176 The Bath Thermal Waters ; 



those changes of temperature which injure its healthy 

 functions. 



Outside the admitted heaUng gifts which our thermal 

 Waters possess, there are certain diseases or disorders which 

 they may occasionally control— to wit, some forms of par- 

 alysis, derangements of liver and kidneys, anaemia, and 

 chronic indigestion. There can be no doubt of the efiScacy 

 of our mineral springs in the so-called lead palsy. Dr. Darwin, 

 in his famous " Zoonomia," recommends the frequent use 

 of the bath when we become thin and worn ; a few beams 

 from Aqua Salts give lustre and comfort to the evening of 

 life. A mediaeval author proclaimed the Bath Waters to be 

 good for " lethargy and forgetfulness ; " but, if this were 

 true, surely there would be more candidates for the baths 

 than there is water to bathe in ! 



In days not long ago, a rigid code of diet was enforced 

 by " Bath doctors " on the many people who came here to 

 be cleansed of their surfeits of meat and drink. In this 

 question of diet there is no magic or mystery, and a sensible 

 physician will not tease his clients with empirical whims. 

 To prescribe rational and wholesome food . is not difficult ; 

 and Dr. Oliver said with truth that " there are many Persoijs 

 whose End in coming to Bath had been answer'd, had they 

 been prudent, and liv'd by Rule. At Bath, as well as in 

 other Places, the more simple the Food is, the better it is 

 for the Patient."* 



It is the glory of a natural phenomenon that it sometimes 

 creates a literature. Human sympathies and interests are 

 stirred. A crowd of learned Doctors of Medicine flourished 

 here during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and 

 earned their honest bread. Their writings are little known 



* Practical Dissertation on Bath Waters, Z747. 



