CATARACTS, AND INUNDATIONS. 16$ 



and Anthony's baths. There is also one appropriated to the use 

 of the poor. The sulphureous effluvia arising from the baths tinge 

 most kinds of metals with yellow; and a silver cup, after being some 

 time used for drinking the water, contracts a sort of gilding. These 

 baths are chiefly recommended to patients afflicted with gout, lame- 

 ness, pains in the joints, or any arthritic disorders. 



In the Valais are the famous hot-baths called the Baths of 

 Leuck j they are in a valley about two leagues distant from a village 

 of that name, inclosed on all sides by high mountains, through which 

 there is only a narrow passage to a wood on the south side. They 

 are formed by five springs, not far from each other. The largest, 

 whichfills eight baths, flows plentifully, and the water is hot enough 

 for boiling eggs. It is for the most part clear, but sometimes 

 changes its colour. It is purgative, and good agaiu&t colds, the 

 gout, weak stomachs, diseases of the liver, lungs, and spleen, 

 dimness of sight, convulsions, defluxions, the dropsy, sione, ulcers, 

 <fcc. There is another of the springs good against the leprosy, and 

 at a small distance from these are several cold springs, the largest 

 of which flows only from May to September, that is during the 

 summer, when other springs are dried up, but this is ascribed to the 

 melting of the snow on the Alps. 



Near the lake of Bourget, in Savoy, is an alternating spring, 

 which rises and falls with some noise, but not at stated and regular 

 times. After Easter this alteration is frequently perceived six times 

 in an hour ; but in dry seasons not above ouce or twice : it issues 

 from a rock, and is called la Fontaine de MerveilL omewhat 

 similar to this are several of the springs of this country, that throw 

 up more or less water, according to the alterations in the Rhone ; 

 but they have seldom so short and frequent a flux and reflux as in 

 the spring just mentioned. They contain different mineral sub- 

 stances, but are chiefly celebrated for their flux and influx. 



In Lower Hungary, tbe village of RIBAR is celebrated for its 

 warm baths on a hill in its neighbourhood. About six hundred 

 paces from it, towards the south, in a fine meadow, which makes 

 part of a most delightful valley, is an aperture long noted for its 

 noxious effluvia, which have not been sufficiently analyzed, but 

 which have been found to kill both beasts and birds. A stream 

 gushes out from it with great impetuosity, and is as rapidly ab- 

 sorbed. These effluvias are not poisonous to man ; for the water 



M 3 



