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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f82bebc --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60104 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60104) diff --git a/old/60104-0.txt b/old/60104-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 088f9b7..0000000 --- a/old/60104-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,16905 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pilgrimages to the Spas in Pursuit of -Health and Recreation, by James Johnson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Pilgrimages to the Spas in Pursuit of Health and Recreation - With an inquiry into the comparative merits of different - mineral waters: the maladies to which they are applicable, - and those in which they are injurious - -Author: James Johnson - -Release Date: August 15, 2019 [EBook #60104] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner, K Nordquist and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - - PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS - IN PURSUIT OF - HEALTH AND RECREATION; - - WITH - AN INQUIRY - INTO THE COMPARATIVE MERITS - OF - Different Mineral Waters:— - - THE MALADIES TO WHICH THEY ARE APPLICABLE, - AND - THOSE IN WHICH THEY ARE INJURIOUS. - - BY JAMES JOHNSON, M.D. - PHYSICIAN EXTR. TO THE LATE KING. - - LONDON: - S. HIGHLEY, 32, FLEET STREET. - 1841. - - PRINTED BY F. HAYDEN, - Little College Street, Westminster. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -_The observations and reflections contained in the following pages, are -the results of several autumnal excursions in the line of the German -Spas, undertaken partly for health, partly for recreation, and partly for -information on a subject that now interests a large portion of English -invalids. The contents of the volume are like the objects which gave -it origin. They are miscellaneous—and probably this character will be -objected to, on the principle, “ne sutor ultra crepidam.” I have yet -to learn, however, why a physician should be debarred from indulgence -in general observations or reflections, and confined exclusively to -professional topics. His education, habits of thought, and knowledge -of human nature do not particularly disqualify him for a task which is -daily undertaken by people of all grades of acquirement, and degrees of -ability. The truth is, that being too independent to write for the mere -purpose of catching the approbation of others, I have followed the bent -of my own inclinations, and, if taken to task by censors, have little -other reason to offer for my conduct than the old one—“stat pro ratione -voluntas.”_ - -_There is one portion of the book, however, (a very small one, some -twenty pages of letter-press) which may require some apology. The course -of the Rhine leads to most of the German Spas, and is therefore traversed -annually by multitudes of invalids as well as tourists. Every castle and -promontory on its banks has its legend, and these traditions contribute -to fix the picture of the locality in the mind’s eye, by association, -for ever afterwards. In one of my excursions, some years ago, it struck -me that these legends were ~designed~, originally, each to convey some -moral precept—at all events, I became convinced that they were ~capable~ -of being ~moralized~. Under this impression, I condensed the principal -traditionary tales that have their ~locale~ in sight of the voyager, and -deduced what I considered to be the moral or useful precepts which they -concealed under a wild and improbable fiction. If I have failed in this -attempt, the intention, at least, was good. Throughout the whole volume, -my object has been to compress into small space much useful information -for invalid or tourist, and, on all occasions, to start subjects for -meditation or reflection, well knowing, from long experience, that such -occupations of the mind on a journey, are eminently conducive both to -pleasure and health._ - -_In the principal or professional portion of the work, I have endeavoured -to collect all the information in my power, and, in the exercise of my -judgment, to sift the grain from the chaff, thus to steer clear of the -extremes of exaggeration and scepticism. There has been too much of the -~former~ abroad, and too much of the ~latter~ at home. Holding myself -perfectly free from all obligation to subserve local interests on one -side of the channel, or foster national prejudices on the other, I have -spoken my mind, with equal fearlessness and, I hope, impartiality._ - -_The typography of this volume will prove that, although I must plead -guilty to the charge of “making a book,” it has not been constructed on -the approved principles of “BOOK MAKING.” By certain mechanical processes -well known “in the trade,” this slender tome might have been easily -expanded into two or even three goodly, or at least costly octavos, -without the expenditure of a single additional line, word, or thought. -But, bearing in mind the old Greek maxim that “a great book is a great -evil,” I was determined that, should my lucubrations come under this -head at all, the evil as well as the book should be on a small scale. -Spa-going invalids have evils enough, God knows, to carry on their -shoulders, without the addition, of a “MEGA BIBLION” in their wallets._ - -_There is one defect in this work, however, which common honesty compels -me to point out to the intending purchaser, before he parts with his -money. If the travelling invalid expects to find here a catalogue of the -post-houses, the signs of the inns, the prices of the wines, the fares of -the table-d’hôtes, the pretensions of the cuisine, &c. &c. &c., except -upon very rare occasions, he will be woefully disappointed. All this -species of information, and a great deal more, will be found in that -excellent emporium of peripatetic lore—“MURRAY’S HANDBOOK.” But even -this useful feature in the “red-book,” is not without its alloy. The -character of caravanserais is perpetually changing, as well as that of -their landlords; and when one of these gets a good name in a guide book, -the afflux of travellers to that point too often causes the master to -become proud, the servants lazy, the fare bad, and the bill exorbitant. -Many a bitter anathema have I heard launched against the “Handbooks, &c.” -for leading tourists and invalids to be starved and fleeced at the “RED -LION,” when they might have fared sumptuously and cheaply at the “BLACK -SWAN.”_ - -_Still, the Handbook is equally invaluable and indispensable to the -continental traveller; and, as far as the Spas are concerned, Dr. -Granville’s work is full of information on this subject. The profession -and the public, indeed, are deeply indebted to Dr. Granville and Mr. -Edwin Lee for opening out wider and clearer views of the continental -mineral waters; but the subject itself, so far from being exhausted, is -only in its infancy of investigation. Whether we regard the constituent -elements of the waters themselves, their physiological operation, or -their remedial efficacy, there is ample room for many future inquirers._ - -_I have now only to return my sincere thanks to the various German and -other physicians on the continent, from whom I received oral, written, or -published information, and to say that I shall feel myself honoured by -any future communications from the same sources, on the subject of the -Spas._ - - _JAMES JOHNSON._ - -_Suffolk Place, Pall Mall, May, 1841._ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - Page - - First Pilgrimage. - - Hygeian Fountains of Germany 1 - - The Valetudinarian in pursuit of health 2 - - The Steamer 2 - - The Gathering in the Steamer 3 - - The Conservative Traveller 4 - - The Sea—the Maas 5 - - Rotterdam 6 - - The Hague 8 - - Haerlem 8 - - Normal Schools 9 - - Amsterdam 10 - - Batavian Characteristics 12-14 - - Cologne 15-17 - - The Rhine 18 - - Drachenfels—Scenery 19 - - Legend of Drachenfels 22 - - Do. of Roland and Hildegund 24 - - Last Nuns of Nonnenwerth 25 - - Truenfels, or the Rock of Fidelity 27 - - The Flying Bridge 29 - - Rheineck renovated 29 - - Hammerstein, Andernach, &c. 30 - - Coblentz 30 - - Ehrenbreitstein—Gibraltar 31 - - Coblentz to Mayence—omnibussing 33 - - Stolzenfels, and Legend 33 - - The Brothers—Legend 34 - - Lurley, or the Echo, with Legend 35 - - Singular Locality of Echo 37 - - Schomberg—Reflections 38 - - The Seven Sisters, or Fate of Coquettes 38 - - Pfalz 39 - - The Hall of Mirrors 40 - - Moral of the Mirrors 42 - - The Devil’s Ladder 43 - - Moral of the Ladder 45 - - The Bridal of Rheinstein 46 - - The Mouse Tower, and Moral 48 - - Change of Scene 49 - - WISBADEN. - - Topography of 50 - - Theories of Mineral Waters 51 - - Composition of the Waters 52 - - Effects of the Bath 52 - - Phenomena produced by the Waters 53 - - Disorders benefitted by the Waters 55 - - Counter-indications 56 - - “Bad-sturm,” or Crisis 57 - - Hæmorrhoidal Mania 58 - - Cautions respecting the Baths 59 - - Directions for using the Waters 60 - - Spa-life 61 - - “Cursaals,” or “CURST-HELLS” 63 - - One-sided Morality 64 - - The Adler, or Eagle Bath 65 - - Author’s Theory of Kochbrunnen 65 - - The Dandy of Sixty—Bath Cream 66 - - Mr. Lee on the Wisbaden Waters 67 - - SCHLANGENBAD. - - Drive from Wisbaden to Schlangenbad 72 - - The Serpent’s Bath 73 - - The Cauldron of Medea 74 - - The Phœnix of Schlangenbad 74 - - Dr. Granville’s animadversions 75 - - Waters of Schlangenbad 76 - - “ORDER _off_ the BATH” 76 - - Table d’Hôte at Schlangenbad 77 - - German Salaam 77 - - Stomach and Teeth in Germany 79 - - Value of Life 80 - - Fame of the Serpent’s Bath 81 - - SCHWALBACH. - - The Three Brunnens 82 - - Composition of the Waters 83 - - Effects of the Chalybeates 84 - - Indications for their Use 84 - - Counter-indications 85 - - Mode of taking them 85 - - The Baths 86 - - German Society and Manners 86 - - HEIDELBERG 89 - - Verbondung, or German Duel 90 - - BADEN-BADEN. - - Scenery—Springs, &c. 94 - - Ursprung 94 - - Cautions respecting the Baths 95 - - Lines Written at the Alten-Schloss 96 - - Dissipation 97 - - WILDBAD. - - Journey from Baden-Baden to Wildbad 98 - - The Devil’s Mill 99 - - The Schwein-General 100 - - Valley of the Enz 102 - - The Raft-floaters 103 - - Topography of Wildbad 104 - - The Warm Baths 105 - - The Elysian Fountain 106 - - Disappointment 107 - - Bathing in common—pros and cons 108 - - Composition of the Waters 109 - - Effects of the Baths and Waters 110 - - Medicinal Properties 111 - - The Spa-Fever 112 - - The “AUXILIARY” to Mineral Waters 112 - - Disorders cured or relieved by Wildbad 113 - - Counter-indications 116 - - FALLS OF THE RHINE 117 - - Zurich 119 - - Lake of Wallenstadt 120 - - BATHS OF PFEFFERS 121 - - Astounding Cavern 125 - - Source of the Waters 126 - - Waters of Pfeffers 129 - - HYDROPATHY; OR THE - - Cure of Diseases by Perspiration and Cold Water 131 - - Calido-frigid Sponging 137 - - Second Pilgrimage. - - Chemin de Mer—Chemin de Fer 139 - - Antiquity of the Omnibus 139 - - Belgian Rail-roads 140 - - Antwerp route to the Spas 141 - - Reminiscences of the Walcheren Expedition 141 - - Liege 142 - - CHAUDE FONTAINE. - - Waters of Chaude Fontaine 142 - - SPA. - - Route from Liege to Spa 143 - - Former Celebrity of Spa 144 - - Pouhon—Sauveniere—Geronsterre—Tonnelet 145 - - General Composition of the four Springs 145 - - Medicinal Agency of the Spa Waters 146 - - Regimen proper at Spa 147 - - Environs of Spa 148 - - Gambling at Spa 149 - - Decadence of the celebrity of Spa 150 - - AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. - - Antiquity and Site of Aix 151 - - Fontaine Elisée 151 - - Aspect of the Spa-drinkers 152 - - Vitality of Mineral Waters 153 - - Caloricity Hypothesis 153 - - Disorders benefitted by the Waters 154 - - BORCETTE. - - Waters of the Borcette 154 - - Antiquities of Aix-la-Chapelle 154 - - EMS. - - Antiquity and locality of Ems 155 - - A new Sprudel discovered there 155 - - Composition of the Ems Waters 156 - - Physiological Operation of the Waters 156 - - Disorders to which they are applicable 157 - - Pulmonary Complaints benefitted by Ems 158 - - Counter-indications 160 - - Point of Saturation, or Crisis 161 - - General rules for taking the waters and baths 161 - - Cautions necessary for using the Baths 163 - - FRANKFORT. - - City and Cemetery—reflections on 164 - - KISSENGEN. - - Situation in the heart of Germany 166 - - Maxbrunnen—Ragoczy 167 - - Composition of the Waters 167 - - Pandur—Soolensprudel—Theresienbrunnen 168 - - Medicinal Agency of the Kissengen Waters 169 - - Disorders to which the Waters are applicable 170 - - Physical effects and medicinal properties of the different Springs 172 - - The Baths of Kissengen 174 - - Counter-indications 176 - - Point of saturation 176 - - Order of the day at Kissengen 177 - - Physiognomy of the various Spas 177 - - BOCKLET. - - Acidulous Chalybeate of Bocklet 178 - - BRUCKENAU. - - The purest Chalybeate in Europe 180 - - FRANZENSBAD. - - I. Franzensquelle or Brunn 182 - - Hufeland’s Testimony to the Waters 184 - - II. Salzquelle 185 - - III. Cold Sprudel—IV. Louisenbrunn 186 - - Gas Baths of Franzensbad 187 - - Mud Baths of Franzensbad 189 - - Personal experience of the Mud Baths 190 - - Disorders to which the Mud-Baths are applicable 191 - - Mr. Spitta on the Mud-Baths 192 - - MARIENBAD. - - I. The Kreuzbrunn 195 - - Composition and Physiological effects 195 - - Disorders to which the Kreuzbrunn is applicable 197 - - II. Ferdinandsbrunn 198 - - III. Carolinenbrunn and Ambrosiusbrunn 199 - - The Baths of Marienbad 201 - - Physical and Physiological Effects of the Baths 201 - - Mud-Baths of Marienbad 202 - - Gas-Baths of Marienbad 203 - - Physiological and Medicinal Effects 204 - - Notice of Dr. Herzig’s Work on Marienbad 206 - - CARLSBAD. - - Lobkowitz’s Ode to the Sprudel 208 - - Ancient History of Carlsbad 209 - - Description of the Sprudel 210 - - Muhlbrunn 210 - - Neubrunn—Theresienbrunn 211 - - Sprudelsteins and Incrustations 211 - - Serio-comic Anecdote of a Hypochondriac 212 - - German Hypotheses respecting the Waters 212 - - Picturesque situation of Carlsbad 212 - - Hufeland’s Eulogy of the Carlsbad Waters 213 - - Lord A’s wonderful cure 213 - - Melancholy case of Surgeon Fraser 213 - - Dr. De Carro’s opinions of the Waters 214 - - Crowd of Hypochondriacs at Carlsbad 215 - - Counter-indications 216 - - Bad-sturm, or Crisis, of Carlsbad 217 - - Regime at Carlsbad 218 - - Almanac of Carlsbad 219 - - Changes of fashion respecting the Springs 219 - - The Sprudel on Calculous Complaints 220 - - Dr. Hlawaczek on the Carlsbad Waters 221 - - VALETUDINARIUM. - - Physiognomy of Diseases at a great Spa 222 - - Auxiliaries to Recovery at a large Sanitarium 222 - - Medicinal Auxiliaries 224 - - Moral and Physical Auxiliaries 226 - - GASTEIN; OR WILDBAD GASTEIN. - - Romantic Situation of this Spa 228 - - Sources and establishments 228 - - Qualities of the Waters 229 - - Disorders to which they are applicable 230 - - PRAGUE. - - Romantic and Picturesque appearance of the City 231 - - TEPLITZ. - - Picturesque Journey from Prague to Teplitz 232 - - Splendid Bathing Establishments here 232 - - Temperature of the Springs 233 - - Former state of Public Baths—modern custom 233 - - Dr. Richter’s Work on the Teplitz Waters 234 - - Mode of Bathing and Remedial Agency 235 - - Disorders to which the Waters are applicable 236 - - Topography of the Contiguous Country 237 - - Splendid View from the Spitalberg and Schlossberg 237 - - Mr. Spitta on the Waters of Püllna, Saidschitz, and Sedlitz 238 - - TEPLITZ TO TETSCHEN. - - Battle-field of Culm—Historical Reminiscences 245 - - Furious Combat between Vandamme and the Allies 247 - - Bohemian Thermopylæ 248 - - Napoleon’s Star fades for ever 248 - - Tetschen—Count Thun’s Palace 249 - - Enter Saxon Switzerland 249 - - Remains of an Antediluvian World 250 - - Monchenstein, a curious fragment of Rock 251 - - Hernskretchen, Preberchthor, Kuhstall 251 - - Kœnigstein, impregnable Fortress of 252 - - Geological Reflections 253 - - A German Hotel, comforts of 254 - - THE BASTEI. - - Singularly wild and rude Scene of the Bastei 255 - - Geological Reflections—Antediluvian World 256 - - Huge Natural Colliseum, and fine Echo 256 - - Elbe to Dresden 257 - - Pillnitz—Regal Felicity—Royal Dramatist 257 - - DRESDEN. - - First Impressions favourable 258 - - Bridge, Palace, Cathedral, Theatre 258 - - Magnificent View from the Cupola of the Cathedral 259 - - Battle-field of August 1814—Tomb of Moreau—Star of Napoleon 259 - - Character of Napoleon—Exhumation of his Ashes 260 - - Royal Catholic Church—Music—The Requiem 261 - - Picture Galleries of Dresden 261 - - Jargon of the Connoiseurs 261 - - Chef-d’œuvres of Art 262 - - The Green Vaults—Reflections in 263 - - The Rustkammer, or Armoury—Reflections 264 - - Dresden China 265 - - Tharand—an Excursion 265 - - Revolution in Saxony, after that in Paris of 1830 266 - - Privileges of the People 266 - - Dresden to Leipzig 267 - - An Oasis in the Desert 267 - - LEIPZIG. - - The Cradle and Grave of Literature 267 - - Cerebro-gestation 268 - - Retrospection from the Observatory 269 - - The decisive Battle of Leipzig, Oct. 1814 270 - - Cossack Valour 271 - - Fall of Napoleon’s Star 271 - - MAGDEBURG 272 - - Advantages of Fortifications 272 - - Navigation of the Elbe 273 - - HAMBURG 273 - - Conclusion of the Second Pilgrimage 275 - - CHARACTERISTIC TRAITS OF GERMANY AND THE GERMANS. - - Difficulty of drawing characteristics 276 - - 1. Physiognomy—2. Language—3. Ideology—4. Unanimity 277 - - 5. Patience—6. Religion 277 - - 7. Affability 278 - - Causes of Affability 278 - - 8. Education 279 - - Normal Schools 280 - - 9. Learning 281 - - 10. The Press 282 - - Censorship 282 - - 11. Domestic Manners 283 - - 12. Women 283 - - 13. Morality 284 - - 14. Socialism 284 - - 15. Time 284 - - Time past 285 - - Time present and to come 286 - - 16. Titles, Decorations 286 - - 17. Aerophobia 286 - - 18. Female Peasantry 287 - - 19. Status quo 287 - - 20. Locomotion 288 - - 21. The Burschen or Collegiate Youths 289 - - 22. German Cookery 290 - - 23. Gallic and German Patriotism 291 - - 24. Prisons 292 - - 25. Beds and Bed-rooms 293 - - 26. The German Stove _versus_ English Chimney 295 - - 27. Verlobung, or betrothing 296 - - 28. March of Population 297 - - 29. Poetry 298 - - - - -PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS. - - - - -(First Pilgrimage.) - - -Many tribes of the great JOHN BULL family appear, of late years, to have -abjured “red port” and “brown stout,” in favour of several breweries on -the Continent, and especially in Germany. These breweries are deeply -seated in the bowels of the Earth, and the art and mystery of their -brewings are far beyond the sight and cognizance of man. Whether cocculus -Indicus, logwood, sloe-juice, or opium enter into their gigantic vats and -boiling cauldrons, it is hard to say; but, however manufactured, they are -thrown up on the surface of our globe, _pro bono publico_—greatly to the -detriment of doctors, druggists, and apothecaries, in this and in many -other countries. - -The subterranean distilleries are conducted on the homœopathic -principle—viz. that of employing the minutest quantities of active -materials—probably in order to do the least possible harm. They have many -and great advantages over the homœopathic laboratories. They diffuse -their ingredients through such immense potions of water, that, to get -at a few grains of the _former_, we are obliged to ingurgitate some -quarts of the _latter_. Now the mere mechanical flow of such prodigious -doses of fluid through the various outlets—the bowels, kidneys, skin, -&c. must sweep away morbid secretions, and contribute to the breaking -down of obstructions in different organs, independently of the medicinal -agents that are diffused through the mass of liquids in the greatest -possible state of division and solution—circumstances which enable -them to permeate and penetrate through innumerable capillary tubes and -complicated glandular apparatuses, where grosser materials could never -reach. - -The natural fountains of Hygeia, however, have other advantages and -auxiliaries, of which the laboratory of the chemist, and the pharmacy -of the practitioner are deprived. HOPE itself, though often resting -on fallacious and exaggerated histories of cures, contributes much to -the accomplishment of even marvellous recoveries. The severing, or even -relaxing of that chain which binds care round the human heart, and -augments the sufferings and the progress of disease, is no mean ally of -the spa. It is true indeed, that the “splendid misery” of the great, -and the corroding grief of the exile, cannot be thrown off by change of -climate— - - Scandit æratas vitiosa naves - Cura—quid terras, alio calentes - Sole, mutamus—patriæ quis exul - Se quoque fugit?[1] - -But the valetudinarian in pursuit of health, is somewhat differently -circumstanced. The change of scene and air—of food and drink—of rising -and retiring—of exercise and conversation—in short, of the whole moral -and physical conditions around him, effect, in many cases, such a -mental and corporeal improvement, as makes easy work for the mineral -waters—especially when the extreme dilution of their contents is taken -into consideration. - -Let it not be supposed, however, that this picture is without any -reverse. Many diseases—especially organic ones—are aggravated by the -journey to a distant spa—by the imprudent use of the water—by the warm or -hot bathing—by the enthusiasm or rather HYDROMANIA, of the spa-doctor, -who, having little acquaintance with the constitution of the patient, -extols his favourite spring, and recommends it in almost every complaint. -To separate probabilities from improbabilities, and impossibilities from -both, will be attempted occasionally in the following pages, as we pass -in review some of the principal resorts of invalids on both sides of the -Rhine. - - -THE STEAMER. - -The BATAVIER, all humps and hollows—the reverse of what one would expect -in anything _Batavian_—and as ugly a black whale as ever floundered -through an Arctic Ocean, received an ample cargo on the 3rd. of August -183—. I shall not attempt to minutely analyse such a numerous as well -as motley group, on the short acquaintance of twenty-six hours. It -was pretty evident, however, that we had on board representatives of -various classes of society—more especially of the arts, sciences, and -professions. The lawyer had left his clients to live in peace—the doctor -had left his patients to die in peace:—and the pastor had committed his -flock to some vicarious shepherd. The merchant had handed his ledger, and -the banker his money-shovel to their clerks—and it seemed as though half -the shopocracy had left their counters in care of the shopmen. - -All was bustle and confusion among the steamers starting for various -destinations—and I verily believe that the inhabitants of Pompeii -did not rush in greater haste or in greater numbers to the sea, when -chased by the ashes and lava of Vesuvius, than did the inhabitants of -the metropolis to the banks of the Thames on this beautiful morning! -There were to be seen SENATORS, who had patriotically injured their own -constitutions while reforming that of their country—TAILORS from Bond -Street, going to Vienna and Athens to measure the “Corinthian pillars -of the state,” on the philosophical principles of Laputa—aldermen from -Bucklersbury, to exude a portion of green fat and callipash in the -valleys of Switzerland—geological chemists, with hammers, bags, and -blow-pipes, bound for the mountains of TAUNUS to ascertain the age of -MOTHER EARTH, by means of the fish-bones, oyster-shells, and pebbles, -which she had swallowed at some of her grand suppers—antiquarians -journeying to the Roman forum to disinter the bones of M. Curtius and -his horse, which had lain so long in their marble cerements—engineers -from a new joint-stock company to survey a line of rail-road over -the Great St. Bernard—candidates for the Traveller’s Club, going to -_qualify_ by crossing some pons asinorum over the Danube—tourists of -all calibres; some to make a tour simply; some to write a tour badly; -but the greater number to talk of a tour afterwards—NABOBS from the -East; some with the complexion of a star pagoda; some as pallid as a -sicca rupee; and others as blue as Asiatic cholera—CANTABS, with their -tutors, going to study spherics among the Alps of Oberland—OXONIANS, to -collate Greek and gibberish among the Ionian Isles—MISSIONARIES from -Paternoster-row and Albemarle-street, to convert foolscap into food for -circulating libraries, and the “bitter wassers” of Germany into Burgundy -and Champaigne for themselves—CONSERVATIVES flying from the “West-end,” -to preserve the remnants of a shattered constitution—LANDLORDS from -Green Erin going to spend their rack-rents in the fashionable saloons of -Baden Baden—ROUÉ’S from St. James’s, repairing, as a forlorn hope, to -the Cur-saals (anglice, CURSED HELLS) of Nassau and Bavaria—BACCHANALS, -DEBAUCHEES, and GOURMANDS, hastening to Kissengen and Carlsbad, in hopes -of restoring their jaded appetites and reducing their tumid livers—JUDGES -from Westminster, who, in all actions of “RUS _versus_ URBEM,” had -lately determined in favour of the plaintiff, without reference to the -jury—BISHOPS, who had left their black aprons on the Banks of the Thames, -to have a peep at the lady with scarlet petticoats on the banks of the -Tyber—aspiring youths of enlarged views and high pretensions, determined -to see the world from the summit of Mont Blanc—PALLID BEAUTIES, from -Portman Square, with their anxious mammas, bound to Ems and Schwalbach, -in hopes of transmuting their lillies into roses, by exchanging the -midnight waltz for the “mittag” meal, and fiery port for the sparkling -“wein-brunnen”—faded belles and shattered beaux, of certain and uncertain -ages, repairing to Schlangenbad, for satin surfaces and renewal of youth. -We had members of both houses who had inhaled sulphuretted hydrogen gas -to such an extent, in St. Stephens, during the session, as to cause -violent explosions of malodorous philippics, to the great annoyance of -their opposite neighbours:—these were on their way to the Alps for pure -air before the next eruption. Here were seen veterans from the “United -Service,” whose memories had survived their hopes, bound on a pilgrimage -to Waterloo and Camperdown, to heave a last sigh over the setting sun of -martial glory, and the degenerate æra of insipid peace. Here were whigs, -tories, radicals and revolutionists; together with men of high church, -low church, and no church doctrines, but all (incredible to relate) -unanimously agreed on one principle, that of the “_mouvement_.”[2] - -These and hundreds, not to say thousands of others, whose avocations, -objects, and pursuits were only known to themselves— - - ——an undistinguished crew - O’er whom her darkest wing Oblivion drew—— - -were rushing to the Thames, and deserting the Metropolis, as though it -were the “City of the Plague,” or the seat of Asiatic cholera. - -But to return to the Batavier. Honour to the man who first applied steam -to locomotion. His ingenuity has enabled him to distil from water a light -vapour which conquers the ocean from whence it sprang. It more than -half diminishes the terror of the sea and the miseries of the voyage. -It brings Lisbon and Gibraltar within the same distance of London as -Edinburgh used to be. Though lighter than the air we breathe, it can -resist the impetuosity of the heaviest storm, and stem the torrent of the -most rapid river. It has nearly broken the trident of Neptune, and owns -little allegiance to his sceptre. Steam may now say to the watery god, -what the ocean monarch once said to a brother deity— - - “Non tibi imperium Pelagi sævumque tridentem, - Sed mihi sorte datur.”—— - -Æolus may unchain the winds—Boreas may bluster, and Auster may weep; but -steam heeds them not. Resistance only lends it strength, and oppression -elasticity. The offspring of eternal and implacable enemies (fire and -water), its birth is invariably and necessarily fatal to its parents. The -new Being thus generated is as gigantic in power as it is transitory in -existence. Imprisoned for a moment, it bursts its barriers—regains its -liberty—and dies! But these struggles for freedom work the iron wings -that impel the monster steamer through the briny waves. Deep in the -womb of this moving volcano, we see the fires of Ætna glowing—cauldrons -boiling—pumps playing—chains clanking—Ixion’s wheels incessantly -revolving—steam roaring—and volumes of smoke belched upwards, to darken -the skies with artificial clouds. Could some of our forefathers rise from -their graves, and behold a steamer flying over the waves against wind and -tide, and without oar or sail, they would be not a little astonished, -and curious enough to know the name of the planet to which they had been -wafted after leaving their native earth. - - -THE SEA. - -Campbell, our immortal poet, has dedicated an amatory epistle to the -sea, descriptive of her various charms. When in good humour, no lady -has a smoother face, or a more smiling countenance, and she then well -deserves the title of “mirror of the stars,” which the bard has gallantly -conferred on her. But when ruffled in temper, she is one of the veriest -termagants I have ever encountered. She will then fret and foam—aye, and -proceed from words to blows, knocking about her friends and her foes, -like stock-fish. - -Many have been the philtres and objurgations proposed for securing her -“crispid smiles,” and obviating her “luxurious heavings;” but few of them -are of any value. I have found it best to lie down, bandage my eyes, -and let the angry Goddess have her own way. In the present instance -her marine majesty was in a singularly mild mood, during the passage. -A nautilus might have spread his sail and gone to sleep in safety. -We approached the low sand hills concealing a still lower surface of -country—struck on the Brill—and after two or three rolls, the Batavier -tumbled like a whale into the Maas. We were soon abreast of Schiedam, -whence volumes of smoke and vapour redolent of gin were wafted over us -by the northern breeze, while a hundred windmills were whirling round -as far as the eye could reach. It is curious that in Holland, the most -watery country in the world, grain is ground by means of wind; while in -Switzerland, the most windy country in Europe, corn is ground by means of -water. A moment’s reflection clears up the paradox. In Holland, water -sleeps during seven days in the week, unmolested, save by the occasional -crawling of the trackschuyt:—in Switzerland, every stream leaps joyously -from rock to rock, grinding the corn, washing the linen, spinning the -flax, turning the lathes, and performing a hundred domestic services. - - -ROTTERDAM. - -In a few hours after passing the Brill, we arrived at the most bustling -and thriving town in Holland. A protracted line of shipping, receiving -and discharging their cargoes—an even jetty or quay, planted with -majestic trees—and a long row of noble-looking houses facing the river, -preclude all view of Rotterdam. It is impossible to get a prospect of -any Dutch town except from its highest steeple. Immediately, as is my -custom, I ascended the spire of St. Lawrence’s cathedral, and there -enjoyed a magnificent coup-d’œil of the fine sea-port, and the adjacent -country, as far as the Hague. Each street is a kind of duplicate (double -portrait) of the quay: the centre of almost every one being Macadamized, -not with granite or gravel, but with the masts, yards, decks, and high -bugger-luggs of ships. This species of Macadamization not being the -most convenient for carriages or pedestrians, the broad trottoirs on -each side, roughly paved and thickly planted, serve for all kinds of -viators, and must give ample encouragement to corn-cutters, blacksmiths, -veterinary surgeons, and coach-builders. - -Nine-tenths of the houses present their gable-ends to the street—a -high flight of steps leading to the hall—and a coach door at the side, -leading to the court. Each mansion (where there is not an open shop) -is a merchant’s castle, flanked with warehouses filled with goods, -neatly furnished, and kept remarkably clean. The inhabitants differ from -those of an English town much less than the inhabitants of any other -continental city. The women are far more fair and handsome than either -the French, Germans, or Italians—and the word “COMFORT,” unintelligible -in any language but our own, is practically legible in every street of -Rotterdam. - -I made my bow to the statue of Erasmus, though the name called up some -scholastic recollections, not of the most pleasant kind, as connected -with his Naufragium: after which, we perambulated this city of “ships, -colonies, and commerce,” till a late hour in the evening. - -From the moment that John Bull first sets foot on any part of the -Continent between Scandinavia and Cape Coast Castle, he begins to pay -daily the penalty of early-acquired and long-continued bad habits. But -this is not all. Some of his good habits stand in the way of his comfort -and health. The sooner he makes up his mind to the change, the better. -And first, of sleep. If he means to enjoy the blessings of “tired -Nature’s sweet restorer,” he must repair to his chamber as soon as -possible after the sun has taken his evening bath in the Atlantic. And he -should spring from his couch before, rather than after, Apollo pleases -to— - - “Rise refulgent from Tithonus’ bed.” - -In most of the continental towns, the streets are as silent as those of -Pompeii after ten o’clock; but the bustle begins at day-light, and he -must have taken a strong dose of opium who can sleep after that hour! The -cocks are crowing, the carts are clattering, the waiters are knocking -up the travellers going off by diligence or steamer, the travellers -themselves are bawling out for “eau chaude,” “warm wasser,” “boots,” -“coffee,” or the “billet”—in short, the jargon of different languages -resounding through the lobbies for an hour or two after day-light, would -put Babel to shame. And last, not least, the eternal ding-dong of bells, -especially in Catholic countries, from dawn of day till eight o’clock, -might convince the most sceptical Protestant that PURGATORY is no fable, -but an actual punishment inflicted by the priests on this side of the -grave, as a foretaste of the future! - -Still, in most of the continental towns, there is an interval of five or -six hours in the night, during which the wearied limbs of the traveller -may rest, and his ears may be relieved from discordant sounds. Not so -at Rotterdam. The night is infinitely more noisy than the day. It is -then that the real bustle begins at the HOTEL DES PAYS BAS, and along -the whole line of the quay. The absence of light appears to operate on -this amphibious race in the same way as it does on frogs, bats, and -owls, and various animals addicted to nocturnal depredation. By midnight -the sailors of different nations begin to get sober for the second or -third time since morning, and the work of loading and unloading, craning -and carting, &c. begins in good earnest. The eternal chorus of “_yo -heave ho_,” from a thousand throats, o’ertopping, but not drowning the -boisterous din of unutterable discord on all sides, would rouse the god -of sleep from his bed of ebony, and put his prime minister, Morpheus, to -flight. - -How the Rotterdamers preserve their lives in the midst of stagnant water -surrounding and pervading every habitation, and ingurgitated by man, -woman, and child, is only explicable on one of two principles—perhaps -of both. They are accustomed to it, as the eels are to skinning:—or -the neighbouring SCHEIDAM poisons the animalculæ, and prevents their -poisoning the people. There is yet one other supposition. In every -habitation and chamber of Rotterdam, and indeed of Holland, there is -very perceptible to the senses a malodorous effluvium, composed of three -different gases, and emanating from gin, peat and tobacco. This “tertium -_quid_”—this “tria juncta in uno”—may possibly tend to counteract, or, -at all events, to cover the malarious exhalations continually rising -from a quiescent pool, into which the _debris_ of all utterable and -_unutterable_ things are daily and nightly plunged![3] - - -THE HAGUE. - -I have long been tired of rambling through museums and -picture-galleries—churches and palaces—gardens and promenades; but I am -absolutely sick of the endless and reiterated descriptions of all these -and a thousand other things, which every tourist delineates anew, as if -he had been the first visitor that ever saw the lions! - -In these catalogues there can be nothing new, even to the fire-side -traveller, and I shall pass them by, with merely an occasional reflection -or remark. I find but one or two notes in my diary of the Hague—one, -the record of a most capital BULL—not made by an Irishman, but by a -Dutchman—the “JEUNE TAUREAU,” by Paul Potter. This sturdy, stiff-necked, -sandy-haired representative of my countrymen, is no bad sample of the -breed. I wish a certain animal of this species, which stands in Fleet -Street, with a mouth wide open, and greedy for all kinds of provender, -were to be brushed up a little, _a la Paul Potter_. I am sure it would -increase the number of spectators, if not of subscribers, to our witty, -keen, and sarcastic hebdomadal of Temple-bar.[4] - -At the dull aristocratic and academic town of Leyden, we crossed a -sad memorial of fallen greatness—the drivelling descendant of the -majestic Rhine, reduced to the dimensions of a canal, and, like the -degenerate offspring of some renowned hero, disgracing the line of his -noble ancestor! Restive and perverse in its last act, it only _flows_ -when the tide _ebbs_, and stands motionless during the flood. Leyden -being a university “open to all parties,” and influenced by merit only -(with a little gold), it imposes no oath on the candidates for its -degrees—whatever may be the creed of the aspirant. - - -HAERLEM. - -This is a phrenological city, distinguished by a remarkable bump—the -largest “organ of music” in the world. But there is a greater lion in -Haerlem than the great organ—one whose distant roarings have struck more -terror into the heart of John Bull than did ever Napoleon, with his -legions at Boulogne. This monstrous birth of the French revolution—this -offspring of atheism and education, in which the orthodox light is -extinguished— - - “Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum,” - -is neither more nor less than a “NORMAL SCHOOL.” As this term is not in -Johnson’s Dictionary, it is inferred by our home oracles, that it exists -not in any language, ancient or modern. As I cannot give its derivation, -I shall try at its definition. It is a school where “_boys and girls are -taught the rudiments of knowledge without wrangling about creeds_.” It -is alike open to the Jew and the Gentile, the Protestant and Catholic, -the Baptist and Anabaptist, the Unitarian and Trinitarian. Now as each -of these sects holds its own theology to be the true orthodox one, I -do not see how any _one form_ of religious instruction can be combined -with elementary education. We might as well try to force the same note -on all the inmates of a menagerie, as the same creed on all the elèves -of a normal school. And, after all, why should theology be taken out of -the hands of the pastor, to be put into those of the pedagogue? May not -letters be taught without a Liturgy—and cyphering without a Catechism? We -see that, in two of the most Protestant countries—Prussia and Holland—the -system works well, at least peaceably. The children of various sects -can learn to read without ridiculing, and to write without stigmatizing -each other’s creeds. They live in peace while acquiring the rudiments of -human knowledge at school—and they repair to the chapels or synagogues -of their parents to hear the word of God, where it is most properly -delivered. A youthful harmony or even friendship is thus generated among -all persuasions, and is never afterwards entirely obliterated. - -But I imagine that an unnecessary dread of this “tree of knowledge,” -whose mortal fruit— - - “Brought death into the world and all our woe,” - -is entertained by the good people of England. Reading, writing, and -arithmetic do not constitute knowledge, but merely the machinery by which -it may be afterwards acquired. These rudiments are, like the types of the -printer distributed in their compartments—void of learning or science in -themselves, till they are worked up by the compositor—who, himself is -only an instrument in the hands of a higher agent. “The instruction given -in the schools (says an excellent observer, Mr. Chambers) is deficient -of nearly all that bears on the cultivation of the perceptive and -reflective faculties, and consequently the expansion of the intellect.” -This education rarely extends beyond reading, writing, arithmetic, and -geography—while the superior orders are taught the French language. -At or under 14 years of age, the child leaves school and merges on the -ordinary avocations of life. There is in Holland nearly a total absence -of scientific instruction. Words not things are taught, and no taste is -generated for literature. Yet this elementary education at school, and -religious instruction at home, have rendered the people remarkable for -order, piety, and morality. In no other country is there so little crime -or squalid poverty. - -I wish I could say as much for civil as for religious liberty in this -country. The press is more completely muzzled than any cart-dog in -London. The latter may open his jaws so far as to growl; but the press -is hermetically sealed in this submarine territory. No book can be -translated or published without the censor’s license—nay, a hand-bill, -announcing the importation of Warren’s blacking or Morrison’s pills, -cannot be printed or affixed to a wall, without a license and a stamp! In -a conversation with an intelligent Dutchman respecting this restriction -on the press, I was completely silenced by the following argument. I -believe, said the gentleman, that in your profession, _prevention_ is -considered to be better than cure. I assented. Then, said he, I observe -in all your newspapers that people are tried, and sometimes severely -punished, for publishing libels, although the authors may not believe -them to be such at the time of writing them. Now the paternal Government -of Holland _prevents_ such misfortunes and evils from happening to its -subjects, by examining the document before publication, and thus taking -on itself the responsibility, in case it should turn out afterwards to -be libellous. There was no answering this argument. The Dutch are the -most patient animals that ever lived beneath a yoke, or bowed beneath a -load of taxes. Talk of John Bull’s rates and taxes! They are bagatelles -compared to those in Holland! Every species of business, from the cobbler -to the ship-builder, is taxed after a graduated scale, varying from -a few shillings to twenty or thirty pounds annually. Every dwelling, -every window, door, fireplace—even the furniture, is taxed according to -its value! The taxes on houses are more than a fourth of the rent! The -necessaries of life are, in fact, extremely dear, and were it not for -the solace of tobacco, gin, and coffee, the poorer classes of Dutchmen -would die in their dykes under the pressure of hunger and taxation, -notwithstanding their loyalty to KING, and love of VADERLAND! - - -AMSTERDAM. - -How often does the monotonized traveller in Holland and Belgium sigh -for the luxury of a zig-zag mule-track along the steep acclivity of -some alpine height, as a change of scene from the eternal right-lined -chaussée, terminating out of sight, beyond the verge of the horizon, -or dipping apparently, like Pharaoh’s route, into a lake or the -ocean! The Haerlem pavé is constantly menaced by the Zuyder-Zee on -the right, and the German Ocean on the left; but it escapes a watery -grave, and safely lands the weary tourist in Amsterdam. Ascending the -tower of the Stadthouse, or palace, I cast my wondering eyes over the -largest community of beavers that ever lived upon logs, or drove their -far-fetched piles into the muddy bottom of lake or pool! Strange that -the dry land of this our globe should not afford space enough for cities -or towns, without invading the Adriatic and the Zuyder-Zee for the sites -of Venice and Amsterdam! From this bird’s-eye view, the confusion and -commixture of land and water is inextricable and incalculable. The city -stands on nearly one hundred detached islets, connected by more than -three times that number of drawbridges—the houses rising bolt upright out -of the water—each street being a quay lined with trees—and each mansion -a warehouse, as evinced by the crane and rope at the attic for hoisting -in goods, furniture, fuel, and provisions. The space between the houses -and the water, is much narrower than at Rotterdam, and I think the bustle -and activity of commerce are far less conspicuous in the northern than -in the southern entrepôt. The water, though capable of floating ships, -is unfit for cooking or drinking—and, were it not for the springs of -Seltzer, and the distilleries of Scheidam, I imagine that hydrophobia -would universally prevail. - -I suspect that the Amsterdammers were originally a colony from Palestine. -Like the “chosen people,” they are much fonder of conveying merchandize -from one hand to another, than of manufacturing any article of trade or -commerce. The only fabrications that I could see, were those of ships -to carry, and houses to contain goods. The building of houses has long -been limited to the re-construction of those whose foundations had given -way—and naval architecture has received many checks—the annihilation -of the whale-fishery among others. But the red-herring still cheers -the heart of the Hollander, and qualifies the brackish water of the -Zuyder-Zee. While wandering through the streets in the evening, I -found that gin-palaces were not confined to England. They are on a -splendid scale here, and frequented by better classes of society than -in the British metropolis. We saw burgesses—probably burgomasters—with -their wives, and sometimes with their children, drinking, smoking, and -listening to the dulcet sounds of Swiss or Bavarian hurdi-gurdies. This -was not quite in keeping with the grave, moral, and religious character -of the Dutchman. - -It is not my inclination—to say the truth, it is not my forte—to describe -the lions of Amsterdam—or of any of the other dams in this hybrid -offspring of land and water. It was quite enough for me to see the -shows—their pictorial delineation I leave to those of my tourist brethren -who have studied under that inimitable painter, and hero of the hammer, -Geo. Robins, Esq. They can readily transmute a varnished treckschuyt -into a Cleopatra’s barge—a buggerlugg into a bust of bronze—a Flanders -mare into a prancing Bucephalus—a brick trottoir into a tesselated -pavement—or a Belgian flat into a garden of the Hesperides. The worst -of this is, that, by the time they have ascended the Rhine, or entered -Switzerland, their stock of the picturesque is expended, and they have -only the sublime to draw upon for the remainder of the tour. - -To see the sights of Amsterdam, the gilders and stivers must be in -perpetual motion. Even at the doors of the churches, the padré’s demand -your money for admittance into their cold, damp, and dreary tabernacles—a -most unusual practice on the Continent. - -In order to vary the journey, we returned by Utrecht to Rotterdam:—but -although the route was _alter_, the scene was _idem_—and I will not -detain the reader with any account of it. - - -BATAVIAN CHARACTERISTICS. - -Of all the geological ups and downs which the surface of this globe -presents, none is more remarkable, or less remarked, than that which -the land of Holland has undergone. Every particle of its soil must once -have occupied some higher land or even mountain of the Continent, before -it travelled down to take its bath in the ocean—ultimately to rise to -nearly the level of the sea—then to be rescued from the waters, partly -by the operations of Nature, and partly by the industry of man. Even -now the mighty Alps are daily crumbling down, and every shower of rain, -and mountain torrent washes down its quota of soil to the Mediterranean -or the German Ocean.[5] Should no volcanic revolution interrupt these -watery changes, a period must come—ten thousand years are but a dot in -the stream of time—when the high lands will be worn down into alluvial -deposits which, rising from their oceanic beds, will become annexations -to the existing plains. The lower heights will of course shew the effects -of this “wear and tear” sooner than the snow-clad Alps; but even these -last must one day undergo that transmutation and transplantation to which -all sublunary things are destined. This is no imaginary speculation. It -is not in Holland alone that we see vast tracts of land carried down from -the hills—buried in the deep, for a time—and afterwards rescued from -their watery beds. The Delta of the Nile was once among the mountains -of Abyssinia—the Sunderbunds have spread far and wide to the south of -Calcutta, dividing the Ganges into a hundred mouths—extending the land -into the bay of Bengal, and sustaining myriads of animals, and even man -himself—the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence are digging the grave of the -Alligagny mountains—the mighty Andes—“Giant of the Western Star,” who now - - “Looks from his throne of clouds o’er half the world”— - -is silently and slowly suffering disintegration by the PLATA and AMAZON, -committing its atoms to the depths of the Atlantic, thence to emerge, -at some remote epoch, the habitation of races of animated beings that -have no types, perhaps, in the present or past creations. Even the -cloud-capt Himalaya, whose base extends over thousands of miles, feeds -with its substance the insatiate mouths of the Indus, the Ganges, the -Burrhampooter, and the Yrawaddy, whose turbid waves roll down to distant -seas the alluvial tribute; themselves the unconscious ministers of an -Almighty will! - -Thus it would appear that the _levelling_ principle is as operative in -the _physical_ as in the _moral_ world—among mountains as well as among -men. But there is one great and essential difference between the two. -The Himalaya may require thousands of years longer to wear down than the -Cordillera. This is merely a difference in time. But no time, or space, -or circumstance can effect an equilibrium in the moral or intellectual -world. If such a level could be obtained, it would instantly perish, -or recede to a greater distance than ever. Equality of this kind, like -Heaven’s bright bow— - - “Allures from far yet as we follow flies.” - -Equal right can never lead to equal might. - -But to return from this digression. How is it that the Helvetian and the -Hollander, whose countries are the very antipodes of each other—whose -manners, customs, and pursuits are as different as Alps are from -sand-hills, should yet present a more striking similarity in one moral -feature, than the inhabitants of any other two countries? Of all the -nations of Europe, the Helvetians and Hollanders, inhabiting the highest -and the lowest grounds in the world, are most enthusiastically attached -to their native soils, and experience the greatest degree of nostalgic -yearning when separated from home. The _amor patriæ_ of the Swiss is -proverbial—that of the Dutchman is quite as strong, though not so well -known. - -“The Hollander (says Mr. Chambers,) is bred up from his infancy to have -the highest ideas of his “_Vaderland_”—of her people—her warriors—her -wealth—her power. He is taught to consider this _Vaderland_ as standing -highest in the rank of nations—that every thing belonging to her is -_best_. He is an admirer, without being a benefactor of his country—a -patriot without public spirit—contented and self-satisfied with his -country and every thing belonging thereto.” - -The Helvetian can hardly be more enamoured of his mountains than is the -Hollander of his alluvial plains! But whence this coincidence? Is it that -the Dutchman remembers the _high descent_ of his native soil—that it -floated down from the Alps and other highlands—that it was redeemed from -the ocean by his labour and skill—enriched, fertilized, and adorned by -the industry of his forefathers—and, finally, that it had become, under -his fostering care, a second “Garden of Eden,” the pride of Batavians, -and the envy of the world? - -Or is it that extremes approximate?