Chapter X: Preface (10)

The waters of the Maxbrunnen remain clear when heated. The others become a little turbid by the heat. Patients are recommended not to bathe in any of these waters for three or four days after their arrival. They should be taken for some days internally, before the baths are used, in order that the bowels may be free, and the secretions improved. They ought to be employed to the point of saturation—which generally takes place in a shorter time than by the drinking of the waters. The baths are taken before noon, and after drinking the waters, before breakfast—or in the evening. The baths, however, may be taken two hours after a light breakfast—and are more agreeable to most people at this time than before the repast. Once a day is often enough. They are generally raised to 96° or 98° of Fahrenheit—and half an hour is the usual period of immersion. It is prudent not to stay in more than ten or fifteen minutes at first, and to gradually increase the period, till it comes to thirty or forty minutes.

“Patients who are disposed to convulsions, vertigo, faintings, or fulness about the head, should not use these baths but with extreme caution. Such people ought to keep the head covered with cloths wet with cold water during immersion.”[58] These baths are absolutely prejudicial, if the patient goes in when heated, perspiring, or excited by passions of the mind. The bather ought not to plunge at once into the bath, but first to sponge the chest and stomach with the warm water. It is hurtful to read in the bath, and more so, to go to sleep. On the contrary, the bather should keep in constant motion, to use friction with his own hands over the chest and abdomen. “If, during immersion, the patient be seized with feverish heat, chilliness, shivering, head-ache, oppression on the chest—or any kind of malaise, he should immediately quit the bath, and examine whether or not the temperature has been too high or too low. He should dress himself quickly on leaving the bath, and take some turns in the dressing-room before going into the open air. Gentle exercise after the bath is very beneficial.”

The point of saturation from the baths is considered by Dr. Balling as a matter of great importance. This point is not attained till the morbific matters are expelled from the constitution, and all the secretions have become healthy and natural—especially those from the intestinal canal. The time necessary for attaining this desirable condition will be different in different constitutions—and in different diseases. Generally speaking, it requires two weeks of the bath. After this period the patient and physician should be on their guard, and watch well the phenomena as they occur.

The effects of these waters on the human organism do not cease when the drinking and bathing are left off. They often continue for a long time, and complete the cure which was left incomplete at the spa. It but too frequently happens that, when patients experience no relief at medicinal spas, they are told to hope for a cure from the _consecutive_ effects of the waters. They are often disappointed. In respect to the Kissengen springs, we are informed by Dr. Balling, that unless they produce the _reaction_ already described, during the time the patient is using them, no _consecutive_ effects are to be expected. But, on the other hand, if the reaction clearly shews itself at the springs, considerable consecutive effects, of a salutary nature, may be confidently looked for—and the remainder of the cure may be safely trusted to nature at the patient’s own home. The system of diet enjoined by the Kissengen physicians, and Dr. Balling in particular, is nearly as rigid as at most of the other spas, where certain doctors have hobbies which they ride to death beyond the Rhine as well as in this country.

ORDER OF THE DAY.

At six o’clock in the morning the band marches and plays through the middle of the town to the garden, summoning the sick to their morning potations. “It is here,” says Dr. B. “that a most curious scene presents itself to the musing eye. Eight hundred or a thousand invalids (for comparatively few others go to Kissengen) are quickly assembled in the walks of the “JARDIN DE CURE,” of all conditions and ages—the prince by the side of the tradesman—the queen by that of the peasant girl—all having but one object in view, the recovery of health. Nothing can be more interesting than the general physiognomy which characterises the whole moving mass of human beings.

The great spas present a morbid physiognomy each peculiar to itself. Carlsbad exhibits the yellow and earthy—Ems the pallid and hectic—Pyrmont, the pale chlorosis—the “green and yellow melancholy” of the love-sick maiden. Kissengen has its peculiar physiognomy—but it is a deceitful one—a countenance of morbid fulness and floridness, little indicative of the grave maladies which lie concealed.”

This garden is of considerable extent, and contains numerous walks. Those who like to be in the crowd may find their wishes satisfied in the middle alleys—those who are fond of solitude, may indulge their meditations in the remote paths. Those who are fond of comparing notes with their brother and sister sufferers, have ample means of doing so, in this asylum of valetudinarians.

At eight o’clock all disperse to their breakfasts; after which they either repose for an hour or two, or take some walking exercise. At eleven o’clock, the bathing process commences, after which another promenade or repose—and then the one o’clock dinner. After dinner, and perhaps a cup of coffee, the promenades in the garden, and the excursions into the country are made. In the evening, the garden, the conversation-halls, theatre, and gambling-tables, are the great places of resort.[59]

I shall conclude with the following remark of Dr. Balling.

“In speaking of the gaming-tables of the Kurhaus, which are open from three till ten o’clock every afternoon, it is to assert, in the most positive manner, that all such games are eminently injurious to invalids, and greatly obstruct the cure of their complaints. This is the case whether the individual wins or loses money. In the state of excitement, almost febrile, produced by the waters themselves and the re-action of the constitution, the valetudinarian runs the risk of some dangerous perturbation in the animal organism, which may cost him his life, and, at all events, must interrupt the salutary operation of the springs.”

