LEE ON MINERAL SPRINGS, BATHS, AND BATHING.

" ON Fashion in Physic," was the title of an article published many years since in a defunct periodical of more repute than circu- lation, the London Magazine. The paper contained a rapid narra- tive of the different medicines and modes of treatment that had been in vogue here, from the time when people, not confined by some acute disorder, began to attend to their health : the object being to ridicule physic, and to insinuate that the prevalence of a fashionable remedy, giving way in its turn to some fresh mode in medicine, was a strong proof of the propriety of the ridicule. The practice of physic is unfortunately empirical enough, and is likely to continue so until we attain some knowledge of the opera- tion of external circumstances upon our physiological nature, and some insight into the mysteries of that physiological nature itself,. especially of the blood and the nervous system. Many vulgar prac- titioners, no doubt, push the prevailing treatment, whatever it may be, to extreme ; and notoriety-mongers, making a great and boast- ful noise about their wonder-working remedy, cause attention to be fixed upon their doings or pretended doings, whilst the regular practice of the bulk of the profession is overlooked. Still, it has alwaIs struck us that the ridicule thrown upon "fashion in physic" assumes the point to be proved. For if particular times

are characterized, as we believe they are, by the greater prevalence of particular disorders, fashion in physic may be right enough and its satirists wrong. The sedentary life of the present generation, and the anxiety of the "uneasy classes," induce indigestion and exhaust the nervous energy : it is probable that among our prede- cessors, taking more exercise and indulging in a more stimulating diet, inflammatory diseases might prevail. In the latter case, free blood-letting might be the fashion—and a proper fashion enough ; but it would make sad havoc of patients depressed by dyspepsia, or the maladies without a name, that haunt the victim of care, confinement, and intellectual over-task-work.

Whether founded in reason or in caprice, there is little doubt that fashion in physic is just now taking the pleasant enough form of gadding about to various baths. Independent of the shoals of tourists who annually migrate to different watering-places Con- tinental or English, the tendency of publications is a significant sign of opinion ; and within a brief space we have had before us three books upon baths,—Dr. GRANVILLE'S English Spas; Dr. JAMES JOHNSON'S Pilgrimages; and Mr. LEE'S two smaller and unpretending but not on that account less valuable volumes, descriptive of the leading springs of England, and the Brunnens of Central and Southern Germany.

Among the "exciting causes" of this disposition to take physic of Nature's own compounding, an important one, no doubt, is the present facility of locomotion. Physicians are chary of recommending a thing which is scarcely attainable by their patients; and formerly, to order most persons to a Spa, would have involved absurdity or want of consideration—not merely from the expense, but from the time occupied in getting thither, and the annoyances which all save the rich invalid would have to encounter on the road. It is also possible enough that we are a generation requiring the relaxation and operation of a Spa more than our ancestors. The confinement and cares of modern life, unrelieved by the joviality and out-door sports of other times, may render total change of air and scene, with mental rest, and a thorough washing-out of the system, periodically necessary. Greater attention has of late years been bestowed upon the practice of foreign physicians, who have always attributed much efficacy to Spa waters, as was indeed formerly the case in England. Of late years, too, a change has come over the theories of disease, ascribing it less to organic lesions than to occult changes in the blood and nervous system, only to be detected by the superiority of modern instruments and processes of investigation.

