row aperture on the north side, following the guide ; and, as 
 
118 THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 
 
 cautiously as possible, on hands and knees, slipped along the 
 steep shaft, not above three feet square, which descends to 
 the base of. the Pyramid. From this, now semi-asphyxiated, 
 and rendered incapable of actively climbing the slippery 
 passage, we were pushed by the guide along a gallery of 
 marble polished to a glassy smoothness ; which, after a 
 time, expands into a lofty corridor, where I enjoyed the 
 luxury of raising my face from the ground without risk of 
 fracturing my cranium, though it was so steep that standing 
 was still out of the question. I now got into the sarcophagus 
 chamber, which assuredly did not compensate for the fatigue 
 of the approach. The glimmering light dimly disclosed a 
 vast apartment of granite, with a broken sarcophagus in the 
 centre, profusely disfigured by the hieroglyphics of Messrs 
 Brown, Jones, and Eobinson, et hoc genus omne," some of 
 whom have, with infinite pains, traced their illustrious 
 patronymics with the smoke of a flambeau on the roof of 
 the chamber. 
 
 The descent proved more facile than the entrance, and 
 resisting the persuasive voice of the guide, who would have 
 me visit another apartment, I struggled back again through 
 the same aperture by which I had entered into the open air, 
 where I arrived more dead than alive, and wrapping my cloak 
 about me sank on the ground in a sleep of complete 
 exhaustion. I lay thus for a couple of hours, which seemed 
 scarcely as many minutes, until the guide warned me that 
 it was time to be stirring. Having first visited the Sphinx, 
 we started on our return at about half past-five in the 
 morning, and got back to Cairo in time for a late breakfast, 
 steadfastly resolving never again to visit the Pyramids of 
 Ghizeh. 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Cairo is 70° and, according 
 to the observations of Mons. Destouches, a French chemist, in 
 
THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 119 
 
 the employment of the late Pasha, the mean temperature of 
 the months is as follows : — 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 
 January, 
 
 . 55 
 
 May, . 
 
 . 77 
 
 September, 
 
 76 
 
 February, 
 
 . 59 
 
 June, . 
 
 . 82 
 
 October, 
 
 75 
 
 March, 
 
 . 64 
 
 July, . 
 
 . 84 
 
 November, 
 
 66 
 
 April, 
 
 . 71 
 
 August, 
 
 . 84 
 
 December, 
 
 59 
 
 It is only during the cool season, from October to the end 
 of March, the mean temperature of which is 62°, that invalids 
 can visit Cairo, as, during the rest of the year, the climate is 
 so hot and arid as to be unendurable to foreigners. 
 
 Even in the depth of winter the weather in Cairo is as 
 mild and genial as in the latter part of spring in this country ; 
 the lowest temperature usually observed being in the middle 
 of January, when it sometimes falls to 37°. At all seasons 
 however, there is here a remarkable diminution of tempera- 
 ture after night-fall, often amounting to a difference of from 
 20° to 30° between the maximum of the day and the minimum 
 of the night. This is attributed to the fall of dew, to the 
 influence of the north wind, and, above all, to the extra- 
 ordinary clearness of the atmosphere, favouring the radiation 
 of heat from the earth. 
 
 During eight months of the year cool northerly winds 
 prevail in Cairo. But from March to the middle of June 
 southerly winds, from the heated sandy plains of Central 
 Africa, are most frequent. One of these — the " Khamsin " — 
 is a perfectly dry scorching south wind, generally lasting for 
 fifty days continuously. During this time the lungs of those 
 exposed to the " Khamsin " are irritated by the impalpable 
 sand suspended in the air, which is then in a highly electrical 
 condition. The thermometer rises from 30° to 50°, and a 
 feeling of malaise, langour, and depression is produced 
 rendering any great exertion almost impossible. 
 
 With one exception, no health resort frequented by English 
 
120 THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 
 
 invalids has so dry a .climate as Cairo, where the number of 
 rainy days observed seldom exceeds twelve annually. There 
 is, however, a heavy dew-fall at night. The atmosphere is 
 peculiarly dry and devoid of any free humidity. The 
 difference between Alexandria and Cairo in this respect may 
 be inferred from the fact that the atmosphere of the latter 
 city contains 152 times less moisture than the former. 
 
 A large number of invalids are now annually sent to winter 
 on the Nile, most of whom suffer from chronic bronchitis or 
 consumption. This practice might at first sight be thought 
 a very mistaken one, when we learn that catarrhal affections, 
 scrofula, and tubercular diseases are common in Egypt, where, 
 moreover, phthisis occasions a large proportion of the total 
 mortality of the native population. Whether consumption 
 is, or is not, one of the prevailing diseases of Egypt, matters 
 little, however, to foreign invalids, who only visit this country 
 at the most healthy period of the year, and whose hygienic 
 condition and general circumstances are entirely different 
 to those of the native population, amongst whom phthisis 
 certainly prevails. 
 
 According to the classification proposed in the introduction, 
 
 Cairo must be placed in the same category with the dry, 
 
 stimulating climates of Malaga, Hyeres, or Nice, possessing 
 
 /\ these qualities in a much more marked degree than any of 
 
 those localities. 
 
 To that large class of patients in whom incipient phthisis is 
 insidiously progressing to its fatal issue, in young persons of 
 phlegmatic temperament, about the age of puberty, the climate 
 of Middle Egypt offers a resource only second in value to 
 a long sea voyage. Cairo would also generally be a good 
 winter resort in cases of humoral asthma, in some instances of 
 the disease so well described by Dr Dobell under the name 
 of " winter cough," chronic laryngeal affections, and in some 
 
THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 121 
 
 cases of chronic bronchitis, and characterised by relaxation 
 and debility. But Cairo should be particularly shunned by 
 those who are suffering from pulmonary disease, accompanied 
 by a hard dry cough, a tendency to congestion of the lungs, 
 and, above all, by those disposed to haemoptysis. 
 
 When consumption has advanced to the second stage, 
 there are very few cases in which the climate of Cairo, or 
 that of any part of Egypt, would be advisable ; and when the 
 disease has reached its third and last phase, I would add, it is 
 generally most unsuitable, although I have more than once 
 seen consumptive patients who were almost moribund, sent out 
 to winter, or rather to die, on the Mle. 
 
 Invalids should arrive in Cairo towards the end of October, 
 and be prepared to leave it about the middle of March, before 
 the unhealthy and debilitating southerly winds set in. 
 
 Upwards of thirty years ago, my father, Dr E. E. Madden, 
 in his " Travels in the East," and Dr Eichardson, in his 
 " Travels in Nubia," published nearly at the same time, were 
 amongst the first who pointed out the advantages of the 
 climate of Upper Egypt for invalids, and the number of 
 valetudinarians who have resorted thither of late years, and 
 the testimony of recent medical writers, have confirmed the 
 correctness of their opinions. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, Upper Egypt is only available for 
 those who have sufficient youth and strength to endure the 
 many inconveniences of boat life on a semi-tropical river, and 
 amidst a semi-civilized people. The number is still further 
 limited by the great expense which such a journey entails, so 
 that, unfortunately, none but the wealthy can avail themselves 
 of this, the driest and purest atmosphere in the world. 
 
 The railways from Enibare to El Eoclah, and from Abouxa 
 to El Eayoum and El-Wasta, are practically useless to travel- 
 lers for health in Upper Egypt, there being no proper accom- 
 
 f 
 
122 THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 
 
 modation for foreign invalids at any station in the valley of 
 the Mle beyond Cairo, so that such persons must still visit 
 this country in a boat, on board which they must live during 
 their stay in Upper Egypt. 
 
 For ordinary tourists, the Khedive Government Steamers, 
 which start from the new bridge " Kasr-el-Ml " at Boulac, the 
 port of Cairo, at regular intervals every fortnight, now afford 
 great facilities for an expeditious and comfortable trip as far as 
 the first cataract. The voyage from Cairo to Assouan and back 
 occupies about twenty days, the steamers stopping each night 
 at some village, and affording opportunities for visiting Abydos, 
 Thebes, Luxor, Karnack, Edfou, and nearly all the places of 
 interest on the river between Cairo and the first cataract. 
 This journey, which may be thus accomplished for £46, 
 although a most interesting and facile one, by no means meets 
 the requirements of the pulmonary invalid traveller, occupying 
 far too short a time, and not extending to the part of Egypt 
 the climate of which is most suitable for such persons, namely, 
 that portion of the Mle valley which lies between Assouan 
 and the second cataract. Hence, the pilgrim in pursuit of 
 health in Egypt must in most cases still follow the old plan 
 of river life on the Mle in a Dahabeah or large sailiug-boat. 
 Eor this purpose he should arrange with a dragoman at 
 Alexandria or Cairo, who will undertake to provide a good 
 boat fitted up for passengers, with an efficient crew, and 
 suitable accommodation for the passengers at so much a head 
 per diem ; and for a party of five or six persons, who usually 
 club together for such a tour, the expense to each individual 
 would be about £50 a month. 
 
 The atmosphere of Upper Egypt, especially between 
 Assouan and the second cataract, is unquestionably the 
 driest resorted to by pulmouary invalids ; the natural 
 evaporation from the river being more than counteracted by 
 
THE CLIMATES OF EGYPT. 123 
 
 the prevailing arid winds from the adjacent desert. Professor 
 Uhle, who passed a winter on the Nile, says, — " After ascend- 
 ing beyond 29° latitude the temperature rose 5° higher than it 
 then was at Cairo. February is here the coldest and driest 
 month; and as the spring advances, and the river falls, the 
 atmosphere becomes still drier." 
 
 In a therapeutic point of view, Upper Egypt may be 
 regarded as a very perfect example of a tonic, dry, warm and 
 exciting climate, and I have already pointed out, in the first 
 and second chapters, the cases for which such an atmosphere 
 is adapted. Amongst these I may especially mention the 
 early stage of phthisis and chronic bronchitis, with profuse 
 and exhausting secretions, and occurring in persons of a torpid 
 leuco-phlegmatic temperament, who have been brought by 
 disease into an anemic condition. Those disposed to conges- 
 tive diseases, especially of the brain, should avoid Upper 
 Egypt. 
 
 In every part of Egypt the invalid traveller should avoid 
 the night air as he would poison ; for there is, immediately 
 after sunset, generally a sudden and dangerous transition, 
 from the hot atmosphere of the day, -to a chill night air, 
 generally accompanied with a fall of dew so profuse as to 
 supply the want of rain. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 THE SPAS AND THEIR USES. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPAS. 
 
 It would be difficult to point out a class of remedies which 
 have so wide a range of therapeutic action on disease, and 
 which are resorted to in so great a variety of cases, as mineral 
 and thermal waters. The list of ailments, however, which 
 may be benefited by the spas, would be as long and as 
 uninteresting in this place as the " catalogue of ships" in 
 the Iliad. 
 
 Most of those whom we meet at the watering-places are 
 patients suffering from some form of indigestion, or from 
 diseases occasioned by the gouty and rheumatic diathesis. 
 These, with cases of nervous, cutaneous, and scrofulous affec- 
 tions, constitute the great bulk of the spa-drinkers. But 
 besides persons labouring under actual disease, a large propor- 
 tion of the patients at the watering-places suffer from no 
 tangible malady, although obviously " out of health." 
 
 Among the throng of pilgrims to these fountains of Hygeia, 
 come youth and age — the fagged beauty, after a season, in 
 search of that bright complexion and those roseate hues which 
 cosmetics cannot counterfeit ; legislators and professional 
 men ; the votaries of science and of fashion ; the man of 
 
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPAS. 125 
 
 business and his more laborious rival in the race of sanitary 
 destruction, the lounger about town, — all Hadgis to the shrine 
 of health. 
 
 In many of these cases, when a course of some foreign 
 mineral water is enjoined, the cure which results is due not 
 only to the active therapeutic properties of the spa prescribed, 
 but also to the fact, that during the course nature enjoys 
 a respite from that incessant drugging for which many 
 valetudinarians have so unaccountable a predilection. 
 
 Another advantage of prescribing mineral waters is, that an 
 opportunity is thus given for taking the invalid away from 
 those habits of life which are often closely connected with his 
 ill-health, and which, unless they are interrupted and 
 abandoned for a time, will prevent the patient's cure. Besides 
 this, if a distant watering-place be selected, the journey, the 
 change of climate, of scene, and of living, often exercise a 
 most potent therapeutic action of themselves. Lastly, it 
 supplies an opportunity for mental rest, which is not idleness, 
 but change of thought. 
 
 Irrespectively of these moral, and indirect curative effects, 
 most of the spas described in the following pages are, per se, 
 medicinal agents of extraordinary therapeutic power, many of 
 them being as potent for evil when misused, as for good when 
 properly employed, and should never be resorted to without 
 judicious medical advice. 
 
 In the succeeding chapters I have, in the first place, 
 endeavoured to lay before my readers a succinct view of the 
 nature and uses of mineral and thermal waters. I have next 
 referred to the various diseases that may be treated by the 
 springs, and pointed out the mineral water adapted to each 
 particular case. And, finally, I have described the principal 
 watering-places of continental Euiope from my personal 
 observations and notes taken at each spa. 
 
126 NATURE AND REMEDIAL EFFECTS OF 
 
 CHAPTEE XXL 
 
 . ON THE NATURE AND REMEDIAL EFFECTS OF MINERAL AND 
 THERMAL WATERS. 
 
 Mineral springs are those which contain saline ingredients 
 in such quantities, or in such combination, as to possess 
 medicinal properties. They are classified into groups which 
 bear some general resemblance in chemical composition or 
 therapeutic action. A considerable number of the spas, 
 however, are so complex in their character, that it would 
 be difficult to say which ingredient so preponderates as to 
 determine their nomenclature on chemical principles. More- 
 over, we find some waters containing only a trace of any 
 chemical ingredients producing well-marked remedial effects. 
 If, on the other hand, we base our plan of classification on the 
 therapeutic properties of the spas, we shall be equally liable 
 to error, since the same waters occasion widely opposite 
 effects, according to the doses they may be taken in, the 
 condition of the patient, and a great variety of other circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Therefore, putting aside a strictly chemical classification 
 of mineral waters as chimerical, and passing over ; for the 
 present, the division sometimes adopted of the spas, from 
 their medicinal effects, I shall consider the various springs 
 described in the succeeding chapters as divisible into chaly- 
 beate, sulphurous, saline, iodated, earthy, and chemically 
 indifferent mineral springs. Of these some are cold, and 
 others thermal. The former contain a larger amount of 
 gaseous and saline ingredients than the latter, and have 
 
MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 127 
 
 generally a comparatively superficial origin in subterranean 
 streams, formed by trie atmospheric water absorbed by 
 elevated mountain districts ; and are forced up to the surface 
 by hydraulic pressure, dissolving and becoming charged 
 with the soluble salts contained in the various strata they 
 percolate in the transit, or with gases resulting from chemical 
 decomposition, the chief of which are sulphuretted hydrogen 
 and carbonic acid gases. 
 
 The effects of mineral waters are, in many instances, de- 
 pendent on the amount of carbonic acid gas they contain, 
 which not only produces physiological effects itself, but also 
 renders substances, otherwise insoluble, capable of being 
 dissolved. Thus, chalybeate spas, for example, are resorted 
 to or neglected, not so much on account of the amount of 
 iron they contain, as on the volume of carbonic acid gas by 
 which it is rendered digestible and active. 
 
 Numerous theories have been advanced to account for the 
 phenomena of thermal or warm medicinal springs ; and per- 
 haps the most satisfactory of these is that which supposes 
 their connection with volcanic action. In some places 
 thermal springs issue in the immediate vicinity of active 
 volcanoes. In other cases we find proof that volcanic agency 
 once played an important part in the configuration of the 
 neighbouring country. Such are given by the basaltic 
 formations from which the Brunnens of the Taunus Moun- 
 tains, the sources of Pfeffers, and the warm springs of the 
 high Pyrenees issue. A still more evident proof of the 
 relation between volcanic action and thermal springs is 
 furnished by the fact, that direct communication seems to 
 have been clearly established between earthquakes occurring 
 in one country, and the hot springs of distant lands. This 
 was more particularly the case during the great earthquake of 
 Lisbon in 1755, when the springs of Teplitz in Bohemia, 
 
128 NATUKE AND REMEDIAL EFFECTS OF 
 
 Natres in Savoy, and Leuk in Switzerland, were simul- 
 taneously affected. 
 
 Chalybeate Waters may be divided into simple and saline 
 ferruginous springs. The former of which, Orezza in Corsica ; 
 Pyrmont, Driburg, Schwalbach, and Briickenau, in Germany ; 
 Auteuil and Passy within the fortifications of Paris ; and 
 Spa in Belgium, are examples, contain little else than 
 the carbonate of the protoxide of iron, dissolved in water 
 more or less highly charged with carbonic acid, and are 
 therefore not only tonic but stimulant in their effects, excit- 
 ing the nervous, circulating, and digestive functions, as well as 
 increasing the red corpuscles and fibrine of the blood. 
 
 The saline chalybeates, which generally contain some of 
 the soluble salts of soda, together with the iron, are chiefly 
 employed in similar cases to the saline springs when marked 
 with debility, and in anaemia, complicated with abdominal 
 disease, whether resulting from long residence in tropical 
 climates, or from dietetic errors. Amongst these are the 
 Stahlbrunnen of Homburg, Booklet in Bavaria, Franzensbad 
 in Bohemia, Cronthal and Eippoldsau in Germany, Saratoga 
 in the State of New York, Tunbridge Wells, Scarborough, and 
 Cheltenham in England. 
 
 Sulphurous Springs are those whose medicinal constitutents 
 are sulphuretted hydrogen gas and the sulphurets of sodium 
 or potassium. Warm sulphurous waters are invariably 
 stimulant in their effects on the nervous, as well as on the 
 vascular systems. The principal sources of this class are 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Aix-les-Bains, Baden in Switzerland, Baden 
 near Vienna, Burtscheid, Schinznach, Teplitz, and Warrn- 
 brunn in Germany, Penticosa in Aragon, Carratraca, on the 
 road from Malaga to Bonda, in Andalusia, and Caldas da 
 Eainha in Portugal. The Pyrenean mineral springs nearly 
 all belong to the same division of thermal waters. 
 
MINERAL AXD THERMAL WATERS. 129 
 
 The action of these spas is more intimately dependent on 
 their temperature than on their chemical composition, being 
 more stimulant the hotter they are. The warmer springs are 
 chiefly used in gouty and rheumatic complaints, in chronic 
 skin diseases, especially eczema, prurigo, psoriasis and 
 syphilitic eruptions, neuralgia, and scrofulous, glandular, and 
 arthritic swellings. The cold sulphurous springs, such as 
 Langenbrticken, Nenndorf, and Weilbach in Germany ; 
 Bex and Schinznach in Switzerland ; Castel Jaloux, Castera- 
 Yerduzan, Enghien-les -Bains and Plombiers in France, and, 
 nearer home, Lisdoonvarna and Harrowgate, being less stimu- 
 lant, are safer, though less active in their general use, and may 
 be employed in analogous cases to the former. Such mineral 
 springs, however, whether hot or cold, should never be used 
 when there is any tendency to inflammation or even conges- 
 tion of any important organ, especially of the brain or lungs, 
 and they must be most sedulously avoided in all cases in 
 which haemorrhage is to be apprehended. 
 
 Muriated Saline Springs are those whose active constituent 
 is chloride of sodium or common salt. Wiesbaden, Baden- 
 Baden, Bourbonne-les-Bains, Hammam-Melouane in Algeria, 
 Cannstadt, and Soden are thermal waters of this class, and 
 Kissengen, Homburg, and the saline sources of Cheltenham 
 and Leamington are cold. They stimulate the gastro-intestinal 
 mucous membrane, act upon the bowels, augment the amount 
 of urea discharged by the kidneys, increase the elimination 
 of effete tissues, and are employed in the treatment of gout, 
 rheumatism, scrofula, dyspepsia, habitual constipation, and 
 torpidity of the liver. 
 
 Saline, Alkaline Waters chiefly contain sulphate and bi- 
 carbonate of soda. Carlsbad, Marienbad, Franzensbad, and 
 Tar asp are examples of this class of mineral springs. Their 
 action being purgative and deobstruent, they are prescribed in 
 
 I 
 
130 NATURE AND REMEDIAL EFFECTS OF 
 
 abdominal plethora, habitual constipation, hepatic enlarge- 
 ments, and gouty dyspepsia, 
 
 Muriated Alkaline sources are those in which chloride of 
 sodium, with carbonic acid gas and bicarbonate of soda are 
 the main ingredients. Ems, Salzbrunn, aud Selters belong to 
 this category, which are all diuretic, aperient, and antacid. 
 Their use is indicated in the gouty diathesis and dyspepsia, 
 certain diseases peculiar to women, hysteria, renal and hepatic 
 affections. 
 
 Simple Alkaline Springs, such as Vichy and Vals in France, 
 Fachingen, Geilnau, and Bilin, in Germany, and Chaves and 
 Vidago in Portugal, contain bicarbonate of soda with excess 
 of carbonic acid gas. By the use of these spas the blood is 
 rendered more alkaline, the various excretory functions, espe- 
 cially diuresis, are increased, and the appetite is sharpened. 
 They are chiefly used in gout and rheumatism, also in gouty 
 dyspepsia, and in renal calculi, and gravel connected with the 
 uric acid diathesis. 
 
 The Bitter Waters are those containing a large proportion 
 of the sulphates of magnesia and soda. The most important 
 of these springs are Piillna, Saidschiitz, and Sedlitz in 
 Bohemia; Hunyadi-Janos in Hungary ; Birmenstorf in Switzer- 
 land ; Friedrichshall in Saxe-Meiningen ; the saline wells of 
 Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, Epsom in Surrey, and 
 Beulah at Sydenham, may be included in the same class of 
 mineral springs as the German Bitterwassers, acting like 
 them as saline cathartics, and being also diuretic and 
 derivative. 
 
 Earthy Springs are impregnated with sulphate, carbonate, 
 and chloride of lime, and carbonic acid They are in general 
 thermal, Wildugen, Leuk, Lippspringe, Weissenburg, Bath, 
 Lucca, and Pisa, belong to this class of waters, the action of 
 which is astringent and stimulant. Wildugen, which con- 
 
MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 131 
 
 tains free carbonic acid, is also diuretic, and is useful in 
 gravel and diseases of the bladder. Leuk is chiefly resorted 
 to by patients suffering from skin diseases. Bath, Pisa, and 
 Lucca are used in gout, rheumatism, cutaneous affections, and 
 dyspepsia. 
 
 Jod-und-Bromhaltigen Koclisalzwasscr, as the Germans call 
 springs containing iodine and bromine, generally owe their 
 properties to iodide of sodium and bromide of manganese in 
 a muriated saline water. Nearly all such sources are cold. 
 The principal waters of this class are Kreuznach, Adelheids- 
 quelle, Hall, Salzhausen, and Elmen in Germany; Wildegg 
 in Switzerland ; and Wood hall Spa in Lincolnshire ; the last 
 named being probably the strongest iodated spring in Europe. 
 Taken internally, these waters stimulate the mucous mem- 
 branes, occasion ptyalism and diuresis, promote absorption, 
 and quicken the appetite. They are ordered in scrofulous 
 diseases, especially of the glands and joints, in chronic 
 glandular enlargements, such as bronchocele, in secondary 
 syphilis, and, above all, in the treatment of some of the 
 diseases peculiar to women, connected with chronic uterine 
 or ovarian inflammation, 
 
 The so-called chemically indifferent springs, such as Schlan- 
 genbad, Teplitz, Gastein, Neuhaus, Tiiffer, and Wildbad in 
 Germany, Chaudefontaine in Belgium, and Pfeffers in Switzer- 
 land, are thermal sources, some of which contain absolutely 
 less mineral matter than our ordinary drinking water. Thus, 
 the New Eiver water contains 2 J grs. of solid matter to 
 the pint ; the East London Company 3 grs. ; and that supplied 
 by the Hampstead Company 4J grs. Yet these waters cause 
 no apparent effect, whilst the springs of Wildbad, with 3J grs. 
 of salt to the pint ; Pfeffers and Gastein, 2 grs. ; and Chaude 
 fontaine, with 2J grs., are all capable of producing therapeutic 
 results, which seem to be mainly due to the temperature at 
 
132 NATUEE AND BEMEDIAL EFFECTS OF 
 
 which they are employed. These chemically indifferent baths, 
 especially the cooler ones, possess peculiarly sedative effects, 
 not only allaying nervous irritation, but also diminishing 
 vascular excitement, whilst the warmer springs of the same 
 class, being more stimulant, are chiefly used in aggravated 
 cases of chronic rheumatism and rheumatic-arthritis . 
 
 We may now proceed to consider the therapeutic applica- 
 tion of these various mineral waters, which is by no means 
 solely determined by their chemical composition, as is sup- 
 posed by some able chemists ; one of whom goes so far as to 
 assert that it is only necessary to ascertain what are the saline 
 ingredients in any mineral water, " and dissolve the same con- 
 stituents in the proper proportions, and you regenerate the 
 spa to all intents and purposes." I presume, however, that the 
 " intent and purpose " of the invalid who resorts to any spa is 
 the cure of some ailment ; and most assuredly this will not 
 be accomplished by the " simple method " of the chemist. 
 The baths of Wildbad, for instance, contain only two grains of 
 common salt, with half a grain each of carbonate and sulphate 
 of soda to the pint of water, at the temperature of 98° ; and 
 yet wonderful cures of chronic arthritic diseases are effected 
 by a course of them. But very few practical physicians could 
 be persuaded that an artificial solution of the same salts 
 would produce the same effects. If it had the same influence, 
 would it not be as absurd as cruel to send a patient, crippled 
 by chronic rheumatism, to a remote village in the Black 
 Forest, when a handful of common salt, with a teaspoonful of 
 washing-soda and Epsom salts, would convert a tub of luke- 
 warm water in his own bedroom into a verjungen, or " youth- 
 restoring fountain ? " 
 
 Without entering into the much disputed question of the 
 mode of action of chemically indifferent and other mineral 
 waters, concerning which many German writers seem to revel 
 
MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 133 
 
 in explaining the ignotum per ignotius, each successive 
 ' Brunnenartz ' putting forth some conjecture if possible more 
 misty and unintelligible than that of his predecessor, I believe 
 that we may content ourselves with the empirical knowledge 
 that certain mineral waters produce certain effects. In many 
 instances these waters act simply as so much pure water 
 would do could it be swallowed under the same circumstances, 
 and with the same anticipation of success which mineral 
 waters are used with. When we consider the amount of 
 water consumed daily by each patient at most spas, we will 
 find that as diluents these waters must have* a considerable 
 action on the animal economy. Ten or twelve pints of 
 mineral water per diem is a common dose at several of the 
 spas, and it is obvious that the mere passage of so large a 
 quantity of fluid through the system must break down and 
 wash away morbid deposits and disordered secretions. The 
 effects of the journey to the spas are oftentimes sufficient to 
 account for the benefit ascribed to the mineral springs. The 
 mode of life at most continental spas is usually totally dif- 
 ferent from the ordinary habits of the British valetudinarian, 
 who is forced into earlier and more regular hours, and into 
 taking more exercise than he has been accustomed to; and 
 this change is probably one of the most important advantages 
 of the foreign watering-places. 
 
 The majority of those who resort to the continental water- 
 ing-places suffer from disorders connected with the gouty 
 diathesis, or with some gastric derangement. Now, travel as 
 we may, whether we " rough it " on foot through the mountain 
 bye-roads of Switzerland or Spain, or sedulously avoid fatigue 
 in the sleeping-car of a train, more or less exercise must be 
 taken ; and oftentimes it is this exercise which does the good 
 ascribed to the mineral water or change of climate. By it the 
 circulation is quickened, but at the same time is equalised ; 
 
134 NATURE AND REMEDIAL EFFECTS OF 
 
 that is, all the vessels receive more blood, and thus the 
 amount accumulated in any one organ is diminished. The 
 respiration is also hurried, and therefore more carbon is 
 exhaled from the system. The appetite is sharpened. The 
 change of diet, the freer use of fruit, the light acidulous wines, 
 the oleaginous cookery, all promote the alvine and renal ex- 
 cretions. The " moral " influence of the change, too, con- 
 duces to the physical improvement it effects. New scenes 
 and places suggest new thoughts ; the atrabilis of gloomy 
 apprehension is purged away, and the patient, ceasing to 
 think on his symptoms, they cease to exist. 
 
 Still I am very far from asserting that change of living and 
 scene will of itself produce all the benefits often effected by a 
 journey to, and use of, an appropriate spa. No amount of 
 travel will, unaided by other treatment, purify the vitiated 
 blood of a gouty patient, reduce to proper proportions a 
 tumefied liver, unbend a contracted joint, or impart vigour to a 
 palsied limb, all of which cures are oftentimes performed at 
 the spas. 
 
 Though most of the saline constituents of mineral waters 
 are articles of the Pharmacopoeia, and generally exist in com- 
 paratively small quantities in the spas, yet they act more 
 effectually, owing to a more perfect solution and finer division 
 of the natural preparation than can be effected by artificial 
 means. Another reason of this superiority is, that spas 
 occasionally contain substances insoluble in ordinary water. 
 The Homburg springs, for instance, contain carbonates of 
 lime, iron, and magnesia, and silica, which are rendered 
 soluble by the presence of free carbonic acid gas. 
 
 The mode of using, and dose of the spas, depends on the 
 composition of the particular spring selected, the condition of 
 the patient, and a variety of circumstances, which render it 
 impossible to lay down any accurate general rules on these 
 
MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 135 
 
 points. • Still I shall attempt a few suggestions which may be 
 found useful. 
 
 In the first place, mineral waters should, if possible, be 
 drank at their source. The patient who uses the imported 
 mineral waters sold in this country, not only loses the chief 
 benefit of the prescription, that is, the change of scene, of 
 climate, and of living, but further, the mineral fluid is in 
 most cases changed and deteriorated by keeping. 
 
 The spa physicians, as a rule, advise their patients to dis- 
 regard all other medicines, and confide in the virtues of the 
 mineral water 'of their place of abode. It would be rather 
 difficult to say whether this recommendation has done most 
 harm or good. In many cases it is, doubtless, a wholesome 
 counsel. But, on the other hand, when the patient is really 
 ill, the use of mineral waters should not supersede all other 
 treatment ; for, as a very observant English physician of the 
 last century well remarked, " it is but prudent to bring all the 
 forces one can raise against so formidable and so potent an 
 enemy as a chronical disorder."* 
 
 The quantity of water to be consumed is a matter that 
 should be prescribed to the patient before he is sent to the 
 spa, and must be determined by the circumstances of each 
 case. Invalids are generally left to their own discretion on 
 that point, and seldom exercise any. Not a few valetudi- 
 narians think that the benefit to be derived is in exact pro- 
 portion to the amount of mineral water they can swallow. 
 As a rule, two glasses of water before breakfast, one before 
 dinner, and a couple of tumblers-full in the evening are quite 
 sufficient. 
 
 In cases of structural cardiac, pulmonary, or cerebral 
 disease, mineral, and especially thermal waters are generally 
 
 * Cheyne, "An Essay on the Gout and the Bath Waters," p. 59, London, 
 1721. 
 
136 NATUEE AND REMEDIAL EFFECTS OF 
 
 worse than useless. Consumptive patients are constantly 
 sent to certain spas, and we are assured that cures are thus 
 effected. My own belief, founded on the study of this 
 disease in many climates is, that no case of phthisis 
 was ever cured by any mineral water, although the general 
 health of phthisical patients may probably sometimes be 
 benefited by a course of light chalybeate or alterative waters. 
 
 Natural warm or thermo-mineral baths may be divided into 
 two groups, the first of which have a temperature ranging from 
 85° to 97,° or lower than that of the blood; and the second 
 comprising all the baths whose heat exceeds this. The 
 effects produced by baths of the former kind are of a sedative 
 character ; after a few minutes immersion the nervous system 
 is soothed, pain and irritation are allayed, a feeling of physical 
 comfort and tranquillity is induced ; the functions of the skin, 
 however, become more active, the various secretions are 
 increased, and changes are produced in the blood, by the 
 transudation and absorption that take place in the bath, 
 which are greatly influenced by the chemical composition and 
 density of the water. 
 
 The principal maladies treated by baths of this class 
 are — chronic nervous and spasmodic affections, such as 
 neuralgia and sciatica, subacute disorders of the abdominal 
 and pelvic viscera, especially of the liver and gastro- 
 intestinal mucous membrane. This remedy is especially 
 applicable to the treatment of many of the diseases of 
 women connected with chronic inflammation of the uterus 
 or ovaries, in some cases of painful or defective men- 
 struation; and in hysteria dependant on these causes. 
 Thermal baths are also largely and successfully employed 
 in rheumatic affections; and, finally, these baths are used 
 with remarkable success in the treatment of. chronic skin 
 diseases. 
 
MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 137 
 
 The second class of thermal baths comprehends all those 
 whose temperature is higher than that of the blood, and 
 ranges from 98° to 120°. Such baths are strongly stimulant, 
 their exciting power being in proportion to the elevation of 
 their temperature. The blood is determined to .the surface 
 by them, the cutaneous capillary vessels become congested, 
 the respiration is hurried, the pulse is accelerated and becomes 
 full and throbbing, and a sense of oppression and discomfort 
 is felt until a profuse sweat relieves the circulation. When 
 this has broken out, all the uneasy sensations gradually 
 disappear, and are succeeded by a sense of languor and 
 exhaustion, with a tendency to sleep. 
 
 Widely spread as they are throughout Europe, the 
 therapeutic uses of hot mineral baths is limited to a small 
 class of patients. They are employed in certain obstinate 
 cutaneous affections, in chronic rheumatism, and rheumatic 
 arthritis. 
 
 The length of time the patient should remain in the bath 
 depends on the nature of the mineral water, and on that of 
 his disease, and varies from ten minutes, which is the usual 
 period of immersion at some of the hotter sulphurous baths, 
 to eight or ten hours, which formerly at Pfeffers was thought 
 an ordinary occurrence. 
 
 The ordinary duration of a bath at Wildbad, Aix-les- 
 Bains, Gastein, and several other places, is an hour. So 
 prolonged an immersion in a fluid at the same temperature as 
 the blood stimulates the cutaneous capillaries, withdraws the 
 blood from internal congested organs, allows their vessels to 
 recover their healthy tone and contractile power, and must be 
 capable of producing powerful curative results. 
 