—That the hardy Helvetian, raised -above the storm’s career, but whose— - - “Rocks by custom turn to beds of down,” - -can look, with feelings of pride and independence, from his airy citadel -of health and activity, down on surrounding nations—whilst the phlegmatic -Hollander, secure from winds and waves, under the shelter of his -break-water ramparts, surveys with kindred feelings and self-gratulations -his fertile flats, his irrigated fields, and commerce-bearing canals—his -senses steeped in that musing mood, that “fool’s paradise” suspended -midway between the excitement of gin, and the tranquillity of tobacco? - -Be this as it may, there can be little doubt that the moral and physical -character—the inward temperament and outward man—are all very much -modified by the climate, the soil, and the circumstances around us. It -might not be difficult to shew that the prominent characteristics of the -people in question are modified by these external agencies. The Hollander -is accustomed to watch, with the patience of a cat, for that precise -period when the alluvial deposits on his shores have attained that level -which permits him to stretch out his mounds of earth, and grasp the piece -of newly-emerged ground for future culture:—hence his _patience_ and -_vigilance_ through life, while watching the opportunity of benefiting -himself. He observes, from infancy, the labour and expense of realizing -this property in the soil:—hence his ECONOMY, even to parsimony. His -climate is damp and cold: his temperament is therefore PHLEGMATIC. -The surface of his country is flat and monotonous; without monuments -of antiquity, historical renown, or classical recollections:—there -is, consequently, no more POETRY in his composition than in a Dutch -cheese, or a stagnant canal. Living beneath the level of the ocean, -he is liable to inundations from the watery element:—he is therefore -habitually CAUTIOUS of all contingencies. The equinoxes, the vernal -and autumnal floods, the changes of the moon, are all important epochs -and events in a submarine territory;—he is, therefore, a CALCULATING -animal, from his cradle to his grave. At war with the elements, he is -naturally BRAVE even to obstinacy, whether the cause be right or wrong; -and will fight to the knees in blood, rather than either advance or -retreat. Monotony being almost universal, ideality is nearly null:—the -Dutchman, therefore, smokes during the greater part of his time, in -default of conversation—tobacco being, at once, the cause and the -excuse for TACITURNITY. In Holland there are nearly as many canals -for communication, as there are dykes for defence:—the Batavian is, -therefore, eminently COMMERCIAL:—but the limits of the soil being narrow, -and the population dense, colonization became necessary, despite of the -“VADERLANDSLEIFDE,” and emigration continues though the colonies have -dwindled away. The intellectual views of the Hollander are nearly as -limited as his geographical. There are no mountains, whence a wide and -varied prospect can be taken in by the eye—neither are there academic -eminences, from which the mind can soar into the regions of literature, -science, art, or philosophy. As it is infinitely more difficult to raise -dykes than children—to extend the soil, than to swell the census—so the -Batavian has been a political economist long before the science was -taught by Malthus, or practised by Martineau, in this country. As a -merchant, he is honest and honourable in his negociations abroad—punctual -as his pipe in receipts and disbursements at home. Exclusively -occupied with the concerns of self—whether ruminating, fumigating, or -calculating—he has little time, and less inclination, to meddle with -affairs of state. The measure of his patriotism is amply sufficient for -an abundance of loyalty—and if “passive obedience and non-resistance” -be cardinal virtues in subjects, then the Dutch ought to be dear to the -heart of their sovereign. I have no doubt that they are so. It is only a -matter of reciprocal feeling—for assuredly the sovereign is _dear_ to the -Dutch. - -Embarking at Rotterdam, the steamer ploughs its weary way through the -muddy Maas for three long days, before it reaches Cologne. One night is -spent in the malodorous town of Nymeguen—and the other on board—so that, -altogether, this is one of the most monotonous voyages that could well -be projected. There is not even the satisfaction of finding one bank or -place more ugly, or more uninteresting than another—which would be some -little variety, and afford some subject for remark. All is puddle-dock -in the near, and sand-bank in the distance. Here and there the spire of -a church, the roof of a house, or the mast of a schuyt appears on the -horizon, for a time, and vanishes again in the blank. - - -COLOGNE. - -If the narrow streets of Cologne be famous, or rather infamous, for bad -smells, it is to be recollected that the _waters_ of that ancient city -are more valuable than the _wines_ of the neighbouring Rhine:—that they -are carried to every corner of the earth—and prized for their delicious -flavour, beyond the richest productions of Rudesheim or Johannisberg. -Thus good cometh out of evil—and the most grateful perfume is exhaled -from the most malodorous city of Europe. “Give a dog a bad name,” and the -sooner you shoot him the better. Yet if a stranger arrived at Cologne, -by day or by night, not knowing the name of the place, he might traverse -its numberless and crooked streets, without remarking more disagreeable -scents than his nose would encounter on the banks of the Tiber, the -Arno, or the Seine—in the wynds of Auld Reekie, the Gorbals of Glasgow, -the purlieus of the Liffey—or even of father Thames, between Puddle-dock -and Deptford. I will not maintain that all the little rivulets which -meander the streets of this town, after a shower of rain, are the -veritable “_Eau de Cologne_” of Messieurs Farina; but I must say that -the olfactories of my fair countrywoman of the “Souvenirs,” were more -delicate than impartial, when she penned the following sentence. “But the -dreadful effluvia of the black, filthy streams that defile every street, -penetrated even through the folds of pocket-handkerchiefs soaked in -perfume.”—_Souvenir_, p. 93. - -Fiction being the “soul of poetry,” we need not wonder that the BARD -should seize the opportunity of having his fling at poor Cologne. -Accordingly COLERIDGE exercised his wit and his acrimony in the following -lines, in which he apostrophises CLOACINA, and the nymphs, “who reign -o’er sewers and sinks.” - - “The river Rhine, it is well known, - Doth wash the city of Cologne, - But tell me nymphs, what power divine - Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine?” - -Probably it was this real or supposed pollution which caused the noble -river to dive into the sands, soon after passing Cologne, and hide its -head for ever. It cannot be denied that Cologne is a city of the dirty -and malodorous order—and we cannot much wonder at the fact, seeing that -it was Roman in the beginning, and has never changed its nature or name -from the days of Germanicus to the present moment. After passing from -the Romans to the Franks, and from the Franks to the Germans, it became -a “HOLY CITY”—and that was enough to ruin Rome itself. It became, of -course, the rendezvous of priests, monks, and nuns, and the seat of -abbeys, monasteries, nunneries, and churches. Notwithstanding these -misfortunes, it rose into a rich and flourishing entrepôt of commerce, -when its bigotted ecclesiastical government took the wise resolution of -banishing the merchants, because most of them were Jews and Protestants. -The exiles settled in other cities on the Rhine, and left the swarms of -monks and priests among their rotten relics, to starve and “stink in -state.” Here we have a key to the malodorous effluvia that penetrated -the perfumed handkerchief of the lady of the “Souvenirs”—for I will be -bold enough to aver that she did not leave a nook or corner unexplored -in Cologne, where anything _curious_ was to be seen. It is a great pity -that Napoleon, when he suppressed the convents and monasteries, did not -order the scavengers and police to sweep out all the mouldering bones, -putrefying flesh, and decomposing integuments of saints and martyrs -that have been congregated in churches, chapels, and other monastic -institutions for two thousand years. If this had been done at Cologne, -there would have been no occasion for perfumed handkerchiefs to the noses -of travellers. - -By the way, where were the brains of the three magi, or _wise_ men of the -east, (whose skulls are crowned and impearled here,) when they allowed -the suicidal decree to go forth against the merchants of Cologne? These -relics of the church perform miraculous cures of physical ills; but they -never, by any accident, prevent, much less punish, the perpetration of -moral mischief. The schoolmaster is much more wanted than the scavenger -in Cologne! - - —— “Alchymists may doubt - The shining gold their crucibles give out; - But faith—fanatic faith—once wedded fast - To some dear falsehood—hugs it to the last.” - -The first rush is made to the hotel—and the next to the Dom Kirche—an -unfinished cathedral, of course—like all great abbeys—for, if finished, -no more contributions could be levied. A tower of the cathedral, -_intended_—abbeys, like some other places, are “paved with good -intentions”—to be 500 feet high, but which only attained the altitude -of 20 feet, throws all sentimental tourists into ecstasies. From its -brother, which grew up much taller, a good panoramic view of Cologne -and vicinity is obtained. Then comes the tomb of skulls—the crania of -the three magi—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar—stolen by the mother of -Constantine from the Holy Land—conveyed by some mysterious agency from -Constantinople to Milan—and thence pillaged by Barbarossa, and presented -to the Bishop of Cologne! For 700 years these empty skulls have been -gazed at by the millions of numbskulls still emptier, that have come to -visit them! They are decorated with gilt crowns, set with pearls—and -their names are written in ruby characters! - -Near these holy, but harmless relics, are deposited, among many masses of -bones and filth—“_les entrailles_” of Queen Marie de Medicis, together -with the head of St. Peter, &c. &c. &c. But in the church of St. Ursula, -things are done on a grander scale. The bones of 11,000 English ladies, -who were wrecked in the Rhine, _on their voyage to Rouen_!! are here -deposited—the owners having taken the veil rather than join in wedlock -with the HUNS, who then possessed the Holy City. Other records say that, -in imitation of Lucretia, they sacrificed their lives to preserve their -honour—and their bones were carefully preserved from that time to this! -Did the fair lady of the “Souvenirs” hold her “perfumed handkerchief” -to her nose, while contemplating these blanched remains of her heroic -sisterhood? - -The city of Cologne measures seven miles in circumference—her streets -are narrow—and her houses are high. Yet the population scarcely exceeds -50,000 souls—with bodies attached to them!! Thus then, it is evident -that this Holy City is one vast cemetery, partly above, and partly -under ground—a huge museum of mouldering anatomy, useless alike to the -living and the dead, and only commemorative of the weakness, darkness, -ignorance, and superstition of the human mind! - -I confess that I was silly enough, nearly twenty years ago, to spend some -days and dollars in exploring these mummeries at Cologne; and those who -prefer such pursuits to the pure air of the mountains, and the smiling -landscapes of Nature on the banks of the Rhine, may follow the example. - -At nine o’clock in the morning, we left the Hotel du Rhin, and repaired -to the busy banks of the river, where steam was hissing, and tourists -were bustling into the vessels. Five or six arches of the bridge suddenly -slipped their cables, and swinging round by the impulse of the stream, -opened a free passage for the ascending and descending boats. Away they -went upwards and downwards, full of passengers—some on the tiptoe of -expectation to see the wonders of the Rhine—others, having satisfied -their curiosity, were winging their way home, to the chalky cliffs of Old -England. - - -THE RHINE. - -And here we change the land of facts for the land of fictions. We now -enter the regions of romance and robbery—of love and murder—of tilts -and tournaments—of dungeons deep and turrets lofty—of crusades against -the creed of the Ottoman abroad, and of forays against the property -or life of the neighbour at home—of riot and revelry in the castle, -and of penury and superstition in the cottage—of beetling precipice -and winding river—of basaltic rock and clustering vine—of wassail -war and vintage carol. It is probable that few ascend this famous -river without experiencing some feelings of disappointment, although -none will acknowledge it, lest their taste should be condemned, and -themselves voted to be barbarians, insensible alike to the beauties of -nature and the wonders of art. But the Rhine, like many a fine child, -has been spoiled—especially by poets and painters. The tourists and -romance-writers, too, have combined to spoil the Rhine-child—for although -all romance-writers are not tourists, yet all tourists are, _ex officio_, -romance-writers. - -Thus the mountains of the Rhine, though none of them are much higher than -the rock of Gibraltar—are represented as “stupendous”—every dingle and -dell that opens between the hills, is painted as more beautiful than the -valley of Rasselas, Chamounix, or Grindenwalde—the river itself is made -to flow like liquid emeralds or sapphires, though it receives so many -muddy streams, after its partial filter in Constance, that it is nearly -as yellow as the Tiber, and as turbid as the Thames, before it gets -half-way between Schaffhausen and Dusseldorf.[6] The vines too, which -are strung on stunted sticks, like onions,—enclosed between rude stone -terraces—and which more frequently disfigure than embellish the banks -of the Rhine, are extolled beyond those of Italy, which are gracefully -festooned from tree to tree, bending down the branches with the weight of -delicious grapes. Notwithstanding these and many other deficiencies on -the one hand, and exaggerations on the other (which all will acknowledge -in their hearts, though none will declare by their tongues), the Rhine -is the most picturesque, beautiful, romantic, and interesting river on -the face of our globe. I have twice ascended, and thrice descended the -stream, from its source in the Alps to its sepulture in the ocean—with -various lateral excursions—and still with undiminished pleasure. But then -I came to the survey with a conviction that, like all other places of the -kind, it was flattered by the painter, falsified by the poet, and dressed -in meretricious ornaments by the tourist and novellist. I was therefore -not disappointed, but highly gratified. - - -DRACHENFELS. - -Knowing, from experience, that the first twenty miles of the Rhine from -Cologne, are totally devoid of interest, I left my companions at their -wine in the RHENISCHER, and started in the diligence for Bonn—and thence -to Godesberg, where I slept. Long before sunrise I had crossed the Rhine, -and threaded my way up the steeps of the Drachenfels. This is probably -the finest view on the Rhine—far superior to that which Sir F. Head has -described as taken from the top of a tree on the hill behind the Bad-haus -at Schlangenbad. - -“The Drachenfels, which is the steepest of the Seven Mountains, has -infinitely the advantage of situation, rising abruptly from the river -to a stupendous height, clothed midway with rich vines and foliage, and -terminating in red and grey rock. On its brow are the ruins of an ancient -castle, standing on their colossal and perpendicular base—a type of man’s -perseverance and power. The magnificent and picturesque prospects which -encompass on all sides this enchanting spot, as if Nature, with a profuse -and lavish hand, had diffused around so many and varied beauties, that -having exhausted her wonted combination of mountain, hill, and dale, with -water, flowery mead, cultivated field, mantling forests, and luxuriant -vineyards, she had by this profusion of witching scenery peculiarly -marked it for her own.” This description is not exaggerated—which -is saying a great deal for it. The Drachenfels, indeed, has been -immortalized by legendary tale, poetic lore, and pictorial delineation. -An ingenious artist of the present day, (Mr. Leigh,) has recently given -a panoramic view from the summit of this rock, with all the fidelity and -minuteness of the painter. I can corroborate the description, though -I could not imitate the picture. A short extract or two will serve as -specimens. - -“The whole of this delicious panorama was bathed in a flood of subdued -golden light, which intermingled its luscious hues with the cooler tones -of twilight. As if preparing to receive the setting sun with glory, the -horizon emitted a deep yet brilliant crimson lustre, spangled with flakes -of gold, while richer and more fantastic streaks of purple appeared ready -to envelop its glowing form as it slowly and majestically sailed behind -the darkened curtain of the distant hills. The nearer features of this -lovely scene, illumined by the silvery aspect of lingering day, were -invested with a tranquil dignity and beauty which soothed the vision as -it embraced their harmonious contours, softened by the genial light. -The more distant objects partook of the hue of the glowing west, and, -by their deep tone, enhanced the paler radiance of the more immediate -prospect. - -“The character of the entire scene is extremely imposing: the site -whence it is beheld is sufficiently lofty to command an immense extent, -yet not so elevated as to make all around dwindle into collections of -spots. Its beauty is not of that uniform description which presents an -endless succession of cultivated points, without offering any features of -striking interest; for, while on the one side, the eye glides along vast -and varied plains, on the other, it ranges over all the diversities of a -mountainous country, from the bare and rugged castled crags to the green -uplands shelving down to picturesque valleys and streams. - -“To the north the series of gentle eminences and valleys lose their -individual distinctions, and blend into one extensive plain, patched -with the varied colours of their produce, and dotted with the divisions -of trees and hedges which unite by their graceful lines the numerous -villages that intersect it. On this variegated expanse the serpentine -course of the unruffled Rhine may be traced like a stream of molten -silver, flowing onwards towards Cologne, its bright bosom continuously -seen, occasionally bearing specks of vessels gently descending with the -current. Innumerable towers and spires gleam amidst the verdant glades, -or peer from the deepening woods; and as the eventide breeze flows -through the gentle air, the pleasing and varied harmonies of chiming -bells, afar and near, break upon the ear.” - -“On the same side, a series of gradual elevations, shelving down to the -Rhine, forms the commencement of the cluster of the Drachenfels, whose -bold forms sweep majestically around the towering rock of the Dragon, -like the turbulent waves of the ocean against the soaring lighthouse. -Turning to the west, the conical form of the Godesberg, surmounted by -its picturesque towers, and relieved by the sparkling habitations at its -base, stands out conspicuously from the deeper toned ridge of hills, -by which it appears shut in between Bonn and Rolandseck. Behind this -wooded screen are the diversified forms of the Eifel chain, extending in -various ramifications towards Spa, Treves, and Luxembourg, occupying the -territory between the Mosel and the Maas.” - -“On the shore beyond, embowered amidst the surrounding uplands, is the -partially concealed town of Oberwinter; beyond which, a sharp point -of land juts into the Rhine, nearly opposite the village of Unkel. -From this point commences the interminable series of mountain summits, -which stretch along the horizon in all the grandeur of form, harmony of -composition, and fascination of colour. The eye rises from the placid -bosom of the Rhine, in which the pure sky is serenely mirrored, and, -after dwelling with rapture on the gorgeous hues of the nearer landscape, -it glides with increasing fervour over the air-drawn bulwarks which tower -around this lovely scene. These choice materials of redundant Nature, -tipped with the magical hues of a gorgeous sunset, and a translucent -twilight, and invested with the majesty of sweeping yet mellow shadows, -sufficiently account to my own mind for the lengthened description in -which I have with all humility indulged. - - ‘——Expression cannot paint - The breadth of Nature and her endless bloom.’”[7] - -While viewing this magnificent scene from the little Caffé, perched as -close to the edge of a precipice as the ruined castle itself, it was -impossible not to recall the words of our immortal bard and country’s -boast—Byron. - - The castled crag of Drachenfels - Frowns o’er the wide and winding Rhine, - Whose breast of waters broadly swells - Between the banks which bear the vine, - And hills all rich with blossom’d trees, - And fields which promise corn and wine:— - And scatter’d cities crowning these - Whose far white walls along them shine. - - The river nobly foams and flows, - The charm of this enchanted ground, - And all its thousand turns disclose - Some fresher beauty varying round! - The haughtiest breast its wish might bound, - Through life to dwell delighted here - Nor could on earth a spot be found - To Nature and to me more dear. - -From this spot the ruined tower of Godesberg, all lonely on a conical -mount, looks like a solitary vidette on his out-post, while the seven -mountains around us— - - ——like giants stand - To sentinel enchanted land. - -It is here that the poetry of the Rhine commences, together with its -legendary lore, and romantic scenery. After a comfortable breakfast at -the Eagle’s Nest Inn, and a slight survey of the topography of the rock’s -narrow crown, I climbed to the highest practicable part of the ruin, and -seating myself securely, had several hours of leisure to contemplate the -scene, and indulge in meditation. On former occasions, I had read the -legends of the Rhine, while wandering on its banks, more for amusement -than instruction, yet it never till now crossed my mind that, in the -comparatively rude ages when they were written, they might have been -_intended_, each to convey some moral lesson. The more I reflected on -this subject, the more I was impressed with the idea, and, at all events, -I determined to try my hand at the extraction of a moral from each tale, -whether such moral were originally intended or not. I could not do better -than begin with the— - - -LEGEND OF THE DRACHENFELS. - -(_No. 1._) - -Every visitor to this place is shewn the cavern, once occupied by a huge -dragon, to whom the neighbouring inhabitants paid divine honours, and -even offered human sacrifices. The prisoners of war were considered to -be the most agreeable victims to this Pagan monster. Among a number of -recent captives was one day found a beautiful young lady, educated in the -Christian religion. Her beauty was raising a quarrel among the conquering -chiefs, when the Elders advised that the cause of the contention should -be consigned to the dragon. She was accordingly led to the summit of -the rock, and chained to a tree. Multitudes were assembled to view the -sacrifice. The first rays of the sun that darted into the cavern, roused -the voracious reptile, who issued from his den, and directed his tortuous -course to the usual place of his bloody feast. As soon as he came in -sight, the destined victim drew from her bosom the crucifix and image -of her Saviour—fixed her eyes on the emblem of redemption—and calmly -awaited her fate. The monster gazed on his lovely and helpless prey, -already within his grasp—slackened his pace—stopped—appeared petrified, -with his basilisk eyes rivetted on the virgin. She stood as firm as the -rock beneath her or the faith within her! A thrill of horror ran through -the assembled crowd, and the silence that prevailed was still as the -grave. The moment of suspense was agonizing to the spectators; but -continued only a few seconds, when the dragon sent forth a horrible and -unearthly yell—darted over the precipice—and disappeared for ever! The -multitude flew to the lady, unbound her chains, and fell at her feet, as -if she were an angel from Heaven. Conversion to the true faith among the -neighbouring people followed—a chapel was erected on the spot where the -miraculous interposition took place—and it was thenceforth considered the -cradle of Christianity in that part of the country. - - -MORAL. - -The moral of this legend is sufficiently obvious. But it goes far -beyond the miraculous interposition of Providence, too commonly and -too impiously proclaimed in Protestant as well as in Catholic states. -The legend illustrates a great principle of human nature—the power of -religion over the fear of death—even when that death is aggravated -by the horrors of merciless cruelty and ignominious torture! Nor is -it any drawback on true religion that a _false faith_ will sometimes -exert a similar influence in the hour of trial. The Hindoo widow mounts -the funeral pyre of her husband, under the influence of a religious -persuasion that she is performing a sacred duty to the dead—and braves -the devouring element in the hope of joyful immortality. It is also true -that a few minds of a certain mould will spurn the fear of death, under -the influence of a greater fear—that of dishonour. The Roman stoics, -without the aid of religious faith, might prefer falling on their own -swords, to the disgrace of dragging the captive’s chains behind the -triumphal chariot of the conqueror:—but neither Cato nor Cassius would -have stood unmoved before the dragon of Drachenfels. - -The serenity of the Christian in the hour of peril, the agony of -sickness, and the approach of death, contrasts greatly with the sullen -abandonment of the stoic, and the reckless desperation of the infidel. - - * * * * * - -Here my meditations were broken by seeing the long black banner of the -steamer wreathing over the placid river, and impinging against the sides -of the hills. Descending from my airy seat, I soon joined my companions -on the crowded deck, and proceeded on our voyage. It is fashionable for -modern tourists to draw characteristic sketches of the passengers in -steam-boats on the Rhine. I think it is one of the worst theatres that -could be selected for that purpose. The scenery itself, and the legendary -tales which fix the localities in the memory, are quite sufficient for -ordinary attention, without attempting to dive into the peculiarities of -individual character, which are not so easily fathomed as the sentimental -tourist would have us to suppose. - -We have scarcely got disentangled of the Drachenfels, when we find -ourselves between a ruined tower on the summit of a volcanic peak on the -right, and a spruce hotel in the midst of the Rhine, on a little island -to our left. The former is the far-famed Rolandseck, and the latter is -the ancient convent of Nonnenwerth converted into a modern caravansera. - - -ROLAND AND HILDEGUND, OR THE FATAL AFFIANCE. - -(_Legend the Second._) - -The beautiful Hildegund and the valiant Roland (nephew of Charlemagne) -were ardently beloved by, and betrothed to each other. Roland, however, -postponed his marriage, till he had, once more, unsheathed his sword -against the infidels in Palestine. Every day of his absence seemed a year -to his Hildegund, who often listened in her bower to the praises of her -lover carolled by the boatmen of the Rhine. News arrived that the Holy -City was rescued from the Saracens, and that peace was signed:—But Roland -returned not. One evening a military knight craved hospitality at her -father’s castle. He had just returned from the seat of war, and, to eager -enquiries respecting Roland, related the manner of his death on the field -of battle, covered with honourable wounds! The effect on the amiable -Hildegund may be easily conceived. After a short noviciate in the convent -of Nonnenwerth, she took the veil, and next morning her lover arrived -at her father’s castle, expecting to fly into her arms! Petrified by -the astounding intelligence that Hildegund was wedded to Heaven, Roland -abjured all society—built himself a hermitage on the hill overlooking -the convent, and sat at its door from morning till night, listening to -the matins and vespers that ascended from the living sepulchre of his -betrothed. One day he saw a funeral on the island, and soon learnt that -it was that of his Hildegund! The next day he was found dead, sitting at -the door of his hermitage, his face turned to the convent! - - -MORAL. - -The moral of this tale is homely, but not the less important on that -account. The misery resulting from long-existing affiances, where time, -or space, or adverse circumstances separate the betrothed, is of daily -occurrence, and comes within the observation of every one. How often do -we see females kept in this state of uncertainty till every prospect of -other settlement in the world has vanished—and, after all, where the -happiness of one party is blasted for ever by the death or inconstancy -of the other! Protracted courtships are bad enough; but prospective -marriages are far worse! Sat verbum sapientibus—or rather _amantibus_. - -A certain personage in the drama of the above legend, is deserving of a -passing word—viz. the eaves-dropper—one of those unlucky tale-bearers, -whose officious tongues too often destroy the peace of whole families, -and that without _malice prepense_ on the part of the babbler! - - -THE LAST NUNS OF NONNENWERTH. - -(_Legend the Third._) - -The history of NONNENWERTH discloses a curious trait of human nature, -which has seldom been noticed. In the first moral storms of the French -revolution, a number of nuns and novices of noble families, took refuge -in the Sestertian convent of Nonnenwerth. They remained tranquil -till Napoleon came to the throne, when a great disaster threatened -to overwhelm their peaceful asylum. The emperor was a calculating -philosopher, as well as an able general. He foresaw that monasteries -and convents—especially the latter—were bad nurseries for conscripts; -and therefore, in imitation of our Eighth Henry, of blessed and pious -memory, he suppressed them all, with one stroke of his pen! The nuns -of Nonnenwerth petitioned for an exemption from the proscription, -but petitioned in vain. Josephine, like Juno, interceded with the -sceptre-bearer, and begged that the convent on the Rhine might be made an -exception to the general rule—that the nuns might be suffered to remain, -and add to their number as death thinned their ranks. Napoleon, like Jove— - - “——Accorded half the prayer— - The rest, the god dispersed in empty air.” - -They were permitted to retain possession of the convent during their -natural lives—after which, Nonnenwerth was to revert to the state. This -was a great concession, and the nuns were satisfied, as they themselves -were provided for—and some favourable revolution might occur when they -were gone. - -Time rolled on smoothly,—and, although a sister occasionally paid the -debt of nature, the event did not make a very serious impression, but -only afforded topics of reflection on the uncertainty of human life, or -perhaps recalled to the memory of the living some traits of goodness -and amiability in the dead, that had, somehow or other, escaped their -notice while their sainted sister resided amongst them. But every year -diminished the number of the survivors, till, at length, the vacant -chambers and the contracted circle at prayers and refection, forced -themselves on the notice of even the most inobservant of the sisterhood. -And now it was that the unwelcome question began to obtrude itself on -the thoughts of the nuns:—“Who shall go next to her long abode?” It -required no great extent of arithmetic to shew the strength of the -establishment at present, as compared with ten or twelve years before—and -each sister began to assume the office of actuary, and calculate the -probable duration of life within the walls of the convent! From this -time, the serenity of their minds was somewhat disturbed. The question -would obtrude itself on their thoughts, even in their devotions, and rise -occasionally in the troubled dream. - -Meanwhile the inexorable tyrant did not fail to knock as regularly at -the gate of the convent as at the door of the peasant’s hut on the -neighbouring mountain. - - “Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas - Regumque turres!”—[8] - -The social circle was narrowed every year—the number of nuns fell to -20—15—12! About this time a new question, still more appalling than the -other, flashed across the mind of every inmate of Nonnenwerth. It was not -as to who should be the _first_ to— - - “Leave the warm precincts of the cheerful day,” - -but who was likely to be the _last_ to wander in solitude round the -deserted chambers, recalling the well-known features of each departed -tenant,—or, who was to be the _last_ on the bed of sickness or death, -without a sister’s smile to soothe her sufferings—or a sister’s tear to -mark the spirit’s flight? This new subject of reflection absorbed all -others. Even religion failed to calm the troubled imagination of frail -mortals placed in such singular and unnatural circumstances! Any one of -them could reconcile herself to the idea, however triste, of dying in -society—but none of them to the horrible thought of living in solitude, -and departing unwept! - - “On some fond breast the parting soul relies, - Some pious drops the dying eye requires.” - -This little community resembled a TONTINE, but with all the advantages -of such an institution completely reversed and turned into calamities. -In the civil Tontine, every lapse of life renders the remaining lives -more valuable—in the Tontine of the convent on the Rhine, it rendered -them more miserable—the consummation, the ultimatum of human misfortunes, -being still reserved for—THE LAST NUN OF NONNENWERTH! - -In one short year of epidemic influence and moral depression, the solemn -requiem was six times heard in the convent chapel, for the repose of -souls no longer to be troubled by mundane cares or fears. This reduced -the sisterhood to six. - -There are physical pains which the body cannot long sustain—and so are -there moral prospects on which the eye of reason is unable to dwell. -This was one of them. The remaining nuns took immediate steps to secure -other asylums—and soon afterwards separated from each other, and from -Nonnenwerth—for ever! The island reverted to the state, and the convent -was converted into a caravansera, whose doors are ever open to the -travelling novice, without reference to age, sex, creed, or country. - -This short history will suggest various reflections to the mind. The -legislator will see that solitude is more formidable to many minds than -death itself—while the philanthropist will be convinced that monastic -institutions are contrary to nature, and, as such, can never exist, -without constant supplies from society at large. The vanity of human -wishes is well illustrated by the history of Nonnenwerth. The nuns -thought themselves fortunate in securing a beautiful, healthy, and -tranquil asylum for life—little knowing how soon the convent would appear -to them more horrible than the dungeon of a prison! - - * * * * * - -Reverting from history to romance, we cannot leave the Seven Mountains -without noticing the— - - -TREUENFELS; OR, THE ROCK OF FIDELITY. - -(_Legend the Fourth._) - -In a lonely and desolate valley near the Rhine, some remains of a tomb -are seen, with an inscription, of which the word “LIBA” only is legible. -Liba was the beautiful daughter of the Chevalier Balther, and betrothed -to the brave and amiable Count de Grunstein, whom she loved. But, the -“days of true love seldom do run smooth.” Balther owed a grudge to the -pious but severe Englebert, Archbishop of Cologne, and instigated some -of the prelate’s vassals, who were also indisposed to the Archbishop, -to take away his life. Several of the malefactors were seized and -executed; all confessing at the scaffold that Balther was the person who -prompted them to the murder. These confessions induced the Emperor to -order a troop of soldiers to burn the original conspirator’s castle and -all within its walls. The order was duly executed, and, in the middle -of a stormy night, the flames ascended to the apartments of Balther -and Liba. The affectionate daughter, with the greatest difficulty, and -with wonderful presence of mind, conducted her aged father through a -subterranean passage, to the neighbourhood of the chateau; but not -before the old man was dreadfully scorched by the fire. A cavern in -the mountain’s side afforded them shelter from the vengeance of the -Emperor, and the affectionate daughter sustained her parent by fruits and -roots collected every night in the vicinity of their retreat. Meantime -Balther’s eyes were entirely destroyed by the inflammation resulting -from the flames of the castle; but he became reconciled, or at least -resigned, to his afflictions and fate. One day, he begged to be conducted -to the mouth of the cavern, where he might inhale the pure air, though -he could no longer enjoy the cheerful light of Heaven. The dutiful Liba -indulged the wish of her afflicted father, and, while they were sitting -there, she espied, at no great distance, her faithful lover, Grunstein, -leaning in melancholy mood against a tree, his javelin and dogs at his -side. The first impulse of nature was to rush into his arms, and implore -his assistance; but love and reason instantly checked her. She reflected -that the asylum in Grunstein’s castle would only expose her betrothed -lover to the persecution of the Emperor. At this moment, her father cried -out that he saw the sun and the blue sky, though his eyes were entirely -destroyed. The maiden looked around, and beheld a black speck in the -heavens. She fell on her knees, and implored the mercy and forgiveness of -the Almighty towards her parent. Balther joined in the prayer, and, at -that instant, the thunder roared, and a flash of lightning reduced the -father to a cinder, and the pious daughter to a corpse! Grunstein roused -from his reverie, commenced his descent, and, in his way down into the -valley, beheld the fair form of his betrothed Liba, apparently asleep—but -totally lifeless! He erected a chapel on the spot, dedicated to “Notre -Dame des Douleurs,” and a tomb in the rock for his Liba, where the name -still remains legible. - - -MORAL. - -The moral of this tale is two-fold. It illustrates the force of filial -affection, and the certainty of retributive justice. - -The artful instigations of Balther, which induced others to commit -murder, evaded the law of the land, but did not escape the Eye of -Heaven. The cruel and illegal steps of the Emperor, in burning the -castle, thus involving the innocent with the guilty, cannot be too -severely reprobated, though it was consonant with the tyranny of those -dark ages. It may _seem_ inconsistent with divine justice, that the -innocent and affectionate daughter should have been struck down by the -same thunderbolt that hurled vengeance on her father’s guilty head. But -although “the ways of Providence are dark and intricate” in appearance, -they are not, as the Roman philosopher asserts, “puzzled in mazes and -perplexed with _errors_.” The amiable Liba may have escaped a life that -might have been embittered by the memory of her father’s fate, and -tainted, in the eyes of the world, by a father’s crime. She might have -involved her faithful lover in ruin—and thus have made a bad exchange of -easy death and eternal happiness, for a lingering existence of misery and -degradation! - -The fidelity of Liba, in this legend, is only a fair sample of that -moral heroism and natural affection, that pervade the breasts of the -daughter, the mother, and the wife, as compared with those of the son, -the father, and the husband. The comparison is by no means flattering to -the “stronger sex.” - - * * * * * - -At a very short distance from Nonnenwerth, we pass the town of UNKEL -on our left hand; and here the stream of the Rhine is narrowed by some -remarkable basaltic rocks on the opposite side of the river. These ought -to be observed by those who have not seen specimens of this production -of volcanic fire. It is the same kind of rock as that which is seen at -the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, and at Staffa in the Hebrides. These -basaltic columns had so much obstructed the navigation of the river at -this place, that some of them were obliged to be blown up, about forty or -fifty years ago. - -Passing by REMAGEN on the right hand, and LINZ on the left, we soon come -to the ruins of Argenfels, close to the banks of the river, with its -legendary tale, which need not be noticed. Near this we have a specimen -of the FLYING-BRIDGE, so common on this and other continental rivers. A -mooring is fixed in the middle of the stream, from which a long chain -or rope, suspended by small boats at convenient distances, extends to -the passage-boat, which swings from bank to bank, at the end of this -long rope, exactly like the pendulum of a clock, only it is horizontal, -not perpendicular. There is no occasion for oar or sail. The helm of -the passage-boat being turned to port or starboard, the stream of the -river acting on it, swings the tail of the pendulum, with its load of -passengers, from one bank to the other in a few minutes. Nothing can -be more simple or philosophical—but not one in one thousand of the -passengers, up and down the Rhine, comprehend the principle. - -We soon get so accustomed to “castled crags” and mouldering castles, -that we are rather surprised, on turning our eyes from the ruins of -Argenfels on our left, to see an ancient chateau (Rheineck) on our -right, resuscitated from the sepulchre of its forefathers, and perched -in new life on an airy cliff. An old tower stands at one end, like the -head-stone of a grave, reminding the modern mansion that it too will be a -ruin in its turn! - -Rheineck has undergone some of the transmigrations of Vishnou. It was a -Roman fort, and bore the imperial eagle on its banner. Then it became a -robber’s castle, and received the spoils of its master, torn from their -rightful owners. And now it is the residence of a philosopher (Professor -Holweg)—the seat of science, letters, and humanity. It is said to be -constructed in strict imitation of the castles of feudalism on the -Rhine. But although Rheineck has changed masters, it is still under the -protection of the same tutelar divinity—MERCURY, among his other numerous -avocations, having been the god of letters as well as of robbers. - - Qui feros cultus hominum recentum, - Voce formasti, catus et decoræ - more Palestræ. - -Passing by Brohl on the right, we come to one of the most imposing and -extensive ruins on the left—the shattered and scattered fragments of -Hammerstein Castle, crowning the mount and craggy rocks of the same name. -The precipices descend in rugged and jutting promontories to the shores -of the Rhine, each crowned with some remains of the ancient royal and -magnificent chateau, and presenting scanty terraces of the vine, creeping -up the crevices. - -We soon afterwards range along the ancient town of ANDERNACH, the ruins -of which, with modern towers and spires, are backed and flanked by a -vast screen of basaltic mountains of sombre hue and antique grandeur. -Here Drusus Germanicus erected one of his fifty towers, in his Rheinish -campaigns, and in the time of Julius Cæsar. - -The banks of the river now become more approximated, and the stream -more rapid. Steam, however, bids defiance to stream, and the vessel -ploughs its way, though with greatly retarded velocity. There is but -little remarkable between this and Coblentz, except the beautiful -little town of NEIWIED, with its flying-bridge, near which Julius Cæsar -crossed the Rhine—and, eighteen centuries afterwards, General Hoche, -with the victorious French army, performed the same feat, but with far -more difficulty. Here the Jew and the Gentile—the Protestant and the -Catholic—the Quaker and the Sceptic—all live upon equal terms, and with -equal rights, unmolested in the free enjoyment of their various beliefs -or disbeliefs—and travelling quietly towards the grave, or whatever -“undiscovered country” may lie beyond that bourne, without jostling each -other on the road, or forcing their creeds down the throats of their -reluctant neighbours! - -When will the “liberty of conscience,” in our own proud country, be -uncoupled with inequality of political rights, or unattended by the -rancour of the ODIUM THEOLOGICUM! - - -COBLENTZ. - -The cities, towns, villages, hamlets, and even the houses along the -Rhine, bear a closer resemblance to one another (each in its class) -than in any part of the world through which I have wandered. Even the -old castles, and the rocks on which they are built, are often such -fac-similes of each other—that it is next to impossible for the acutest -perception, joined with the most retentive memory, to retain distinct -ideas of these objects, passing in rapid succession before the eye of the -tourist!— - -COBLENTZ, like Macedon, has a river—nay, a brace of them—one brown, -the other blue.[9] As necessary consequences, there are two bridges, -as unlike one another, as any two things of the same kind can well be. -One rests its foundations on the rocky bed of the Moselle—the other on -the turbid surface of the Rhine. There is a number of streets—a great -number of houses—and a still greater number of people, amounting to -some 12,000. Then there are churches enough, considering the number of -church-goers—and in some of them, there are more dead bodies present -at divine service, than living souls. There is a palace—not that of a -prince, but of justice. There is good water and good wine; but both -of them are brought over the Moselle bridge. Of hotels, there is no -lack; the masters and “_kellners_” of which can tell a “hawk from a -handsaw”—and more than that, they can distinguish an Englishman from a -native, as readily as they can a Thaler from a Kreutzer. Coblentz has -evidently more strength than wealth—more soldiers than merchants—more -shells than yolks—more articles of war than of commerce. Her high -loop-holed walls along the banks of the river, with one or two wharves, -shew that she is compressed into a military fortress, rather than -expanded into a fine mart of commerce! - - -EHRENBREITSTEIN. - -The following are the sentiments of two pictorial artists. “The whole -surface of the rock, glowed with the richest hues of sunset—its naturally -deep-toned and richly coloured form assuming an endless diversity of -tints combined with a focus of harmonious light, and relieved by the -broad shadows of the surrounding objects.”—_Leigh._ - -“We behold the mighty and stupendous rock of Ehrenbreitstein, crowned -with fortifications—_the Gibraltar of the Rhine_—rising in towering -majesty, and frowning in sullen grandeur on the beautiful and picturesque -city of Coblentz, casting its deep and darkened shadow over the calm and -glassy surface of the Rhine beneath.”