P.S.—On visiting these waters in August, 1840, I found that the number of English invalids had somewhat decreased during that season. The reputation of the waters, however, is evidently on the increase. I saw several English who had experienced considerable benefit in stomach complaints; whilst others complained much of the bad effects of the waters on the head and nervous system. They are powerful waters, and require attention. The spa doctors of Kissengen now enjoin a most rigid system of diet, which greatly aids the medicinal effects of the waters. No wine is allowed. The food is confined to soup and a little meat, without any pudding, fruit, vegetables, or made dishes of any description! This dietary, with early hours and plenty of water, must go a good way to insure restoration of health, independently of the medicinal ingredients in the springs.

BOCKLET.

When the waters of Carlsbad or Kissengen have washed away the superfluous green fat and ill-assimilated roast-beef from the body of JOHN BULL—the sour krout and rancid sausages from the GERMAN—and the caviare and train oil from the RUSS—then these worthy personages repair to BOCKLET or BRUCKENAU, to undergo a very different process from that of depuration—namely, to have their ribs lined with steel, and their stomachs converted into gizzards. According to my information, those who come to these acidulous chalybeate springs with digestive organs in a state analogous to that of blotting-paper, go away from them, with the same organs in a condition very closely resembling well tanned sole-leather!

The visitors of Carlsbad and Kissengen, are all radical reformers, tearing up by the roots the numerous vices and abuses that have crept into their constitutions;—but at Bocklet and Bruckenau, they become eminently conservative—carefully rebuilding the various dilapidated portions of the body corporate in the firmest manner, and on the most durable foundations.

Bocklet is only half-a-dozen miles from Kissengen, and the waters contain little more than two-thirds of a grain of iron to the pint; but then there are 31 cubic inches of free carbonic acid gas, which confer on the iron the greatest possible state of solution, and consequently the greatest degree of energetic action on the human frame. In the pint of this water, also, there are 27 grains of muriate of soda—six grains of sulphate of soda—seven grains of carbonate of lime—nearly two grains of carbonate of magnesia, with some slight saline impregnations, of no great importance. The whole of the solid contents are between 40 and 50 grains in the pint. These ingredients, however, gently modify the action of the iron, and render the water much safer, in many complaints and constitutions, than the purer chalybeates (as for instance Bruckenau) where the astringency and stimulation of the steel are unmitigated by saline counter-poises. Dr. Hans, the Apollo of Bocklet, is loud in the praises of these waters, taken internally and used as baths—and indeed, from their composition and their physiological action, I think it probable that they are of greater utility, and applicable to a wider range of diseases than any other chalybeate in Germany, or perhaps in Europe.

At no spa do the applicants live more completely _en famille_ than here—all dining, drinking, and promenading together, sans ceremonie.

The cuisine at Bocklet appears to be under the superintendence of the doctor. We dined at the one o’clock table-d’hôte, and had nothing but soup—some bouilli—and roast chicken, instead of the endless courses at other table-d’hôtes. The whole, with a pint bottle of wine, cost about eighteen-pence for each person! Bocklet, however, seems but little frequented, compared with Bruckenau, though its waters are of an excellent quality. The drive from Kissengen along the side of the Saal, is very pleasant, and passes the Soolensprudel and salt works, which we stopped to examine. The Soolensprudel was in high feather, foaming and boiling over into conduits that conveyed it to the baths. It is well worth seeing.

There are some pleasant excursions in the neighbourhood, where time may be killed, and health promoted by the same process.

The air for a mile or two around the salines strongly resembles sea air, where there is much sea-weed on the shore. It is very grateful and refreshing.

BRUCKENAU.

At the distance of sixteen miles from Kissengen, a route requiring five hours and a half, with strong horses, over a road which is by no means abundant in good scenery, but exuberant of steep hills and rough causeways, lies BRUCKENAU, between two lofty and wooded hills, in the pretty but certainly not romantic valley of the SINN—a chalybeate much frequented, even by royalty—the King of Bavaria having a residence there for taking the waters in the spa-season. There are three or four springs—two, the Sinnberger and Wernarzer, close together, on the left bank of the river—resembling tolerable, and only tolerable, soda-water, in taste, having scarcely any savour of steel—and containing not more than a grain of solid matters in the pint. The former of these is much used in calculous complaints—scrofula—and chronic affections of the mucous membrane of the lungs. Dr. Schipper affirms that the water of the Sinnberger possesses a peculiar, or rather specific influence on the skin, in the promotion of perspiration.

The Wernarzer is nearly the same in taste and composition; but is more used in dyspeptic complaints, or morbid sensibility of the gastric and intestinal nerves.

It is on crossing the little river Sinn, that we come to the lion of the place—the BRUCKENAUER, springing up under a large red pavilion, and discharging its contents through four tiny wooden tubes, into a circular basin, encrusted with the red oxide of iron. I saw none of the commotion which Dr. Granville describes; on the contrary, the Bruckenauer is one of the most quiet and placid wells which I have ever seen, considering that the water contains 36 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas to the pint, which ought to make it as frisky as Champagne. It is pleasant to the taste; but not more so than the Weinbrunnen at Schwalbach—the Pouhon at Spa—or the Pandur at Kissengen. In fact, I was greatly disappointed, as far as taste is concerned, in the waters of Bruckenau, so exaggerated are the accounts which have been published respecting their ethereal, sparkling, exhilarating, piquant qualities.