 Care should be taken to avoid exposure to cold immediately 
 after leaving the warm bath, and therefore I think that the 
 very early hour at which the bath is generally taken at the 
 
138 MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 
 
 spas of Germany is open to some objections ; and in many 
 cases it will be found better to bathe in the middle of the 
 day three or four hours after breakfast, or in the evening, 
 about five or six hours after the early German dinner. 
 
 Whenever a patient exhibits any apoplectic tendency, hot 
 mineral baths are most dangerous, and might lead to sudden 
 and fatal results. Very fat people should be equally cautious 
 of indulging in such baths. In all cases, too, in which the 
 heart, aorta, or any important vessel is diseased ; and, indeed, 
 whenever it is necessary to guard against vascular excitement, 
 thermal mineral waters are contra-indicated. 
 
DYSPEPSIA AXD THE SPAS. 139 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 DYSPEPSIA AXD THE SPAS. 
 
 With the exception of the maladies produced in this climate 
 by wet and cold, most of the diseases for which health resorts 
 are visited are the result of an excessive or injudicious diet, — 
 '.' plures crapula quam gladius." The object of the present 
 chapter is to show that most of these complaints, including all 
 cases of dyspepsia whose leading symptoms are impaired, or 
 fastidious appetite, painful, slow, or imperfect digestion, irregu- 
 lar action of the intestinal canal, and hypochondriasis, may be 
 better treated by mineral waters, conjoined to abstinence, or 
 some alteration of living, than by pharmaceutical preparations. 
 On no subject whatever have more numerous and con- 
 tradictory systems been propounded than on diet, and on none 
 would it be more utterly impossible to lay down any 
 universally useful general rules than on this. The majority 
 of people eat far more than nature requires, and far more than 
 they can assimilate ; and, consequently, very few enjoy perfect 
 health. But the number of meals and the quantity of food 
 consumed can only be decided by each individual's experience 
 of what agrees with himself; for some would gain flesh on 
 Carnard's allowance of eleven ounces of food per diem, whilst 
 others would starve on as many pounds. Therefore the only 
 rule I would venture to recommend to the dyspeptic patient 
 is that, putting aside the bugbear of debility, he should use 
 
140 DYSPEPSIA AND THE SPAS. 
 
 only the quantity of food he can digest, without pain or 
 discomfort, however small this may be. 
 
 Although we have progressed vastly from the bibulous habits 
 of our grandfathers, still, to the present day, far too much 
 wine is used by the upper classes in .this country, and many 
 of the ailments by which life is embittered, and premature 
 death induced, and to ward off which the spas are resorted to, 
 are owing to this cause. Wine and all other alcoholic liquors 
 are quite unnecessary to a man in perfect health ; but com- 
 paratively very few are to be found in that happy state. If 
 we lived in a world in which no sorrows, cares, or anxieties of 
 the mind, reacting on its frail tenement the body, produced 
 diseases, and paved the way to death, then would I join those 
 who preach total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks. 
 But as, unfortunately, we live on earth, and not in Utopia, 
 and have to fight the battle of life often against unequal 
 odds, with failing strength and sinking heart, therefore, with 
 Solomon, would I prescribe — " Wine to him that is ready to 
 perish, and to him that hath grief of heart." Two or three 
 glasses of wine daily, however, are quite sufficient for any 
 adult, and under no circumstances whatever should wine be 
 given to a child, except as a medicine. 
 
 To treat dyspepsia, we must bear in mind its causes ; and 
 these, besides errors of diet, are severe mental labour, conjoined 
 to a sedentary life, nervous excitement and anxiety, the abuse 
 of tobacco or tea, and late and irregular hours. These must 
 all be corrected, and a journey to, and residence in a distant 
 watering-place, will often prove the most efficacious mode of 
 effecting this. The travelling, with its concomitant change of 
 scene and of climate, benefits the patient's general health, 
 takes his attention from his ailments, and thus proves an 
 antidote to the gloomy and depressant influence of dyspepsia. 
 The early and regular hours observed at the continental spas 
 
DYSPEPSIA AND THE SPAS. 141 
 
 are a wholesome contrast to the late hours of fashionable life, 
 where the example of Srnyndiris, the Sybarite, who for twenty 
 years never saw the sun rise or set, is very frequently 
 followed. Lastly, the mineral waters themselves are remedies 
 more powerful than any prepared by the apothecary in the 
 treatment of indigestion and hypochondriasis. 
 
 Most of the spas resorted to by dyspeptic invalids are saline 
 springs, of which Soden, Homburg, Wiesbaden, and Kissingen 
 are perhaps the most generally employed. Occasionally the 
 more stimulating and cathartic springs, such as Franzensbad, 
 Carlsbad, and Marienbad, exert a happy influence on derange- 
 ments of the liver connected with indigestion. Often, when 
 this is obviously dependent on nervous debility and weakness, 
 the chalybeate saline waters are indicated ; but so protean are 
 the forms of indigestion, that it would be impossible here to 
 enlarge on this topic, Whatever spa may be chosen, the 
 patient should be taught to depend more on his own self- 
 control than on the mineral water for his cure. 
 
142 GOUT AND ITS TREATMENT BY MINERAL WATERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 ON GOUT AND ITS TREATMENT BY MINERAL WATERS. 
 
 Although an elaborate disquisition on the gout would be 
 misplaced in a work of this kind, still a few preliminary 
 observations on the disease appear to me necessary for under- 
 standing the action of certain spas in its cure. 
 
 Formerly gout was deemed a sign of wealth, and even of 
 a vigorous intellect. Thus Sydenham remarks that " gout 
 destroys more rich than poor, and more wise men than fools." 
 Whatever may have been the case then, at present, however, 
 gout attacks rich and poor with impartiality ; and were it con- 
 fined to the wise alone, the fees of gouty patients would, I 
 fear, be considerably diminished. The fact is, that whenever 
 people of any class indulge largely in animal food and 
 fermented liquors, gout will prevail; though, of course, the 
 injuLy caused by the excessive use of azotized articles of diet 
 will be less in proportion to the amount of exercise or labour 
 performed. But though the gout may be produced or 
 engendered in almost any individual by certain habits of 
 living, more frequently it is the result of hereditary trans- 
 mission. A tendency to gout or the gouty diathesis, descends 
 for generations ; and the inheritor of these tendencies, unless 
 he use precautions very few submit to, when he attains 
 middle age, will experience the effects of his own and his 
 ancestors' indiscretions in a fit of the gout. 
 
GOUT AND ITS TREATMENT BY MINERAL WATERS. 143 
 
 An attack of regular gout is generally preceded by gastric 
 derangement, diminished excretions, languor, groundless de- 
 pression of spirits and great irritability of temper. When 
 such symptoms occur in a man of full habit of body, beyond 
 the middle age, and especially if he be of gouty parentage, 
 we may safely conclude that podagra will declare itself in a 
 few days. If nothing be done to stave off the approaching 
 seizure, after three or four days' slight indisposition the patient 
 may go to bed in his usual condition, and awake from a sound 
 sleep to suffer the torture of acute gout. For some nights 
 the pain and febrile disturbance recur, though with less 
 severity, the cuticle peels off, the urine becomes more copious, 
 depositing lithic salts, and the attack gradually wears away. 
 The interval which now elapses before the next seizure after a 
 first fit of gout will probably last a year, but becomes shorter 
 after each recurrence, until at last the invalid is hardly ever 
 free from the disease. 
 
 Besides what is known as the regular gout, the disease 
 in question plays a protean part in the chronic ailments of 
 the richer classes in this country. We meet every day 
 patients who have never complained of gout, but who in point 
 of fact are never free from that disease. These persons are, 
 for the most part, men of enfeebled constitution, of a sallow, 
 cachectic complexion, with a rough, dry skin, an irregular, 
 often feeble and compressible pulse, scanty excretions, variable 
 appetite, complaining of frequent heartburn and uneasiness in 
 the right hypochondrium, of irritable disposition, and despon- 
 dent temperament. In this gouty habit of body, mineral 
 waters offer the most appropriate remedy. 
 
 In every age satirists have found a subject for ridicule in 
 the multiplicity and uselessness of the remedies employed 
 for the treatment of gout. Ovid emphatically asserts that — 
 " Tollere nodosam nescit medicina podagram." 
 
144 GOUT AND ITS TREATMENT BY MINERAL WATERS. 
 
 Nor was .Fenton, who died himself from this disease, more 
 complimentary to the power of physic when, in his " Ode to 
 the Gout/' he addresses it as — 
 
 " Thou that dost iEsculapius deride, 
 And o'er his gally-pots in triumph ride." 
 
 Sydenham very tersely sums up all the remedies used for 
 gout in his day, and, though a hundred and eighty years have 
 elapsed since, his conclusion is still to some extent apposite. 
 He says — " In gout, too, but three methods have been proposed 
 for the ejection of the causa continens— -bleeding, purging, 
 sweating. Now none of these succeed." But during an 
 acute paroxysm of gout, it is seldom easy for the sufferer to 
 content himself with flannel and patience ; and, fortunately, 
 a great deal maybe done in most cases in the way of mitigat- 
 ing the pain, and expediting the recovery. Herein lies the 
 skill of the physician. The charlatan treats all cases alike, 
 and, as an old writer well expresses it, — " Sometimes he kills 
 the disease ; but more frequently he kills the patient." 
 
 We now come to the treatment of gout by mineral waters. 
 It is obvious, however, that this treatment can only be used 
 as a prophylactic, or in the intervals between the paroxysms. 
 By the proper use of mineral waters we open avenues 
 through the excretory organs for the elimination of those 
 principles whose presence in the blood gives rise to the 
 phenomena of gout. The secretions from the intestinal 
 mucous membrane, kidneys, and skin, are all augmented; 
 and through these channels the gout-producing lithates are 
 washed away. When the constitution is weakened, by 
 repeated seizures of gout, chalybeates are often required ; 
 and in such, cases the superiority of nature's pharmacy to that 
 of art is shown ; for oftentimes, when every preparation of 
 steel has been tried without benefit, some of the mild chaly- 
 
GOUT AND ITS TREATMENT BY MINERAL WATERS. 145 
 
 beate springs " work wonders," restoring tone and strength ; 
 and thus it is that Schwalbach, Spa, or Tunbridge Wells 
 prove useful, by giving strength to the system, to localise and 
 develop regular podagra, in the stead of that misplaced, atonic, 
 irregular, wandering form of gout now so prevalent. 
 
 The carbonated alkaline springs, such as Vichy, Bilin, 
 Fachingen, and Geilnau, are most commonly prescribed in the 
 intervals of regular gout. They correct the acidity of gouty 
 blood, rendering it and the urine alkaline, facilitate digestion, 
 and increase the secretions. The simple saline or muriated 
 saline springs are also largely employed in gouty cases, and 
 especially in gouty dyspepsia. They stimulate the appetite 
 and digestion, and thus improve the blood. Their effects 
 vary according to their temperature, some of them being cold 
 and others thermal. Homberg, Cheltenham, and Kissingen 
 belong to the former, and Wiesbaden, Baden-Baden, Soden, 
 and Cannstadt are examples of the latter. The saline alkali tie 
 spas, such as Carlsbad, Marienbad, and Franzensbad, are 
 occasionally useful in cases of irregular gouty disease in 
 persons of full plethoric habit. 
 
 Of the English spas resorted to by gouty sufferers, perhaps 
 the most generally applicable are the warm saline waters of 
 Bath ; next rank those of Buxton ; then the chalybeate-salines 
 of Cheltenham and Tunbridge Wells. 
 
 Whatever may be the mineral water selected in the treat- 
 ment of any case of gout, it should be borne in mind that its 
 curative influence must be aided by the same abstemious 
 and guarded mode of living which the patient would have 
 required had he been treated at home. 
 
 K 
 
146 MINERAL WATERS IN THE TREATMENT OF 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 ON MINERAL WATERS IN THE TREATMENT OF SOME OF THE 
 DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. 
 
 The importance of constitutional remedies, and the efficacy 
 of certain mineral waters in the cure of most of the diseases 
 peculiar to women, are subjects which I have elsewhere 
 discussed, and I now venture to reiterate very briefly my 
 views on these points. 
 
 Within a comparatively recent period the diseases and 
 displacements of the uterus have come to occupy the most 
 prominent place in the etiology of female diseases, and it 
 may be fairly asked, whether these complaints have really 
 become more common than was formerly the case ? Or, is it 
 merely the fashion of the present day to ascribe all obscure 
 female ailments to uterine causes ? Or, have these been 
 always as prevalent, though only now discovered by the 
 improved means of diagnosis furnished by modern gynaeco- 
 logical science ? 
 
 Uterine complaints are certainly more in vogue as well as 
 more easily diagnosed than was the case a few years ago. 
 But irrespective of this, however, they must also be admitted 
 to be more prevalent; owing, as I believe, mainly to the 
 increasing luxury of the present age, and the artificial habits 
 and conditions of modern life, producing gout, and, indirectly, 
 scrofula — the most frequent, although generally unrecognised, 
 causes of the diseases peculiar to females. 
 
DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. 147 
 
 Uterine specialists may be considered as followers of one or 
 other of three distinct schools of gynaecology. A few years 
 ago most of the diseases peculiar to women were commonly 
 attributed to inflammation of the cervix uteri; then newer 
 view r s as to the frequency and pathological importance of 
 ovarian disease in such cases prevailed; and, lastly, the 
 doctrine that these complaints are the result of displacements 
 and flexions of the uterus has come to be widely adopted as 
 the only sure foundation of uterine therapeutics ; 
 
 " For in physic, as in fashion, we find 
 The newest has always the run of mankind." 
 
 Each of these theories is undoubtedly applicable in many 
 
 instances, but neither of them holds that exclusive and 
 
 primary place in the causation of the diseases peculiar to 
 
 women which some writers insist on. 
 
 From my own experience, I would say that the most fre- 
 quent immediate cause of impaired female health is chronic 
 uterine, or utero-ovarian inflammation. Thus, rather more 
 than one-tenth of all the patients under my care at the Dis- 
 pensary for Diseases of Women suffered from endo-metritis 
 or cervicitis, and in private practice I have found the propor- 
 tion of these cases fully as large. The consequences of chronic 
 inflammation of the womb and its appendages are as important 
 as its frequency. In some instances chronic metritis occasions 
 hypertrophy and ulceration of the cervix and os uteri, vagin- 
 itis and leucorrhcea ; in others congestion and enlargement of 
 the fundus, eventually causing flexions and displacements of 
 the womb ; and in others again it extends to the ovaries, pro- 
 ducing menstrual irregularities, sterility, and hysteria in all 
 its forms. 
 
 Sterility almost always accompanies this disease, and as 
 long as it exists to any serious extent the patient must 
 remain barren. This fact, which I regard as one of great 
 
148 MINERAL WATERS IN THE TREATMENT OF 
 
 importance, is too generally ignored in practice. I have 
 known instances in which patients were subjected to very 
 heroic surgical treatment to overcome some supposed mechani- 
 cal obstacle to impregnation, and who nevertheless remained 
 childless, no attention having been paid to the true and most 
 frequent cause of sterility, namely, the existence of chronic 
 inflammation, on the subsequent cure of which pregnancy has 
 immediately followed. 
 
 Ovarian inflammation, manifested by soreness, tumefaction, 
 and occasionally burning pain in the ovarian region, is one of 
 the most common consequences and accompaniments of endo- 
 metritis. In these cases the inflammation extends from the 
 uterus, along the Fallopian tubes to the ovaries ; and hence 
 patients thus affected are sterile for the time being. 
 
 The treatment of the affections now under consideration is 
 still vague and unsatisfactory, generally extending over long 
 periods of time and often unrewarded by the -cure of these 
 diseases, their predisposing causes being, as I believe, over- 
 looked in practice. 
 
 Of the predisposing causes of chronic inflammation of 
 the uterus, by far the most frequent is the scrofulous diathesis. 
 Some years ago I observed, and called attention to the 
 fact, that a large proportion of the patients attending the 
 Dispensary for Diseases of Women were of a well-marked 
 strumous habit of body, or actually suffered from glandular 
 or cutaneous scrofulous affections. In such cases uterine 
 complaints are necessarily impressed with the constitutional 
 taint. 
 
 Women are supposed to be in a great measure exempt from 
 gout. This opinion is certainly unfounded with regard to 
 anomalous gout, which attacks women quite as much as men ; 
 and, in the former, affects the uterus as commonly as regular 
 gout does the joints in the latter. There is no reason why 
 
DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. 149 
 
 the gouty diathesis should be confined to men. Gouty 
 parents generate female as well as male children; any 
 hereditary disposition must be shared in by both alike, and 
 the exciting causes of the disease are obviously not limited 
 to either sex. 
 
 Many of the symptoms which Gooch described under the 
 name of irritable uterus, and which modern gynaecologists 
 have transferred to the account of displacements of that organ, 
 are oftentimes produced by gout, and may occur independently 
 of any mechanical cause, though they may also coexist with it. 
 Thus, in a paper on this subject, which I published some time 
 ago in the Lancet, I instanced the case of a widow lady, aged 
 about thirty, who had for years been suffering from lumbar and 
 pelvic pain, extending down the left thigh, and accompanied 
 with lameness, dysuria, and slight uterine catarrh. The cervix 
 uteri was congested and the os patulous, the sound penetrated 
 five inches, and the fundus was tilted backwards. Before she 
 consulted me she had been treated by others for retroversion by 
 mechanical expedients only, and for a long time I did the 
 same. Every pessary, — and the number was almost countless 
 that I tried, — however well it mighb fit, was practically useless: 
 before a week's time she would limp into ray study in as bad 
 a plight as ever. I need not go through the details of the case 
 further than to add, that I learned at last that she inherited 
 gout, and, on examining, found her urine laden with uric acid. 
 She was then treated by alkaline remedies and colchicum, 
 and sent to Vichy, whence she returned with all the symp- 
 toms relieved, and, though yet necessitated to wear a Hodge's 
 pessary, is practically free from any discomfort. 
 
 With regard to active local treatment in ordinary cases of 
 chronic inflammation and simple ulceration of the os and 
 cervix uteri, Talleyrand's advice might be advantageously 
 adopted by gynaecologists — " Surtout point de zele." If we 
 
150 MINERAL WATERS IN THE TREATMENT OF 
 
 trusted more to constitutional remedies, and above all to the 
 judicious employment of certain mineral waters, in such cases, 
 I verily believe that in many instances our patients would 
 get well sooner than they do, when the local irritation is 
 increased secundum artem, by frequent examinations and the 
 repeated application of escharotics. 
 
 In considering the uses of mineral waters in cases of 
 impaired health connected with chronic inflammation of the 
 uterus and its appendages, we should in the first place 
 recognise the fact that local treatment, although not to be 
 neglected, should be subordinate to the cure of the consti- 
 tutional disease which is the remote, and too commonly 
 the undetected, cause of the local complaint. Thus, in 
 scrofulous or gouty uterine disease, the faulty state of the 
 blood should be corrected by alteratives and tonics, or by 
 antacids, and above all by the natural chalybeate and iodated 
 mineral waters, or by the alkaline carbonated spas, as the 
 case may be. 
 
 Hysteria in some form is generally associated with chronic 
 uterine disease, and this underlies and complicates most of 
 the symptoms for which gynaecologists are consulted. Coun- 
 terfeiting every malady, acting through and upon the nervous 
 system, attended with groundless apprehension, depression of 
 spirits, and morbid irritability of temper, oftentimes rendering 
 the patient herself as miserable as she renders those about her, 
 this disease is closely allied to that graver nervous lesion 
 which constitutes insanity, and, if unchecked, may pass into 
 it. Local treatment, except to rectify some displacement 
 or subdue well-marked ovarian or uterine inflammation, is 
 of little utility in such cases ; nor are the tonics and anti- 
 spasmodics -usually relied on, comparable in their thera- 
 peutical effects in restoring a hysterical woman to the Mens 
 sana in corpore sano, to the saline chalybeate waters, such as 
 
DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. 151 
 
 Ems, Schwalbach, or Spa, provided these be used at their 
 source. 
 
 The use of a remote spa in these cases is something be- 
 yond the benefit to be derived from the mineral water. 
 The functions of the liver and bowels, commonly torpid in 
 hysterical women, are stimulated by the change of living, and 
 a sedative effect is generally produced on the hypersesthetic 
 condition of the patient. The changes and incidents of the 
 journey suggest new ideas, by which the patient's mind is 
 diverted from that morbid concentration on her ailment which 
 characterises hysteric disease. 
 
 Amongst the mineral waters that may be employed in the 
 treatment of chronic uterine complaints, the iodated and 
 bromated saline springs, such as Wildegg, Woodhall-Spa, 
 Kreuznach, Adelheidsquelle, Hall, and Salzhausen, deservedly 
 hold the foremost place. These waters act as special stimu- 
 lants to the mucous membranes and glandular system, pro- 
 mote absorption, occasion ptyalism and diuresis, quicken the 
 appetite, and produce the resolution of glandular enlarge- 
 ments. Hence their singular efficacy in the treatment of the 
 diseases of women produced by chronic uterine enlargements 
 and hypertrophy, the result of congestion or chronic inflam- 
 mation of the womb ; and especially in these cases of sterility 
 which are supposed to be occasioned by hypertrophy of the 
 cervix uteri. 
 
 The second class of mineral waters applicable to the treat- 
 ment of the chronic uterine diseases now under consideration 
 are the chalybeates, both simple and saline. The former are 
 those most resorted to by sufferers from chronic diseases of 
 the womb, and are especially adapted for the treatment of 
 chronic ulceration of the cervix uteri and uterine or vaginal 
 leucorrhcea, associated with anaemia, as well as in the consti- 
 tutional debility and loss of tone so frequently produced by, 
 
152 MINERAL WATERS IN THE TREATMENT OF 
 
 as well as conducive of, uterine irritation, [inflammation, 
 congestion, or ulceration. Chalybeate spas also exercise a 
 marked curative action in cases of hysteria dependent on 
 these causes, as well as in certain instances of sterility. The 
 principal simple chalybeate waters suitable for such cases on 
 the Continent are Spa, Pyrmount, Briichenau, Schwalbach, 
 and Driburg. 
 
 The saline chalybeate springs may also be used in various 
 forms of chronic uterine disease producing anaemia and com- 
 plicated with abdominal andother enlargements, and, accord- 
 ing to my experience, are particularly serviceable in the 
 uterine disorders so commonly caused in European women 
 by tropical climates, and especially by long residence in 
 India. These springs generally contain the salts of soda in 
 combination with iron, and amongst them those most suitable 
 for the cases we are now considering are the Stahlbrunnen of 
 Homburg, Franzensbad, Booklet, and at home, Tunbridge 
 Wells and Cheltenham. 
 
 Sulphurous mineral waters are the third class which I 
 regard as applicable for the treatment of the uterine diseases 
 above referred to. Thermal sulphurous spas being strongly 
 stimulating, can only be used in cases where the patient's 
 constitutional state is not plethoric, and where there is no 
 clanger of enkindling latent inflammation, and thus converting 
 a chronic into an acute disease. The warm sulphurous springs 
 that are available for the treatment of chronic inflammation of 
 the womb are Schinznach in Switzerland, Baden on the 
 Limmat, Aix-les-Bains, Eaux-Bonnes, and Amelie-les-Bains. 
 Cold sulphurous waters, such as Lisdoonvarna, Harrowgate, 
 Enghein-les-Bains, and Plombiers, may also and with greater 
 safety be employed in some cases of chronic uterine inflam- 
 mation. 
 
 Whenever uterine and ovarian dysmenorrhcea, pain, or 
 
DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. 153 
 
 any other evidence of inflammation is present, ■ there are no 
 remedies of such universal applicability as the chemically 
 indifferent thermal baths, such as those of Pfeffers, Schlan- 
 genbad, Gastein, Wildbad, and Chaudfontaine, all of which 
 exercise a powerful sedative effect on the nervous and 
 vascular systems, and are especially suitable for cases of 
 uterine disease associated with hyperesthesia and hysteria, 
 or abnormal nervous susceptibility. Besides these, the ther- 
 mal arseniated waters of Mont Dore and St Nectaire, both in 
 the volcanic district of Auvergne, may be used in uterine 
 disorders of scrofulous or neuralgic origin. The warm mineral 
 waters of St Sauveur, in the Eastern Pyrenees, which, in 
 addition to their high temperature, contain a large amount 
 of the peculiar pseudo-organic unctuous substance termed 
 " glairine " or " baregine," have a great and, I believe, well- 
 merited reputation in France in the treatment of scrofulous, 
 rheumatic, and neuralgic affections, as well as in hysteria, 
 leucorrhcea, and other complaints peculiar to women, resulting 
 from chronic uterine disease. 
 
 It can hardly be necessary for me to observe that, although 
 I attach so much importance to the constitutional treatment 
 of uterine maladies, which, I believe, is too generally over- 
 looked at the present day, I am by no means insensible of 
 the equal importance of conjoining efficient local treatment 
 with the constitutional remedies indicated in such cases. 
 
154 CHAUDFONTAINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 CHAUDFONTAINE. 
 
 The first Belgian spa on the route from England to the Bhine 
 is Chaudfontaine, and if facility of access, beauty of situation, 
 and convenience of living were the chief recommendations for 
 a watering-place, then should Chaudfontaine be among the 
 most frequented spas of Europe. 
 
 Chaudfontaine may be easily reached in fourteen hours from 
 London ; but I should myself be very loathe to travel with 
 the man who on any but the most urgent necessity would 
 thus rush through Belgium, of which the majority of health 
 travellers, armed with through tickets from Victoria or 
 Charing Cross to Homberg, or whatever German spa they 
 intend to visit, now generally see little or nothing. For my 
 own part, I love to loiter along the ancient streets of Bruges 
 or Ghent, or, losing my way in the quaint winding thorough- 
 fares of Antwerp, to stray through its glorious cathedral and 
 churches. Therefore I confess that I cannot relish being shot 
 by express train from country to country in the cannon-ball 
 fashion of travelling now so much in vogue, and more 
 particularly through a country like Belgium, where every 
 town — nay, every village — presents remains of historic interest 
 that can be found in no other part in Europe. 
 
 Within a quarter of an hour's journey of Liege, in the 
 valley of the Vesdre, surrounded by beautifully wooded hills, is 
 
CHAUDFONTAINE. 155 
 
 the village of Chaudfontaine, consisting of a long straggling 
 street of small hotels and lodging-houses. Immediately 
 opposite to the railway station is the thermal spring, bath- 
 house, and assembly rooms. This source belongs to the class 
 of chemically indifferent springs, owing its effects chiefly to 
 its temperature, which is 92° ; the saline ingredients contained 
 in a pint of the water being but a grain and a half of common 
 salt, and rather less carbonate of lime. 
 
 The physiological effect of the Chaudfontaine baths is 
 sedative. The duration of these baths should not exceed 
 twenty minutes, and they are principally employed in cases of 
 neuralgia, chronic rheumatism, and contractions of the joints 
 from this cause. I can also recommend their use in some of 
 the diseases peculiar to women depending on uterine or 
 ovarian hyperesthesia, congestion or chronic inflammation, 
 and more especially in some forms of painful and imperfect 
 menstruation. The internal use of this water is also resorted 
 to as an adjuvant to the baths, which are contra-indicated in 
 all cases in which any tendency to haemorrhage exists. 
 
 One great defect in these bath-rooms is their imperfect 
 ventilation, so that they become filled with steam which, con- 
 densing on the walls, runs down in a stream on the bather's 
 garments. The season commences in May, but the most 
 crowded month in Chaudfontaine is July. 
 
156 spa. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 SPA. 
 
 Of all the foreign chalybeate mineral waters resorted to by 
 English valetudinarians, the most accessible as well as some 
 of the most efficacious are those of Spa. This watering- 
 place, which is separated from London by only sixteen hours 
 of easy journey, is charmingly situated in a valley in the 
 Ardennes Hills, by which it is sheltered from northerly and 
 easterly winds. The town itself is merely an aggregation of 
 hotels and lodging-houses, together with a few shops, as the 
 resident population is barely four thousand people, who 
 contrive to live by supplying the wants of the thirty thousand 
 visitors who annually drink these waters. 
 
 Spa is one of the most enjoyable watering-places on the 
 Continent. The beauty of the surrounding scenery and the 
 many easy and picturesque walks and drives in the imme- 
 diate vicinity render this place peculiarly adapted for 
 hypochondriacal and dyspeptic valetudinarians ; whilst those 
 who do not consider open air exercise in a fine climate and 
 amidst beautiful scenery a sufficient enjoyment, will find in 
 Spa a theatre open on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, a 
 public ball on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a concert on 
 Mondays and Fridays, during the season. 
 
 The living at the hotels — of which there are some twenty- 
 four — is better than at most of the Continental watering- 
 
SPA. 
 
 157 
 
 places. The small mutton of the Ardennes is equal to the 
 Welsh, and the neighbouring streams furnish an abundant 
 supply of excellent trout, carp, and roach. 
 
 The season lasts from the first of May until the end of 
 September, when the weather generally becomes cold and 
 broken. 
 
 The Spa waters are powerful chalybeates containing, in 
 addition to the carbonate of the protoxide of iron, a large 
 volume of free carbonic acid gas. Hence their action, not 
 only tonic but stimulant, and their use in the treatment of 
 almost all chronic diseases of an anaemic character in 
 which chalybeates are indicated. 
 
 Analysis of the principal Mineral Springs of Spa. 
 
 Sources. 
 
 d 
 
 2 
 
 33 
 P< 
 S 
 
 G c3 " 
 
 *!§ 
 
 T3 .— - 3 
 
 «4-< 0> 
 
 a x rZ 
 
 trig 
 
 o 
 
 11 
 
 e3 
 
 o 
 
 s s 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 Is 
 
 J33P 
 
 E3^ 
 
 03 
 
 
 H 
 
 ^o 
 
 
 o-S 
 
 o 
 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 
 Pouhon, 
 
 50 
 
 21 
 
 3-37 
 
 0-87 
 
 075 
 
 0-20 
 
 0-90 
 
 0-31 
 
 0-28 
 
 Geronstere, 
 
 49 
 
 14 
 
 1-65 
 
 0-45 
 
 0-33 
 
 0-09 
 
 0-45 
 
 0-16 
 
 o-io 
 
 Sauveniere, 
 
 49 
 
 20 
 
 1-70 
 
 0-43 
 
 0-22 
 
 0-06 
 
 0-30 
 
 o-io 
 
 0-07 
 
 1st Tonnelet, . 
 
 49 
 
 22 
 
 0-96 
 
 0-39 
 
 0-15 
 
 0.04 
 
 0'21 
 
 0-08 
 
 0-04 
 
 2d Tonnelet, . 
 
 
 19 
 
 0-58 
 
 0-25 
 
 0-12 
 
 o-oi 
 
 0-08 
 
 0-06 
 
 0'02 
 
 Groesbeck, 
 
 
 21 
 
 0-83 
 
 0-24 
 
 0-16 
 
 0-04 
 
 0.22 
 
 0-08 
 
 0-04 
 
 The Pouhon, which is the mineral source par excellence of 
 Spa, as it contains twice as much saline ingredients as any of 
 the other springs, and is the only one exported, is situated in 
 the centre of the town. It rises through a handsome marble 
 basin, around which each morning a crowd of valetudinarians 
 congregate, struggling to reach the presiding Naiades, two 
 ancient females who deal out the water in exchange for a 
 few sous. The spring issues from a soft ferruginous slaty 
 rock ; is clear and sparkling, and though chalybeate is 
 decidedly piquant and agreeable in taste. 
 
 Besides cases of simple amenorrhcea connected with anaemia 
 
158 spa. 
 
 and chlorosis, the Pouhon may be used by patients whose eon-' 
 valescenee after childbirth has been slow and imperfect. 
 This spring is especially recommended by Dr Sutro "in 
 obstructed portal circulation, in deficient bilification, in con- 
 gested liver and spleen, following intermittent fever ; also in 
 flatulency, digestive weakness and acidity, tendency to 
 diarrhoea and passive haemorrhage."* It is also occasionally 
 employed in cases of dropsy supervening on acute diseases, 
 and it was in this malady that Peter the Great, a pompous 
 inscription to whose memory adorns the " Temple de Pouhon," 
 found the Spa waters so efficacious. 
 
 A mile and a half distant from the town is the source de 
 Barisart. This spring, though weaker than the Pouhon in 
 saline constituents, contains a larger volume of carbonic acid 
 gas, and may be prescribed with greater advantage in some 
 instances of extreme debility after recovery from fever, and in 
 certain cases of hepatic obstruction and also in uterine catarrh, 
 resulting from chronic endo-metritis of scrofulous origin. 
 
 One of the most interesting sources of this watering-place, 
 at least to gynaecologists, is the Sauveniere, which is situated 
 about half a league to the south-east of Spa. The Sauveniere 
 water is saline, ferruginous, and acidulated. It is very sparkling, 
 containing nearly twice as much carbonic acid gas as the 
 Pouhon. The chief use made of the Sauveniere is in treat- 
 ment of sterility in anaemic women, who frequently derive 
 extraordinary benefit from this water, By the side of the well 
 is the form of a shoe deeply engraved in the rock, and tradition 
 asserts, and ladies believe, that whoever quaffs a glass of the 
 Sauveniere standing, with her right foot in the " pied de St 
 Eemacle," will within the year augment the population. 
 
 A few yards from the Sauveniere is the Groesbeck spring, 
 
 * " Lectures on the German Mineral Waters," by Siguismnnd Sutro, M.D., 
 p. 327. 
 
spa. 159 
 
 so named from some Baron de Groesbeck, who, very wisely 
 foreseeing that posterity might otherwise ignore his exist- 
 ence, in 1771 put a tablet over the fountain, commenting 
 on its virtues and his own. This water is lass ferruginous 
 and saline, though more gaseous, than any of the other springs. 
 
 The last of these mineral sources that I visited were the 
 three Tonnelets, so named from the wooden receptacles in 
 which the water was originally collected. 
 
 The " Tonnelets " are by far the most agreeable of the Spa 
 waters, and one of them was not inaptly described by an old 
 writer as being — " most grateful, subacid, vinous, smart, and 
 sprightly, not unlike the briskest champagne wine, imparting 
 exceedingly little, if any, vitriolic or ferruginous taste. Being- 
 drank, it generally sits lightly and agreeably on the stomach, 
 and though exceedingly cold, it warms, cheers, and invigorates."* 
 
 * "An Essay on Waters," by C. Lucas, M.D. of Dublin, vol. ii. p. 199, 
 London, 1756. 
 
