MINERAL SPRINGS OF EASTERN FRANCE, 517 



diseases the cure depends rather upon a consensus of gentle influences, 

 a sequence of impressions that, however slight, are wisely chosen and 

 directed by the physician. And of these gentle influences those which 

 come from the proper choice of diet and the right use of exercise are 

 among the most important. 



7. Bains, still in the Vosges, is a town of three thousand people, situ- 

 ated at the foot of the eastward slope of the mountains, and in a valley 

 which is watered by a tributary of the Saone. There are eleven differ- 

 ent springs, all warm, varying from 34'3 C. to 49 C. (94 to 120 Fahr.). 

 Their main mineral constituent is the sulphate of soda ; carbonate of 

 soda and the chloride of sodium are also present, and both arsenic and 

 iron have been found in very small quantities. These waters are lim- 

 pid, colorless, and have no smell or taste, emerging from the gres vos- 

 gien which covers in shallow strata the granite substructure of the 

 valley. They have been known and used, like many others of the 

 French springs, since the time of the Romans, and their yield is abun- 

 dant, alike for the baths, douches, steamings, inhalations, and internal 

 uses which are prescribed at the establishments. 



These establishments, two in number, include all of the principal 

 springs. The first, the Bain Romain, which occupies the center of 

 the town, is a handsome building, with galleries and colonnades, dress- 

 ing-rooms, douches, and three piscines or bathing-tanks in the center. 

 In the basement are huge tanks where the water is stored ; hence it 

 is lifted by pumps to reservoirs in the top of the building, and dis- 

 tributed to all of its different parts. The second establishment, the 

 Rain des Promenades, is almost equally well appointed. Some two 

 thousand guests come yearly to the place between the middle of May 

 and the middle of September, the limits of the season ; while the 

 course of individual treatment is commonly fixed at twenty days. 



These waters have a greatly stimulating effect, which is beneficial 

 in cases of feebleness or of nervous dyscrasia ; used as baths, they are 

 more or less stimulating according to their temperature ; after a cer- 

 tain time they produce a sedative effect, in this particular resembling 

 the springs of Plombieres, which are but ten miles distant. Taken 

 inwardly, they produce at first more or less of the so-called "thermal 

 fever," i. e., loss of appetite, a sense of weight at the stomach, and 

 some constipation, and, like the waters of Plombieres, they are very 

 useful in dyspepsia, when this depends upon feebleness of the nervous 

 system ; in gout and rheumatism, and neuralgia and engorgement 

 of the uterus. The choice between the two springs is between hill 

 and plain, between the more fashionable and the quieter place. In 

 either the patient will find a cure if he follows the course of hygiene 

 and of water prescribed. 



8. Bouebonne, in the Haute-Marne, is the last in the group of 

 springs which we are studying. The town lies some fifteen miles due 

 south of Martigny, whence I made my way by private carriage ; and 