The chalybeate nature of the Bruckenauer is unequivocally evinced by the great deposition of iron on all parts of the basin in which it is contained—and by the strong iron gout which it leaves in the mouth after being swallowed. Although there is only a quarter of a grain of steel in the pint, yet this mineral is at its maximum of oxidation, in consequence of the great proportion of carbonic acid gas, and the BRUCKENAUER is therefore held to be the clearest and most pure chalybeate in the world. The physiological effects of this spa are considered to be highly stimulating, tonic, and astringent—augmenting the velocity of the circulation, and the volume of the pulse—oxygenating the blood—giving tone to the body, and colour to the lips and cheeks of the blanched female. In addition to these valuable qualities, the Bruckenau waters are said to possess the opposite ones—of tranquillizing (“arresting every symptom of irregular mobility,”) of the nervous system. Now, if all the spa-doctors, between Carlsbad in the East, and Saratoga in the West, combined to certify this fact, I would remain sceptical. I will not maintain that such conflicting qualities are incompatible with each other; but it would require very weighty facts to induce me to believe that they co-exist in this pure chalybeate spring.

Bruckenau is to Germany what Tonbridge Wells is to England. Although the _latter_ spa contains much more iron than the Continental one, Bruckenau has greatly the advantage in the large proportion of carbonic acid gas, rendering the German chalybeate infinitely more tonic than the English.

The water of Bruckenau, then, like all pure tonics, is a powerful engine in skilful hands; but a dangerous weapon when wielded without judgment. Debility, or at least a feeling of debility, attends almost every disease, whether acute or chronic. To remove this symptom is the constant prayer of the patient, and the great embarrassment of the practitioner, who knows that those remedies which augment the general strength, too often increase the activity and danger of the local disorder. It must be owned that in medicine, as well as in other professions, there are individuals who, for the sake of ill-got fame and sordid pelf, will pander to the appetites, prejudices, and ignorance of the public, and, through the agency of food and physic, force, as it were, the general strength beyond the level at which the local malady can be safely remedied. The fire is smouldered but not extinguished, and is sure to break out, sooner or later, with redoubled violence. But the object of the doctor is attained—the fees are secure, and his skill is already attested by the deluded victim, who is ashamed afterwards to recall the testimony. The attempt to restore general health or strength by tonics or chalybeates, where there exists a local disorder of any organ or structure, is not merely illusory, but prejudicial or even dangerous. Hence the necessity of an accurate examination of all the organs, before a course of tonics is entered on at home, or a journey to a chalybeate spa abroad. Much expense, fatigue, and disappointment would be saved by such a preliminary investigation. It is in cases where the general health and strength are breaking down under _functional disorder_, and where this disorder is corrected by other spas or proper medicines, that the chalybeates of Spa, Schwalbach, Bruckenau, or Bocklet, act like a charm in restoring energy to the constitution, taken internally and used externally.

The chalybeate bath requires caution and attention, as well as the drinking of the waters. Although much of the iron is lost by the escape of the carbonic acid gas, still the corrugation, redness, and roughness of the skin produced by immersion in the chalybeate bath indicate a powerful agency, and when lassitude, drowsiness, head-ache, or sense of exhaustion follow the bath, the patient should be on his guard, and either desist, or report to the bath physician.

There must be an especial freedom from all organic disease, and even from functional disorder—especially disordered function of the liver or digestive apparatus, attended with morbid secretions, where such a pure and powerful chalybeate as Bruckenau can be safely employed.

The King of Bavaria has erected here a Cursaal apparently intended to rival, or rather to eclipse its celebrated namesake of Wisbaden. It is a structure of great height, dimensions, and decorations, surrounded on all sides by a fine open colonnade, and presenting a noble portico. At the table-d’hôte, of one o’clock, there sate down about eighty or a hundred guests; but many of them were, no doubt, visitors from Kissengen. They seemed to defy the rigid injunctions of the Kissengen doctors, and probably considered that during the “NACH-KUR” or after-cure, and while they were lining their ribs with steel, they ought to have a commensurate latitude in the enjoyments of the table.

FRANZENSBAD.

At the distance of three short miles from the town of Eger or Egra, in Bohemia, lies Franzensbad, a spa of considerable reputation. The situation is not very pleasant, being rather bare of wood and shade, and the surrounding country by no means picturesque. The town, or village, in fact, is in the midst of a great bog, and the houses, like those of Amsterdam and Venice, are built on piles driven into the ground. Franzensbad is a colony from Egra, and dates only from 1795. It took its name from the principal source—FRANZENSQUELLE. The houses are modern, clean, and cheerful—the walks, though not yet sufficiently numerous or shaded, are in progress—and the bazaars furnish all kinds of necessaries, and even luxuries, to the spa-goers.

I. FRANZENSQUELLE, OR BRUNN.

This is the lion of the place, and is the first spring on which we stumble on our way from Eger. Its name was formerly the Egra, and its waters, which are now exported to every corner of the earth, still go by the name of Eger water. It is supposed to have been known for eight hundred years past. The spring is placed under a circular temple, from which the bazaar colonnade stretches round two sides of a square. It sends forth 275 cubic inches of water per minute, at an invariable temperature of about 49°. The water of this well is clear as crystal, and discharges great numbers of bubbles of gas, which coat the sides of the glass. It is a long time before it becomes turbid in the vessel. In the course of several days it begins to be decomposed, and lets fall some particles of oxide of iron. This spring is in continual agitation, emitting with some noise its carbonic acid gas. It has no odour of any kind, and the taste is very pleasant, piquant, and refreshing. The après-gout, or after taste is decidedly chalybeate. Mixed with a fourth part of white wine and some sugar, the Franzensquelle forms a remarkably agreeable beverage. If the sugar be in fine powder, and briskly stirred about in the glass, the whole foams up like Champagne.

