158 Proceedings of the Royal Irhh Academy. 



Hot Speings. 



Hot springs, like most other natural phenomena, provided they are 

 something out of the common, appeal directly to the respect, nay, even 

 arouse the adoration of the people of India. 



Whether for its area India is more or less largely provided with 

 hot springs than other countries is a question that cannot be answered 

 off-hand ; possibly they are relatively more numerous in Japan ; but 

 the point is of no very great importance in comiection with the 

 present investigation. Within the limits of India itself they are found 

 more fi'equently in some areas than in others : this, of course, whatever 

 theory of their origin may be adopted, is only what might be expected 

 to be the case. The actual sites where they occur present, however, 

 considerable varieties in their physical surroundings. They exist in 

 the depths of the sea, in the beds of rivers, in low-lying alluvial tracts 

 where no rocks are exposed, in the strata of many different formations, 

 and at elevations varying from the minus altitudes of sites beneath the 

 sea up to those which are 16,000 feet above it. 



The total number of recorded sites where hot springs occur in India is 

 about 300, and this, probably, approximates to the total of those which 

 actually exist, and for this reason, being, as has been said above, 

 objects of veneration and, consequently, in not a few instances of 

 annual pilgrimage, they have come under the notice of resident 

 officials and surveyors ; long, too, before either appeared on the scene, 

 many were heard of and recorded by travellers through the regions 

 where they occur ; moreover, the native literature of India is by no 

 means devoid of reference to them. 



The term "site" has been used advisedly above, because the 

 quoted total is not intended to represent the actual number of outlets, 

 or iudi"vddual springs ; these, at particular sites, may amount to 20 or 

 30, or even more ; and, as was the case in a particular group of 

 springs which came under my own notice, the number of outlets may 

 vary from time to time, new ones bursting forth, and old ones 

 becoming inactive. 



The native nomenclature of these springs, taken by itself, would 

 be somewhat confusing as a means of identification, because the names 

 of the deities, after whom they are often called, as Sita, Parvati, Bevi, 

 and Mahadeo, frequently recur ; as also do such names as Suraj-Kund 

 (Fountain of the Sun), (Jhmd-Kund (Fountain of the Moon). Further, 

 titles like Garmah, Tattapani, Jerriapani, Zfnari, &c., all signify hot 