160 AJX-LA-CHAPELLE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 AIX-LA-CHAPELLE AND BORCETTE. 
 
 Interesting as are the reminiscences attaching to Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, a very brief notice will suffice of this place as a 
 modern spa. 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen, is situated some thirty miles to 
 the south of Spa, at the foot of a range of well-wooded hills of 
 no great height. Like most of the watering-places, Aachen 
 consists of an old town immediately around the wells, and a 
 modern suburb in which the invalid visitors pitch their 
 quarters, as far away as the extent of the place will allow of 
 from the waters they have come to make use of. This latter 
 portion occupies the upper part of the town on the Borcette 
 or south side, extending from the theatre to the railway 
 station ; and in it the streets are wide, clean, rectangular, dull, 
 and uninteresting. 
 
 The springs are divided into upper and lower, of which the 
 former are the hottest. The " Elisenbrunnen " is situated 
 midway between the old and new town, close to the theatre, 
 and issues forth under a handsome colonnade, where the water 
 drinkers promenade, in the intervals between their potations, 
 from five until eight o'clock in the morning, and again in 
 the afternoon. 
 
 I am indebted to my friend Dr Velten for the following 
 tables, which show that, in addition to the substances pre- 
 
AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 
 
 161 
 
 viously found in them, these springs contain iron, potassa, 
 iodine, and bromine. 
 
 Composition of the Aix-la- Chap elle Sulphur Waters. 
 
 Not Volatile Ingredients. 
 
 Emperor's 
 Spring. 
 
 Cornelius 
 Spring. 
 
 Rose 
 Spring. 
 
 Quirinus 
 Spring. 
 
 Chloride of sodium, . 
 Bromide of sodium, . 
 Iodide of sodium, 
 Sulphuret of sodium, 
 Carbonate of soda, . 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 Sulphate of potassa, 
 Carbonate of lime, . 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 Carbonate of iron, 
 Silica, 
 
 Organic substance, . 
 Carbonate of lithia, . 
 Carbonate of Strontian, 
 
 
 
 2-63940 
 0-00860 
 0-00051 
 0-00958 
 0-65040 
 0-28272 
 0-15445 
 0-15851 
 0-053 47 
 0-00955 
 0-06611 
 0-07517 
 0-00029 
 0-00022 
 
 2-46510 
 0-00360 
 0-00048 
 0-00544 
 0-49701 
 0-28664 
 0-15663 
 0-13178 
 0-02493 
 0-00597 
 0-05971 
 0-09279 
 0-00029 
 0-00019 
 
 2-54588 
 0-00360 
 0-00049 
 0-00747 
 0-52926 
 0-28225 
 0-15400 
 0-18394 
 0-02652 
 0-00597 
 0-05930 
 0-09151 
 0-00029 
 0-00027 
 
 2-59595 
 0-00360 
 0-00051 
 0-00234 
 0-55267 
 0-29202 
 0-15160 
 0-17180 
 0-03346 
 0-00525 
 0-06204 
 0-09783 
 0-00029 
 0-00025 
 
 Sum of the non-volatile co] 
 
 itents 
 
 
 4-10190 
 
 3-73056 
 
 3-89075 
 
 3-96968 
 
 The medicinal effects of these waters depends, however, in a 
 great measure, on the amount of sulphuretted hydrogen gas 
 they contain, and which is here combined with a larger 
 amount of nitrogen than in any other European sulphurous 
 sources. From the preceding table we learn that there is no 
 real difference between the springs, which only vary in 
 temperature according to their position with respect to their 
 common source. 
 
 There is a chalybeate spa in the Theater Strasse, with a 
 bathing establishment attached to it, the water of which is 
 cold, and is said to contain half a grain of iron to the pint ; 
 but the resident physician with whom I visited the springs of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle attached little therapeutic importance to this 
 source, which some consider as fictitious. 
 
 The mineral waters of Aix-la-Chapelle, though decidedly 
 sulphurous, are seldom rejected by even the most fastidious 
 stomach. Nay, strange as it seems that a fluid whose flavour 
 is that of the washings of a dirty gun-barrel should ever be 
 
 L 
 
162 AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 
 
 palatable, I observed that after the first day or two the 
 majority of the water drinkers at the Elisenquelle appeared 
 positively to enjoy their matutinal potations. 
 
 The action of this spa is that of a stimulant, operating 
 principally on the kidneys and skin. This determination to 
 the surface and renal organs explains the efficacy of the water 
 in many cutaneous diseases, glandular enlargements, biliary 
 obstructions, atonic dyspepsia, renal complaints, uterine 
 derangements, impaired health from metallic poisoning by 
 mercury or lead, and in cases of lurking constitutional 
 syphilis. The mineral waters of Aix-la-Chapelle are also 
 prescribed in cases of chronic rheumatic-arthritis, rheumatism, 
 and sciatica; and Dr Velten informs. me that he has seen 
 benefit derived from their use in some forms of chronic 
 bronchitis and catarrh. 
 
 Fully two-thirds of the invalid visitors to Aachen, as far 
 as I could judge, suffer from cutaneous eruptions, or from 
 chronic rheumatism. In these diseases the internal use of 
 the water is combined with baths, which, indeed, are the chief 
 part of the treatment here. The principal baths are the 
 " Bains de la Eose," in the Comphausbad Strasse, which are 
 supplied from the lower source, and are well arranged and 
 comfortable. The douche is peculiar; the attendant enters 
 the water with the bather, and turns on the full force of the 
 hot steam, through the hose, on the affected parts, kneading 
 and rubbing them diligently with his disengaged hand at the 
 same time. The temperature of these baths is 116°. 
 
 The course of the Aachen baths and waters is usually six 
 weeks, and few can continue it longer, as the effect is so 
 debilitating that most patients can only use the douche twice a 
 week, and, at the end of a course, even when cured of their 
 original complaint, generally require a short course of some 
 chalybeate water. 
 
BORCETTE. 163 
 
 Before leaving Aix-la-Chapelle we visited the neighbouring 
 springs of Borcette, or Burtscheid. This is a suburb of Aix, 
 from which it is separated by the viaduct of the railway, and 
 is a very quaint-looking old town, divided into an upper and 
 lower quarter, consisting for the most part of dwellings of the 
 poorer class, with the exception of eight or ten large bath- 
 houses, a few hotels, and an ancient monastery of the ninth 
 century, now the parish church, on the hill above the town. 
 That we were in a place rich in thermal springs was evident 
 the moment we entered Borcette, as through almost every 
 street ran a river of hot mineral water. 
 
 The mineral springs of Borcette are divided into sulphurous 
 and saline. The sources in the upper quarter of the town 
 are distinguished from the lower springs, as well as from 
 those of Aachan, by not containing either sulphate of soda 
 or sulphuretted hydrogen gas. Of the sulphurous waters 
 of Borcette, the most important is the Trinkquelle. The tem- 
 perature of this spring is 138°, and it contains 30 grains 
 of saline ingredients to the pint, 20 grains of which is 
 chloride of sodium, 2 grains sulphate of soda, and 6 grains 
 of carbonate of soda. 
 
 Amongst the non-sulphurous sources that most generally 
 used is the Kochbrunnen, the temperature of which is 150°, 
 and its chief saline constituents carbonate and sulphate of 
 soda and chloride of sodium. 
 
 The waters of Borcette, which are warmer than any of 
 those of Aix, are employed internally and externally, and are 
 prescribed in cutaneous diseases — in dyspepsia and hepatic 
 complaints, and in calculous affections. Moreover, the local 
 physicians say they are applicable in some cases of scrofula, 
 gout, and rheumatism. They are annually resorted to by close 
 on twelve thousand visitors, chiefly Germans and French, this 
 place being a much cheaper residence than Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 
164 EMS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 EMS. 
 
 The route from Aix-la-Chapelle to the next spa on our list 
 led us through Cologne and along the Rhine, as far as 
 Oberlandstein, whence twenty minutes' journey by train 
 brought us to Ems. This town which, with the exception of 
 Carlsbad, is the most aristocratic watering-place in Europe, is 
 situated on the right bank of the Lahn, and is divided into 
 " Bad-Ems," the quarter around the springs, and " Dorf-Ems," 
 the adjoining suburb. Bad-Ems consists of a row of houses 
 built in crescent shape, between the river and the precipitous 
 hills, which rise immediately behind it, and is connected with 
 the railway station by a handsome bridge. Opposite to this 
 is the chief drinking spring and the cursaal, forming the 
 extremity of the new quarter, from which an avenue of hotels 
 and lodging-houses, fully a mile long, extends to Dorf-Ems, or 
 the old village. 
 
 There are no less than twenty-five saline chalybeate springs 
 here, of which, however, only three are used internally. 
 
 The Ems waters are strongly alkaline, clear and sparkling, 
 and vary in their temperature from 118° to 83°. In taste, the 
 hotter sources, to some extent, have the peculiar "chicken 
 broth flavour " of the Kochbrunnen of Wiesbaden, conjoined 
 with a slightly chalybeate taste. 
 
EMS. 
 
 165 
 
 Composition of the jpr 
 
 incipal Mineral Springs of Ems. 
 
 
 Kesselbrunnen. 
 
 Krah nchen. 
 
 Furstenbrunnen. 
 
 Temperature, 
 
 116° 
 
 90° 
 
 96° 
 
 Carbonic acid, 
 
 16-4480 
 
 26-8160 
 
 15-6760 
 
 Carbonate of soda, 
 
 14-7418 
 
 12-6108 
 
 16-5526 
 
 Carbonate of strontia, . 
 
 trace. 
 
 trace. 
 
 trace. 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 1-4474 
 
 1-4400 
 
 1-5263 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 0-3200 
 
 0-4975 
 
 0-6206 
 
 Carbonate of protoxide of iron 
 
 0-0576 
 
 0-0096 
 
 0-0195 
 
 Oxide of manganese, 
 
 trace. 
 
 trace. 
 
 trace. 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 0-3538 
 
 0-3981 
 
 0-3678 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 
 7-0216 
 
 6-3349 
 
 5-8335 
 
 Chloride of magnesia, . 
 
 0-3318 
 
 0-3758 
 
 0-5248 
 
 The springs of Ems, being alkaline, saline, and alterative, 
 are principally suited for cases requiring a mild, anti-acid 
 aperient, increasing the secretions and improving the appetite. 
 They are applicable in some chronic uterine ailments, and 
 nervous diseases arising from these causes in females. They 
 are, moreover, strongly recommended in aphonia, hooping- 
 cough, dyspepsia, and many other complaints. 
 
 By some writers these waters have been advised in the 
 treatment of chronic bronchitis, senile catarrh, the early stages 
 of consumption, and "debility of the chest." As I do not 
 understand the meaning of the latter term, I shall express no 
 opinion on it. But with regard to the statement which 
 appears in several books, English as well as foreign, on this 
 subject, that cases of consumption may be benefited by the 
 mineral springs of Ems, I must express my doubt that any 
 case of phthisis is curable by any mineral water whatever. 
 
166 SCHWALBACH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 SCHWALBACH AND SCHLANGENBAD. 
 
 From Wiesbaden, Schwalbach may be reached in a couple of 
 hours by diligence, or by the Rhine steamers to Eltville, and 
 thence by coach, in the same time. On my arrival at 
 Schwalbach by the latter route, alighting at the JSTassauer 
 Hoff, I proceeded to call on the principal physician of the 
 town, to whom I had a letter of introduction. Before 
 accompanying Dr Genth, however, through the springs and 
 baths, a brief coup oVaiil over the town will not be misplaced. 
 
 Langen-Schwalbach is said to have been the favourite 
 watering-place of the Roman legions stationed in Gaul. But 
 it was almost unknown by English valetudinarians until 
 forty-five years ago, when Sir Erancis Head published his 
 " Bubbles from the Brunnens," and such was the effect of his 
 panegyric, that the hotels of Schwalbach are now crowded 
 with English and American visitors during the season. 
 
 The town itself contains between two and three thousand 
 resident inhabitants, and is situated in a little valley sunk 
 between the lofty hills which form the table-land of the 
 Taunus range. The name " Langen " is well applied, for the 
 entire place consists of a long straggling street, expanding 
 near the centre into a \kind of open crescent, with two short 
 diverging streets, the whole being built somewhat in the shape 
 of a capital Y. 
 
 In the way of amusements Schwalbach has not much to 
 
SCHWALBACH. 167 
 
 boast of ; excellent bands play at stated hours in the Allee ; 
 there is a pretty park and miniature lake, reading and billiard 
 rooms in the village, and charming walks and drives in the 
 vicinity, et voila tout. 
 
 The principal mineral springs of Schwalbach are the 
 " Weinbrunnen," the " Stahlbrunnen," and the " Paulinen- 
 brunnen." 
 
 The Weinbrunnen is agreeable, piquant, and ferruginous 
 in taste. This source was first brought into vogue by Dr 
 Theodore of Worms, who in 1581 extolled its use as a remedy 
 for the unpleasant feelings experienced the morning after an 
 extra cup of wine, and hence is derived its name. 
 
 The Weinbrunnen is considerably stronger in iron than 
 either the Stahl or Paulinenbrunnen, but containing less 
 carbonic acid gas is less exciting, and agrees better with some 
 constitutions than the other sources. 
 
 The Stahlbrunnen, which is situated at the extremity of a 
 shady promenade, — the Allee, — is very similar to the Wein- 
 brunnen, but is still more gaseous. The temperature of the 
 water is 50°, or 1° higher than the last spring. 
 
 From the Stahlbrunnen a very pretty walk through the 
 Allee, over which the foliage formed a complete arch the 
 entire way, brought us to the Paulinenbrunnen, of which every 
 reader of the " Bubbles from the Brunnen " will recollect Sir 
 Francis Head's glowing description; but were Sir Francis 
 now to revisit his favourite spring, he would hardly recognise 
 in it his own picture. For ever since Dr Fenner's death, 
 some years agD, the Paulinen has been declining in favour, and 
 is now comparatively disused. Its temperature is 2° lowei 
 than the Stahlbrunnen. Being the mildest of the springs, it 
 agrees in some cases in which the stronger waters of the Wein 
 or Stahlbrunnen would not be tolerated. 
 
 In nearly all cases in which a ferruginous water is 
 
168 
 
 SCHWALBACH. 
 
 required, the springs of Schwalbach have been recommended, 
 and there is no Continental chalybeate spa more resorted to 
 by English invalids. 
 
 In the following table I have nearly followed Dr Sigismund 
 Sutro's analysis of the 
 
 Composition of the Schwalbach Mineral Sources. 
 
 Contents. 
 
 
 Wein- 
 
 Stahl- 
 
 Paulinen- 
 
 Rosen- 
 
 
 brunnen. 
 
 brunnen. 
 
 brunnen. 
 
 brunnen. 
 
 iron, . 
 
 0-83 
 
 075 
 
 0-65 
 
 0-91 
 
 
 211 
 
 1-45 
 
 2-95 
 
 2-95 
 
 
 3-12 
 
 0-88 
 
 2-75 
 
 0-98 
 
 
 0-17 
 
 0-25 
 
 0'45 
 
 0-35 
 
 
 0-18 
 
 0-34 
 
 0-03 
 
 32 
 
 
 0-16 
 
 0-21 
 
 0-02 
 
 
 
 6-59 
 
 3-83 
 
 6-86 
 
 5-51 
 
 
 26 cub. in. 
 
 28 cub. in. 
 
 39ijcub.in. 
 
 26 cub. in. 
 
 Carbonate of protoxide of 
 
 Carbonate of lime, . 
 ,, ,, magnesia, 
 ,, ,, soda, . 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 Total solid contents, 
 Carbonic acid gas, 
 
 Three-fourths of the invalid visitors to Schwalbach suffer 
 from some form of anaemia, amongst whom may be found a 
 great many ladies labouring under chlorosis, or whose ailment 
 is weakness and want of tone, following a London season, and 
 for such patients the quiet of Schwalbach is perhaps not less 
 useful than its chalybeate springs. In the debility following 
 convalescence from severe and exhausting maladies, and in 
 the weakness resulting from long-protracted nursing, the 
 Paulinen or Weinbrunnen, sometimes even diluted, are often 
 serviceable. Nearly all authorities on the subject speak of 
 the powerful action of this spa in certain forms of functional 
 derangement of the female system, and my own experience in 
 several instances leads me to share this opinion. 
 
 In chronic indigestion, consequent loss of flesh, and consti- 
 pation, depending on a relaxed and torpid condition of the 
 mucous membrane of the stomach and alimentary canal, 
 which the drastic remedies, that many people take habitually, 
 can only aggravate — a visit to Schwalbach may be prescribed. 
 
SCHLANGENBAD. 169 
 
 These waters should be taken fasting, in doses of from half 
 a glass to two small glasses twice a day, and should be 
 followed by a brisk walk. Their use would prove highly 
 dangerous in cases of hemorrhagic or organic disease of the 
 lungs, heart, or kidneys. 
 
 Schlangenbad lies six miles from Wiesbaden, midway be- 
 tween Eltville and the spa I have just described, in a valley 
 almost hidden amongst thickly-wooded hills. It can hardly 
 be called even a village, for it consists merely of a few bath- 
 houses, hotels, and some twenty or thirty large barrack-like 
 lodging-houses, irregularly scattered through the little valley. 
 Being situated on the south-western slope of the Taunus 
 range, and well protected from harsh winds by the hills, it 
 enjoys a more genial climate than Schwalbach. There is in 
 Schlangenbad a kind of " Sleepy-Hollow " atmosphere, which, 
 irksome and even injurious as it would prove to many, must, 
 I am sure, be most useful in some cases of nervous irritability 
 and excitement, resulting from extreme mental tension and 
 over attention to any absorbing pursuit in busy civic life. 
 
 Apart from this placid tranquillity, this dolce far niente 
 existence, there is little or no attraction in Schlangenbad for 
 any but real valetudinarians. For, beautiful as is the scenery, 
 and interesting as are the excursions in its vicinity, they are 
 almost equally accessible from Schwalbach or Wiesbaden. 
 
 The waters of Schlangenbad belong to the same class of 
 mineral springs as those of Pfeffers and Wildbad, being, 
 however, stronger than either of these spas. They are mildly 
 alkaline and thermal, and are chiefly employed for bathing 
 purposes. There are eight distinct springs, which vary in 
 temperature from 77° to 90°. They rise at the foot of the 
 adjacent mountain, whence they are conducted to the bath- 
 houses. They all contain about eight grains of solid ingredients, 
 with two cubic inches of carbonic acid gas, and the same 
 
170 SCHLANGENBAD. 
 
 amount of nitrogen in the pint. Of the solid constituents, 
 about one-half consists of carbonate of soda, together with two 
 grains of common salt, and one grain each of carbonate of lime 
 and carbonate of magnesia. The special action of this spa 
 seems to be on the skin, which it is said to render soft and 
 white ; and, therefore, I need hardly add, is largely patronized 
 by the fair sex. 
 
 The power of diminishing nervous irritability has been 
 ascribed to these waters by many writers, and they are, 
 moreover, largely employed in the treatment of chronic 
 rheumatism, as well as neuralgia and other nervous affections. 
 In cutaneous diseases, too, such as lichen and prurigo, when a 
 remedy is required to allay excessive irritation of the surface, 
 a course of the Schlangenbad baths is often prescribed with 
 advantage. Hufeland and other German writers recommend 
 these baths in the articular rigidity of advancing years, as the 
 veritable "Fountain of Youth" of the fairy tales. As a 
 specimen of the rhapsodies which German spa physicians 
 sometimes indulge in, I shall conclude this chapter with the 
 following morceau from the late Dr Fenner of Schwalbach, 
 who, in describing the effects of this bath, thus falls into an 
 ecstasy of praise — " Vous sortez des eaux de Schlangenbad 
 rejeuni comme un Phoenix — la jeunesse y devient plus belle, 
 plus brillante, et Tage y trouve une nouvelle vigeur." 
 
WIESBADEN. 171 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX. 
 
 WIESBADEN. 
 
 Wiesbaden enjoys a situation that renders it one of the 
 most picturesque of the German spas, and which should also 
 bless it with a climate superior to many of them, being built 
 in an opening valley, extending from the southern slope of the 
 Taunus Mountains to the Ehine, and thus completely pro- 
 tected from the north and east winds. The first view of the 
 town is certainly prepossessing: the streets are wide and 
 clean ; the buildings are large, bright, and new looking ; and 
 the square in front of the cursaal, and that edifice itself, are 
 really handsome. Since I first visited Wiesbaden, however, 
 it has lost much of the life and gaiety which formerly were 
 the special characteristics of this place. The political changes 
 by which, nearly ten years ago, it was converted from the 
 flourishing capital of an independent state into a provincial 
 watering-place, have probably more to do with the somewhat 
 triste aspect of this once gayest of spas than the closure of 
 the gambling tables, which has fortunately taken place more 
 recently. 
 
 The hot springs of Wiesbaden were resorted to by invalids 
 at a very early, date. Pliny describes them, — "Sunt et 
 Mattiaci in Germania fontes calidi trans-Ehenum, quorum 
 haustus triduo fervet; circa marginem pumicem faciunt 
 
172 WIESBADEN. 
 
 aqua,"* and the remains of numerous " Balnearia " have been 
 discovered in the vicinity of the mineral sources. 
 
 There are no less than twenty-two thermal springs in 
 Wiesbaden. Some writers describe each of these separately, 
 and assign different properties to each, but as all issue within 
 an area of 3000 yards, and vary chiefly in temperature, in all 
 probability they originate from the same source, and there- 
 fore, in the following remarks, I have confined myself to the 
 Kochbrunnen, which I regard as a type of the other 
 springs. 
 
 The Kochbrunnen rises nearly in the centre of the town. 
 The appearance of the water is far from inviting, having a 
 turbid yellowish colour, with a scum floating on the surface. 
 The taste, however, is by no means unpleasant, and Sir 
 Francis Head's comparison of it to " weak chicken broth " has 
 been copied by every succeeding author as conveying an exact 
 idea of its flavour. Its temperature is 155°, and the saline 
 constituents in a pint of this water are 52 grains of common 
 table salt, 4 grains of chloride of lime, 3 J grains of carbonate 
 of lime, 1J grains of carbonate of magnesia, and rather more 
 than a grain of chloride of potassium. Besides these, it con- 
 tains sixteen other ingredients, but in such small proportions 
 as to be of no practical importance. 
 
 The thermal springs of Wiesbaden are principally employed 
 for bathing ; but as the Kochbrunnen is also extensively used 
 internally, a few observations on its effects when employed in 
 this way are necessary. This source is daily frequented by a 
 considerable number of invalids, most of whom seem to suffer 
 from gout, or dyspepsia, or hepatic disease. 
 
 Like all other mineral waters, this should be taken fasting, 
 before breakfast. The dose varies from eighty to thirty ounces 
 of the Kochbrunnen, which is sipped slowly, while the patients 
 
 * Pliny, " Hist. Nat.," lib. xxxi. c. 17. 
 
WIESBADEN. 173 
 
 promenade about the spring, and the exercise, I have little 
 doubt, does almost as much good as the water. 
 
 The action of Wiesbaden mineral water is mildly purgative 
 and diuretic. The circulation is always more or less excited 
 by it, the biliary secretion is augmented, the action of the 
 absorbents is quickened, and the appetite is sharpened, though 
 this should not be indulged. If the Kochbrunnen be now 
 persisted in for some weeks, the bulk of the body diminishes 
 visibly, the expanded abdomen subsides, obesity disappears 
 and the outlines of muscles, previously concealed by super- 
 abundant fat, are thus brought into view. 
 
 After some time the blood generally becomes thinner and 
 less rich in fibrinous compounds, respiration is now freer, the 
 skin becomes clear and healthy-looking, and the valetudinarian 
 experiences a general feeling of hien etre. 
 
 Such are the effects of the Kochbrunnen when it agrees 
 with the patient. Unfortunately, however, it does not answer 
 every case, though some of its panegyrists seem to think it 
 does, being especially contra-indicated in cases of organic 
 visceral and hemorrhagic disease. When the course is 
 prolonged beyond six or seven weeks, symptoms of febrile 
 disturbance, or " saturation fever," are produced. 
 
 The diseases in which the internal use of the Wiesbaden 
 springs are recommended are gout, dyspepsia, and plethora. 
 In the irregular and atonic forms of gout, the saline waters 
 of Wiesbaden often produce great benefit. Eepeated experi- 
 ments have shown that the amount of urea and uric acid 
 eliminated by the kidneys is greatly increased under their use, 
 and at the same time the patient's general health is improved 
 by the alterative action of the spa. In some cases of lurking 
 gout, this water brings on a fit of regular podagra, which is 
 generally attended with complete relief of the other symptoms. 
 
 I have already mentioned that the warm springs of 
 
174 WIESBADEN. 
 
 Wiesbaden are principally used for bathing purposes, and the 
 number of baths in the town is something extraordinary, 
 amounting to nearly nine hundred. Almost every hotel has 
 its thermal department, supplied from the twenty-five sources 
 I have spoken of. 
 
 The bath should either be taken in the morning, fasting, or 
 in the evening five or six hours after an early dinner. The 
 patient at first should not remain more than ten minutes in 
 the water, but may gradually, if so advised, increase this 
 period to an hour. 
 
 The great majority of those who resort to Wiesbaden suffer 
 from rheumatism, or from that combination of gout and 
 rheumatism permanently affecting the joints which is known 
 as chronic rheumatic-arthritis. Of one hundred and twenty- 
 nine cases of chronic rheumatism treated by Dr Haas, in the 
 hospital of Wiesbaden, by spa water, above thirty were com- 
 pletely cured, and seventy-nins were improved. The German 
 physicians also recommend these baths as a remedy in rheumatic 
 paralysis, where the power of voluntary motion is lost, and 
 parts are forced into unnatural constrained positions, by long- 
 continued arthritic inflammation. 
 
HOMBURG. 175 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXI. 
 
 HOMBURG, NAUHEIM, NEUENAHR, AND KREUZNACH. 
 
 Three-quarters of an hour's drive" by the northern railway 
 brought us from Frankfort to one of the most frequented spas 
 of Europe, Homburg-on-the-hill, which is situated on one of 
 the lowest slopes of the Taunus range, immediately under the 
 Great Eeldberg peak. Of the three parallel avenues descend- 
 ing from the hill, of which, together with a couple of cross 
 passages intersecting them, the town of Homburg consists, 
 only one, the Luisen Strasse, deserves the name of a street. 
 The upper part of this thoroughfare, with a few narrow lanes, 
 forms the old town round the castle; while the lower part, 
 which is entirely modern, contains the railway station, 
 cursaal, and hotels, forming the new town. 
 . The Kursaal occupies a prominent position in the main 
 street, and is regarded by the inhabitants as the great feature 
 of their town, being spoken of by them with that affectionate 
 pride with which an Andalusian speaks of the Alhambra of 
 Granada, or the mosque of Cordova, and in truth was, until a 
 few years ago, one of the most elegant dens of iniquity in 
 Germany, as well as the main support of that exalted 
 potentate, the late and last landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. 
 
 The mineral springs of Homburg issue from a thick vein of 
 quartz, covered by a stratum of gravel and clay, lying a hundred 
 and fifty feet below the surface. These sources are all saline, their 
 
176 HOMBUKG. 
 
 principal ingredient being common table salt, or chloride of 
 sodium, in addition to which they contain a small proportion 
 of iron. They also contain a large amount of free carbonic 
 acid gas. All the springs, however much they may differ in 
 strength, and even in composition, rise in close proximity to 
 each other in the Kurgarten, a beautifully-kept park, con- 
 nected with the cursaal, and occupying a small valley on the 
 south-east side of the town. 
 
 The principal mineral spring is the Elisabethquelle, which 
 was originally one of the sources of an abandoned brine manu- 
 factory, and had been disused for upwards of a century, until 
 its medicinal properties were discovered in 1834. According 
 to the late Baron Liebeg's analysis, each pint of this water 
 contains 79 grains of common salt, 10 grains of carbonate of 
 lime, 7 grains each of chlorides of magnesia and lime, 2 grains 
 of carbonate of magnesia, half a grain of carbonate of iron, and 
 traces of several other salts, which it would be useless for 
 practical purposes to enumerate here. The quantity of 
 carbonic acid gas the Elisabethquelle contains is its most 
 remarkable characteristic, there being rather more than 48 
 cubic inches of gas in a pint of the water. 
 
 The Stahlbrunnen, which lies nearer to the cursaal, is an 
 artesian well, and was opened about twenty-five years ago. 
 The chemical composition of this spring is very similar to 
 that of the Elisabethquelle, but it is not quite so rich in 
 carbonic acid gas, and, as the name implies, contains some- 
 what more iron, amounting to nearly a grain to the pint. 
 
 The Kaiserbrunnen is also an artesian well containing a 
 very large volume of carbonic acid gas, which gives rise once 
 in every ninety seconds to a peculiar bubbling and ascent of 
 the spring in the basin, like water on a quick fire. This is 
 evidently caused by the subaqueous accumulation and subse- 
 quent escape of gas. In each pint of this spa are dissolved 
 
HOMBUEG. 177 
 
 117 grains of common salt, 13 grains of chloride of lime, 
 7 grains of chloride of magnesia, half a grain of carbonate of 
 protoxide of iron, and a quarter of a grain of muriate of potash. 
 
 The next source is the Ludwigsbrunnen, which was the 
 oldest used, and is the weakest of the Homburg springs. 
 
 The dose of Homburg water varies from six to forty-eight 
 ounces, and must depend, in each particular case, upon the 
 patient's age, sex, constitution, and ailment, as well as on the 
 spring he may be advised to use ; the Kaiserbrunnen, for 
 instance, being double the strength of any of the others. In 
 general, however, small draughts of from four to eight ounces, 
 repeated at short intervals, are more advisable than a larger 
 quantity at one dose. 
 
 All the mineral sources of Homburg belong to the class 
 of ferro-saline waters ; of which Kissingen, in Bavaria, and 
 Cheltenham, in England, are examples, though of very 
 different degrees of strength. In the treatment of gouty 
 dyspepsia and hypochondriasis, attended with derangement of 
 the liver, torpid or irregular intestinal action, and depression 
 of spirits, a course of Homburg water often affords the best 
 remedy. It is also used in cases of general plethora, and in 
 what the German spa physicians term " abdominal plethora," 
 an affection to which they attach considerable importance, 
 and, so far as the cathartic properties of the water go, I have 
 no doubt that it is very properly employed in such cases, 
 especially as the "spa doctors," moreover, enjoin a regimen, 
 which, of itself, would probably effect the cure. 
 
 The chloride of lime, contained by all these waters, in- 
 creases the action of the absorbents and glandular system, 
 and probably accounts for the benefits which have been 
 occasionally observed to follow the use of this spa, in cases 
 of scrofulous disease. 
 
 In varicose veins and ulcers the Homburg waters are said 
 
 M 
 
178 HOMBURG AND NAUHEIM. 
 
 to be productive of some advantage, by diminishing the 
 tension of the diseased vessels, to which their chalybeate 
 qualities impart a healthier tone. 
 
 In hysterical affections and amenorrhoea, this spa is fre- 
 quently serviceable by restoring normal menstruation. In 
 such cases it often proves the superiority of natural to 
 artificial preparations, by the well-marked chalybeate action, 
 which so small an amount of iron as that contained in these 
 springs, the strongest of which holds only one grain of iron 
 in a pint, is capable of exercising. 
 
 The usual duration of " the course " at Homburg is about 
 three weeks, and I need not repeat the caution given in 
 the introductory chapter against the use of these or any 
 other mineral waters when symptoms of " saturation " have 
 shown themselves, nor dwell on their possible dangers in 
 organic and heemorrhagic diseases. In combination with their 
 internal use, the Homburg springs are sometimes employed 
 for bathing, and the large amount of saline matter they con- 
 tain renders these baths highly stimulating to the cutaneous 
 capillaries. Their application in this way, however, is neither 
 extensive nor generally advisable. 
 
 Nauheim is within an easy drive of Homburg, and is 
 situated on the declivity of the Johaninsberg hill, on the 
 railway from Frankfort to Cassel, and about an hour's journey 
 from the latter place. The town is new and unfinished- 
 looking, and contains a population of about 2000 inhabitants. 
 
 These waters have long been employed in the manufacture 
 of salt, but only within the last few years have been resorted 
 to medicinally. There were formerly a vast number of 
 natural saline springs here, but their sources were gradually 
 interfered with by the sinking of artesian wells, of which there 
 are six or seven. The principal of these is the "Grosser- 
 Sprudel," which burst from an unfinished artesian well, in 
 
NAUHEIM AND NEUENAHR. 179 
 
 the night of December the twenty-first, 1846, in a thick 
 column of water to a height of nearly eighteen feet from the 
 surface, and thus it has continued to issue ever since. It is 
 enclosed within a large open stone basin, the water in which, 
 from the vast quantity of carbonic acid gas it contains, is 
 white with foam. It contains, besides, two hundred and 
 fifteen grains of saline matter to the pint ; of this one 
 hundred and eighty-one grains are common salt, together with 
 fourteen grains of chloride of calcium, eleven grains of car- 
 bonate of lime, four grains of chloride of potassium, with other 
 salts, and a trace of bromine. Its temperature is about 90°. 
 This source is strongly purgative in doses of one glass, but is 
 principally used for bathing. 
 
 The Kurbrunnen and Salzbrunnen rise near each other. 
 The former is that usually employed internally; it is the 
 weakest of all the Nauheim springs, containing one hundred 
 and thirty-three grains of salt to the pint ; in the chemical 
 composition of its ingredients it, however, resembles the 
 Grosser-Sprudel, as also does the Salzbrunnen, which contains 
 one hundred and sixty-nine grains, and the Kleiner-Sprudel, 
 containing one hundred and eighty-one grains, in the same 
 quantity of water. 
 
 The effect of these springs used internally is purgative and 
 diuretic. Their principal use is, however, for baths in cases 
 requiring a stimulating application to the skin, in obstinate 
 and languid cutaneous complaints. They are said to exercise 
 a specific action in accelerating and increasing the catamenia. 
 They are also prescribed in certain cases of chronic rheumatism, 
 in scrofulous tumours, and diseases of bone. 
 