_Physiological properties._—The Franzensquelle is considered by all the best medical authorities on the subject, as at one and the same time, solvent, strengthening, and stimulant. Its chief contents are as follows: in a pint or pound of the water, there are 34 grains of solid matters, and 30½ cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. The chief ingredients are ¾ grain of silex—6⅓ grs. bicarbonate of soda—one third of a grain of oxide of iron—1¼ grain of carbonate of lime—19 grains sulphate of soda—7 grains of muriate of soda—in all 34 grains.[60]

Although it contains one-third of a grain of steel, and that minutely dissolved by means of the carbonic acid, yet the Franzensquelle may be administered to people who are both irritable and debilitated, without any danger of proving too heating or exciting.

Its internal use produces the following effects. 1. It acts on the nervous system, which it strengthens, tranquillizes, and diminishes irritability. 2. On the muscular system it exerts a tonic effect. 3. On the vascular system it produces an increase of activity—accelerates the circulation—augments the red colour of the blood, as well as the animal heat of the body. It also increases the functions of digestion, assimilation, and nutrition. 4. It dissolves mucus in the bowels, expels worms, and rarely produces constipation. On the venous circulation of the liver it is believed to act in a very salutary manner—dissipating congestions in that quarter. 5. On the uterine system it acts vigorously, proving both tonic and stimulant. Hence it is much used by females of pale complexions, watery blood, and various derangements peculiar to the sex. 6. The water of this spring is diuretic, and beneficial to the kidneys, when their function is disturbed. 7. It is asserted that the Franzensquelle is useful in relaxed states of the mucous membrane of the trachea and bronchia. The union of a solvent and tonic property is attributed not so much to the combination of saline and chalybeate ingredients, as to their antagonism, thus producing a new agent of specific powers. And here I consider it better to take the opinion of the venerable Hufeland, on these waters, than the assertions of the spa-doctors themselves. The following sentiments were published by the celebrated Prussian physician in 1822.

“When I speak of the waters of Franzensbad, it is as of an old and valued friend. The renown of these waters has continued ever since the days of Hoffman, and I myself have witnessed many remarkable cures effected by them. In 1820, I drew a parallel between the waters of Franzensbad and those of the Kreutzbrunn, at Marienbad—all from personal observation. It was long the custom in Berlin and other large towns, for the merchants, men of letters, politicians, and, in fact, the greater part of the bureaucracy, to tear themselves from their various occupations, and take the waters of Franzensbad for a month. They almost all laboured under a complication of functional disorders, as difficult and painful digestion, constipation, deranged secretions, or gouty affections. While taking the waters, they were separated from their offices—kept early hours—lived temperately—and enjoyed exercise in the open air. The effects were remarkable. They laid in a stock of health for the remainder of the year—and thus prevented functional disorders from advancing into changes of structure. Frederick the Great was one of those who profited by the waters of Franzensbad. This illustrious monarch often became a prey to the most miserable feelings and gloomy sentiments. In 1748, this state amounted to a high degree, aggravated by a tertian fever and various gouty affections. At this period the king considered that his days were numbered, and that his last ones were at hand. His physician prevailed on him to try the waters of Egra (Franzensbad), where he completely recovered his health, and lived to an advanced old age.”

“Although the waters of Franzensbad belong to the chalybeate class, their properties are quite peculiar. They are very ethereal, and combine so much saline matters with the iron, that they are penetrating, easy of digestion, tonic, exciting, animating without heating, solvent of obstructions, aperient, and favourable to the promotion of healthy secretions and excretions. These waters are incomparable when the object is to purge without debilitating—to increase the activity of the blood-vessels without heating or producing congestion—to strengthen without constipating. It follows from this, that there are few chronic maladies for which these waters are not an effectual remedy—and few persons who will not bear their operation well.

“I shall now briefly allude to the principal complaints to which the waters of Franzensbad are particularly applicable.

“In the first rank stands HYPOCHONDRIASIS, especially if accompanied by atony of the bowels, congestion of the abdominal vessels, constipation, hæmorrhoidal tendency, or determination of blood to any of the vital organs. In such cases _pure_ chalybeates would only augment the evil; whereas the saline chalybeates are of the greatest benefit. Chronic nervous affections, with or without cramps or spasms of stomach and bowels, are a class that derive great advantage from these waters. The same may be said of all chronic disorders, the sequel of long-continued indigestion, with flatulence, acidities, and eructations. Hæmorrhoids, whether fluent or dry, are ameliorated or removed by the waters of Franzensbad. They are almost specific in biliary derangements, from torpid liver up to actual jaundice. Finally, in reverting to the case of Frederick the Great, I can aver that, for the long catalogue of human afflictions, the consequences of sedentary lives, full living, anxieties of mind, and crowded cities, the waters of Franzensbad are inimitable—even if only taken for a month each season. I have frequently ordered them, and with great advantage, in affections of the mucous membranes of the chest—and even where there were strong indications of tubercles in the lungs. In these last cases, however, it will be prudent to exhibit them in combination with warm milk—especially asses milk. In chronic affections of the kidneys and bladder—in gravel and calculus, I have given the waters with benefit. These waters are not injured by time or carriage.”

Such are the sentiments of the celebrated Hufeland, and I have preferred them to the statements of the spa doctors themselves, for very obvious reasons.