—_Tomlinson._ - -I have been often past, and sometimes over this “broad stone of -honour,” and, I confess that, to my eye, it is about as shapeless and -unpicturesque a mass of mountain as I ever beheld. It is a huge truncated -cone—the lower-fourth of an enormous sugar-loaf—an Egyptian pyramid, cut -down to the first floor—or rather it is a gigantic butcher’s block, on -which a good bit of _mangling_ has been done in its time. There is really -but little that excites interest about the fortress, except its massive -and passive strength—its _vis inertiæ_—its impenetrability by shot or -shells. You might as well batter BEN NEVIS as Ehrenbreitstein! You might -sweep its rugged brow of every man, mortar, parapet, and bastion, but -the rugged, dogged rock would stand in all its “brute force,” unmoved by -the iron showers that fell on its head! - -“The GIBRALTAR of the Rhine!” No man who ever viewed that renowned -fortress, would have made the comparison. I resided on the rock several -months, and every feature of it is as fresh in my mind’s eye, as it was -40 years ago, when I last left it. Imagine a gigantic rock rising out of -the ocean to a height of fifteen hundred feet, connected with the main -land only by a narrow, low isthmus of sand—with three sides perpendicular -(North, East, and South), and one sloping at an angle of 45 degrees from -the summit of the mountain to the water’s edge, sprinkled with little -gardens and lodges—while the sea-line is bristled with batteries and -flanked by spit-fire tongues, bearing the heaviest artillery, behind -which lies a town, containing specimens of every nation between the -Ganges and the Atlantic. Through the perpendicular cliffs that overhang -the neutral ground, vast galleries for cannon, and profound excavations -for ammunition, are cut, tier over tier, pointing destruction upon every -foot of the isthmus below. Then the ruins of the old Moorish castle, -perched on the crags at one extremity of the rock, while EUROPA POINT, -a high table-land a hundred feet above the level of the sea, stretches -out to the South, like a splendid parade, with barracks, hospitals, &c. -But oh! from O’Hara’s tower on the summit, what a glorious prospect! The -boundless and tideless Mediterranean to the East—the vast and heaving -Atlantic to the West—the fantastic mountains of Grenada to the North—and -Africa fading away towards Carthage and Algiers to the South. - -There is not, there cannot be a spot on this earth where such an -extensive, magnificent, varied, and beautiful view (one hundred miles in -radius) can be obtained, as from the summit of Gibraltar—a spot unique, -between two mighty oceans, and two great continents—having Africa and -Europe, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as it were, at your feet! - -Is it nothing to stand on one of the “PILLARS OF HERCULES” and -contemplate the other within a few miles of you? Descending into St. -Michael’s cave, near the apex of the rock, we find ourselves surrounded -by thousands and tens of thousands of stalactitic figures, assuming the -grotesque forms of everything which the most fertile imagination could -conceive—dispersed through caverns where human step has never been able -to trace the depth or extent—and supposed to form subterranean, or rather -submarine, communications with the opposite fortress of Ceuta in Africa! -Wander through the town, and you will observe the costume, the language, -the manners, the habits, the productions, the features—almost the -passions and thoughts of every people on earth—from the Calmuc Tartar of -the East, to the Red Indian of the West—from the Laplander of the North, -to the Hottentot of the South. To compare Gibraltar with Ehrenbreitstein, -then, is to compare “Hyperion with a Satyr”—or Vesuvius with the -funnel of a steam-boat. I leave the prodigies of valour performed by -Englishmen, in taking and retaining the key of the Mediterranean, out -of the question, believing that Prussian arms would, under similar -circumstances, have achieved equal exploits. Of all nations, _we_ have -the least reason to doubt the prowess of Prussia. She fought at our side, -when the destinies of Europe vibrated in the balance! - - -COBLENTZ TO MAYENCE. - -Between Cologne and Coblentz it is mere child’s play for the tourist. -The stream is wide, and the attractive objects are so reasonably distant -from one another, that the traveller has time to consult his map, peruse -Schreiber, and even con over some of the shorter legends, between castle -and castle. But it is another affair above Coblentz. The stream becomes -more confined and tortuous—the banks more abrupt and contiguous—the -ruins, towns, and villages more numerous—the embarkations and -debarkations more frequent, with all their consequences of hurly-burly -among the passengers, topsyturvy of luggage, scrambling after books, -charts, and sacs-de-nuits, bowings, kissings, and embracings, or, as -Hood would say, “omni-bussings,” among goers and comers, together with -the clattering of plates and dishes, and the chattering of all known and -unknown tongues—these, and many other interruptions, sadly discompose -the contemplations of the philosopher, and the musing meditations of the -tourists in pursuit of the picturesque, or the Syntaxes in search of the -sublime. - -The “Rhenish Confederacy” must have had a most salutary influence in -fraternising the people of these provinces. Not only does every German -in the steamer salute his “cousin Germans” on both cheeks; but, if -his neck were long enough, he would kiss every man, woman, and child, -on both banks of the river, from Cologne to Constance! These palpable -inosculations, however, being impracticable, the caps and hats are -converted into social telegraphs, which - - “Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,” - -and establish a chain of sympathies and reciprocities between land and -water along the whole course of the Rhine. - - -STOLZENFELS. - -We have proceeded but a little way above Coblentz, when we find ourselves -between two remarkable ruins—one on the banks of the Lahn, (Lahenec), and -one on our right—STOLZENFELS. This last has a short legend attached to -it, which may be glanced at, _en passant_. - -The robber chief of this strong-hold was remarkable, even among the -Rhine-robbers, for cruelty and ferocity. This was not all. He contemned -the gods, and laughed at religion as the superstition of the ignorant. -In the intervals of robbery and murder, he amused himself with tormenting -his vassals, whose lives hung upon the mere caprice of their tyrant -lord. One evening, while carousing and scoffing, the light of the moon -was suddenly obscured—flocks of ravens flew screaming through the -air—darkness overspread the Rhine—and distant thunder was heard growling -among the mountains. The Stolzenburger turned pale, and, for the first -time in his life, fell on his knees to pray. Before he could utter a -word, a dreadful crash was heard—a thunderbolt had struck the castle—and -the tyrant was buried in the ruins! - - -MORAL. - -A death-bed repentance may be better than none; but that piety which is -extorted by terror, hardly deserves the name. - - * * * * * - -The long and straight reach of the river, from the entrance of the Lahn -to the chateau of Liebneck, presents no striking feature, except the -frowning castle (now an hospital) of MARKSBURG, crowning an apparently -inaccessible mountain, which modern art might render impregnable. In -another reach or two, we pass Boppart, and come to the scene of a -legendary tale. - - -THE BROTHERS; OR, LIEBENSTEIN AND STERNFELS. - -“The course of true love never did run smooth.” - -(_Legend the Fifth._) - -A little above BOPPART, but on the opposite side of the river, two -mouldering ruins, on two craggy rocks, close to each other, arrest the -attention of even the most indifferent passenger. The legend attached -to them is of a very melancholy character. A nobleman had two sons and -an amiable ward, of whom both of the brothers were enamoured. The elder -resigned his pretensions, and retired to Rheuse, a part of the family -estate. The younger was affianced to, and beloved by, the beautiful -ward, ELOISE, whose name deserves to be transmitted to posterity. The -Holy, but insane Crusades, however, induced the intended bridegroom to -join the military bigots of that day, in a war of extermination against -the Musselmen. The result of his religious zeal was the conquest—not -of the Holy City, but of a Grecian mistress, with whom he returned to -his castle on the Rhine. The elder brother (Liebenstein), incensed at -this double crime (profanation of the crusade and breach of his vows to -the lady), challenged him to mortal conflict. The amiable ward (Louisa) -rushed between the combatants—prevented fratricide—and immediately took -the veil. The guilty pair led, at first, a riotous, but soon a wretched -life. The Grecian lady proved faithless, and eloped! The brothers became -reconciled—lived in the contiguous castles, whose ruins are still -seen—and died without issue!—The property of the ward was dedicated -to the purpose of founding a convent (Bornhoffen) at the foot of the -mountain on which the castles were built. As to the brothers— - - They never enter’d court or town, - Nor looked on woman’s face, - But childless to the grave went down, - The last of all their race. - And still upon the mountain fair, - Are seen two castles gray, - That, like their lords, together there - Sink slowly to decay.[10] - - -MORAL. - -The darker features of this drama are every day seen on the stage of -life. Lovers’ vows plighted, soon to be broken—man’s promises of eternal -love cancelled—women’s hopes and happiness blighted—but perfidy sooner or -later punished. - -It was enough for Sternfels to bring home a mistress from Palestine, -without parading his guilty partner before the eyes of his betrothed and -insulted Louisa. Yet this, _and worse_, we every day witness! Sternfels’ -punishment was not light. The ingratitude of his mistress, and a life of -solitude and remorse, were severe chastisements! - - * * * * * - -Winding along from the ruins last-mentioned, we come to a very striking -object, a little short of St. Goar, which attracts the attention of all -passengers. It is a dismantled fortification, still black with the powder -by which it was blown up in the French revolution. The RHEINFELS was -long a robber-fortress of the first water, and its tyrant chiefs carried -their depredations and extortions to such a height as to league all the -adjacent provinces against them. The chiefs held out and defied the -country; but at length the strong-hold fell—and, with it, the whole of -the brigand castles on both sides of the Rhine. - - -LURLEY, OR THE ECHO. - -(_Legend the Sixth._) - -Almost immediately after passing the ruins of the Rheinfels, we enter a -narrow and sombre river gorge, where the stream is impetuous, turbulent, -and tortuous; the cliffs of dark basalt rising almost perpendicular, -but in rugged strata or layers, inclining in all directions from the -horizontal to nearly the vertical. Here the Rhine like its sister the -Rhone— - - ——“Cleaves its way between - Rocks that appear like lovers who have parted - In haste; whose mining depths so intervene, - That they can meet no more, though broken-hearted.” - -And here is still heard that prattling nymph, Miss ECHO, who, like many -a descriptive tourist, repeats her parrot-note for the tenth time—with -no other variation than that of diminished force and distinctness. This -lady, who, when young, was dismissed from the skies for allowing her -tongue to wag too freely, has since endured the severe punishment of -keeping silent, except when spoken to! She is not permitted to ask, but -only to iterate questions—having the privilege, on some rare occasions, -and in some peculiar places, of repeating the said question, or rather -the last word or syllable of it twice or even many times. The present -spot is one of these favourite localities—and the voices which she -loves to hear and to imitate are those of the cannon, the bugle, and -the horn. The clanking and plashing of the steamers are unfavourable to -the delicate iterations of Echo, and often drown her voice entirely. -Though not so witty as her sister of Killarney, who answers, instead of -repeating the questions put to her, yet she occasionally cracks a joke on -the mayor of the neighbouring town, when some stentorian German bawls out -from the opposite rock, “_Who is the mayor of Oberwesel?_” The damsel, -with a faint but clear titter, replies, “_esel_”—or ass! so that lord -mayors on the banks of the Rhine, as well as of the Thames, are sometimes -treated with ridicule. - -There can be little doubt that boat-wrecks, raft-wrecks, and loss of -life were of frequent occurrence in a locality like this, where the -rapid stream is twisted into whirlpools, between rugged banks, the very -proximity of which increases the difficulty of the passage, and the -danger of drowning, where the vessel or flotilla is stranded. The eddying -surge, the sunken rock, and the serrated perpendicular shore, in a dark -and tempestuous night, must render the navigation of this dreary ravine -most hazardous—and escape, in case of an overturn, all but hopeless. - -That a place so singular and so perilous, coupled with a remarkable and -musical echo, should become the scene of some popular or superstitious -legend, is not at all wonderful. Accordingly a fourth SIREN was added to -the classical list, and located on the banks of the Rhine, instead of the -coast of Sicily, to lure (lurlei) the enchanted mariner from his helm or -oar, by her melodious song, and wreck himself and bark on the treacherous -rocks. Lurley carried on the trade of her elder sisters for some time, -with considerable success, but not without some redeeming qualities; for -she often pointed out the best places for the poor fishermen to cast -their nets. At length a young Palatine Count determined to emulate the -hero of Ithaca, and break the spell of the enchantress. For that purpose -he embarked on the Rhine, and steered towards the dangerous pass, but -without taking the precaution of the wily Greek, to stop the ears of -the crew with wax, and cause himself to be bound to the mast. As the -count’s barge approached the rocks, Lurley poured forth one of her most -melodious lays over the face of the river. The men dropped their oars, -and the count’s senses were all absorbed in listening to the divine -strains. A sudden eddy of the stream whirled the boat’s head towards the -shore—another dashed her against the rocks—and, in another instant, all -were engulphed in the boiling whirlpool! - -This catastrophe caused a great sensation, and the count’s father sent a -veteran warrior, with a select party of soldiers, to surround the rock, -and seize the sorceress. On approaching the summit, Lurley was seen for -the first time by human eyes, with arms, ankles, and neck encircled with -corals, and even her flowing tresses braided with the same emblems of the -deep. She demanded their purpose. The veteran announced his determination -to force her into the Rhine, there to expiate the death of the young -count. Lurley replied, by throwing her corals into the river, singing at -the same time— - - Entends ma voix, puissant Pere des eaux, - Fais parter, sans delai, tes rapides chevaux. - -Instantly a great storm arose—the river boiled with foam—and two towering -waves, bearing some resemblance to milk-white steeds, surged along the -rock, and bore UNDINE (for such was the nymph) to her paternal grottoes -under the waters. From that time the song of Lurley was never heard; but -her spirit still hovers about her favourite rocks, and mimicks the voices -of the boatmen as they pass the place. - -The veteran warrior returned to the count’s father, and was agreeably -surprised to find the son safely returned to his paternal mansion by the -kind UNDINE. - - * * * * * - -A contemplation of this locality irresistibly leads me to the conclusion -that, here existed in some remote period, a cataract, similar to that -now existing, but rapidly crumbling down, as at Schaffhausen. The -alluvial plains between Heidelberg and the present bed of the Rhine, -were unquestionably a large lake, which would be drained by the wearing -down of a cataract at some lower part of the river. When the falls of -the Rhine at Schaffhouse are reduced to mere rapids, it is probable that -the lake of Constance will become an alluvial valley. The valley of the -Rhone was once a lake, till the flood-gate at St. Maurice gave way, and -converted the lake into a plain. The huge walls of basaltic rock piled up -in strata on each side of the Rhine at Lurley, torn by fire and worn by -water, draw the mind to contemplate the myriads of years which must have -rolled along, since first they upsprung from the bowels of the earth in -liquid lava—and the countless ages required to form this sombre gorge by -the mere attrition of the unceasing current! - - -SCHOMBERG. - -While passing the picturesque little town of Oberwesel, and just beyond -the Lurley-rocks, we raise the eye to the ruins of SCHOMBERG, possessing -some interest to the British traveller, as the patrimonial castle of -Duke Schomberg, who lost his life in the battle of the Boyne. Alas! -that the very name of a mouldering ruin should, after the lapse of a -century and a half, engender in the breasts of the same people, living -under the same government, professing the same religion, speaking the -same language, and having the same interests, such deadly sentiments of -hatred and animosity! No two feudal robbers and enemies on the banks of -the Rhine, ever viewed each other with such cut-throat propensities, as -do the Orange-man and White-boy on the banks of the Boyne! A century -and a half hence, when the fiery passions of the present day shall -have long been quenched in the grave, and the immortal spirits shall -be awaiting the verdict of a final tribunal, posterity will scarcely -believe that, amongst their ancestors, Christian charity meant murderous -extermination—and that the surest road to Heaven was that which was -tracked with the blood of our neighbours! The glorious orb of day shines -as joyously over those mouldering ruins, as when the proud castle first -rose in majesty over the frowning precipices—nay, as when the Rhine -itself first began to trickle from the virgin snows of the Alps:—and why -should not the heavenly light of Christianity shed its benign influence -over the professors of that faith, as well now, as when the REDEEMER -inculcated charity and forbearance during his mission on earth? No! It -is much easier to preach than to practise the Christian virtues—and the -former is considered the more efficacious of the two, by the disciples of -FAITH. - - -THE SEVEN SISTERS; OR, THE FATE OF COQUETTES. - -(_Legend the Seventh._) - -CUPID is not a god that may be safely tampered with. His arrows are -sharp, his feelings are keen, and his resentments are sometimes -implacable. Seven beautiful sisters resided in the castle of Schomberg, -overhanging the Rhine; and their hearts were as insensible to love as -are the seven rocks in that river near Oberwesel, which now bear their -names. Their charms and their wealth attracted crowds of suitors from -various quarters. The sisters, however, gave smiles to all, yet favours -to none of their admirers. Proffers of marriage were always declined, -and sometimes treated with levity. Vanity was their ruling, almost their -only passion, and adulation was its food. Their public suitors were the -subjects of their private merriment. But mischief sometimes mingled with -their mirth. By words, looks, or demeanour, they occasionally seemed to -shew a preference to certain of their admirers. This led to jealousies, -quarrels, bloodshed, and even death. The ranks, however, were constantly -filled up by adventurous and ardent lovers, as the Byzantine throne -(according to Gibbon) was never without a tenant, though the grave was -always ready dug at its foot! But beauty, which is the gift of Nature -and Chance, is the first charm which falls before the hand of Time. The -sisters had only this one personal attraction, and it began to fade. The -suitors diminished in number, and at length totally disappeared! It was -then too late to remedy the evil of their own vanity and cruelty. The -scene of their former flattery had now become insupportable, and they -prepared to remove across the Rhine to a sequestered retreat, where their -wounded pride and present humiliation might alike be buried in obscurity. -They selected a dark night for leaving their castle and passing the -river. When near the LURLEY ROCKS, the gnome of that place, who had -often witnessed the imprudent and unfeeling conduct of her neighbouring -sisters, lured the boatmen towards a treacherous sunken shoal, when -the vessel was overturned, and all were buried in a watery grave! The -Seven Sisters are still seen occasionally, in very low states of the -river, raising their heads out of the water, in the form of rocks, and -struggling with the foaming and impetuous current! - - -MORAL. - -The moral of this short legend is transparent. The coquette, the flirt, -the jilt, is a kind of moral swindler who, having no feelings or -affections herself, trifles with those of others. It must be confessed -that there are similar characters among the other sex, who are, if -possible, still more reprehensible. But the female who plays this -disreputable game, runs a greater risk, for obvious reasons, than the -male deceiver. The foregoing legend illustrates the danger of relying on -mere personal charms, as the great magnet of attraction. Qualities and -accomplishments of mind are more durable, and more to be depended on, -than beauty of form or feature! - - -PFALZ. - -The robbers of the Rhine were not content with building depôts for -stolen, or rather plundered goods, on every eminence, and levying -“black mail” on every kind of land carriage; but they invaded “the free -navigation of the Rhine,” as some of their descendants now do. A rock -on the river whereon to erect a toll-bar was a great treasure in days -of yore. The quadrupeds of the mouse-tower were much less voracious and -graminivorous, than the bipeds of the same. The latter might not perhaps -have nibbled at the body of a bishop, but they took good care to shear -his flocks, in their transit up and down the Rhine. Nearly opposite CAUB -we pass close to an object which looks like a dwarf castle, sailing up -the stream on the back of a whale. This was a very convenient edifice -for the Rhenish palatines of the adjacent castle of _Stahlee_. It served -the purpose of a custom-house, to collect the “rint,” and a prison to -secure the refractory:—in other words, it performed the double function -of dungeon and douane. One of the involuntary tenants of this narrow -crib, was the own and the only daughter of Conrad, the palatine himself, -whose name was Agnes. The lady had been betrothed, with her parents’ and -her own consent, to Henry Duke of Brunswick; but a king having offered -his hand, Conrad commanded her to change her affections, and set them -on a higher rank than that of a duke. Agnes demurred in her own breast, -though not openly; for affection, like faith or belief, will not come -or go at our own bidding—much less at that of another. In the temporary -absence of the father, Agnes, with the consent and privity of her -mother, was privately married to the duke. When Conrad learnt this, he -ordered his daughter to the Pfalz, till the marriage could be dissolved. -Meantime it soon became evident that certain proofs of prior attachment -on the part of Agnes, would be too unequivocal to escape the notice of -the regal suitor, if the marriage were annulled; and Conrad, after a -double confinement of Agnes in the Rhine prison, became reconciled to the -duke—and all ended happily. - - * * * * * - -Passing BACHARACH and the “ARA BACCHI,” which shews its propitious face -in fertile vintages, we soon come to LORCH, where we have a legend that -must not be passed unnoticed. - - -TEMPTATION, OR THE HALL OF A HUNDRED MIRRORS. - -(_Legend the Eighth._) - -Three students from Nuremburg, determined, during one of their vacations, -to make the tour of the Rhine. Arrived at Lorch, they learnt that the -sombre and triste valley of Wesperthal, behind Mount Kedrick, was -the habitation of hobgoblins, who failed not to harass and frighten -every one who penetrated into its dreary recesses. This account only -stimulated their curiosity, and tempted their courage. They therefore -repaired to the valley, and were soon treading on fairy ground. While -wandering about, they came to an enormous mass of rock, bearing some -rude resemblance to an old castle. In its sides were several apertures, -like gothic windows, and its summit was something in the shape of a -dome. Presently at one of these apertures there appeared three young -ladies of surpassing beauty, who, instead of frowning on the young -cavaliers, invited them, by their smiles and signals, to approach the -castle. They soon found a narrow door, through which they entered, and -passing along a kind of avenue, they came to a stair-case, which they -mounted, and entered a vast and magnificent vestibule. They had scarcely -time to cast a glance around them, when they were involved in the most -Cimmerian darkness. After groping about, for some time, they discovered -a door, which they managed to force open, when they found themselves in -a splendid hall, illumined by hundreds of chandeliers, and covered from -the dome to the floor with brilliant mirrors. But instead of finding -the three nymphs, who had beckoned them from the windows, they were -astounded by the sight of at least three hundred, who all stretched out -their hands, at once, while welcoming the three youths to their father’s -mansion! The students were stupified, not knowing which to address, -or whom to salute, so bewildered were they by the reflection of three -hundred beauties, and double that number of hands, from the surrounding -mirrors! Their embarrassment was not lessened by the peals of laughter -set up by the mischievous nymphs. In the midst of this scene, a door -opened, and a venerable old man, with locks like snow, but clothed in -jet black vestments, entered. “Welcome, my children,” said he; “you are -come, no doubt, to demand my daughters in marriage. You shall have them, -and with each a hundred weight of solid gold. But there is one condition. -My daughters have lost their pet birds, and you must search for them, -and bring them back from yonder wood.” “_Take each your partner_,” then -said the old man, in a voice of thunder. The youths stepped forward, -each to seize the hand of his mistress—but grasped only empty air. At -this, the father joined his daughters in a peal of laughter. When the -merriment had subsided, the old man led the young suitors to the real -nymphs, whose salutes assured the students that they were real flesh and -blood, and whose beauty soon captivated their whole souls. They were now -eager to fulfil the condition imposed upon them. “You will recognize the -STARLING,” says the old man, “by the riddles which it has got by rote -and is always propounding—the ROOK by its hoarse croak—and the MAGPIE, -by the burthen of its chatter, being the birth, parentage, and education -of its grandmother.” They set out for the forest, and soon found the -three birds, perched on the branch of an oak, chattering and chanting the -ditties which they had been taught in the chateau. I have only room for -the magpie’s theme— - - “Ma grand-mêre etait une pie, - Qui pondait des œufs d’ou sortaient des pies. - Et si elle n’etait pas morte, - Elle serait encore en vie.”[11] - -The young gentlemen soon secured the pet birds, and returned with them -to the castle. But what a change presented itself to their horrified -senses! The chateau was gray with moss—the hall deprived of its mirrors -and lustres, and only exhibiting naked walls! In three niches, sate -three withered, tawny, toothless hags, with wine and fruit before them, -on three small tables! They instantly rose, and stretched out their -wrinkled, yellow, and skinny arms to embrace their lovers, while they -mumbled and snivelled, from mouths and noses, their nauseous welcomes, -and most loving assurances of eternal attachment and fidelity! To add -to the mortification of the bridegrooms, the three pet birds joined -their mistresses in such a chorus of squallings, croakings, and -catterwaullings, that the young men were obliged to stop their ears to -keep out the infernal din! Meanwhile the withered witches led their -paramours to the tables, and presented them refreshments, for which they -had little stomach. Each, however, took a glass of exquisite wine, which -they had scarcely swallowed, when they fell into a state of complete -insensibility! When they awoke, which was not till mid-day, they found -themselves lying among prickly bushes at the foot of a tall rock, worn -into furrows by the storms and rains, their limbs so cold and stiff that -they had the greatest difficulty in retracing their steps! While dragging -their weary limbs along, they were saluted from every projecting rock -by the old hags—and from every branch of tree by the chatterings and -croakings of the cursed pet birds! On clearing the valley, the young -gentlemen made a vow never again to pay attention to the allurements of -female beauty, when proffered on the “voluntary system” of the nymphs of -WESPERTHAL. - - -MORAL. - -I think the allegory of Wesperthal is little inferior to that of CIRCE, -or even of the Syrens. It combines, indeed, the morals of both. Under -the head of curiosity and thirst of rash adventure, are shadowed forth -the headstrong passions of youth. Then the allurements and temptations -by which they are so easily led from the paths of virtue—the Cimmerian -darkness in which they are plunged—the blaze of false light, glittering -tinsel, and meretricious splendour that attracts them on to their -ruin—the penalties which are soon exacted from this short-lived -felicity—the stupor in which their senses are drowned—and the remorse and -horror in which they finally wake from the delirium of “passion’s wild -career.” - -Among some sly strokes of irony conveyed in this allegory, the -accomplishments of the “pet birds” are biting satires on the education -and mental habits of their mistresses in the chateaus of that time. -Happily for us, there are _now_ no charades of the starling, croakings of -the rook, or magpie chatterings about ancestral honours, among the wives -and daughters of the nineteenth century. - - -THE DEVIL’S LADDER. - -RUTHELM AND GARLINDA, OR LOVE REWARDED AND INHOSPITALITY PUNISHED. - -“Omnia vincit amor.” - -(_Legend the Ninth._) - -There cannot be a doubt that the legend of the “DEVIL’S LADDER,” was -clearly intended to convey a double moral, as will presently be seen. - -Over the little town of LORCH, rises abruptly the craggy, and apparently -inaccessible mountain of KEDRICK, on which is a solitary tower. SIBO, -the Chief of Lorch, was a gloomy, eccentric, and rather misanthropic -character. One stormy night, a decrepid old creature, of extremely -dwarfish stature, rapped at his door, and demanded the usual rights of -hospitality, commonly accorded in that age of chivalry. SIBO drove him -from his gate with rudeness, and even brutality. Next day, when the -dinner-bell rang, GARLINDA, the only child of SIBO, a beautiful girl, -twelve years of age, was nowhere to be found! Search was made in all -directions, but in vain. A shepherd, however, reported that, early in the -morning, he saw a young girl, who was culling flowers at the foot of the -Kedrick, surrounded and seized by a number of little old men, who climbed -with her up the mountain. The chevalier cast his eyes towards the summit -of the steep, and clearly discerned his daughter there, who appeared to -be stretching her arms towards her parent’s habitation! The vassals were -summoned, and numerous efforts were made to scale the rock; but every -attempt was frustrated by fragments of stone coming down the precipices -with such fury, that the men were forced to fly for their lives. The -wretched SIBO now endeavoured by penances, prayers, donations to the -churches, monasteries, and convents, as well as distributions among the -poor, to propitiate the powers above, and regain his only child. Heaven -seemed hardened against him, and the gnomes of Kedrick retained their -captive. The only consolation of the father was, that Garlinda was seen -at sunrise and sunset, looking from her airy prison down to the valley -of Lorch. Days, months, and years rolled on, without any prospect of -regaining his lost treasure. Meantime, every care was taken of Garlinda’s -health and comfort by the fairies of the rock—and especially by an aged -female gnome, who watched her assiduously, and occasionally gave her -hopes of deliverance from captivity. - -Four years had now elapsed, and SIBO gave up all expectation of -recovering his daughter; when RUTHELM, a brave young knight, who had -distinguished himself in the wars against the Infidels, returned to the -place of his nativity, near Lorch. On learning the fate of Garlinda, -he determined to effect her rescue, or sacrifice his life. Her father -promised the hand of the lady to her deliverer. Ruthelm reconnoitred, -with anxious eye, every side of the rocky mountain; but no part offered -the least prospect of escalade. It rose like a rugged wall in every -direction! Returning to his chateau in pensive meditation, he met a -diminutive dwarf on the road, who accosted him, and asked him if he had -heard the story of Garlinda’s captivity on the summit of Kedrick? On -replying in the affirmative, the dwarf hinted that he could effect her -freedom if Ruthelm promised to marry her. The lover eagerly closed with -the proposal, and the dwarf vanished from his sight. - -The youthful knight began to fear that the promise of the dwarf was a -deception, when an aged female gnome stood before him, and presenting him -with a small bell, desired him to repair to the valley of Wesperthal, a -gloomy and haunted ravine behind the Kedrick, and there seek the entrance -of a deserted mine, which he would recognize by two old pine trees that -grew at its mouth. When he had descended a few steps into the mine, he -was to ring the bell thrice, and abide the result. Ruthelm was punctual -to the directions, and found the place. As soon as the bell was rung, -a light was seen rising from the bottom of the mine, and presently a -dwarf appeared, and demanded what Ruthelm wanted. He related the promise -of the female dwarf, and her injunction to ring the bell which she had -given him. The dwarf examined the bell. The inhabitant of the mine -commanded Ruthelm to be at the foot of the mountain before the dawn of -next morning. Then drawing a small trumpet from his girdle, he sounded -it thrice, when instantly the ravine and the whole valley swarmed with -gnomes carrying ropes, hatchets, saws, and hammers. In a few minutes -trees were heard falling down the sides of the ravine, felled by the axes -of the gnomes, while hundreds of these nimble gentry were busily employed -in forming the wood into the different parts of the ladder. - -Ruthelm slept little that night, and was at his post before the dawn of -morn. He found the ladder placed against the perpendicular precipice, and -reaching to its highest pinnacle. He began to mount the ladder; but the -terrific vibrations and oscillations of the slender machine, required all -the courage of a hero, and all the devotion of a lover— - - ——lest the deficient sight - Topple down headlong.—— - -At length he reached the summit of the rock, and was rewarded for his -hazard, by the sight of Garlinda reclining asleep in a bower of roses and -eglantine. Her beauty surpassed all that had been reported, even by her -own friends. While gazing on the sleeping nymph, she awoke, and Ruthelm -dropped on his knee. At that instant the little old man, who had carried -off Garlinda, stood before them, and, with frowning looks, demanded the -name of the intruder, the cause of his visit, and the means by which -he had ascended the mountain? Ruthelm firmly replied, that he came to -deliver Garlinda from her prison, and restore her to an affectionate, but -broken-hearted parent—that the means of his access would be explained -by the bell, which he held in his hand. Garlinda, at these words, burst -into a flood of tears, and entreated the dwarf to allow her to visit -her father. The dwarf paused for a moment, and then replied:—“Your -father, Garlinda, has been amply punished for his inhospitality, and you -deserve reward for your patience and resignation. For you, Sir Knight, -(addressing Ruthelm,) the jewel you seek is not yet purchased, even -by the perils you have encountered. A more dangerous task remains—the -descent from this mountain. You must return by the ladder; I will conduct -Garlinda by a secret path to her father’s mansion.” - -Ruthelm, in descending the ladder, found infinitely more difficulty than -in his ascent: and several times his head turned giddy, and he was nearly -precipitated to the bottom of the ravine. When he reached Sibo’s castle, -he found the daughter in the arms of her father, who was weeping for joy. -SIBO, from that moment, kept his gate open to every object of distress—a -practice which was continued by Ruthelm and Garlinda, during a long -series of years. - - -MORAL. - -To counterpoise the baser passions and propensities of our nature, -the Omniscient Creator has implanted others in the human breast of an -ennobling kind. Thus charity and benevolence antagonise selfishness and -avarice. But these passions and propensities, good and bad, are not left -to contend with each other in anarchy, like jarring elements. Over them -is placed a power without passion, an emanation from the Deity, designed -to control the vicious and foster the virtuous workings of the spirit, -either by direct influence, or, which is more common, by nullifying the -bad by the good propensities. - -It is this God-like REASON, which distinguishes MAN from the BRUTE -creation. The latter have but one governing passion or INSTINCT, each, -from which they cannot deviate, and which never fails to lead them to -their proper objects. But even in MAN, and especially in uncultivated -states of mind, REASON is too often unequal to the governance of -the unruly passions, and requires the aid of another and higher -power—RELIGION. - -Reason may, and too often does, err; but instinct is as undeviating -in its course as the earth in its revolutions round the sun. Whenever -the voice of Reason and the dictates of Religion are resisted, and -ultimately disregarded, some prominent passion from the vicious side of -human nature is sure to gain and to retain the mastery. The consequences -need not be told! Every day that vice retains possession of the soul, -diminishes the chance of virtue regaining the ascendancy:—Hence the evil -of procrastination in the work of reformation! - -But to return. Hospitality to the stranger, and charity to the indigent -are virtues so universally acknowledged, that few are bold enough to -deny them in theory, though there are many SIBOS who are chary of the -practice. The sums which were lavished on monasteries and convents, in -useless remorse, would have saved the Chieftain of Lorch many a bitter -hour of reflection, had they been judiciously applied to the relief of -penury and misfortune, before he was made to taste the bitter cup of -anguish himself! - -The other part of the legend illustrates the well-known fact that— - - “Love will hope where Reason would despair.” - -And not only hope, but accomplish things apparently impossible of -achievement. Ruthelm was not the only one who has fallen in love -of unseen objects, and only known through pictorial or descriptive -representations. Few have passed the juvenile period of life without -having some imaginary goddess or hero in their thoughts, endowed with all -the virtues and charms which— - - “Youthful poets fancy when they love.” - -Whether time and experience have always _realized_ (as Jonathan would -say) these golden dreams, can only be determined by the knowledge of each -individual. - - * * * * * - -Leaving Lorch, then, on our left, (in ascending the river) our attention -is strongly attracted to a renovated chateau on our right—RHEINSTEIN. -Here we must halt for a few minutes. - - -THE BRIDAL OF RHEINSTEIN; OR, THE RUNAWAY MARRIAGE. - -(_Legend the Tenth._) - -About midway between Lorch and Bingen, on our right hand, stands the -renovated castle of Rheinstein, on a romantic eminence, and very near -the Rhine. It is no longer a desolate pile of ruins, but the habitation -of a royal prince of Prussia, whose proud banner floats on its lofty -turret. No destructive missile or drawn sword now repels the inquisitive -stranger. The draw-bridge falls at the approach of Jew or Gentile, rich -or poor—and the renovated halls are thrown open to the inspection of all -visitors. - -Tradition informs us that the original castle was inhabited by a -Baron Sifred, a dissolute young robber, who carried off from France, -a beautiful maiden, and detained her in durance vile within his -impregnable fortress. The captivity of the lady, however, made a -wonderful revolution in the baron’s life. The noise of revelry and arms -was superseded by the sounds of the lute—and YUTTA became the bride of -SIFRED. Twelve months of love and happiness flew rapidly round, and Yutta -presented her husband with a pledge of their affection—a female child. -The mother survived the birth only a few hours. The baron shut himself up -in his castle, and dedicated his time to the education of his daughter. - -Guerda grew up to the delight of her father’s declining years—and to the -relief of wandering pilgrims, who sought refuge in the castle, and who -sounded the fame of Guerda’s beauty far and near. - -Hosts of suitors now flocked to the castle, but they were referred by -Sifred to an approaching tournament at Mayence, where his daughter would -select the most valiant knight. Her appearance at the assemblage excited -universal admiration; and two knights determined to win her hand—Kuno -of Reichenstein, and Conrad of Ehrenfels. The latter was the elder, -and of a fierce disposition—the former was evidently preferred by the -lady. Notwithstanding prodigies of valour, Kuno was defeated, and Conrad -claimed the hand of Guerda. The father received the victor as his future -son-in-law; while the dejected Kuno prepared to join an expedition to -Palestine. The hapless Guerda was overwhelmed with grief; but her father -was inexorable! The day of the nuptials was fixed—the cavalcade, with -Guerda, the pallid victim of parental tyranny, mounted on a milk-white -steed, proceeded towards the chapel, which was midway between the castle -of her father and that of Kuno of Reichenstein. When near the sacred -edifice, Guerda’s horse suddenly reared and plunged, endangering the life -of the bride. Conrad, while endeavouring to seize the reins, received -a dreadful kick from the furious steed, which prostrated him on the -ground. The animal immediately darted forward, like an arrow from a bow, -and never stopped till he carried the betrothed to the very gate of -Kuno’s castle. Her lover, who witnessed this exciting scene, flew to the -gate—gave admittance to Guerda—dropped the portcullis—and secured the -treasure! Conrad was killed by the blow from the steed, and Sifred soon -afterwards gave consent to the nuptials of Kuno and Guerda. - -Would that, in every mercenary and ill-assorted match, the bride were -mounted on so spirited and sensible a palfrey as that of Guerda, when -proceeding to the altar! The _runaway_ marriage of Rheinstein was far -preferable to many of those slow and stately processions which attend the -contracts of fashionable modern life! - - -THE RAT OR MOUSE-TOWER. - -(_Legend the Eleventh._) - -It appears that there were corn-laws, or at least corn-monopolists, -in days of yore as well as now. A dignitary of the church (not _our_ -church), the bishop of Mentz, had well-stored granaries, and fared -sumptuously. A time of scarcity arrived. The populace begged for bread; -but the bishop would only give them blessings. These would not fill the -stomach, and the clamour becoming louder, the bishop waxed wroth. He -flung open one of his granaries containing but little grain. The people -rushed in—he bolted the doors—and set fire to the building! Murder will -be out, sooner or later, and even punished in this world. The rats and -the mice took up the cause of their masters. They cut through the floors -and ceilings of the palace—nibbled holes in the arras—and poked their -little noses through to smell the fat bishop. This was notice to quit, or -furnish a cannibal supper for the unwelcome intruders. - - “They gnawed the arras above and beneath, - They ate each savoury dish up. - And shortly their sacrilegious teeth - Began to nibble the bishop!” - -The holy man betook himself to a tower in the middle of the Rhine; (Tours -des Rats) but the nimble little quadrupeds swam across in legions—scaled -the tower—and devoured the bishop! - - One morning his skeleton there was seen, - By a load of flesh the lighter, - They had picked his bones uncommonly clean, - And eaten his very mitre! - -The moral is good, though the tale is improbable. But if the AUTO DA FÉ -of the bishop was a romance, the atrocity of the action has too often -been surpassed even in our time—and that by “butcherly blockheads” in the -cause of bigotry and superstition, though in the name of religion! - -I suspect that the moral of the “Mouse or Rat Tower” lies much deeper -than is supposed. It seems to indicate that, although the rich and the -powerful may sometimes evade the law, they can never escape punishment. -The inward monitor cannot be stifled, cross what rivers, seas, or -mountains we may— - - “Cœlum non animum mutant - qui trans mare currunt.” - -which I would liberally translate thus:— - - O’er sea and land the guilty flies, - To blunt the stings of conscience keen; - Vain hope! That “worm that never dies,” - Preys on his vitals all unseen! - -The mice were meant to represent the conscience of the cruel bishop, from -which, neither the streams of the Rhine nor the battlements of the tower -could protect him. - - -CHANGE OF SCENE. - -After passing BINGEN, the poetry of the Rhine disappears—or sinks into -smooth but unimpassioned prose. The “castled crags” and precipitous -cliffs soften down into sloping glades and country villas—the river -widens, and becomes studded with innumerable islets, verdant to the -water’s edge—the majestic and romantic features of the scenery are -changed into the beautiful and the fertile—it is like turning from the -statues of Mars and Bellona to those of Cupid and Psyche! The legends -and tales vanish with the rocks and ruins where they had a “local -habitation”—romance degenerates into reality—the fervid imagination -is softened down into sober judgment—and the excitement of admiration -subsides into the tranquillity of reflection! The eye is spoiled for the -charms of the wide-spread Rhinegau, teeming with the grape, and with -every necessary of life; yet the landscape is loveliness itself. What it -has lost in sublimity, it has fully gained in beauty. - -The sun had just set beneath the horizon, and while— - - “Twilight’s soft shades stole o’er the village green, - With magic tints to harmonize the scene,” - -our contemplations were broken by the steamer suddenly sheering alongside -the jetty at Biberich, and discharging its cargo of human beings close -to the royal palace of Nassau. After the usual bustle attendant on the -transmigration of souls, bodies, and baggage, from water to land, we were -safely deposited, in less than an hour, at the Adler Hotel, within a -stone’s throw of the celebrated KOCHBRUNNEN, or chicken-broth distillery -at Wisbaden. - - - - -WISBADEN. - - -This is one of the most celebrated spas in Germany—and more frequented, -as a _medicinal spa_, than any other by our countrymen and women. It -is only four miles from Biberich, near Mayence, and is very pleasantly -situated, with a ridge of the Taunus to the north-east, while the country -is open between it and the Rhine, in the opposite quarter. It is a very -handsome town, of seven or eight thousand souls, and the capital of the -duchy of Nassau. It is, itself, in a slight depression of the ground, -but not so much as to impede a free circulation of air. Wisbaden is -healthy, though rather warm, owing, probably, to the hot springs under -the surface. The temperature, however, renders it a good winter residence -for those who are unable or disinclined to seek the shores of Italy or -other southern localities. The neighbouring country produces all the -necessaries of life in abundance, and the vicinity of Frankfort, Mayence, -and the Rhine, secures it the luxuries, when required. Excellent water -is conducted from the Taunus for the use of the town. The CURSAAL is the -most magnificent in Europe—the hotels are numerous and good—the walks and -rides exceedingly varied, cheerful, and salubrious. There are from ten -to fifteen thousand annual spa-drinkers and bathers—while a far greater -number spend a short time at Wisbaden for pleasure. A considerable number -of the hotels have bathing establishments—the Eagle is the oldest—and -is well appointed. In turning up from this hotel towards the Cursaal, -we stumble on the KOCHBRUNNEN, (the scalding spring,) the grand source -of the drinking waters, and also of several baths. It has rather a mean -appearance, and the water looks rather of a greenish-yellow colour, and -seems turbid in the well, with a scum over a part of it, which is called -“_cream_,” and is considered by the chemists as a peculiar animal or -extractive matter, whose nature and source are unknown. The taste is that -of weak chicken-broth with rather too much salt. There are upwards of -nine hundred baths in the different establishments. - -The plantations, extending from the back of the Cursaal to the old ruin -of Sonnenburg Castle, are very beautiful—and thence are paths cut among -the umbrageous woods to the PLATTE, the Duke’s Summer-house, on one of -the mountains of Taunus, whence a magnificent view is obtained—Rhineward -and Inland. - -The road to Schwalbach and Schlangenbad present fine airy drives and -walks over high, open, and unwooded grounds, communicating health and -vigour to the enfeebled frame. - -As may be supposed, the Romans were well acquainted with Wisbaden, and -close to the Kochbrunnen, in the Romerbad, may be still seen the remains -of several Roman baths—and one in particular having two springs of its -own. But the monuments of antiquity in this place are numerous. - -Three grand theories respecting the causes and sources of thermal springs -divide the transcendental philosophers, naturalists, and physicians of -Germany. These are the electro-chemical—the volcanic—and the vital. -WURZER expresses the opinions of the first class thus:—“As Nature is -performing her operations in her immense laboratory, she has here a -_galvanic apparatus_ of immense size. Extensive masses of mountains, -_perhaps_ of unfathomable depth, _probably_ form the individual plates of -this voltaic column.” This is tolerably bold. While Brand and Faraday are -dissolving metals by the tiny galvanic apparatus in Albemarle Street, -Nature is manufacturing mineral waters at Wisbaden, Ems, and Carlsbad, -on a magnificent scale! Lichtenberg, however, surpasses Wurzer in the -sublimity of his ideas on this subject. - -“In the distilling operations of Nature, the belly of her retort -sometimes lies in Africa—its neck extending all over Europe—whilst its -recipient is in—Siberia.”!! - -Bischoff, Struve, Kastner, and others, are more moderate in their -flights. They ascribe the origin of some thermal springs to volcanic -operations in the bowels of the earth—of other springs to the gradual -solution of their component parts in subterranean reservoirs. - -The third class of philosophers have boldly cut the Gordian knot, instead -of untying it, and erected thermal springs and mineral waters generally -into _animated beings_ which transfuse their vitality into the bodies of -the spa-drinkers, and thus cure all diseases! - -“These and similar observations (says Dr. Peez, of Wisbaden,) compel -us to admit the existence of a _peculiar vital principle in mineral -waters, communicating to the human body either an attractive faculty more -consonant with the medicinal component parts of the water; or, acting by -itself as a healing power upon the diseased organism_.”