 On the opposite bank of the Ehine to any of the German 
 watering-places just described are two spas, both of which 
 have of late years become of considerable importance; the 
 first of these is ISTeuenahr, which may be reached by railway 
 
180 NEUENAHR. 
 
 from Cologne in an hour and a half, or still better by the Ehine 
 Company's steamers to Keniagen, from which a very pretty 
 drive of barely seven miles along the valley of the Ahr brings 
 us to Neuenahr. Midway on the road the spa tourist may 
 stay for a moment at Ahrweiler to visit the source whence 
 the Apollinaris water, so familiar on every table as a sub- 
 stitute for Seltzer water, is exported. 
 
 Neuenahr, which was first brought into notice in this 
 country by the late Professor Miller of Edinburgh, belongs to 
 the class of saline alkaline spas, and now attracts a consider- 
 able number of English and American gouty and dyspeptic 
 valetudinarians. The place itself contains half a dozen good 
 hotels, and the usual resources of a small German watering- 
 place, and needs no further description. 
 
 The chief saline ingredients of the Neuenahr springs are 
 the bicarbonates of soda, magnesia, and lime, with a small 
 amount of sulphate of soda, and a trace of protoxide of iron 
 dissolved in a highly carbonated thermal water, the tempera- 
 ture of which is about 130°. It will be thus seen that this 
 spa belongs to the same class as Vichy or Fachingen. 
 
 The Neuenahr springs are used internally in doses of from 
 two to four small glassfuls twice in the day. The baths, 
 however, and more especially the douche baths, the system of 
 which is very perfect here, are the main attraction of this 
 place for rheumatic and gouty patients, by whom, as well as 
 by those suffering from chronic hepatic disease, dyspepsia, 
 and some sub-acute, renal, and non-inflammatory uterine 
 disorders, this spa is chiefly employed. The baths are also 
 largely prescribed in chronic skin diseases, especially eczema 
 and prurigo. 
 
 Nearly opposite to Schlangenbad, and about the same 
 distance from the Ehine, is Kreuznach, which is within less 
 than half an hour's journey by railway from Bingen. This 
 
KREUZNACH. 181 
 
 town, which contains a population of some 12,000 inhabitants, 
 is prettily situated in the valley of the Nahe, and though long 
 celebrated for its saline wells and salt-work, has only com- 
 paratively recently come into note as a watering-place, and 
 is now one of the most important iodated-bromated spas in 
 Europe. 
 
 The principal saline springs of Kreuznach are the Elisen- 
 quelle, which is the only source used internally, the Oranien- 
 quelle and the Nahequelle, which are used for baths, and 
 locally in the form of concentrated brine or mutterlange. The 
 Elisenquelle contains ninety-four grains of saline matter in 
 each pint, and of this no less than seventy-two grains 
 consist of common table salt, thirteen grains of chloride of 
 lime, four grains of chloride of magnesia, and one and a 
 half grains of carbonate of lime, the balance of the solid 
 ingredients dissolved in this quantity of the water being made 
 up of minute quantities of bromides and iodides of soda and 
 magnesia, carbonates of baryta, and protoxides of magnesia 
 and iron. 
 
 The " mutterlange," which is used as an addition to the 
 ordinary baths as well as for local applications, is merely a 
 concentrated solution of the salts just mentioned, and is 
 obtained on a large scale as the residuum of the process by 
 which table-salt is here manufactured. 
 
 This "mutterlange," one pint of which contains 1642 grains 
 of the salts above named, is a thick, yellowish, oleaginous- 
 looking fluid, intensely bitter in taste, and having a slightly 
 iodated odour. The internal use of the water is generally 
 conjoined with a course -of the Kreuznach baths, and is ad- 
 ministered in doses of from four to eight ounces twice daily. 
 The duration of the baths varies from fifteen to forty-five 
 minutes; and at first the pure mineral water is employed, 
 but afterwards the " mutterlange " is usually added in increas- 
 
182 KEEUZNACH. 
 
 ing quantities, commencing with a quart and gradually 
 reaching to ten or twelve quarts of the concentrated brine to 
 each bath. The usual duration of the course, if not inter- 
 rupted by saturation fever or otherwise, is one month. 
 
 The Kreuznach waters and baths may be employed in the 
 treatment of every form of scrofulous disease, rickets, chronic, 
 glandular, and arthric enlargements, chronic inflammation or 
 congestion of the uterus and ovaries, the most frequent cause 
 of the anomalous chronic diseases of women, and more 
 especially of sterility, in cases of which I have repeatedly 
 prescribed the Kreuznach waters with remarkable effect. In 
 mammary enlargements, and especially in tumours causing 
 apprehension of cancer of the breast, I have seen the most 
 satisfactory results from a course of these baths, and the local 
 application of compresses soaked in the " mutterlange." 
 
WEILBACH AND SODEN. 183 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXII. 
 
 WEILBACH AND SODEN. 
 
 From Wiesbaden an hour's drive by train, through a richly- 
 cultivated vine-country, and affording en passant a glimpse of 
 the spires of Mayence, brought us to the little village of 
 Florsheim, where we alighted at 9 A.M. of a bright sunny 
 morning. Hence, half an hour's drive through a continuous 
 orchard conducted us to the baths of Weilbach, which are 
 situated on a slightly rising ground, in the valley of the 
 Maine, midway between Mayence and Frankfort, and about 
 two miles from the river. There is nothing in the shape of a 
 town or even village at Weilbach, which merely consists of 
 the bathing establishment. 
 
 The mineral source rises in the garden of this building, 
 and is very., clear, of a slightly saline, alkaline, feebly 
 sulphurous taste, but is not disagreeable, and has a tempera- 
 ture of 55°. The sides of the basin are thickly coated by a 
 soft, whitish, soapy deposit, which consists of carbonate of 
 lime, sulphur, and a peculiar organic matter. The water, 
 though not sparkling, contains six cubic inches of carbonic 
 acid, and three inches of sulphurated hydrogen gases in the 
 pint. According to the most recent analysis the same quan- 
 tity of water contains four and a half grains of carbonate of 
 soda, two and a half grains of carbonate of lime, two grains 
 of carbonate of magnesia, two grains of common salt, one 
 
184 WEILBACH AND SODEN. 
 
 grain of chloride of magnesia, a little sulphate of^ soda, and 
 some other ingredients, amounting in all to twelve and a half 
 grains. 
 
 Used in full doses this spring is mildly aperient; in smaller 
 quantities it is said to stimulate the appetite, and also to pro- 
 mote the removal of chronic visceral enlargements and 
 congestions, especially of the liver. Most German physicians 
 seem to be possessed by an extraordinary hallucination that 
 all obscure diseases or complaints, the causes of which are 
 not obvious to them (and I need hardly observe that the 
 number is not limited), are produced by suppressed haemor- 
 rhoids ; and it is further asserted by the local writers that 
 the Weilbach springs are a panacea for these ailments. A 
 large number of the invalids who visit this spa suffer from 
 thoracic affections, and we are told that incipient consumption, 
 chronic cough, and spitting of blood, are among the cases 
 which come within the range of this remedy. I do not wish 
 to express discredit of any particular writer ; but I have no 
 hesitation whatever in saying, as the result of very consider- 
 able experience of phthisis in^ various parts of the world, that 
 I cannot believe that any consumptive patient was ever cured 
 by the waters of Weilbach. 
 
 The next spa in my itinerary was Soden, and thither I 
 proceeded from Florsheim by the Taunus railway, passing 
 through luxuriant orchards, where the proprietors, gathering 
 in the easy harvest, seemed to be keeping a holiday rather 
 than engaged in the toil of husbandry. 
 
 Soden lies at the foot of the southern declivity of the Middle 
 Taunus, below Konigstein, and only twenty-five minutes' drive 
 by rail from Frankfort. The village — the old part of which 
 is built in a little valley between the hills — is protected from 
 the north and east winds by the Taunus range. 
 
 The hotels are numerous and tolerably good. The soil is 
 
SODEN. 185 
 
 peaty, and, as the only water found here is saline and mineral, 
 the potable water is conducted from the neighbouring moun- 
 tains. The saline sources issue from slaty rocks, and rise 
 within a short distance of each other to the number of 
 twenty-three. 
 
 The Soden springs are saline, acidulous, and ferruginous. 
 In taste they are more or less piquant and saline, according to 
 the amount of carbonic acid gas and chloride of soda which 
 the sources all contain in different proportions : from twenty- 
 four grains, which is the minimum in the " Milchbrunnen," to 
 a hundred and twenty grains, wmich is the maximum in the 
 " Salzquelle." The latter also contains the largest amount of 
 iron and carbonate of lime. 
 
 The action of the Soden water is stimulant, diuretic, 
 mildly aperient, and alterative. The resident physicians tell 
 us that "the appetite invariably improves under the use of 
 the water, — and this spa appears to be particularly well 
 adapted to the treatment of atonic dyspepsia and languid 
 digestion. The functions of the liver are excited by its use, 
 and the biliary secretion is increased and becomes more 
 healthy, therefore its use is indicated whenever this organ 
 acts torpidly." 
 
 The Soden spa is also recommended in chronic mucous 
 catarrh. This water moreover determines powerfully to the 
 skin, and is used with great benefit in some obstinate chronic 
 skin diseases, in scrofulous enlargement of the glands, and 
 in chronic rheumatism. 
 
186 KISSINGEN. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 KISSINGEN, BOOKLET, AND BKTJCKENAU. 
 
 From Frankfort the journey by railway via Wiirzburg and 
 Schweinf urt to Kissingen now occupies rather less than six 
 hours. Kissingen, in the Bavarian department of the Lower 
 Maine, is situated on the Eiver Saale, in the centre of a wide 
 valley surrounded by thickly- wooded hills. The town itself 
 is a mere watering-place, composed almost entirely of large, 
 newly-built hotels and lodging-houses, which during the 
 season generally accommodate about five thousand visitors. 
 
 The three principal springs rise close to each other in the 
 " Kurgarten," a kind of small park, a little to the south of the 
 town. The one we examined first was the Maxbrunnen 
 spring, which rises from the sandstone rock with a loud hissing 
 sound, and bright and sparkling, containing thirty-one cubic 
 inches of carbonic acid gas in each pint of the water. The 
 Pandur source is next to this, and is chiefly employed for 
 baths, but may be drank in many cases in which the Eagoczy 
 is too powerful. Like that spring, its action is aperient and 
 solvent, and also increases the cutaneous and renal secretions. 
 
 A few yards to the right of the last-described spring is 
 situated the most celebrated of these sources, and that which 
 is generally understood when " Kissingen Water " is spoken 
 of, namely, the Eagoczy, or Eakoczy. This spring was dis- 
 covered in 1738, in the old bed of the river, which was then 
 
KISSINGEN. 187 
 
 turned into its present channel. Its taste is extremely 
 unpleasant, being saline, bitter, acidulous, and somewhat 
 chalybeate or astringent. 
 
 About a mile from the other springs, to the north of the 
 town, rises the Soolsprudel, which intermits, or ebbs and 
 flows, with great regularity, eight or nine times daily. If we 
 arrive a little before the " flow," on looking down the shaft 
 through the thick glass cap, we see the well apparently 
 empty; we then hear a distant rumbling noise, which 
 gradually becomes louder and draws nearer, till in about 
 half an hour from the time it was first heard, the water 
 is seen foaming below ; it gradually ascends, and in another 
 quarter of an hour reaches within a few inches of the top of 
 the well, covered with white foam, and hissing and seething 
 with great turbulence. Above the water hangs a heavy layer 
 of carbonic acid gas, rising and falling with it. This gas is 
 collected and ingeniously utilised in various forms of gas 
 baths. The Soolsbrunnen acts as a powerful stimulant to 
 the skin, and is principally used for bathing in the treat- 
 ment of rheumatic, neuralgic, and cutaneous affections, and 
 in scrofulous cases. The mother-lye, or concentrated brine 
 of the Soolsprudel, is applied locally with great benefit in 
 scrofulous and other glandular enlargements. 
 
 The Kissingen springs are used in almost every variety of 
 dyspepsia. The spa physicians assert that they are the best 
 remedy for chronic or habitual constipation, and they cer- 
 tainly act as very brisk and active cathartics, leaving no 
 subsequent debility after their operation. Hypochondriasis, 
 so intimately connected • with irregular gastric or intestinal 
 action, is said to be peculiarly under the influence of the 
 curative action of these waters; and judging from the physiog- 
 nomy of the visitors, half the invalids who drink the Ragoczy 
 seem to labour under that malady. 
 
188 
 
 KISSINGEN. 
 
 Composition of Kissingen Mineral Springs. 
 
 **. 
 
 
 Ragoczy. 
 
 Pandur. 
 
 Max- 
 brunnen. 
 
 Theresen- 
 brunnen. 
 
 Sool 
 sprudel. 
 
 Carbonic acid (cubic inch) . 
 
 26-25 
 
 28-85 
 
 31-04 
 
 28-35 
 
 30-57 
 
 Chloride of sodium, . 
 
 65-05 
 
 57-00 
 
 18-27 
 
 18-40 
 
 107-51 
 
 Chloride of potassium, 
 
 0-91 
 
 0-25 
 
 1-00 
 
 0-85 
 
 0-97 
 
 Chloride of calcium, 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 3-99 
 
 Chloride of magnesia, 
 
 6-85 
 
 5*85 
 
 3-10 
 
 2 ; 75 
 
 24-51 
 
 Carbonate of soda, 
 
 0-82 
 
 0-03 
 
 0-38 
 
 0-39 
 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 3-55 
 
 5-85 
 
 2-59 
 
 2-00 
 
 l-*65 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 2-50 
 
 1-62 
 
 1-82 
 
 3-37 
 
 6-41 
 
 Carbonate of iron, 
 
 0-68 
 
 0-45 
 
 
 
 0-35 
 
 Bromide of sodium, . 
 
 
 
 
 0-07 
 
 
 Bromide of magnesia, 
 
 0-70 
 
 0-68 
 
 
 
 0-06 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 2-00 
 
 1-75 
 
 i' ; 86 
 
 1-35 
 
 25-30 
 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 
 2-50 
 
 0-75 
 
 0-65 
 
 0-75 
 
 
 Phosphate of soda, . 
 
 0-17 
 
 0-05 
 
 0-12 
 
 
 
 Silica, .... 
 
 2-25 
 
 1-55 
 
 0-46 
 
 0-50 
 
 
 Oxide of aluminium, 
 
 0-18 
 
 0-05 
 
 
 
 
 Organic extract, 
 
 0-15 
 
 0-09 
 
 
 
 ; 86 
 
 Loss, .... 
 Total solid contents in ) 
 
 0-38 
 
 0-37 
 
 0-38 
 
 
 
 85-74 
 
 76-39 
 
 30-65 
 
 29-63 
 
 187-68 
 
 16 ounces, . ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 In chronic enlargements and passive congestions of the 
 liver and spleen the Kagoczy is often used with great advan- 
 tage, but must be persevered in for some time after the patient, 
 having gone through the ordinary course at Kissingen, has 
 returned home. 
 
 In cutaneous affections, when connected with gastric 
 derangement, these springs are u considered to act as specifics. 
 I know of hardly any mineral water which is not said to 
 possess the property of curing sterility, and perhaps there is 
 no place which has attracted so much attention on this 
 account as Kissingen ; and in cases where barrenness results 
 from chronic ovarian, or uterine inflammation or congestion, 
 I believe that the Kissingen waters may in many instances 
 be prescribed with advantage. 
 
 A course of the Maxbrunnen is frequently conjoined with 
 the use of the Pandur baths in the treatment of scrofulous 
 
 cases. 
 
 It is even asserted that the inhabitants of Kissingen 
 
BPOJCKENAU AND BOOKLET. 189 
 
 who use the Maxbrunnen diathetically are therefore peculiarly 
 exempt from strumous diseases. 
 
 From Kissingen a picturesque mountain drive of about 
 fifteen miles leads the spa tourist to the important watering- 
 place of Bruckenau, which lies in the beautiful wooded valley 
 of the Sinn. The springs are between two and three miles 
 from the town, and around them are situated the baths, 
 hotels, and lodging-houses, the royal palace, and Kurhaus. 
 Two of the springs are on the left bank of the river, and 
 contain only a small quantity of the salts of soda. One of 
 these, the Sinnbergerquelle, is said to possess diaphoretic pro- 
 perties, and is also prescribed in chronic bronchitis, scrofula, 
 and calculous affections. On the opposite bank of the river 
 is the Bruckenauquelle, from which this place derives its 
 reputation as a chalybeate spa. It rises under a pavilion, and 
 flows into a basin incrusted with protoxide of iron. The taste 
 of the water is strongly ferruginous, although it only contains 
 a quarter of a grain of iron to the pint. But this is rendered 
 most active by the immense quantity of carbonic acid gas, 
 near thirty-eight cubic inches of which is combined with it. 
 
 The medicinal effect of Briickenau spa is tonic, and very 
 stimulant. Its use is, therefore, dangerous whenever any 
 disease, in which a powerful excitant would be improper, 
 is present. It is, however, a very valuable stimulating 
 chalybeate in certain cases, which I have already pointed out 
 in the introduction, and need not repeat here. 
 
 Nearly five miles from Kissingen is the chalybeate spa of 
 Booklet, a little village of lodging-houses grouped around a 
 magnificent central " Kur-Haus," or bath-house. There are 
 here several mineral springs, which are used internally and 
 for bathing. All the sources are cold, chalybeate, and very 
 gaseous. These waters contain about two-thirds of a grain of 
 iron, together with twenty-seven grains of chloride of sodium, 
 
190 BOOKLET. 
 
 seven grains each of carbonate of lime and sulphate of soda, 
 and other salts, amounting in all to nearly forty grains of 
 saline matter to the pint. Their most important constituent, 
 however, is carbonic acid gas, of which they contain thirty 
 cubic inches to the pint ; and it is this gas which confers its 
 peculiar activity on the iron dissolved in the spa. As may be 
 supposed from its composition, the Booklet water is a very 
 powerful stimulating saline chalybeate, and is peculiarly 
 adapted to cases in which weakness of the digestive system 
 is a prominent symptom. 
 
CARLSBAD. 191 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIY. 
 
 CARLSBAD. 
 
 Carlsbad may be reached in a little more than two days 
 from London, the most direct line of railway being that via 
 Calais, Frankfort, Hoff, and Eger, when a short run of two 
 hours by a branch line brings us into the most beautifully 
 situated watering-place in Germany. It lies at the bottom of 
 a deep ravine, intersected by the Tepel, and surrounded by 
 lofty hills, wooded to their summits. 
 
 The resident population of Carlsbad does not probably 
 exceed 4000 inhabitants, and the place may be described as 
 consisting of a couple of streets called " Wiese," built along 
 each side of the Tepel, and connected by eight or ten narrow 
 bridges. 
 
 Most of the hotels frequented by foreigners, some three or 
 four of which are excellent and not exorbitant in their charges, 
 are situated on the right bank of the river, on which is also 
 the Sprudel. The great majority of the invalid visitors to 
 Carlsbad, however, take up their quarters during their course 
 of the waters in some of the large lodging-houses on the JSTeue 
 Wiese, or in the Muhlbad Strasse, where excellent apartments 
 for a family may be had for from twenty to thirty florins a 
 week, but must be engaged for at least a fortnight. Behind 
 these a number of steep streets ascend the hill, and farther on 
 is a theatre and assembly rooms. 
 
192 CARLSBAD. 
 
 On the opposite bank is the Alte Wiese, a long range of 
 small shops, extending southward along the Tepel. Behind 
 this is the Hirschen-Spriing, whence, as the tradition asserts, 
 a stag, hunted by Charles IV., sprang across the river and fell 
 into the Sprudel, which is about half a mile distant, and by 
 its piteous cries in the boiling water, attracted the emperor's 
 attention, who, coming up, despatched the deer, and then 
 refreshed himself with a warm bath, which had the effect of 
 curing a bad leg, from which he suffered. This event was 
 commemorated by order of the grateful monarch, by the 
 name Carlsbad (or Charles's .bath) being then affixed to the 
 watering-place that at once sprang up around the emperor's 
 bath. 
 
 The altitude renders the climate of Carlsbad remarkably 
 changeable, and even in summer the morning air is often 
 bitterly cold, especially when the north or east winds, to 
 which this valley is exposed, predominate. 
 
 The town is built immediately over a vast subterranean 
 boiler, covered in by deposits of the salts contained in the 
 water, which evaporating has left them behind, and on the 
 roof, or crust, thus formed, the town stands. The extent of 
 this abyss or cavern of boiling water is quite unknown, as 
 all attempts to fathom its depth have failed hitherto, The 
 crust, however, that intervenes between the town and this 
 cauldron is nowhere thicker than three feet, and in some places 
 appears to be hardly as many inches. It therefore, I think, 
 requires no great sagacity to predict, that in the event of any 
 earthquake, the inhabitants of Carlsbad may probably try a 
 longer bath in the Sprudel than any of its physicians would 
 prescribe. 
 
 Carlsbad is too remote, dull, and expensive, to attract, like 
 the rival spas of the Ehine, any but real invalids and their 
 attendants. 
 
CARLSBAD. 193 
 
 The first morning I went out early to visit the springs I 
 was surprised to see the crowd of people in the usually 
 deserted-looking streets which lead to the wells. Every man, 
 woman, and child carried a large beaker of steaming water in 
 their hand, and were all gravely engaged in sucking the warm 
 fluid through a small glass tube. Although this may be 
 a very pleasant method of imbibing an iced sherry-cobbler on 
 a hot summer's day, it certainly did not strike me as an agree- 
 able mode of swallowing a large tumblerful of tepid Glauber 
 salts and water at six o'clock on a damp autumn morning. 
 
 There are no less than nine thermal springs in Carlsbad 
 which are used medicinally.. These springs all rise from 
 the same source, yet they differ materially in taste and 
 temperature, according to the distance at which they issue 
 from their common origin, and the nature of the strata they 
 subsequently percolate. According to, Mr H. Gottl's analysis, 
 the following table shows the 
 
 Composition of the Sprudel. 
 
 Contents of one Pint of Water. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 14-9606 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 
 9-3696 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 
 8-7245 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 2-0198 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 03994 
 
 Carbonate of protoxide of iron, 
 
 0-0307 
 
 Aluminia, .... 
 
 0-2150 
 
 Silica, ..... 
 
 0-0520 
 
 Total solid ingredients, 
 
 44*8340 
 
 Gaseous contents in Cubic Inches. 
 
 
 Carbonic acid, . 
 
 7-80337* 
 
 Nitrogen, .... 
 
 0-03181 
 
 The great spring to which Carlsbad owes its fame, as a 
 watering-place, is the Sprudel, which is situated almost 
 
 * Dr Mannl calculates that 15,944 cwt. of Glauber salt, 13,000 cwt. of car- 
 bonate of soda, 10,000 cwt. of common salt, and 2500 cwt. of carbonate of 
 lime are annually discharged into the river from the Sprudel, and totally lost. 
 
 N 
 
104: CARLSBAD. 
 
 exactly in the centre of the town, on the bank of the river. 
 The water issues under a kind of open turret, through which 
 the constantly-ascending cloud of steam that escapes is visible 
 for miles around. Under this a large iron fountain is placed, 
 from which the Sprudel issues in remarkable jets, resembling 
 on a vast scale those that escape from a divided arterial 
 trunk, but intermitting their pulsations, however, and varying 
 in volume and height from eight inches to as many feet, the 
 average height of the jets being about three or four feet. The 
 metal basins are thickly incmsted with the white calcareous 
 incrustations of " Sprudel-stone " deposited by the water, 
 which issues at the temperature of 170°. 
 
 The other sources, which only differ from the Sprudel in 
 their temperature, are the Hygieas-Quelle, temperature 165°; 
 the Muhlbrunnen, 142° ; the Marketbrunnen, 135°; the Ber- 
 nardsbrunnen, 154°; the Schlossbrunnen, 129°; the Felsen- 
 quelle, 129°; and the Theresienbrunnen, 130°. 
 
 The Theresienbrunnen is now the most resorted to of the 
 Carlsbad springs, and is said to be more aperient though less 
 exciting than the Sprudel. This source is especially in vogue 
 with the gentler sex. When I first visited it at half-past six 
 o'clock in the morning the fair valetudinarians were walking 
 up and down in great numbers, sipping beakers of this fluid 
 to the accompaniment of a tolerably good band. A number 
 of white-coated Austrian officers, who were most unremitting 
 in their attentions to the ladies, most of whom were, however, 
 of a certain age, together with a few Eussians, some long- 
 haired Saxon students, and a couple of dozen Israelites, from 
 Frankfort, made up the assembly. I should not omit to add 
 that one corner of the promenade was, by common consent, 
 left free to a gentleman in black, with a thick moustache, who, 
 held brief colloquies in turn with most of the people present, 
 and was evidently a brother professor of the healing art. 
 
CARLSBAD. 195 
 
 Of the long list of doctors who have extolled the efficacy of 
 
 these waters, and their own skill, since Dr Payer of Elbogen 
 
 first chronicled their virtues in 1522, none have achieved 
 
 such celebrity as the Bohemian poet Lobkowitz, whose elegant 
 
 Latin ode to the Sprudel has been translated into almost 
 
 every European language. Lord Alvanley and the late Dr 
 
 James Johnston have both rendered this ode into English; 
 
 and a few lines from the latter version will suffice to show 
 
 the spirit of the original, — 
 
 " Sacred Font ! flow on for ever, 
 Health on mankind still bestow ; 
 If a virgin woo thee — give her 
 Rosy cheeks and beauty's glow. 
 If an old man — make him stronger ; 
 Suffering mortals soothe and save, 
 Happier send them home, and younger, 
 All who quaff thy fervid wave !" 
 
 Like most other mineral waters, Carlsbad has been extolled 
 as the panacea for almost every disease in the interminable 
 "catalogue of human infirmities. We might indeed send the 
 majority of our clients there, if the result could be ensured 
 which Dr Porges tells us occurred to one of his patients, 
 "who got a most flourishing look; nay, even his mental 
 faculties were highly raised in consequence of this full 
 recovery." * 
 
 The pathological effect that may be produced by the 
 Carlsbad water is sufficiently important to demand some 
 notice. A tendency to hemorrhagic and congestive affections 
 and vertigo has been frequently observed here among patients, 
 and ascribed to the mineral water : hence it is hardly neces- 
 sary to add that it is contraindicated in all organic cerebral, 
 pulmonary, or cardiac diseases. 
 
 The special therapeutic action of Carlsbad water is in the 
 
 * " The Mineral "Waters of Carlsbad, from a Homoeopathic point of Yiew," 
 by Dr G-. Porges, p. 137, Prague, 1874. 
 
196 CARLSBAD. 
 
 treatment of hepatic diseases. In enlargements, passive 
 congestion, torpidity, and other chronic diseases of the 
 liver, a course of the Sprudel is in many instances the 
 most useful remedy that can be prescribed. In some forms 
 of jaundice the rapidity of its action is remarkable, and its 
 power of dissolving and eliminating biliary calculi is not 
 less so. There is no spa so applicable in the majority of 
 cases of hypochondriasis as this, the curative effects of which 
 are explained by its purgative properties and its special action 
 on the liver in such cases. 
 
 The Carlsbad springs are beneficial in all affections depen- 
 dent on an obstructed or torpid condition of. the abdominal 
 viscera. They are, therefore, especially useful to valetudin- 
 arians of an obese habit of body, and, conjoined with low diet 
 and abundant exercise, will reduce corpulency more effica- 
 ciously, and far more safely, than the absurd system which, 
 under the fitting auspices of a London undertaker, has 
 recently been so productive of evil in this country. 
 
 In some affections dependent on an impoverished state of 
 the blood, the Carlsbad waters act more beneficially than any 
 of the strong ferruginous spas. This is probably owing to 
 their stimulant and deobstruent qualities, by which the con- 
 stitution is prepared for the action of the very small quantity 
 of iron they contain. 
 
 The table d'hotes at Carlsbad differ from those of almost all 
 other German watering-places, in the simplicity of the fare 
 and the paucity of the dishes. I have seen a newly arrived 
 guest who allowed a few dishes to pass untasted, reserving 
 himself for imaginary plats to come, surprised to find dinner 
 concluded before he had tasted anything but the soup. In 
 truth, invalids have here little temptation to gastronomic 
 excess, and perhaps this explains in some degree the good 
 effect of Carlsbad on dyspeptic and gouty patients. 
 
MARIENBAD. 197 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 MARIENBAD AND FRANZENSBAD. 
 
 Marienbad, which may be reached by the same route as the 
 last described spa as far as Eger, from which it is only three- 
 quarters of an hour's distance by train, is one of the prettiest 
 of the continental spas. The town is quite modern, and con- 
 sists entirely of hotels and lodging-houses built around three 
 sides of an extensive park or garden, which contains most of 
 the mineral sources. Nearly in the middle of this park is a 
 very handsome church, built in the shape of a Greek basilica. 
 This belongs to the monks of Topi, who are the proprietors of 
 the town. 
 
 The hotels being of enormous size, look quite out of pro- 
 portion to the little town in which they stand, but are 
 crowded to excess during the season. Where there are 
 patients, there will, of course, be doctors ; and this is the 
 case in Marienbad, where a dozen physicians besides three 
 surgeons, reside in the various hotels from May to September. 
 
 Marienbad, though one of the most beautifully-situated 
 watering-places in Europe, must, I think, be a very dull 
 residence for those who do not require its mineral waters. 
 The Kursaal, at the extreme end of the park, is a large and 
 handsome building, and besides this there are the usual 
 assembly and concert rooms and a small theatre. Opposite 
 to the windows of our hotel was the principal mineral spring 
 — the Kreuzbrunnen, which, as is the case with all the 
 
198 
 
 MARIENBAD. 
 
 Marienbad springs, owes its therapeutic properties chiefly to 
 the amount of sulphate of soda or Glauber's salts it contains. 
 
 Composition of Marienbad Mineral Springs. 
 
 
 Kreuz- 
 bmnnen. 
 
 Karolinen- 
 brunnen. 
 
 Ambrosius- 
 bruimen. 
 
 Ferdinanrls- 
 brunnen. 
 
 Sulphate of soda, . 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 Carbonate of soda, 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 Carbonate of magnesia, . 
 Carbonate of iron, 
 Carbonate of manganese, 
 Carbonate of lithia, 
 Silex, .... 
 
 
 36-11 
 
 11-16 
 
 7-13 
 
 3-93 
 271 
 0-17 
 0-03 
 
 o-ii 
 
 0*38 
 
 279 
 0-82 
 0-20 
 3-66 
 3-94 
 0-44 
 
 : 46 
 
 1-86 
 
 1-64 
 1-66 
 2-89 
 2-72 
 0-34 
 
 0-48 
 
 38-53 
 15-39 
 6-13 
 4-10 
 3-04 
 0-39 
 0-09 
 0-06 
 0-66 
 
 Total solid contents in grain. 
 Carbonic acid gas, in cubic 
 inches, 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 66- 
 
 Hi 
 15-43 
 
 ioi 
 
 12-9 
 
 73-38 
 13| 
 
 The Marienbad waters act directly upon the liver, the secre- 
 tion of which is notably increased by their use. Their first 
 effect is that of a saline aperient, not followed, however, by 
 the debility attending the exhibition of other equally powerful 
 remedies of that class. On the contrary, the carbonate of 
 iron they all contain, though in such small proportions, pro- 
 duces a very decided tonic effect. The appetite is almost 
 invariably sharpened by them ; the pulse is generally at first 
 quickened, and the kidneys secrete more copiously under 
 their influence. 
 
 The Kreuzbrunnen, which is cold, is generally adminis- 
 tered with a sufficient quantity of warm water to bring 
 the temperature of the draught up to 90°. The usual 
 dose as an aperient is from three to four glasses of this 
 mixture. The special action of the Kreuzbrunnen is to 
 stimulate all the abdominal organs, especially the liver, 
 to increased action ; hence its curative effects in cases of 
 general plethora, dsypepsia, hypochondriasis, as well as in 
 some hysterical and uterine affections. 
 
MARIENBAD. 199 
 
 The Karolmenbrunnen is the strongest tonic source in 
 Marienbad, containing about half a grain of iron in a tumbler- 
 ful of the water, as well as double the amount of carbonic 
 acid gas found in the Kreuzbrunnen, and may be prescribed 
 iu most cases of general and local debility requiring a fer- 
 ruginous tonic, as also may the Ambrosiusbrunnen. 
 
 The Marienquelle, the original spa of this place, is no 
 longer used internally, being employed only for baths, which 
 are here regarded merely as adjuncts to the use of the other 
 springs. These baths almost invariably produce a powerful 
 diuretic effect, and are prescribed in scrofulous glandular 
 enlargements, chronic rheumatism, and torpidity of the liver 
 and bowels, but cannot be used safely except under the 
 supervision of a local physician. 
 
 Mud Baths are used in Marienbad, but not to the same 
 extent as at Franzensbad, in the following account of which 
 place they will be described. 
 
 Gasbdder, or gas baths, are also employed here, both locally 
 and generally. In the latter form of bath the patient enters 
 a square box, shaped exactly on the model of a Chinese 
 pillory, covering the entire body except the head, which 
 protrudes through a hole in the lid. Into this he is put, 
 dressed in his ordinary habiliments ; the gas is let in through 
 a pipe in the bottom of the box, and presently, as the gas 
 rushes in, a sensation of tingling and pricking is felt creeping 
 up the legs, and gradually extends over the entire body. The 
 " gas -bad," which owes its medicinal application to Dr Sturve 
 of Dresden, has now risen into great vogue with German 
 physicians and patients in the treatment of some diseases 
 marked by general torpitude and vascular languor, sup- 
 pressed menstrual or hemorrhoidal discharges, and scrofu- 
 lous ulcers. 
 
 Prom Marienbad a drive of twenty miles by railway, 
 
200 
 
 FRANZENSBAD. 
 
 passing through, the historic town of Eger, brings us to 
 Franzensbad, which is situated in the midst of a bog surrounded 
 by bleak-looking mountains, and consists of four streets 
 crossing each other at right angles, built on piles driven into 
 the soft mud beneath. The principal street is the Kaiser- 
 Strasse, a long boulevard planted with chestnut trees. This 
 contains the chief hotels and bath-houses, and leads up to the 
 Franzensquelle source. 
 
 There are four mineral springs here, the composition of 
 which will be seen by a glance at the following table : — 
 
 Analysis of Franzensbad Mineral Waters. 
 
 
 CT D 
 
 a) a> 
 
 Npq 
 
 4) OS. 
 