II. THE SALZQUELLE.

This spring is situated in a turfy meadow a few hundred yards to the eastward of the Franzensbrunn, at the end of a long colonnade. It is defended from the rain by a circular dome. It throws up 133 cubic inches of water per minute. It is perfectly clear, and disengages much carbonic acid gas. It takes a good while to become decomposed, when it throws down some whitish flakes, but no oxide of iron. It has no odour, and the taste is brisk and refreshing, rather alkaline, but not in the least chalybeate.

_Contents._-¼ grain of silex—7 grs. of bicarbonate of soda—a mere trace of iron—1½ gr. carbonate of lime—13½ grs. sulphate of soda—7 grs. of muriate of soda—total about 30 grains, with 20 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas in the pint.

From the above analysis it is evident that the SALZQUELLE differs not essentially from the Franzensbrunn, except in the iron, which is infinitely greater in quantity in the latter than in the former. The Salzquelle bears considerable analogy to the waters of Carlsbad and Marienbad. It is equally penetrating, solvent, and easy of digestion as the Franzensquelle, but less irritating, and more refreshing. Weak people, and those who are disposed to congestions of blood, bear this spring better than its chalybeate neighbour. Hufeland, in 1823, published the following opinion.

“Franzensbad has gained much by the discovery of the saline (Salzquelle) spring. I am acquainted with all the German spas, and have no hesitation in stating that this source is quite peculiar in its nature, and hitherto inscrutable. The physiological action of this spring is equally mild and penetrating, promoting the secretions rather than the evacuations. The waters of this source are more easily borne than those of the chalybeate.”

III. THE COLD SPRUDEL.

This is a small circular well, close to another very large and oval one, both of which are at a short distance behind the bazaar colonnade. This water is in continual motion, like its more celebrated namesake at Carlsbad; but does not leap so high, and is quite cold. It furnishes 3648 cubic inches of water per minute. When poured into a glass it is clear and effervescent. The taste is agreeable, refreshing, and slightly chalybeate. It has no flavour; the quantity of carbonic acid gas which it disengages while drinking, often causes sneezing.

_Contents._—6⅓ grs. bicarb, soda—⅒ gr. of oxide of iron—1¼ gr. carb. lime—20 grs. sulphate of soda—6½ muriate of soda—total 33½ grs. in the pint, with about 30 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas.

From the above analysis it appears that the Cold Sprudel holds a place, both chemically and medicinally, intermediate between the Franzensquelle and the Salzquelle. It is more solvent and aperient than the _former_—but more exciting and irritating than the _latter_. It is unnecessary to go into details as to the cases in which the one source is preferable to the other. A combination or alternation of the two will often be more beneficial than an exclusive use of either.

IV. LOUISENBRUNN.

Close to the Sprudel, and under the same canopy, boils up in prodigious quantities, the Louisenquelle. The basin is of a large oval form, and contains several springs within itself. It disgorges 27,056 cubic inches of water per minute! It is in perpetual agitation, like its neighbour the Sprudel, and serves exclusively for bathing. The carbonic acid gas boils up in large and innumerable bubbles, with considerable noise. It appears turbid in the basin, but is perfectly clear in a glass. The taste is quite as pleasant as that of the Franzensquelle, but without the after-taste of ink produced by the latter source.

_Contents._—⅑th of a grain of silex—4 grs. of bicarbonate of soda-¼ of a gr. of carbonate of iron—1¼ gr. carb. lime—16 grs. sulphate of soda—5 grs. muriate of soda—total 27 grains, with 24½ cubic inches of carbonic acid gas in the pint. It may be stated that the waters of Franzensbad are used externally as baths—cold, tepid, or warm, in all the diseases and disorders for which the same waters are used internally.

P. S.—Since the above was written I have received the following information from a most talented pupil of St. George’s Hospital (Mr. SPITTA), respecting a new source which had not been quite in operation when I visited Franzensbad.

“One source yet remains to be noticed, of recent date truly, but still by no means to be overlooked—the Weisenquelle, or Source de la Prairie. It is situated still further eastward of the Franzensquelle than the Salzquelle; and is principally remarkable for containing a small quantity of sulphur in the form of sulphuretted hydrogen gas.

Drs. Kœstler and Palliardi have each published a small paper on its virtues.

It contains the most salt of any of the wells at Franzensbad. In sixteen ounces there are 25.6554 grains of sulphate of soda—9.3254 of chloride of sodium—8.9787 of bicarbonate of soda—besides carbonates of lime, magnesia, iron, (.1780 gr.) magnesia, stronthian and lithion, phosphate of lime, subphosphate of alumina, and silica, each in small quantities; together with .0588 of a peculiar salt termed by Zembsch the analyst, “quellsaures eisenoxydul,” or oxide of iron in combination with an acid peculiar to this well—making in all 46.6903 grains of saline matter.

This source gives off a great quantity of carbonic acid, and when you approach it the well-known odour of sulphuretted hydrogen is immediately recognised.

According to the same chemist, Zembsch, 16 ounces contain 30.691 grs. of free carbonic acid, and .162 gr. of sulphuretted hydrogen. Its medicinal properties are like the other springs, aperient and antacid, but from its containing so much salt, and so little iron, it forms a sort of intermediate spring between the Salzquelle, which has the merest trace, and the Franzensquelle, which contains about one third of a grain of that metal in the pint.

It is not so much employed as the other springs; so that its specific effects dependent on the sulphur it contains have not as yet been very distinctly observed.”

GAS BATHS.