[12] - -The _italics_ are those of Dr. Peez, and not mine. German mysticism could -hardly be expected to go farther. But it has outdone itself, as the -following extract will shew:— - -“The partial effect of the medicinal component parts of mineral waters -is pushed back, as it were, retreating under the ægis of a general power -which directly excites the autocracy of the animated animal body, and -_compels it to act according to the particular quality of the mineral -spring determined by its component parts_.”—(104.) - -Here we have a good specimen of German ideality, and transcendental -mystification![13] - -My friend, Dr. Granville, like every other man of genius, has a hankering -after a theory; but he was too shrewd not to see that this monstrous -German hypothesis of “vitality” would be too large even for the swallow -of John Bull. He has therefore substituted a much more rational and -intelligible reason for the effects of thermal spas—namely, their -_caloricity_, as differing materially from that of common water heated -to the same degree of temperature. It is very easy to conceive that -cauldrons that have been kept boiling in the bowels of the earth for -thousands of years, will have diffused the caloric more uniformly and -minutely through the waters, and dissolved more completely the mineral -ingredients, than pots and kettles in the laboratory of the chemist. -This, in all probability, is the solution of the mystery respecting the -superior efficacy of thermal spas. - -The composition of the Kochbrunnen is as follows:—Forty-four grains of -common salt—five of muriate of lime—one and a half of carbonate of lime, -out of fifty-nine grains in the pint. The remaining nine grains are not -worth enumerating, as the salt and lime are clearly the main ingredients. -There are only seven cubic inches of carbonic acid gas in the pint. The -temperature is little short of 160° of Fahrenheit. Let us begin with -the baths. At a temperature of 86° to 90°, the bath generally occasions -a slight sensation of chilliness, which goes off in a few minutes, and -is succeeded by a feeling of comfort—serenity of mind—and ultimately a -degree of weariness or lassitude, inclining the bather to lie quiet and -repose himself. The volume of the body rather diminishes than expands, -and the skin of the hands and feet are gently corrugated—the pulse -becomes slower and softer—irritability is lessened—spasmodic feelings (if -they existed,) disappear under the soothing influence of the waters on -the nervous system and circulation—the functions of the intestinal tube -are encreased, as are those of the skin, kidneys, and various glandular -organs. - -At a temperature of 94° to 98°, the bather, at the moment of immersion, -experiences an agreeable sense of warmth—the vital powers are exalted, -and all the functions of the organs are put into a state of increased -activity. The pulse expands and quickens, but is still soft—and all the -secretions and excretions are augmented after leaving the bath. - -As the weight of the body is increased from half-a-pound to a pound -and a half, while immersed, there can be no doubt that a considerable -absorption takes place. At above 98°, or blood heat, the bath -excites the pulse and renders it both full and hard—embarrasses the -breath—flushes the face—reddens the whole surface of the body—excites -perspiration—powerfully draws the circulation to the skin—and not seldom -causes head-aches, vertigo—and even apoplexy. Douches and shower-baths -are often ordered before the plunging or vapour-bath. Lavements of the -spa-water are also employed—and it is said with good effects, relieving -the stomach from the ingurgitation of so much fluid. - -Preceding, and sometimes during the cure, the following phenomena occur -in a majority of cases, in addition to those already described:—viz. -a prostration of strength—headaches—giddiness—constriction -over the eyes—drowsiness. In some cases, there will be -constipation—loaded tongue—loss of appetite—oppression about the -chest—feebleness of the limbs—nervous irritability—disturbed -sleep—perspiration—palpitations—eruptions on the skin. These symptoms -are acknowledged by the spa-practitioners themselves to indicate an -inconvenient use either of the baths or the drink—or some abnormal -susceptibility of the constitution—or some impropriety of regime. -They soon disappear by lessening the application of the remedy, and -taking some aperient medicine—an omission, however, which most of the -spa-doctors are sure to make, trusting, as they do, almost entirely to -the operation of the waters. - -It is necessary to remark that, the rheumatic and gouty who resort to -these waters, (and they are by far the most numerous classes,) must -expect to suffer a considerable increase of their complaints at the -commencement—amounting often to acute pain and even inflammation of the -parts affected. The local medical authorities represent these as the sure -precursors of great relief, if not a radical cure of the maladies in -question. I would advise patients to be on their guard in this respect. -The first two individuals whom I fell in with at Wisbaden, and whom I -formerly attended, were in imminent danger of their lives, from the -effects of drinking and bathing in the waters. One was on the verge of -apoplexy—and the other in a fair way for a rheumatic fever. Both were -soon relieved by aperients, colchicum, and starvation.[14] - -There is another class who experience no uncomfortable symptoms during -the use of the waters, which operate by the skin, the kidneys, and the -bowels—and these proceed quickly and favourably to a restoration of -health. - -There is still a third class who experience no relief from the waters, -but rather an exasperation of all their maladies. The spa doctors give -them this consolation, that, long after their return to their homes, they -will probably get much better—or quite well! The following passage from -Dr. Peez, should awaken precaution. - -“Let us now take into consideration a phenomenon we observe first after -patients have for some time been drinking, or bathing in, the thermal -water of Wisbaden, and which might alarm timorous minds. The reaction -taking place in the beginning of the patient’s making use of the water, -mentioned above, returns with _some individuals_. I have observed this -being the case particularly with females of a hysteric disposition, -attended with a _tendency_ to hemorrhoïdal complaints, who, for that -reason, were very irritable. Bathing in, and drinking thermal water -of this place for a fortnight, three weeks, and longer, are extremely -favorable,—each day is attended with additional success: one ailment -after the other disappears; a pause then ensues, the irritability of -the body rises—the patient’s sleep grows restless; some complain of -palpitating of the heart, oppression of the chest, and slight vertigo. In -this case it is necessary to cease bathing, at least for some days, and -to observe what nature means by that excitation. This, however, commonly -ceases in the course of a few days, when the patient may again take the -bath without hesitation, and with advantage, provided he be careful to -follow the direction of his physician. Others, however, in that case have -attained to the limits of bathing, prescribed by nature, and if they -obstinately transgress these laws, their career on the road to recovery -takes a retrograde turn. I have seen such improvident bathers, who, -not knowing the nature of these phenomena, continued bathing without -consulting their physician, were seized with spasms, spitting of blood, -and other ailments.” - -It is remarked by Dr. Richter, that as the greater number of patients at -Wisbaden are afflicted with gouty or rheumatic complaints, so they must -expect to experience the specific effects of the waters more sensibly -than other people. It is not uncommon therefore for these to suffer, at -the beginning of the course, very high states of excitement, pain, and -even inflammation of the parts involved in the original malady. This -may be encouragement to perseverance; but it may also prove extremely -hazardous. The following case from Dr. Peez, will exemplify this remark. - -“The abdomen of a lady aged 52 years, having been afflicted for a -long time with _plethora abdominalis_, began at last to swell and to -grow hard, her complexion being tinged with a greyish-yellow colour, -whilst her organs of digestion were impaired at the same time. She was -particularly alarmed by occasional palpitations of her heart, most -commonly troubling her at night, and obliging her to quit her bed. Having -bathed in, and drunk, our thermal water, the palpitations grew more -violent, and rendered it necessary that a small quantity of blood should -be taken from her occasionally.” - -In the third week of the course, she was seized with a copious -_purgation_ of morbid secretions, when the palpitations vanished—the -abdomen became soft—the complexion cleared—and she was soon well. - -Now it is clear that this good lady laboured under congestion of the -liver, jaundice, and loaded bowels. Nature rescued her from the heat of -the Kochbrunnen, by a process which ought to have been instituted three -weeks before. - -I shall endeavour to shew in other places, that these crises, spa-fevers, -bad-sturms, and re-actions, described by the foreign writers on the Spas, -are often attributable to the want of combining some mild mercurial -alterative and aperient with the use of the waters. Many cures are -prevented or rendered ineffectual by the dread of mercury entertained by -the German physicians. - -The following AUXILIO-PRESERVATIVE (if I may so term it), will be found -of essential service every night before taking the morning waters. - - ℞. Extr. Col. Comp. - Pil. Rhei. Comp. aa ℈ij. - Pil. Hydrarg. gr. x. - Ol. Caryoph. gt. vj. - Ft. pil. xx. capt. j. vel. ij. hora somni. - -We shall now advert to the remarks of Dr. Richter, who has published a -very sensible little treatise on the Wisbaden waters, in the year 1839. - - -GROUP OF DISORDERS IN WHICH THE WATERS, EITHER INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL, OR -BOTH, ARE LIKELY TO BE USEFUL. - -1. _Complaints having their seat in the abdominal organs, and -especially in the biliary apparatus._—The signs or indications of -these are—acidities—eructations—furred tongue—troubled digestion—loss -of appetite—sense of tightness or oppression about the stomach and -bowels, after food—costiveness, or relaxed bowels—congestion about the -liver, with or without enlargement of that organ—hypochondriasis and -hysteria—hæmorrhoids and their consequences—irritations about the kidneys -and bladder—sequences of residence in tropical climates. - -2. _The various forms of gout and their sequences._—Besides the regular -or periodical gout, Dr. Richter enumerates the multitudinous forms which -it assumes when latently preying on different organs and structures. -There is no end to the proteian features of masked gout—extending as -they do from the terrific lacerations of TIC DOULOUREUX down to the -most anomalous morbid feeling, whether internal or external. “In all -these,” D. R. avers, “the waters and baths of Wisbaden are eminently -beneficial.” The baths, when assisted by the internal use of the waters, -bring anomalous and latent gout into its proper place and form—into the -extremities, thus relieving the interior. - -3. _Paralysis, general or local_—the sequence of apoplectic attacks, -or the consequences of metastases of gout, rheumatism, or cutaneous -eruptions from the surface to the brain or spine—also those paralytic -affections occasioned by the poisons of lead, arsenic, mercury, &c. -or contusions or other injuries of the head and back. Dr. Richter -cautiously observes that, during the use of the Wisbaden waters for the -foregoing class of complaints, it will often be necessary to bleed, cup, -or leech, as well as to take aperient medicines from time to time, under -the guidance of the medical attendant. - -4. _Scrofulous complaints_, of all kinds and degrees. - -5. _Rheumatism_, with its various consequences. Of course it is _chronic_ -rheumatism that is here meant, with enlargements of joints, contractions, -effusions into the capsular ligaments, &c. which attend on and follow -that painful class of diseases. - -6. The _sequences of mercurial courses_ for various diseases, both in -this country and between the tropics. - -7. _Several pulmonary complaints_, occasioned by repressed gout, -rheumatism or cutaneous eruptions. - -8. The Wisbaden waters (like many other mineral springs) are lauded as -efficacious in certain complaints and defects of both sexes, which it is -not convenient or proper to notice in this place. - - -COUNTER-INDICATIONS. - -Dr. Richter dedicates a chapter to those complaints which are not -benefited, but injured by the waters of Wisbaden. - -1. All _acute_ diseases—that is to say, diseases accompanied by fever or -inflammation, are totally and entirely prohibited from these waters. But -this is not all. Wherever there is febrile action in the constitution, or -local inflammation, however subacute, or even chronic, the use of thermal -springs, either as drink or baths—but especially the baths—is dangerous. -“These waters, internal and external, will excite the circulation and -nervous system (already too much exalted) into the most dangerous -reactions, and lead to the most deplorable consequences.” P. 43. - -Phthisical affections, except in the earliest stage, and before any -material change has taken place in the lungs, preclude the idea of -utility from these waters. Emaciation, from internal suppuration in any -organ, and resembling phthisis, forbids the waters of Wisbaden. The -same may be said of cachectic habits, where the blood is broken down, -and the solids wasted. Dropsy of the chest, abdomen, or skin will be -prejudiced by these sources—and in short, all diseases connected with, -or dependent on defect of vital energy; or, in other words, debility of -constitution generally. Catarrhal affections of kidneys and bladder—fluor -albus—severe derangement of the digestive organs, (grand derangement -des organs de la digestion)—chronic diarrhœa, &c. with emaciation, will -derive no benefit but injury from these waters. All tendency to spitting -of blood—all enlargements of the glandular abdominal organs with debility -and wasting, prohibit the use of Wisbaden waters. The same holds good -with respect to stony concretions in the kidneys or bladder—biliary -concretions in the gall-bladder or ducts—scirrhous formations in any of -the organs of the interior, or exterior parts—all organic affections of -the heart or large vessels—epilepsy—catalepsy—St. Vitus’s dance—very -inveterate forms of gout, with chalk-stones, paralytic lameness, and -considerable debility. In some of these last cases, Dr. R. thinks that, -when directed with skill and caution, the waters may afford some relief -though nothing like a cure. Sterility, with constitutional exhaustion and -debility, has little to hope from Wisbaden. - -The reader will here perceive a long list of maladies which the Wisbaden -waters will not cure, but aggravate. It is very rare for a spa-doctor -to offer any such list. Their springs are panaceas for all the ills to -which flesh is heir. There is a passage in Dr. Peez’s work respecting -the baths which deserves attention. He remarks that there is a point of -_saturation_ in the use of thermal waters, beyond which it is dangerous -to proceed. But this point of saturation is difficult to ascertain. The -following is not very consolatory. - -“The temperature of the bath must be made to correspond as exactly as -possible with their individuality. Baths that are but _one_ degree -too warm or too cool, will very soon produce the point of saturation. -Neither is it advisable that such a person should bathe daily, nor, in -the beginning, stay in the bath longer than 15-25 minutes: for his great -irritability very easily provokes in the very beginning those excitations -that are the forerunners of critical secretions and accelerate the -appearance of the symptoms of overbathing, and if the patient be not -exposed to the danger of a violent artificial fever, the success of his -cure is, at least, rendered very doubtful. He is, in this case, obliged -to discontinue bathing so long that the time intended to have been spent -in bathing passes, or must be prolonged considerably.” 161. - -In many people this critical point of _saturation_ is announced by very -restless sleep, disturbed by dreams—or somnolency by day—tenderness -of the eye to light—uneasiness, despondency, and anxiety, without any -adequate cause—derangement of the digestion—loaded tongue. If these -symptoms be overlooked or disregarded, phenomena of more importance -present themselves, such as palpitations—difficulty of breathing—profuse -sweats—nausea—and finally a fever. Dr. P. is very averse to any active -remedies to reduce the fever of over-bathing, and especially bleeding or -purging. He advises that nothing be done but to desist from bathing, and -to take some cooling acidulous waters, as those of Selters or Fackingen. - -The same author assures us that the Wisbaden waters are extremely easy of -digestion—that they improve the appetite—open the bowels, in a majority -of cases—are eminently diuretic—but occasionally produce constipation. -From all that I could observe myself, these waters have very little -aperient effect. - -To enumerate the diseases for which the Wisbaden waters are renowned -would require a small volume—at least according to the testimony of -Peez. In one word, they cure all diseases in general, and many others -in particular!! On looking over the works of spa-doctors, we must come -to one or other of the following conclusions, viz. there must either be -a universal conspiracy among the faculty of Europe against spas, and in -favour of their own monopoly of thinning the ranks of the population by -physic—or the world is deaf to the entreaties of the water-doctors, and -desire not to be cured—or, what is not quite impossible, the virtues -of mineral waters are a little too much extolled by those who have the -administration of them. It is perhaps fortunate for the world that one or -other of these prejudices or infatuations prevail—otherwise there would -be no bills of mortality—no doctors—no undertakers—in short, man would be -immortal even in this world! - -There will still be a considerable number, however, of afflicted beings -who will not despise the blessings so freely and so cheaply offered by -the high priests of Hygeia. - -It is pretty well known that a kind of monomania prevails among all -classes on the Continent respecting hæmorrhoids—a complaint almost as -much dreaded by the English as it is courted by foreigners. By the people -it is considered quite a god-send—the absence of it being a calamity, -and its presence a talisman against every malady—by the physician, -its sanative powers are represented as only inferior to the waters of -Wisbaden, Kissengen, or Carlsbad. By the physiologist and pathologist -hæmorrhoids are calculated to bear the same relation to the constitution -that the safety-valve does to the steam-engine. Without the one, the -boiler would burst—without the other the German would die. In a word, the -German had rather live without his pipe, than without his piles! - -To the deficiency, absence, or interruption of hæmorrhoids are attributed -chiefly all those obstructions of the abdominal viscera which lead to -dropsy and other fatal diseases. The waters of Wisbaden are represented -as having the normal or salutary power of restraining piles, when -in excess—encouraging them when languid—and reproducing them when -accidentally arrested. HYPOCHONDRIASIS is one of the grand forms in which -suppressed hæmorrhoids harasses the patient for years, according to the -continental pathology. - -“How often,” says Dr. Peez, “does it, however, happen, that an abdominal -disease exclusively confined to the nervous system, suddenly changes its -character, preferably affecting the bloodvessels, and thus is transformed -into an active hemorrhoïdal disorder! - -“I have had occasion to observe the case of a husbandman, who had been -suffering the torments of hypochondria for some years; he was emaciated -and ill fed. His means did not allow him to attempt a radical cure, -and he applied only from time to time for my assistance, when his -sufferings were most painful. In spring 1821 he was suddenly seized with -palpitations of the heart, and when these ceased, his pulse continued -for some months to be full and hard, as in the case of fever. Discerning -the character of his disorder, I made him come to Wisbaden. Here he took -half-baths, drank the water in copious doses, and was cupped in his -legs several times. In twelve days the hemorrhoïds declared themselves -in the usual shape and delivered him from his melancholy, anxiety, and -oppression of the stomach, which had tormented him so long.” 196. - -Dr. Peez informs us that the sequences of tropical diseases are radically -cured by the Wisbaden springs. - -“Among the consequences of these endemic diseases of the Indies we must -reckon: tumefactions of the liver, and the spleen, which frequently are -encomous, as well as other tumors in the cavity of the abdomen: swellings -and obstructions of the intestinal glands (which frequently also are the -products of malignant cutaneous diseases, peculiar to the torrid zone), -obstinate jaundice, spasms of the stomach, accompanied with a vomiting of -food. - -“The English and Dutch physicians have these many years been in the -habit of sending patients of this class to Carlsbad or Wisbaden, after -those of the former first had tried Cheltenham to no purpose; and these -two springs produce, in the above mentioned diseases, an effect really -wonderful.” 198. - -Now we were told by the more cautious and candid Dr. Richter, a page -or two back, that “all enlargements of the glandular abdominal organs, -with debility,” were diseases not to be remedied by these waters. All -these morbid growths are attended and nourished by more or less of -chronic inflammation, and in these cases the Wisbaden, or any other -thermal baths, are more likely to do harm than good. The aperient waters -of Kissengen or Pulna are far more efficacious and safe. Dr. P. has a -chapter on the efficacy of these waters in “paralysis the consequence -of apoplexy.” Now every physician knows that the cause of the paralysis -succeeding apoplexy is the clot of blood effused in the attack, and the -damage which the brain has received in the neighbourhood of that clot. -Nature, at length, absorbs the effused blood, or surrounds it with a sac, -and then the adjacent brain gradually recovers its function, if within -the power of nature, and the motion of the paralyzed limb is regained -in proportion. How this salutary process is to be accelerated by the -baths or waters of Wisbaden, I cannot imagine; but I can very easily -conceive that these warm baths may readily interrupt the work of nature, -and convert a paralysis into an apoplexy. Such conversions, in fact, do -occur every year at the German thermal spas. He says, “paralysis arising -from _plethora_ will be cured with more facility by means of the thermal -waters, than that which is caused by the accumulation of lymph in the -brain or the spinal marrow.” This doctrine may be true in one sense, but -it is dangerous in another. Paralysis from plethora is undoubtedly more -susceptible of cure than dropsy of the brain or spine; but it must be a -most hazardous attempt to try the waters of Wisbaden for plethora of the -brain or spinal-marrow. - -Our author’s directions for using the waters appear unobjectionable, and -therefore I shall cull out some of his chief rules. - -1. The waters ought to be drunk fasting, and before the bath—using gentle -exercise and cheerful conversation between each draught. The cup should -never be emptied at once, but sipped slowly. Some people may drink four -hours after dinner, but in less quantities and at a lower temperature. - -In gouty affections, and where the skin is torpid, the water should be -drunk as hot as possible—and even in bed, if necessary. Some find it -better to drink it luke-warm, and mixed with a little milk. Half an hour -after finishing the waters, breakfast, (chocolate, coffee, or egg-milk, -or broth with the yolk of an egg,) may be taken. “The less nourishment -that is taken between drinking and bathing the better.” Half an hour -or an hour should elapse even after the lightest breakfast, before the -bath. It is dangerous to bathe when heated or perspiring. “Persons taking -a whole bath, should immerse themselves into the water only by slow -degrees, up to the neck, having previously sponged the chest and abdomen -with the bath water.” If seized with headache or vertigo in the bath, it -is too hot, and ought to be left immediately. Baths in which you perspire -are too hot, spoil the appetite, weaken the patient, and put him out of -humour all day. “All baths, even those of common water—sometimes cause -a sensible congestion of blood in the head.” The head should then be -sponged with cold water. Great care should be taken to avoid sleep in the -bath—or even after a hot bath—but after a tepid bath it may be allowed. - -In many cases it is very beneficial to use friction, by means of a brush -or sponge, whilst in the bath. The duration of the bath is a quarter of -an hour to an hour and a half. People should always begin with the short -period—and not too high a temperature. Where it is desirable to encourage -gentle perspiration after the bath, the patient should go to bed. - -As all sudden extremes are repugnant to nature, invalids, when travelling -towards watering-places, should begin to adopt the regimen and hours -which they must follow at the spas. A few tepid baths of plain water are -useful preparations, and light cooling diet, should be employed for a -week or two before arriving at the spa. - -The following sketch of the motives, hopes, and prospects which lead -invalids to spas—and their routine of life and enjoyments at those -places, is drawn by a SPA DOCTOR of twenty years’ standing. It is nearly -free from the sins of commission—but not of _omission_. It is penned _en -couleur de rose_—and, like the speech of an advocate, it slurs over all -features of the case that might seem disadvantageous to the cause of the -client. I shall supply some deficiencies at the end. - -“It is owing, in a great measure, to the enlivening influence which a -temporary residence at some watering-place exercises on the mind of the -visitor, that the most successful results are obtained there, and which -the best endeavours of the regular physician can seldom effect at home. - -“Persons not labouring under serious disorders—such as men of business, -who purpose only to repose from the fatigues with which the performance -of their official duties is attended, and to partake of the amusements -afforded by bathing-places—the man of letters, who takes refuge in them -for relaxation from his serious studies;—the tender mother, resorting to -them to obtain relief for a beloved daughter—all these have disengaged -themselves, as much as possible, from the trammels of their professional -and domestic occupations and relations, and enter this new world with -renovated spirits. The cheerful and gay life of a bathing-establishment -presents to all of them charms with which they were entirely unacquainted -before. Individuals of all ranks, gathering there from neighbouring -parts and the most distant countries, united there within narrow -confines, mostly for one and the same purpose, meet for the first time -in that motley assemblage, and also hail each other, perhaps, for the -last time, for a long series of years. This variety, this contact of -individuals, frequently distinguished by high rank and eminent talents -and accomplishments, enhances the charms of indiscriminate social -intercourse, and adds an additional value even to the patient’s solitary -hours, as I have frequently experienced myself, by ushering in the dawn -of a happier futurity. - -“The variety of interesting objects that present themselves to his -view, attracts his attention, and occupies his eyes and imagination, -and kindred spirits find many opportunities at watering-places to meet -and to form familiar connexions. A common purpose, the same society, -the participation of the same amusements and pleasures, facilitate the -formation of many interesting connexions. The opportunities of mutual -intercourse are numerous: the social meetings are not hampered by the -trammels of ceremony, and we readily acknowledge and enjoy mental and -social talents wherever we meet with them. - -“The patients meet early in the morning on the public walks and at the -wells. There they interchange their wishes and hopes of recovery. Many -are on the eve of returning health; and, encouraged by the improving -state of convalescents whom they daily see, or by the perception of -encreasing strength, feel themselves elated with the pleasing hope of -experiencing in their own persons the successful results of bathing -which they behold in others. New hopes awake in others that are still -groaning under the burden of severe and painful disorders, when they hear -many of their acquaintances bless the beneficent spring that has restored -to them health and the means of enjoying life. - -“Here plans for the amusements of the day are discussed, appointments -for shorter or longer excursions made, according to the strength and -inclination of each individual; and these excursions, this enjoyment of -the open air, contribute a great deal to heighten the salubrious efficacy -of the wells. A cheerful mind exercises the most happy influence on -the body, and who could indulge his melancholy bent and remain a cool -observer amidst the charms of nature and in the society of persons that -are endeavouring to enjoy them? - -“Now the patient takes the bath, and is happy to remain in the congenial -fluid to which earth communicates her vital warmth; he feels himself -strained more closely to the bosom of our common mother, whilst he is -surrounded by the salubrious liquid, issuing from her womb, and joyfully -presages the tendency of her mysterious powers. - -“After the bath the patient regularly indulges himself with a few hours -of rest, which affords him additional enjoyment. He notes down what he -has seen and heard, reads, writes, or directs his steps to the colonnade -of the _Cursaal_, (pump-room,) where a select band of performers on wind -instruments gives an additional zest to the charms of the morning hours, -until the company meet in the dining-hall, where they sit down to a -comfortable dinner, seasoned by the sweet sounds of excellent music. - -“Happy would it be if temperance and a sensible conversation did always -characterise these meals, and if all would be mindful, that the offended -Naiad severely punishes all kinds of excess, by which the strict regimen -she requires, is profaned! - -“In the afternoon the plans formed in the morning are executed, each -patient trying the strength he has regained;—and, in the evening, the -lovers of dancing repair to Terpsichore’s temple; whilst others spend -the evening in one of the parties that are formed in every bathing -establishment. After the fatigues of the day, a balmy sleep, which is -interrupted no more by restlessness, improves the encreasing strength, -and the dreams that formerly were the mirrors of a melancholy reality, -are superseded by cheerful sports of fancy. - -“These are the general outlines of a life that may be led at a -much-frequented watering-place, and by many is realized in a shape still -more pleasing and refined. The great diversity of enjoyments that may -be procured at these places, allots to each as much as he may want, and -sometimes even more than many a one desires.”[15] - -But is there no drawback on this scene of sunshine? Do all experience -the invigorating influence of returning health? No. Not one half! Do the -hypochondriacs who resort to Wisbaden in shoals, throw off their load -of mental despondency and bodily infirmities? Let Dr. Granville, who -is not inclined to depreciate spas in general—and “SPAS OF GERMANY” in -particular, decide the question. - -“What a dreadful picture of human wretchedness the hypochondriac at -Wiesbaden presents! He is sombre, thoughtful, or absent, in the midst -of a laughing world. For ever brooding over his fate, his disease -absorbs the whole of his attention. He disdains even the most trifling -conversation with his fellow-creatures, and flies from those ephemeral -acquaintances which are so easily formed at watering-places, exactly -because one cares little how soon after they are forgotten. In fact, he -would feel himself alone in the world, and never concern himself about -those around him, did he not envy their healthy looks, their firmer -muscles, and their sounder stomachs, which can sustain an indigestion -with impunity!” - -There are a great many others, besides hypochondriacs, who are destined -to feel the melancholy effects of blighted hopes in these last resorts of -suffering—and who turn their weary steps homewards, without the cheering -expectations that gilded their journey to a foreign land! - -But is there no risk of receiving, in exchange for dear-bought health, a -moral contagion that poisons the springs of life, and saps the foundation -of every virtue? Beneath the gilded domes of that splendid mansion—that -palace of Plutus—that CURSAAL, or _Curst Hell_—the dæmons of play exhibit -their piles of glittering ore—those “irritamenta malorum— - - “From night till morn, from morn till dewy eve,” - -familiarizing the uninitiated eye to scenes of desperate -speculation—imbuing the soul with the wicked thirst of gold unjustly -acquired—of plunder, without fear of punishment—of robbery, without -danger of the gallows! The atmosphere of this Pandemonium—for the -devils are in legions here—is too infectious to be long resisted. The -open manner in which the vice is practised by day, and by night—in the -presence of multitudes of all ages, nations, and both sexes—on the -sabbath of the Lord, as well as on the day of work—this legalization, -not merely permission of a violation of morality, religion, and social -order, which, in England, must skulk in holes and corners—the kind of -social heroism with which the most destructive vicissitudes of fortune -are borne by some of the hardened haunters of these splendid hells—these -and various other circumstances combine to mask the hideous mien of the -monster, and strip the crime itself of half its horrors, till, by daily -presentation, it becomes at length endurable without terror, and embraced -without remorse! The neophyte has no sooner wound up his courage to the -staking of his piece of gold, than the spell of security is broken—the -charm of serenity is dissolved—the flood-gate of the passions is thrown -open—the “_auri sacra fames_” takes possession of the soul—and the dæmon -of the night enrols one more name on the list of his victims! - -The Spartan practice of exhibiting the drunken slave to disgust the -rising generation with the vice of inebriety, was a doubtful experiment -at best—but, in the present case, there can be no doubt at all as to its -inapplicability. There is always seen a certain proportion of the fair -sex round the gambling-tables—many of them playing with quite as much -desperation as the men. It is melancholy to state that, we too often see -delicate English females squeezing in between parded Jew and whiskered -German, to stake their gold or silver on the gyrations of a ball or the -colour of a card! - -Here is an excellent NORMAL SCHOOL, where the wives, and daughters, and -sons of our nobility and gentry can learn the rudiments—“_and something -more_”—of heartless vice and headlong dissipation, without reference -to sectarian creed, theological faith, or national religion;—while the -children of the Protestant peasant and mechanic would be contaminated by -the presence of Catholic or Dissenter in the same grammar-school, when -acquiring the rudiments of reading and writing! If this be not “straining -at gnats and swallowing camels,” I know not what is! - -And here I may glance at a curious species of one-sided morality strictly -enforced by the late Duke of Nassau—the prohibition of gambling in the -“CURST-HELLS,” among his own subjects; while free permission is given -to all foreigners to rob and plunder each other at roulette and rouge -et noir, in the open day—Sundays and Saturdays! When I said _free_ -permission, I was wrong. The license to gamble is sold to the bankers -of each Cursaal (curst hell) for a large sum—which goes into the ducal -treasury. I puzzled my brains, for a long time, in the attempt to -discover the _principle_ of this law, and at length found it, as far off -as China. The geographers of that country represent the Celestial Empire -as occupying nearly the whole of the dry land of this globe—the various -other countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, being located as -small islands dotted in the ocean, and inhabited by BARBARIANS. Now it is -clear that the late Duke considered his Duchy of Nassau as the Celestial -Empire of Europe, the other nations, as Russia, Prussia, Austria, Italy, -Spain, England, America, &c. being mere barbarians, whose morals were not -worth preserving—whose souls were not worth saving—and whose gold alone -was worth gathering into the royal exchequer at Biberich![16] - -The young sovereign of Nassau has now a good opportunity of signalizing -his accession to power by abolishing the gambling tables of the Cursaals. -The income derived from the licensing of “hells” cannot yield good -interest here or hereafter. - - -THE ADLER, OR EAGLE BATH. - -It is not my custom to entertain my readers with the names of hotels, -the prices of wines, or the hours of table-d’hôtes. These pieces of -information I leave for others. The present anecdote is an exception -to the general rule. Having arrived late at Wisbaden, we put up at -the nearest hotel, which was the Adler, or Eagle, the one where Dr. -Granville resided, and the locality of which is not considered the very -best by him. We found it a very good hotel, and well supplied with -excellent baths. Early next morning, my friend Mr. Cooper, of Brentford, -and myself, took out our tickets from the “BADE-MAITRE” in the hall, -and strolled round the establishment, without meeting with any person -whatever. As several of the baths were standing open, we went into the -first two that struck our fancy, and bathed. I observed an unusual -quantity of the scum or cream on the surface of mine, and which I could -have dispensed with. I took the opportunity, however, of examining this -cream, by means of four out of the five senses, viz. by sight, touch, -taste, and smell. Before I left the bath I came to a conclusion as to -its nature and origin. I have not a doubt that, at the great deluge, an -immense posse of white antediluvian bears, then as large as elephants, -were swept from the polar regions, and hurled headlong into the great -cauldron beneath Wisbaden. There they have been simmering from the days -of Noah—their flesh, fat, and marrow oozing up daily, in the shape of -cream or bear’s grease, as well as broth, through the Kochbrunnen, -greatly to the advantage of the Wisbadenites, and the benefit of those -afflicted with gout, rheumatism, and the stiff-joints of old age.[17] I -am astonished that Dr. Granville and Sir Francis Head should have framed -so puny an hypothesis as that of the KOCHBRUNNEN and CHICKEN-BROTH. -Why, I appeal to every one who has travelled in Germany, whether it -would be possible to extract an ounce of fat from all the cocks, hens, -and chickens in Nassau, even if stewed in a Papin’s digester for six -months together. No, no. The cream and broth of the Kochbrunnen are the -veritable essence and decoction of the antediluvian bear, spiced perhaps -with a sprinkling of the “organic remains” of wolves, tigers, jackalls, -hyenas, and other small gear. - -While I was dressing after my dip in this delectable soup, and carrying -out the details of my theory, a series of heavy blows and unintelligible -vociferations at the door, induced me to think that the hotel was on -fire, or that the Kochbrunnen had exploded. I hastily drew the bolt, -when in rushed the infuriated bath-master’s cad, with his Medusa-faced -cadess, breathing forth all kinds of imprecations on my devoted head; -and, from their gestures and actions, menacing me with a drowning instead -of a plunging bath! I instantly threw myself into a posture of defence, -determined, if I must drink the bear’s broth again, that the cad or his -gentle mate should have the first gulp. On seeing this, they retreated a -few feet but still kept up a roar of abuse, till I had finished dressing, -when my friend Cooper joined in the affray. The assailants followed us, -till I had nearly got to the bad-master’s office, where, opening one of -Dr. Granville’s volumes, which I had under my arm, I pointed out the -notice (not too favourable) which had been already taken of the Adler, -and told him that I, too, was a SPA-TOURIST, and would render his baths -either famous or infamous, by the portrait which I should draw of them, -as a warning to my countrymen. The bath-master was astonished, and not a -little terrified. He immediately summoned his cad and cadess, informing -them that the English gentleman was an AUTHOR, and threatened to publish -in England an unfavourable account of the hotel and baths. The “_cream_” -of the jest soon came out. It appeared that a dandy of sixty—a Cupid -of the grand climacteric, had occupied for the season the bath which I -used, taking care that the water should be turned in over night, in order -that the cream, or bear’s grease, should have time for concretion on -the surface, and thus “smoothe the wrinkled brow,” as well as lubricate -the unpliant joints, of this veteran Adonis. The denouement disarmed -me of my wrath, especially when I recollected that, in this land of -minute regulations, I ought not to have descended into a vacant bath, -without the express sanction of the bad-master’s cad, in the subterranean -regions. The hotel itself is a very excellent one, and its master, -who speaks English, a very civil and obliging host. I recommend it to -my countrymen, with this proviso, that they never go into a bath that -has an unusual proportion of bear’s grease on the surface, without the -cad’s permission, lest they spoil the watery mirroir of some antiquated -Narcissus, who hopes—vain hope!—by means of baths and broths, to relume -the lack-lustre eye—to efface the time-ploughed furrows from the faded -cheek—to communicate elasticity to the indurated muscle—vital heat to -the stagnant veins—activity to the body, and energy to the mind:—and -all these, _after_ the allotted hours of human existence have danced -their giddy rounds[18]—after the cup of enjoyment has over-flowed, times -without number, and is now drained to the dregs—_after_, - - “The soul’s dark cottage battered and decayed,” - -has begun to afford feeble shelter against the storms of moral adversity, -and the stings of physical infirmity—_after_ the discovery of Solomon, -that “all is vanity,” has been amply verified! That humanity should -still cling fondly to the cheerful clay, _after_ all these warnings, is -not wonderful, because it is the natural impulse and instinct of every -animated being, from the gnat to the elephant. But that reasoning man, -and woman too, should attempt, not merely to conceal the ravages of -time, but deck them out in the false colours of youth, is a mortifying -reflection and preposterous exhibition! We see it however, every day—and -the Adonis of the Adler is an exquisite specimen. - -I shall close this Chapter with an extract from a little work on the Spas -of Nassau, published in 1839, by my friend Mr. Lee, who practised three -years at Wisbaden, and made himself well acquainted with the remedial -efficacy of these waters. - -“It is becoming evident in England, that the high reputation which -the Wisbaden springs have always enjoyed, for the cure and relief of -gouty and rheumatic affections, has not been over estimated, from the -numbers who annually return home in an improved state, several of whom -having for years been subject to repeated attacks of gout, have escaped -any recurrence after a course of the baths, during the whole winter -and spring, and have returned in subsequent seasons greatly improved -in appearance, more for the purpose of more effectually preserving -themselves from a relapse, than from any actual necessity. In cases -of long standing, of the atonic kind, with or without deposition of -calcareous matter in the joints, occurring in persons beyond the middle -period of life, the Wisbaden baths are calculated to render the most -eminent service; indeed, according to Dr. Peez, the more inveterate the -gout is, the more effectually can it be combated by these waters. Though -bathing is the essential part of the treatment, it is advisable in most -of these cases to combine with it the internal use of the water. Mild -douching will also tend very much to the dispersion of local swellings, -puffiness, stiffness of the joints, of the wrist, fingers or foot, and -also of chalky concretions, _although it should not be used if there be a -tendency to inflammatory action, nor until a certain number of baths have -been taken_. During an attack, the baths will require to be suspended, -till the more severe symptoms have subsided; when the patient may again -begin, by previously drinking the water, while confined to his room. In -general, patients who have been accustomed to free living do not bear -a low regimen, and will be the better, after the inflammatory symptoms -are allayed, for being allowed some solid food if an inclination be felt -for it; care being taken, that the quality be plain and light, and that -the quantity be small. In cases of erratic, irregular, or repelled gout, -these baths will also most probably be productive of great benefit, -and not unfrequently cause the morbid action to restrict itself to one -spot; a more regular attack being sometimes induced, previous to an -amelioration taking place. Persons who have only experienced two or -three attacks, but in whom the predisposition is strong, may generally -expect to derive permanent benefit from the baths; provided they are -subsequently cautious in their mode of living, and do not indulge too -freely in the pleasures of the table; on the other hand, where there -is much tendency to acute inflammation, in persons of a plethoric or -highly irritable habit, I should consider Wisbaden less likely to suit -than a warm alkaline spring, as Vichy or Teplitz. I should be inclined -also to counsel many young persons, in whom the gout developed itself -at an early age, in consequence of a strong hereditary tendence, to -give the preference to a spring of this kind; though it is probable -that they would equally derive advantage from Wisbaden. It cannot be -expected however, that a single course of the waters would suffice to -eradicate the disease; and, in order to have the chance of a permanent -cure, persons afflicted with gout would do well to return, for two -or three consecutive seasons, to the springs from which they derived -benefit; passing the intervening months in a suitable climate, and paying -attention to the regulation of their diet and mode of living. - -“As the mornings are frequently chilly, and it is of importance to -prevent the action of a cold atmosphere on the surface of the body, while -under a course of bathing, I do not in general recommend, to English -patients, the very early hours of rising and drinking the water, adopted -by the Germans; six, or half-past, will be sufficiently early, even for -those who take their bath before breakfast, and for those who do not, -any time between that hour and half-past seven; breakfast being taken -an hour after drinking, and consisting of tea or coffee, according as -the one or other is found best to agree. Those who dine at one o’clock, -should again drink about seven in the evening; while for those persons -who prefer dining at four, or later, from two to three will be the -best time for taking their second dose. The effects of the water are -thus better sustained than when the whole quantity prescribed is taken -in the morning, and an interval of four-and-twenty hours allowed to -elapse between the periods of drinking; the water is often thus better -digested, and is well borne, when the distention of the stomach by the -same quantity if taken before breakfast, would disagree and give rise to -unpleasant symptoms, or occasion a too active operation upon the bowels -or kidneys.