ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SPRINGS. 9 



From these high temperatures we may find springs 

 exhibiting every gradation down to 33 F., or 1 

 above the freezing point. 



It is natural to suppose that the warm water 

 which gushes from the earth in copious supply 

 would be turned to some practical account, and that 

 baths might be constructed in the vicinity of, or 

 over these outlets, or that the water might be used 

 for heating buildings. There are numerous cele- 

 brated bathing establishments in Italy, France, 

 Germany, and other countries, where the waters, 

 are heated by internal volcanic fires, and many of 

 these thermal springs have been used for bathing 

 purposes from the earliest times. There is a cel- 

 ebrated hot spring at Baise, near Naples, much fre- 

 quented by the ancient Romans, the waters of 

 which are hot enough to cook eggs, and other food 

 substances. We well remember the terrible per- 

 spiration into which we were thrown several years 

 ago while attempting to explore the cave in the 

 rock in which this spring is found. The air was 

 like that of an oven* and the blinding, scalding 

 clouds of steam rendered a prolonged stay in the 

 cave impossible. In the province of Auvergne, in 

 France, there is a small town, E'aux Chaudes, in 

 which all the houses are warmed during the winter 

 months, by hot spring-water conducted through 

 them in pipes. There are several towns in our own 