These and the Mud-baths to be presently described, are becoming very fashionable in Germany. From every inch of surface in the peat bog around Franzensbad, carbonic acid gas is constantly issuing forth in such quantities that its extrication is audible and visible, wherever there is water on the ground. To have a reservoir of this gas, it is only necessary to build a house, and prevent the carbonic acid from being dispersed in the air. It is there collected, and baths and douches are constructed for its ready application to the body generally, or to any particular part thereof. The Gas-bath or building at Franzensbad, stands within thirty or forty yards of the Franzensquelle, and from the ground of this house, which is of very moderate extent, there issues 5760 cubic _feet_ of gas every twenty-four hours!! There is little doubt that the extrication of carbonic acid is equally plentiful in any and every part of the bog in which the town is situated. I should think that to go to sleep on the ground, in a calm Summer’s night, would be inevitable death. As it is, the good people of Franzensbad, inhabitants and visitors, must be perpetually inhaling an atmosphere well impregnated with this gas. I do not suppose, however, that this is productive of any injurious effects.

The gas is conveyed into the bath through a cock at the bottom, and the patient, being either dressed or undressed, sits down on a little stool, while a wooden lid or cover, with a hole that fits tolerably close to the neck, is placed over the body, the head being in the open air. They have small tubes through which they can apply the gas to the eyes, ears, or any part of the body, in a stream, the velocity of which can be augmented or diminished at pleasure. They can also diminish the intensity of the gas by applying a piece of muslin or taffeta over the pipe, or over the eyes or ears that are subjected to the stream. I did not try the gas baths here, but at Marienbad I used them generally and locally, accompanied by my kind friend Dr. Herzig of that place. Standing in the bath, the cock was turned without my being aware of it, and, in a few seconds, I felt a sense of heat ascending quickly along my legs towards the body. Without thinking of the gas I stooped, and put my head down towards the aperture of the tube, by which I inhaled as much of the carbonic acid as caused a sudden faintness. Dr. H. and the bathman quickly extricated me from my perilous situation, and I went on with the bath, while my head was in the open air. I found that the following representation of the sensible, and physiological effects of the bath, as given by Baron Aimé, is sufficiently correct. 1. The gas excites and even irritates the skin, producing a pricking, and soon afterwards a strong itching on the surface, accompanied by heat, and ultimately perspiration. 2. The gas stimulates the nerves of all parts to which it is applied. I had a stream directed on my eyes, which caused a most profuse flow of tears, with strong sense of heat. When it was applied to my ears, a sense of heat, and a considerable noise were the effects produced.[61] 3. It is asserted by physicians of the Continent that this gas is extremely useful when applied to old, ill-conditioned, and irritable ulcers, as soothing and promotive of healthy discharge, and ultimately of cicatrisation. 4. Although the breathing of this gas is as mortal as that of the Grotto de Cane, yet if diluted with plenty of atmospheric air, it is thought that it might prove serviceable in some states or stages of phthisis, asthma, &c. 5. The action of this gas on the eyes and ears I have already mentioned. Its remedial agency is much extolled in certain disorders or diseases of those organs, attended with atony or morbid irritability of their nerves and structures. 6. These baths are chiefly employed in cases of paralysis attended with stiffness, feebleness, or spasmodic movements. 7. In chronic, inveterate affections of a gouty or rheumatic nature—chronic sores—glandular swellings—and various cutaneous complaints, the gas baths are applied, and, as is affirmed, with success. 8. In uterine affections, irregularities, &c. attended with torpor, debility, and irritability.

Upon the whole I am disposed to think that the gas baths are active agents, and that they may be made useful ones, when carefully applied.

MUD BATHS.

Among the novelties—transcendentalisms, or, as some would call them, extravaganzas, of Germany, the MUD BATHS deserve the “passing tribute” of a short notice. But alas! there is “nothing new under the sun”—or under the earth. To the mud of the Nile and the Ganges, virtues almost miraculous—even the creative power of life—have been attributed, time immemorial. Who does not know that the life of MARIUS was preserved by a mud-bath in the Minturnian marshes?—The instincts of animals, too, are not to be overlooked: We all know the extreme tenacity of life possessed by eels—owing perhaps to their frequent use of mud-baths. Swine are proverbially subject to cutaneous complaints, especially measles; to prevent or cure which, Nature seems to prompt the daily employment of mud-baths, in the Summer season. A remarkable instance of the force of instinct is afforded by the Indian buffalo. That animal immerses himself daily, during the hot season, in mud, up to the very nose; by which means, we may conclude that he avoids the jungle fever, or cures himself of liver-complaints. The alligator offers another example. When he has swallowed a buffalo or a tiger, he buries himself up to the nose in mud, on the oozy shores of the Ganges, no doubt for the promotion of digestion.

It is unnecessary to multiply the virtues of mud-baths. Those who desire ocular proofs must repair to Franzensbad in Bohemia, where they will see—not mud but bog-baths in perfection; though they are now also got up very well in Marienbad, Carlsbad, Teplitz, and other fashionable spas.

I have alluded to the plentiful supply of bog which the immediate vicinity of Franzensbad offers to the mud-bathers. This earth contains the following materials:—viz: The fibres of plants not decomposed, and whose organization is recognizable—matters soluble in water, such as vegetable substances rich in carbon, and of a yellow colour;—sulphate of lime—sulphate of magnesia—sulphate of iron—alum—bituminous extractive matter—oxide of iron—fine sand.

Thus we see that the mere boggy material of the mud-bath contains many substances that may and do exercise a considerable physiological action on the body; and medicinal agency on the constitution.