"Lesions of the solid parts of the body, and changes of structure, have been too exclusively considered in estimating the diseased conditions of parts, while the altered state of the fluids and of the nervous influence from which so many, particularly chronic diseases, originate, has been, from the days of the humoral pathology until lately, too frequently overlooked, or regarded only in the light of an effect. Indeed, a late distinguished physician considered a morbid state of the blood, and of the nervous substance, as the sole cause of chronic dis- eases, and observed, Physicians are in the habit of regarding the solid parts as the primary agents of life, to which the fluids are subordinate; but, on the contrary, the blood and the nervous substance are the primitive and essential instruments of all the organic functions, while the solid parts occupy an infe- rior grade, and are but of secondary importance in disease. The elements of general and internal disease, or the morbid predispositions which form the most important objects of treatment, may then all be reduced to vitiated states (dyscracies) of the blood and of the lymph, or to derangement of the nervous system.' " The attention of the profession, both in this country and on the Continent, has, however, of late years been more particularly directed to the primary changes in the functions of the nervous system, and in the blood and secretions, to which the more advanced state of organic chemistry has materially contri- buted, and has tended to elucidate the pathology of several diseases. Thus it is now ascertained that the quantity of Shrine is increased in acute inflamma- tions, and also in phthisis; in typhus the blood is watery, and in the last stage of this disease appears scarcely to contain any Shrine. In most chronic dis- cases the quantity of Shrine in the blood is diminished. The blood of females is more watery than that of males, and that of children and old persons is also more so than in healthy adults. According to the microscopical investigations of Schultz, the globules of blood are not entirely fluid, as has been supposed, but are hollow bladders into which air is absorbed in the process of respiration. By the continued use cf alkalis the blood is rendered more fluid, the coagula- tion of its Shrine is prevented, and its colour becomes brighter : on the other hand, the use of nitric acid produces an inflammatory coat ; after the exhibi- tion of certain narcotic substances, the blood becomes more fluid and darker coloured. The quantity of iron is in direct proportion to that of its red glo- bules ; by the abstraction of blood the iron is diminished, and by the exhibition of the preparations of this metal, the Shrine is increased, and the blood assumes a brighter red colour. According to Dr. Carswell, tubercles are never formed when the blood is not in a diseased state. Crystals of the salt eliminated in gout have been found by Jahn in the blood of gouty patients."

Direct and indirect experiments have been made on animals by foreign anatomists, with a view to effect changes in the blood, and with a certain degree of success. The great experiment Nature is constantly making on us is obvious to all who choose to reflect. The air we breathe becomes vitiated by some foreign sub- stances so as to induce epidemic diseases which few escape, yet the noxious principle is so inconceivably small and subtile that no chemical test is able to detect it ; but being incessantly inhaled by the lungs, it so vitiates the blood as rapidly to injure health or to destroy life. The faintness induced by a close room, and the rapid revival on going into the open air, is a smaller but a more familiar instance. Again, some of the poisons kill suddenly, though the noxious substance is very minute, and not always readily discover- able. There is nothing extraordinary, therefore, in the operation of subtile particles : the wonder with mineral waters is that their effects are apparently derived from medicinal substances, whose quantity or quality, as detected by analysis, if adminis- tered by the druggist would be inert or trivial in operation. Some have supposed that there is a "vital" principle in natural mineral waters which escapes the chemist, who can only analyze

their " carcase " : and one curious fact may be stated in sup- port of this view—the baths of Gastein, which appear scarcely to differ from pure warm water, possess the property of restoring half- faded flowers to their original brilliancy and colours. Others think that the quantity of the waters taken has something to do with the efficacy of their operation—that the diffusion of the substances in so large a body of liquid facilitates their taking-up by the absorb- ents, and their equal distribution through every part of the animal economy : for even assuming the same virtue to exist in an artificial preparation, it would be difficult to get patients to swallow the re- quisite quantity without the stimulus of habit and example—the fashion of the Spas. The bathing, where absorption it is known goes on through the akin, may also have a considerable operation upon the system ; and in the foreign Spas, bathing is an essential feature of the practice. The length of time too, in which foreign- ers remain in the sudatoria, must have an effect, whether for good or evil. Speaking of the Pfeffers, Dr. JAMES &limos says, in his Pilgrimages— "The baths are arched with stone; the window to each is small, admitting little light, and less air; and, as the doors are kept shut, except when the bathers are entering or retiring, the whole space not occupied by water is full of a dense vapour, as hot as the Thermo themselves. The very walls of the baths are warm, and always dripping with moisture. Such are the Sudatoria in which the German, Swiss, and Italian invalids lie daily, from two to six, eight, ten, and sometimes sixteen hours. The whole exterior of the body if thus soaked, softened—parboiled ; while the interior is drenched by large quan- tities swallowed by the mouth, the patient all this while breathing the dense vapour that hovers over the baths. The waters of Pfeffers, therefore, inhaled and imbided, exhaled and absorbed, for so many hours daily, must permeate every vessel, penetrate every gland, and percolate through every pore of the body. So singular a process of human maceration in oue of Nature's caul- drons conducted with German patience and German enthusiasm, must, I think: relax many a rigid muscle, unbend many a contracted joint, soothe many an aching nerve, clear many an unsightly surface, resolve many an in- durated gland, open many an obstructed passage, and restore many a suspended function. The fervid and detergent streams of the Pfeffers, in fact, are actu- ally turned daily and hourly through the Augean stable of the human consti- tution, and made to rout out a host of maladies indomitable by the prescrip- tions of the most sage physicians." This being stated quaintly, and with the forcible style of a cha- racter, is liable to the misconstruction of the superficial ; but the effect which fomentation or local bathing has upon the part sub- jected to it may be made matter of experiment by ihy one • and we all know the rapid results produced by an atmosphere whether rarefied or vitiated—the feeling, for example, in a crowded room, or on the breezy downs. Reason a priori would decide, that to steep men in water impregnated with medical substances for a long time daily, giving them at the same time large quantities to drink, must have some operation, The particular effects produced will, of course, be matter of observation and experiment.