 So 
 
 1? 
 a* 02 
 
 <u a 
 
 s » 
 
 P 
 
 •11 
 
 
 P 
 
 fe —- 
 
 £6 
 
 £S 
 
 3b 
 
 Sulphate of soda, .... 
 
 24-50 
 
 21-52 
 
 25-65 
 
 21-41 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 
 9-23 
 
 8-76 
 
 9-32 
 
 6-76 
 
 Carbonate of soda, .... 
 
 5-18 
 
 5-20 
 
 8-97 
 
 5-49 
 
 Carbonate of lithia, 
 
 0-03 
 
 0-02 
 
 0-02 
 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, . 
 
 0-67 
 
 079 
 
 0'61 
 
 
 Carbonate of lime, .... 
 
 1*89 
 
 1-41 
 
 1-37 
 
 1-60 
 
 Carbonate of protoxide of iron, 
 
 0-23 
 
 0-07 
 
 013 
 
 32 
 
 Carbonate of protoxide of manganese, 
 
 0-04 
 
 0"01 
 
 0-02 
 
 
 Phosphate of lime, 
 
 0-02 
 
 0-02 
 
 0-02 
 
 
 Other salts, ...... 
 
 Total solid contents (grains), 
 
 0-47 
 
 0-49 
 
 0'46 
 
 0-22 
 
 42-18 
 
 38-29 
 
 46-58 
 
 35-80 
 
 Carbonic acid gas (inches), 
 
 40 
 
 26-88 
 
 30'89 
 
 32-54 
 
 In their action, the Franzensbad waters resemble those of 
 Marienbad, but, containing less sulphate of soda and more 
 carbonic acid gas and iron, are not so lowering. The use of 
 these springs is said to produce a sedative action on the 
 nervous system, while imparting strength and tone to the 
 muscles ; they also purify the blood by their purgative and 
 diuretic action, and improve its composition by the additional 
 nutriment which the patient is now enabled to digest. 
 
FRANZENSBAD. 201 
 
 Therefore Franzensbad is largely resorted to by dyspeptic and 
 hypochondriacal patients. 
 
 Near the Franzensquelle is the Gasquelle or gas source, 
 over which baths have been erected; the effects of which, 
 being precisely the same as those of the gas-baths of Marien- 
 bad, need not be again described. 
 
 The mud-baths are the special advantages of Franzensbad, 
 and are extolled as a cure for every disease under the sun, 
 et quibusdam aliis. The soft boggy earth which surrounds 
 Franzensbad on all sides is the material of these baths. It is 
 dug up and repeatedly forced through sieves, until it is per- 
 fectly free from all foreign matters, woody fibres, &c, and 
 when it has attained a perfectly soft, homogeneous condition, 
 is diluted into a semi-fluid, black, pultaceous mass, exhaling 
 a strongly sulphurous smell, with the Louise nquelle water, 
 heated to about 100°. Into this uninviting-looking bath the 
 patient enters, and so dense is it, that it is generally some 
 time before he can immerse his whole body. The use of 
 these baths is by no means so unpleasant as their appearance, 
 and the bather generally leaves with reluctance at the end of 
 the quarter of an hour which is their usual duration; and 
 then is placed in a plain tepid water bath, where he finds 
 sufficient occupation for half an hour in restoring himself to 
 something like cleanliness. 
 
 The principal saline contents of this mud are sulphate of 
 soda, lime, magnesia, iron, and aluminia, silica, tannin, sand, 
 resinous and vegetable matters. 
 
 The primary action of these baths is stimulant and excit- 
 ing to the nervous system. They produce some degree of 
 cutaneous irritation ; whilst in them the skin looks corrugated 
 and wrinkled, but feels smooth and glossy immediately after 
 emersion. The appetite is almost always increased by the 
 external use of this mineralised mud. 
 
202 FKANZENSBAD. 
 
 The Moorbader, as these mud-baths are called, are used 
 in chronic arthritic and rheumatic affections, in skin diseases 
 of an obstinate, languid character ; in similar ulcers ; in glan- 
 dular swellings, in paralytic complaints, particularly of the 
 lower extremities ; and are renowned for the cure of old and 
 painful wounds. 
 
TEPLITZ. 203 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVI. . 
 
 TEPLITZ, BILIN, PULLNA, AND SEDLITZ. 
 
 Teplitz, which, next to Carlsbad, is the most important of the 
 Bohemian spas, may be reached by railway with equal facility 
 from Northern and Southern Germany, being only sixty- 
 three miles from Dresden, and sixty from Prague. 
 
 The town lies in a narrow and very fertile valley, well 
 protected by the Erzgebirge mountains. Like the other 
 Bohemian watering-places, Teplitz contains little, with the 
 exception of its mineral springs, to attract tourists, being in 
 all other respects a quiet little country town of about 6000 
 inhabitants. The Bad-Platz, containing the chateau, is a 
 handsome park surrounded by hotels, lodging-houses, assembly 
 rooms, theatre, and bathing establishments. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of the town, and in the adjoining 
 village of Schonau, there are no less than seventeen mineral 
 thermal springs, differing only in temperature. 
 
 These springs are all saline, alkaline, and slightly chalybeate, 
 but are none of them of any chemical strength sufficient to 
 explain their undoubtedly powerful medicinal effects, which 
 in great measure must be accounted for by the high tempera- 
 ture at which they are employed. The solid ingredients are 
 about five grains to the pint of water, and chiefly consist of 
 carbonate of soda. 
 
 Subjoined is the analysis of the principal spring of Teplitz, 
 as given by Dr Sutro* whose table differs somewhat from 
 M. Wolf's as cited in Dr Seegen's work on mineral waters :f — 
 
 * " Lectures on the German Mineral Waters," by Sigismund Sutro, M.D., p. 25. 
 t " Handbuch der Heilquellenlehre," Von Dr Josef Seegen, p. 663. 
 
204 
 
 TEPLITZ. 
 
 
 Composition of the Hauptquelle. 
 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 
 . 0-43 
 
 Carbonate of soda, 
 
 . 2-68 
 
 Carbonate of lithia, 
 
 . o-oi 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 . 0-32 
 
 Carbonate of strontia, . 
 
 . o-oi 
 
 Carbonate of manganese, 
 
 . 0-08 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 . 0-05 
 
 Carbonate of iron, 
 
 . 0-03 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 
 . 0-43 
 
 Chloride of potassium, 
 
 . o-io 
 
 Iodide of potassium , . 
 
 . 0-05 
 
 Phosphate of aluminia, 
 
 . 0-02 
 
 Silico-fluoride of sodium, 
 
 . 0-13 
 
 Silica, .... 
 
 . 0-31 
 
 Crenic acid, 
 
 . 0-09 
 
 Total solid ingredients in 16 ounces of water 4 -84 
 
 Notwithstanding the similarity of their chemical composi- 
 tion, the thermal waters of Teplitz differ so much in their 
 therapeutic effects, that it would be quite unsafe to use any of 
 them without first consulting a local practitioner as to the 
 proper spring to be employed in each case. The principal 
 source used internally is the G-artenquelle, which is a mild 
 aperient and resolvent, said to be very efficacious in the 
 treatment of chronic glandular and visceral enlargements. 
 
 The principal use of the Teplitz springs is in the baths, 
 which generally occasion a good deal of vascular excitement, 
 or slight febrile disturbance, and after some days' employment 
 commonly produce a red cutaneous eruption with great 
 irritation of the skin. 
 
 The Teplitz baths are used in the treatment of chronic 
 rheumatic-arthritis and diseases of the joints, in spinal 
 curvature and hip-joint disease, in cases of amenorrhcea 
 and hysteria, in certain chronic skin diseases, in enlargements 
 of the liver or spleen, hypochondriasis, and other chronic 
 
BILIN. 
 
 205 
 
 maladies in which a remedy which combines stimulant with 
 tonic and resolvent properties is required. 
 
 I need hardly add that these waters are especially contra- 
 indicated in all acute inflammatory or haeniorrhagic diseases. 
 
 Within nine miles of Teplitz, on the road to Prague, is 
 Bilin, the so-called " Yichy of Germany." This little market- 
 town of 3000 inhabitants lies about a mile from the remarkable 
 basaltic mountain of the Biliner-Stein, and needs no descrip- 
 tion here, being seldom resorted to by invalids, although its 
 waters are largely exported. 
 
 The chief ingredient of the mineral water of Bilin is 
 carbonate of soda, of which it contains twenty-three grains in 
 the pint, being five grains stronger than the Fachingen spa, 
 to which it otherwise bears a close resemblance. The chief 
 source is the Josefsquelle, the analysis of which, according 
 to Dr Eedtenbacher, is as follows : — 
 
 Composition of Bilin Mineral Water. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Carbonate of soda, .... 23*106 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 
 
 3-089 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, . 
 
 
 
 1-098 
 
 Carbonate of protoxide of iron, . 
 
 
 
 0-080 
 
 Carbonate of lithia, 
 
 
 
 0-110 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 
 
 
 0-985 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 
 
 6350 
 
 Chloride of soda, 
 
 
 
 2-935 
 
 Basic phosphate of aluminia, 
 
 
 
 0-065 
 
 Silica, 
 
 
 
 0-244 
 
 Total solid ingredients, 
 
 38-062 
 
 The Bilin springs are employed in cases requiring an 
 alkaline carbonated water, in diseases of the urinary organs 
 and kidneys, in Bright's disease, in certain cases of gout, in 
 jaundice, and in rheumatic affections of the joints. 
 
 Twelve miles from Teplitz are the sources of the well-known 
 bitter waters of Piillna, Saidschiitz, and Sedlitz. 
 
206 
 
 PULLNA. 
 
 The village of Piillna/on the road to Carlsbad, is the chief 
 source whence the " Bitterwasser " is exported to every part 
 of the civilised globe ; but as the water is very seldom drank 
 on the spot, there is hardly any accommodation for invalid 
 residents, beyond a very second-rate inn. The mode of 
 collecting the "Bitterwasser" at Pullna is similar to that 
 employed at Sedlitz and Saidschiitz, and may here be described 
 once for all. These three sources are situated in an extensive 
 marly plain, the soil of which for a limited area round each 
 spring has a peculiar light yellowish colour, and is perfectly 
 destitute of vegetation. In this marly clay, wells or tanks 
 are dug, and the rainfall and oozing of the soil is suffered to 
 accumulate in them for months, dissolving out the soluble 
 saline ingredients from the subjacent formations. 
 
 To return to Pullna, according to Professor Ticinus, the 
 following is the analysis of 
 
 Pullna Bitter Water. 
 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 
 
 96-975 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 
 82-720 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 123-80 
 
 Chloride of magnesium, 
 
 19-120 
 
 Nitrate of magnesia, . 
 
 4-602 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 6-280 
 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 
 0-800 
 
 Carbonate of lime, . 
 
 0-760 
 
 Bromide of magnesium, 
 
 0-588 
 
 Phosphate of soda, 
 
 0-290 
 
 Total solid ingredients, 
 
 222-900 
 
 Together with 49 cub. in. of carbonic acid gas, in 16 ounces of the water. 
 
 To the eastward of the last-described source in the same 
 plain lies Sedlitz, or Seidlitz, whose name is the most 
 familiar, and whose waters are the least used of all the 
 German mineral springs. Sedlitz is a wretched-looking 
 place, hardly meriting the name of a village, and the wells, 
 
SEDLITZ. 
 
 207 
 
 whence the water should be derived, are a few shallow 
 circular pits, whose contents very seldom find their way to 
 this country. The actual Sedlitz water differs in every 
 respect from the " Genuine Sedlitz powder" of our chemists. 
 Instead of the cooling agreeable draught composed of tartrate 
 of soda and potash and bicarbonate of soda, set into effer- 
 vescence with tartaric acid, used in England under this name, 
 the true Sedlitz- wasser is a bitter, nauseous, yellowish-looking 
 fluid, the composition of which is not less different from 
 that of its English namesake than its taste, the following 
 being the ingredients contained in 16 ounces of the 
 
 Sedlitz Water. 
 
 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 
 
 104 
 
 Sulphate of lime, .... 
 
 8 
 
 Carbonate of lime, .... 
 
 8 
 
 Chloride of soda, .... 
 
 3 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 3 
 
 Total solid contents, 
 
 126 
 
 With three and a half cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. 
 
 Half an hour's walk from Sedlitz, on a slight elevation 
 above the plain, is Saidschutz, the most largely exported of 
 these waters. It is considerably stronger than the Sedlitz, 
 and, according to Berzelius, the following is the analysis of 
 16 ounces of 
 
 Saidschutz Water. 
 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 
 
 84-16 
 
 Nitrate of magnesia, 
 
 2517 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 4-98 
 
 Chloride of magnesium, . 
 
 2-16 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 
 4-09 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 46-80 
 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 
 1007 
 
 Oxides of manganese, iron, tin and copper, &c, 
 
 0-28 
 
 Total solid constituents, 
 
 178-77 
 
208 SAIDSCHIJTZ. 
 
 These " Bitter Waters," are aperient, resolvent, and diure- 
 tic, varying in strength from the Piillna, which is the most 
 powerful, to the Sedlitz, which is the weakest. They are 
 all too strong, in general, to be used undiluted, and their 
 action is quickened as well as rendered safer by mixture with 
 an equal amount of warm water. They closely resemble 
 the Friedrichshall spring, and are employed in the same 
 class of cases — namely, in habitual torpidity of the intestinal 
 canal, in congestions, torpidity, or enlargement of the liver 
 and spleen, in plethora, in tendency to apoplexy and congestion 
 of the brain, and similar diseases in which depletion is indi- 
 cated. I have prescribed them extensively in the treatment 
 of habitual constipation and hypochondriasis, and also more 
 especially in the chronic diseases peculiar to women, in lieu 
 of the drastic pills or draughts such patients seem so fond of 
 taking. The usual dose is half a large tumblerful of the 
 bitterwasser, with an equal quantity of hot water every 
 morning, and may be repeated at intervals of two hours 
 until the required effect is produced. 
 
GASTRIN. 209 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIT. 
 
 GASTEIN, ISCHL, AND BADEN NEAR VIENNA. 
 
 Within the same empire as the spas last described are two of 
 the most important health resorts on the Continent, viz., 
 Gastein and Ischl, both situated in the midst of the 
 Noric mountains in Upper Austria. The first-named water- 
 ing-place may be reached in three days and a half from 
 London, via Munich and Salzburg. From Salzburg a drive of 
 some fifty miles, occupying about fourteen hours by diligence 
 or carriage, through magnificent Alpine scenery, and through 
 the wild and sombre defile of the Klamn Pass, brings us into 
 Wildbad- Gastein. 
 
 This village, if it may be so called, is one of the most ex- 
 quisitely situated, but most primitive-looking, watering-places 
 in Europe. It is built at an elevation of upwards of 3000 feet 
 above the sea, on the side of a steep mountain, along which 
 some quaint ancient wooden houses, a long covered gallery, 
 known as the " Wandelbahn," that serves as a cursaaL to- 
 gether with a few modern stone buildings and hotels, are 
 thinly scattered. Immediately below the village is a deep 
 ravine, through which a mountain torrent, the Eiver Ache, 
 rushes impetuously, forming two fine waterfalls, the incessant 
 din of which is one of the most noticeable features of this 
 place. 
 
 The warm springs of Gastein, some six or seven in number, 
 belong to the class of chemically indifferent thermal waters, 
 
 o 
 
210 ISCHL. 
 
 and vary in warmth from 115°, which is the temperature of the 
 Haupt-quelle, to 118°, which is that of the Spital-quelle. Dr 
 Proll of Gastein enumerates no less than fourteen salts which 
 have been discovered in these waters * But as the sum total 
 of all these saline ingredients is only 2 J grains in each pint of 
 the water, it will be sufficient to mention that the chief of 
 these is sulphate of soda with traces of chloride of sodium, 
 sulphate of potash and carbonate of the protoxide of iron. 
 It is obvious that such homoeopathic quantities of any of these 
 constituents as is contained in the ordinary dose of the 
 Gastein water is quite insufficient to account for the undoubted 
 powerful therapeutic effects that occasionally follow a course 
 of these waters and baths. But without seeking to explain 
 the modus operandi of this spa, we may briefly mention the 
 cases in the Gastein baths, and the internal use of the waters, 
 are recommended. Having before pointed out the cases in 
 which other spas of the same class are employed, I need only 
 state in addition to those ailments in which Schlangenbad, 
 Wildbad, or Pfeffers are prescribed, namely rheumatic gout 
 and chronic rheumatism, contractions of the joints, neuralgia, 
 hysteria, and hypochondriasis, the pure atmosphere of this 
 charming mountain sanatorium renders Gastein peculiarly 
 suitable for valetudinarians who require not only a course of 
 the baths or waters, but also the tonic and invigorating 
 influence of the bracing climate. 
 
 Ischl, the favourite health resort of the Emperor of Austria, 
 and hence the most fashionable and expensive of the Austro- 
 Hungarian spas, is situated in the very centre of that vast and 
 beautiful imperial domain generally known as the Salz- 
 kammergut, which intervenes between the confines of Styria 
 and Salzburg. This watering-place may be reached by 
 
 * "Gastein, Erfahrungen und Studien," Von Dr Gustav Proll, "Brunneartz 
 in Bad. Gastein," p. 88. 
 
BADEN, NEAR VIENNA. 211 
 
 railway from Vienna to Gmunden in nine hours, and 
 thence by carriage in three hours. The saline springs of 
 Ischl have been well known and largely employed for the 
 manufacture of table salt ever since the commencement of the 
 twelfth century, but only within the last fifty years have they 
 been applied to medicinal purposes, and hence the handsome 
 town of some 5000 inhabitants, well provided with hotels, 
 casino, theatre, and all the ordinary attractions of a fashionable 
 German watering-place, is entirely modern. 
 
 The baths of Ischl are divided into saline brine baths, or 
 " Soolbader," and saline vapour baths, or " Soolendampf- 
 bader." The former are made by the addition of the strong 
 brine from the adjacent salt mines to a sufficient quantity of 
 warm water. This brine or " soole " consists of two parts of 
 the Hallstadt spring, with one part of the Ischl saline water, 
 and is added in quantities varying from ten to thirty pints of 
 brine to the bath, which is heated to about 90°. According 
 to Professor Schrotter, the chief ingredients of one pint of 
 this mixed brine or " Ischl-bade-soole," are 223 grains of 
 common table salt, with traces of chloride of magnesia, bromide 
 of magnesia, and sulphates of soda, potash, and lime.* The 
 principal use of the Ischl baths is in the treatment of scrofulous 
 diseases, rickets, chronic rheumatism, amenorrhea, and some 
 instances of sterility dependent on defective ovarian action, 
 suppressed haemorrhoids, certain cases of hysteria and hypo- 
 chondriasis. 
 
 Within three quarters of an hour's journey from Vienna 
 by the Trieste Eailway, is the ancient watering-place of 
 Baden-bei-Wien, which is prettily situated on the Schwe- 
 chat, at the foot of the Wienerwald Mountains. This spa 
 is a favourite holiday resort of the Vienese bourgeois ; and 
 many of the baths, such as the " Herzogsbad," are vast 
 
 * " Ischl sur le Keport Medical," &c, par le Dr J. Pollak, p. 56. 
 
212 BADEN, NEAR VIENNA. 
 
 reservoirs of warm mineral water, capable of containing a 
 couple of hundred bathers at a time, who, clad in a becom- 
 ing costume, and surrounded by the crowds of spectators 
 that fill the galleries above the baths, appear to seek amusement 
 fully as much as health. But, though thus employed by 
 those who do not require them, the thermal baths of Baden 
 have been long esteemed as active therapeutic agents. These 
 springs, of which there are here thirteen, were known to the 
 Eomans as the Thermce Pannonicce, and vary in temperature 
 from 98°, the Josefsquelle, to 79°, the Peregrinusquelle. The 
 chief saline ingredient of the Baden waters is sulphate of lime, 
 of which they contain 5 grains to the pint, together with 2 
 grains of sulphate of soda, smaller quantities of the chlorides 
 of magnesia, soda, and other salts, amounting in all to 14 
 grains of saline matter, and 2 cubic inches of carbonic acid, 
 sulphuretted hydrogen, and nitrogen gas. The principal use 
 of these baths is in the treatment of chronic rheumatism 
 and rheumatic arthritis, scrofulous glandular enlargements 
 and chronic skin diseases, especially those connected with 
 the scrofulous diathesis. 
 
CANNSTATT. 
 
 213 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXYIIL 
 
 CANNSTATT AND WILDBAD, 
 
 Wurtemberg possesses two watering-places of considerable 
 importance. The first of these is Cannstatt, on the Neckar, 
 about three miles from Stuttgart. 
 
 There are no less than eighteen or twenty saline chalybeate 
 springs in Cannstatt. 
 
 Analysis of the Principal Springs of Cannstatt (Fchling). 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 Chloride of potassium, 
 Chloride of magnesium, 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 Carbonateof protoxide of iron 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 Sulphate of magnesia 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 All other ingredients, 
 
 Total solid contents, 
 Carbonic acid gas, 
 
 c 
 'So 
 
 11 
 cct 
 
 .22 * 
 
 "V. — 
 
 c 3 
 
 *3 
 
 CO 
 
 
 3c4 
 
 N 
 
 16-29 
 
 19-50 
 
 16-42 
 
 12-63 
 
 7-59 
 
 
 0-25 
 
 
 0-87 
 
 0-57 
 
 
 0*18 
 
 
 
 
 7-89 
 
 ... 
 
 7-38 
 0-31 
 
 8-82 
 
 7-95 
 
 6-40 
 
 0-16 
 
 0-25 
 
 0-18 
 
 0-17 
 
 0-02 
 
 2-92 
 
 4*75 
 
 2-18 
 
 0-87 
 
 1-04 
 
 3-53 
 
 2-25 
 
 3-51 
 
 3-89 
 
 3-34 
 
 6'43 
 
 7-75 
 
 6-32 
 
 6-88 
 
 5-06 
 
 1-23 
 
 
 1-38 
 
 
 
 0-16 
 
 
 0-17 
 
 0-09 
 
 0-08 
 
 38 61 
 
 42-62 
 
 38-98 
 
 33-45 
 
 24-10 
 
 23-5 
 
 19-4 
 
 27'7 
 
 14-6 
 
 8-8 
 
 The Cannstatt springs owe their efficacy to the combination 
 of different purgative salts, together with a small quantity of 
 iron, rendered peculiarly active and soluble by an excess of 
 Thus they combine aperient with slightly 
 
 carbonic acid gas. 
 
214 CANNSTATT. 
 
 tonic properties, They are, therefore, valuable deobstruent 
 remedies, and are also frequently prescribed by the physicians 
 of Stuttgart in dyspeptic cases. The principal use, however, 
 of these springs, is in cases where a mild tonic is indicated 
 in chronic catarrhal affections of the mucous membrane, and 
 in some scrofulous diseases. 
 
 The " Sprudel " spring is that most frequently prescribed. 
 There is another celebrated source which is used principally 
 for bathing, " Die obere Sulzquelle," a small pond of about half 
 an acre diameter, formed by several springs. The water is so 
 gaseous that it seems absolutely boiling, so hissing and 
 bubbling is it with nitrogen and carbonic acid gases. The 
 temperature is about 66°, and its medicinal use is chalybeate 
 and solvent, being especially employed, in the form of local 
 douche baths, in the treatment of catarrhal affections of 
 the utero-vaginal and vesico-rectal mucous membranes. 
 
 Wildbad, the most romantically-situated of the German 
 watering-places, is beautifully placed in the very centre of the 
 Black "Forest, about six hours' journey by railway from 
 Stuttgardt, and four hours' from Carlsruhe. From Pforzheim 
 the branch line to Wildbad passes through the valley of the 
 Enz, the narrow strip of land between which and the forest 
 is cultivated with a care which throws Mr Mechi's model 
 farming completely into the shade. Through the midst of 
 this the Enz, here the noisiest and most turbulent mountain 
 stream of its size that can be imagined, rushes white with 
 foam, and bearing rafts so narrow, although longer than the 
 " Great Eastern," that they hardly afford footing to the man 
 who navigates them, down to the distant Ehine ; while back 
 from the river extend for miles on either side the gloomy 
 pine-shades of the Black Forest. 
 
 On our arrival at Wildbad, having secured our rooms at 
 the Hotel Klumpp, — which, I may remark, is one of the most 
 
WILDBAD. 215 
 
 comfortable hostelries in Germany, though there are several 
 others, perhaps equally good, here, — I called on Dr Haussmann, 
 to whom I had letters of introduction, and to his courtesy 
 and assistance I am indebted for much of the information I 
 obtained concerning this watering-place. 
 
 Wildbad, which stands in the narrowest part of the valley of 
 the Enz, contains a population of about 3500 inhabitants. The 
 Grand Bath House or Curhaus, which is opposite to the Hotel 
 Klumpp, is the most perfect bath establishment in Europe for 
 its size. Of its extent some idea may be formed from the fact 
 that twelve hundred baths can be daily administered, each 
 bath being, moreover, of considerable duration. The founda- 
 tion of this building is cut out of the solid granite rock, 
 through which the water percolates, and on which the baths 
 lie with the intervention of a thin layer of fine sand. The 
 establishment is equally apportioned to male and female 
 baths. In both are large public "piscina?," and smaller 
 cabinets for those who prefer bathing separately. One cha- 
 racteristic of all these baths is the great height of the rooms, 
 so that one is not plunged into a hot vapour bath before 
 entering the water, as is the case in almost every other 
 bathing establishment in Germany that I have visited. The 
 water is remarkably clear, so that every grain of sand at the 
 bottom is distinctly visible, although covered by some three feet 
 of water, through which minute bubbles of gas are continually 
 ascending. The temperature in the principal piscina is 96°, 
 and in the other baths it varies from 92 to 103°. 
 
 The arrangements of this establishment are excellent; and 
 the precautions taken to prevent those afflicted with con- 
 tagious and horrifying diseases from bathing in the public 
 baths, are especially deserving of imitation in every similar 
 institution. 
 
 The reputation of Wildbad as a spa is of very ancient date, 
 
216 
 
 WILDBAD. 
 
 and in the reign of Charles V., by the gratitude of some 
 courtier who here regained his health, a curious charter 
 was obtained for this town, which contained a proviso that 
 " all criminals, with the exception of murderers and highway 
 robbers, might here enjoy peace and quiet undisturbed, for a 
 year and a day." 
 
 According to Fehling, the following is the 
 
 Analysis of Wildbad Water. 
 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Sulphate of soda, . 
 
 0-29 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 
 010 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 
 1-80 
 
 Carbonate of soda, 
 
 0-83 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 0-07 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 0-73 
 
 Carbonates of iron and manganese, 
 
 0-02 
 
 Silex, ..... 
 
 0-48 
 
 Total, . 
 
 4-35^ 
 
 The gaseous constituents of this water have probably more 
 to do with its therapeutic effects than its saline ingredients, 
 and are very abundant, 100 parts consisting of 91*56 of 
 nitrogen, 6 "54 oxygen, and 2*00 carbonic acid gas. 
 
 These constitutents, solid or gaseous, are, however, insuf- 
 ficient to account for the active therapeutic properties of 
 Wildbad water. Some writers ascribe these solely to its 
 temperature, which is 98°, or exactly that of the blood. 
 
 With respect to the modus operandi of these springs, Dr 
 Haussmann's theory is, that the Wildbad water contains no 
 lime whatever, although it is a very powerful solvent of that 
 base, and therefore that it acts by dissolving and removing the 
 salts of calcium which exist in excess in the blood and tissues. 
 He also gave it as his opinion that by increasing the fluidity 
 of the blood it thus facilitates the elimination of morbid 
 materials from the system, and in part also obtains the same 
 
 *" Handbuch der HeilqueUenlehre," p. 652. 
 
WILDBAD. 217 
 
 result by stimulating the excretory organs, especially the 
 kidneys and skin. 
 
 The first effect of the Wildbad baths is a peculiar sense 
 of comfort, or bien-etre, which has been, I think, somewhat 
 exaggerated by most writers. Succeeding to this is a slightly 
 stimulant or exhilarating influence, which, if the bath be too 
 long continued, is followed by a feeling of lassitude and a 
 soporific tendency. Therefore the local physicians enjoin their 
 patients to commence with a bath of ten minutes' duration, 
 which may be gradually increased until it at last reaches half 
 an hour's immersion, beyond which it will be very seldom, if 
 ever, proper to prolong the bath. After some time the patient 
 will generally experience the symptoms of what has been 
 already described as the spa fever, or saturation point, and this 
 usually proves critical, and is a precursor of the cure of the 
 ailment for which the invalid has visited Wildbad. 
 
 These baths are largely employed in the treatment of 
 neuralgia and sciatica, in some of the diseases peculiar to 
 women which are connected with chronic uterine or ovarian 
 inflammation, also in cases of functional amenorrhcea; in 
 various scrofulous glandular affections, and above all in 
 rheumatic gout and chronic rheumatism. In the last-named 
 complaint it is indeed that Wildbad seems to exercise its most 
 marked curative effect; more especially is this sanative 
 influence shown in cases of chronic rheumatic-arthritis, in 
 which the action of the joint is impaired, or even its form- 
 altered, by morbid deposits. Such structural changes are 
 often rectified, and the effused matter absorbed by the com- 
 bined internal and external use of this, apparently, simple 
 water, when more pretentious remedies have been long tried 
 in vain. 
 
218 BADEN-BADEN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 BADEN-BADEN. 
 
 The " Queen of the Spas," as Baden has been designated, is 
 but six hours from the watering-place described in the last 
 chapter, and within thirty-two hours' journey from London. 
 The situation of Baden, on the declivity of the Schlossberg 
 overlooking the valley of the Oosbach, is exquisite ; the hotels 
 and lodging-houses are commodious ; the people are civil ; the 
 shops are good ; the resources for the amusement of visitors are 
 numerous ; and the mineral springs, which are recommended 
 in almost all chronic diseases, may be found really useful in 
 some cases. 
 
 Baden is divided into two distinct towns — the old and the 
 new, — the buildings of which are as different as their popula- 
 tions. The former, which is situated on the hill, consists of 
 narrow lanes of quaint, old-fashioned houses, rising in succes- 
 sive terraces, is peopled by the indigenous inhabitants, and 
 contains the mineral sources. The new town occupies the 
 valley on the south side of the river, and contains the 
 " Trinkhalle," or pump-room, the public gardens, and numerous 
 villas and boarding houses. This part of the town is exclu- 
 sively populated by the foreign element, and it would be 
 difficult to find a dozen large houses here which are not either 
 hotels or lodging-houses. 
 
 The principal spring of Baden is the Ursprung, which 
 
BADEN-BADEN. 
 
 219 
 
 resembles the Kochbruimen of Wiesbaden, being a warm 
 saline water, but is much weaker. 
 
 Analysis of the Ur sprung, by Bunsen. 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 Chloride of magnesium, 
 Chloride of potassium, 
 Phosphate of lime, 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 Carborate of magnesia, 
 Carbonate of ammonia, 
 Carbona.te of protoxide of iron, 
 
 Grains. 
 
 16-52 
 
 0-09 
 1-25 
 0-02 
 155 
 001 
 0-88 
 0-02 
 0-03 
 0-91 
 
 Total solid contents in a pint of the water, . 21*35 
 Carbonic acid gas rather less than a cubic inch. 
 
 The Baden-Baden waters are used both internally and 
 externally. The cases in which Baden is resorted to are very 
 similar to those in which Wiesbaden is indicated. During 
 each of my visits to Baden-Baden I met with patients suffering 
 from a mild form of chronic rheumatism, who seemed to have 
 derived benefit from this remedy. It is also admissible in 
 some cases of neuralgia ; and Dr Edwin Lee records its 
 virtues in instances of "nervous affections of a convulsive 
 nature, such as hysteria, with congestions of internal organs 
 and irregularity in the performance of periodical functions."* 
 It is prescribed with occasional advantage in the treatment of 
 dyspepsia, and in irritability of the vesical and intestinal 
 mucous membranes. 
 
 Dr Seegenf says that Baden water is indicated in the 
 treatment of chronic catarrh of the respiratory organs. I 
 should, however, hesitate to send any patient of mine suffer- 
 
 * " The Baths of Germany," by Edwin Lee, M.D., 3d edition, p. 168. 
 t " Handbuch der Heilquellenlehre, " Seegen, p. 446. 
 
220 BADEN-BADEN. 
 
 ing from chronic bronchitis to so variable a climate as 
 this, unless the disease were clearly connected with the 
 gouty diathesis. It is also employed in scrofulous affections 
 of the glands and skin, and, by the resident physicians, in 
 almost every other disease. 
 
THE SWISS BADEN. 
 
 221 
 
 CHAPTEE XL. 
 
 THE SWISS BADEN. 
 
 Baden-on-the-Limmat, in the Canton of Aargau, is the 
 oldest known watering-place in Switzerland, and may be 
 reached by railway from Bale in a couple of hours. The 
 town, which is evidently of great antiquity, is situated in part 
 on a kind of platform overhanging the river, and in part in the 
 ravine through which the stream flows. At the south end of 
 the place a curious antique covered bridge crosses the river, 
 and at the opposite extremity are situated the mineral baths 
 and springs. The principal source issues immediately in front 
 of the Schweizer hoteL 
 
 This spring is warm, very gaseous, and strongly sulphurous. 
 