The peat bog is carried to the neighbourhood of the baths, and there allowed to dry to some extent. It is then sifted and separated from the woody fibres and coarser materials, when it is mixed with the mineral water of the Louisenquelle into the consistence of a very soft poultice. In this state it is heated by steam to a temperature varying from 80° to 100° of Fahrenheit, when it is ready for the bather, being worked up by means of wooden instruments and the hands into a complete black amalgam. I took the mud-bath here, at Marienbad, and Carlsbad, and do not regret the experiments. I confess that, at first, I felt some repugnance, not fear, in plunging into the black peat poultice; but when up to the chin (temperature 97°) I felt more comfortable than I had ever done, even in the baths of Schlangenbad, Wildbad, or Pfeffers. The material is so dense, that you are some time in sinking to the bottom of the bath—and I could not help fancying myself in Mahomet’s tomb, suspended between Heaven and Earth, but possessing consciousness, which I fear the prophet did not enjoy. There was one drawback on the mud-bath, or peat-poultice. We cannot roll about, like a porpoise or whale, as in the water-bath, without considerable effort, so dense is the medium in which we lie; but I found that I could use friction to all parts of the body, with great ease, in consequence of the unctuous and lubricating quality of the bath. After twenty minutes’ immersion, I felt an excitement of the surface, quite different from that of the common mineral warm baths—even of those of Wisbaden, Kissengen, or Schwalbach—attended, as I fancied, by elevation of spirits.

Whilst I was thus philosophizing, like Diogenes in my tub, the thought came across my mind that I would have a dive in the sable mixture. I knew that the sun and winds had so tanned my complexion, that IT would not suffer by immersion; and if my hair should get dyed black, the change would certainly be for the better. I therefore disappeared like an eel in the mud; but, on emerging from the bog, I thought I should have been suffocated before I cleared my face from the tenacious cataplasm. I had now been nearly half an hour in the Schlammbad, and prepared to quit, as the mixture was fast cooling down, and the heat could not be kept up, as in the water-bath. On raising myself slowly and perpendicularly, with at least twenty pounds of mud on my surface, I caught a full length portrait of myself in the glass, and I think the view would have sickened Narcissus of self-contemplation for ever!! I was really shocked at my sudden metamorphosis into the Œthiopian, and began to doubt whether I should ever “change my hue” again. The warm water-bath was close at hand, but I had the presence of mind not to jump into it at once, as I should, in that case, render it a black wash-tub; but by clearing away with both hands, some sixteen or eighteen pounds of peat varnish from my body, I rolled into the clear fluid, where it required half an hour’s rubbing and scrubbing to purify myself from the “Bain de Boue.” Both on this, and on subsequent occasions, at Marienbad, Carlsbad, and Teplitz, I experienced a degree of exhilaration, strength, and elasticity from the mud-bath, which I had never done from any other. The iron in these baths, instead of corrugating the skin, as I expected, imparts to it a glossy or sattiny feel and softness quite peculiar—and much more in degree than the waters of Schlangenbad.

The bog-earth is well picked, and in some places sifted, so as to remove all the fibrous and woody parts, leaving the fat unctuous substance to be mixed with the mineral water of the place. In general these baths produce a pricking sensation, and sometimes an eruption on the skin, an effect which I did not experience.[62] They are therefore much used in old and obstinate cutaneous complaints, as well as in glandular swellings, sequences of gout, rheumatism, &c. They are very exciting to the nervous system, and should not be used where there are any local inflammations, or much general excitability of the constitution. They do not lose their heat so rapidly as the water-baths, and consequently they maintain the volatile and penetrating principles longer than the latter. They are much employed in paralysis, chronic ulcers, and cutaneous affections.

Here and at other spas where mud-baths are employed, I met with several veteran warriors, whose aching wounds reminded them too often of battlefields and bloody campaigns. They almost all agreed in attributing more efficacy to these than to the common baths—and I think, from what I have seen, heard, and felt, that there is much truth in these statements. The Schlammbads have one advantage over the others, which is more prized on the Continent than in England—the facilities which they afford the bathers, both male and female, of receiving morning visits from their friends while in the mud, and that without any violation of delicacy, propriety, or decorum; for there, persons are more completely veiled than in any dress, even of the most dense and sable furs of Russia. An English lady of rank, at Teplitz, was visited by her physician and friends while immersed to the chin in peat-bog. They read to her, and conversed with her till the signal was given for exchanging the black varnish for the limpid and purifying wave, when they retired.

The rules for taking the Franzensbad waters and baths do not vary materially from those of other spas. The following concise direction is from the pen of Dr. Clarus.

“A complete course of these waters requires at least four weeks. When it is thought desirable to take of more than one source, the change from one well to another should not be abrupt, but gradual. We may commence with one glass of the Salzquelle, and each day increase by the glass, till, in a week, we come to six or seven glasses, taken at intervals of a quarter of an hour. After this period, the Salzquelle is to be decreased, glass by glass, and replaced by the Cold Sprudel. This change is to go on during the second week. At the end of a fortnight, the Cold Sprudel is to be changed, in the same gradual manner, for the Franzensquelle, which is to be continued till the end of the course, unless some circumstances arise to alter the arrangement. Those who are of very weakly constitutions, and especially if they labour under any pulmonary complaint, will do well to add some warm milk or whey to the mineral water.”

The baths are generally taken about two hours after breakfast. They ought not to be taken unless the bowels are daily opened, either by the waters or by aperient medicine. The temperature of the baths should be about 98° of Fahrenheit, or that of the blood.

