BAT 



BAT 



William Diaper. The vertiy contains a fir.all llbrarv, 

 fiiunded by bifhop I<ake. Oliver King, bifliop o( Bath and 

 Wells, in the time of Henry V 1 1, undertook, this building we 

 have defcribed ; but by a negleft of his four fiicceflbrs, car- 

 dinals Adrian and Wolfey, and bifhops Clark and Knight, the 

 undertaking was fo dilapidated, that at the dilfolution it was 

 proffered to the citizens for joo marks. They refuhng the 

 purchafe, und'.r an idea of olfendinir the king, the glafs, 

 iron, bells, and lead were llrippcd from it, and fold at a 

 foreign market. Thus it continued in a ruinous Hate till the 

 reign of queen Ehzabeth, when fublcriptions were fet on 

 foot to relforc it ; and Thomas I'ellot Efq. Reward of her 

 houfehold, repaired the choir for divine fervice ; bifhop Mon- 

 tague, in the next reign, at the expence of loool., com- 

 pletely reflored the whole to its former Itate ; and with the 

 afTidance of feveral munificent noblemen and gentlemen, the 

 abbey of Bath became again a confecrated temple to divine 

 worfhip and a grand ornament to the city. 



St. James's church was erefted in 1768, and is a freeftone 

 flruAure, with a fquare tower riling at the weft end, 'con- 

 taining eight mulical bells- St. Michael's church was 

 begun in 1734, and is injudicioufly fuuated in the middle of 

 a llreet. Walcot church, dedicated to St.Swithin, is a neat 

 modern ftrufture, rebuilt in 1780. In this parlfh are four 

 chapels of eafe, and a church for the ufe of the poor : of thefe, 

 Chrift's church was built by voluntary fubfcription for the 

 ufe above mentioned ; and the whole area is therefore appro- 

 priated folely to accommodate the poorer clafs of inhabitants. 

 There are alfo in Bath other chapels and meeting-houfes for 

 divine fervice : the Octagon and Laura chapels are of the 

 eftablilhed religion. The Unitarians, Quakers, Baptifts, 

 Methodifts, iVIoravians, and Roman Catholics have each a 

 place for divine worfhip. 



Bath is furnillied with 438 lodging-houfes, and iQboard- 

 ing-houfes, where individuals and families are accommodated 

 with every domeftic convenience during the winter, which is 

 the falhionable feafon. The (hops of bath arc particularly 

 fplendid, and its libraries are numerous and refpectable. 



Civi/ Government. The judicial bulinefs of the city- 

 is tranfaded in the guildhall, where quarter-feffions, a 

 court of record, and a court of requefts are held. The 

 corporation confifts of a mayor, ten aldermen, two (he- 

 riffs, and eighteen common-council men, belides town- 

 clerk, conflables, &c. The principal markets are kept on 

 Mondays and Saturdays. 



For further particulars concerning the hiftory aud de- 

 fcription of this city and its environs, fee Warner's 

 Hiftory of Bath, 410. and the Bath guides publilhed at this 

 place. 



Bath IVater. Bath has been long celebrated for its ther- 

 mal waters. There are three principal fources of the water ; 

 called the King's bath, the Crols bath, and the Hot bath, 

 The fupply of water is abundant and invariable. The tem- 

 perature of the hotteft of thefe is uniformly 116°, when 

 frefti drawn, and of the coldeft 112"^ ; and no variety of 

 feafon appears in any degree to influence this temperature. 

 By fome accurate obfervations that were made on the heat 

 of Bath and Briflol water, by Mr. Canton, it appears, that 

 a Fahrenheit's thermometer held in the ftream from the 

 common pump of the king's bath after pumping about a 

 quarter of an hour, was railed to 112". The ftream from 

 the common pump of the hot bath ralfed it to 1 145'^. At 

 the pump of the crofs bath it ftood at 110°; the heat of 

 the fliaded air at noon being 66^, and of common water ex- 

 pofedto it 61°. And the Briftol water raifed the thermo- 

 meter to 76^, whilft in common water expofedto the (haded 

 air it ftood at 62°. Phil. Tranf. vol. Ivii. N" 22. 



