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fta, in mcM, kr. We even find m'-iition in Hcmcr of hot 

 baths in the 'Vro'pn times; but thefc fecm to have been very 

 rare, and only lifcd on extraordinnry occafions. Athenseus 

 fpeaks of hot baths as iiniifiial even in his a.efe. In reahty, 

 public baths appear to have been difcourasjtd, and even pio- 

 hibited, by the ancient Greeks, wlio vtere contented to wadi 

 themfelves at home in a fort of bathing tubs. Pott. Archscol. 

 torn. i. hb. iv. c. 1 9. The method of bathing amon^ the an- 

 cient Greeks, was by heating water in a larjre vefTel w:th three 

 feet, and thence pouring it on tlie head and fhoulders of the 

 perfon feated in a tub for that purpofe, who, at coming out, 

 was anointed with oil. Burett, in Hift. Acad. Infer, torn. i. 

 p. 117. 



'J'lie Romans were alfo long before they came into the ufe 

 of batha : the very name of which, thermf, fhews they bor- 

 rowed it from the Greek?. As the ancient Romans were 

 chiefly employed in agricuknre, their cuilom was, eveiy even- 

 ing, after work, to vvafh their arms and legs, that they might 

 fit down to fupper with more decency: for it is to be oh- 

 ferved, the ufc of linen was then unknown, and the people 

 of that age went with their arms and legs bare, and con- 

 fcquently expofcd to dnft and iilth. But this was not all ; 

 for every ninth day, when they repaired to the city, either 

 to the nundlna, or to attend at the affemblits of the peop'e, 

 they bathed all over in the Tyber, or fome other river which 

 happened to be neareft to them. This fcem.3 to have been all 

 the bathing known till the time of Pompey, when the cuftom 

 began of bathing every day. Mercurial, de Art. Gymn. 

 Lb. i. c. 10. Mem. Acad. Infer, torn. ii. p. 414. 



The Celtic nations were not without the ufe of bathing : 

 the ancient Germans bathed every day ; in winter in warm 

 water, and in funinier in cold. This is what Tacitus feem.3 

 to fuggelt, " ftatim e fomno — lavantur, fspius calida, aut 

 apud quos plurimum hiems occupat." De M<jr. Ger. 

 cap. 22. 



Bathing, among the ancients, made a part of diet, and 

 was ufed as familiarly as eating, or ficep; and cold bath- 

 ing was in high elleem among their phyficians for the cure of 

 difeafes ; as appears from Strabo, Pliny, Hippocrates, and 

 Oribafius: whence occur frequent exhoitations to wafhing in 

 the fea, and plunging into cold water. The iiift inftance of 

 cold bathing, as a medicine, is Melampus's bathing the 

 daughter of the king of Argos; and the fi'-ft inftance of 

 warm bathing, is the ufe of it by Medea, who was faid to 

 boil people alive, becaufe Pelias king of Theflaly died in a 

 warm bath under her hands. The cold bath was fuccefsfully 

 ufed by Antonius Mufa. for the recovery of Auguflus ; but 

 after the death of Marcelius, who was thought to have fallen 

 a facrifice to the improper ule of it, the praflice fur.k into 

 negleft. It was again revived towards the clofe of the reign 

 of Nero, by a phyfician of Marfeilles Darned Charmis ; but 

 it was afterward difufed during the ignorance of the fuccted- 

 \nr ages. "jAmong the Turks, bathing forms a part of diet 

 and luxury ; and in evtry town, and even village, there is a 

 pu'.ilic bath, for thofe who li.ive not the convenience of private 

 bathsattached to their own houfes. Baron deTott (Memoirs) 

 gives us the following account of the conftruttion of the pri- 

 vate baths. Two fmall chambers, built with brick and faced 

 with marble or plaller, communicate with each other, and 

 each of them is enlightened by a fmall cupola cut in che- 

 quers. This little edifice is commonly joined to the houfe by 

 a fmall room, in which thof^ who bathe undrefs : double 

 doors, folding over and lifted with felt, fhut in the fiift and 

 fecond part of the ftovc. A wood fire is kept in a fubter- 

 ranean vault, the entrance into which is from without. 

