THERMAL WATERS OF ASIA MINOR. 



THE THERMAL WATERS OF BROOSA. 



There are few countries where thermal waters are so 

 numerous and cover so extensive a surface as in Western 

 Asia Minor; many of them still bear marks of the estimation 

 in which they were held by the ancient Romans and Greeks 

 for the purpose of supplying their baths. 



Owing to the difficulty of obtaining proper vessels or corks 

 at or near the springs, coupled with the risk of breakage by 

 the necessary transportation on the backs of horses over 

 rough and mountainous roads, travelers have been deterred 

 from collecting these waters for the purpose of analysis. In 

 my travels through certain parts of this country I took along 

 with me bottles and corks, and collected between twenty and 

 thirty specimens of different localities, some of them in con- 

 siderable quantity; and of that number fifteen or sixteen have 

 arrived safely at my laboratory, where most of them have 

 been already examined. 



In my remarks upon them I will first allude to the thermal 

 waters of Broosa or Prusia, which are the most important at 

 the present day, and the most accessible from Constantinople. 

 The spot itself is hallowed by many interesting historical 

 associations. The city was founded by Hannibal during a 

 friendly visit which this great Carthaginian general made to 

 Prusias, the king of Bythinia, whose name was given to it. 

 Like all other cities of so ancient date, it has gone through 

 many changes, passing successively into the hands of the 

 Greeks, Romans, and Turks. Since 1326 the Turks have 

 continued masters of this part of Asia Minor, it having been 

 conquered by Osman just prior to his death, for many years 