 Analysis of Baden Mineral Water, by Lowig. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 
 
 
 2-218 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 
 
 
 
 
 2-442 
 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 
 
 
 
 10-860 
 
 Chloride of potassium, 
 
 
 
 
 0-711 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 
 
 
 
 13-042 
 
 Chloride of magnesium, , 
 
 
 
 
 0-566 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 
 
 
 2-599 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 
 
 
 0152 
 
 Carbonate of strontium, 
 
 
 
 
 0-005 
 
 Fluoride of calcium, 
 
 
 
 
 0-016 
 
 Chloride of calcium, 
 
 
 
 
 0-719 
 
 All other ingredients, 
 
 
 
 
 0-013 
 
 Total solid contents, 
 
 33-343 
 
 Baden was frequented as a watering-place by the Bomans, 
 
222 THE SWISS BADEN. 
 
 and numerous relics of this bath -loving people have been 
 found in the environs of the springs. In the Middle Ages 
 Baden was more resorted to than at the present day, and 
 Poggio Bracciolini, the celebrated Roman scholar and courtier 
 of the fifteenth century, in a letter written in 1415, has left a 
 graphic account of a fashionable watering-place of that day : 
 " I write to you," he says, " from these baths, to which I have 
 now come, to try whether they can remove an eruption which 
 has taken place between my fingers ; to describe to you the 
 situation of the place, and the manners of its inhabitants, 
 together with the customs of the company who resort hither 
 for the benefit of the waters. . . . They are resorted to by 
 males and females, who are separated by a partition. In this 
 partition, however, there are windows, through which they 
 can converse with each other. Above the baths are a kind of 
 gallery on which the people stand who wish to see and 
 converse with the bathers ; for every one has free access to the 
 baths, to see the company, to talk and joke with them. The 
 bathers frequently give public dinners in the baths, on a table 
 which floats on the water . . . and they spend the greater 
 part of their time in the baths, where they amuse themselves 
 with singing, drinking, and dancing."* 
 
 Two centuries later, an old English traveller gives the 
 following description of the baths of the Swiss Baden, as they 
 existed in 1617: — "These baths," says Fynes Moryson, "are 
 famous for medicine, and are in number thirty, seated on each 
 side the brooke, which divideth them into Bethora, the great 
 and the little. In the great, divers baths are contained under 
 one roof of a house, and without the gate are two, common to 
 the poore. These waters are so strong of brimstone^ as the 
 very smoak warmeth them that come neere, and the waters 
 
 * "The Life of Poggio Bracciolini," by the Rev. William Carpenter, pp. 
 69-76, Liverpool, 1802. 
 
THE SWISS BADEN 223 
 
 burn those that touch them. Of these, one is called the 
 Marques Bath, and is so hot as it will scald off the haire of a 
 hogge. The waters are so cleere as a penny may be seen in 
 the bottome, and because melancholy must be avoided, they 
 recreate themselves with many sports, while they sit in the 
 water ; namely, at cards, and with casting up and catching 
 little stones, to which purpose they have a little table swim- 
 ming upon the water, upon which sometimes they doe likewise 
 eate. These baths are very good for a cold braine, and a 
 stomach charged with rhume ; but are hurtful to hot and dry 
 complexions, and in that respect they are held better for 
 women than men."* 
 
 At the present time Baden-on-the-Limmat is frequented 
 by few except Swiss valetudinarians, or invalids from the 
 neighbouring German states, during the season, which lasts 
 from June to September. It is a quiet, and somewhat 
 triste, though beautifully- situated watering-place. These 
 baths and waters are principally employed in the treatment 
 of some obstinate skin diseases, in secondary and tertiary 
 syphilis, and also in chronic rheumatism and gout, with 
 exudation into the joints. 
 
 * "An Itinerary written by Fynes Moryson, Gent., containing his Ten 
 Years' Travels," &c, Part I. bk. i. p. 26, folio, London, 1617. 
 
224 
 
 SCHINZNACH. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 SCHINZNACH AND WILDEGG. 
 
 Retkacing our steps towards Bale, half an hour's journey 
 by train from Aargau brought us to Schinznach where, as at 
 some other Swiss watering-places, there is neither town nor 
 village, but merely a vast bathing establishment, in which 
 those who go through a course of the water must live in 
 community, isolated from the rest of the world. 
 
 This spa may now be easily reached from London, either by 
 Paris and Strasbourg, or by the Great Luxemburg Railroad, 
 via Bale, in two days. The bath-house, which overlooks the 
 river Aar, was commenced in 1695 and reconstructed recently, 
 contains excellent accommodation for about four hundred visi- 
 tors. At a short distance from this is a sanatorium, where 
 seventy-six poor patients are well cared for at a nominal charge. 
 
 Schinznach is the strongest sulphurous water in Switzer- 
 land. The following is a recent analysis of this source : — 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 Chloride of potassium, ) 
 Chloride of ammonia, / 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 Aluminia, 
 Silicic acid, 
 
 Total solid ingredients 
 
 Grains. 
 5001 
 
 0-063 
 
 0-919 
 
 4-886 
 2-052 
 1-086 
 0-063 
 0-045 
 0-086 
 
 14-201 
 
SCHINZNACH. 225 
 
 Cubic Inches. 
 
 Sulphuretted hydrogen gas, . . . 1*268 
 
 Carbonic acid gas, .... 1'886 
 
 Nitrogen, ..... Traces. 
 
 The most important constituent in this water is the sul- 
 phuretted hydrogen gas, the physiological effects of which 
 vary according to the dose, — a small dose being a tonic, while 
 a large one is a very powerful stimulant. Its principal use is 
 in the baths. When used internally, it must first be allowed 
 to remain exposed to the air for some time after being 
 drawn from the source, for the purpose of admitting of the 
 escape of a large proportion of the gas it contains. 
 
 When drank with the precaution I have mentioned, the 
 Schinznach water acts as a stimulant and resolvent ; it ex- 
 cites the activity of the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, 
 accelerates the pulse, and determines to the skin. According 
 to Dr Amsler, this spa has a peculiarly stimulating effect 
 on the pulmonary mucous membrane, being specially con- 
 traindicated and likely to be injurious in any bronchial or 
 pulmonary complaint, and in any organic visceral disease 
 whatever, or even for patients of a full plethoric habit of 
 body. 
 
 A course of the Schinznach baths generally produces 
 a specific cutaneous eruption, which is regarded as a proof 
 that the patient's system is under the influence of the 
 remedy. This point is insisted on as of great importance, 
 and is watched for with the same care that we examine the 
 gums of a patient under a mercurial course. 
 
 Dr Amsler and other local writers believe that nearly all 
 chronic skin diseases, more especially eczema, psoriasis, and 
 pityriasis may be cured by these baths. 
 
 Scrofula, next to skin diseases, is the malady which brings 
 most patients to Schinznach. The stimulant action of the 
 water on the glandular system renders it peculiarly adapted 
 
 p 
 
226 WILDEGG. 
 
 for scrofulous diseases, either external or mesenteric. In 
 cases of chronic rheumatism I was here assured that this 
 spa is almost a specific, and in some cases of dyspepsia and in 
 diseases occasioned by deficient or irregular menstruation, the 
 stimulant properties of this very powerful sulphurous spring 
 are occasionally beneficial, but in all cases, for reasons already 
 stated, it must be used with much caution and under medical 
 advice. 
 
 The season lasts from May to September, inclusively, and 
 the mode of using the water is the same as at other strong 
 sulphurous baths, externally in douche, vapour, and other 
 baths, as well as internally in doses of from one to two small 
 glasses, morning and evening. 
 
 Close to Schinznach is Wildegg, where a strongly saline 
 iodated spring was discovered in 18S0, the water of which is 
 now largely exported. 
 
 The source of Wildegg rises through an artesian well some 
 three hundred feet deep, which furnishes so small a supply 
 that it can hardly fill fifty small bottles daily. Wildegg 
 belongs to a class of mineral waters of which we have com- 
 paratively few examples, namely, the iodated and bromated 
 spas. According to Dr Laue,* the following is the analysis of 
 this spring :— 
 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Iodide of sodium, 
 
 0-218112 
 
 Bromide of sodium, 
 
 0236544 
 
 Chloride of sodium, . 
 
 80-236800 
 
 Chloride of potassium, 
 
 0-039936 
 
 Chloride of lime, 
 
 1-980672 
 
 Chloride of magnesium, 
 
 12-451584 
 
 Chloride of strontium, 
 
 0-152832 
 
 Hydro-chloride of amonium, 
 
 0-049152 
 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 
 14-172672 
 
 * " Etudes sur les Eaux Minerales de Schinznach et de Wildegg," par A. 
 Hermman, p. 22. 
 
WILDEGG. 227 
 
 Analysis of Wildegg continued. 
 
 Nitrate of soda, 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 Carbonate of iron, 
 Silicic acid, 
 
 Grains. 
 0-339456 
 0-583680 
 0061400 
 0-030720 
 
 110-553600 
 
 Total solid contents of 16 ounces, 
 Carbonic acid gas, . . 2 "36 cubic inches. 
 
 Small as the amount of iodine and bromine in the Wildegg 
 spa may seem, when compared to the great strength of its 
 other saline constituents, it is to these salts that it owes 
 its reputation as a remedy of remarkable efficacy in the treat- 
 ment of chronic glandular and scrofulous diseases ; the iodine 
 and bromine stimulating the absorbent system, and thus dis- 
 sipating indolent tumours. 
 
228 RAGATZ. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIL 
 
 RAGATZ, PFEFFERS, THE ENGADINE, ST MORITZ, TARASP, 
 AND LEUK. 
 
 Comparatively few travellers for health row resort to 
 Pfeffers or Pfaffers, as some call it, although many visit the 
 adjoining village of Eagatz, which has become one of the 
 most frequented watering-places in Switzerland, being within 
 nine hours' journey of Zurich by railway, and three-quarters 
 of an hour from Coire on the road to the Yia-Mala. The 
 situation of Eagatz, at the entrance of the wild gorge of the 
 Tamina, and the view from the hotel of the extensive valley 
 surrounded with snow-clad mountains which extend before it, 
 are most picturesque. The principal hotels, the Eagatz-Hoff 
 and Hotel de Tamina, are excellent, and have commodious 
 bathing establishments attached to them. But as these are 
 supplied from Pfeffers, some miles distant, and as the curative 
 effects of this water are, probably, more connected with its 
 thermal condition than with its chemical composition, there 
 can be no therapeutic advantage in using the baths at Eagatz 
 instead of at their source. 
 
 From Eagatz, a steep, winding road, immediately behind 
 the hotel, brought us to the cliffs which overhang the Tamina, 
 along the left bank of which the path is cut through the rock3. 
 This road here and there descends to the level of the water 
 and then rises to the edge of the precipice above it. In some 
 places it is carried through short tunnels in the rock; and 
 nowhere is the route devoid of picturesque beauty, and often 
 passes through wild and sublime scenery. 
 
PFEFFERS. 229 
 
 The ancient convent, now the bath-house of Pfeffers, is 
 built on a narrow ledge of rock above the torrent, and is over- 
 shadowed by the opposite precipice, which, rising five hun- 
 dred feet, keeps the house in perpetual shade. The building 
 is a long, narrow edifice, six stories high, and at the time of 
 our visit, when the season was nearly over, looked exactly like 
 a deserted cotton factory. This establishment, which is the 
 property of the government of the canton St Gall, contains 
 accommodation for about three hundred visitors. 
 
 Immediately beyond the bath-house the ravine of the 
 Tamina contracts to a crevasse not quite thirty feet in width, 
 over which the precipices on either side, sloping towards each 
 other, form a limestone roof four hundred feet high, and thus 
 enclose a long cavern lighted by the few rays that find their 
 way through the fissures where the rocks above meet. 
 Along this the pathway to the thermal sources passes for 
 nearly half a mile, midway between the roof and the abyss 
 through which the torrent rushes ; the passage being sup- 
 ported partly on a narrow ledge of rock projecting over the 
 river, and in part on stakes driven into the marble walls of 
 the crevasse. 
 
 At the extremity of this pathway are situated the thermal 
 sources to which Pfeffers owes its fame. They both rise 
 within a few yards of each other, at the bottom of a cavern 
 on the right bank of the Tamina. These springs have neither 
 taste nor odour, are perfectly limpid, have the specific gravity 
 of common water, and issue from the fountain at the tempera- 
 ture of 99°. 
 
 The thermal source of Pfeffers was first discovered in 1038, 
 by a huntsman who, alarmed by seeing steam rising from the 
 ground before him, turned back from the chase, and com- 
 municated his discovery to the monks of the adjacent convent. 
 By them it was utilised for the benefit of the poor of the 
 
230 
 
 PFEFFEKS. 
 
 district, and its fame gradually spreading, the first thermal 
 establishment was opened in 1242, and patients were 
 admitted — the poor gratuitously, and the rich for whatever 
 offerings they might choose to make on their departure. Thus 
 these baths flourished till 1838, when the government of the 
 canton dispossessed the monks, and turned the monastery into 
 an hydropathic establishment. 
 
 From that time Pfeffers has become, year by year, less 
 frequented by invalids, who now seem to prefer the modern 
 establishment at Eagatz. The waters of Pfeffers belong to 
 the same class as Gastein and "Wildbad, which possess hardly 
 any chemical ingredients, and depend for their action on their 
 temperature. 
 
 Analysis of Pfeffers Spa, according to PagenstecJun 
 
 drains. 
 
 Sulphate of soda, .'.%■.-.* 0242 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 Sulphate of lime, 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 Other salts, 
 
 Total solid contents, 
 
 0-004 
 0-208 
 0-027 
 0-910 
 0-147 
 0148 
 
 1-792 
 
 The principal use of the thermal sources ef Pfeffers is in 
 the baths, in which the patients sometimes remain for a con- 
 siderable time, though now they no longer stay as formerly, 
 when, as an old author assures us, — "Multa dies noctesque 
 thermis non egrediuntur ; sed cibum simul et somnium in his 
 capiunt." 
 
 The average duration of each bath at present is reduced 
 to about twenty minutes. The same peculiar sense of 
 bien-etre is ascribed to them as to the Wildbad baths, and it 
 is certain that they exercise a remarkably sedative, but not 
 depressing, influence on the system. After a few days, a slight 
 
PFEFFEES. 231 
 
 febrile reaction comes on, during the course of the baths, 
 which is regarded as critical. 
 
 Long, indeed, would be the list, if I merely enumerated the 
 diseases which the special writers on Pfeffers and Eagatz say- 
 may be cured by these waters. I shall, however, only allude 
 to those ailments which my own experience leads me to think 
 are most susceptible to their therapeutic influence. 
 
 Foremost amongst these complaints is dyspepsia and 
 gastralgia, and it is remarkable in what large doses even the 
 most irritable stomach tolerates the water, and how rapidly the 
 best effects — diminution of pain, regular alvine action, and 
 increased appetite — often follow its use. 
 
 Nervous and spasmodic affections are frequently benefited 
 by Pfeffers spa, which soothes and tranquillises the nervous 
 system in a special manner, and cases of intractable neuralgia, 
 sciatica, nervous headache, and similar complaints, are some- 
 times cured by a few weeks' use of these baths, and the 
 internal administration of the waters. 
 
 The same remarks may be made of hysteria, chorea, and 
 some other obscure nervous maladies. Also in renal and 
 vesical complaints, such, for instance, as catarrh of the 
 bladder ; even when the secretion is attended with pain, the 
 passage through the system of so large a quantity of bland 
 fluid as is daily drank at Pfeffers or Eagatz is likely to be 
 attended with the best effects. 
 
 Prom Eagatz an hour's journey by train brings us to Coke, 
 the ancient capital of the G-risons, where the visitor to the 
 health-resorts of the Engadine must revert to the primitive 
 diligence, by which, in from ten to twelve hours, he may traverse 
 the forty miles of mountain drive by the Julier Pass, which 
 lies between Coire and St Moritz. This watering-place, 
 although strongly recommended by Paracelsus in the sixteenth 
 century, was, until recently, almost unknown to British valetu- 
 
232 THE UPPER ENGADINE. 
 
 dinarians, by whom it is now crowded, not only on account of 
 its chalybeate spa, but still more on account of its pure bracing 
 mountain atmosphere. 
 
 The situation of St Moritz in the exquisitely beautiful 
 valley of the Upper Engadine, surrounded by the Grison moun- 
 tains, and immediately below the Julier Pass, at an elevation 
 of six thousand feet above the sea, and overlooking the valley 
 of the Inn and its many lakes, which are generally frozen over 
 until late in summer, although most picturesque, in my opinion 
 renders this village quite unsuitable for the consumptive and 
 bronchitic patients by whom it is now so largely frequented. 
 The climate of the Upper Engadine, bracing and invigorating 
 as it unquestionably is for those who can withstand its low 
 temperature, being not only extremely cold at all seasons, but 
 also probably the dryest in Europe, is far too stimulating for 
 those suffering from pulmonary or bronchial irritation, and 
 should be carefully restricted to those cases which I have 
 pointed out in the first chapter of this work as requiring the 
 tonic influence of a very pure, dry, cold, and bracing atmosphere. 
 To such patients, and especially those suffering from anaemic 
 disorders resulting from over- work and nervous exhaustion, the 
 Upper Engadine, from Maloja to Samaden, may be regarded as 
 the type of that '•' Happy Valley, wide and fruitful, surrounded 
 on every side by lofty mountains," where Easselas discovered the 
 tedium of uninterrupted repose, and experienced the irresist- 
 ible craving " to see the miseries of the world, since the 
 sight of them is necessary to happiness." In truth, there 
 is nothing so remarkable throughout the Engadine as the 
 peculiar stillness which meets the valetudinarian pilgrim 
 in pursuit of health, who may here seek a brief respite from 
 the cares and turmoil of civic life. This stillness, though 
 more broken in the immediate vicinity of St Moritz by the 
 stream of tourists who crowd thither each summer, is still 
 
ST MORITZ. 233 
 
 even there sufficiently marked to contrast with any other spa 
 on the continent. 
 
 The village of St Moritz, consisting chiefly of half a dozen 
 hotels and a score or so of lodging houses, needs no description. 
 About a mile from the town are the mineral springs to which 
 it owes its repute. The bath-establishment, or Kurhaus, is 
 one of the largest in Switzerland, and is provided with all 
 the usual resources of such places. The springs are powerful 
 alkaline chalybeates, and, according to Dr Planta's analysis, 
 the Alte-Quelle contains eleven grains of saline ingredients 
 in a pint; whilst the Neu-Quelle contains thirteen grains, 
 principally consisting of carbonate of lime, soda, magnesia 
 and iron, and sulphate of soda, together with about forty cubic 
 inches of carbonic acid gas. The class of cases in which a 
 water of this kind should be used have been so fully pointed 
 out in the chapters on other saline chalybeates, such as Spa and 
 Schwalbad, that it is unnecessary to say more than, in addition 
 to the ordinary anaemic, and chlorotic complaints in which 
 they may be prescribed, St Moritz, on account of its 
 climatic advantages, may be employed in cases of debility, 
 nervous exhaustion, and premature decay, from over brain- 
 work, pretubercular cachexia, especially in patients of scrofu- 
 lous diathesis, and in other atonic non-inflammatory chronic 
 disorders. 
 
 Tarasp, in the Lower Engadine, may be reached by diligence 
 in eleven hours from the Spa just described. The mineral 
 sources of this comparatively modern, but now very important 
 watering-place, approach in their composition somewhat to the 
 springs we have spoken of in the chapter on the Bohemian 
 " Bitter- wassers," than which, however, they are less saline or 
 purgative, and at the same time are decidedly alkaline and 
 chalybeate, and therefore more alterative and tonic in their 
 action. According to Dr Yon Planta, each pint of the Groser- 
 
234 LEUK. 
 
 quelle of Tarasp contains 39 grains of chloride of soda, 33 grains 
 of carbonate of soda, 22 grains of sulphate of soda, 16 grains 
 of carbonate of lime, 7 grains of carbonate of magnesia, and 
 about a third of a grain of carbonate of the protoxide of iron, 
 together with 32 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. The princi- 
 pal use made of the saline alkaline waters of Tarasp is in the 
 treatment of chronic abdominal visceral congestions and enlarge- 
 ments, especially of the spleen and liver, more particularly in 
 obstructions of the portal circulation, suppressed haemorrhoids, 
 intestinal worms, especially taenia, and also, according to Dr 
 Constantine James,* in asthmatic affections. 
 
 To the foregoing sketch of the principal Swiss watering-places, 
 a few words must be added concerning Leukekbad, or Loeche- 
 les-Bains in the Canton Valais. The most direct route to 
 Leuk is that by railway via Berne as far as Thun, and thence 
 by road through the Bernese Oberland, and across the Gemmi 
 Pass. The road from Thun to Leuk, although traversing the 
 most magnificent and wildest of all the Alpine passes, the 
 Gemmi, can hardly be recommended to any nervous valetudi- 
 narian, being in many places a mere ledge cut out of the face 
 of the vertical rock which towers above, and from which the 
 nervous traveller can scarcely look without some fear into an 
 abyss of nearly 2000 feet, which lies immediately beneath the 
 narrow shelf on which he stands. Leuk may, however, be now 
 reached by an easier though less picturesque route, namely, 
 via Geneva and Lausanne by railway to Sierre, from which 
 station Leukerbad is only five or six hours drive. 
 
 The position of this village of hotels, built nearly 5000 feet 
 above the sea at the extremity of an Alpine cut cle sac, the 
 valley of the Dala, surrounded on all sides by the almost 
 vertical walls of rocky mountains which tower above it, and 
 only protected by a strong dyke of masonry from the fall of 
 
 * Dr Constantin James, " Guide Practique, Aux Eaux Minerales," p. 457. 
 
LEUK. 
 
 235 
 
 some avalanche, such as have thrice already destroyed this 
 watering-place, renders the climate so intensely cold as to be 
 absolutely uninhabitable, except from the end of May until 
 September. The hotels, of which are eight or ten, are, however, 
 crowded by French and Swiss invalid visitors during the season. 
 The springs of Leuk, some twenty in number, are thermal 
 saline waters, the principal mineral constituent of which is 
 sulphate of lime. The chief of these, the Lorenzquelle, has a 
 temperature of 124°; and the others v-ary from that to 90°. 
 According to Pagenstcher the following is the 
 
 Analysis of the Hauptauelle. 
 
 Sulphate of lime, .... 
 
 11-34 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 
 
 1-76 
 
 Sulphate of soda, 
 
 0-45 
 
 Sulphate of strontia, . 
 
 0-02 
 
 Carbonate of lime, .... 
 
 0-31 
 
 Chloride of sodium, .... 
 
 0-04 
 
 Carbonate of potash, .... 
 
 0-03 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 
 
 0'02 
 
 Carbonate of protoxide of iron, 
 
 024 
 
 14-66 
 
 The principal use made of the thermal sources of Leuk is 
 in the feaths, whicn are here taken in common, and in which 
 the patients, in full custivme cle bain, of course, remain for the 
 greater part of the day amusing themselves exactly in the 
 fashion which I have in my account of the Swiss Baden quoted 
 from a writer of the sixteenth century. This prolonged im- 
 mersion in the thermal mineral fluid is unquestionably capable 
 of producing a powerful therapeutic effect in many chronic 
 diseases, and is especially applicable in obstinate cutaneous 
 affections, secondary and tertiary syphilis, and in chronic 
 rheumatism or rheumatic gout, although in the latter com- 
 plaints the coldness of the climate oftentimes undoes the good 
 effected by the waters. 
 
236 AIX-LES-BAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 AIX-LES-BAINS. 
 
 Of the French spas frequented by English valetudinarians 
 the most attractive in situation is Aix-les-Bains, close to the 
 Lake of Bourget, ten miles from Chambery, and within fifteen 
 hours of Paris by railway via Macon. During the season 
 from May until September, the population of this little town 
 of 4000 inhabitants, is annually increased by some 10,000 
 invalid visitors, and every available house is then converted 
 into an hotel or lodging-house, yet so great is the demand 
 that it oftentimes is, as I found, a matter of difficulty to 
 obtain any accommodation whatever. 
 
 The main feature of Aix-les-Bains is its thermal establish- 
 ment, a handsome granite building on the hill, a little above 
 the town, and supplied by the two mineral springs which 
 have their sources within the mountains above it. The 
 number of baths contained in the establishment is over three 
 hundred, and includes every variety, from the simple reclining 
 bath to the most complicated local douche, or "pulverised 
 water bath." The piscines and vaporarium are especially 
 deserving of notice. Nearly opposite, and behind the 
 " Pension Chabet," are the ruins of the ancient Eoman baths, 
 and the houses in this part of the town are for the most part 
 built from the Eoman remains which abound on every side, 
 and some of which — for instance, the handsome triumphal 
 arch of Campanus — still exist in perfect preservation. 
 
AIX-LES-BAINS. 
 
 237 
 
 Foremost amongst the lions of Aix are the remarkable caves 
 in the mountain behind the town. These, some years ago, 
 were drained by the Government, and thus the supply of 
 thermal water was greatly increased and rendered regular. 
 They are entered by a narrow tunnel cut through the solid 
 rock leading into a lofty circular chamber, with a vaulted 
 dome, which the torches rendered visible, Thence we came 
 into a series of other caverns, some similar to the last, others 
 like vast Gothic churches, with pointed roofs, supported on 
 limestone columns, and many others, in which the limestone, 
 eaten away by the action of the hot sulphurous water, had 
 assumed all kinds of fantastic shapes and resemblances. 
 The exploration into the remoter caverns would be no easy 
 task for an invalid or a lady, and should not be attempted 
 by either. 
 
 The springs of Aix-les-Bains belong to the class of warm 
 sulphurous waters. There are two sources — one the sul- 
 phurous, the other miscalled the Source d'Alun, which, how- 
 ever, contain hardly any trace of alum, and is properly 
 designated the Source de St Paul 
 
 Analysis of the Aix-les-Bains Sources, according to Br Seegen. 
 
 A Litre of Water contains (in French 
 Grammes) 
 
 Sulphurous 
 Source. 
 
 Alum Source. 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 
 
 Carbonate of iron, 
 
 Chloride of calcium, 
 
 Chloride of magnesium, . 
 
 Sulphate of lime, .... 
 
 Sulphate of magnesia, 
 
 Sulphate of soda, .... 
 
 Baregine or glairine, 
 
 Total, ..... 
 Temperature, .... 
 
 Gramme. 
 1-1803 
 
 0-0387 
 
 0-1548 
 0-4257 
 0-7353 
 0-3483 
 A trace. 
 
 Gramme. 
 1-2384 
 0-0774 
 0-4644 
 0-1548 
 0-6966 
 0-2322 
 0-2322 
 
 A trace. 
 
 2-8831 
 115° (Fahr.) 
 
 3-0960 
 117° 
 
 The alum water is that generally taken internally, though 
 comparatively little internal use is made of the waters at Aix. 
 
238 MARLIOZ. 
 
 It is in the baths, and especially in the douche baths, that 
 their efficacy is most often proved. 
 
 The diseases in which a visit to Aix are commonly 
 recommended are — chronic rheumatism, especially when 
 enlarging and disabling the joints; rheumatic gout; and 
 above all in certain chronic skin diseases. The local douches 
 are also applied with great benefit to diseases of the eye and 
 ear, and the so-called " pulverised water," is used with ad- 
 vantage in cases of clergyman's sore throat and in ozoena. 
 
 Three-quarters of a mile from Aix-les-Bains, on the road 
 to Chambery, is the spa of Marlioz, where a sale de inhala- 
 tion, and pump-room, has been constructed within the last few 
 years. This building contains a couple of rooms — one for 
 gentlemen, the other for ladies, where the water is forced up 
 and reduced into a fine spray, which is inhaled for various 
 periods by the patients. 
 
 Marlioz is a cold, strongly sulphurous spring, containing 
 traces of iodine. Its action is stimulant, and it is employed 
 internally, and also in local douches, as well as by inhalation. 
 By the physicians of Aix it seems regarded as almost a 
 specific in pulmonary diseases, especially chronic bronchitis. 
 
YICHY. ' 239 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIV. 
 
 VICHY AND THE MINERAL SPRINGS OF AUVERGNE. 
 
 Vichy, which is the spa par excellence of France, is situated 
 on the Allier, in the department of the same name, and 
 within ten hours' drive of Paris, by the Lyons Bourbonnais 
 railway. 
 
 The town has a resident population of about 6000 inhabi- 
 tants, and is divided into two distinct parts, viz., Vichy les 
 Bains and Vichy la Ville, which are separated by the park. 
 The former consists of two or three long, handsome streets of 
 hotels and lodging-houses, and here almost all the visitors 
 reside. Neither the modern nor the older part of Vichy present 
 much deserving of special notice, excepting the mineral springs, 
 the new Casino, and the thermal establishment. 
 
 The environs are said by several writers to be flat and 
 uninteresting, but this observation, which is evidently copied 
 from a well-known guide-book, does not apply, except to 
 some parts of the immediate vicinity of the town; for the 
 neighbouring country, at a short distance from Vichy, presents 
 some of the most beautiful scenery and most interesting 
 excursions in Prance. 
 
 The geological strata from which the springs arise are 
 the tertiary limestone and coal formations, and under the 
 rock the basin of mineral water is supposed to extend over an 
 area of six miles. 
 
240 
 
 VICHY. 
 
 There are nine mineral springs in use in Vichy, which are 
 alkaline, ferruginous, and highly charged with carbonic acid 
 gas, and in all, minute traces of arsenic have been discovered. 
 They are divided into cold and thermal, also into natural 
 and artesian. The former are in general warmer and less 
 gaseous than the latter, which contain most iron. In all the 
 principal saline ingredient is bicarbonate of soda. 
 
 Analysis of the principal Mineral Sources of Vichy (M. Mossier). 
 
 
 © 
 
 \a 
 
 
 „. 
 
 1 
 
 
 Substances in One Pint 
 
 9f 
 
 c3 
 
 
 'S. 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 of Water. 
 
 •& 2 
 
 
 -« a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 "3 
 
 15 ^ 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 j 
 
 Carbonate of lime, . 
 
 1-61 
 
 1-70 
 
 2-30 
 
 2-45 
 
 3-29 
 
 \ Analysis 
 1 imper- 
 f feet. 
 
 3-41 
 
 Carbonate of mag- ) 
 nesia, . . \ 
 
 0-30 
 
 0-30 
 
 0-30 
 
 0-27 
 
 0-35 
 
 0-41 
 
 Carbonate of iron, . 
 
 0-08 
 
 0-15 
 
 
 0-36 
 
 0-35 
 
 0-17 
 
 Carbonate of soda, . 
 
 34-61 
 
 32-40 
 
 36-30 
 
 33-52 
 
 42-70 
 
 32-07 
 
 28-56 
 
 Sulphate of soda, . 
 
 5-57 
 
 6-91 
 
 7-05 
 
 6-27 
 
 3-04 
 
 5-46 
 
 6-49 
 
 Chloride of sodium, 
 Total, 
 
 3-15 
 
 3-88 
 
 2-64 
 
 1-10 
 
 0-47 
 
 3-45 
 
 7-31 
 
 52-13 
 
 45-34 
 
 48-59 
 
 43-37 
 
 50-20 
 
 40-98 
 
 46- 5 
 
 Under the gallery behind the thermal establishment are 
 found four of the mineral springs. The principal of these is 
 the Grande-Grille, so named from the iron railing that formerly 
 surrounded it, the temperature of which is 108°. Its taste is 
 rather disagreeable — saline, and somewhat ferruginous. It is 
 employed internally and externally, and, as it keeps well, is 
 largely exported. This source is principally used in gout, 
 gastric complaints, dyspepsia, and affections of the liver. 
 
 The " Source des Mesdames " is non-thermal, and is nearly 
 identical in composition with the " Pints Lardy," containing a 
 large proportion of salts of iron, with traces of arsenic. As its 
 name imports, it is used in diseases peculiar to women, 
 and especially in anaemia and chlorosis. 
 
VICHY. 241 
 
 The " Celestins " and the " Puits Lardy " are situated at 
 the extremity of the old town, on the right bank of the river. 
 The latter is. the only one of the sources which does not 
 belong to the company which now farms the wells of Vichy. 
 They contain more carbonic acid than the other springs. 
 According to Dr Barthez,* the most eminent authority on the 
 subject, the " Puits Lardy" contain also a large proportion of 
 sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and being, therefore, the most 
 stimulant of the Vichy waters, cannot be used with safety 
 by those suffering from diseases attended by inflammatory or 
 haemorrhagic symptoms, being principally employed in renal 
 or vesical complaints, and in anaemic cases. 
 
 The Vichy waters are alkaline, aperient, and alterative. 
 Their principal use is in the treatment of gout, and in chronic 
 diseases of the stomach, or abdominal viscera, such as dys- 
 pepsia, chronic hepatic disease, biliary caleuli, fatty degene- 
 ration, or cirrhosis, and in haemorrhoidal affections, which 
 are so often connected with congestion of the liver. They 
 are equally serviceable in enlargements of the spleen, and 
 in many cases of hypochondriasis. Moreover, this spa is 
 specially adapted for the cure of some of the chronic 
 diseases of women connected with disordered menstruation, 
 and for the anomalous " critical complaints " which often set 
 in at the period of life when this function ceases. It is 
 also much prescribed by French physicians in cases of 
 diabetes, and in some instances may be thus used with great 
 benefit. 
 
 The complaint for which nine-tenths of the English visitors 
 drink these springs is gout, and I believe that the dis- 
 appointment which so often drives gouty patients home 
 again to patience and flannel, is the result of the misconceived 
 ideas which prevail on this subject. It should be distinctly 
 
 * "Guide Pratique Aux Eaux de Yichy," par le Dr F. Barthez, 7th ed., p. 94. 
 
 Q 
 
242 VICHY AND CUSSET. 
 
 understood that Vichy water is not a specific for the gout. It 
 can only act on the gouty diathesis, by improving the tone of 
 the digestive organs, augmenting the secretions, and correct- 
 ing the abnormally acid condition of the blood in such cases. 
 Gouty patients whose disease springs from dietetic errors and 
 neglect of exercise, come to Vichy ; their appetite is increased 
 by the change of air and foreign cookery ; they indulge that 
 fictitious appetite fully at the table d'hote, and then return 
 home wondering why they ever went so far for so little good. 
 The remedies for gout are abstemiousness and exercise. 
 Vichy water may aid, and aid materially, but it cannot 
 supersede these. 
 
 Two miles from Vichy is the town of CUSSET, the antiquity 
 of which is evinced by its narrow winding streets, quaint old 
 houses, and handsomely-wooded boulevards. Entering it, 
 we passed a large tower, now used as a prison, whose walls, 
 twenty feet thick, resisted many a fierce attack from the 
 lords of Auvergne and Bourbonnais in the troublous days 
 of Louis XI. Now, however, Cusset is an unimportant 
 market town, remarkable only for its mineral waters, which 
 seem to have attracted less attention than they deserve. 
 
 These springs belong to the same class as those of Vichy, 
 than which they are, however, stronger, containing more car- 
 bonic acid gas, bicarbonate of soda, and iron. The "Elizabeth" 
 well, for instance, is said by its proprietors to contain six 
 times as much soda as any of the Vichy springs. The " St 
 Marie" is also very rich in the same salts. It supplies the 
 bath-house, a handsome building with reading saloons, pump- 
 rooms, and about thirty very neat and well-constructed 
 douche and reclining baths. 
 
 The waters of Cusset, which are all cold, are used in the 
 same class of cases as those of Vichy, but being stronger, 
 require still more caution in their administration. 
 
