16 Mr.Bakewell on the Thermal Waters of the Alps. 



erected. The situation is near the junction of mica-slate with 

 the lowest beds of secondary limestone. 



St. Gervaise, — situated on a deep gorge on the north-east 

 side of Mont Blanc. The thermal water rises near the junction 

 of mica-slate and limestone. The temperature 94° to 98°. 

 This spring was discovered about the year 1806 : it is very co- 

 pious. Baths have recently been erected, and are much fre- 

 quented. 



Aix les Bains in Savoy; the temperature from 1 12° to 117°. 

 The thermal waters rise in great abundance from two springs 

 situated at the foot of a lotty calcareous mountain, and are 

 near the bottom of the great calcareous formation that forms 

 the outer range of the Alps : there are also numerous hot 

 springs in the vicinity, which the Sardinian government will 

 not allow to be opened. Of the mode of douching at these 

 baths, I have given a particular account in the first volume 

 of my Travels in Savoy, Switzerland, and Auvergne. The 

 thermal waters of Aix were well known to the Romans. 



Moutiers in the Tarentaise.< — The thermal waters rise in 

 great abundance from the bottom of a nearly perpendicular 

 mass of limestone. From the position of this rock, and its 

 connection with those on the opposite side of the valley, in 

 which the hot springs rise, I have no doubt that it is the lowest 

 calcareous bed in that part of the Alps; but its junction with 

 mica or talcose slate is not here seen. The thermal waters 

 of Moutiers contain about two per cent of saline matter, chiefly 

 common salt. The process of extracting it, I have described 

 in the Philosophical Magazine, vol. lxiii. p. 86. 



Brida in the Tarentaise, — The thermal waters of Brida were 

 noticed in the ancient records of Savoy, but they were covered 

 during a sudden inundation of the valley, and their situation 

 was concealed for many years. In the summer of 1819, an- 

 other inundation, occasioned by the breaking down of the side 

 of a glacier, laid open the spring again. The rock from which 

 the spring rises, is a greenish talcose slate passing into mica- 

 slate: it is in junction with limestone. The temperature of 

 the water is from 93° to 97° Fahrenheit. The geological po- 

 sition of this spring is more obvious than that of any of the 

 other thermal waters which I visited, being situated close to the 

 steep bank of the river Doron, where both the rocks are laid 

 bare. There are some warm springs on the opposite bank of 

 the river which rise in .limestone ; but the temperature is lower, 

 owing to an intermixture with common water. 



Saute de Pucelle, or Virgin's Leap. — There is a very 

 copious thermal spring rising from the bottom of a perpendi- 

 cular rock near the Isere, between the town of Moutiers and 



St. Maurice 