A fair and rational précis of these experiments, or, in other

words, a general view of the disorders which different, baths are likely to relieve, will be found in Mr. LEE'S little volumes. The one devoted to England treats of the hut springs of Bath, Buxton, Clifton, Malvern, and Matlock, and of the cold springs of Harro- gate, Cheltenham, Leamington, Tunbridge Wells, Scarborough, and Brighton. The Spas of Germany are also a selection, and likewise arranged under the heads of thermal and cold springs Carlsbad, Teplitz, Gastein, Aix, and Borcette, embrace the hot ; Marienbad, Franzbad Spa, and half-a-dozen less known Brunner's, the cold. Compared either witn Dr. GRANVILLE or Dr. Tama- soil, Mr. LEE may be considered deficient in the literary gossip and descriptive agremens of a fashionable guide-book. Neither does he embrace an account of so many Spas, or enter so fully into their properties or cures. But his information as to the accommoda- tions of the place, the attractions of the neighbourhood, and the character of the climate, are sufficient : his account of the waters, and the diseases they are likely to cure, will furnish hints both to the invalid and his adviser; though they will not, to the practi- tioner, supersede more original sources of study. As in all Mr. LEE'S works, a cool judgment predominates over mere enthusiasm in speaking of cures and cases ; and he imbues his book with the principles of the subject, and furnishes a view of the latest novel- ties connected with it.

One of these novelties is artificial mineral waters ; the manufac-

ture of which, undertaken some years since by Dr. &Imre of Dresden, was brought by him to great perfection after consider- able labour and expense. Similar establishments were formed at other cities on the Continent ; and there is one in this country at Brighton. As far as sensible properties are concerned, most un- prejudiced persons admit that there is no material difference to be detected between many natural springs and their imitations. The majority of the physicians at the Spas, whilst they admit that a good imitation may have little perceptible difference in physical properties, maintain that the natural springs have a more efficient action on the animal economy; whilst some eminent German phy- sicians, who have had opportunities of testing the operation of both, consider the artificial as efficacious as the natural. As the ques- tion is of much importance, especially to the worst class of invalids, those affected with severe chronic disorders, let us .hear Mr. LEH pro and con. on

ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL WATERS. .