MONT-DORE. 243 
 
 In the same ancient province of Auvergne, though not 
 in the same department, there are some other mineral 
 springs, less known than Vichy to Engish valetudinarians, 
 but esteemed of considerable remedial power by French 
 physicians and their patients. For the materials of the 
 following brief notice of these spas I am indebted to my 
 father, Dr E. E. Madden, who has visited them since I have 
 been in Auvergne. 
 
 The spas to which I would now invite attention are the 
 thermal waters of Mont-Dore, St Nectaire, and Eoyat. The 
 first of these, Mont-Dore, may be reached from Vichy by 
 railway to Clermont, and thence by coach. It lies about 
 thirty miles from Clermont, in a small valley 3500 feet above 
 the sea, and immediately under the Pic du Sancy, the highest 
 mountain in central France. Between Clermont and Mont- 
 Dore the road which passes the remarkable mountain of the 
 Puy de Dome crosses the most singular, and to a geologist 
 most interesting, volcanic district in Europe ; on every side 
 may be seen extinct craters, masses of the scoriae and 
 lava ejected from these, and vast blocks of basaltic rock, 
 evidently of volcanic nature, all of which attest that this 
 region was at one time the scene of convulsive igneous action 
 of incalculable force and activity, 
 
 Mont-Dore-Les-Bains, although said to be one of the most 
 ancient watering-places in Europe, is now but a village, con- 
 taining several good hotels. There are eight mineral sources 
 here, the temperature of which vary from 115° to 59°. The 
 chief chemical ingredients in all are bicarbonate of potash, 
 carbonate of lime, and sulphate of soda. Besides these, recent 
 chemists have proved that the waters contain rather more 
 than one millegramme of arsenite of soda in each litre. 
 
 The cases in which the baths and waters of Mont-Dore are 
 prescribed are certain forms of chronic bronchitis, asthma, and 
 
244 ST NECTAIRE AND ROYAT. 
 
 laryngeal complaints, gastroenteric, and uterine disorders 
 marked by congestion, similar cases in which the liver is 
 implicated, nervous maladies, such as neuralgia and sciatica, 
 and scrofulous diseases, especially of children. 
 
 About fifteen miles from Mont-Dore, near Murol, is the 
 watering-place of St Nectaire, also in a volcanic district. 
 There are seven thermal springs in this locality, the tempera- 
 ture of which varies between 75° and 110°. They are all 
 alkaline, ferruginous, and stimulant. They are principally 
 used in cases of renal and hepatic disease, in enlargements 
 of the liver, or spleen ; and are also employed in amenorrhea, 
 leucorrhcea, and gout. 
 
 The last of the spas of central France to which I shall allude 
 is Eoyat, situated eight miles from Clermont. The waters 
 of Eoyat closely resemble those of Mont-Dore, than which 
 they are, however, one-third stronger. Eoyat is in consider- 
 able repute with many French physicians in the treatment of 
 scrofula, gout, and rheumatism. 
 
THE SPAS OF THE PYRENEES. 245 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 THE SPAS OF THE PYRENEES — CAUTERETS, 
 
 In no part of Europe will the valetudinarian find so wide a 
 choice of mineral and thermal springs to select from, within 
 the same extent of country, as in the Pyrenees, where some 
 two hundred of these fountains of health have been dis- 
 covered. 
 
 The mineral waters of the Pyrenees may be divided into 
 three classes, viz. : — Sulphurous, Saline, and Ferruginous, 
 and two-thirds of them belong to the first-named class, of 
 which Cauterets, Bareges, Bagneres-de-Luchon, and Saint 
 Sauveur are examples. The saline waters are illustrated by 
 Bagneres-de-Bigorre and Dax ; and the ferruginous by Castera- 
 Verduzan and Casteljaloux. 
 
 The attractions of the Pyrenees are not, however, confined 
 to the invalid traveller, but even for the pleasure tourist offer 
 inducements for a pedestrian excursion in some respects 
 superior to any in Switzerland. And for a man in health, 
 what mode of travel affords hereafter such pabulum for 
 memory, such a variety of incidents, and such pleasant 
 recollections, as a pedestrian journey with a genial companion, 
 and in fair weather, through so beautiful a country as the 
 High Pyrenees. He who would attempt this, however, must 
 be prepared to "rough it;" to endure fatigue, occasional 
 inclemency of weather, meagre diet, and indifferent lodging, if 
 he would go beyond the mere beaten track of tourists ; and to 
 
246 BAGNERES-DE-BIGORRE. 
 
 dispense for the time with the luxuries, contenting himself 
 with the necessaries of life. 
 
 It is strange how soon one gets accustomed to the hardships 
 of this mode of life. Thus, for instance, although previously 
 unused to pedestrianism, within a few days after I commenced 
 this walking tour, I found myself so braced up by the pure 
 mountain atmosphere, that I could walk without any material 
 inconvenience from early morning until evening. 
 
 Such a programme may not look inviting, but this I know, 
 that if the object of an autumn tour abroad be the improve- 
 ment of health impaired by attention to some absorbing 
 pursuit, and a sedentary civic life, a pedestrian journey of this 
 kind will do the traveller more physical, as well as moral 
 good, than would the same time spent in almost any other 
 way. And even for valetudinarians who are unable or un- 
 willing to encounter hardships and fatigue, the Pyrenees 
 offer resources. The railroad from Bordeaux now runs to 
 the very centre of these mountains, and every spa is within an 
 easy drive from the train. 
 
 Our pedestrian journey through the Pyrenean watering- 
 places commenced at Tarbes, ten kilometers from which the 
 ascent of the mountains begins. After a brief pause in the 
 hamlet of Mont-Gaillard, where the hostess of the village inn 
 prepared an omelet worthy of the Maison Doree, leaving the 
 tilled plain behind, we entered into a hilly pasture country, 
 not less populous than the lowlands, and at nightfall arrived 
 at Bagneres. 
 
 Bagneres-de-Bigorre is an ancient town of 9000 inhabi- 
 tants, situated at the foot of the mountains, between the 
 valleys of Tarbes and Campan ; and may now be reached from 
 Paris by railway, via Bordeaux, in thirty-six hours. 
 
 The aspect of Bagneres-de-Bigorre is very Spanish. The 
 promenade is more like an Andalusian "Alameda" than a 
 
BAGNEKES-DE-BIGORRE. 247 
 
 French Boulevard ; and the narrow winding streets, the 
 projecting roofs of the houses, and the dress of the peasantry, 
 all reminded me of a Spanish scene. The bath-houses and 
 thermal establishment are large, handsome buildings, and the 
 hotels are numerous and good. 
 
 There are a considerable number of mineral springs in 
 Bagneres-de-Bigorre belonging to the class of saline sul- 
 phurous waters; the town being probably built over a 
 subterranean thermal stream, which issues forth wherever 
 an opening is made; and consequently the several wells 
 differ only accidentally, according to the strata they may 
 pass through between this subterraneous river and the sur- 
 face. Besides the sulphate of lime which is characteristic 
 of all these sources, with few exceptions, they contain more or 
 less carbonate of iron; and act as stimulating sulphurous 
 saline chalybeates. Accordingly they are indicated in the 
 treatment of anaemic and chlorotic cases ; in chronic mucous 
 discharges from either the urinary or the pulmonary organs, 
 when unaccompanied by any inflammatory action ; in haemor- 
 rhoids ; habitual constipation ; dyspepsia and loss of appetite, 
 and in some forms of enlargement of the liver and spleen. 
 
 The waters of " La Beine," and of " Lasserre," in doses of 
 from five to six glasses, "are considered as mildly laxative, 
 as well as stimulant. The less strongly mineralised sources 
 — " Le Source Foulon," " Petit Bareges," " Salut " — are said to 
 produce a somewhat sedative action on the nervous system. 
 
 Having remained some days in Bagneres we resumed 
 our journey to Cauterets, visiting on our way Lourdes, now 
 the most famous shrine in Europe. On leaving Lourdes, 
 which we did at a very early hour, we pursued our way by a 
 road not unlike that which those who have crossed the Irish 
 Channel will remember as the Scalp, near Dublin, with 
 mountains on all sides, whose loose rocks seem ready to fall 
 
248 CAUTEKETS. 
 
 on the traveller below. Emerging from this desolate region we 
 passed through the plain of Argalez, the loveliest valley of the 
 Pyrenees; and making a brief halt at the village of Pier- 
 refitte, which closes this vale, and where two gorges open in 
 the mountains, one on the left leading to Bareges, and the 
 other on the right to Cauterets, arrived at our destination 
 after a walk of ten hours. 
 
 Cauterets is situated some 3000 feet above the level of the 
 sea, in a deep cut de sac, formed by snow-covered mountains, 
 the only road through which, beyond the village, being by 
 the foot paths which lead into the recesses of the Pyrenees, 
 or into Spain. The houses of Cauterets form a long narrow 
 street divided by an irregular square containing the " Hotel de 
 Paris" and some others, whence a shorter street leads up 
 the side of the mountain to the thermal establishment, which 
 is fitted up with every modern improvement in the baths, 
 and is supplied from the distant mineral sources on the hill, 
 in the same way as the waters of PfefTers are brought to 
 Eagatz. 
 
 The railway via Bagneres-de-Bigorre, has now placed this 
 watering-place within a couple of days' journey from Paris. 
 Moreover, the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the 
 excursions which may be made from hence through the 
 High Pyrenees and into Spain, especially that by the " Pont 
 d'Espagne" to the wild and romantic Lac de Gaube, attract 
 many visitors to Cauterets, who have no need of its mineral 
 springs. 
 
 Cauterets possesses twelve thermal sources, which are 
 scattered about the village, and some are at a considerable 
 distance from it. For convenience of description they are 
 divided into two groups, viz. : — Les Sources de VEst and Les 
 Sources du Midi. They differ in temperature from 131° to 86° 
 and present some variety of composition, though they all 
 
 
CAUTERETS. 249 
 
 agree in being rich in sulphuretted hydrogen gas, in silica, 
 and in glairine, and in the rapidity with which the sulphates 
 they contain are decomposed and changed into sulphites or 
 hyposulphites. 
 
 La Kaillere, the most celebrated of the mineral springs of 
 Cauterets, is about half an hour's walk from the town, on the 
 road to the Lac de Gaube. The water is clear, and its 
 temperature is 102° ; it is saponaceous to the touch, with a 
 slightly sulphurous smell, and sweetish, mawkish taste. It is 
 conducted into a commodious bath-house, the douches in 
 which are particularly well constructed. This spring is used 
 in chronic catarrhal affections of the respiratory organs, and in 
 incipient phthisis. I do not myself, however, agree with 
 those who prescribe this remedy in the latter disease. 
 
 The sources of " Cesar " and " Les Espagnols," which supply 
 the grand bath-house, are the most stimulating waters of 
 Cauterets. Internally, they are used in chronic catarrh, and 
 in some forms of asthma, and, as baths, they are ordered in 
 cases of chronic rheumatism, certain skin diseases, and 
 scrofulous affections. 
 
 " Les deux Pauces " are similar in action, but milder than 
 the last-described springs. The " Petit St Sauveur " is still 
 more soothing, and is chiefly used for baths and douches, in 
 leucorrhcea and some uterine diseases, as well as in certain 
 nervous affections. " Le-Pre " is administered in chronic 
 rheumatism; and so also are the sources of "Mahourat" and 
 " Le Bois," which are nearly a mile from the town. 
 
250 BAREGES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLVI. 
 
 THE PYRENEAN WATERING-PLACES CONTINUED. 
 
 From Cauterets we returned to Pierrefitte, whence the road to 
 Lux and Bareges branches off to the left, and after a steep 
 ascent of four miles enters the dark and cheerless valley of 
 the Bastan, in which the spa we are about to describe is 
 situated. 
 
 Bareges is a small village, consisting of one long street, of 
 about a hundred houses, built of stone, standing immediately 
 over a mountain torrent, the Grave of the Bastan, and is as 
 wild and desolate a place as can well be imagined. 
 
 Being the most elevated watering-place in Europe, the 
 climate, even in summer, is cold and variable, and in winter it 
 is such as to render the village uninhabitable. None but 
 those who absolutely require the waters are to be met with 
 in Bareges, for nothing else could, I think, induce any one to 
 pass a single week in this village. And yet, however, between 
 6000 and 7000 invalids reside here during the short season. 
 Great, therefore, must be the medical virtues of the springs, 
 which can thus attract the votaries of fashion and of pleasure 
 to so remote, inaccessible, and dreary an abode as this. 
 
 There are nine mineral sources in Bareges, the tempera- 
 ture of which vary from 86° to 112°. Eight of these are 
 contained within the bathing establishment, in the centre of 
 the town. They are perfectly clear, have a strong sulphurous 
 taste, and well-marked "hepatic" odour. They are more 
 
BAREGES. 251 
 
 fixed, and change less by keeping than the other Pyrenean 
 sulphurous waters, and they all contain a considerable amount 
 of the peculiar, pseudo-organic, unctuous substance called 
 " Baregine." 
 
 The saline matters found in the nine sources of Bareges 
 principally consist of the sulphates of soda and lime, silicates 
 of the same salts, chloride of sodium, with traces of oxide 
 of iron and iodine.* 
 
 The primary action of the Bareges spa is stimulant and 
 tonic, producing considerable nervous and vascular excite- 
 ment ; accordingly, it is best suited for persons of lym- 
 phatic or scrofulous diathesis, and it should be especially 
 avoided by those of a plethoric habit of body, by pulmonary 
 invalids, as well as by valetudinarians suffering from any 
 lraemorrhagic or congestive disease. 
 
 In the form of baths, these waters are applicable in the 
 treatment of cases of old wounds, either breaking out afresh 
 or causing recurring pain, in carious disease of the bones, in 
 articular complaints, whether rheumatic or resulting from 
 injury. They are largely used in obstinate skin diseases, 
 more especially when of secondary, or of mercurial origin; 
 also in chronic rheumatism and scrofulous affections. The 
 duration of the course must be regulated by the effect it pro- 
 duces. The full time is six weeks ; but in many cases half 
 that period might be dangerous to the patient's life. 
 
 About a mile from Lux is a spa in every respect different 
 from that which has been last described, viz., St Sauveue. 
 The situation of this village, at the entrance of the plain of 
 Gavarnie, within reach of the most sublime scenery in France, 
 i.e., the Breche de Eoland, Mont Perdu, and the Vignemale, is 
 most attractive. The watering-place itself is a mere hamlet 
 connected with Lux by an avenue of poplars. There are a 
 
 * MM. Petrequin et Socquet, " Traite General des Eaux Minerales," p. 413. 
 
252 SAINT SAUVEUR AND BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON. 
 
 couple of good inns, besides which the accommodation of the 
 lodging-houses is comfortable, the charges are moderate, and 
 the thermal establishment is very complete. 
 
 There is but one mineral source in St Sauveur, although 
 there are four or five outlets from this, which some writers 
 mistake for distinct springs, and describe as such. 
 
 The water is saline and alkaline. It is perfectly limpid, is 
 warm, 95°, and has a soapy or unctuous taste, caused by the 
 amount of glairine suspended in it. 
 
 The waters of St Sauveur are used as baths, injections, and 
 for drinking. Their medicinal action seems due to their 
 temperature, the amount of nitrogen and glairine they con- 
 tain, and their alkalinity. In their influence on disease they 
 somewhat resemble the springs of Wildbad, and exert a 
 peculiarly sedative influence on persons of a nervous and 
 irritable temperament. They are prescribed in hysterical cases, 
 in dyspepsia, in vesical catarrh, in chronic ovarian or uterine 
 affections, and leucorrhoea, and in neuralgia and sciatica. 
 
 The next of the Pyrenean spas, in the order of their posi- 
 tion, is Bagneres-de-Luchon, which lies close to the Spanish 
 frontier, and may now be reached in about forty hours from 
 Paris by the railway to Bagneres-de-Bigorre, and thence by 
 diligence. 
 
 The accommodation for invalid visitors at Luchon is better 
 than at most of the Pyrenean spas, there are nine or ten very 
 tolerable hotels, and a fair choice of apartments. Living is 
 comparatively cheap and good, game being abundant, and the 
 fish from the mountain streams is excellent. Not only are 
 the comforts, but the luxuries of civilised life, such as balls, 
 concerts, clubs, &c, attainable in Luchon, and in this respect 
 it comes nearer to the German watering-places than the other 
 Pyrenean health resorts. 
 
 There are about thirty distinct mineral springs in Luchon, 
 
AMELIE-LES-BAINS. 253 
 
 the temperature of which varies from 150° to 60°. These 
 are all sulphurous and saline; their principal saline con- 
 tents being sulphate and hyposulphate of soda, with silicate 
 of soda. 
 
 The water is used principally for bathing, but is also taken 
 internally, in doses of from two to three small glasses, either 
 pure or with an equal part of milk. The diseases in which 
 Luchon is resorted to are — cutaneous affections, indolent 
 ulcers, chronic rheumatism, arthritis, and caries. It is also 
 strongly recommended in many cases of scrofulous enlarge- 
 ments, hypochondriasis, and dyspepsia. 
 
 Amelie-les-Bains, in the department of the Eastern 
 Pyrenees, on the route from Perpignan to Barcelona, is now 
 one of the most rising health resorts in the south of France, 
 being frequented by valetudinarians not only in summer on 
 account of its mineral waters, but also in winter by pul- 
 monary invalids, though in the latter case, in my opinion, 
 often with questionable judgment, on account of the mild- 
 ness of the climate. 
 
 The village, which contains about 800 inhabitants, is built 
 in semi-circular form, at the foot of a hill on the right bank of 
 the river Tech, two miles from Aries. The mineral waters 
 of Amelie issue from numerous sources, which are all warm, 
 sulphurous, and very gaseous. There are three separate 
 thermal establishments, principally resorted to in the treat- 
 ment of chronic rheumatism, skin diseases, neuralgia and 
 sciatica, in affections of the kidneys and urinary organs, 
 leucorrhcea and irregularities of the catamenia. Amelie is 
 also frequented by scrofulous patients, and is said to be pro- 
 ductive of great benefit in glandular and articular diseases of 
 this class. It is, moreover, though I believe with much less 
 utility, prescribed in chronic laryngeal and bronchial com- 
 plaints, and in dyspepsia. 
 
254 THE PYRENEAN WATERING-PLACES. 
 
 It would be out of keeping with the plan of this work for 
 me to attempt any detailed account of my walking tour 
 through the remaining Pyrenean spas. But I would how- 
 ever strongly recommend such a tour to the imitation of any 
 traveller for health who has sufficient youth and strength to 
 endure some hardships, such, for instance, as a day's walk from 
 Arruns across the Col de Torte, which our landlord had in vain 
 attempted to dissuade us from crossing, as he said a storm 
 was impending ; but mistrusting the disinterestedness of his 
 suggestion, we started. The first persons we encountered after 
 an hour's walk, when we were ascending the mountain, were 
 a couple of herds driving their sheep into the valley, who 
 repeated the same ill-bodings, and advised us to return to 
 Arruns, as the path over the Col was covered with snow. 
 However, as it looked clear and bright we pursued our way, 
 and only when it was too late to turn back we found our 
 error. For, after a long, toilsome ascent, when we had crossed 
 the first Col, and were passing the narrow footpath which 
 overhangs the deep ravine under the Pic de Gabiscos, a 
 hurricane suddenly arose, drifting snow and sleet, and large 
 stones, were hurled along as dust ; we were forced back by 
 the irresistible power of the wind ; it was even impossible for 
 us to stand, and it was only by throwing ourselves prostrate 
 that we escaped being blown over the precipice. The wind 
 came rushing down in squalls every few minutes, and between 
 each of these violent gusts we had only time to advance a few 
 perches before we were again forced down. At length, when 
 nearly exhausted, we fortunately reached a wooden shed 
 where we sheltered until the violence of the storm had abated, 
 and crossing the Col de Torte, over which the path was undis- 
 tinguishable under the accumulated snow, finally, after a walk 
 of twelve hours, arrived at Eaux-Bonnes. 
 
 Eaux Bonnes is a small village in the Basses-Pyrenees in 
 
EAUX BONNES. 255 
 
 the valley of Ossau, about twenty- five miles from Pau. Its 
 situation, in a deep ravine enclosed by lofty mountains, is 
 highly picturesque. These mountains approach so close to 
 the village that they have been quarried in every direction to 
 make way for the modern extension of the place. 
 
 The three principal mineral sources, which are found at the 
 foot of Mount Tresor, are " La Vieille " (ou la Buvette), the 
 temperature of which is 92° ; " La Nouvelle," temperature 
 88°; and "La Source d'Eau has," temperature 90°. Besides 
 these there are two other springs immediately outside the 
 village ; one of these wells, which is cold, is the only source 
 here used internally. 
 
 The Eaux Bonnes are all very gaseous, and have a sul- 
 phurous smell and unctuous taste. They belong to the class 
 of alkaline sulphurous spas ; but are not so alkaline, and 
 contain less silica and more sulphate of lime than other 
 Pyrenean waters of the same class. 
 
 In their action Eaux Bonnes are stimulant, though less 
 exciting than some of the Pyrenean sulphurous spas. They 
 require, however, to be used with great caution in small doses, 
 commencing with a quarter of a tumblerful, which may be 
 gradually increased, if it produces no ill symptoms, to two 
 small glassfuls a day. 
 
 The season lasts from May to the beginning of September. 
 
 Formerly the principal use of the waters of Bonnes was 
 externally in baths, in the treatment of old and painful 
 wounds, and ulcers. Thus their ancient name of "Arque- 
 busades," was derived from the wounded musketeers, who, 
 after the battle of Pavia, were brought hither by Jean 
 d'Albret, to be cured. Now, however, the chief employment 
 of these springs is internally in the treatment of chronic 
 pulmonary affections, among which is included phthisis. My 
 own opinion of the inemcacy of mineral waters in the treat- 
 
256 EAUX-CHAUDES. 
 
 ment of consumption has been expressed so often in the pre- 
 ceding pages that I need not here repeat it. 
 
 The Eaux Bonnes are most useful in chronic maladies 
 of the abdominal viscera, in hypochondriasis and hysteria, in 
 obstinate intermittent fevers, in chronic catarrhal affections, 
 and, as baths, in the treatment of chronic ulcers, fistula, and 
 caries. 
 
 Eaux-Chaudes, in the Low Pyrenees, is situated in a wild 
 and sombre mountain gorge on the right bank of the Gave, 
 four miles from Eaux Bonnes. 
 
 The approach to Eaux-Chaudes, through this dark ravine, 
 is calculated to depress a nervous patient, and the aspect 
 of the village itself, consisting of a few straggling houses, 
 which stand on a narrow ledge between the mountains 
 and the Gave, is far from cheerful. But still, though present- 
 ing nothing but its waters to attract visitors, Eaux Chaudes is 
 frequented by a considerable number of invalid residents each 
 season. There are four or five good hotels, and the expenses 
 of living are moderate. 
 
 There are six mineral springs at this spa, all of which issue 
 at the junction of the granite and limestone formations at 
 the foot of the mountain, which divides the valley of Eaux 
 Bonnes from that of Eaux-Chaudes. 
 
 The thermal establishment is supplied by three sources — 
 which are all used both internally and as baths. Notwith- 
 standing its name, none of the springs of Eaux-Chaudes have 
 an elevated temperature. Thus, the temperature of "Le 
 Clot," the warmest of these, is 97°; and one, namely, the 
 Source Mainvielle, is quite cold. They are all but slightly 
 mineralised, though rich in " glairine " and sulphuretted 
 hydrogen gas. The principal saline contents of the waters 
 are chloride of sodium, sulphate of lime, silicate of lime, 
 sulphate of soda, and carbonate of soda. 
 
PAU. 257 
 
 The Eaux Chaudes are very stimulating, acting with equal 
 energy on the nervous and circulating systems; and are 
 principally used in the treatment of obstinate skin diseases, 
 scrofulous swellings, and articular enlargements, in chlorosis 
 and amenorrhea, as well as in chronic rheumatism, sciatica, 
 and neuralgia. 
 
 All the Eaux-Chaudes, especially the warmer and more 
 stimulating sources, require the utmost caution in their use, 
 and none of them can he employed in safety excepting in 
 accordance with the advice of a resident physician. 
 
 Here ended my walking tour through the Pyrenees. From 
 Laruns I drove to Pau, and renewed my acquaintance with 
 the ancient capital of Beam. 
 
 The mineral spring of Pau is situated immediately without 
 the town, between the park and the river. This source has not 
 been many years in use, possesses a slight chalybeate taste, 
 is cold and limpid, and leaves a ferruginous tinge in the 
 stone basin into which it is received. Its use, which is very 
 limited, need not be here dwelt on, as it differs in no wise 
 from what I have already spoken of, in the introduction, as 
 the general action of all simple chalybeate mineral waters. 
 
 Having rested ourselves after our long pedestrian journey 
 through the mountains, by a short stay in Pau, we turned 
 our thoughts homewards, and leaving Pau by train in the 
 afternoon, arrived the same evening in Dax. 
 
253 dax. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLYIL 
 
 DAX, PASSY, AUTEUIL, ENGHIEN, PLOMBIEKES, AND CONTREXVILLE. 
 
 The very ancient town of Dax on the Adour, since the com- 
 pletion of the railway from Bordeaux to Pau, is seldom visited 
 by tourists. So far back as the tenth century, the fountain of 
 "Nelse" was frequented by patients from every part of 
 Europe ; but now, excepting the inhabitants of the depart- 
 ment, hardly a single invalid is attracted to Dax by its 
 thermal springs. The most important of these is contained 
 within a large roofless structure of considerable antiquity, 
 which encloses a reservoir of hot mineral water some seventy 
 feet in length by fifty in width. The water is clear, and its 
 temperature in the basin is 125°, whilst in the spring which 
 supplies this, it rises to 156°. 
 
 The scene around the front of the basin when we first 
 visited it in the early morning was very curious. The whole 
 population of Dax were apparently assembled in the little 
 square — every man, woman, and child with a large, peculiarly- 
 shaped tin vessel, strapped over their shoulders, and each 
 patiently awaited their turn to fill these at one of the spouts 
 by which the warm water issues from the basin. I remarked 
 that before doing so, however, it seemed the rule to take a 
 deep draught of the thermal fluid. This supplies most of 
 the domestic and culinary purposes of the people of Dax, to 
 whom it saves no small expense for fuel. 
 
 Besides this there are two other warm springs — " La 
 
passy. 259 
 
 Source des Fosses," and " Les Bagnots ; " used extensively 
 for bathing. 
 
 The mineral springs of Dax, which are almost unknown in 
 this country, are mild, saline, thermal waters, their chief 
 chemical ingredients being the sulphates of lime and soda, 
 with a little common salt, and carbonate of magnesia. They 
 are commonly used, with the happiest result, by the in- 
 habitants of the Landes, in cases of chronic rheumatism, and 
 rheumatic-arthritis, causing impairment of the joints ; and in 
 contraction of the muscles, following recovery from severe 
 surgical disease. They were prescribed by the French 
 physicians of the last century, in certain forms of paralysis, 
 and also in pulmonary affections, especially asthma, but are 
 no longer employed in these cases. 
 
 "Within the recently extended limits of Paris, at Passy, 
 there exists a very strong chalybeate water — so strong that 
 before it is used internally, it is necessary to allow it to stand 
 exposed to the air for some time, until it deposits a fer- 
 ruginous sediment which falls rapidly, being only suspended, 
 not dissolved, owing to the want of sufficient carbonic acid 
 gas. There are four sources, whose chemical composition 
 is nearly identical. The chief mineral constituents of all 
 these are, sulphates of iron, lime, magnesia, and soda. The 
 Passy waters are used externally in the treatment of chronic 
 ulcers, and in cases of leucorrhcea. They are also prescribed 
 internally, with the precaution of allowing the water to 
 deposit the suspended salts as I have just described, in doses 
 of from one to three small glassfuls, in cases of general and 
 local anaemia, chlorosis, fluor albus, some intermittent febrile 
 disorders, atonic dyspepsia, and diarrhoea, and, in a word, in 
 all those diseases connected with poverty of blood, in which 
 ferruginous tonics of this class are indicated. 
 
 In the neighbouring suburb of Auteuil a somewhat similar 
 
260 AUTEUIL AND ENGHIEN. 
 
 mineral water exists. This spring is known as the " source de 
 Quicherat," and from the sixteenth century to the present time 
 has been resorted to by the Parisian bourgeois in the same 
 class of cases as the wells of Passy are employed in. 
 
 The last of the watering-places in the neighbourhood of 
 Paris which I visited was Enghien-les-Bains, which is within 
 twenty-five minutes' drive of the city by either the Nord or 
 Ouest railways. This spa overlooks the valley of Mont- 
 morency and is prettily situated on a small lake surrounded 
 with fantastic villas, many of which are said to belong to 
 persons of the Parisian demi monde. 
 
 Enghien possesses a large thermal establishment, open all 
 the year round. This building faces the lake, and contains 
 about a hundred bath-rooms, besides excellent accommodation 
 for invalid boarders. 
 
 The mineral springs of Enghien are cold, sulphurous waters, 
 containing a large volume of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and 
 a considerable amount of sulphate of lime. 
 
 Of these sources only two, viz., "Du Eoi " and "Deyeux," 
 are used for drinking, the others being too strong for that 
 purpose. The Enghien waters are powerful stimulants. In 
 small doses, conjoined with the baths, they increase the 
 appetite, quicken the pulse, and excite a determination of 
 blood to the skin. If taken for some days without intermis- 
 sion, or if the dose be at all too large, they occasion " spa 
 fever," sometimes of a most dangerous type. 
 
 It appeared to me, when at Enghien, that these springs are 
 used in a very incautious manner; and in every class of 
 chronic disease without discrimination. I have already 
 shown that strong mineral waters, like all remedies of any 
 value, are two-edged weapons, not less powerful for evil 
 than for good, and those of Enghien are certainly no 
 exception to this rule, and should never be drunk, as they 
 
PLOMBIERES. 261 
 
 appear to be by some, without judicious medical advice, nor 
 in larger doses than half a tumblerful each morning, nor 
 should the patient take the baths every day, or remain 
 many minutes in them. Both the baths and the internal 
 use of the waters should be discontinued if they produce the 
 least febrile irritation, headache, or cerebral excitement ; and 
 the patient should not allow himself to be influenced by the 
 advice of the managers of the thermal establishment, if it be 
 in opposition to these plain rules. 
 
 The Enghien spa, like other sulphurous waters, is employed, 
 and sometimes very efficaciously, in the treatment of various 
 skin diseases, scrofulous affections, certain mucous discharges, 
 chronic glandular and articular enlargements, in some " second- 
 ary and tertiary symptoms," as well as in rheumatic affections. 
 
 A few words on two watering-places in the Vosges Moun- 
 tains will conclude my account of the French spas. The first 
 of these is Plombiekes, which is twenty-five miles from Epinal, 
 and may be reached in thirteen hours from Paris by the 
 Chemin de Fer de l'Est. The situation of this town, in a deep 
 ravine surrounded by lofty mountains, renders the climate 
 cold and variable. But despite this, these mineral waters, 
 having been used by Napoleon the Third, are particularly in 
 vogue with the adherents of the late regime. The place 
 itself is one of the most frequented of the French health 
 resorts, having excellent hotel accommodation, as well as a 
 magnificent bathing establishment. 
 
 There are upwards of twenty mineral sources in Plombieres ; 
 of these fifteen are thermal. Of the non-thermal springs one 
 is chalybeate, and two are what French writers term " sources 
 savonneuses." The general character of all these is a very 
 weak alkaline mineralisation, and their chief employment is 
 in douche and other baths; only two, viz., "La source du 
 Crucifix " and " La source des Dames," being used internally. 
 
262 CONTEEXEVILLE. 
 
 The waters of Plombieres, as Dr Edwin Lee pointed out 
 many years ago, in their chemical properties and therapeutic 
 effect, resemble those of Teplitz, and are not only strongly 
 diuretic in their effects, bat also act as special stimulants on 
 the uterine system; and hence are prescribed in cases in 
 which it is desirable to increase the renal secretion, as well as 
 in the treatment of chronic affections of the uterus and its 
 appendages, dysmenorrhea and uterine catarrh. 
 
 In the same department as the last place is another locality 
 which, though long known to contain powerful mineral springs, 
 has only comparatively recently become a fashionable water- 
 ing-place, and seems to be in especial favour with American 
 valetudinarians. Conteexeville may be reached in about 
 twelve hours by the eastern railway from Paris to Neuf chateau, 
 and thence by coach in three hours. 
 
 There are three distinct mineral sources in Contrexeville, the 
 most important of which is " La Source du Pavilion," but all 
 are sufficiently similar to be described together. These belong 
 to the same class, and are employed in similar cases to Leuk 
 and Pisa, being what I have described as earthy springs, the 
 chief saline ingredient of which is sulphate of lime. Besides 
 this they also contain a small quantity of sulphates and 
 chlorides of soda, potash, and magnesia, together with traces 
 of iodine, strontium, and arsenic, the latter in imponderable 
 quantities. 
 
THE SPAS OF ITALY. 263, 
 
 CHAPTEE XLVIII. 
 
 THE SPAS OF ITALY. 
 
 Few countries are so rich in mineral and thermal springs as 
 Italy. Almost all the Italian spas are situated in the valleys 
 at the foot of the mountain chains which intersect that 
 country. Many years since, Dr G-airdner remarked that, u in 
 the prolongation, southwards of the Italian peninsula, all its 
 mineral waters are met with on the Mediterranean side of the 
 Apennines, and none on the Adriatic."* The explanation of 
 this curious fact is to be found, as I have shown in the intro- 
 ductory chapter on mineral and thermal springs, in the position 
 of the volcanoes, and other evidences of subterranean igneous 
 action in that part of Italy. 
 
 Commencing our tour through the Italian watering-places 
 in Lombardy, the first of these spas that we meet with is 
 Acqui, a very ancient town of 9000 inhabitants, in a moun- 
 tainous district, about thirty miles from Genoa, and a drive 
 of an hour and a half by railway from Alessandria. The 
 mineral springs originate in limestone rock, and are divided 
 into cold and thermal sources. They are mildly sulphurous ; 
 but are so slightly charged with chemical ingredients, that, 
 diluted with half their quantity of ordinary water, they are 
 employed by the housewives of Acqui for all domestic and 
 culinary purposes. The warmest source in the town has 
 
 * " Essay on Mineral and Thermal Springs," by Meredith Gairdner, M.D., 
 p. 141. 
 
