160 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



From these high, temperatures there is a decline, in other springs, 

 downwards, till a point of constant temperature is reached which is 

 independent of that of the surrounding atmosphere ; when such is the 

 case, the natives say of the water that it feels hot in the cold weather, 

 and cool in summer. I know of several in Bengal which are so referred 

 to, and there is one in Kashmir, called Theed (No. 75), which was 

 similarly described in the native chronicle of Akbar's time. 



That there is any very great constancy of temperature in these hot 

 springs for long periods is unlikely. We know them to occasionally 

 decrease in size, and ultimately die out altogether ; and we have one 

 instance at least, though it differs fi'om the others in the fact that it is 

 in the immediate proximity of a dormant volcano, in the spring on 

 Barren Island, where there is a steady periodic diminution in heat. 

 The facts in connection with this particular spring I have elsewhere 

 recorded ; they may, however, conveniently be summarized here as 

 follows: — In 1832 it was described as almost boiling; in 1857 

 (Drs. Mouat and Playfair) it was too hot to be borne by the hand 

 (their thermometer was only capable of measuring up to 140° F.) ; in 

 1858 (Dr. Liebig) almost boiling ; in 1862 (Rev. C. Parish) scalding 

 hot ; in 1866 (Andaman Committee) 158°-163°P. ; in 1873 (V. Ball) 

 130°F. ; in 1884 (F. E. Mallet) 106°-116°F. These observations 

 are not sufficient to establish the ' rate ' of cooling, though the later 

 ones indicate that the rate itself has diminished as the cooling has 

 progressed, in general accordance with the well-known law. 



Many of the hot springs in India, which are fairly warm, are pro- 

 vided with large masonry reservoirs, in which visitors can bathe. But 

 sometimes the priests or people have not been enterprising enough to 

 construct regular baths. One which I visited at Atari, near Khurda, in 

 Orissa, flowed with a copious stream, at a temperature of 138° F., into 

 a small basin, from which the water overflowed into a puddle. I was 

 told that annually, at a particular festival, this spring is visited by 

 numbers of people, and that scrambles take place for betel nuts, which 

 are thrown into the mud by the Brahmins. The scramblers are prin- 

 cipally barren women, and those among them who succeed in finding 

 a betel nut will, so it is said, have their desire for children gratified 

 ere long. In the meantime a somewhat amusing spectacle is afforded 

 to the rest of the congregation. Of specially prepared baths, with all 

 the devotional adjuncts, that at Sohna (No. 136), about thirty-five 

 miles south of Delhi, may be taken as a fine example. The water in 

 the hot spring there has a temperature of 108° F, ; it is received in a 

 basin cut out of the solid rock, which is 1 6 feet square and about 30 