Baron Aimé has collected from various sources a host of cases, of all kinds of maladies, cured or relieved by the waters of Franzensbad; but into these it is unnecessary to go. Here the tyrant fashion has caused a comparative desertion for the more attractive localities, if not more sanative springs, of Marienbad, Carlsbad, and Teplitz. The qualities of the mud, and the profusion of the gas, at Franzensbad, however, may probably turn the current by and bye in its favour.

_Extract of a Letter from Mr. Spitta to Dr. Johnson._

MY DEAR SIR,—I cannot quit the subject of Franzensbad without entering into some detail on the celebrated Mud-baths. One hears much of mud-baths at different spas of Germany: but a _genuine_ Schlammbad is _seen_ only in Bohemia, and especially at Franzensbad.

The mud is obtained, as you are undoubtedly aware, from a large bog or moor, situated at the back of the Louisen and Caltsprudel wells, which, according to Dr. Kœstler, who accompanied me to examine it, is nine miles by three in extent; and he tells me also that the same schlamm extends to a _depth_ of 20 feet. Indeed the whole village may be said to be resting on this peat-earth; for you cannot dig up the soil to any depth without discovering it. The surface of the moor looked singularly black and barren; here and there, however, I discerned some yellow and white efflorescences. The yellow was by far the most abundant; and, wishing to know its composition, I collected a considerable quantity and brought it to England. It is a highly acid salt, permanently reddening litmus paper, and extremely styptic and acid to the taste. I dried some carefully; and found that 100 grains which had been completely desiccated, yielded 97.6 grains soluble in distilled water. The solution was dark brown, of the colour of beer, and contained an acid per-sulphate of iron. The remaining 2.4 grains consisted principally of iron in combination with some vegetable acid, or extractive matter.

I was sorry I could not collect sufficient quantity of the white efflorescence for examination. I merely remember its _taste_ to have been equally styptic and disagreeable as the yellow.

There are several minerals found in this moor. I am indebted to Dr. Palliardi (one of the resident medical men) for a good specimen of blue phosphate of iron; of the hydrated red oxyd of iron; and for one of great interest discovered _there_ by himself, termed _Kieselguhr_. This substance was first described by Professor Ehrenberg, of Berlin, to be an aggregation, or to speak more accurately, the shells of a collection of different species of infusoriæ. It is said to be pure silica—it is white; extremely light and friable, and forms one of the most beautiful objects for the microscope I have seen. I have a great quantity; and shall be happy to furnish yourself, or any friend that may desire it, with a specimen.

I do not know whether you visited Dr. Palliardi’s study; it would have been well worth the trouble. He is at once a mineralogist, a botanist, an ornithologist, entymologist, chemist, and physician. I was pleased at the simplicity with which they made a mud-bath—they merely picked and sifted the mud (the sun having previously, to a certain extent, dried it) and digested it in the water of the Louisenquelle warmed by steam. The appearance of a bath when ready is anything but prepossessing; I must confess, however, on making the trial, I was agreeably disappointed.

Notwithstanding my qualms, Dr. Kœstler insisted on my taking one, and making myself acquainted with his darling Schlammbads from personal experience; and I must say, when quietly seated in the mire, the sensations were by no means disagreeable. In other hot mineral baths I almost invariably experienced an oppression and anxiety at the chest; but here, I know not why, the breathing was quite natural, and not at all hurried. The black mess was extremely acid, violently and instantaneously reddening litmus paper; and it exhaled a peculiar odour which I can compare to nothing but to blacking. Its taste was styptic and saline—styptic evidently from some salt of iron, and more saline than the water of any other mineral bath. This is no more than would be expected when the quantity of salt it contains is considered. I am informed by Dr. Kœstler that every bath requires 250lbs. of schlamm, in which are contained 33lbs. of salts. And this statement I should imagine to be tolerably correct, for I find that 120 grs. of this mud yield 15.5 grains of matter soluble in water. The solution is light brown, very acid, and contains the following substances: 1. A volatile acid, which was separated by distillation at temp. 230 circ. and which had many of the leading characters of acetic acid, and on which the peculiar odour of the bath depends.—2. Some fixed extractive matter in combination with iron.—3. A large quantity of the persulphate of iron; and 4. some sulphate of soda.

In examining this specimen, I was mostly struck with the very large quantity of iron, and the comparative small quantity of other saline matter. For a wonder it contained no _chloride_. There is a salt kept by the chemists at Franzensbad, purporting to be the salt contained in the mud. Had they said—made from the mud, they would have been correct. It is perfectly neutral and efflorescent, and is nothing else but sulphate of soda, with just sufficient persulphate of iron left unremoved, to tinge its solution. The fact is—it is prepared by neutralising the acid solution of the mud by _carb. soda_, and thus precipitating the iron, and retaining the salt of Glauber in solution—one or two crystallisations furnish it tolerably pure. The opinion that it contained the phosphate of soda and phosphate of iron, is unfounded.

In many respects, the mud-bath is unique in its action on the human body. From the quantity of saline matter it holds in solution, it acts as a powerful stimulus to the skin, exciting the capillaries to renewed exertions; hence its great use in gouty and rheumatic paralysis. The chalky and fibrinous depositions which form this disease are absorbed under its influence; and so effectual is it, that Dr. Kœstler, the oracle of Franzensbad, will prophecy the recovery of a patient from this disheartening complaint, after the far-famed hot springs of Teplitz have been tried in vain.