264 ACQUI AND ABANO. 
 
 a temperature of 124° ; is slightly sulphurous and saline, and 
 is perfectly clear and limpid. 
 
 Acqui is seldom resorted to as a sulphurous spa, being 
 inferior in chemical strength to most waters of that class. 
 But the mud-baths of Acqui are remedies of considerable 
 power. The "humus," or mineralised mud, is collected in 
 small chambers, into which the patient enters, and lying 
 down, is completely, with the exception of his head, covered 
 with a thick layer of the " humus," as hot as he can bear it, 
 and remains thus immersed for about three-quarters of an 
 hour, immediately after which a warm bath of the mineral 
 water is administered. 
 
 The first effect of the sulphurous mud-bath is to excite a 
 strong determination of blood to the surface, followed by a 
 profuse perspiration, which renders it dangerous for the 
 patient to expose himself to the open air for a considerable 
 time after the bath. The therapeutic influence of this 
 application is most evident in chronic articular enlargements, 
 rheumatic-arthritis, some indolent tumours, intractable cases 
 of secondary syphilis, and rheumatism. 
 
 The next spa in our itinerary is Abano, the birthplace of 
 Livy, which also lies in the same fertile province of Lom- 
 bardy as Acqui, and is only six miles from Padua. Small 
 as the place is, the bath establishment and the accommodation 
 for visitors are both excellent. 
 
 The springs issue from the foot of the Euganean hills, and 
 belong to the class of hot sulphurous saline waters. As at 
 Franzensbad and Acqui, the sulphurous mud of Abano is used 
 for local and general baths. The effects of these mud-baths 
 differs so little from those of others of the same kind that 
 they need not be redescribed. 
 
 Tuscany contains several important spas • the first of which 
 that I visited was Pisa, where the mineral baths have been 
 
PISA AND LUCCA. 265 
 
 in use since the middle of the twelfth century. The thermal 
 sources rise from a calcareous spar rock, at the foot of Mount 
 St Julian, where, within an area of seventy paces, there are 
 no less than twelve springs, which vary in temperature 
 from 106° to 81°. They all belong to the class of thermal 
 salines, and leave a calcareous incrustation in the wells, 
 even in the baths a pellicle of the same character, consisting 
 of salts of lime and magnesia, floats on the surface of the 
 water. 
 
 The Pisan mineral springs are used internally in chronic 
 hepatic complaints; in gravel, and some renal affections, in 
 chlorosis, in dysentery and dyspepsia, attended with pain and 
 vomiting. The warm baths are employed in the treatment of 
 gout and rheumatism, impaired power, and enlargement of the 
 joints ; also in certain chronic ulcers and skin diseases. 
 
 From Pisa, a journey of less than an hour, by the " Strada 
 Perrata dell' Alta Italia," brings us to Lucca, five leagues from 
 which are the baths of the same name. They are situated at 
 the foot of Monte Corsena, in one of the prettiest valleys in 
 Tuscany. The watering-place itself consists of a long street of 
 handsome hotels, shops, and lodging-houses, and nothing 
 seems left undone to render this place one of the most 
 agreeable residences in Italy. 
 
 There are five or six bathing establishments, one of which is 
 reserved for the poor gratuitously, and the charges of all are 
 extremely moderate. The various sources differ little from 
 each other, except in temperature, in which they vary from 
 88° to 133°. The principal mineral ingredients of the Lucca 
 springs are the sulphates of magnesia, lime, and aluminia, 
 together with smaller quantities of the carbonates and 
 chlorides of the same bases, also silicate of iron, and traces of 
 iodine and bromine, the total amount of saline matter being 
 about fifteen grains in each pint. 
 
266 MONTE-CATINO AND POKKETTA. 
 
 Some of the bath-houses of Lucca were constructed early in 
 the sixteenth century ; and ever since that time the soothing 
 and sedative properties of these waters have widely extended 
 their employment in the treatment of cases of chronic rheuma- 
 tism, leucorrhcea, catarrhal affections of the urinary organs, 
 dyspepsia, and certain cutaneous diseases. 
 
 Besides Pisa and Lucca, Tuscany contains many other spas, 
 as for instance, Monte Catino between Lucca and Pistoia, 
 The two principal sources are muriated salines, having tem- 
 perature respectively of 68° and 86°. Both these contain 
 sulphates of lime and aluminia, muriate of soda, and carbonic 
 acid ; but in such different proportions, that one, that known 
 as the "Tettuccio," is strongly purgative, while the other, 
 the " Bagnuola," is only slightly aperient. The latter is 
 generally prescribed, and is used chiefly in enlargements of 
 the liver, and in cases of chronic dysentery. 
 
 Near Florence are the warm springs of San Casciano, and 
 in the same department the sulphurous waters of Voltekra, 
 with several others. In the old Eoman States the only 
 spas I had any opportunity of seeing were the warm salines 
 of Civita Yecchia, which have a temperature of 86°. 
 The Campagna also abounds in hot sulphurous springs, and 
 at Viteebo and Poeretta are similar sources. The latter of 
 these is the most important. It is strongly sulphurous and 
 very gaseous, the gas consisting principally of carburetted 
 hydrogen, a circumstance of which the guides often take 
 advantage, to startle unscientific visitors, by approaching a 
 torch over the well, on which the gas takes fire, and a 
 luminous vapour floats over the water. Besides their sul- 
 phurous constituents, the sources of Porretta contain a great 
 quantity of organic matter, and salts of lime and soda, with 
 traces of iodine. The taste is bituminous and nauseous, and 
 the temperature varies from 86° to 100°. The action of 
 
CASTELLAMAKE. 267 
 
 Porretta water is strongly purgative and diuretic. It is used 
 internally as well as for baths, in the treatment of enlarge- 
 ments and congestions of the abdominal viscera, and in 
 chronic skin diseases. 
 
 From the Eoman to the Neapolitan spas the transition is 
 natural ; and with a brief account of the latter I shall close 
 this chapter and my work. 
 
 Some years ago, having had occasion to pass a summer 
 in Naples, I occupied myself in visiting the neighbouring 
 watering-places, the most celebrated of which, Castellamare, 
 enjoys a high reputation with Neapolitan physicians in the 
 treatment of chronic rheumatism and gout. 
 
 Four of the Castellamare sources contain salts of iron, the 
 principal being the "Acqua Ferrata," rising in the Strada 
 Cantieri. Four of the wells are saline, their chief ingre- 
 dients being muriate and sulphate of soda, with chloride of 
 calcium. Four are sulphurous and chalybeate, containing 
 sulphate of iron, with a large volume of sulphuretted 
 hydrogen gas. These, though so distinct in character, all 
 rise within a small area at the base of the hill on which the 
 town stands. 
 
 The physiological and therapeutic action of the various 
 mineral springs are, as is indicated by the foregoing classi- 
 fication, necessarily very different. The ferruginous ones, 
 especially the " Acqua Ferrata del Pozzillo," are very powerful 
 chalybeates. The "Acqua Media "is a saline aperient, not 
 unlike Seltzer water in taste. 
 
 The action of the suphurous springs of Castellamare need 
 not be here described, as they are similar in effect to others 
 of the same class, and are chiefly used by the local physicians 
 in the treatment of chronic skin diseases, and arthritic 
 affections. 
 
 On the opposite side of the Bay of Naples from Castella- 
 
268 THE SPAS OF ISCHIA. 
 
 mare, lies the island of Ischia, the next and last of the 
 watering-places which I have to describe. Ischia presents, 
 on every side, the most unmistakable proofs of the volcanic 
 convulsions of which it has been the scene, and on Monte 
 Epomeo twelve separate volcanic cones may still be traced. 
 This mountain, which gives Ischia its peculiar pyramidal 
 aspect, rises in the centre of the island, in a series of highly- 
 cultivated terraces, to the height of between 2000 and 3000 
 feet. 
 
 In summer Ischia is much frequented by the Neapolitans, 
 as a cool maritime residence ; but its chief recommendation 
 at all seasons is the reputation of its mineral waters. There 
 are three small towns on the island. Of these Casamicciola is 
 the most resorted to, is prettily situated on a rising ground 
 near the sea, has a population of about 3000 inhabitants, 
 contains some comfortable lodging-houses, and is quite close 
 to the mineral sources. 
 
 The Gurgitello, which is the most frequented spring, 
 rises in the Val Ombrasco, near Casamicciola. The temper- 
 ature of the water is 167°, and its chief ingredients are muriate 
 of soda, carbonate of soda, and sulphates of soda and lime, 
 together with a large amount of free carbonic acid gas. Its 
 medicinal use is almost entirely in the form of baths, in diseases 
 of the periosteum, and in the treatment of sciatica and chronic 
 rheumatism. 
 
 The Acqua di Citara rises on a sandy bay, about a mile 
 south of Foria. Its temperature is 120°, and its principal 
 constituents are sulphate and muriate of soda. Its action 
 is chiefly that of a refrigerent and saline laxative, and it is, 
 moreover, used in certain uterine complaints, and in some 
 diseases of the female breast. 
 
 The Acqua di Cappone somewhat resembles Wiesbaden 
 water in its similarity of flavour to weak chicken broth. The 
 
THE SPAS OF ISCHIA. 269 
 
 temperature is 98°, and it differs from the Gurgitello princi- 
 pally in strength. Its chief use is in dyspepsia and chronic 
 gastro-intestinal derangements, and also in some uterine 
 affections. 
 
 The Acqua di Bagno Fresco is an alkaline water, said to 
 possess the property of rendering the skin white and soft, and 
 therefore specially resorted to by the Neapolitan fair, as well 
 as by those suffering from certain chronic skin diseases, in 
 which a stimulating remedy is required. 
 
 The " Stufe," or natural vapour baths, of Castiglione, in the 
 mound of lava close to Lacco, are heated by steam, rising 
 through crevices, in two small chambers, in the mass of lava. 
 The temperature of the steam baths is 130°, and they are 
 employed in the treatment of chronic rheumatism, gout, 
 and rheumatic-arthritis of long standing. They are also 
 sometimes prescribed in obstinate skin diseases. As, how- 
 ever, these baths are powerful stimulants and excitants, 
 they should on no account be used in any case without the 
 advice of a local physician. 
 
 My task ends here. I have now accompanied my reader 
 through the principal Southern Health Eesorts and Foreign 
 Spas ; and, as I trust, aided the valetudinarian traveller in 
 pursuit of health, with the counsel of his medical adviser, to 
 select the climate or mineral water most suitable for his 
 condition. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aachen (see Aix-la-Chapelle), 
 Abano, the baths of, 
 Abdominal plethora, treat 
 
 ment of, by mineral 
 
 waters, 
 Abstinence, therapeutic effects 
 
 of, . . . 
 Acqua Ferrata del Pozzillo 
 Acqui, 
 
 Adelheidsquelle, . 
 Air, change of, its remedial 
 
 influence, 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, . 
 Aix-les-Bains, 
 Alameda, of Malaga, the, 
 Alexandria, . 
 
 Algiers, the city of, described 
 the climate, 
 prevailing diseases, 
 therapeutic uses of this 
 
 climate, 
 Alicante, 
 
 Alkaline mineral waters, 
 Almeria, 
 Alpine climates, in treatment 
 
 of phthisis, 
 Altitude, effects on a cli 
 
 mate, 
 Am elie-les- Bains, 
 Anaemia, its treatment by 
 
 mineral waters, 128, 
 Andalusia, its climates, 
 Antequera Mountains, 
 Andes, climate of the, . 
 Apollinaris water, source of 
 
 the, ... 
 
 Apoplexy, induced by ther- 
 mal baths, 
 treatment of, by saline 
 
 waters, 
 Aperient Waters, 
 Appetite, effects of travelling 
 
 on the, 
 Angelez, 
 
 Arcachon, .... 
 Aries, . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 264 
 
 177 
 
 139, 198 
 267 
 263 
 131 
 
 3-17 
 
 160-162 
 
 236-238 
 
 30 
 
 113-115 
 
 53-54 
 
 55-57 
 
 58-59 
 
 60-61 
 
 22 
 
 130 
 
 22 
 
 9-11 
 
 11 
 253 
 
 158, 168 
 
 23-41 
 
 37 
 
 10 
 
 180 
 
 138 
 
 208 
 130, 206 
 
 134 
 
 248 
 
 76 
 
 253 
 
 Armand Dr, of Algiers, cited, 
 Arno, Valley of the, 
 Arweiler, .... 
 Assouan, .... 
 Asthma, change of climate in 
 
 treatment of, 12, 51 
 
 Atlas Mountains, climate of 
 
 the, .... 
 Australia, "Western, climate 
 
 of, . . . 
 Austrian watering-places, 
 Auteuil, 
 
 Auvergne, spas of, 
 Azores, the climate of the, 
 
 PAGB 
 
 55 
 
 97 
 
 180 
 
 122 
 
 75 
 
 56 
 
 191-212 
 
 259 
 
 239-144 
 
 52 
 
 Baden-Baden, 
 
 Baden on the Limmat, 
 
 Baden near Vienna, 
 
 Bagneres de Biggore, 
 
 Bagneres de Luchon, 
 
 Barcelona, . 
 
 Bareges, 
 
 Barisart, 
 
 Bath, . 
 
 Baths, thermal, observations 
 
 on their use and abuse, 
 Bavarian mineral waters, 
 Bayonne, 
 Belgium, spas of, 
 Bex, .... 
 Biarritz, 
 
 Bilin, .... 
 Birmenstorf, 
 Bitter- waters, the, 
 Black Forrest, the, 
 Booklet, 
 
 Bohemia the Spas of, . 
 Borcette, (or Burtscheid), 
 Bordighera, 
 
 Bourbonne-les-Bains, . 
 Breast, Kreuznach water in 
 
 diseases of the, 
 Bright's Disease, Bilin water 
 
 in treatment of, 
 British winter-resorts, 
 Bournemouth, 
 
 218-220 
 221-223 
 211 
 246 
 252 
 19, 20 
 250 
 158 
 131 
 
 135-138 
 
 186-190 
 
 77 
 
 154-160 
 
 129 
 
 77 
 
 205 
 
 130 
 
 205 
 
 214 
 
 189-190 
 
 191-208 
 
 163 
 
 96 
 
 129 
 
 182 
 
 205 
 8 
 8 
 
272 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bronchitis chronic, change of 
 
 Consumption, its treatment— 
 
 
 climate in, 
 
 12 
 
 by change of climate, . 
 
 1-11 
 
 mineral waters in treat 
 
 
 by mineral waters, 
 
 184, 255 
 
 ment of, . 
 
 . 189, 219 
 
 epidemic in hot climates, 
 
 39 
 
 Bromated spas, . 
 
 131 
 
 Contrexville, waters of, 
 
 262 
 
 Briickenau, 
 
 189 
 
 Cornaro's dietary, 
 
 139 
 
 Bruges, 
 
 154 
 
 Corrigan, Sir Dominic, quoted, 76 
 
 Buxton, 
 
 145 
 
 Crontal, .... 
 
 126 
 
 
 
 Cusset, .... 
 
 242 
 
 Cadix, 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 Cairo, 
 
 115 
 
 Davos, .... 
 
 10 
 
 Calculi, their treatment bj 
 
 
 Dax, ..... 
 
 258 
 
 mineral waters, 
 
 217-241 
 
 Diabetes, Vichy water in 
 
 
 Caladas da Rainha, 
 
 128 
 
 treatment of, 
 
 241 
 
 Canaries, climate of the, 
 
 51 
 
 Diet, its influence on health 
 
 
 Cannes, . 
 
 85-87 
 
 and disease, 
 
 139 
 
 Cannstatt, . 
 
 213 
 
 Dobell, Dr, cited, 
 
 120 
 
 Cape of Good Hope, 
 
 9 
 
 Dolmens of Algeria, the, 
 
 55 
 
 Carratraca, . 
 
 34 
 
 Driburg, 
 
 128 
 
 Carbonic acid in minera 
 
 I 
 
 Dyspepsia, its treatment by 
 
 
 waters, 
 
 190 
 
 mineral waters, 
 
 139-141 
 
 Carlsbad, .... 
 
 171-196 
 
 Dyspepsia, gouty, 
 
 145, 241 
 
 Cartagena, . 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 Casamicciola, 
 
 268 
 
 Earthy Springs, account of the 
 
 
 Castel Jaloux, 
 
 245 
 
 so-called, . 
 
 130 
 
 Castellamare, 
 
 267 
 
 Eaux-Bonnes, 
 
 254 
 
 Castera-Verduzan 
 
 245 
 
 Eaux-Chaudes, . 
 
 256 
 
 Cathedral of Seville, . 
 
 25 
 
 Eger, .... 
 
 200 
 
 Cauterets, .... 
 
 248 
 
 Egypt and its climates, 
 
 113-123 
 
 Cette, ..... 
 
 80 
 
 Elmen, .... 
 
 131 
 
 Ceuta, .... 
 
 68 
 
 Elephantiasis Arabum, 
 
 Q6 
 
 Chalybeate waters, 
 
 128 
 
 El-Araiche .... 
 
 68 
 
 Change of climate, its effects- 
 
 
 El-Garb, climate of, 
 
 65 
 
 in consumption, . 
 
 1-11 
 
 Ems, 
 
 164 
 
 in chronic bronchitis, . 
 
 13 
 
 Engadine, the Upper, its 
 
 
 in other chronic diseases, 
 
 14-17 
 
 climate and scenery, . 
 
 232 
 
 Chaudfontaine, . 
 
 154 
 
 Enghien-les-Bains, 
 
 260 
 
 Chaves, 
 
 130 
 
 English spas used in gouty 
 
 
 Cheltenham, 
 
 129 
 
 cases, 
 
 145 
 
 Chemically indifferent spring 
 
 s, 131 
 
 English travellers, peculiar- 
 
 
 Children, effects of change o 
 
 f 
 
 ities of, 
 
 4 
 
 climate on, . 4, 4 
 
 tO, 58, 99 
 
 Enz, valley of the, 
 
 214 
 
 Chiaja of Naples, the, . 
 
 103 
 
 Epidemics, their frequency in 
 
 
 Chlorosis, mineral waters ir 
 
 L 
 
 Malaga, 
 
 37 
 
 cases of, 
 
 151, 168 
 
 Epsom springs, . 
 
 130 
 
 Cintra, .... 
 
 44 
 
 Exercise of travelling, its 
 
 
 Civita Vecchia, . 
 
 266 
 
 beneficial effects, 
 
 133 
 
 Clarke, the late Sir James 
 
 
 
 
 cited, 
 
 97 
 
 Fachingen, . 
 
 145 
 
 Climate, its physiological in 
 
 
 Fashion, itsinfluence on choice 
 
 
 fiuence, 
 
 . xi.-xiv. 
 
 of health resorts and 
 
 
 classification of, . 
 
 2 
 
 remedies, . 
 
 147 
 
 Climacteric disease, 
 
 15 
 
 Fata Morgana, the, 
 
 108 
 
 Clothing in warm climateSj 
 
 
 Fevers, endemic in Algeria, 
 
 58 
 
 rules for, '. 
 
 16 
 
 intermittent treatment 
 
 
 Coire, .... 
 
 231 
 
 by mineral waters, 
 
 158 
 
 Cold mineral waters, , 
 
 126 
 
 Fielding's voyage to Lisbon, 
 
 42 
 
 Col de Torte, 
 
 254 
 
 " Fondas," of Malaga, 
 
 30 
 
 Constipation, habitual, salim 
 
 
 France, the south of, its 
 
 
 mineral water in cases 
 
 3f, 2C8 
 
 climates, . 
 
 69-96 
 
INDEX. 
 
 273 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Franzensbad, . . . 200-202 
 
 French, spas, account of the, 236-262 
 Friedrichshall, water, . . 130 
 
 Funchal, climate of, . . 49 
 
 Gas-baths of Marienbad, de- 
 scribed, . -. . 199 
 Gastein spa. ... 209 
 Geilnau, . . . . 145 
 Gerona, .... 18 
 Gibraltar, the climate of, 25, 27, 28 
 Glandular enlargements, treat- 
 ment by mineral water, 131, 177 
 Glengariffe, . . . . 8 
 Gigot-Suard, Dr, cited, . 85 
 Gorbersdorf, . . . 10 
 Gout, and its treatment by 
 
 mineral waters, . . 142-145 
 Gouty dyspepsia, . . 145 
 
 Gouty inflammation of the 
 
 uterus, . . . 148, 149 
 Griffiths, Dr, quoted, . . 84 
 
 Gmunden, . . . . 211 
 
 Gozo ..... 110 
 
 Hadjis of Morocco, account of 
 
 
 the, .... 
 
 63 
 
 Haemorrhoids, mineral water 
 
 
 in cases of, 
 
 199 
 
 Hall, . .... 
 
 131 
 
 Hamman-Melouane, 
 
 129 
 
 Harrowgate, 
 
 129 
 
 Hastings, .... 
 
 8 
 
 Hotels, Spanish, . 
 
 30 
 
 Homburg-on-the-Hill, . .175 
 
 -178 
 
 Hospitals of Barcelona, 
 
 20 
 
 of Valencia, . 
 
 21 
 
 of Algiers, 
 
 50 
 
 Hunyadi Janos bitter-water, 
 
 130 
 
 Hyeres, .... 
 
 83 
 
 Hygrometric state of atmos- 
 
 
 phere, its influence on 
 
 
 climate, 
 
 2 
 
 Hypochondriasis, curative effect 
 
 
 of change of air in cases 
 
 
 of, . . 
 
 13 
 
 and of mineral waters, 
 
 
 134, 187, 
 
 195 
 
 Hysteria, and its treatment by 
 
 
 spa waters, 
 
 150 
 
 Indigestion (see Dyspepsia). 
 Insanity, cure of incipient, by 
 
 change of climate, . 14 
 
 Iodated waters, . . . 131, 151 
 Ireland, health - resorts of, 
 
 south-west coast, . 8 
 
 Ischl, 210 
 
 Ischia, spas of, . . 268 
 
 Italy, mineral waters of, . 263-269 
 
 Jauja, Andine valley of, its 
 
 climate, ... 10 
 
 Joints, effects of mineral 
 baths in certain chronic 
 disease of, . . . 202, 217 
 
 Journey, beneficial effects of a, 
 in hypochondriasis and 
 nervous complaints, . 125 
 
 Kidneys, diseases of, treated 
 
 by mineral water, . 205, 241 
 
 Khamsin wind of Cairo, the, 119 
 Khedive, steamers on the 
 
 Nile, . . . 122 
 
 Kissingen .... 186-189 
 
 Kreuznach .... 180-182 
 
 Langenbriicken . 
 
 Laryngeal affections, treat- 
 ment of, by change of 
 climate, 
 
 Leamington, 
 
 Leprosy, endemic in Morocco 
 
 "Lest," wind of Madeira, . 
 
 Leuk, or Leukerbad, . 
 
 Lippspringe, 
 
 Lisdoonvarna, 
 
 Lisbon, account of the city, . 
 the climate, cases for 
 which suitable, . 
 
 Liver, chronic diseases of, 
 th eir treatment by min- 
 eral svaters, 
 
 Lombard}^, spas of 
 
 Longevity, effects of climate 
 on, . 
 
 Lourdes, .... 
 
 Lucca, baths of, . 
 
 Luggage, advice respecting, . 
 
 Lux, ..... 
 
 129 
 
 129 
 
 66 
 
 50 
 
 234 
 
 130 
 
 129 
 
 42-44 
 
 44-47 
 
 196 
 263 
 
 50 
 
 247 
 
 265 
 
 xviii. 
 
 251 
 
 Madeira as a winter resort, . 48-51 
 Madden, Dr E, E., quoted, . 114 
 
 Malaga, the city, resources 
 for invalid visitors, the 
 climate, its therapeutic 
 advantages, . . 29-41 
 Malta, .... 109-112 
 
 Marienbad . . . . 197 
 
 Marlioz, . . . . 238 
 
 Mediterranean, coast of Spain 
 
 described, . . . 18-22 
 Mentone, .... 93-95 
 Mental rest, its effects on 
 
 bodily health, . . 125 
 
 Mineral waters, their classifi- 
 cation and uses, . 124-153 
 Mind, effects of travelling on 
 
 the, .... 14-15 
 Minnesota, climate of, . 10 
 
274 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Mistral wind and its effects . 
 
 PAGE 
 90 
 
 Monaco, gambling tables of, 
 
 96 
 
 Mont-Dore-les-Bains . 
 
 243 
 
 Monte-Catino, 
 
 266 
 
 Montpellier, 
 
 79-82 
 
 Moryson, Fynes, cited, 
 
 222 
 
 Morocco, climate of, 
 
 62-68 
 
 Mountain climates, 
 
 9-11 
 
 Mud baths of Franzensbad, . 
 
 201 
 
 of Accmi, 
 
 264 
 
 of Abano, 
 
 264 
 
 Muriated saline waters, 
 
 129 
 
 Mutterlange of Kreuznach, 
 
 
 the .... 
 
 181 
 
 Naples, .... 
 
 102-105 
 
 Natal, 
 
 9 
 
 Natres, .... 
 
 128 
 
 Nauheim .... 
 
 178 
 
 Neuralgia, its treatment by 
 
 
 mineral waters, . 
 
 217 
 
 Neapolitan spas, 
 
 267 
 
 Nervi, 
 
 96 
 
 Neuenahr, .... 
 
 179 
 
 Nice, the town, . 
 
 88 
 
 the climate of, 
 
 89 
 
 its employment in pul- 
 
 
 monary diseases, 
 
 90-92 
 
 Nile, voyage up the, 
 
 122 
 
 Nenndorf, .... 
 
 129 
 
 Oberland, the Bernese, 
 
 234 
 
 Obesity, its treatment by min- 
 
 
 eral waters, . . ! 
 
 L73, 196 
 
 Old age, change of climate in 
 
 
 diseases of, 
 
 15, 41 
 
 Ophthalmia, its prevalence — 
 
 
 in Morocco, 
 
 66 
 
 in Egypt, . 
 
 114 
 
 Orezza, chalybeate water, 
 
 128 
 
 Organic diseases, danger of 
 
 
 thermal and mineral 
 
 
 water in certain cases 
 
 
 of, . . . . 
 
 195 
 
 Ovarian disease, chronic,treat- 
 
 
 ment of, by iodated and 
 
 
 bromated spas, . 
 
 148 
 
 Paralysis, curative effects of 
 mineral waters in rheu 
 matic, 
 
 Palermo, 
 
 Paris, mineral waters near, 
 
 Pau, and its climate, . 
 
 Pau, chalybeate spring, 
 
 Passy, 
 
 Pedestrian journey, remedial 
 effects of a, 
 
 Penticosa, . 
 
 Pfeffers, 
 
 174 
 
 106-108 
 
 259, 260 
 
 69-75 
 
 257 
 
 259 
 
 245 
 
 128 
 
 229-231 
 
 Phthisis, (see Consump- 
 tion). 
 Pisa, as a sedative winter 
 
 climate, 
 Pisa, mineral springs of, 
 Plague, epidemic of — ■ 
 
 in Malaga, 
 
 in Morocco, 
 Plethora, its treatment by 
 
 mineral waters, . 
 Plombieres, 
 Porretta, 
 
 Portugal (see Lisbon 1 ), . 
 Portuguese mineral waters 
 Pouhon, the, 
 Provence, climates of, . 
 Pulmonary diseases, chronic, 
 
 their treatment by 
 
 change of climate, 
 Piilhia, . 
 
 Pyramids of Ghizeh, a visit to 
 
 the, .... 
 Pyrenees, spas of the, . 
 Pyrmont, .... 
 
 Queenstown, climate of, . 8 
 
 97, 98 
 265 
 
 37 
 66 
 
 173 
 261 
 266 
 
 130 
 
 158 
 
 83 
 
 1-13 
 
 206 
 
 116-118 
 245 
 128 
 
 Ragatz, .... 228 
 
 Rheumatism, chronic, its 
 
 treatment — 
 
 by change of air, . . 18 
 
 by mineral water, . . 174, 217 
 
 Rhine, spas of the, . . 166-182 
 
 Riviera del Ponente, climate of, 83 
 
 Rome, 99-101 
 
 Royat, .... 244 
 
 Saidsehutz, .... 
 
 
 207 
 
 Saline mineral waters, . 
 
 
 129 
 
 Salzhausen, .... 
 
 
 131 
 
 Salzkamergut, spas of the, . 
 
 
 210 
 
 Samaden, .... 
 
 10 
 
 232 
 
 San Casciano, 
 
 
 266 
 
 San Remo, .... 
 
 
 96 
 
 Sante Crux, 
 
 
 51 
 
 Saratoga, .... 
 
 
 128 
 
 Savona, .... 
 
 
 96 
 
 Schinznach, 
 
 
 224 
 
 Schlangenbad, 
 
 169, 
 
 170 
 
 Schonau, .... 
 
 
 203 
 
 Schwalbach, 
 
 166 
 
 -169 
 
 Sciatica, its cure by Wildbad 
 
 
 
 waters, 
 
 
 217 
 
 Scrofula, its prevalence in 
 
 
 
 Algeria, 
 
 
 59 
 
 Scrofulous diseases, their 
 
 
 
 treatment by change 
 
 
 
 of climate, 
 
 
 4 
 
 by mineral waters, 
 
 
 
 131, 148, 
 
 182, 
 
 188 
 
INDEX. 
 
 275 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sea voyage, remedial effects 
 
 of, ... 7 
 
 Sedative climates, . 3, 48, 97 
 
 Sedlitz, . . . . 207 
 
 Selters, .... 130 
 
 Seville, . . . . 24, 25 
 
 Sicily, climate of, . . 107 
 
 Sirocco, and its effects, . 99 
 Skin diseases, chronic, their 
 treatment by mineral 
 
 waters, . 131, 170, 212, 225 
 
 Smoking, its effects on health, 46 
 
 Soden, saline waters, . . 184, 185 
 Southern health-resorts, pre- 
 cautions necessary for 
 
 invalids in, . . 16 
 
 Spa, in Belgium, . . 156-159 
 
 Spas, classification of the . 126 
 Spain, southern, its climates 
 
 and health resorts, . 18-41 
 Spain, peculiarities of travel- 
 ling in, . . . 18 
 Spaniards, character of the, 35 
 Spezia, .... 96 
 Spleen, enlargements of, caused 
 
 by climate of Algiers, 58 
 treatment by mineral 
 
 waters, . . . 188 
 
 Sprudel of Nauhein, . . 178 
 
 of Carlsbad, . . 193 
 Sterility, its occasional causes 
 and treatment by min- 
 eral waters, . .147, 158 
 
 St Michaels, climate of, . 52 
 
 St Moritz, ... 233 
 
 St Nectaire, ... 244 
 St Peters, equal temperature 
 
 of, ... . 102 
 
 StSauveur, ... 251 
 
 Stuffe, of Ischia, . . 269 
 Sulphurous mineral waters 
 
 128, 160, 224 
 Sunlight, its sanitary influ- 
 ence, ... 32 
 Sutro, Dr, quoted, . . 158 
 Switzerland, spas of, . . 220-235 
 
 Tamina, . . . . 229 
 
 Tangiers, .... 62-67 
 
 Tarasp, .... 233 
 
 Tarbes, .... 246 
 Temperature of atmosphere, 
 
 its physiological effects, 2, 3 
 Teneriffe, the island and its 
 
 climate, ... 51 
 
 Teplitz, .... 203 
 
 Terral wind of Malaga, . 37 
 
 Tetuan, the climate of, . 68 
 
 Thebes, . . . .. 122 
 
 PAGR 
 
 Thermal waters, their nature 
 
 and uses, . 127, 135, 138 
 Tonic climates, observations 
 
 on those so-called, . 3 
 Torquay, .... 8 
 Travelling, its remedial effects, 7, 133 
 the art of, . . . xvii. 
 Tropical climates, their effects 
 on European constitu- 
 tions, ... xi. 
 Tuffer, .... 131 
 Tuscany, the spas of, . 264 
 Tunbridge wells, ... 128 
 
 Undercliffe 8 
 
 Upper Egypt, climate of, . 122 
 Upper Engadine, health re- 
 sorts of the, . . 232 
 Uterine diseases, chronic, 
 their treatment by 
 mineral waters, . . 146-153 
 
 Valencia, .... 
 
 20 
 
 Valetta, .... 
 
 110 
 
 Vals, 
 
 130 
 
 Varicose veins, Homburg 
 
 
 waters in cases of 
 
 177 
 
 Vega of Malaga, the, . 
 
 33 
 
 Velten, Dr, of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 
 
 cited, 
 
 160 
 
 Velez-Malaga, 
 
 34 
 
 Vichy, route to Vichy, the 
 
 
 town, the geological 
 
 
 formation of the coun- 
 
 
 try, the mineral springs, 
 
 
 their analysis andmecli- 
 
 
 cinal effects, 
 
 239-242 
 
 Vidago, .... 
 
 130 
 
 Viterbo, .... 
 
 266 
 
 Volcanic action, connection 
 
 
 of, with thermal 
 
 
 springs, 
 
 127 
 
 Volterra, .... 
 
 266 
 
 Voltri, .... 
 
 96 
 
 Voyage, sea, remedial effects 
 
 
 of a, . 
 
 9 
 
 Warmbrunn, 
 
 128 
 
 Weil, M., of Pau, cited, 
 
 73 
 
 Weilbach, .... 
 
 183 
 
 Weilenburg, 
 
 130 
 
 Western Australia, 
 
 9 
 
 Wiesbaden .... 
 
 171-174 
 
 Wildbad, .... 
 
 214 
 
 Wildbad-Gastien, 
 
 209 
 
 Wildegg, .... 
 
 226 
 
 Wilduggen, .... 
 
 130 
 
 Winds, prevailing, their in- 
 
 
 fluence on climate, 
 
 9 
 
276 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wine, its use and abuse, . 140 
 
 Winter, cough, change of air 
 
 in cases of chronic, . 60, 120 
 
 Women, chronic diseases 
 
 peculiar to, treatment 
 
 of by mineral waters, 146-153 
 
 Woodhallspa, ... 131 
 
 Worthing, .... 8 
 
 Wiirtemberg, mineral waters 
 
 of, . . . . 213-217 
 
 Youth, the so-called fountain 
 
 of, . . . . 170 
 
 Zymotic diseases, their pre- 
 valence in Malaga, . 37 
 
 ewnburgh: peintkd by neill and company 
 
FEB 1 B tSS1 
 

 
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