—It is also advisable, when a full course of these and other -mineral waters is required, to recommend a temporary suspension of the -course, and change of air for three or four days, after a certain period -of drinking and bathing has elapsed; by this means, the system is not too -early saturated, and the patient returns to resume the use of the water, -in a more fit state for its absorption, and with a greater probability of -more durable benefit. - -“Most chronic rheumatic affections will be removed or greatly relieved -by the Wisbaden baths. In the slighter cases, not of long standing, a -short course, for about three weeks, will be frequently sufficient. In -the more intractable cases of articular and muscular rheumatism, as also -in the pains of a rheumatic nature affecting the face, head, and other -parts; a more prolonged course will often be required, combined with the -use of the douche. In some cases the hot bath, vapour-bath, or douche, -may be advantageously employed, especially in elderly persons whose -skin is dry, and seldom perspirable. Where however the complaint has -supervened upon, or has been continued from an acute attack, in which any -symptoms of the heart or pericardium being affected, were present—which -is more frequently the case than is generally supposed—it would be well -to ascertain, by auscultation and percussion, that none of those symptoms -remain, as they would very likely be aggravated by the employment of -the water. Those rheumatic affections depending upon long exposure to -wet or cold, to which military men on duty are peculiarly subject, are -especially relieved by these baths. Two or three bad cases of this kind -fell under my observation last year, in which the most beneficial and -unexpected results followed a full course of the waters. One gentleman -in particular who returned from India invalided, was scarcely able to -get about with the assistance of a stick; who was sceptical of the -power of mineral waters, and not over-attentive with respect to his -diet, recovered the comparatively free use of his limbs before he left -Wisbaden, and was completely restored when I met him about a month -afterwards, in a steamer on the Mediterranean, being on his way to rejoin -his regiment.” - -“Those nervous pains recurring in paroxysms affecting the branches -of particular nerves of the face, head, or extremities, to which the -term neuralgia or tic is generally applied, and which not unfrequently -originate from a rheumatic or gouty diathesis, from the suppression of -habitual discharges, or of cutaneous eruptions—which causes, though -perhaps somewhat exaggerated by continental practitioners, are not -sufficiently attended to in England—are more likely to be relieved -and cured by a properly directed course of mineral waters, than by -pharmaceutical remedies or local applications. To many of these cases -Wisbaden would be exceedingly applicable, especially when the functions -of the skin are sluggishly performed, and there exists a congested state -of the abdominal or pelvic viscera, with retardation or irregularity -of the periodical secretion in females. In those cases which appear to -arise from other causes, as moral influences, a high state of nervous -excitability, &c., I should be more inclined to recommend waters of a -different kind, of which I shall have to speak presently. Water or vapour -douches may in general be advantageously combined with the baths and the -internal use of the same water—or of a water of a different nature, as -that of Homburg, Marienbad, &c. according as circumstances may seem to -indicate their employment. - -“The state of abdominal plethora, with congestion of the liver, and -obstruction in the circulation of the vena portæ, termed by the Germans -_Unterleibsvollblütigkeit_, with its consequences, as impaired digestion, -deficient or vitiated biliary secretion, piles, &c.—occurring for the -most part in persons about or beyond the middle period of life, who -have been addicted to the pleasures of the table, and marked by more or -less protuberance of the abdomen, with diminished muscular and nervous -energy—is one well calculated to be relieved by the use of the Wisbaden -waters internally and externally employed. The baths, by exciting -the activity of the nervous and vascular systems, and by determining -powerfully to the surface, tend most materially to equalize the -circulation and remove the internal congestion, while by the internal use -of the water the secretions of the mucous membranes, of the alimentary -canal, of the liver and kidneys, are improved in quality, and often -perceptibly increased in quantity;—at the same time that the mesenteric -glands and absorbent vessels are stimulated to increased activity, -and the digestion is consequently improved. Even when, under these -circumstances, the drinking of the water is not followed by immediate -sensible effects, either upon the bowels or kidneys, it is frequently -not the less efficient on that account, and unless some inconvenience be -experienced, it should be persisted in, as after a certain time copious -critical evacuations will often occur, and be followed by immediate -relief; whereas were similar effects produced by artificial means, as the -exhibition of drugs, the relief would only be temporary, and the frequent -repetition of the same or analogous measures, would be necessary, and -would tend but little to the permanent amelioration of the patient. In -several of these cases, especially where there exists hardness or tension -in the region of the liver, spleen, or in other parts of the abdomen, the -douche will be of material assistance in the treatment.” - -“In many cases of paralysis, baths of mineral waters offer the most -efficient, and often the only means of arousing the nervous energy of -the system, and of the paralysed parts; and few have a more beneficial -influence in this way than those of Wisbaden; but here again it cannot -always be determined beforehand, that baths of this kind will be more -effectual than those of other springs containing but a small proportion -of solid and gaseous substance, as the latter occasionally succeed after -the failure of the former. In the obscurity which still envelops the mode -of action of mineral baths, this cannot be satisfactorily accounted for, -except upon the principle of idiosyncrasy, or by the supposition that -the disturbing action of a thoroughly impregnated spring is less adapted -to certain of these cases, than the more tranquilizing and sedative -influence of a simple thermal, or slightly alkaline, warm spring. In most -instances, however, where there does not exist a high degree of nervous -excitability, or tendency to fulness in the cerebral vessels, the baths -of Wisbaden may be used with great prospect of advantage; especially when -the complaint is of a rheumatic origin, depending upon the impression -of poisonous influences upon the nervous system, as malaria, the abuse -of mercury, or the employment of this and some other metals by workmen; -as also in those cases, where the disease appears to be of a purely -local nature, not connected with cerebral disease, but arising from -deficient energy of the nerves of the part, or of the spinal marrow, -consequent upon exposure to cold and wet, or other analogous causes. -Even in paralysis affecting a limb or one side of the body, remaining -after an apoplectic seizure, baths of this and other mineral waters -may often be advantageously employed, provided there be no symptoms of -cerebral congestion, or organic disease. Plethoric individuals, and those -whose digestive organs are disordered, will frequently require some -preparatory treatment, previous to using the baths, in paralytic, as well -as in other diseases. These, then, are the principal diseases which the -Wisbaden waters are more especially calculated to relieve, and in which -their use in the form of baths and douches is the most essential part of -the treatment. There are besides various other complaints to which the -external or internal use of the water, or both combined, is extremely -suitable, in common with several other mineral springs; but of which -the peculiar circumstances of each case require to be investigated, in -order to enable the practitioner to decide upon the springs likely to be -most effectual. Of these, many scrofulous affections will be cured or -greatly ameliorated by the internal and external application of these -waters; particularly enlarged lymphatic glands of various parts, and of -the mesentery, occurring in children or young persons of a torpid habit, -with tumid upper lip and abdomen, a vitiated state of the intestinal -secretions, and a harsh dry condition of the skin. Here the exciting and -resolvent powers of the waters are exceedingly effectual, by improving -and augmenting the secretions of the alimentary canal, and of the skin; -and, by stimulating the absorbent and vascular systems, mostly cause the -speedy diminution of glandular or bony swellings. - -“Another case, in which the Wisbaden springs are often eminently -serviceable, is, where there is a general disordered state of the health, -without the existence of any actual disease, or material derangement of -any particular functions, except perhaps impaired digestive powers—as is -very frequently seen in Londoners, and inhabitants of other large cities, -closely engaged in trading, mercantile or professional occupations; as -also in those who have been resident in a tropical or unhealthy climate: -such a state, though relieved and palliated for a time by medicines, not -unfrequently terminates in serious functional or structural disease, -if allowed to continue for a long period—and nothing would tend more -effectually to its removal than temporary absence from the cares of -avocation, change of air and mode of life, and the employment of a -mineral spring like Wisbaden, followed by that of a chalybeate water, in -those cases where it is not counterindicated. - -“The same may be said of several cases of hypochondriasis, with -disordered digestive powers, to which Wisbaden is applicable, both on -account of its waters, tending to rectify the deranged state of the -digestive organs, and also from the beneficial influence which would be -exerted in most instances on the patient’s _morale_, by the movement of -the place, its cheerful appearance, the beauty of its environs, and the -neighbourhood of so many objects of interest. To some patients of this -class, tepid bathing with the internal use of a cold gaseous spring is -most applicable. To others again, certain other mineral springs are best -adapted. - -“The suppression or painful performance of periodical functions peculiar -to females, is frequently benefitted by the Wisbaden baths; especially, -if the cause be cold, checked perspiration, or a congested state of the -abdominal or pelvic viscera. Some syphilitic affections, especially -where much mercury has been employed, and certain chronic cutaneous -diseases, as psoriasis, impetigo, &c. where the skin is generally in -a dry state; as also eruptions of the face depending upon derangement -of the alimentary canal or liver, will often be removed, by baths of a -warm saline water, like Wisbaden; and likewise by sulphurous or alkaline -springs, either alone, or combined with the internal use of the same, or -some other mineral water. In certain bronchial and laryngeal affections, -with cough, and scanty or deficient expectoration, the Wisbaden baths, -combined with the internal use of the water, and the inhalation of its -vapour, may be expected to be of material advantage. - -“On the other hand, these springs, like most others, will generally be -prejudicial in organic disease of the lungs, heart, or large vessels, in -disorganisation of the abdominal or pelvic viscera, with fever, profuse -hemorrhagy or discharges _per vaginam_, either depending upon relaxation -or upon the presence of hypertrophy, polypus, or other structural -disease.”[19] - - - - -SCHLANGENBAD. - - -The extensive cook-shop and laboratory under Wisbaden have communicated -no small portion of caloric to the air, as well as to the waters of that -place. We no sooner begin to ascend the slopes or ridges of the Taunus -than we experience a remarkable transition from languor and oppression -to vigor and elasticity—not confined to the _physique_, but extending -also to the _morale_. Of the two roads from Wisbaden to Schlangenbad, we -preferred the mountainous, or inland route, to that along the Rhine, for -the sake of a bracing air and a boundless prospect. We trotted merrily -along the hills and vales of the Taunus, over a Macadamized road, till, -in two hours, we found ourselves, all at once, in a romantic dell or -valley, bounded on both sides, by densely wooded mountains rising nearly -perpendicular, from the narrow space between. In this small compass -rise three or four huge buildings, white as snow, and each having more -windows than there are days in the year. I set them down as manufactories -of cotton or cutlery, but the absence of all clanking of machinery or -hissing of steam, soon undeceived me. On driving into a little square -between the two principal Hoffs, all was silent as Pompeii—and not a -human being was seen in any direction. There was no competition here -between the two chief hotels—both belonging to one master—and he the -sovereign of the country. As it was about 12 o’clock, all true Germans -were in their holes and corners, meditating on, and preparing for -the grand _business_ of the day—the onslaught of the _couteau_ and -_fourçhette_ at the _mittag_ table-d’hôte. To the Serpent’s Bath, the -intervening hour was dedicated. The cosmetic and renovating qualities -of the Schlangenbad are nearly as far-famed now as the cauldron of -Medea was, in days of yore. The Old Man of the Brunnens dipped his -pencil in prime copal _varnish_, when he _embellished_ the baths of -this sequestered valley. The description is a real bijou of its kind,—a -diamond of the first _water_—equally profitable to the pen of the painter -and the purse of the royal proprietor! - -“The baths at Schlangenbad are the most harmless and delicious luxuries -of the sort I have ever enjoyed; and I really quite looked forward to -the morning for the pleasure with which I paid my addresses to this -delightful element. The effect it produces on the skin is very singular; -it is about as warm as milk, but infinitely softer: and after dipping -the hand into it, if the thumb be rubbed against the fingers, it is said -by many to resemble satin. Nevertheless, whatever may be its sensation, -when the reader reflects that people not only come to these baths from -Russia, but that the water in stone bottles, merely as a cosmetic, -is sent to St. Petersburg and other distant parts of Europe, he will -admit that it must be soft indeed to have gained for itself such an -extraordinary degree of celebrity: for there is no town at Schlangenbad, -not even a village—nothing therefore but the real or fancied charm of -the water could attract people into a little sequestered valley, which -in every sense of the word is out of sight of the civilised world; and -yet I must say, that I never remember to have existed in a place which -possessed such fascinating beauties; besides which, (to say nothing of -breathing pure dry air,) it is no small pleasure to live in a skin, which -puts all people in good humour—at least with themselves. But besides the -cosmetic charms of this water, it is declared to possess virtues of more -substantial value: it is said to tranquillize the nerves, to soothe all -inflammation; and from this latter property, the cures of consumption -which are reported to have been effected, among human beings and cattle, -may have proceeded. Yet whatever _good_ effect the water may have upon -this insidious disorder, its first operation most certainly must be to -neutralize the _bad_ effect of the climate, which to consumptive patients -must decidedly be a very severe trial, for delightful as it is to -people in robust health, yet the keenness of the mountain air, together -with the sudden alternations of temperature to which the valley of -Schlangenbad is exposed, must, I think, be anything but a remedy for weak -lungs. - -“The effect produced upon the skin, by lying about twenty minutes in the -bath, I one day happened to overhear a short, fat Frenchman describe to -his friend in the following words—‘_Monsieur, dans ces bains on devient -absolument amoureux de soi-même!_’ I cannot exactly corroborate this -Gallic statement, yet I must admit that limbs, even old ones, gradually -do appear as if they were converted into white marble. The skin assumes -a sort of glittering, phosphoric brightness, resembling very much white -objects, which, having been thrown overboard, in calm weather within the -tropics, many of my readers have probably watched sinking in the ocean, -which seems to blanch and illuminate them as they descend. The effect is -very extraordinary, and I know not how to account for it, unless it be -produced by some prismatic refraction, caused by the peculiar particles -with which the fluid is impregnated. - -“The Schlangenbad water contains the muriates and carbonates of lime, -soda, and magnesia, with a slight excess of carbonic acid which holds the -carbonates in solution. The celebrated embellishment which it produces -on the skin is, in my opinion, a sort of corrosion, which removes tan, -or any other artificial covering that the surface may have attained from -exposure and ill-treatment by the sun and wind. In short, the body is -cleaned by it, just as a kitchen-maid scours her copper saucepan; and the -effect being evident, ladies modestly approach it from the most distant -parts of Europe. I am by no means certain, however, that they receive any -permanent benefit; indeed, on the contrary, I should think that their -skins would eventually become, if anything, coarser, from the removal -of a slight veil or covering, intended by nature as a protection to the -cuticle. - -“But whether this water be permanently beneficial to ladies or not, the -softness it gives to the whole body is quite delightful: and with two -elements, air and water, in perfection, I found that I grew every hour -more and more attached to the place.” - -This glowing description of the Old Man has worked a greater miracle -than that of changing water into wine. It has actually transmuted the -spring of Schlangenbad into liquid gold—_aurum potabile!_ If the author -be accused of “exaggeration”—(now a dangerous term)—he may quote the -sentiments of the ESCULAPIUS—the Apollo of the place. - -“Never did bath produce such delightful sensations as the Serpent’s Bath -at Schlangenbad. These salubrious waters exert on the body an agreeable -and gentle pressure—voluptuously expand the limbs—and tranquillize the -nerves and the blood. You rise from the waters of Schlangenbad _like a -Phœnix from its ashes_. Youth becomes more beautiful—more brilliant—and -old age is imbued with new vigour.”[20] - -Well done Dr. Fenner! You have beaten the “Old Man of the Brunnens” -fairly out of the field! Why the very waters themselves must have blushed -when they saw the account of these their miraculous qualities—and the -serpents must have waltzed merrily round the pine trees that overhang the -source of the magic Brunnen. - -And yet the whole is little more than an ingenious romance, closely -allied to the legends of the neighbouring Rhine—as the story of the -Drachenfels, for example. It is unnecessary to comment on the PHŒNIX -of Dr. Fenner. That fabulous bird speaks for itself; but Sir F. Head’s -account requires some remark. In the first place, the appearance of the -limbs and body of the bather, is precisely the same as in other clear -and tepid waters, as those of Wisbaden, Baden-Baden, Wildbad, &c.—or, -indeed, in plain water. The “glittering phosphoric brightness,” and -the blanching and illumination of sinking bodies in tropical seas, are -all the offspring of a fanciful or poetical imagination. Then again, -the soapy, satiny, and unctuous feel communicated by the Schlangenbad -waters, is not peculiar to them. The first time I ever bathed in the -Ems waters, many years ago, I remarked this, and can never forget the -sense of _bien-être_ which I then experienced. And no wonder, for the -waters of Ems are infinitely more alkaline—especially in the baths—than -those of Schlangenbad. The effects, however, of these last on the skin, -appeared to me more marked and pleasant than those of Wildbad, Wisbaden, -or Baden-Baden. The tranquillity and sedative qualities of the Serpent’s -Bath are somewhat exaggerated by the “OLD MAN,” and outrageously so -by Dr. Fenner; but nevertheless they possess these influences to a -considerable extent. - -And here I must say that my friend Dr. Granville appears to have viewed -poor Schlangenbad with a jaundiced eye.[21] The waters of the Kochbrunnen -may have stirred up the bile—for assuredly the waters of Schlangenbad -are clearer, and the mountains are higher, and the trees are larger than -he has represented them. The very description of Captain Head proves the -transparency of the waters—and the following passage from Mr. Lee, which -I can corroborate, will remove the stigma from the baths themselves. - -“The bathing-cabinets, notwithstanding the depreciating terms in which -Dr. Granville has spoken of them, are exceedingly convenient, more so, -indeed, than at most other baths, and infinitely superior to the closets -for undressing adjoining the piscinæ at Wildbad. They are for the most -part lofty and well ventilated, and are divided into a dressing-room and -a large and spacious marble _baignoire_ capable of containing five or -six persons; though it is only intended for a single person; bathing in -common not being the practice at Schlangenbad. The bather consequently -is not obliged to lie down in water about two feet deep, but has ample -space to play or move about, the water being admitted in large quantity, -so as to rise nearly breast-high; the temperature can also be increased -by the bather, at pleasure, by admitting more warm water, though some -persons, in the height of summer, prefer bathing in the water at its -natural temperature,—about 22° Reaumur. A bath of this water, like others -of the same class, imparts softness to the skin, with a pleasurable -sensation while it lasts, and a feeling of _bien-être_ for the remainder -of the day.”[22] - -The waters of Schlangenbad contain only about six grains of solid -substances in the pint—half of which is carbonate of soda—and very little -carbonic acid gas. Small as these ingredients are, they are larger than -those in the waters of Wildbad, or Pfeffers. They are, as Captain Head -observes, safe waters, both for bathing and drinking. The temperature -being about 86°—something higher than Buxton, they may be used by many -people without any artificial increase. But, generally speaking, it will -be prudent to raise them ten or twelve degrees for gouty and rheumatic -patients. Every body knows—or has been told—that the medicinal virtues of -Schlangenbad waters were discovered by a hide-bound heifer—and proved by -a young lady under a similar state of skin. Whether this story be true or -fabulous, I cannot tell; but I apprehend that its cosmetic and satinizing -properties are those which draw most of its foreign customers from the -shores of the Baltic, and the banks of the Thames. Captain Head justly -suspects the durability of the satin skin—and there is little doubt that -if half a pound of soda or potash were added to a common warm bath in -England, the same softness of surface would be the result. - -I do not much wonder that the “Old Man” should have become enamoured -of Schlangenbad, considering the disposition which he evinced for -solitude, contemplation, and reflection. The locality is well adapted for -all these. Society is so concentrated in this little valetudinarium, -and so quiet withal, that human nature may be studied with a kind -of “microscopic eye,” and all its modifications, peculiarities, and -eccentricities noted without distraction or bustle. On the mountain’s -romantic brow, under the shade of the sombre pine, and in the stillness -and serenity of the forest, the mind has ample time to meditate on, and -inwardly digest the observations made in the little miniature world below. - -As one o’clock approached, the solitude of Schlangenbad began to exhibit -some symptoms of change. From various points of the compass isolated -individuals, bearing the marks of illness, were seen carefully picking -out the softest—or, at all events, the _smoothest_ stones of the pavé, -over which to wend their way, towards what an Irishman would call “three -centres” of attraction. Soon afterwards, we heard three or four bells -simultaneously sounding, when immediately the solitary videttes were -succeeded by whole columns marching to their appointed rendezvous. Never -did veteran Roman phalanx advance with more steady pace—more death-like -silence—or more inflexible resolution, to the assault of barbarian -foe, than does a German corps—men, women, and children—to the work of -demolition at a mittag table-d’hôte. - -Falling into the ranks of the largest column, we soon found ourselves in -the salle-a-manger of the New Bad Haus, where about one hundred sat down -to dinner. There was a fair proportion of English—full an eighth of the -whole. There is little difficulty in distinguishing the German from the -Britannic guests. The sallow complexion, black and broken teeth, matted -locks, extravagant mustachios—and transcendental salutations at meeting -and parting—are some of the most prominent features of distinction; yet -there are many others of a minor cast.[24] An inferiority in the cloth -of the coat—a peculiarity in what a sailor would call “the cut of the -jib”—enormous rings on the fingers, and brooches in the breast, are -characteristic of our German neighbours. Independently of these, you may -smoke a German in any part of the room—or scent him at a quarter of a -mile’s distance in the open air, if the wind be favourable. For although -he ceases to smoke when he begins to eat, yet from one pocket the reeking -pipe is exhaling its odours—while from the other, a load of the “cursed -weed” itself is diffusing its aroma in all directions. But I find that -I have been mistaken in giving a truce to smoking during the act of -eating. The fair author of “Souvenirs” has corrected me. “Yonder is an -old gentleman actually eating and smoking at the same time—the long pipe -being pushed into one corner of his mouth, so as to leave an entrance in -front for the spoon or fork.” On reading this passage, I could not help -feeling certain anatomical and physiological difficulties in the way of -this triple function of mastication, smoking, and swallowing, being all -simultaneous. I believe I can explain the phenomenon, however, without -questioning the fact of the fair writer. Every person must have seen a -horse eat oats and hay, with the bit of the bridle in his mouth. It was -so with the old gentleman. All Germans have numerous vacancies among -their grinders, and the one in question was able to keep his pipe ready -lit for service between the courses, in one corner of his mouth. But it -is certain that the triple or even double function of smoking and eating -simultaneously, is next to impossible. - -These external peculiarities of the German are probably not more striking -to John Bull, than are the singularities of the latter to the German. As -to internal qualities—moral and intellectual—my conviction is, that the -German has far more head and heart than nine-tenths of his continental -and insular neighbours. - -In fine, the more I have seen of the Germans, the more I admire their -honesty, zeal, single-heartedness, quietude, order, hospitality, -learning, and humanity. These solid qualities leave the little personal -peculiarities which I have sketched above, as “dust in the balance.” - -It is not quite so easy to discriminate between the German ladies and -those of our own country, as between the gentlemen of the two nations. -One reason is, that the German ladies do not smoke long pipes, and wear -long mustachios. I shall not libel the sex, as Pope has done, by making -the colour of the hair the characteristics of women:— - - “And best distinguished by black, brown, or fair.” - -There is one peculiarity in the manners of the German fair (besides -a certain “je ne sçais quoi,”) which is, their BOWING instead of -CURTSEYING, on meeting or parting from friends—and that quite as low -as their brothers, fathers, and husbands. This was the reason of my -introducing the term “_bussel_-rending” in the description of a German -SALAAM. - - -TABLE-D’HÔTE. - -Not being deeply versed in the science of gastronomy and its -nomenclature, I shall introduce the following order and succession -of dishes as drawn by a fair countrywoman (Souvenirs of a Summer in -Germany,) whose fidelity of description cannot be doubted. - -“First, as usual, was the soup—then the invariable boiled beef, with its -accompaniments of pickled cucumber, onions, or sour krout. After the -beef, is a course of cutlets, sliced raw ham, omelettes, and vegetables. -Then come partridges, chickens, sausages, ducks—all which are replaced -by various kinds of fish—some so besauced and bedecked with garnishes, -that they are hardly recognizable as belonging to the finny tribe—and -pyramidical dishes of cray-fish. The puddings come next, with smoking -boats of fruit and wine-sauce. Is this the finale? Not at all. The -pudding is a kind of æra, whence fresh courses take their date. A more -formidable array of dishes next makes its appearance. Roast joints—req, -(a kind of deer,) geese, turkeys, hares, &c. &c. with innumerable -satellites of preserved pears, plums, cherries, salads, &c. This -substantial course is followed by sweets—cherry tarts—enormous cakes, -all spices and vanille with a snowy summit of powdered sugar—custards, -creams, &c. The dessert and bon-bons close the proceedings.” - -Now, it is to be observed, that this was the bill of fare at Schwalbach -or Schlangenbad, where nine-tenths of the guests are notoriously -invalids. It would scarcely serve for a dejeuner a la fourçhette at the -sumptuaries of Baden or Wisbaden. The fair authoress admits that the -German partakes of every dish; but argues that he does not eat more -in the aggregate than the Englishman. This statement is so decidedly -contrary to all observation, that I can only account for it by supposing -that the fair lady noted more accurately the compliments to “la belle -Anglaise,” proceeding out of the mouths of her favourite Germans, than -the provender which proceeded in a contrary direction. Is it likely that -the keeper of a German hotel would dress more dishes than are generally -consumed, seeing that the price of the whole dinner is under two -shillings? Not he indeed. The fact is undeniable that the Germans—indeed -all the continentals who can afford it, eat not only a greater variety -and complication of “dishes tortured from their native taste,” but a -greater quantity in the aggregate. The question naturally arises—what is -the consequence? Compare the complexions of the Germans and English. No -one will attempt to deny that the contrast is most striking. The tints of -health predominate in the looks of the Islanders—pallor and sallowness -in those of the Continental. But the lady may reply—“nimium ne crede -colori”—complexion, like beauty, is only skin-deep. Be it so. We shall -look deeper. Let us follow the example of the horse-dealer, and examine -the teeth. If my fair countrywoman has preserved any “souvenirs” of these -important actors in the drama of human life, she will not be inclined to -maintain that a German is like an elephant—with a mouth full of ivory. -I never saw the hearty laugh of an honest German, without thinking of a -temple—whose portal consisted of broken columns of ebony. If 40 Germans, -at the age of 40, were compared with the same number of English, at -the same age—all taken indiscriminately from the streets of Vienna and -London—what would be the comparative number of sound teeth in the heads -of the two classes? I shall attempt a calculation presently; mean time, -it will be admitted on all hands, that the Germans are woefully afflicted -with unsound teeth. What is the reason? A pair of mill-stones will -grind only a certain quantity of corn—or last only a certain number of -years. It is the same with the human mill-stones, or molares. They will -only grind a certain quantity of food, or do a certain amount of labour, -before they are worn out, like their namesakes in the mill. Now if the -Germans eat one-third more than the English—and I firmly believe they -do—then their teeth have one-third more of work, and ought to experience -a corresponding degree of wear and tear. This, however, will not account -for the premature decay of the teeth, but only for their wearing out -sooner than under other circumstances. We must seek deeper for the -causes. As the millstones are spoiled and rendered useless by allowing -improper things to be mixed with the grain, as pebbles, &c. so the teeth -are injured by the quality as well as by the quantity of our food. The -oils, acids, tobacco, and other deleterious substances, for ever mixing -with continental meals, must greatly injure the organs of mastication as -well as of digestion. - -The human frame is a congeries of organs, all in harmony, when in health, -and each assisting the others. But when we deviate from simplicity and -temperance, these same organs quarrel with each other, to the detriment, -and sometimes to the destruction of the whole constitution. The stomach -is one of those patient and willing organs that will work wonders for -years and years; but at length it will rebel—and even retaliate. The -teeth, which have long sent down immoderate quantities of food, too -often of the most abominable composition, for the stomach to grind over -again, become visited with pains and penalties by the offended organ, -under the vain hope that less work will be done in the upper mill. -The warning is unheeded; and then the stomach begins the process of -demolition in good earnest. It is in this state of, what the geologists -would call “transition,” that we see the teeth of the Germans—and, it -must be confessed, of the English sometimes also—in a state disagreeable -to the eye, offensive to the nose, and injurious to the health. The -stomach, which has inflicted this punishment on the mouth, so far from -being benefitted thereby, is still farther injured by the failure of -mastication; and then the various organs and functions of the body become -involved in the consequences of long-continued deviations from the paths -of Nature, simplicity, and temperance! - -If this penalty be still considered as imaginary, I shall adduce more -cogent arguments. The bills of mortality contain very stubborn facts. -Let us take the two capitals of Germany and England—Vienna and London. -In the _former_, one twenty-fourth of the population goes to the grave -annually:—in the latter (London) one-fortieth part only. In the language -of the insurance-offices, “the value of life is more than one-third -greater in London than in Vienna.” Now this difference will surely -not be attributed to climate merely—since the continentals themselves -anathematize the climate of England, and the fogs of London, as most -“horrid.” Here then we have some clue to the comparative number of teeth -in individuals of the same age, at home and abroad. We shall probably -find the proportion of 24 to 40 (the ratio of mortality) as exhibiting a -fair estimate of the number of teeth in equal masses of the population -in Germany and England. Thus, for example, if the Englishman, at the age -of 50, have twenty teeth in his head, the German, at the same period of -life, will have only twelve, and so on. - -But to return to the table-d’hôte. A glance round the “SALLE-A-MANGER” -brought a strong conviction on my mind, that FAME had either exaggerated -the virtues of the Serpent’s Bath, or had excited hopes that would -seldom be realized. A majority of the guests were females; and not a -few of these were of a certain—or rather of an _uncertain_, age. Of -the males, the greater number were evidently dandies in decay. I never -remember to have seen, in the same compass, a greater variety of feature -and complexion—indicating a re-union, in this sequestered spot, of -individuals from various and remote regions. But however diversified in -external physiognomy, there was one point in which there was a wonderful -coincidence and similarity—that point was—_not_ the point of BEAUTY. It -is with mortification, I confess, that the English portion of the guests -did not form a prominent exception to the general rule. To say the truth, -the whole company exhibited sorry samples of the great European and -Transatlantic family;—and if appetite was any index, the majority had -met here, partly for health, but principally for—RE-_creation_. How far -the transmutation from age to youth—from decrepitude to vigour—from the -wrinkled skin to the polished surface, was effected by plunges in the -Serpent’s Bath, I had not time to ascertain. I candidly acknowledge that -I never saw a _real_ phœnix—but if _these_ were specimens of Dr. Fenner’s -phœnixes, “rising from their ashes,” then I must say that they very much -resembled a batch of old cocks and hens roosting at Schlangenbad during -the molting season. - -The first impression which a stranger receives, while prying through -Schlangenbad, is that the waters have an uglifying rather than a -beautifying effect on the human frame. This is erroneous. We do not -go through the wards of an hospital to search for samples of rude -health—neither ought we to go to Schlangenbad for specimens of smooth -skin and delicate complexion. - -We rambled through winding and umbrageous paths up the mountain behind -the Old Bad-haus, to its summit—and I think there are few places in -the world better adapted to profound meditation, while, at the same -time, inspiring the most pure, bracing, and salubrious atmosphere. I -descended in a contemplative mood, when I stumbled into a long kind of -gallery or hall, which looked like an enclosed promenade. There the -accursed ROULETTE-table met my eye and excited my choler. What! In this -valley of Rasselas—in this asylum of health—in this peaceful retreat -from the stormy passions of the city—to find the symbol of Hell, and -the instrument of the devil, was more than I could bear with patience! -True, it was deserted. Not a human being was seen in the place; but its -presence indicated too surely the work of destruction that would go on -in the evening. Julius Cæsar, I think, observed that the Germans, in his -time, were so passionately addicted to gambling, that, when they had lost -all their money and goods, they would stake their wives and children! It -therefore seems to be impossible to eradicate this dreadful propensity -from the German mind. Still the public exercise of it might be prevented. -The King of Saxony prohibits and _prevents_ smoking in Dresden! If such a -miracle as this can be wrought in Germany, we need not despair, even of -gambling! - - - - -SCHWALBACH. - - -The wizzard of Nassau—the knight of the “Bubbles,” has wrought a real -modern miracle—the transmutation of water into wine, or rather into -nectar. - - “The conscious Brunnens saw their god and blushed.” - -Every spring in the Duchy has danced more merrily, and bubbled more -briskly to the beams of the rising sun, since the children of Albion have -swarmed round the living fountains, in search of health or amusement. -Well may Dr. Fenner say—“cette reputation est due surtout aux Anglais. -La plume caustique de HEAD a puissament contribué à nous faire-faire une -connaissance plus intime avec cette nation.” The pen of Sir Francis may -be likened to the bath of Schlangenbad— - - “Nullum tetigit quod non ornavit.” - -By “ornavit” I do not mean the _embellishment_ which is sometimes -synonymous with exaggerations or distortions; but merely that charm which -the pen of genius can throw round the most common subjects. Schwalbach is -still as it was, in a deep narrow valley—and invisible till we are within -a few hundred yards of it. The houses, though more generally painted, and -greatly increased in number since the time of the “Old Man,” are still as -though they had been shaken in a bag and scattered through the ravine, -without the slightest regard to order or regularity. Sir Francis could -find no shops in his time—now he would find a bazaar! The town is still -somewhat in the form of a Y or a fork, at the end of one prong of which -is the STAHL-BRUNNEN—while the other prong, or rather prongs, boasts -of two hygeian fountains—the WEIN-BRUNNEN and the PAULINEN-BRUNNEN. -The WEIN-BRUNNEN is the most powerful—the STAHL-BRUNNEN is the most -palatable—and the PAULINE is the most fashionable. The climate of this -place, according to the testimony of Dr. Fenner, supported by that of Sir -F. Head and others, is very pleasant and salubrious. On the hills we have -cool breezes—in the valley shelter from cold winds—in the woods, ample -shade beneath umbrageous foliage, when the sun is powerful and the heat -oppressive. - -When the “bad humours” of the spa-going invalids have been washed away by -copious libations at Aix-la-Chapelle, Ems, and Wisbaden—when the gouty -and misshapen limbs have shrunk into “the lean and slippered pantaloon,” -beneath the powerful influence of the Kochbrunnen, the Ragoczy, and the -Sprudel—when the purple nose of the alderman has faded into the pale -proboscis—when the turgid liver, the tumid spleen, and the over-fed -corporation have receded within the normal boundaries of a double-reefed -waistcoat—when the knotty and contracted joints of rheumatic gout have -taken their departure, leaving a legacy of the crutches—when— - - “Wrapp’d in his robe, white LEPRA hides his stains, - Robb’d of his strength, but unsubdued his pains”— - -when tottering palsy has been discharged from Wisbaden and Wildbad, -as much reduced in general, as recruited in local power—when blighted -ambition, wounded pride, ruined fortunes, and corroding cares, have -sapped the energies of mind and body, and marked their impress on the -pale and sickly countenance—when the “green and yellow melancholy” of -hopeless love or severed affections wanes to the alabaster hue on the -maiden’s cheek—then SCHWALBACH, with its ruby fountains and sparkling -gases, comes to the rescue, and works as many miracles and metamorphoses -as steel and carbonic acid can any where effect. The saline spas of -Germany are all of the radical cast. They are qualified to break down -and expel the rotten and decayed parts of the constitution—but they can -seldom build up or repair the vacant spaces. The chalybeate spas, among -which SCHWALBACH holds a distinguished rank, unite the principles of -conservatism and reform. They are calculated to preserve the original -constitution, and to _re_-form those portions that have been pulled down -and extruded by the “_mouvement_,” or radical waters of the saline class. - -In none of the three springs is there more than three-fourths of a grain -of iron to the pint—and in the Pauline—the most fashionable one—there is -little more than half a grain; but it contains nearly 40 cubic inches -of carbonic acid gas to the pint, which, with six grains of carbonate -of sodium, two grains of carbonate of lime, and nearly three grains of -magnesia, makes it the most ætherial and aperient of the three sisters. -The water of the Wein-brunnen is limpid, pleasant to the taste, and -sparkling like champaigne. It is very easy of digestion, even when taken -in considerable quantity. Almost immediately after being swallowed, -it produces an agreeable warmth in the stomach, and thence diffuses a -sensation of comfort, nearly amounting to pleasure, through the whole -frame. It acts gently on the bowels in most cases. It is easily preserved -in bottles for any length of time. - -The Stahl-brunnen is the greatest favourite with the ladies. It contains -about three-fourths of a grain of iron, and little more than three grains -of other substances in the pint. It is sharper and rougher to the taste, -and has more of the inky gout than either of the other springs. It is -also much more refreshing and exhilarating. The carbonic acid is very -abundant. The waters more nearly resemble Champaigne than the other -sources, and quickly diffuse a powerful energy over the whole frame. -Formerly these waters caused an eruption on the skin; but they do not so -at present. - -The Pauline was only discovered in 1828, at a depth of fourteen feet. The -quantity it discharges is prodigious. The taste is extremely agreeable -and refreshing. It is one of the mildest and purest chalybeates that is -known. It is very easy of digestion, and operates very gently on the -bowels. By quickly amalgamating itself with the blood, it is rapidly -diffused through every organ and tissue of the body, producing favourable -changes there, and proving a general restorative. The vigor which it -inspires is remarkable from day to day—and the change of complexion from -pale to rosy, is equally surprising. - -The waters of Schwalbach, generally belong to the class of æthereal or -volatile chalybeates—very agreeable to the palate, and producing a slight -and temporary feeling of intoxication. Their chief ingredients are steel -and carbonic acid, in such a state of combination as gives the iron a -great efficacy in consequence of its minute solution in the waters. - -“At the same time (says Dr. Fenner,) that this spring causes agreeable -sensations in the palate and stomach, it excites the muscular fibres -and the nerves of the whole alimentary canal, into a state of -activity—invigorates the circulation—corrects the secretions—increases -them when defective—and gives new vigor to the whole process of digestion -and nutrition. In doing this it enlivens the spirits, and imparts tone to -the intellectual functions.” - -The indications for using the Schwalbach chalybeates, according to the -same authority, are the following:— - -1. In atony or debility of the stomach and bowels, whether from natural -constitution, or from excesses previously committed—whether isolated -from other complaints, or connected with affections of other organs, as -the liver, spleen, &c. This atony eventuating in difficult, painful, -or imperfect digestion, with all its consequences, is remedied by the -waters. It is in these kinds of complaints that the Stahl-brunnen is -chiefly employed—“the Wein-brunnen being too strong, and the Pauline too -volatile.” Strict regimen, in such cases, is indispensible. - -2. When the blood is in a watery or deteriorated condition—when it is -deficient in red globules—and consequently not fitted to support the -energies of the muscles, the tone of the nerves, or the functions of the -great organs of assimilation, secretion, &c. It is in such cases that -the chalybeates produce their most brilliant and unequivocally good -effects. Females, from the delicacy of their constitutions, the effects -of civilization, and certain disorders to which their sex subjects them, -are the peculiar votaries of these springs. Hence those affected with -chlorosis—with hæmorrhages—with menorrhagia—hysteria—obstructions, &c. -are seen flocking to Schwalbach, there to regain strength, colour, and -health. - -“Quels que les noms des maladies qui se developpent, ici le malade peut -esperer, avec raison, d’etre gueri. Quelques semaines suffisent souvent -pour regenerer ses humeurs d’une maniere sensible.” - -Although this is the assurance of a SPA DOCTOR, yet the nature of these -waters, and the reputation they have obtained, produce a considerable -degree of confidence in the assertion of Dr. Fenner. - -3. In great weakness of the nerves, and where their influence is not -sufficient to impart energy to the various functions, particularly of -chylification and sanguification, the chalybeates of Schwalbach are said -to have proved eminently serviceable. Dr. Fenner asserts their efficacy -in hypochondriasis, hysteria, melancholia, and in partial and complete -paralysis. In sterility they have also acquired considerable reputation. - - -COUNTER-INDICATIONS. - -The waters of Schwalbach have limits to their medicinal agency, and are -even injurious in many states of disease. - -1. In plethoric states of the constitution, accompanied by irritable -condition of the heart and great vessels—in sanguineous temperaments—and -in all cases where there is a tendency to local inflammation or general -fever—or even to congestion in any of the organs or tissues of the body. -“High attacks of acute inflammation, of hæmorrhage, and of apoplexy, have -followed the imprudent employment of these chalybeates.”—_Fenner._ - -2. In those cases of indigestion, connected with, or dependent on, -organic disease of stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys, or mesenteric glands, -these waters would be improper and hurtful. - -3. But the chalybeates of Schwalbach are not to be recommended in cases -where the vital powers are _greatly_ prostrated—the blood and humours -extremely vitiated—or the nervous system too much shattered. “Those -who venture on these waters, under such circumstances, and where the -constitution is at so low an ebb,—‘trouvent, loin des siens et de leur -patrie, une mort certaine et premature.’”—_Fenner._ - - * * * * * - -The waters are taken fasting. The best season is the spring and summer. -From one to three glasses are prescribed, with a quarter of an hour’s -exercise between each glass. After this a light breakfast, where the bath -is not used. - - -THE BATHS. - -These are prescribed in the morning, after taking a glass or two of the -waters. They are generally given at a low temperature, such as 90° of -Fahrenheit, unless ordered otherwise. They therefore are several degrees -lower than the heat of the bather’s blood, and about the same heat as the -_external_ surface of the body. They feel neither warm nor cold; but it -is asserted by Sir F. Head, who used them for some time, that they impart -a feeling of invigoration soon after immersion—and “he could almost have -fancied himself lying with a set of hides in a tan-pit.” The same author -remarks that they are very apt to produce—“headaches, sleepiness, and -other slightly apoplectic symptoms.” He thinks these effects must result -from not immersing the head as well as the body. In this he is mistaken. -The best way to avoid such consequences is to keep the head cool—and the -atmosphere of the bath is and must be many degrees below that of the -water. The bare head will therefore be cooler out of the bath than in it. -But the fact is, that the symptoms above-mentioned are not seldom apt to -occur in all tepid and warm baths, from the action of the waters on the -nervous and vascular systems of the surface, producing an excitement and -determination to the brain. They should be taken as warnings, and not be -trifled with. - -Upon the whole, the waters of Schwalbach, from what I could learn on -the spot, and from those who have prescribed them, and used them, are -very useful and mild chalybeates, which may be considered as a kind of -“FINISH,” after the powerful alterative waters of Wisbaden, and the -strong alkaline waters of Ems;—always remembering that SCHLANGENBAD is to -give a _polish_ to the surface at the end of the process. - - -GERMAN SOCIETY AND MANNERS. - -There are few places where a stranger can have a better coup-d’œil -of German habits and manners, than at the SPAS; where all ranks and -classes, from the prince to the peasant, are jumbled together, without -ever jostling each other. They drink together, bathe together, walk -together, talk together, smoke together, joke together, dine together, -muse together, sup together—and, then go to bed, all with the greatest -decorum, quietude, civility—and I may add, ceremony. - -“The company,” says Sir F. Head, “which comes to the brunnens for -health, and which daily assembles at dinner, is of a most heterogeneous -description, being composed of princes, dukes, barons, counts, &c. down -to the petty shop-keeper, and even the Jew of Frankfort, Mainz, and other -neighbouring towns; in short, all the most jarring elements of society, -at the same moment, enter the same room, to partake together, the same -one shilling and eight-penny dinner—still, all those invaluable forms -of society which connect the guests of any private individual were -most strictly observed; and, from the natural good sense and breeding -in the country, this happy combination was apparently effected without -any effort. No one seemed to be under any restraint, yet there was no -freezing formality at one end of the table, nor rude boisterous mirth -at the other. With as honest good appetites as could belong to any set -of people under the sun, I particularly remarked that there was no -scrambling for favourite dishes;—to be sure, here and there, an eye was -seen twinkling a little brighter than usual, as it watched the progress -of any approaching dish which appeared to be unusually sour or greasy, -but there was no greediness, no impatience, and nothing which seemed -for a single moment to interrupt the general harmony of the scene; and, -though I scarcely heard a syllable of the buzz of conversation which -surrounded me; although every moment I felt less and less disposed to -attempt to eat what for some time had gradually been coagulating in my -plate; yet, leaning back in my chair, I certainly did derive very great -pleasure, and I hope a very rational enjoyment, in looking upon so -pleasing a picture of civilized life.” - -It must be candidly confessed that this scene, which is every where the -same, exhibits a striking contrast to spa-society in England, where -each class forms a clique that repels its neighbour, as one electrified -ball repels another. It is therefore highly desirable that the _cause_ -of this happy concordance throughout the whole chain of society on the -Continent, should be ascertained, in order, if possible, to introduce it -into our own country. Sir F. Head seems to attribute it to a high degree -of _civilization or refinement_. “I fear it cannot be denied that we -islanders are very far from being as highly polished as our continental -neighbours.” If civilization consist in _civility_, I admit the truth of -this assertion. But a Gentoo is even more _civil_ than a German—and a -Chinese is more ceremonious than either—yet we do not place the Hindoo or -the Hong at the very top of the tree of civilization. - -But I apprehend that this harmonious amalgamation of all ranks and -classes in Germany is not to be traced to one, but to several causes. I -would attempt to account for the phenomenon by one, or more, or all of -the following circumstances. - -1. Natural disposition.