80 
IN SEARCH OF A CLIMATE. 
[Nature and Art, August 1, 1866. 
Mentone and the Riviera. It is somewhat moist 
and relaxing ; and though of value to highly 
nervous, excitable, impressionable constitutions, 
that are too much braced and stimulated by the 
dry, tonic atmosphere of the Riviera, it cannot be 
so beneficial as the latter in the earlier and curable 
stages of phthisis. The doctor’s review of Sicily, 
birthplace of mythology, extends to considerable 
length ; and though it be as interestingly treated 
as is, we may fairly say, every division of his 
subject, we can revel but little more in condensing 
or quoting. His general conclusion seems to have 
been that, with the exception, perhaps, of his new- 
found station of Ajaccio, Mentone might hold 
her own as queen of Sanitaria against all com- 
petitors ; and we must thus, too, dismiss the 
interesting pages given to the lakes of Como, 
Maggiore, Orta, and Iseo. But we cannot help 
despoiling the chapter on Biarritz, the pet resort 
of their majesties of France, and superior in 
health-value to our Ventnor, Bournemouth, and 
Torquay. The time comes round for the annual 
crop of letters to all editors, from “ Indignans,” 
“ Vindex,” “ Bublic Decency,” and “ Paterfamilias ” 
(the irrepressible and omnipresent), about bathing at 
watering-places. Mayors and councils and local 
boards of government are apt to get fussy just now 
about muzzling dogs and secluding bath machines ; 
and to such of the public as have not seen the admir- 
able pictorial sketches of French bathing, published 
last year in Paris, we must offer our condensation 
of a written one. The passage is long ; but while 
there are many whom it may amuse, there are 
some whom it concerns to know a system which, 
whether better or worse than our own, prevails 
elsewhere : — 
“ Both ladies and gentlemen wear a bathing costume. 
That of the former consists of loose, black woollen drawers, 
which descend to the ankles, and of a black blouse or 
tunic descending below the knees, and fastened at the 
waist by a leathern girdle. All seem totally indifferent, 
and pass smilingly before their friends and the spectators, 
appearing to enjoy every stage of the performance. The 
gentlemen’s dress is a kind of sailor’s costume ; and as 
custom gives them more latitude with respect to colour, 
material, and make, great varieties are observed. The 
exquisites seem to take a pride in showing themselves off 
thus prepared for their marine gymnastics. I have often 
seen them — cap in hand, feet and ankles naked — talking to 
their lady friends sitting around, previous to taking their 
first plunge. Once in the water, all the bathers mingle 
together. The utmost decorum, however, prevails : the 
husband assists his wife, the father his younger daughters ; 
but strangers keep at a respectable distance in the water, 
as they would on dry land. At first this aquatic mingling 
of the bathers strikes the English beholder as an infringe- 
ment of the laws of propriety and decorum ; but a more 
close scrutiny brings the conviction that such is really not 
the case — indeed, that the mode of bathing is infinitely 
more decorous and decent than that which is pursued on our 
own shores. The bathers are to all intents and purposes 
dressed ; and there is, in reality, no more impropriety in 
their witnessing each other’s marine sports, than there is 
in the members of a masquerade mingling in the streets 
during the carnival at Rome or Naples.” 
Some time ago. in view of foreign complications, 
the editor of the Times addressed to persons about 
to travel a graceful plea for Ireland. Likening 
the autumnal swarm of English tourists to a ferti- 
lizing inundation, he expressed a hope that at 
least a portion of it might now find an outlet 
among the lovely scenes, the venerable antiquities, 
and the stirring associations of the sister island. 
Our brief digression to echo the kindly wish needs 
no excuse, and we return to our hygienic traveller 
for a few lines only. These are, to our thinking, 
necessary to point his moral ; and the unhappily 
numerous class who have more than a fugitive 
interest in the subject will, we make sure, recog- 
nize their value. The following authoritative 
passage on the misuse of travel has, our experience 
tells us, a sad significance : — 
“I have infinitely more confidence in, and reliance on, 
the value of a winter residence in the South, than I had six 
years ag'o, when I first left England for the winter, a con- 
firmed invalid. As a practising physician in London, I had 
not seen the good results from wintering abroad that I 
have since experienced and witnessed at Mentone. The 
explanation, however, to me is obvious. Four out of 
five of my former patients and friends evidently committed 
all kinds of mistakes, against which, from want of 
experience, I could not guard them as I can now. They 
travelled about for pleasure when they ought to have con- 
sidered themselves delicate invalids on the brink of the 
grave, and to have remained stationary. They lived in 
large, dirty,- fever-poisoned southern towns, more occupied 
in sight-seeing than in health-seeking, and constantly 
exposed to many pernicious influences. Is it extraordinary 
that they should often have come back as bad, or worse, 
than when they started ?” 
They left all in fact to “ climate,” as thousands 
who are quitting London, while we publish these 
remarks, will leave to “ change of air ” the task of 
repairing, without their help, the loss their lives 
have undergone by the friction of a twelvemonth’s 
exertion in trades, professions, and fashionable 
pursuits. Poor “ change of air,” in truth, is an 
honest beast of burthen ; and sadly put upon by 
many of those who profess to be among its most 
fervent friends. And now, having made our way 
back to the land of Cocagne and its denizens, we 
may fairly lay down our pleasant task, merely 
repeating that this is not only a medical treatise, 
but also a traveller’s note-book, entitled to rank 
with the pleasant works of Matthews, Head, and 
the Halls. We have found most seasonable di- 
version on a short holiday stroll, in its chapters 
devoted to the Geology, Physical Geography, 
Meteorology, Natural History, Antiquities, and 
Social Life of the Mediterranean Sanatoria. So 
exuberant, indeed, is the author, that he could not 
pass the Italian lakes without a pleasant treatise 
on angling, and a “ fancy free ” digression to 
Scotland and her lochs. Fascinated by his per- 
formance, which is a prominent instance of the 
grave and gay in unity, and impressed with its 
value as a contribution to knowledge upon a topic 
of absorbing interest in many an English home, 
we feel conscientiously at liberty to commend it 
to both lay and professional readers. 
