5 io THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



heard of was that there was a good deal of water-splashing by the 

 friskier convalescents. 



But let us approach the splendid establishment which lies nearest 

 the railroad-station, the Bain Imperial, or Thermes Napoleon of the 

 Second Empire. The latter inscription is still traceable, though very 

 faintly, under the briefer legend of to-day, "Thermes." Confucius 

 demands somewhere, " How can a man be concealed ? " and in France 

 one must often ask himself the same of the names in the changing in- 

 scriptions on public buildings. They usually discover, if you scru- 

 tinize them a little closely, some trace of the previous occupancy 

 sometimes a pathetic trace. One may not sympathize with the doings 

 of the Second Empire, and yet it rouses a lively feeling of unfair 

 play to see this fine establishment, like many other public works 

 which Napoleon III executed in France, stripped even of the name of 

 the ruler who at least did much for the material prosperity and com- 

 fort of his country, as roads and public buildings throughout France 

 testify. An author's name goes upon the title-page of his book ; 

 surely it is not less fair that the builder's name should remain upon 

 his edifices. 



The Thermes Napoleon, then, are the newest, finest, and most ex- 

 tensive of the six establishments of Plombieres, and they are among 

 the finest in France or in Europe. The Bain Bomain, an old estab- 

 lishment, rebuilt in 1837; the Bain des Barnes ; the Bain tempere, 

 in which, as I have said, the bathers were formerly so crowded ; and 

 the Bain des Capucins, in an old church these all lie farther up the 

 beautiful narrow valley in which Plombieres is built ; and all are 

 much frequented, the latter especially for the cure of sterility. In all 

 these different springs the waters are warm, ranging from about 43 

 to 55 C. (110 to 131 Fahr.), and in the subterranean vapor-room, 

 where the spring bursts from the rock, the temperature runs up to 153 

 Fahr. quite as high as one can well face heat in the shape of vapor. 

 It seems to burn when it first strikes your face, but a pleasant perspira- 

 tion follows. This temperature, however, that of the hot spring itself, 

 as it has been flowing for thousands of years past from the primitive 

 rock, is not that which is used for treatment. In the steam-room the 

 vapor-baths are given at 113 Fahr. Nearly every variety of bath 

 known is administered in one or another of these thoroughly equijrped 

 establishments. 



The waters of Plombieres are of the mildest ; they are classed by 

 some as indifferent thermal waters, but they contain silicic acid and 

 sulphate of soda. Taken as a drink, they are stimulating to the circu- 

 lation and to the nerves ; they are diuretic and aperient, and some- 

 times produce gastric disturbance and the so-called " thermal fever " 

 at the outset of the treatment. There is, besides, an iron spring, which 

 is cold, and which has a similar laxative effect, unusual among cha- 

 lybeate waters. The baths of Plombieres, at first stimulating, have 