—2. Education, inducing habit.—3. Comparative -paucity of trade, commerce, and manufactures.—4. Government. - -1. We see peculiarities in the natural dispositions of nations, as -well as of men. Some evince a disposition to music, another to arms, -a third to navigation, a fourth to agriculture, a fifth to commerce, -&c. The Germans may have a natural disposition to order, quietude, and -politeness. Of this I am by no means sure. - -2. What is man, individually or collectively, but the creature of those -circumstances in which he is placed?—of the elements around him—of the -education impressed on him—of the religion within his breast—of the -examples before his eyes? In all the lauded and laudable traits of -character delineated by Sir. F. Head, the German has been trained from -his infancy—and from these he has neither inducement nor inclination to -deviate. - -3. The third circumstance I consider to be very operative. The struggles, -the collisions, the jealousies—the host of evil and of exciting passions, -which agitate a commercial, trading, maritime, and manufacturing country -like England, have, comparatively, no field in Germany; where life is -far more allied to agricultural and pastoral, than to commercial and -manufacturing pursuits. There is as much difference between the Germans -and the English, generally, as between the peasantry of Lincolnshire and -the mechanics of Birmingham—between the chaw-bacons of Hampshire, and the -black and white devils of Merthyr-Tidvill and Sheffield. - -4. _Government._—I attribute no small share to this class of influential -causes in modifying the manners of a nation. In absolute monarchies, -where the will of the sovereign is the law of the people, the _latter_ -are not likely to be so frisky, boisterous, and turbulent, as under a -limited and constitutional government, inclining to democracy, where the -vox populi is not seldom the vox Dei—and where— - - ——Imprisoned factions roar, - And rampant Treason stalks from shore to shore. - -On another occasion I shall allude to the minuteness with which the -German governments regulate the most trifling concerns of life, when -mentioning that a passenger in a public diligence is forbidden to move -from the seat allotted to him, to the next vacant one at his side, -without permission from the post-master of the first town at which the -conveyance stops! In such countries would the Age, the Satirist, or even -the TIMES be long allowed to take liberties with crowned heads, courts, -or ministers? No verily! Their tongues would soon be as smooth, and -civil and ceremonious, as those of the crowds of spa-drinkers around the -Wein-Brunnen of Schwalbach![25] - -Whether the state of things on the South side of the Channel be better -or worse than that on the North, I presume not to say. Davus sum, non -Œdipus. But I think I have proved that, while these differences exist, -the manners and habits of Germany are not likely to blend or amalgamate -with those of England. Nothing, I think, would produce this fusion of -the two people, except some strange geographical revolution that might -convert the British Isles into a small appendix to the Continent; without -“ships, colonies, or commerce”—without iron mines or coal mines—without -cotton or cutlery—without fisheries or factories—without steam-engines -or printing-presses—but above all, without that great national or normal -school of agitation—the PARLIAMENT—where deputies learn to “speak -daggers,” and chartists are encouraged to make pikes—where orations -are directed not to the ears of the COMMONS, but to the eyes of the -CONSTITUENTS—where the campaign is opened with a speech recommending -concord; carried on with speeches full of discord; and concluded with a -speech of gracious accord—finally, where multiplicity of _motion_ in the -beginning is synonymous with paucity of _action_ in the end. When all -these incentives to turbulence shall have vanished, and also when English -stomachs shall prefer sour krout and rancid oil to roast beef and brown -stout, then, and not till then, may Sir Francis hope to see his favourite -German _polish_ and Gallic _varnish_ lacquering over the rough manners of -his native Isle. - - - - -HEIDELBERG. - - -Many a time have I dragged my weary limbs up the series of steep terraces -that lead to the old red Castle of Heidelberg. Not being able to feign -ecstasies which I do not feel, I fear I shall give great offence to those -sentimental tourists who discover in this town, castle, and surmounting -hills, romantic views and picturesque beauties of the first order. Upon -this, as upon all other occasions, I appeal to the unbiassed feelings -of the traveller himself. The mouldering ruins of the Red Castle have -something about them too modern for antiquity, and too antiquated for -the modern. I am unable to give any _architectural_ explanation of this -impression—unless it be the following: - - “I do not like thee Mr. Bell, - The reason why, I cannot tell!” - -The view from the Castle, and from the Botanical Garden above it, over -the alluvial plain that stretches to the Rhine, and embracing the country -to the West of that river, is interesting, but neither striking nor -romantic. The tiny NECKAR, that meanders along its rocky bed, in the -travelling season, excites our apprehensions lest it should fare the fate -of the Arethusa, and disappear altogether. When heavy rains descend among -the mountains of the Black Forest however, it makes up for its torpidity -in the dry weather, and thunders past Heidelberg in great foam and fury. - -In rambling through the streets of Heidelberg, whose University is one -of the crack seminaries in Germany, we cannot help recognizing the -students, although deprived of their red caps and long hair, by order of -Government. They have a semi-academic, semi-barbarous,—or, perhaps, more -properly speaking, a semi-ruminating, semi-fumigating appearance, not -very distantly allied to the revolutionary or bandittal. - -The German students of this and other Universities having ineffectually -endeavoured to regenerate—_id est_—to revolutionize their country, were -put under the _ban_ of Austria and Prussia, a procedure which very -completely secured them against doing any mischief—_to the State_. Thus -cramped in their generous and patriotic enterprize to involve society -in war, they formed societies for warring among themselves, called the -VERBONDUNGS, or congresses, for regulating, arranging, and conducting -duels!! The following graphic description of one of these fights, was -drawn up on the scene of action, in November 1839, by an eye-witness. - -“On Wednesday last, as I took my customary walk after dinner, a friend -came up to me, and told me that he perceived by various circumstances -that a ‘lorgehen’ was about to take place. He pointed out to me a -man sauntering lazily along the bridge, with a basket slung over his -shoulder, and who stopped at every minute to look down into the water, or -watch a barge dragged with difficulty against the stream by its single -horse. An old woman sat at the corner of a house, a short distance up the -river, in a position which commanded a view of the bridge and the road -from the town, and a man pushed a boat about objectless in the middle of -the river. These, to the initiated eye, gave certain evidence of what was -going on; these persons being all employed in watching, that an alarm -may be given in case of the police gaining information of the affair. -We walked for some distance up the right bank of the Neckar, till we -arrived at the opening of a mountain gorge, down which a small stream -rushed impetuously, and from which a girl was apparently filling her -pails. We ascended this pass for a short distance till we arrived at a -dirty, dilapidated house, which my companion pointed out as the scene of -these disgraceful combats. We ascended to the door of the beer-shop by a -flight of broken steps, and passed through a passage into a yard, where -two men were grinding, to the highest pitch of sharpness, a long, thin, -basket-handled rapier; the blade resembled, in shape and sharpness, two -blades of a pen-knife placed back to back. In a few minutes we mounted -to the first floor, and traversing a low room set out with tables and -benches for refreshment, passed into a lofty and spacious saloon, without -furniture of any sort, but a few forms placed against the walls, and a -table with towels and a basin of water, in one corner. In the opposite -corner of the room, at about four yards apart, were marked upon the -floor two letters in chalk; these, the initials of the verbondungs to -which the combatants belonged, marked the position of the fighters. A -few students stood listlessly about, smoking or talking in whispers. A -man entered, and threw down near the scene of action a bundle of swords, -a huge, thickly stuffed glove, reaching to the shoulder, and a piece -of matting resembling a mattress, to be tied round the middle of the -second, to guard against chance thrusts. Thus some minutes passed, till -at length one of the gladiators themselves appeared. He was a short, -but strongly and beautifully proportioned young man, having a pleasing -countenance, with a thin silky moustache, and long glossy, black hair, -reaching far below his cap, which was drawn closely over his eyes, and -bore the colours of his club. His body, from the chest downwards, was -enveloped in a thickly stuffed leather apron, impervious to every blow, -but slashed and stained in a hundred places from the effects of former -contests. The neck was covered also with a thick defence, above which -he could hardly lift his chin. Lastly, his right arm was bandaged, and -wrapped so carefully with paddings, that it was necessary to have a -person to support it until the moment of fighting. The body was only -covered by a ragged and dirt-soiled shirt. Thus equipped, with his -sword-arm resting on the neck of a companion, the little hero began to -walk up and down the room to promote circulation and to exercise the -limbs. In a few minutes his antagonist entered, habited in the same -manner, his cap decked with his peculiar colour, resting his arm likewise -on a friend. He was a tall and handsome youth, his face was pale as -death, but his step was firm as he paced the saloon for the same purpose -as the other. At this minute not a sound was heard but the tramping of -the two combatants and their seconds as they passed and repassed each -other without the slightest regard. Neither of them spoke a word, and the -seconds but seldom addressed to them in a whisper some sentence of advice -or caution. Presently a movement was observed towards the approaching -scene of action; the few and almost indifferent spectators drew round, -and a chair was placed within, beside which the judge stood to mark -the number of the rounds. The combatants were led to their respective -posts, their right arms extended, holding their rapiers in hand, and -resting still on the arm of a friend. The seconds planted themselves -at their left side, equipped in their defensive trappings, and holding -above their heads a blunted sword. ‘_Silentium!_’ exclaimed the judge. -The quiet which reigned before became instantly doubly quiet. One second -cried aloud, ‘_Verbindite Kling_’ (‘fasten blades’ literally), placing -at the same time, the point of his mock weapon a little in advance of -his principal, the other doing likewise. ‘_Los_’ instantly followed, and -the glittering swords of the two gladiators were crossed for battle. A -moment they looked at one another, then their blades flashed in the air, -a blow was struck and parried, and the seconds struck their arms up with -a cry of ‘Halt!’ The heavy sword arm was again rested on the attendants, -and a moment’s pause ensued. ‘_Silentium!_’ repeated the judge, and -another round began. Whenever a blow was aimed, whether it took effect -or not, the seconds interfered, and the round was ended. Thus they -continued through twenty-two onsets without pause, except to replace -a broken blade, or for a fresh cap on the head of the combatants. The -latter of the two was a wary swordsman, who had fought frequently before. -He watched cautiously the movement of his adversary, and, whenever his -stroke failed, made a quick and well-directed blow at his head. He, -though it was his first battle, guarded well: but at length the blade -of his opponent passed like lightning through his cap, and inflicted -an awful wound on his head. A large space was laid bare, and his whole -person deluged in blood: his long thick hair hung matted and discoloured -over his shoulders. In a few moments, however, he retaliated fully -upon his antagonist, his face was laid open from the ear to the nose, -effectually marking him for life. In all, five wounds were given, three -of which the smaller of the two received, having, besides that on the -head, one under the right arm and one under the ear; the other had also -a gash under the ear. In about twenty minutes the number of onsets was -completed; the combatants retired, their padding was taken off, and the -worst part of the affair began—namely, the sewing up of the wounds. Here -they are in the habit (as if to punish as much as possible the folly of -these duels) of _sewing_ up even comparatively trifling wounds, so that -the mark is seen certainly for years after its infliction. The tall man -in a short time was able to walk home; the other, however, was compelled -to have a carriage, so weak had he become from loss of blood. This, I -must tell you, was an unusually bloody combat, as in two others, which I -saw immediately after, not a single wound was given. The average number -of duels taking place daily is seven: the consequence is, that every -third man you meet in the street has a gash across his face.” - -Bad as is British pugilism, it is exceeded in atrocity by this barbarous -system of German duelism. What says the government to it? Virtually -and literally this:—“you are naughty boys, and deserve to be punished -for thus hacking and carving each other; but, as paternal solicitude -for the happiness of our loving subjects is our ruling principle, we -will—_pension a surgeon to sew up your wounds_. There, now, be gone—but -mind, young gentlemen! no _political_ discussion in your verbondungs! -If you are ever caught at _that_, perpetual incarceration will be your -lot!” This is literally the fact. The state not only winks at this Gothic -war among the students, but pays a state surgeon for attending the -wounded![26] - -The parents of youths going to universities of all kinds, have some -reason for anxiety—if they knew all:—but the VERBONDUNGS of Germany are a -disgrace to civilized Europe! - - - - -BADEN-BADEN. - - -Along almost the whole way from Wisbaden to Baden-Baden, we have Belgium -on our right, and Devonshire on our left. The road, which generally -skirts the bases of the undulating hills to the eastward, has hardly -a rise or fall, the alluvial and fertile plain stretching away to the -Rhine, till the mountains of Alsace arrest the attention on the western -bank of that river. The whole space between the hills and the river, was, -indisputably, a lake, at some remote period, drained by the breaking down -of some obstruction to the stream—probably in the vicinity of the present -Lurley-rocks. - -Five or six miles from Rastadt and the Rhine, embosomed in a narrow dell, -and encircled by steep and wooded hills, lies the far-famed BADEN-BADEN. -The comparative localities of Wisbaden and this place, might be imagined -by supposing the former to be a saucer, and the latter an egg-cup. And -yet the air of Baden, though in an egg-cup, is fresher if not purer, than -that of its celebrated rival of Nassau, where there are no eminences of -any altitude within some miles of the town. It is true that the thermal -springs of Wisbaden are a few degrees higher in temperature than those of -Baden, but this is quite insufficient to account for the difference of -atmosphere. - -A very few visits to the wells in the morning, the hells in the evening, -and the hotels in the middle of the day, will convince any observant -traveller that three-fourths of the sojourners at Baden, go there to -drink wine rather than water—and to lose money, rather than regain health. - -The thermal springs here are of great antiquity. They served to scour the -Roman legions stationed at Baden, in the days of Aurelian, as they now -do to scald the pigs and poultry of the butchers and poulterers of the -same place. The far-famed Ursprung issues from the ruins of an old Roman -structure on the side of a hill overlooking the town, at a temperature -of 154 degrees of Fahrenheit, and in quantities sufficient to wash and -drench the whole town, visitors and all. The water is translucid, and -tastes much less either of the chickens or salt, than its contemporary of -the Kochbrunnen at Wisbaden. It has, however, especially in the baths, -a very faint odour of bear’s grease, or green fat, which I have noticed -when speaking of the Kochbrunnen. The whole of the solid contents in -a pint of the water, are only about 24 grains, of which common salt -makes 16 grains, the other ingredients being chiefly lime, in different -combinations with sulphuric, muriatic, and carbonic acids. There is just -iron enough for the chemists to swear by—but not for the drinkers to -distinguish by taste. - -Whatever may _have_ been the reputation of the Baden waters, taken -internally, I apprehend that their fame is not very great in the present -day. On several successive mornings, between five and eight o’clock, at -the Ursprung, I never could muster more than 130 bibbers—many of whom -appeared to have been attracted to the Paleotechnicon from curiosity -rather than in search of health. Except occasionally a fashionable -lady’s-maid, or governess, no English were seen at the spring. The waters -being led, however, into all the principal hotels, where there are -baignoires in abundance, the number of bathers outstrip very considerably -the number of bibbers. Although the waters of Baden are neither so potent -when drunk, nor so stimulant when bathed in, as those of Wisbaden and -many other places, yet they manage to do a fair proportion of the annual -mischief occasioned by hot mineral springs in general. Thermal spas and -quack doctors, indeed, have more good luck than usually falls to the lot -of men and things. They completely reverse the order of events in the -moral world. Their good actions are graven on _brass_—their evil deeds -are written in _water_. Unless some illustrious character receive his -quietus in a hot bath—as the Duke of Nassau did at Kissengen— - - “Abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem”— - -we seldom hear a word about the inferior souls who are deprived of their -terrestrial tenements by the boiling Kochbrunnen, Ursprung, or Sprudel. -And, when a great man actually falls a sacrifice, sufficient mischief -is done before his death, by his example and recommendation. It is well -known that the Duke of Nassau’s preference of the Kissengen waters to -those of his own Wisbaden, drew many illustrious patients to the former -springs, who would have been contented with the latter. That the hot -mineral baths produce a powerful effect even in health, and still more -in disease, we have ample proofs. We need only take the testimony of my -friend Dr. Granville himself, who will not be suspected of any prejudice -or timidity in respect to these agents. “One of the first effects of the -hot water bath at Baden (and I may say the same of Toplitz, Carlsbad, -Wisbaden, &c.) produced on me, was an almost irresistible inclination to -fall asleep. To resist this is of the utmost consequence.” “The operation -of bathing in water endowed with much power, from heat and other -circumstances, is not to be viewed lightly. Much mischief has arisen—nay, -fatal results have followed, from its indiscriminate adoption. A rich -merchant, who, but a few hours before, had been noticed on the public -promenade after dinner, on the day after our arrival, was found dead in a -bath at 8 o’clock of the same evening. A lady was pointed out to me, who -had lost the use of her limbs after using three hot baths.” - -The injurious effects of hot baths, even of common water, are daily -witnessed at home—and these agents are still more powerful abroad. Their -physiological effects on the normal or healthy constitution, as mentioned -above, by Dr. Granville, I certainly did not experience in my own -person; but this might be from the thickness of my skull, the hardness -of my brain, or the weakness of my circulation. The sensations produced -by these baths were always of the most pleasant kind, with far more -disposition to ruminate than to sleep. In these effects, indeed, consists -much of the danger. There are few diseases, however unsuited for hot -bathing, that do not appear to be soothed or mitigated, at first, by this -agent—and this apparent relief throws the practitioner off his guard, and -leads the patient to extol the remedy, and persevere in the hazardous -experiment, till the mischief actually occurs. There is, in truth, much -less danger from improper drinking of mineral waters, than bathing in the -same. The stomach or other organs are pretty sure to give ample notice of -approaching injury from the imprudent use of mineral waters internally -taken. Not so in the case of bathing. While the train of destruction is -preparing—nay, at the moment when the match is applied to the train, -the victim is lulled into a fatal security, not only by the absence of -painful feelings, but by the positive induction of sensations the most -pleasurable. - -It is unnecessary to reiterate the precautions already stated in other -places, as to the use of warm and hot bathing here. Rheumatic, gouty, -paralytic, and cutaneous affections are those which can reap much benefit -from the URSPRUNG—and, in these cases, all inflammatory and congestive -states of the constitution, as well as of particular organs, should be -carefully removed, before the waters are used, either internally or -externally. - -It would be easy to resuscitate ample testimonies, lay and professional, -to the _miraculous_ efficacy of the BADEN springs, in all diseases, -curable and incurable. An attendance among the fragments of antiquity -round the Ursprung must convince the most credulous that BADEN, as I -said before, is not the Pool of Bethesda, as far as its healing virtues -are concerned, though its waters are daily “troubled” by angels somewhat -different from those that descended, for benevolent purposes, near the -Holy City. BADEN is, in fine, neither more nor less than a fashionable -place of pleasure, dissipation, vice, and gambling—abounding in -hot-baths, hells, hotels, scandal, and good scenery. - -The last item in the above list has been most grossly exaggerated, as any -one will acknowledge who has visited the place and compared its scenery -with the following bombast. - -“The surpassing _grandeur_ of the scenery has been so constantly dwelt -upon, that the hopeless task of description is unnecessary. Should you -love all that is _awful_, sombre, wild, and _grand_ in scenery, wander -but _half a mile_ from town, and you may be lost amid the dark valleys -that wind through the pine-covered mountains.”—_Mrs. Trollope._ - -Now I most positively deny that there is anything either grand, or awful, -or sublime, in the scenery of Baden. The valley is picturesque, romantic, -or even beautiful—and the view from the ruins of the old castle (rather -more than half-a-mile, by the way, from the town) is extensive and very -fine; but the sublime and the awful do not enter into the composition of -Baden scenery. You must wander among the Alps for these. - - -LINES - -_Written at the VIEUX CHATEAU, August, 1834._ - - The pine-clad mountains boldly rise - Round BADEN’S hot and healing spring; - And cloudless are the azure skies, - With HEALTH on every Zephyr’s wing. - - But ah! in this romantic dell, - Where streams of life for ever flow, - The demons of destruction dwell, - With VICE, the harbinger of woe! - - That horrid thirst of other’s gold— - Those hell-born passions pent within, - Corrupt alike the young and old, - For “sin doth always pluck on sin!”— - - At tables piled with many a heap - Of ore from Earth’s dark entrails torn,[27] - The harpy brood their vigils keep - From dewy eve till rosy morn. - - Hither the pamper’d landlords hie— - While shivering tenants pine for bread— - Transform’d to brutes in Circe’s stye, - To every Christian precept dead! - - The prince, the peasant, and the peer, - The soldier, cit, and baron bold, - On equal terms assemble here— - The race is not for rank—but gold! - - And whilst the whirling ball flies round, - In dread suspense the gamester stands— - It drops—and quick each shining mound - Dissolves—and shifts to other hands. - - Shall Albion’s sons and daughters roam - To Baden’s fonts for “change of air,” - And bring these foreign vices home— - Abhorr’d—endured—but _practis’d_ there![28] - - Haste then, my friend, from scenes like these— - And scale the mountain’s airy height— - Inhale the morning’s balmy breeze, - And contemplate the landscape bright:— - - That glorious view of hills and dales— - Of fertile plains and winding Rhine— - Of forests vast—romantic vales— - And slopes that “teem with corn and wine.” - - Or hie thee to the healing wave, - By Heaven to suffering mortals sent— - The cold and palsied limbs to lave, - Or soothe the joints with torture rent.— - - But ye, whom HEALTH, or pleasure calls, - To seek that prize in distant lands, - Avoid, as ye would death, those halls, - Where dwell the DÆMON-ROBBER bands! - -Lest I should be suspected of taking a cynical view of Baden-Baden, I -shall adduce the following quotations from Dr. Granville. - -“Here men, as well as women, took their places at, or stood round, -the several tables of “ROULETTE” and “ROUGE-ET-NOIR,” which were in -full play. One only remark I will venture to make in reference to -this subject—and that remark will be an expression of deep sorrow, at -having observed the daughters of Englishmen, to all appearance highly -respectable, joining the circle of such as pressed round the tables, to -stake their _petite pieces_, and be elbowed by some rude fellow-gambler, -who had probably as little character as he had money to lose.” - -I am happy to say that in the interval between 1834 and 1839, when I -last visited Baden, some improvement seemed to have taken place in this -respect, especially among our fair countrywomen. I saw very few of them -in the act of gambling, but the sight of such scenes—during the whole of -the Sabbath day—is most injurious to our youth of both sexes! I cannot -say so much for the balls in the evening. They are the same now as when -Dr. Granville wrote. - -“Away whirled the galoppe-dancers in giddy circles, until the very -breathing of the fair partners became audible, and their countenances -lost all traces of placid loveliness. And the rude grasp and _étroite -liaison_, during such dances—do they become the modest nature of -an Englishwoman—or of any woman? Oh, it grieved me to see the -graceful—elancé—and exquisitely elegant Mrs. M——, at the slightest -invitation from a booted hussar, or an embroidered _attaché_, or a -disguised _vaurien_ of the lowest class, plunge with them into all the -attitudes, now violent, and now languishing, of a dance better suited for -bacchanalian or Andalusian representation! And she bore on her alabaster -and shining cheek, the deep round flush of consumption, which parched -her lips, and made her fly, at the termination of each performance, to -the refreshment-room with her partner—there to quench, with perilous -experiment, the inward fever, by an ice dissolved in freezing water; -while the big drops of moisture stood on her forehead, or trickled down -her face, increasing the general disorder of her appearance.” - -Yes! The ROULETTE and the WALTZ are the veritable “normal schools of -_agitation_” for the sons and daughters of the nobility and gentry of -the—happy, pious, and Protestant England! - - - - -WILDBAD, OR THE ELYSIAN FOUNTAIN OF THE BLACK FOREST. - - -The glowing description of this mineral spring, and the all but magical -effects of its baths on the human frame, as given by Dr. Granville, -have led hundreds of additional visitors to the sequestered valley of -the Enz—some in quest of health, but many to satisfy curiosity, and -test the picture which has been drawn in such flattering colours by the -talented author of the “SPAS OF GERMANY.” The difficulties, however, -which Dr. Granville experienced in his journey from Baden-Baden to -Wildbad, must have deterred a great number of spa-tourists from visiting -the Elysian fountain of the Black Forest. The journey occupied thirty -hours, including one whole night on the road. We accomplished it in eight -hours, by an excellent road, with the same pair of horses, and with ample -leisure to lunch and rest midway. This route lies through some of the -most beautiful, picturesque, and romantic scenery on the Continent. It is -only thirty English miles, six or seven of which Dr. Granville pursued, -when by some strange intelligence or mistake, he turned to the _right_, -at Guernsbach, and went _wrong_ all the rest of the way. - -Sick of the frivolities and dissipations of Baden-Baden, we started at -eight o’clock in the morning for Wildbad; and, wending our course up a -steep acclivity, everywhere covered with pines, we passed the _Mercurius -Berg_, with its altar dedicated to the god of thieves— - - “Calidum quicquid placuit jocoso - condere furto”— - -just as the Romans had left it, together with the frowning ruins of -Eberstein, where thievery rose to the rank of robbery, and was christened -under the high-sounding title of FEUDALISM! The higher we ascended, the -denser became the woods, and the darker the road. There is something -peculiarly sombre and solemn in the pineries of the Schwartswald, through -many parts of which I had formerly journeyed. The vast extent of the -forest, the great number and altitude of the hills and mountains, the -gigantic growth and height of the trees, the darkness of the foliage, and -the intensity of the silence, occasionally augmented rather than broken -by the distant and scarcely audible stroke of the woodman’s axe, all -combine to form a scene of solitude well adapted for contemplation and -reflection. - -After an hour’s labour, we gained an open space, when the eye has an -opportunity of ranging over a sea of peaks and mountains to the South and -East, all clothed in the dark green livery of the pine to their utmost -summits. To the North and West the prospect was nearly as unlimited as -from the Alte-Schloss, from Radstad and the Rhine up the valley of the -Mourg to Guernsbach, which seemed like a white speck on the river at a -prodigious depth below us. Down to this little town we cautiously slid, -with drags on the wheels, winding in serpentine courses, often along the -brinks of dangerous ravines, but every little vale or valley cultivated -till the forest forbad the plough, the spade, and the scythe. The little -town of Guernsbach, built on both sides of the Mourg, with a good bridge -across, contains nearly two thousand inhabitants—almost all of whom -live _by_ the produce of the mountains, and a good number of the poorer -classes _in_ the woods themselves. Here the raftlets and rafts are seen -descending to the Rhine, afterwards to aggregate into flotillas carrying -hundreds of rowers, steerers, and navigators,—and conveying the Black -Forest into the flats of Holland. But a little farther on, I shall take -more notice of this immense traffic and source of wealth. The Castle -of Eberstein and the church crown the heights over the town. Here Dr. -Granville, instead of crossing the bridge, turned up along the banks of -the Mourg, and had to go all the way to Stuttgardt, on his way to Wildbad. - -From Guernsbach we ascended another lofty mountain to the romantic -village of Laffenau. The prospect of the valley of the Mourg, with -Guernsbach on its banks, and a sea of pine-clad heights in every -direction, is most beautiful. Near Laffenau we have the “TEUFELS MUHLE,” -or Devil’s Mill, with its legendary tale—briefly as follows:— - -The PRINCE OF DARKNESS took it into his head, once on a time, to turn -parson, and to preach from a chair or pulpit, still called by the name -of that right reverend divine. His audience became more numerous than -enlightened, when an angel, from quite a different quarter, pitched his -tent on a neighbouring peak, and held forth in opposition to the man in -black. The eloquence of the new preacher drew away great numbers from -the old. Satan, in hopes of disturbing the congregation of his rival, -vented his rage in some caverns in the rock, and in growls and groans -that resembled thunder. But still the audience of the new preacher -multiplied. This was more than any preacher, human or divine, could bear; -and the old gentleman forthwith built himself a mill, the noise of which, -together with the _diabolical_ hootings, yells, and howlings of the -miller and his men, he hoped would distract the audience of the orthodox -ecclesiastic. Even this would not do, and his reverence of the cloven -foot and long tail betook himself from words to things. He hurled masses -of rock across the valley against the successful candidate for popular -applause, with as much ease as a man would pitch quoits. This was “too -bad;” and therefore a bolt from Heaven was directed against this teacher -of impieties which demolished the mill, and prostrated the miller and his -crew amongst the ruins! The disturber of the peace fell with such force -among the rocks that the print of his body remains evident to the present -hour. - - The tale may be false, or the tale may be true, - As I heard it myself, I relate it to you. - -The legend concludes with one piece of intelligence, to the truth of -which most people will assent: namely, that after the above event, the -arch enemy has seldom ventured to hold forth from the pulpit, _in propria -persona_, but has employed a great number of emissaries in human shape, -who disseminate among mankind, and some of them _ex cathedra_, too, those -“false doctrines, heresies, and schisms,” which scandalize the church and -cause dissensions among the people. - -With the exception of a few miles, the whole route from Baden-Baden to -Nuenburg, is a series of steep mountains and narrow valleys, presenting -the greatest variety of scenery, from the picturesque and beautiful, up -to the romantic, wild, and savage character. A thunder-storm, with heavy -rain the preceding night—and now a beautiful day, with brilliant sun, -gave us every advantage; while the mountain air, with active and passive -exercise in alternation, produced, at once, sensations of health and -hunger, so little felt in the close and deep valley of dissipation which -we had left behind us at Baden. - - -SCHWEIN-GENERAL. - -It was on the summit of a lofty mountain between Laffenau and Herrenalb, -that we fell in with one of those generals, or, I should rather say, -_field_-marshals, (immortalized by the “Old Man of the Brunnens”) -who, with three or four aid-de-camps, was marching and manœuvering a -“swinish multitude” of raw recruits among these alpine heights. They were -evidently less a fighting than a foraging party, levying contributions -on every thing edible in these sombre pineries. It was also manifest -that, whether from the morning air or the supperless night, they were -by no means over nice, either in their olfactory or gustatory senses; -for nothing seemed to come amiss to them, or to prove unsavoury or -indigestible. But although provender turned up at almost every step, -they were a grumbling and grunting, as well as an awkward squad, and so -prone to predatory excursions, that the schwein-general and his staff -were constantly flogging them into the regular ranks. Their long legs -and lank sides shewed that their fare was not of the most fattening -nature—or, that they had little else than predatory rations to live -upon. They had been called out early that morning, by bugle and horn, -from their various bivouacs in Laffenau, with more appetite than order, -for their mountain drill. The general (or field-marshal) with his -aid-de-camps, and some vigilant videttes, of the canine species, had no -small difficulty in compelling their guerilla corps of maurauders to keep -“close order;” for they were constantly deploying to the right and to the -left—shooting a-head—or straggling in the rear, despite the proclamations -of the general, the stripes of the subalterns, and the biting rebuffs of -the quadrupeds, who, ever and anon, _lugged_ back into the ranks some -long-faced and bleeding deserter, amid the grunts and groans of his -sympathising companions, on whom, however, these summary sentences of a -drum-head, or rather mountain-head, court-martial appeared to make but a -transient impression. - -On taking leave of General Swein, I could not help making some “odious -comparisons” between him and some other generals, “_melioris notæ_,” in -various parts, and at various epochs of this world. HE did not, like too -many of his order, lay villages in ashes, and massacre the inhabitants -when rushing from the flames—or deliver their wives and daughters to the -tender mercies of an enfuriate soldiery—HE did not murder his prisoners -in cool blood, by nailing them to trees, as marks for an undisciplined -rabble of fanatic banditti to exercise their muskets—HE did not drag -citizens of a free state from their homes, and consign them to the -mines and wilds of Hyperborean regions—HE did not mock the forms of -HEAVENLY justice, and slaughter the victims of his ambition or revenge -in the fosse or on the glacis—HE did not turn the fertile district into -a frightful desert, as the effectual means of ensuring peace—(“ubi -solitudinem faciunt, pacem vocant”)—HE did not perform these or any -similar exploits, and, _therefore_, he has had no pious advocate to -justify his crimes, or impartial historian to record his virtues! - -Descending by a long and zig-zag road from the Swine-General’s camp, -we arrive at HERRENALB, situated in a romantic glen, enclosed by lofty -mountains. Here we lunched, and rested our horses, who certainly had -better fare than their masters. Black bread, bad butter, hard eggs, and -chopped hay for tea, were devoured without grumbling, in consequence of -the canine appetite acquired on the alpine heights. On leaving Herrenalb, -we pass on our left, one of the most singular and fantastic groups of -basaltic rocks which I have anywhere seen. They appear like a gigantic -fortress, with buttresses and embrasures. A traveller has remarked -of these productions of subterranean fire, that—“on croirait qu’une -imagination fantastique a presidé a leur formation.” They probably issued -from a deep-seated volcano, in the form of molten lava, at the time when -Staffa and the Giant’s Causeway rose from the bowels of the earth, and -congealed in pillars on the shores of Antrim and Argyll. - - “Firm on its rocky base each pillar stands— - No chissel’d shaft, no work of mortal hands. - Ere man had ceased in savage woods to dwell— - Roots for his food, his drink the crystal well; - Ere cities grew, or Parian marble shown, - Yon columns stood—and stand while they are gone.” - -From these “fragments of an earlier world,” these real monuments of -antiquity, compared with which, the Pyramids of Egypt are as mushrooms of -yesterday, and whose rugged brows the rains and tempests of ten thousand -years have not yet smoothed, we ascended to a great height, and reached -a comparatively open and partially cultivated country, between FRAUENALB -on the left, and ROTHENSAL on the right. This alpine plateau continued -for six or seven miles—the prospect towards the North and West being of -great extent, over a fine champaigne country which, from this altitude, -appeared like an immense plain. The South and East presented a vast -sea of mighty mountains, the insurgent billows of which were feathered -with perennial forests. After doubling the North-western extremity of -a high alpine ridge, we turned short round to the right—plunged into a -deep wood—and descended quickly by a precipitous route to the town of -NUENBURG, situated on the foaming Enz, in a narrow and gloomy valley. -Here we got black bread and water for the horses, and Seltzer water with -wine for ourselves. While the horses were resting, we scrambled up to -the ancient chateau, now occupied by the foresters. From this there is a -good view of the valley of the Enz, for a few miles above and below the -town. The valley is here not more than five or six hundred yards broad at -the bottom, with the river in the centre, and the pine mountains rising -abruptly on both sides. We had now about eight miles to Wildbad, close -along the right bank of the river, and consequently with only a gentle -ascent the whole way. - -The valley of Wildbad, between Nuenburg and the town of Wildbad, is about -1400 feet above the level of the sea—and the mountains on each side about -1500 above the river. It resembles a good deal the _Vallée d’Enfer_, well -known to most travellers. There is but a narrow border of cultivated -ground on each side of the Enz—in some places not exceeding two or three -hundred yards—in others, creeping up the steep acclivities nearly a -quarter of a mile. Hay, corn, and potatoes are the chief productions of -the valley. The pine occupies every slope not cultivated; the forest, on -each side, presenting a serrated border, the salient angles sometimes -coming nearly down to the banks of the stream—the interspaces being -occupied with potatoes or some culinary vegetable. But the Enz itself -presents more bustle and activity than its banks. Small and precipitous -as is the torrent, it is made to carry the mountains—or at least their -forests, on its slender back. The flotteurs or rafters are a race and -craft distinct from the wood-cutters, who hew the trees in the mountains, -and hurl them down their steep sides to the river. The Enz falls 370 -feet in the short distance of nine miles between Wildbad and Nuenburg, -and yet they manage to float down numerous rafts, or rather raftlets, -two or three hundred feet in length, along this trajet. The method is -simple but ingenious. At convenient distances, dikes or dams are run -diagonally across the stream, with a sluice or flood-gate in the centre. -When the gate is shut, the back-water accumulates so as to float the raft -from the next dam higher up. The rafts are narrow, but very long and -jointed. When one, two, or more have arrived at the dam, the head of the -raft is brought close to the sluice—the gate is opened—and away darts -the raft, with a loud noise and fracas—dashing against the rocks—each -joint, as it passes over the dam, rising up like the dorsal fin of a huge -whale rolling about in the sea. In this way they are conveyed from the -mountains to the Rhine—the raftlets augmenting in breadth, or number of -trees, in proportion as the stream augments and enlarges into a river. As -every mountain must have a valley, so every valley must have a rivulet. -However small the stream, it can be dammed so as to float one tree at -a time—and when contributary streamlets from the mountains enlarge the -parent stream, the raftlets increase in size also. Thus the main wealth -of Wildbad is constantly floating down the Enz, consigned to distant -countries, but leaving profit for the merchant, and affording employment -for thousands and thousands of the industrious poor. The raftlets grown -into rafts, having arrived at the Rhine, change hands, and the local -boucherons, or floaters, return to their native valleys to renew their -labours from spring till the approach of winter. The aggregated rafts now -become FLOTILLAS, capable of bearing an army on their backs, and actually -inhabited by four or five hundred—not seamen but raftmen, while they -glide down the majestic stream of the Rhine. - -Let us see whether this animated scene of industry, hilarity, and wealth -has any back-ground to the picture—any alloy to the pure metal. Many a -gaudy tissue, embroidered robe, and sparkling gem, has been produced by -sordid hands, amidst penury, disease, and despair! The wood-cutter of -the Black Forest mountains leads a gloomy and miserable life. His labour -is eternally the same—affording no food or reflection for the mind—the -workmen being secluded in dark and dreary forests for days, weeks, and -months, without any communication with their families; while their -children are entirely neglected, as far as education is concerned! They -are, as it were, cut off from human society—become morose, taciturn, -melancholic—or even misanthropic. What is worse, they are frequently -brought home maimed, lamed, or stricken with some dangerous or fatal -disease! They almost always die prematurely. Yet the facility of gaining -a livelihood by cutting and floating wood, leaves very few inhabitants -of this valley inclined to pursue any mechanical occupation. The trees, -when felled and the branches lopped off, are dragged in traineaus to the -edges of the declivities, from whence they descend along cleared tracks, -or a kind of wooden tunnel, by their own weight, to the vicinity of the -river. A little field of potatoes—a wooden hut—a couple of goats to feed -the children—and a pig to be killed at Christmas—constitute the whole -riches of the woodman, whether of mountain or valley. - -After a very pleasant drive of nine miles along the right bank of the -Enz, we came suddenly upon the little town of Wildbad, now celebrated for -the divine effects of its baths on the human frame. The town contains 279 -inhabited houses, and 115 buildings of other kinds. It is nearly equally -divided by the foaming little Enz, the backs of houses, on each side of -the valley, being actually built against the feet of the mountains. As -these are some 1500 feet high, an hour, at least, of the rising, and -another of the setting sun, are unseen and unfelt in Wildbad—except in -the curious phenomenon of the sunshine creeping down the western mountain -in the morning, and up the eastern mountain in the evening. - -The valley of Wildbad lies nearly North and South, and consequently the -winds are felt only in those two directions. The temperature of the -atmosphere necessarily varies considerably, but cold prevails over heat. -Snow ordinarily lurks on the summits of the mountains from the middle -of November till the middle of May. From the first of July till the -middle of August, the heat is generally great. “In a hot summer (says -Professor Heim) the temperature is almost insupportable about mid-day, -when the breeze is scarcely perceptible in the depth of the valley.” In -June, July, and August, the thermometer in Wildbad mounts occasionally to -90, in the hottest days—and falls correspondingly in the winter. In the -season (months of June, July, August, and September) of 1834, there were -47 clear days—five thunder-storms—and 34 rainy days. In 1837—35 clear -days—44 rainy days—and 11 thunder-storms. During the years 1834-5-6 and -7, the mean temperature of the four summer months, at mid-day, was 66° of -Fahrenheit, which is very moderate. Lightning has never struck any of the -houses in Wildbad—the contiguous mountains proving excellent conductors. -There are no peculiar diseases at Wildbad, except those produced by -scanty food and hard labour. Scarcely any goitres or cretins are seen -here. The inhabitants hardly ever take any other medicines than the warm -waters of the place. Doctors would inevitably starve here, were it not -for the foreign visitors. The water of Wildbad is excellent, both for -cooking and drinking. Pulmonary complaints are exceedingly rare in this -valley, and indeed in the Black Forest generally. The same may be said of -goitre and cretinism. - -We took up our quarters at the BEAR, exactly opposite the baths, and had -no reason to complain of our accommodations in this hotel. My chamber -was in the back of the house, just over the noisy little Enz; but its -murmurings only lulled me to a sound sleep, after the keen mountain air, -and the healthy exercise of the day. - -It is only within these few years that Wildbad has become much known, -through the writings of Drs. Flicker and Granville. Professor Heim has -now added to the means of its publicity. In 1830, the number of bathers -was 470—in 1837, 1,003—in 1838, the number was 1,235. In this list, the -real bathers and drinkers only are inscribed. The mere passengers of a -day or two are omitted. In 1837, there were only ten English, who used -the waters. In 1838, there were 130. In 1839, about the middle of August, -when I was there, the number had still encreased. The accommodations -hitherto have been insufficient. In this year, 1840, a new and grand -edifice will be completed, capable of contributing to the comfort—would -that it may not add to the gambling luxury or destruction of—a large -number of visitors! The PALACE, which is close to the baths, is open to -the public—in fact, it is a hotel, for the refreshment of body and mind. -It would be unjust, not to commemorate here the wise, salutary, and -beneficent injunction against GAMBLING, which is rigorously enforced by -the government. May it continue in force, _per omnia secula seculorum_! - -The warm baths of Wildbad issue from several sources in the granite -rock; but are collected into four basins, isolated from each other, and -under particular regulations. Just opposite the Bear Hotel is the place -for drinking the waters, a few feet below the surface of the square -or market-place. There are two spouts, and I observed for two hours -the devotees of this Hygeian spring. I should have little hesitation -in swearing that there was not a single malingerer (to use a military -phrase for one who _feigns_ disease,) in the whole group, amounting to -about sixty or eighty. They all bore intrinsic marks of indisposition; -but the maimed, the lame, the paralytic, and the rheumatic, constituted -nine-tenths of the assemblage. I had an early note from Professor Heim, -politely offering to shew me the baths. With him I proceeded to the -FURSTENBAD, or Prince’s Bath, in which Dr. Granville bathed. On entering -the BAD, I found it occupied by two persons—one quite naked, the other -with white drawers on—while Dr. Fricker, who stood on the steps with -a watch in his hand, was directing the operations. I naturally shrunk -back, with an apology for intruding; but my kind and honest friend, Dr. -Heim, pushed me forward, observing, that there was “no offence.” The -bather was a Russian General, Comte ——, and he who sat behind him in the -bath, rubbing his back, was the bad-meister. I entered into conversation -with the General and his medical director, and found them agreeable, -intelligent, and frank communicants. The douche having been applied, and -the bathing process finished, I withdrew for a quarter of an hour, while -the bath was preparing for myself. Most of my readers must have read or -heard of these celebrated waters by Dr. Granville, and I must here record -his account of the surprising sensations which they produce on the human -frame immersed in them. - -“After descending a few steps from the dressing-room into the bath-room, -I walked over the warm soft sand to the farthest end of the bath, and I -laid myself down upon it, near the principal spring, resting my head on -a clean wooden pillow. The soothing effect of the water as it came over -me, up to the throat, transparent like the brightest gem or aquamarine, -soft, genially warm, and gently murmuring, I shall never forget. Millions -of bubbles of gas rose from the sand, and played around me, quivering -through the lucid water as they ascended, and bursting at the surface to -be succeeded by others. The sensation produced by these, as many of them, -with their tremulous motion, just _effleuraient_ the surface of the body, -like the much vaunted effect of titillation in animal magnetism, is not -to be described. _It partakes of tranquillity and exhilaration; of the -ecstatic state of a devotee, blended with the repose of an opium eater. -The head is calm, the heart is calm, every sense is calm; yet there is -neither drowsiness, stupefaction, nor numbness; for every feeling is -fresher, and the memory of worldly pleasures keen and sharp._ But the -operations of the moral as well as physical man are under the spell of -some powerfully tranquillising agent. It is the human tempest lulled -into all the delicious playings of the ocean’s after-waves. From such a -position I willingly would never have stirred. To prolong its delicious -effects what would I not have given! but the bad-meister appeared at the -top of the steps of the farther door, and warned me to eschew the danger -of my situation; for there is danger even in such pleasures as these, if -greatly prolonged. - -“I looked at the watch and the thermometer before I quitted my station. -The one told me I had passed a whole hour, in the few minutes I had -spent according to my imagination; and the other marked 29½° of Reaumur, -or 98¼° of Fahrenheit. But I found the temperature warmer than that, -whenever, with my hand, I dug into the bed of sand, as far down as the -rock, and disengaged myriads of bubbles of heated air, which imparted to -the skin a satiny softness not to be observed in the effects of ordinary -warm baths. - -“These baths are principally used from five o’clock in the morning until -seven, and even much later; and again by some people in the evening. -The time allowed for remaining in the water is from half an hour to an -hour; but it is held to be imprudent to continue the bath to the latter -period, as experience has shown that such sensations as I felt, and -have endeavoured to describe, prove ultimately too overpowering to the -constitution, if prolonged to excess.”