 This fire-place is under the farthermoft chamber, and heats a 

 ealdron immediately beneath the marble floorj v;hich fsvvss 

 3 



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as a celling to the vault. Pipes, placed within the walls, pro- 

 ceed from the infide of the caldron, and go out at the cu- 

 pola, for the purpofe of evaporating the water, which 13 

 kept continually boihng. Other tubes, communicating with 

 a reftrvoir, are likewife contained within the brick work, and 

 furnidi the infide with cold water, by means of cocks placed 

 at the fide of thole v.hich yield the warm water. Small 

 feats of fmooth wood are made to fit on, and drains cut in 

 the marble to carry off the water which is thrown down. 

 Thefe private bathsj ?.lways heated twenty-four hours before 

 they are ufed, by being thus conftrucled, pniTcfs fuch a de- 

 gree of heat, that perfons, who undrefs in the exterior cham- 

 ber, and put on high fandals of wood to preferve the feet from 

 being burnt by the marble floor, cannot enter the firft. room 

 with fafcty till thev have flopped a moment between the two 

 doors, to let the lungs dilate ; after which they cannot enter 

 the fecond ftove, under which the heat is molt aftive, with- 

 out fimi'ar precaution. A fudden perfpiration rufliing 

 through all the pores, is felt immediately as tliey are entered ; 

 but the violence of this heat does not prevent the women 

 from ftaying in thefe baths five or fix hours,_ and returning 

 to them very frequently. The following defcription of the 

 public bath, and the method of ufing it, is abftracled from 

 the account given of the b'aths at Cairo by Savary, Travels, 

 vol. i. p. 146, &c. The firft; apartment, or undrcffing cham- 

 ber, is a loftv and fpacious hall, which riles in the form of 

 a rotunda, and is open at the top for admitting a free circu- 

 lation of the air. A fpacious eftrade, orraifed iloor, covered 

 with a carpet, and divided into compartments, goes round 

 it, on which the perfon who bathes lays his clothes. In the 

 middle of the building, a jet-d'-eau fpouts up from a bafon, 

 and agreeably entertains the eye. When you are undreffed, 

 you tie a napkin round your loins, put on a pair of landals, 

 and then enter a narrow paffage, where you begin to feel the 

 heat. The door being fiiut, at the dillance of twenty paces 

 you open a fecond door, and proceed along a paffage, which 

 forms a right angle with the former : here the heat increafesi 

 Thofe who are afaid of fuddenly expofing themfelves to a 

 ft.'-onger degree of it, flop in a marble hall, in the way to the 

 bath, properly fo called. The bath itfelf is a fpacious and 

 vaulted apartment, paved and lined with marble, around 

 which are four clofets. The vapour, inceffantly rifing from 

 a fountain and ciilern of hot water, mixes itfelf with the 

 burning perfumes, when perfum.cs are defired by the perfons 

 who bsthe. The bathers, extended on a cloth that is fpread 

 out, and with the head fupported by a fmall cufliion, ilretch 

 the;n!elv;s freely in every polliire, whilil they are enveloped 

 by a cloud of odoriferous vapours, w hich penetrate into all 

 their pores. After icpofing there for fome time, till a gentle 

 moitture is perceived over the whole body, a fervant preffes 

 you gently, turns you over, and when the limbs are become 

 fupp'e and flexible, he makes all the joints crack without 

 any difficulty, lie maffes, i. e. delicately touches, and feems 

 to knead the fiefh, without making you feel the fmalleft 

 pain. When this operation is finiihed, he puts on a glove 

 covered with a piece of coarfe fluff, and rubs you for a long 

 time : and during this operation, he detaches from the body, 

 running with fwcat, a fcurf or foit of Imall fcales, and re- 

 moves even the imperceptible filth that flops the pores. The 

 Jkin becomes foft and fmooth like fatin. He then condufts 

 you into a elofet, pours a lather of perfumed foap upon your 

 hc.'.d, and then withdraws. The clofet is furnifhed with a 

 ciflein and two cocks, one for cold and the other for hot 

 water. After having wafhed in this apartment, the fervant 

 brings a depilatory pomatum, compofed of a mineral called 

 " rufma," which is of a deep brown, and which the Egyp- 

 tiaiis burn lightly; knead with water, and a:iix\Tith half the 



quantity 



