172 The Bath Thermal Waters ; 



" fittest for all persons and distempers."* Assuming that 

 a malady is not urgent, and that a full choice of time of 

 year can be exercised, the invalid's best months in Bath 

 are March, April, May, and June, as the " spring thermal 

 season " ; and September, October, and November, as the 

 " autumn thermal season." Different parts of the city have 

 their appropriate seasons, too, for the lodging of the sick 

 and the convalescent ; for the climate of a place has neces" 

 sarily a determining influence on the healing virtues of a 

 Spa. 



Medical Application of the Bath Thermal 

 Waters. 

 When we examine the medical application of a thermal 

 Water, we have to remember the properties which make it 

 what it is. So much water ; so much heat ; and such and 

 such saline materials held in solution : — these are the points 

 which practical physicians consider. We cannot separate 

 any element from the others ; the compound bulk is before 

 us to work with as we can. Nature does not always tell us, 

 as a matter of common sense, what that work is ; and so we 

 have patiently to observe and try. " English Waters," said 

 an old physician, "best suit Enghsh bodies;" and Dr. 

 Granville wrote (about half a century ago) that then no con- 

 valescence was thought " secure and respectable " which was 

 not confirmed by a trial of Bath Hot Waters. But whether 

 this be so or not, we must agree with a physician more 

 ancient and learned than Dr. Granville, that mineral Waters 

 are not wise enough to cure a disease by themselves, any 

 more than a sword by itself is able to defend a man or to 



* When Dr. Peirce was_ asked, ' ' What do you do with your baths in 

 the summer?" "We then have leisure to bathe ourselves," was his 

 prompt reply. 