Vol. HI. 



The analyfia of Bath water has been the caufe of much 

 controverly among chtinift?, but it feems now to be well 

 underftood. To the tafte it is neither bride, nor acid, nor 

 alkaline, nor faline, nor fulphureous, but fimply hot and 

 chalybeate ; and it is truly remarkable that the chalybeate 

 tafte is entirely loft as foon as the water cools, before any 

 fenlible precipitation of the iron takes place. The actual 

 quantity of the iron is fo minute as never to have been efti- 

 mated with any accuracy : probably a quarter of a grain in 

 a gallon is an ample allowance, a quantity fo fmall as only 

 to be perceptible to the tafte when frefh drawn and hot. 

 Bath water contains no other ingredients of any importance. 

 It is hard, and holds fome calcareous earth in folution, and 

 (as Dr. Gibbs has difcovered) a portion of filex. It is per- 

 fectly free from lulphur. A coniiderable quantity ',f azotic 

 gas riles from the earth along with the water, and a certain 

 portion is held by it in folution or rather weak afiinitv. Of 

 carbonic acid it only contains about -^ of its bulk. 



The difeafes for which the Bath water has been recom- 

 mended are very numerous. It has long enjoyed a high ce- 

 lebrity in the cure or relief of gout, chiefly of the atonic 

 kind ; of rheumatifm ; paralyfis, efpecially that partial palfy 

 of the limbs induced by rheumatifm ; and difeafes of the uri- 

 nary organs. When drank frefh from the fpring (the only 

 time when it poftefTes any peculiar virtues), it fometimes 

 raifes the pidfe, caufes the face to flu(h, and heats the body 

 very confiderably ; and hence there are many invalids who 

 cannot bear its operation, or who mu.ft be gradually accuf- 

 tomcd to it. This heating effeft, however, is by no means 

 conftant or univerfal. It often produces a coftive ftate of 

 body, and generally keeps the (kin pervious and ealily per- 

 fpirable. Its ufe as a hot, warm, or tepid bath, is full as 

 extenfive and probably important as when taken internally. 

 It has been thought by many that the pradtice of drinking 

 our Bath waters in Somerfetfhire is not verj- ancient, and 

 that their ancient ufe was in bathing ; but IJr. Freind en- 

 deavours to (hew the internal ufe of thofe waters to have 

 been very early. Dr. Guidot, in whofe time this ufage re- 

 vived, and who has given us an hiftorical narrative of 

 thefe waters, goes no higher for their internal ufe than the 

 latter end of the fixteenth century. But they appear to have 

 been in ufe in the thirteenth century. Gilbert, furnamed 

 Anglicus, who, according to Bayle, lived in 1210, in the 

 reign of king John, or more probably in that of Edward I. 

 mentions a perfon cured of a leucophlegmacy attended with 

 a fwelling, &c. by the fulphureous baths : which Dr. 

 Freind underilands of the Bath waters ; and that the cure 

 was wrought by drinking, not bathing, which had been 

 improper in fuch a cafe. 



Dr. Mufgrave makes it probable, that they were reforted to 

 in the time of Geta ; there being ftill the remains of a ftatue 

 erefted to that general, in gratitude for fome benefadlior.g 

 which he had conferred on the place. Some pretend that 

 thefe waters were in ufe 800 years before Chrift. Phil, 

 Tranf. N^ 49. 346. 



The two dated feafons for drinking the Bath waters arc 

 fpring and fall ; though they may be ufed whenever they 

 are found neceffary. 



Bath, in Geography, a river of Africa, in the kingdom 

 of Fez, which rifts in mount Atlas ; and joining the Suba 

 or Sebu, flows into the ocean north of Mahmore. 



Bath, a county of Virginia, in North America, about 

 60 miles long and 50 broad, bounded on the call by the 

 county of Augufta ; and noted for its medicinal fprings» 

 which are hot and cold, near the foot of Jacklon's mountain. 



Bath, a townfliip of Lincoln county, in the diftrift of 



Maine, in America, containing 949 inhabitants. It hea on. 



, 5 H th« 