[29] - -Dr. Kerner, who preceded Dr. Granville, makes use of the following -expressions, quoted by the latter author. - -“The use of the Wildbad waters cannot be too much commended. They serve, -indeed, _to make the old young again_; while younger persons, who have -become prematurely old, owing to exhaustion, and those who are exhausted -by close application and incessant fatigue, _rise out of these baths with -new strength and youth_.” - -Although I called to mind these identical expressions, as applied -by Dr. Fenner to the Serpent’s Bath at Schlangenbad, and remembered -also my disappointment; yet I could not divest myself of the pleasing -anticipations that Wildbad would realize the effects recorded by my -friend Dr. Granville, and that I should retreat from this romantic valley -at least ten years younger than when I entered it. I dispensed with the -attendance of the bad-meister—locked the door—descended into the bath—and -creeping to the identical spot where Dr. Granville experienced the -“ecstatic state of a devotee, blended with the repose of an opium-eater,” -I waited, not without some impatience, the advent of this fore-taste of -Paradise. But no such good fortune awaited me! I eyed the gas bubbles -that rose around me, not indeed “in millions,” nor even in dozens—but -so sparingly that I could have easily numbered them, eager though they -had been to “quiver through the lucid water” in their ascent to greet -my friend and confrere a few years previously. With every wish to be -pleased, and with the most minute attention to my own sensations, I must -confess that I experienced no effects from the waters of Wildbad, other -than I did from baths of similar temperature and composition, as those -of Schlangenbad, Baden, and Pfeffers.[30] They have the same advantage -as the Pfeffers, in maintaining the same temperature, however long we -may remain in them—the stream running in and out of the baths. Whether -this may not sometimes tempt the bad-meisters to save the trouble and -time of emptying the baths after each bather, I do not profess to know. -With respect to the bed of warm sand at the bottom, I think it is more -pleasant to the feelings than to the imagination. It is impossible that -_it_ can be changed; and the idea of lying down in a bed which a leper -may have just left, is not the most pleasant in the world. For myself, I -should prefer the clean marble, or even the wood to this substratum of -sand. It is but justice to state, that there is a rule for all persons -to go through the quarantine of a plain bath before commencing the -medicinal. Such a rule, however, was not imposed upon me—nor I believe, -on the generality of casual bathers. I stayed in the bath half an hour, -and felt exceedingly refreshed by it. I have no hesitation, therefore, -in giving it as my opinion that the waters of Wildbad are inferior to -none, in their medicinal agency, as baths of a non-stimulant and simple -kind. Their improper use is not nearly so hazardous as those of Wisbaden, -Kissengen, or Carlsbad, whose saline ingredients act powerfully on the -sentient extremities of the nerves of the skin, and too often excite -dangerous commotions in the animal economy. - -In the course of the day I fell in with my bath acquaintance, Count ——, -the Russian General, and had a long conversation with him. He had been in -the memorable campaign of 1812, and had, for some years, laboured under a -paralytic affection of the lower extremities. He assured me that in four -or five weeks of these baths and douches, he had regained a good deal of -power in his limbs; but his general strength had decreased, and he was -about to repair to Schwalbach, in hopes that the chalybeate springs there -would invigorate his constitution. We had a polite invitation to a fête -at the palace that evening, from the gallant General.[31] - -In respect to the “bathing in company,” I confess I have a repugnance to -it on many accounts, only one of which I shall state. The pleasure of -conversation, in such places, is dearly purchased by the impossibility, -(for the bather must go in a light dress,) of employing friction and -shampooing on the naked surface—one of the greatest luxuries and salutary -processes that can possibly be practised in warm-baths of any kind. This -objection alone is entirely fatal to the “community of bathing,” laying -aside the indelicacy of the thing.[32] - -The douches are easily and simply performed by a kind of pump and hose, -by which the warm water is directed against any part of the body, and -with any degree of force. A new source was discovered last year, near -the Furstenbad, which will greatly extend the means of bathing singly. -Already the refuse waters from the baths are sufficient to turn a mill as -they run out from the baths to the Enz—the river never freezing in the -town. - -In chemical and physical properties, the waters of Wildbad closely -resemble those of Pfeffers and Schlangenbad. They are clear and -odourless; but have a mawkish taste. In a pint, Professor Sigwart found -3½ grains of saline matters, of which nearly 2 grains were common -salt—half a grain of carbonate of soda—and nearly the same of sulphate -of soda. The other ingredients are chips in porridge, if we except a -mere trace of iron. When boiled, it disengages a very trifling quantity -of carbonic acid gas. The air which bubbles up from the waters contains -(according to Gaeger and Gaertner) five parts of carbonic acid—7 of -oxygen—and 88 of azote. Since that analysis, it has been found that -there is little or no oxygen in the air. The temperature varies in the -different sources from 88° to 99° of Fahrenheit. It is quite independent -of summer, winter, storms, or calms. - -When waters, so simple as scarcely to differ from the purest spring used -for drink, produce medicinal effects, the cause is attributed to some -mysterious power, incognizable by the senses and inimitable by human art. - - Arcana Dei miraculis plena. - -Professor Heim takes up the same hypothesis as others before him, and -Dr. Granville among the rest, that the caloric of mineral waters is of -a _specific_ kind, analogous to the vital heat of the body. “It is a -heat incorporated with the water by a chemico-vital process.” “And as no -external warmth can supply the body with _vital_ heat, so no artificially -created temperature can be a real substitute for the natural heat of -thermal springs.” - -The temperature, then, of the Wildbad waters being that of the human -blood, immersion in them produces but a slight sensation of heat, the -surface of our bodies being below that of our blood in temperature. The -sensation is that of _comfort_—a word not to be more nearly translated -into French than by the term “_bien-être_.” Here Professor Heim quotes, -of course, Dr. Granville’s description of the “ecstatic” feelings which -he experienced in these waters. He adds:—“But another circumstance which, -more than all the rest, conduces to this favourable impression, is the -_dynamic combination_ (le lien dynamique) of the solid and gaseous -elements—the spirit of the water—received from the hand of Nature, in the -bowels of the earth. It is this general impression on the whole human -organism, which effects the cure of divers sufferings and maladies, by -awakening and reviving the vital powers enfeebled or prostrated—and thus -restoring activity to the circulation and to the nervous system, through -which a reaction and energy is communicated to all the functions of the -body.” - -These effects, Prof. Heim acknowledges, cannot be accounted for by the -chemical composition of the water. The cosmetic qualities of Wildbad and -Schlangenbad, he thinks, may be _partly_ owing to the soda contained in -them, which forms a kind of oily soap on the surface, and gives it that -feeling of lubricity and softness, so much vaunted: but he believes it to -be _principally_ owing to the peculiar power of the bath to invigorate -the functions of the skin as well as of the internal organs—a power -greater, he maintains, in the waters of Wildbad than of Schlangenbad. - -Although these waters generally produce an exciting or exhilarating -effect, yet in a certain number of instances, they cause a sense of -lassitude and heaviness in the extremities, with an inclination to -sleep, especially after leaving the bath. These effects are commonly -attributable to improper use of the baths, or staying too long in them, -in consequence of the pleasant feelings derived from them. Dr. H. -recommends all persons to stay but 10 or 15 minutes in the bath at first, -gradually increasing the time to half or three-quarters of an hour. In -some, the head is affected with vertigo—in others, there is oppression on -the chest—all which soon go off, after five or six baths. - -“It is to be remembered that a majority of the bathers experience the -‘reaction fever’ (fièvre de réaction) in the course of the treatment. -The period of its occurrence is uncertain, and often it is so slight as -to pass almost unobserved by the patient. This, however, is the critical -moment precursory of the cure. This state of irritation seldom lasts more -than a few days, and generally disappears without any internal medicine. -This reaction is precisely that which ought to inspire the greatest -hopes in the patient, as it announces a change in his constitution, and -a victory over his malady. The disagreeable sensations, however, which -he feels, often puts him out of humour with the baths, especially if old -pains and discomforts, that had ceased, now re-appear, which they often -do. He becomes impatient and morose, when he is re-visited by rheumatic -pains, neuralgia, gout, hæmorrhoids, &c. which he had thought to be -extinct. Such re-action, however, is indispensable towards the victory of -nature and the baths over the disease for which they were employed. The -waters of Wildbad, indeed, are remarkable for this reproduction of old -disorders, at the moment they are eradicating the more recent ones.” - -These most important properties of the waters of Wildbad are passed -entirely unnoticed by Dr. Granville, and from my own knowledge, several -English have left Wildbad, at the very time they were on the point -of experiencing the greatest benefits. This reaction or bath-fever, -is common, as I have shewn, to most of the medicinal waters, as was -seen under the head of Wisbaden, Kissengen, &c. At the former place I -saw several well-marked instances of it, and satisfied myself of its -reality. I have not found any description of it in the accounts of -the German Spas published in England. It is a subject of the greatest -importance to the invalid. - -The following case is related by Dr. KAISER, formerly director of these -baths. I have greatly abridged it. - -“An officer, aged 26 years, fell down a flight of stone stairs, -and pitched on the right haunch, or hip-bone. He was stunned to -insensibility, from which he slowly recovered. When examined, the right -leg and thigh were cold as ice, but no fracture or dislocation could be -discovered. He was confined several weeks to his bed; and then could -only hobble about on crutches with great pain. At length he was able to -dispense with the crutches, but every motion of the limb caused great -agony. He tried the waters and baths of Wisbaden; but experienced no -benefit. Thirteen months after the accident, and when the excruciating -pains had rather gained than lost force, he came to Wildbad. The first -bath produced no sensible effect. The second called forth some pains in -the loins, where he had felt no inconvenience previously. These augmented -after the third bath till the seventh, when they became so violent, that -he could not stand, and was confined to his bed. At this time he suddenly -experienced a most painful sense of coldness in the right foot, which was -succeeded by heat, reaction, and ultimately a profuse perspiration over -the whole limb, and even in the loins. From that time he was able to move -the leg without pain, and quickly regained the power of walking without a -stick.” - -The Wildbad baths are celebrated for the removal of those various pains -and aches which not seldom attend old gunshot and other wounds. A case is -related of an officer who had been wounded in the arm by a musket-ball in -the late war, and who was harassed by pains in the site of the wound for -many years afterwards. The use of the Wildbad baths re-opened the wound, -from whence a piece of flannel was discharged, and the pains ceased. - -These waters are considered to be specific in certain female complaints -which are difficult of removal, and subversive of health, in too many -instances. - -“La proprieté de rajeunir, que les dames vantent tant dans le bain de -Wildbad, il faut moins la chercher dans sa vertu cosmetique, que dans la -circonstance que je viens de signaler.” - -It is to be remarked that it is not in all persons that the re-action -above alluded to takes place. In many there is a gradual amelioration of -health, without any perturbation of the constitution, and only marked by -an encreased action in the functions of the skin and kidneys—sometimes of -the bowels. - -“On the other hand, says Professor Heim, where the malady is obstinate, -there is a greater struggle in the constitution, attended with -considerable fever, disorder of the secretions, irritation of the -nervous system, full pulse, restless nights, distressing dreams, loss -of appetite, dry hot skin, occasional hæmorrhoidal discharges, purging, -gouty attacks, cutaneous eruptions, &c. which precede a restoration of -health.” - -These are trials which require the fortitude of the patient, and the -vigilance of the physician. It is not to be wondered at that, when they -occur in the stranger, and especially in the English invalid, who has -little confidence in the foreign practitioner, and finds himself ill in -a secluded valley like that of Wildbad, great alarm should be produced, -and much prejudice raised against the baths and waters of the place. -The worst of it is, that a similar train of disorders may arise from an -injudicious use of the baths, and where no salutary crisis is the result. - - Notre mal s’empoisonne - Du secours, qu’on lui donne! - -These are circumstances which ought to be pointed out to our countrymen -and women, who are too often led to distant mineral waters and baths -by flowery descriptions and miraculous cures, without any warning as -to the consequences that may ensue—whether salutary or dangerous. The -concealment of this spa or bath fever, is any thing but beneficial either -to the waters or the water-drinkers. It deceives the one, and injures the -reputation of the other. The local physicians of these mineral springs -never omit to point out the consequences of bathing in, and drinking the -waters, as I have already shewn by several quotations; and it is highly -desirable that all spa-goers should be aware of them.[33] - -Cutaneous eruptions are frequent consequences of the Wildbad waters, and -are considered salutary. The kidneys, next to the skin, shew the greatest -sensibility to the action of these waters. In some people (especially -where the waters are drunk as well as bathed in,) a most copious and -clear secretion is produced; but this is seldom a critical or salutary -discharge. It is when the secretion from the kidneys is deep-coloured, -sedimentous, and exhaling a peculiar odour, especially in gouty subjects, -that benefit may be confidently anticipated. The bowels are seldom -acted on by these waters—more frequently, indeed, constipation is the -result, requiring aperient medicine both before and during the course. -The hæmorrhoidal and monthly periods are promoted by the waters, thus -relieving plethoric fulness of the abdominal organs. - -“In dispositions to rheumatism, cutaneous complaints, erysipelas, -catarrhal affections, neuralgia, chlorosis (green sickness,) tubercles, -scrofula, difficult and premature accouchments, the waters of Wildbad -are strongly recommended.” - -Professor Heim warns the patient not to be discouraged, even if he leaves -the waters unrelieved, or worse than when he commenced the course. The -cure will often follow, when the individual has regained his home, weeks -or months after leaving Wildbad. - -It is only since 1836, that a source of waters for drinking has been -discovered and established at Wildbad. The mineral ingredients do not -materially differ from those of the baths. They are now very generally -used in conjunction with the latter, and are found to be very useful -auxiliaries. They sit lightly on the stomach, and prove rather aperient -than otherwise. They increase the appetite, and promote materially the -action of the skin, kidneys, and glandular organs generally. - - -DISORDERS FOR WHICH THE WATERS OF WILDBAD ARE CHIEFLY USED. - -Dr. Fricker has laid open to Professor Heim the records of 25 years’ -observation and experience of these waters; from which, and also from his -own practice, the latter physician has, in ten chapters, classified the -maladies for which the baths and waters have been employed, detailing -numerous cases, and superadding commentaries of his own. It will be -necessary to skim lightly over the heads of these chapters, in order -to shew the properties of the Wildbad spa in its direct application to -practice. - -I. _Rheumatism, Gout, and their Consequences._—“Our baths have always -maintained great reputation for the cure of these two classes of -tormenting maladies, arising from different causes, but presenting many -traits of character in common.” The author cautions the bather against -using the baths, where there is any acute or even subacute inflammation -in the joints, muscles, or internal organs. It is in the _chronic_ and -painful forms of gout and rheumatism, together with their numerous -consequences, that the Wildbad waters will be found beneficial—indeed, -according to the authors abovementioned, almost infallibly curative. -Messrs. Fricker and Heim trace many cases of tic, vertigo, deafness, -affections of the sight, asthmatic coughs, intermissions of pulse, -tracheal and bronchial affections, &c. to suppressed gout and rheumatism, -as they are often removed by the baths and waters. Fifteen cases in -illustration are detailed with great minuteness by Dr. Heim, to which the -Wildbad bather may refer on the spot. - -II. _Affections of the Spinal Marrow, and its Consequences, -Paralysis._—Diseases of the spinal marrow are seldom recognized in their -early stages, not indeed till symptoms of paralysis begin to shew -themselves in the limbs. This class of complaints is daily augmenting -in number, as the baths of Wildbad can testify. These waters have, says -M. Heim, often dissipated the symptoms which usually precede attacks of -paralysis, and therefore, if used early, would be more useful than when -taken after the paralysis is actually developed. But even here, it is -averred that the progress of the malady is frequently arrested, and an -amelioration procured. - -When the paralysis of the lower extremities is complete—when the -individual is no longer able to walk or stand, without assistance, the -waters of Wildbad have often produced wonderful effects in restoring -power—indeed it is curious that, according to the physicians aforesaid, -these baths are frequently more successful in these cases than in those -which are not so far advanced towards a complete paralysis. An immense -number of cases are detailed by Dr. Heim under this head; and I am -tempted to extract one, which is the case of a countryman of our own. - -“A young English gentleman, after bathing in a river, the water of which -was very cold, became completely paralytic of the lower extremities. -He came to Wildbad, and, without consulting any physician, commenced -the warmest of the baths. At the end of a fortnight he found himself so -considerably improved, that he was able to lay aside his crutches, and -walk by the aid of a cane. At this time the coronation of our youthful -queen was announced, and the patient determined to assist at the -ceremony. He bore the journey well—and returned to Wildbad after a few -weeks, without any relapse. He took a second course of the baths, and -left Wildbad ultimately in a very improved condition.” - -Those paralyses which affect one side only, are almost universally -the result of an apoplectic attack. “When these attacks have been -occasioned by suppressed hæmorrhoidal discharges—eruptions of the skin -suddenly extinguished—engorgements or obstructions of the organs of -the abdomen—female obstructions at a certain period of life—metastases -of gout or rheumatism—in such cases of hemiplegia, the Wildbad waters -have proved serviceable, and it is delightful to see so many of these -paralytics leave Wildbad every season, with firm steps, although confined -for years previously to the couch, or crutches.” - -Professor Heim wisely cautions those who have been of a plethoric -constitution, from too free an use of the baths, till they have -ascertained how they agree with their constitutions. Before any -amelioration takes place, the patient generally experiences some pricking -pains and tinglings in the paralyzed parts, followed by a sense of -heat, perspiration, and increase of feeling. To these symptoms succeed -a gradual restoration of muscular power, accompanied by a sense of -electrical sparks passing along the nerves. Numerous cases of paralysis -of one side are detailed by Dr. Heim. - -III. and IV. These chapters are dedicated to paralysis occasioned by -poisons—and also to cases of local paralyses of particular nerves—as -those of the face. I must pass them over. The waters appear to have been -useful in many of these instances. - -The 5th Chapter relates to affections of the joints—to -lumbago—sciatica—white swellings of the knee—contractions, &c., in which -the baths of Wildbad are lauded. One caution, however, is invariably -enjoined—not to use the waters while there is any inflammation actually -existing. - -The SIXTH CHAPTER is on diseases of the bones, with numerous cases, which -I shall pass over. - -The SEVENTH CHAPTER treats of diseases of the skin, -cured or relieved by the Wildbad baths and waters. -Herpes—ringworm—prurigo—pityriasis—acne—inveterate itch—fetid -perspirations, &c. &c. are said to be those which receive most advantage -from these waters. Indeed I think it probable that the eulogiums are not -much exaggerated as to this class of complaints. - -CHAP. VIII. relates to scrofula and glandular affections generally. In -such complaints it is of the greatest consequence to conjoin the internal -with the external use of the waters of Wildbad. These waters are much -employed by people with goitre, and Drs. Fricker and Heim consider them -very beneficial in enlargements of the liver, spleen, and even of the -mesenteric glands. - -CHAP. IX. Wildbad appears to have attained some considerable reputation -in female complaints. Next indeed in number to the class of lame and -paralytic patients, which I saw around the baths and waters of this -place, were the chlorotic females, whose countenances exhibited the -“green and yellow melancholy” of Shakespeare’s “love-sick” maiden— - - ——“She never told her love, - But let concealment, like a worm i’th’bud, - Feed on her damask cheek.” - -There are more ailments than love-sickness, however, which cause the -youthful maid to “pine in thought,” and exchange all her lillies for -the pallid rose—the sparkling expression for the lack-lustre eye—and -the elasticity of youth for the languor of premature old age. For the -irregularities and obstructions that generally lead to this chlorotic -state, the baths and waters of Wildbad are strongly recommended. Dr. -Heim avers that, of late years, he has only failed in one instance to -bring these females to a state of regularity and health—where no organic -disease existed. Although this is rather a startling assertion, yet the -concourse of female invalids to this place, bearing such unequivocal -marks of a particular class of ailments, offers a fair presumption that -many receive benefit there, else the numbers would diminish instead of -increasing from year to year. I can also easily believe that a course of -these baths, with the daily ingurgitation of large potions of a simple -diluent water, may remove many obstructions, and, at all events, bring -the constitution into that condition in which some good chalybeate, as -Schwalbach, Spa, or Brockenau, might exert a powerful influence on the -restoration of health. - -The new spring for drinking is at a temperature of 92°, and contains four -grains of saline substances in the pint, of which two are muriate of soda -or common salt. It is used like other thermal waters, and is slightly -aperient, but chiefly alterative. - -The public walks to the southward of the town, extend nearly a mile along -the noisy Enz, and are very pleasant. A contemplative philosopher might -there indulge his sublime speculations—the poet his “wayward fancies”—and -the devotee his celestial meditations, with little interruption. - -The counter-indications, or disorders not benefited, but aggravated -by the waters of Wildbad, are not materially different from those -mentioned under the head of other thermal springs—as plethora, or -fulness—tendency to apoplexy, to hæmorrhage of any kind, or to -engorgements or inflammations of any of the internal organs. Neither are -they proper in cases of considerable debility. They are not to be used -in inveterate catarrhal affections of the kidneys or bladder, attended -with wasting of strength, and probably with organic disease—in chronic -diarrhœa—diabetes—internal suppurations—confirmed phthisis—indurations -of spleen or liver in an advanced stage—dropsies—scirrhus and -cancer—biliary and urinary calculi—organic diseases of the heart—varicose -veins—hypochondriasis and hysteria, with debility—original or idiopathic -epilepsy, chorea, catalepsy and other convulsive affections of this -nature—sterility dependent on organic disease of the reproductive -viscera—alienation of mind, &c. On no account should women in a state of -pregnancy use the baths or waters of Wildbad. - -I have now presented the reader with all the information which I could -collect on the spot, from the conversations and writings of those best -acquainted with the nature and properties of the waters. Most of the -English spa-goers will be disappointed in the magic effects of the -baths, as somewhat highly-coloured by Dr. Granville—and will consider -the locality as too sombre; while the appearance of the bathers and -drinkers—being veritable invalids—many of them on crutches, and many -apparently on their way to the grave—will prove anything but cheering -to the British hypochondriac, and the sensitive nervous female. A -considerable number of English leave Wildbad in a day or two after -arriving there—and of the few who take the waters, the majority become -alarmed at the spa-fever or irritation, abandoning the waters at the very -time they are likely to prove serviceable. - -To those, however, who prefer quietude to fashionable frivolity—and a -secluded glen to a dashing, gambling Kursaal, the baths and waters may -prove serviceable in many of the complaints above enumerated. I would -advise all who sojourn at Baden-Baden, or who pass near Wildbad, to -visit this place, were it only for curiosity, and the singular scenery -of its neighbourhood. The journey from Baden-Baden is an easy one of a -single day—but that day should be a fine one, else all the pleasures of -the excursion will be lost. In fine, I can conscientiously aver that, in -respect to Wildbad, I have neither exaggerated its merits— - - “Nor set down aught in malice.” - - -SCHAFFHAUSE. - -Winding through the sombre solitudes of the Black Forest, we enter the -_Vallée d’Enfer_, through the narrow and frowning pass, where MOREAU -stemmed the torrent of the Austrian legions, as did Leonidas the myriads -of Xerxes in the Straits of Thermopylæ. Little did that able but -unfortunate general dream, during his memorable retreat through the Black -Forest, that, a few years afterwards, he would meet his death from the -mouth of a French cannon, while combatting in the ranks of the Allies.[34] - -What a curse would _foreknowledge_ prove to man, although so ardently -desired by curious and eager mortals! A single glance through the -telescope of futurity would render us miserable for life! If good was in -store, we would relinquish all efforts to obtain it, as being certain. -Every day would seem an age till the happiness arrived—and when it came, -all relish for it would be gone. On the other hand, if the glass showed -misfortune, sickness, and sorrow in the distance—the prospect would soon -drive the wretch insane! - - Oh blindness to the future wisely given! - -The DISPOSER of events alone can be the safe depository of prescience. - - - - -RHINEFALLS. - - -I have always experienced some degree of disappointment at the sight -of waterfalls. Where the volume of water is great, the fall is, -comparatively trifling—and where the descent is from a great height, -then the stream is insignificant. If the NIAGARA could be translated to -the Staubach, and the mighty St. Lawrence thundered from a height of -eight hundred feet into the valley of Lauterbrunnen, the scene would be -awfully grand, and sufficient to startle the Jaungfrau on her icy throne. - -The Rhine, at Schaffhause, falls about seventy or eighty feet, and is by -no means impressive, even when viewed from the camera obscura directly -opposite the cataract. We drove from the town on a beautiful moonlight -night, and descending the stairs on the left bank of the river, we came -close to the water’s edge, and also to that of the fall itself. Here is -the spot to see and hear the deluge of water, all sparkling with foam, in -the mild light of the moon, come thundering from aloft, and threatening -every instant to overwhelm the spectator in the boiling flood. If terror -be a source of the sublime, there certainly is some degree of this -emotion, mixed with the contemplation of a vast mass of water rolling -down from a great height, apparently in a direct course towards us. The -roar of the cataract, too, is unlike that of any other sound, and adds -considerably to the effect produced on the sense of sight. - -I do not know how the association of ideas first commenced, but I never -see a great waterfall, or a rapid river, without their suggesting -themselves as emblems of time or eternity. The torrent rolling along in -the same course through countless ages— - - “In omne volubilis ævum”— - -without change or rest, is calculated to excite reflections on the great -stream of time itself—and that inconceivable abyss—eternity—to which it -leads. But all things move in circles. The water that runs in the river, -must _first_ fall from the clouds—and the rains that descend from the -air, must _first_ rise from the earth. And so, perhaps, time and eternity -may be but parts of one vast, immeasurable, and incomprehensible cycle, -without beginning, middle, or end! - -It is probable that, ere many centuries roll away, the falls of the -Rhine will become merely a rapid. The stream has worn down four or -five channels in the rocky barrier, leaving three or four fragments, -resembling the broken arches or piers of a natural bridge, standing up -many feet above the surface of the water where it begins to curl over the -precipice. The centre fragment is much higher than its brethren, and it -is surmounted by a wooden shield, (how they managed to place it there is -not easily imagined,) with the arms and motto of Schaffhause. - - “Deus spes - Nostra es.” - -The torrent, thus split into four or five divisions, has given rise to -some extravagant comparisons, one of which is their similitude to five -foaming white steeds, that have broke away from their keepers. - - Hark! ’tis the voice of the falling flood! - And see where the torrents come— - Thundering down through rock and wood, - Till the roar makes Echo dumb! - - Like giant steeds from a distant waste, - That have madly broke away, - Leaping the crags in their headlong haste, - And trampling the waves to spray. - - Five abreast! as their own foam white— - Their wild manes streaming far— - A worthy gift from a water-sprite - To his Ocean-monarch’s car![35] - -The next best place to that which I have mentioned, for viewing the -falls, is in a boat, brought as close as prudence will permit to the -boiling eddies. In a camera obscura opposite the falls, is a reflected -picture of the cataract—but I cannot imagine why it should be preferable -to the real object before our eyes. - -There is a “German Switzerland” on the banks of the Elbe—and so is -there a “Swiss Germany” on the banks of the Rhine. From Schaffhause to -Constance, Zurich, Berne, and even Geneva, the country is pretty and well -cultivated; but it is not SWITZERLAND till we get past the above points, -and penetrate among the mountains. For the same reason that we should -ascend the Rhine from Holland, we ought to enter Switzerland from the -North, so that the grandeur and majesty of the scenery may be always on -the increase till we ascend the Splugen, the St. Gothard, the Simplon, -the St. Bernard, or the Mount Cenis. - -Pursuing our route to the next SPA on the list of this tour, we come to -Zurich. - -Zurich, like Geneva, is situated between a placid lake and a crystal -river. Lake Leman, having filtered its waters, discharges them through -the “blue and arrowy Rhone,” into the tideless Mediterranean, not to pass -on to the vast Atlantic, but again to rise in exhalations to the clouds, -and fall—Heaven knows where. The lake of Zurich has a different taste. It -sends its purified waters through the Limmatt, to mingle with the Rhine, -(also freed from impurities in the lake of Constance,) and thence to find -its way to the great Northern Ocean—probably to visit the Thames, the -Ohio, or even the Ganges, before it makes another aerial voyage to the -skies. - -The scenery about Zurich is tame and insipid, compared with that about -Geneva, where the Jura and the high Alps in the distance, contrast with -the lovely Pais de Vaud in the vicinity of the lake. - - -LAKE OF WALLENSTADT. - -This lake, which is only a good day’s journey from Zurich, presents, in -my opinion, the finest lake-scenery in Switzerland. The mountains, on -the northern shore, rise almost perpendicularly to the height of five or -six thousand feet, sprinkled with ledges of rock, on which are perched -the shepherd’s chalet, and giving footing and scanty nutriment to the -pine and alpine shrubs and flowers. The mountains on the southern side -are equally high, but not so perpendicular in their descent to the lake; -but the whole circle of scenery is most magnificent. The transit of the -lake is east and west, a distance of some twelve or thirteen miles, and -the passage is usually favoured by a kind of trade wind, which blows from -the westward during one part of the day, and from the eastward during -the other. The little village of WESEN, is the point of embarkation from -the Zurich side, and is situated most romantically under stupendous -mountains. We started at two o’clock, with carriage, horses, and live -lumber, in the passage-boat, which did not convey much idea of safety, -being low, flat, and rigged with a tall frail mast and square sail. -The dangers of the Wallenstadt navigation are, no doubt exaggerated; -but it is evident that, along the whole of the northern board of the -lake there is but one small spot where a boat could put in for safety -in a storm. Along this shore we sailed with a fine breeze, and enjoyed -the prospect of one of the finest scenes in Switzerland. The mountains -on the northern board are so high and precipitous, that I think it is -physically impossible for a gale of wind to blow direct on the shore, -when a boat comes close to the rocks. It could only be by the impulse of -the waves that a boat might be forced amongst the breakers. Accidents, -however, very seldom happen. The afternoon was clear sunshine—the boatmen -abandoned the oars, being wafted along by a fine breeze—the song was -commenced—and the RANZ DE VACHE was returned from the ledges of rock, and -patches of vegetation among the cliffs, by many a blithsome shepherd, -tending his flocks, or collecting his little autumnal harvest—the long -and slender cataracts poured in sheets of gauze along many a craggy -precipice—and the whole scene was kept as a moving panorama by the steady -progression of the boat. - -In the enjoyment of Swiss or Alpine scenery, everything depends on the -state of the atmosphere, and on that of our health and spirits at the -time. Hence it is that one person is delighted with a prospect, which -another passes without pleasure or surprize at all. Of this I am certain, -that a good view of this lake’s scenery can never be erased from the -memory. - -We landed at the little town of Wallenstadt, situated near the lake, in -a marshy and malarious locality, often inundated by the floods, and very -insalubrious. No traveller should sleep here, as the distance to SARGANS -is only eight or nine miles. - -We slept at this rook’s nest, perched on an eminence above malarious and -alluvial marshes, and at the foot of a high and craggy mount, from the -summit of which there is a superb prospect of the Rhine on its way to -Constance, and of a sea of Alps, of all altitudes—many of them shining -with snow and glaciers. Those who do not like to mount the Scholberg, may -still enjoy a magnificent panorama from the ruins of an old chateau just -above Sargans, and which is of very easy access. The town itself presents -better air than fare—the two inns being little better than _cabarets_, -but health and appetite compensate well for coarse viands and hard beds. - - - - -BATHS OF PFEFFERS. - - -Among the strange places into which man has penetrated in search of -treasure or health, there is probably not one on this earth, or under it, -more wonderful than the BATHS OF PFEFFERS, situated in the country of -the Grisons, a few miles distant from the Splugen road, as it leads from -Wallenstadt to Coire. They are little known to, and still less frequented -by the English; for we could not learn that any of our countrymen had -visited them during the summer of 1834. - -Having procured five small and steady horses accustomed to the locality, -a party of three ladies and two gentlemen[36] started from the little -town of Ragatz on a beautiful morning in August, and commenced a steep -and zig-zag ascent up the mountain, through a forest of majestic pines -and other trees. In a quarter of an hour, we heard the roar of a torrent, -but could see nothing of itself or even its bed. The path, however, soon -approached the verge of a dark and tremendous ravine, the sides of which -were composed of perpendicular rocks several hundred feet high, and at -the bottom of which the TAMINA, a rapid mountain torrent, foamed along -in its course to the valley of Sargans, there to fall into the upper -Rhine. The stream itself, however, was far beyond our view, and was only -known by its hollow and distant murmurs. The ascent, for the first three -miles, is extremely fatiguing, so that the horses were obliged to take -breath every ten minutes. The narrow path, (for it is only a kind of -mule-track,) often winded along the very brink of the precipice, on our -left, yet the eye could not penetrate to the bottom of the abyss. After -more than an hour of toilsome climbing, we emerged from the wood, and -found ourselves in one of the most picturesque and romantic spots that -can well be imagined. The road now meanders horizontally through a high, -but cultivated region, towards, the village of Valentz, through fields, -gardens, vineyards, and meadows, studded with chaumiers and chalets, -perched fantastically on projecting ledges of rock, or sheltered from the -winds by tall and verdant pines. The prospect from Valentz, or rather -from above the village, is one of the most beautiful and splendid I have -anywhere seen in Switzerland. We are there at a sufficient distance from -the horrid ravine, to contemplate it without terror, and listen to the -roaring torrent, thundering unseen, along its rugged and precipitous bed. -Beyond the ravine we see the monastery and village of Pfeffers, perched -on a high and apparently inaccessible promontory, over which rise alpine -mountains, their sides covered with woods, their summits with snow, and -their gorges glittering with glaciers. But it is towards the East that -the prospect is most magnificent and varied. The eye ranges, with equal -pleasure and astonishment, over the valley of Sargans, through which -rolls the infant Rhine, and beyond which the majestic ranges of the -Rhetian Alps, ten thousand feet high, rise one over the other, till their -summits mingle with the clouds. Among these ranges the SCESA-PLANA, the -ANGSTENBERG, the FLESCH, (like a gigantic pyramid,) and in the distance -the Alps that tower round Feldkirck are the most prominent features. -During our journey to the baths, the morning sun played on the snowy -summits of the distant mountains, and marked their forms on the blue -expanse behind them, in the most distinct outlines. But, on our return, -in the afternoon, when the fleecy clouds had assembled, in fantastic -groups, along the lofty barrier, the reflexions and refractions of the -solar beams threw a splendid crown of glory round the icy heads of the -Rhetian Alps—changing that “cold sublimity” with which the morning -atmosphere had invested them, into a glow of illumination which no pen -or pencil could portray. To enjoy the widest possible range of this -matchless prospect, the tourist must climb the peaks that overhang the -village, when his eye may wander over the whole of the Grison Alps and -valleys, even to the lake of Constance. - -From Valentz we turned abruptly down towards the ravine, at the very -bottom of which are the BATHS OF PFEFFERS. The descent is by a series -of acute and precipitous tourniquets, requiring great caution, as the -horses themselves could hardly keep on their legs, even when eased of -their riders. At length we found ourselves in the area of a vast edifice, -resembling an overgrown factory, with a thousand windows, and six or -seven stories high. It is built on a ledge of rock that lies on the -left bank of the TAMINA torrent, which chafes along its foundation. The -precipice on the opposite side of the Tamina, and distant about fifty -paces from the mansion or rather hospital, rises five or six hundred -feet, as perpendicular as a wall, keeping the edifice in perpetual shade, -except for a few hours in the middle of the day. The left bank of the -ravine, on which the hospital stands, is less precipitous, as it admits -of a zig-zag path to and from the Baths. The locale, altogether, of such -an establishment, at the very bottom of a frightful ravine, and for ever -chafed by a roaring torrent, is the most singularly wild and picturesque -I had ever beheld; but the wonders of Pfeffers are not yet even glanced -at.[37] - -From the western extremity of this vast asylum of invalids, a narrow -wooden bridge spans the Tamina, and by it we gain footing on a small -platform of a rock on the opposite side. Here a remarkable phenomenon -presents itself. The deep ravine, which had hitherto preserved a width -of some 150 feet, contracts, all at once, into a narrow cleft or -crevasse, of less than 20 feet, whose marble sides shoot up from the bed -of the torrent, to a height of four or five hundred feet, not merely -perpendicular, but actually inclining towards each other, so that, at -their summits, they almost touch, thus leaving a narrow fissure through -which a faint glimmering of light descends, and just serves to render -objects visible within this gloomy cavern. Out of this recess the Tamina -darts in a sheet of foam, and with a deafening noise reverberated from -the rocks within and without the crevasse. On approaching the entrance, -the eye penetrates along a majestic vista of marble walls in close -approximation, and terminating in obscurity, with a narrow waving line of -sky above, and a roaring torrent below! Along the southern wall of this -sombre gorge, a fragile scaffold, of only two planks in breadth, is seen -to run, suspended—as it were—in air, fifty feet above the torrent, and -three or four hundred feet beneath the crevice that admits air and light -from Heaven into the profound abyss. This frail and frightful foot-path -is continued (will it be believed?) nearly _half a mile_ into the marble -womb of the mountain! Its construction must have been a work of great -difficulty and peril; for its transit cannot be made even by the most -curious and adventurous travellers, without fear and trembling, amounting -often to a sense of shuddering and horror. Along these two planks we -crept or crawled, with faltering steps and palpitating hearts. It has -been my fortune to visit most of the wonderful localities of this globe, -but an equal to this I never beheld. - -“Imagination, (says an intelligent traveller,) the most vivid, could -not portray the portals of Tartarus under forms more hideous than those -which Nature has displayed in this place. We enter this gorge on a bridge -of planks (pont de planches) sustained by wedges driven into the rocks. -It takes a quarter of an hour or more to traverse this bridge, and it -requires the utmost precaution. It is suspended over the Tamina, which -is heard rolling furiously at a great depth beneath. The walls of this -cavern, twisted, torn, and split (les parois laterales contournées, -fendues, et dechirées) in various ways, rise perpendicular, and even -incline towards each other, in the form of a dome; whilst the faint light -that enters from the portal at the end, and the crevice above, diminishes -as we proceed;—the cold and humidity augmenting the horror produced by -the scene. The fragments of rock sometimes overhang this gangway in such -a manner, that the passenger cannot walk upright:—at others, the marble -wall recedes so much, that he is unable to lean against it for support. -The scaffold is narrow, often slippery; and sometimes there is but a -single plank, separating us from the black abyss of the Tamina.