Admitting' however, the identity of the composition and effect of natural

and artificial waters in many instances, the use of the latter miist be restricted to their internal administration, as baths would be both difficult to obtain and expensive; whereas, in a large proportion of the cases in which the greatest benefit is obtained from mineral waters, bathing is the most essential part of the treatment. This is especially the case at most thermal springs, several of which, being but slightly mineralized, are exclusively used for baths ; and even when the internal use of a mineral water is more especially indicated, bathing may frequently be advantageously combined with the drinking. On this account, then, even were there no other reasons, the natural springs are infinitely to be preferred by those who have the choice. Rust, it is true, in alluding to the slightly-mineralized springs, states a case in which he consi- dered baths of distilled water were as efficacious as those of Gastein would have been ; but as the particulars of the case are not given, it proves nothing, even supposing that any impartial judgment could be formed upon one or upon a few isolated cases. It is well known that the effects produced by these and some other slightly-mineralized baths have not been hitherto satisfactorily accounted for, though their high temperature and elevated position are no doubt principally instrumental in the cures which they have effected; as the influence of climate, locality, &c., of a spring upon mind and body, have to be considered, as well as the physical and chemical properties of the water, in estimating the results of a course of mineral waters. "An artificial mineral water," says "drank on the Alps, would have a different operation from that which it would have if taken in Berlin ; and were the springs of Pfeffers to rise in the grove of Luneburg, they would certainly not have the same reputation which they now enjoy." Natural mineral springs have also an advantage over artificial meters, in most instances in being favoured by auxiliary circumstances calculated to pro- mote the restoration of health. Thus the journey to the springs, the change of air and scene, the beauty of the scenery and interesting environs of most of them, the temporary freedom from cares and annoying avocations, the early rising and exercise in the open air, are circumstances of great importance in assisting the action of the waters, and in several of the slighter ailments would probably alone suffice to rectify the deranged condition of the system; but it must be borne in mind, on the other hand, that in several of the worst cases, in those who resort to mineral springs for relief, these circumstances can have no influence, and the beneficial effects are solely to be attributed to the action of the waters. Many persons who care little about the beauties of scenery, and take no interest in public amusements, soon become tired, and experience discomfort at being sepalated from their homes and friends, and are only induced to subject themselves to the inconveniences of a long journey to a mineral spring, by the expectation of the benefit which they know from expe- rience they are likely to derive from it. How many persons have I known crippled, and almost confined to their room, suffering from pain, without society or resources for amusement—whose spirits have become greatly depressed on account of their condition, and the inconvenience of a residence in a crowded hotel or a bath-house ; and yet, a short time after using the baths, have expe- rienced a sensible amelioration, and have ultimately recovered ; though they had previously tried other means of relief without success. These are the cases by which the power of mineral springs are to be satisfactorily tested, and in which the mere drinking an artificial mineral water would produce little or no effect. Many persons, again, engaged in business, soon experience at a bath the influence of ennui—are disinclined to form new acquaintances, and are anxious respecting the course of their affairs, and yet are induced to prolong their stay from the evident improvement in their health during the course; though perhaps little or no alteration is made in their ordinary period of rising, or in their diet. Such persons, a here a course of bathing is not required, will often derive as much benefit from drinking an artificial water ; which may also be recommended as an efficient substitute, when a person cannot undertake a long journey, or if he be an inhabitant of a town where there is an establish- ment of mineral waters, and is disinclined to absent himself from his family and usual avocations.

When drinking is the more essential part of the treatment, artificial waters have in some respects the advantage over natural ones; such as being available during the greater part of the year, instead of their employment being restricted to a few months in the summer, as is the case at the various baths : they may also in some cases be used as a preparatory measure, or subsequent to the use of the natural springs. Several of the most powerful waters are collected together in one establishment ; and if one which appeared to be indicated did not snit, recourse might he bad to another ; at all events, the disappointment would not be so great as where a person had been induced to make a journey of several hundred miles to a spring, and found it unsuited to his case.

The difficulty, we imagine, is to get patients to drink enough and take the exercise afterwards.

We take the foregoing extract from The Mineral Springs of England. In The Principal Baths of Germany will be found an account of the German modern use of the cold-bath, coupled with swilling cold water, each carried to a great extent. But as few English people would like to risk the practice, or submit to the re- gulations it requires, we will close our notice with a curious fact respecting the Artesian well, and the additional testimony to an enormous cauldron of hot water in the centre of the earth, the not impossible boiler of the various Brunnens-

" The undertaking of boring for an Artesian well on the left bank of the Seine, proposed by M. Mulot, a locksmith of Epinay, in 1839, has just been crowned with success, after more than seven years' continued labours ; which were several times on the point of being abandoned, but for the representations of M. Arago of the almost positive certainty of ultimate success. A great part of Paris will consequently have the advantage of being supplied with natural warm Water, much purer than that of the Seine, and applicable to various domestic uses. The well is nearly 1,800 feet deep, being six times as deep as the Hotel des Invalides is high. The water is thrown to the surface in repeated jets, and flows off by a drain at the rate of six millions of quarts in the twenty-four hours. Its temperature is 28 degrees, (centigrade,) and it has neither taste nor smell. Thus the theory of the central heat of the globe, as the source of the elevated temperature of thermal mineral springs receives from this an addi- tional confirmation, as also the existence of immense subterraneous reservoirs of water, which, making its way to the surface at various points, affords the continued supply which has existed for centuries ; though the mode of the impregnation of mineral springs with saline and gaseous substances, always in about the same proportions and combinations in each spring, still remains as much as ever enveloped in mystery."