584 
falls frow a considerable height on their 
bodies, and the warmth of the water is 
evidently grateful to them. The sum 
paid each time is fifteen sous. This 
bath was formerly called de Bassin 
Royal, from Henry IV. of France 
having bathed in it when be had posses- 
sion of Savoy, in 1600. 
The lower spring is called le Bain de 
U Eau de Souffre, or sulphur bath. Phe 
source is very abundant; its tempera- 
ture is from 87 to 88 Reaumcer, or 117 
Pahrenheit ; but in rainy seasons, by an 
admixture with the surface waters, or 
cold springs, it isnot more than 35, or 
J11of Fahrenheit. tis nearly tasteless, 
and emits the odour of sulphur, not 
that of sulpbureted hydrogen. This 
spring is peculiarly eligible for the opera- 
tion of douching, the water being pre- 
cisely of the requisite temperature as it 
comes from the rock, and, owing to its 
elevated situation, it can be niade to 
fall with different degrees of foree from 
the requisite height, and in any quantity, 
withoui the trouble of pumping; whereas 
at Aix la Chapelle, the water is too hot, 
and the temperature must be reduced 
before it can be used. At Bath the 
douching is done by pumps, and the 
water issues from one small apertare ; 
whereas, at Aix, in Savoy, there are two 
copious streams, constantly pouring 
into each douching cell, and two douch- 
ers to direct its application, who con- 
tinue a brisk friction during the process, 
which is altogether different from the 
douching at Bath, and far more pow- 
erful. 
Till the year 1772 the sulphur bath 
was merely a large cave, cut in the rock, 
and divided by a wall into two apart- 
ments, one for the men, the other for the 
women, with an iron balustrade in 
front. At that period the:king of Sar- 
dinia caused the present handsome 
building to be erected and fitted up, 
expressly for the operation of douching. 
The apartments. for douching, to the 
uumber of fifteen, are placed in a semi- 
circular corridor, and in a lower story 
are two other rooms, for douching, into 
which the water falls with greater 
force, 
DOUCHING. 
To persons who take the douche for 
the first time, the process is rather for- 
midable. On entering the cell, when 
the door was closed, 1 seemed in dark- 
ness, and involved in dense vapour and 
sulphurous odours; but as my eyes be- 
came accustomed to the gloom, I could 
discern a feeble glimmering of light, 
Bakewell’s Travels in the Tarentaise, &c. 
entering by a little wicket above the 
door, covered with canvass; I then dis- 
covered two silent and nearly naked 
figures, whom I had not before per- 
ceived, standing with their bare arms 
extended, as if ready to seize me the 
moment I was undressed. It would 
have required no powerful aid of the 
imagination, in such a place, amid the 
gloom and sulphurous vapours, to have 
transformed these figures into demons 
or tormentors of the inquisition ; and 
the horrid yells of the douchers, in the 
neighbouring cells, to call the porters, 
might have confirmed the belief. On 
approaching the flight of steps, where I 
was to descend to take the douche, I 
drew back my foot, as I could not see 
where to set it down. This they at- 
tributed to fear, and cried out, ** N’ayez 
pas peur; soyez tranguille; nous vous 
ménagerons doucement comme un en- 
fant gaté.” They then broughtlme under 
onc of the sireams of water that issue 
from near the top of the cell, and told 
me to extend my hands, in order to’ 
break the column of water, and. dis- 
tribute it gradually over my body, as it 
would be too painful and scalding if 
received at first in one stream. When 
I had stood under the water a_ little 
time I became accustomed: to the heat ; 
I them sat down, and the process of 
dcuching commenced, The water is 
made to pass through long jointed tin 
tubes, which are fixed on the two aper- 
tures where the streams enter. Each 
doucher takes one of these tubes, which 
they direct to different parts of the body, 
with one hand, while ihe other hand is 
employed in rubbing the part on which 
the waterfalls. The first morning the 
douching only lasted five minutes, but 
the time was increased.each suecceding 
2orning, till LT was able to bear the 
operation for twenty minutes or balf an 
hour. When the douching- was finished, 
the douchers set up the most horrid 
yell L ever heard, -as a signal for the por- 
ters to enter, to whose care I was then 
consigned. ‘They immediately enfolded 
my arms and body in a linen. sheet, 
without drying the skin: over this they 
put a thick woolen wrapper, or blanket, 
tying up my feet: and, lastly, they 
bound my head round with a napkin. 
Thus equipped, you are precisely in the 
costume in which the ancients used.to 
bury the dead, as may be seen in the 
pictures of the raising of Lazarus. You 
are then placed in one of the chairs 
above described, and the porters run 
with you through the streets, and aD 
the 