[38] He -who has cool courage, a steady eye, and a firm step, ought to attempt -this formidable excursion (épouvantable excursion) in clear and dry -weather, lest he should find the planks wet and slippery. He should start -in the middle of the day, with a slow and measured step, and without a -stick. The safest plan is to have two guides supporting a pole, on the -inside of which the stranger is to walk.” - -We neglected this precaution, and four out of the five pushed on, even -without a guide at all. At forty or fifty paces from the entrance the -gloom increases, while the roar of the torrent beneath, reverberated from -the sides of the cavern, augments the sense of danger and the horror of -the scene. The meridian sun penetrated sufficiently through the narrow -line of fissure at the summit of the dome, to throw a variety of lights -and of shadows over the vast masses of variegated marble composing the -walls of this stupendous cavern, compared with which, those of Salsette, -Elephanta, and even Staffa, shrink into insignificance. A wooden pipe, -which conveys the hot waters from their source to the baths, runs -along in the angle between the scaffold and the rocks, and proves very -serviceable, both as a support for one hand while pacing the plank, -and as a seat, when the passenger wishes to rest, and contemplate the -wonders of the cavern. At about one-third of the distance inward, I -would advise the tourist to halt, and survey the singular locality in -which he is placed. The inequality of breadth in the long chink that -divides the dome above, admits the light in very different proportions, -and presents objects in a variety of aspects. The first impression which -occupies the mind is caused by the cavern itself, with reflection on the -portentous convulsion of Nature which split the marble rock in twain, -and opened a gigantic aqueduct for the mountain torrent.[39] After a few -minutes’ rumination on the action of subterranean fire, our attention -is attracted to the slow but powerful operation of water on the solid -parietes of this infernal grotto. We plainly perceive that the boisterous -torrent has, in the course of time, and especially when swelled by rains, -caused wonderful changes both in its bed and its banks. I would direct -the attention of the traveller to a remarkable excavation formed by the -waters on the opposite side of the chasm, and in a part more sombre than -usual, in consequence of a bridge that spans the crevice above, and leads -to the Convent of Pfeffers. This natural grotto is hollowed out of the -marble rock to the depth of 30 feet, being nearly 40 feet in width, by -26 feet in height. It is difficult not to attribute it to art; and, as -the whole cavern constantly reminds us of the Tartarean Regions, this -beautifully vaulted grotto seems to be fitted for the throne of Pluto and -Proserpine—or, perhaps, for the tribunal of Rhadamanthus and his brothers -of the Bench, while passing sentence on the ghosts that glide down this -Acheron or Cocytus—for had the TAMINA been known to the ancient poets, it -would assuredly have been ranked as one of the rivers of Hell. - -One of the most startling phenomena, however, results from a perspective -view into the cavern, when about midway, or rather less, from its portal. -The rocky vista ends in obscurity; but gleams and columns of light burst -down, in many places, from the meridian sun, through this “palpable -obscure,” so as to produce a wonderful variety of light and shade, as -well as of bas-relief, along the fractured walls. While sitting on the -rude wooden conduit before alluded to, and meditating on the infernal -region upon which I had entered, I was surprised to behold, at a great -distance, the figures of human beings, or thin shadows (for I could not -tell which), advancing slowly towards me—suspended between Heaven and -earth—or, at least, between the vault of the cavern and the torrent of -the Tamina, without any apparent pathway to sustain their steps, but -seemingly treading in air, like disembodied spirits! While my attention -was rivetted on these figures, they suddenly disappeared; and the first -impression on my mind was, that they had fallen and perished in the -horrible abyss beneath. The painful sensation was soon relieved by the -reappearance of the personages in more distinct shapes, and evidently -composed of flesh and blood. Again they vanished from my sight; and, -to my no small astonishment, I beheld their ghosts or their shadows -advancing along the opposite side of the cavern! These, and many other -optical illusions, were caused, of course, by the peculiar nature of the -locality, and the unequal manner in which the light penetrated from above -into this sombre chasm. - -Surprise was frequently turned into a sense of danger, when the parties, -advancing and retreating, met on this narrow scaffold. The “laws of -the road” being different on the Continent from those in Old England, -my plan was to screw myself up into the smallest compass, close to the -rock, and thus allow passengers to steal by without opposition. We found -that comparatively few penetrated to the extremity of the cavern and the -source of the Thermæ—the majority being frightened, or finding themselves -incapable of bearing the sight of the rapid torrent under their feet, -without any solid security against precipitation into the infernal gulf. -To the honour of the English ladies, I must say that they explored -the source of the waters with the most undaunted courage, and without -entertaining a thought of returning from a half-finished tour to the -regions below.[40] - -Advancing still farther into the cavern, another phenomenon presented -itself, for which we were unable to account at first. Every now and then -we observed a gush of vapour or smoke (we could not tell which) issue -from the further extremity of the rock on the left, spreading itself over -the walls of the cavern, and ascending towards the crevice in the dome. -It looked like an explosion of steam; but the roar of the torrent would -have prevented us from hearing any noise, if such had occurred. We soon -found, however, that it was occasioned by the rush of vapour from the -cavern in which the thermal source is situated, every time the door was -opened for the ingress or egress of visitors to and from this natural -vapour-bath. At such moments the whole scene is so truly Tartarean, that -had Virgil and Dante been acquainted with it, they need not have strained -their imaginations in portraying the ideal abodes of fallen angels, -infernal gods, and departed spirits, but painted a HADES from Nature, -with all the advantage of truth and reality in its favour. - -Our ingress occupied nearly half an hour, when we found ourselves at -the extremity of the parapet, on a jutting ledge of rock, and where the -cavern assumed an unusually sombre complexion, in consequence of the -cliffs actually uniting, or nearly so, at the summit of the dome. Here, -too, the TAMINA struggled, roared, and foamed through the narrow, dark, -and rugged gorge with tremendous impetuosity and deafening noise, the -sounds being echoed and reverberated a thousand times by the fractured -angles and projections of the cavern. We were now at the source of the -THERMÆ. Ascending some steps cut out of the rock, we came to a door, -which opened, and instantly enveloped us in tepid steam. We entered a -grotto in the solid marble, but of what dimensions we could form no -estimate, since it was dark as midnight, and full of dense and fervid -vapour. We were quickly in an universal perspiration. The guides hurried -us forward into another grotto, still deeper in the rock, where the steam -was suffocating, and where we exuded at every pore. It was as dark as -pitch. An owl would not have been able to see an eagle within a foot of -its saucer eyes. We were told to stoop and stretch out our hands. We did -so, and immersed them in the boiling—or, at least, the gurgling, source -of the PFEFFERS. We even quaffed at this fountain of Hygeia. - -Often had we slept in damp linen, while travelling through Holland, -Germany, and Switzerland. We had now, by way of variety, a waking set -of integuments saturated with moisture _ab interno_, as well as _ab -externo_, to such an extent, that I believe each of us would have weighed -at least half a stone more at our exit than on our entrance into this -stew-pan of the Grison Alps. - -On emerging into the damp, gelid, and gloomy atmosphere of the cavern, -every thing appeared of a dazzling brightness after our short immersion -in the Cimmerian darkness of the grotto. The transition of temperature -was equally as abrupt as that of light. The vicissitude could have -been little less than 50 or 60 degrees of Fahrenheit in one instant, -with all the disadvantage of dripping garments! It was like shifting -the scene, with more than theatrical celerity, from the Black Hole -of Calcutta to Fury Beach, or the snows of Nova Zembla. Some of the -party, less experienced in the effects of travelling than myself, -considered themselves destined to illustrate the well-known allegory -of the discontented—and that they would inevitably carry away with -them a large cargo of that which thousands come here annually to get -rid of—RHEUMATISM. I confess that I was not without some misgivings -myself on this point, seeing that we had neither the means of changing -our clothes nor of drying them—except by the heat of our bodies in the -mountain breeze. The Goddess of Health, however, who is nearly related -to the Genius of Travelling, preserved us from all the bad consequences, -thermometrical and hygrometrical, of these abrupt vicissitudes.[41] - -We retrograded along the narrow plank that suspended us over the -profound abyss with caution, fear, and astonishment. The TAMINA seemed -to roar more loud and savage beneath us, as if incensed at our safe -retreat. The sun had passed the meridian, and the gorge had assumed a -far more lugubrious aspect than it wore on our entrance. The shivered -rocks and splintered pinnacles that rose on each side of the torrent, -in gothic arches of altitude sublime, seemed to frown on our retreating -footsteps—while the human figures that moved at a distance along -the crazy plank, before and behind us, frequently lost their just -proportions, and assumed the most grotesque and extraordinary shapes -and dimensions, according to the degree of light admitted by the narrow -fissure above, and the scarcely discernible aperture at the extremity -of this wonderful gorge. The TAMINA, meanwhile, did not fail to play -its part in the gorgeous scene—astonishing the eye by the rapidity of -its movements, and astounding the ear by the vibrations of its echoes. -It seemed to growl more furiously as we receded from the depths of the -crevasse. - -At length we gained the portal, and, as the sun was still darting his -bright rays into the deepest recesses of the ravine, glancing from -the marble rocks, and glittering on the boiling torrent, the sudden -transition from Cimmerian gloom to dazzling day-light, appeared like -enchantment. While crossing the trembling bridge, I looked back on a -scene which can never be eradicated from my memory. It is the most -singular and impressive I have ever beheld on this globe, and compared -with which, the BRUNNENS are “bubbles” indeed![42] - -While examining the waters, the baths, and the internal economy of -the vast VALETUDINARIUM that stands in this savage locality, the bell -announced the approach of the second, or superior dinner, which happened -that day to be rather later than usual. The SALON, overlooking the -torrent of the Tamina, was soon replenished with guests of the better -order; the canaille, or swarm of inferior invalids having dined two hours -or more previously, in the common SALLE A MANGER. It needed but little -professional discrimination to class and specify them. The majority -proclaimed the causes of their visits to the Pfeffers. Rheumatism, -scrofula, and cutaneous diseases, formed the prominent features in this -motley assemblage. Invalids, with chronic complaints, real or imaginary, -such as abound at all watering places, foreign and domestic, were mingled -in the group; while a small portion, including our own party, evinced -anything but corporeal ailments—unless a “CANINE APPETITE” at a genuine -German _table-d’hôte_ may be ranked among the evils to which English -flesh is heir. Some monks, from the neighbouring monastery, (to which the -Baths belong,) took rank, and indeed precedence, in this small division. -The mountain breeze and fervid sun of the Convent of Pfeffers had bronzed -them with much of that nut-brown complexion, which travelling exercise in -the open air had conferred on their British visitors; while their sleek -cheeks and portly corporations proved, almost to a demonstration, that -the holy fathers descended into the profound ravine of the Tamina to -give their benediction to the waters, rather than to drink them—and to -add a sacred zest to the viands of the REFECTORY, by the alacrity with -which they swallowed them. Their appearance illustrated the truth of the -adage—“What will not poison will fatten.” - - -WATERS OF PFEFFERS. - -The Waters of PFEFFERS have neither taste, smell, nor colour. They -will keep for ten years, without depositing a sediment, or losing -their transparency. But we are not to infer that they are destitute of -medicinal powers, because they possess no sensible properties. In their -chemical composition, they have hitherto shewn but few ingredients; -and those of the simpler saline substances, common to most mineral -springs.[43] It does not follow, however, that they contain no active -materials because chemistry is not able to detect them. Powerful agents -may be diffused in waters, and which are incapable of analysis, or -destructible by the process employed for that purpose. The only sure test -is EXPERIENCE of their effects on the human body. It is not probable that -the Baths of Pfeffers would have attracted such multitudes of invalids, -annually, from Switzerland, Germany, and Italy; and that for six -centuries, if their remedial agency had been null or imaginary.[44] Their -visitors are not of that fashionable class, who run to watering-places -for pleasure rather than for health—or, to dispel the vapours of the -town by the pure air of the coast or the country. Yet, as human nature -is essentially the same in all ranks of society, I have no doubt that -much of the fame acquired by the Baths of Pfeffers, has been owing to the -auxiliary influence of air, locality, change of scene, moral impressions, -and the peculiar mode of using the waters. Their temperature—100° of -Fahren.—certain physical phenomena which they evince, and the nature of -the diseases which they are reported to cure, leave little doubt in my -mind that their merits, though overrated, like those of all other mineral -springs, are very considerable. - -The disorders for which they are most celebrated, are rheumatic and -neuralgic pains, glandular swellings, and cutaneous eruptions. But they -are also resorted to by a host of invalids afflicted with those anomalous -and chronic affections, to which nosology has assigned no name, and for -which the Pharmacopœia affords very few remedies. As the Baths belong to -the neighbouring Convent of Pfeffers, and, as the holy fathers afford -not only spiritual consolation to the patients, but medical assistance -in directing the means of cure, there is every reason to believe, or, at -least, to hope, that the moral, or rather divine influence of Religion -co-operates with mere physical agency, in removing disease and restoring -health. - -The Waters of Pfeffers are led from their sombre source in the cavern, -along the narrow scaffold before described, into a series of baths -scooped out of the rocky foundation of this vast hospital, each bath -capable of accommodating a considerable number of people at the same -time. The thermal waters are constantly running into and out of the -baths—or rather through them, so that the temperature is preserved -uniform, and the waters themselves in a state of comparative purity, -notwithstanding the numbers immersed in them. The baths are arched -with stone—the window to each is small, admitting little light, and -less air:—and, as the doors are kept shut, except when the bathers are -entering or retiring, the whole space not occupied by water, is full of -a dense vapour, as hot as the Thermæ themselves. The very walls of the -baths are warm, and always dripping with moisture. Such are the SUDATORIA -in which the German, Swiss, and Italian invalids indulge more luxuriously -than ever did the Romans in the Baths of Caracalla. In these they lie -daily, from two, to six, eight, ten—and sometimes sixteen hours![45] The -whole exterior of the body is thus soaked, softened—parboiled; while -the interior is drenched by large quantities swallowed by the mouth—the -patient, all this while, breathing the dense vapour that hovers over the -baths. The Waters of Pfeffers, therefore, inhaled and imbibed, exhaled -and absorbed, for so many hours daily, must permeate every vessel, -penetrate every gland, and percolate through every pore of the body. So -singular a process of human maceration in one of Nature’s cauldrons, -conducted with German patience and German enthusiasm, must, I think, -relax many a rigid muscle—unbend many a contracted joint—soothe many an -aching nerve—clear many an unsightly surface—resolve many an indurated -gland—open many an obstructed passage—and restore many a suspended -function. The fervid and detergent streams of the Pfeffers, in fact, -are actually turned, daily and hourly, through the Augean stable of the -human constitution, and made to rout out a host of maladies indomitable -by the prescriptions of the most sage physicians. The fable of MEDEA’S -revival of youthful vigour in wasted limbs is very nearly realized in the -mountains of the Grisons, and in the savage ravine of the TAMINA. Lepers -are here purified—the lame commit their crutches to the flames—the tumid -throat and scrofulous neck are reduced to symmetrical dimensions—and -sleep revisits the victim of rheumatic pains and neuralgic tortures. - - - - -HYDROPATHY, HYDRO-SUDO-PATHY—OR HYDROTHERAPEIA. - - -These are the titles given to a system of healing human maladies by -means of perspiration and cold water. It is making rapid progress -in Germany, that land of ideality—and the tribe of other pathys. -Homœopathy—allopathy—and even spa-pathy are in danger. Although it is no -new system, being practised for a long time by the Russians, yet it is -only about fifteen years since Priestnitz, a Silesian peasant, introduced -it amongst his native mountains, and in a shape and manner differing -somewhat from the Russian practice. - -There can be no doubt that the application of cold water to the surface -of the body, whether generally or locally, is a powerful agent, when -skilfully managed. The chill that is painfully felt on the first -plunge—the recoil of the circulation from the surface to the great -central organs and vessels—the shrinking of all external parts—the rapid -abstraction of animal heat—the hurried respiration—and last and most -important of all—the reaction which follows the bath—are all important -phenomena, that may work much good or evil in the animal economy, -according as they are watched and regulated. The reaction after the cold -bath is not less curious than the recoil. The heart and great internal -organs seem overwhelmed and stunned, for a time, by the first shock. -But soon after emerging from the bath, they begin to recover energy, -and to free themselves from the volume of congested blood, under which -they laboured. They then drive the circulation to the surface with -increasing force, filling and distending the vessels of the skin beyond -the normal or medium condition. With this distension comes a glow of -heat all over the body, and a feeling of elasticity, or bien-être, which -it is difficult to describe. A third series of phenomena now commence. -All the glandular organs of the body now take on an augmented degree of -activity, and their secretions become more copious than before the bath. -Contemporary with this increase of secretion internally, the skin itself -acts more vigorously, and not only the insensible, but the sensible -perspiration becomes more copious. In fact, the cold bath gives rise to -a series, or rather three series of phenomena, very closely resembling -a paroxysm of ague—viz. the cold, hot, and sweating stages. After a few -hours all the functions return to their normal or usual routine of duty. - -But things do not always run thus smoothly. If any particular internal -organ be much disordered in function, or at all changed in structure, -it is very apt to be so overpowered by the recoil or first shock of the -cold bath, that when reaction comes on, it is only partial and imperfect, -in consequence of the weak organ or organs remaining in a state of -congestion, and incapable of freeing themselves from the overplus of -blood determined upon them by the retreat of the circulation from the -surface. Then we have headache, lassitude, drowsiness, general malaise, -or local uneasiness, imperfect reaction, scanty or disordered secretions, -with many other uncomfortable feelings, instead of that elasticity and -buoyancy which have been already noticed. - -Before proceeding further on the cold bath, let us glance at the peculiar -manner in which it is employed by the hydro-therapeutic doctors of -Germany, who have now establishments in many of the principal towns. - -About four or five o’clock in the morning, the patient is wrapped up -to the chin (while in bed) in a thick woollen shirt. Outside of this -is placed another covering of down, fur, or any warm and impermeable -material. In a short time the disengagement of animal heat from the body -thus enveloped, forms a fervid atmosphere around him, which soon induces -a copious perspiration, in the greater number of individuals. It has -been observed that, in diseased parts, as for instance, in the joints -of gouty people, the perspiration was longest in breaking out. When the -skin is obstinate, friction and other means are used to accelerate the -cutaneous discharge. When the physician judges that the perspiration has -been sufficient, the patient is quickly disrobed and plunged into a cold -bath, which is kept ready at the side of his bed. The first shock is very -unpleasant; but that over, the invalid feels very comfortable, and when -the process is likely to prove favourable, there is frequently observed -on the surface of the water a kind of viscid scum, the supposed morbid -matter thrown off from the body. The period of immersion in the cold -bath is carefully watched, for if protracted too long it proves hurtful, -or even dangerous. Some people will not bear the cold immersion above a -minute—others are allowed to remain till the approach of a second shiver. -Where the patient is very delicate or weak, the temperature of the bath -is raised a little. In other cases, the bath is artificially depressed -below the natural temperature of the water. - -On emerging from the bath, the patient is quickly dressed, and -immediately commences exercise, and drinks abundantly of cold water. The -limit to this ingurgitation is sense of pain or weight in the stomach. -The patient, although rather averse to the cold drink at first, soon -becomes fond of it, and will swallow fifteen or twenty goblets with a -keen relish. After the promenade and cold drink is over, a nourishing -breakfast is taken. All stimulating or exciting beverages are entirely -prohibited. The appetite generally becomes keen, and the digestion, -even of dyspeptics, strong and effective during this course. Between -breakfast and dinner is variously employed, according to the strength of -the patients or the nature of the disease. Some take riding or pedestrian -exercise—others gymnastics—and a few have more cold water, as a plunging -or shower bath. - -The dinner is to be light, and soon after mid-day. It is generally taken -with a keen appetite. During the three or four hours after dinner, all -exercise of mind or body is forbidden, but sleep is not to be indulged -in. Towards evening, some of the stronger patients repeat the same -process which they underwent in the morning; but those who are weak, -or in whom the crisis is approaching, only take cold water to drink in -moderation. After a slight supper the patient retires to sleep, in order -that he may early resume the routine of the water-cure. - -The professors of this system vary the mode of application almost -infinitely—especially the external application of the cold water, -according to the general or local seat of the complaint. They act -very much on the doctrine of revulsion or derivation. Thus when there -are symptoms of fulness or congestion about the head or the chest, a -half-bath or hip-bath of cold water is employed, disregarding the first -impression of cold on the lower parts of the body, but looking to the -_reaction_ which is to take place there, and to the consequent derivation -of blood from the head and chest. Foot-baths, cold lotions, fomentations, -and poultices are variously used, according to the nature or seat of the -malady. - -Like the spa waters, this HYDROTHERAPEIA produces, in a great many -instances, a CRISIS. For some days the patients feel themselves much more -energetic and comfortable than before the course was begun; but after a -time “a veritable state of fever is produced, the result of this general -effervescence.”[46] Then the symptoms of the complaint, whatever it may -be, are all exasperated and acquire an increase of intensity—even old -diseases, that were forgotten, will sometimes re-appear—but all this -commotion is the precursor of a salutary crisis and a return to health. A -kind of prickly heat, with itching of the skin, is a common occurrence in -the course of the cure. “The effects produced even on organic diseases by -this hydro-therapeutic treatment would convince the most sceptical of its -wonderful efficacy.”—_Engel._ - -The diseases to which this remedy is now applied in Germany are numerous -and very different. Fevers, even of the most inflammatory kind, are -said to yield to it. Pure inflammations of vital organs are fearlessly -submitted to it. The first case related by Dr. Engel, is one of -pneumonia, well marked, in a young girl who had been exposed to a current -of cold air after violent exercise in the heat of the day. Dr. Weiss -ordered her to be enveloped in a blanket, wet with cold water, and then -other blankets over the wet one, with plenty of cold water to drink. -Some amelioration of the symptoms followed; but in two hours they were -again intense. Two foreign physicians accompanied Dr. E. to the bed-side -of the patient, and prognosticated a fatal termination unless she were -bled, and the cold water treatment declined. Dr. E. with the greatest -confidence, ordered the blanket to be again wetted with cold water. This -second application was followed by increase of the burning heat, and also -by delirium. Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the foreigners, Dr. E. -was still firm in his purpose—and ordered the wet blankets to be applied -every half-hour. No change took place till after the sixth application, -when the kidneys acted copiously. The seventh application was followed by -diminution of the thirst and heat—the patient became more tranquil—began -to perspire—and fell into a short sleep. The perspiration continued -copious for twenty-two hours, and was kept up by the drinking of large -quantities of cold water. The perspiration having ceased, the patient -was put into a cold half-bath (slipper) where the respiration became -more free. On being taken out and covered over she perspired copiously. -The wet blankets were now applied only twice a day, with an occasional -half-bath. On the fifth day she was well. (Weiss.) - -Before proceeding farther, it will be proper to explain that the -transition from a hot bath to a cold one, even in a state of -perspiration, is not half so dangerous as most people imagine. It is -well known that if we jump out of hot water into cold, we resist the -shock, and bear the effects of the latter better than if we took the -plunge without any preparation. But then there is a strong prejudice that -_perspiration_ is an insuperable bar to the application of cold water to -the surface. If the individual has come into a state of perspiration from -bodily exercise, and especially if he be fatigued or exhausted—then the -cold water would be dangerous. But this is not the case, to any extent, -when he is warmed either by the hot bath, or by the accumulation of -heat generated in his own body. This is proved by authentic facts which -have come under my own observation. Forty years ago, when the Russian -troops were encamped in the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, the soldiers -constructed rude stone huts or ovens along the beech, for vapour baths. -Into these they put stones, and heated them by fire, when they poured -water over them, and thus filled the hut with a dense vapour. When the -men had continued in this rude vapour-bath till they were in a state of -perspiration, they leaped into the sea, and swam about till they were -tired. All this was done, partly for health, partly for pleasure. It is -well-known to all northern travellers that the Russians are in the habit -of steaming themselves in the vapour-baths, and then directly rolling -themselves in the snow. Every one, too, must have observed postillions -dashing their foaming and perspiring horses into any convenient water at -the end of their journey, without the least fear of their animals being -injured by the dip. - -Here then is a complete counter-part, or rather prototype of the -HYDRO-SUDO-PATHY, as already described. But there is one process which -will appear incredible to most people—that of procuring perspiration -by means of blankets wetted with cold water. Let us see whether an -illustration of this may not be found. Every one who has read the -Waverly Novels must have been struck with the singular practice pursued -by some Highlanders (outlaws I think) who were obliged to pass many -winter nights unsheltered on the freezing mountains. When they were -desirous of sleeping, they dipped their plaids in the freezing water of -the nearest pool or stream, and, wrapping themselves in this dripping -and gelid mantle, went quietly to sleep! So long as the plaid kept wet, -the Highlander kept warm, and slept soundly; but the moment it got dry, -the man was awoke by the cold, and proceeded to the brook or stream -to saturate his bed-clothes again with cold water. Here we have the -prototype of the German process described in the case of the girl with -inflamed lungs. By what process of _reasoning_ the Silesian peasant and -the Celtic mountaineer, arrived at the knowledge of these curious facts, -would be difficult to imagine. There was probably no reasoning in either -case, but chance, observation, and experience. - -It is sometimes more easy to explain a phenomenon when discovered, than -to arrive at it by any process of reasoning previously. The wet plaid -by confining the animal heat of the Highlander, soon occasioned a warm -atmosphere around his body, which kept him comfortable. But as soon -as the plaid got dry and its texture _pervious_, then the animal heat -rapidly escaped, and the feeling of cold dispelled sleep. In the case -of pneumonia related by Dr. Weiss, the wet blanket was surmounted by -several other blankets, which effectually prevented the escape of animal -heat, which would soon accumulate and eventuate in perspiration. In such -cases there would be a chill at first, succeeded by reaction, heat, and -transpiration. We see this exemplified every day, where cold lotions -are applied to an inflamed part. If the clothes are defended from the -external air, they soon become warm, and form a fomentation—whereas, -if exposed to a current of air, they will almost freeze the part by -evaporation. Dr. Weiss’s patient would never have perspired, if the wet -blanket had not been covered by dry ones. - -We are now prepared to glance at some other cases recorded by the -professors of hydropathy. - -Dr. Engin relates the following cases of catarrhal and rheumatic fever. -A delicate female, aged 30 years, was taken ill on the 27th of April -1837, with the abovementioned complaint, but was under an allopathic -doctor till the 30th, when Dr. E. found her labouring under acute pains -in the joints—inflamed throat—difficulty of swallowing—joints swelled -and red—inability to move—pulse 100. The patient was enveloped in a cold -wet blanket, over which several dry ones were placed, twice a day, for -three days consecutively. She soon began to perspire copiously each time -of application. On the fourth day she was plunged into a cold bath while -deluged with sweat. This was repeated twelve days in succession, the -inflamed joints being kept, in the intervals, covered with cold wetted -cloths. During all this time she was ordered to drink plenty of cold -water. The fever and all the other symptoms gradually diminished, and -finally disappeared. Towards the end of the treatment a critical eruption -appeared on the skin. - -This was certainly as unfavourable a case for the hydropathic treatment -as could well be imagined; and the fact of its being put in practice, -even with impunity, may afford matter for reflection. - -Cases are detailed by Dr. Engin and others, where scarlatina, erysipelas, -herpes, and other cutaneous eruptions, were treated on hydropathic -principles, and seemingly with success. Hæmorrhages of various kinds, -from nose, lungs, bowels, &c. are subjected to this treatment, as well -as a host of chronic maladies, including constipation, hæmorrhoids, -amenorrhœa, chlorosis, liver complaints, jaundice, gout, rheumatism, -melancholia, hypochondriasis, hysteria, epilepsy, tic douloureux, -gastrodynia, scrofula, rickets, &c. - -Now, although I should be far from recommending this practice in many -of the complaints where it has been employed, yet, as the institutions -for the hydropathic treatment are now spread all over Germany, and open -to the inspection of all medical men, (unlike the hocus-pocus fraud, -mystery, and deception of homœopathy,) it would be unwise not to examine -into a system which shocks our prejudices rather than runs counter to -historical facts and philosophical reasoning. - -At all events, this system corroborates a practice which I have -now followed and publicly recommended for many years; namely, the -“CALIDO-FRIGID SPONGING, or LAVATION.” This consists in sponging the -face, throat, and upper part of the chest, night and morning, with _hot_ -water, and then immediately with _cold_ water. I have also recommended -that children should be habituated to this sponging all over the body, -as the means of inuring them to, and securing them from, the injuries -produced by atmospheric vicissitudes. It is the best preservative -which I know against face-aches, tooth-aches, (hot and cold water -being alternately used to rinse the mouth,) ear-aches, catarrhs, &c. -so frequent and distressing in this country. But its paramount virtue -is that of preserving many a constitution from pulmonary consumption, -the causes of which are often laid in repeated colds, and in the -susceptibility to atmospheric impressions.[47] - - -END OF THE FIRST PILGRIMAGE. - - - - -(Second Pilgrimage.) - - -CHEMIN DE MER—CHEMIN DE FER. - -A short run of fourteen hours from the Tower, on a road as smooth as that -of the Great Western Railway, deposited us safely at Ostende—a kind of -flat and fortified Gravesend, where John Bull, as far as tongue and table -are concerned, is as much at home as if he were in Deptford or Greenwich. -At six in the morning, every thing is bustle among the baggage, and -it requires half a dozen omnibuses to convey travellers, trunks, -clothes-bags and band-boxes from the hotels to the station. And here I -would advise every passenger to mark the _destination_ on every package, -and take care of the receipt ticket, otherwise he may find, on his -arrival at Brussels, Liege, or Antwerp, that his luggage has travelled to -quite a different quarter, requiring a “reclamation” to be sent along the -lines, and perhaps two or three days’ delay! One of my trunks, and that -too, the one containing the “sinews of war,” was “absent without leave,” -when I reached Brussels, and was afterwards found lying in the office at -Ghent! - -Short as was our passage to the Station by the OMNIBUS, it gave rise to a -warm discussion respecting this very convenient and economical vehicle, -which was considered by one of the party as a great recent improvement on -hackneys, cabs, and stage-coaches. An Irish Tutor, however, who was one -of the company, maintained that the OMNIBUS was in common use more than -two thousand years ago, in every country between the banks of the Ganges -and the pillars of Hercules. This was so startling an assertion that the -gentleman was called on for proof. “That I will give,” said he, “from the -tenth Satire of Juvenal, which commences thus:”— - - “OMNIBUS in terris quæ sunt à gadibus usque - Auroram et gangem.”—— - -The cockneys stared at each other, and one or two gentlemen laughed most -immoderately. The DOMINE proceeded to translate the passage for the -benefit of the ladies, and others who might not possess a knowledge of -the dead languages. - -“_Omnibus in terris_” there are OMNIBUSES in all countries, “_quæ sunt_,” -that lie, “_a gadibus_,” between Cadiz, “_auroram et gangem_” and the -banks of the Ganges. - -This ingenious distortion of the celebrated passage in Juvenal, was -delivered with such assumed gravity and apparent honesty, that it carried -conviction to nine-tenths of the passengers, and those few who detected -the sophistry, were so much pleased with the joke, that they applauded -the learning of the Theban. Nor would it have been very easy to prove -that he was _literally_ wrong. “OMNIBUS” was in use wherever the latin -language prevailed; and though not specifically designed as a vehicle -for _passengers and luggage_, it was employed to carry _all kinds of -things_—hence the application of it to the modern and very useful Noah’s -Ark on four wheels. - -A good deal of scepticism has been expressed respecting the “flying -Dutchman” of the novelist and others. But I do not see why we should -not have a “flying Dutchman,” seeing that we have “flying Belgians.” -If, in the good old times of Marlbro’, Napoleon, and Wellington, a -train of artillery moving at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, -was called a _“flying” train_, surely a train going at the rate of -twenty-five or thirty miles an hour, and carrying a small army with its -baggage on its back, deserves the epithet of a “_flying train_.” Never -was country better calculated for rail-roads than a great portion of -Holland and Belgium. You have only to lay down sleepers and rails in -any direction, and all is ready for the engine. Nor is there any extra -expence required for guarding man or beast against accidents. The train -brushes along the sides or gable of a cottage—dashes through the centre -of a village—plunges through the suburbs of a city—skips over a public -road without disturbing a stone of the pavé—darts over a canal—and all -with scarcely a rail or fence to prevent intrusion on the lines. The -Belgians are either very cautious, or very reckless of life. You will -see men, women, and children standing or sitting within six feet of the -trains; but no accident seems ever to occur. As for cattle straying on -the rail-roads, there is little danger of that; for you may travel from -Ostende to Liege, without seeing ox or ass, cow or calf, sheep or goat—or -anything with four legs—except in the towns. All is corn, hay, potatoes, -and clover—or clover, potatoes, hay and corn—or some combination of these -four staple articles. - -But neither rail-roads nor love are found to run always smooth. As we -approach Liege the ground becomes so rugged, and the hills so steep, that -tunnels of prodigious length and depth are necessary to complete the -line to Liege, Aix, and Cologne. It is said the Americans contemplate a -perforation of the Allighany Mountains, in order that rail-roads may be -extended to Kentucky. The task will not be much less difficult to connect -Ostende with the Rhine. But the persevering industry of Germans—the -“improbus labor”—will conquer all obstructions. - - -ANTWERP ROUTE. - -While the train is flying along between Brussels and Liege, let us glance -at the Antwerp route. It is generally preferred to that of Ostende—though -for what good reason I am ignorant. The land is surely more natural to -man than the water. True the difference between the two routes consists -chiefly in the length of the river voyage; but, of all the navigations -which I have ever experienced round this globe, the “NAVIGATION OF THE -SCHELDT,” is amongst the most insipid and monotonous. To me, too, it -recalled scenes the most triste, and reminiscences the most dolorous. -The very lapse of time itself (31 years) since I first anathematized its -malodorous and malarious banks, is not a very pleasing retrospect. But -the recollection of what passed there in 1809, can never be called up -without pain and mortification! - -While the steamer was ploughing her weary way between Flushing and -Cadsand, MEMORY, that mysterious power, quickly reproduced the drama, -on which the curtain had fallen for more than thirty years! The hundred -pendants floating in the air—the masses of troops, whose polished arms -gleamed in the sun—the frowning and hostile ramparts and batteries on -each side of the pass covered with thousands of soldiers and citizens—the -daring rush of three men-of-war (in one of which, the VALIANT of -seventy-four guns, I then was,) into the Scheldt, while shells were -bursting over us, and the heavy shot whistling through our rigging—the -debarkation of the British troops—the bombarding and battering of -Flushing—the conflagration of the town—the sorties of the garrison, -repulsed, scattered, and driven back by British bayonets, as quickly and -certainly as the Ocean’s surge is shivered into foam by the perpendicular -rocks—the devastation of the ramparts by the showers of shot and shells -for ever thundering against them—the awful preparation for storm—the -capitulation of the garrison;—all these and many other scenes rose on the -intellectual mirror, and flitted round the mental diorama, as fresh as -when they were first spread before the material eye. - -Then came the still darker side of the drama, on which Memory, even yet -shudders to dwell! Our hopes and expectations scattered on the winds—the -great object of the Expedition (French fleet) secured beyond our reach, -though before our eyes—while our luxurious commander was employed in -eating turtle and throwing the _shells_ at the enemy. - -The stimulus of action, the expectation of booty, and the prospect of -battle being withdrawn, vexation and disappointment prepared the way -for the deadly poison of malaria. Now came the “foul fiend of the fens” -in a hundred horrid forms; and, like a destroying angel, mowed down the -ranks of our legions, lingering on these pestiferous plains in disgust or -despair! Happy were they who fell victims, at once, to the destructive -agent. Many of those who survived the endemic, were harassed to their -dying days by repeated attacks of the Walcheren malady. - -Yet, on both sides of the river, the country is a luxurious -garden,—teeming, equally, with the necessaries of life and the seeds of -death. - - * * * * * - -The city of Antwerp itself is worthy of a visit, there being numerous -paintings by the Flemish masters of the art, while the citadel calls -forth exciting recollections of valiant assaults, and equally gallant -defences. - - -LIEGE. - -Liege is quite metamorphosed—revolutionised—or, more properly speaking, -_Cockrellized_—within the last twenty years. In times of war, it -presented a picture of peace—and now, in times of peace, it exhibits the -bustle of war. It is no longer the quiet abode of burghers, as in the -days of Quentin Durward! In every direction you observe tall chimnies -belching forth volumes of dense smoke—forges roaring—steam-engines -sobbing hammers clattering—and files grating—all in the preparation and -construction of various kinds of destructive weapons, from a 42-pounder -to a pitchfork! Liege, in fact, is now the Brumagem of Belgium, and -can rival the great British manufactory of metals in no small degree. -Musket-barrels can be procured at Liege for three shillings each! Let -England look to her corn-laws! The “factory system” has not greatly -improved the manners, habits, or morals of Liege. Those who have not -visited this place for ten or fifteen years are astonished at the -difference among the lower order of the people. - -The country around Liege, and between that city and Aix and Spa, is -magnificent—equal in beauty, cultivation, and fertility, to the finest -parts of Devonshire—or indeed of any other shire in England. Unlike -France and many parts of the Continent, the country here is spangled with -handsome villas and neat cottages in every direction. - - - - -CHAUDE FONTAINE. - - -About six miles from Liege, on the road to Spa, most beautifully -situate, lies the little warm spring of the above name. The waters are -limpid, inodorous, and tasteless. The temperature is 90½° of Fahrenheit. -The specific gravity is that of common water. It contains small -quantities of carbonic, sulphuric, and muriatic acid, and also some lime. -One hundred pints of this spring yielded 240 grains of saline matters—of -which 88 were common salt—91 carbonate of lime—14 sulphate of lime—15 -muriate of magnesia—12 alumine—and 15 silice. They are, therefore, very -analogous to the waters of Pfeffers, Wildbad, and Schlangenbad—and may -be used for the same purposes as their more celebrated contemporaries. -They may be reached in nine or ten hours from Ostende, by the rail-road. -A young lady from England, who bathed in these waters once, and sometimes -twice a day, remarked that she always “felt like eel” after leaving them, -and throughout the same day. I do not exactly know what the “eel-feel” -is, but I can easily believe that it is not precisely that which the eel -itself experiences when it changes its mud-bath for the hands of the cook. - - - - -SPA. - - “Heureux qui s’ecartant des sentiers d’ici bas, - A l’ombre du desert allant cacher ses pas.” - - -Thirty miles South of AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, and twenty-four South-east -of Liege, embosomed in a sombre but rather romantic valley of the -Ardennes, lies SPA, formerly one of the most aristocratic and celebrated -chalybeates of Europe. - -We proceed from Liege to Spa along the valley of the Vesdre, and a more -beautiful drive can hardly be met with. I do not think it inferior to the -banks of the Meuse, and it certainly is much more _beautiful_ than many -parts of the Rhine. The sides of the valley are clothed with wood, or -cultivated carefully, from their very summits, and studded with beautiful -villas, cottages, and hamlets, in all directions. At every winding, we -see hundreds of men at work, carrying the new rail-road over rivers and -through the solid rock. - -“Cette route charmante decouvre à chaque detour de ravissants vallons qui -laissant aperçevoir au loin des maisons de plaisance, de vieux chateaux, -et de riants villages. Les cotes escarpées des montagnes qui en dessinent -les sinuositées parsemées d’arbres, de rochers, et de precipices.” - -At the village of Pepinsterre, about sixteen miles from Liege, we quit -the Aix-la-Chapelle road, and turn up to the right. The whole way from -this to Spa is a constant ascent, the air becoming more bracing, and the -scenery more wild, or of the Ardennes-forest character, till we approach -the town through a triple avenue, the centre one a pavé, and the side -ones for walking or riding. Spa itself lies in a very picturesque dell, -the eastern side of which is very abrupt, and covered with wood. The -houses are all white and clean, and the locale, altogether, pleased me -more than almost any spa I had previously visited. - -Yet the place is comparatively abandoned! We saw very few English there, -and up to the 23d July, 1840, only about a thousand names were entered on -the books, many, perhaps most, of whom were casual visitors, or merely -passengers to other spas! I fear the good citizens of Spa will not erect -a statue to Sir Francis Head. - -A catalogue of the emperors, kings, queens, princes, and nobility of all -grades (laying aside the gentry and bureaucracy) who have lined their -ribs with steel, and tanned their slender chylopoietics in the Pouhon or -Geronsterre, would fill a volume. Our countrymen bear a conspicuous part -in this roll of worthies. Henry the Third, of France, visited Spa in the -sixteenth century—in the same, Charles Stuart, having lost his kingdom, -repaired to Spa to regain his health. In 1717, PETER THE GREAT drank the -waters of the Pouhon and Geronsterre—in one single year, (1783,) the list -of princes, dukes, and princesses, alone, amounted to 33, besides the -hosts of inferior gentry. - -The following history of one of our countrymen, recorded by HENRY DE -STEERS, the Sydenham of Spa, is not a little curious:—“In 1620, arrived -here a Milord Anglais, accompanied by his medical attendant. The -College of Physicians in London, who had been consulted in this case, -instead of putting Milord into a strait-waistcoat—or, at all events, -under surveillance, recommended him to the care of De Steers, at Spa. -This unfortunate gentleman laboured under monomania of three distinct -forms, which attacked him periodically, and in succession. During the -first ten days of every month, he neither ate, nor drank, nor spoke. He -kept to his room all the time. On the eleventh morning he would rise -from his bed early, go out a hunting, and come home hungry, eating and -drinking enormously. This was his occupation during the second decade of -the month. In the third decade, the scene entirely changed. He became -passionately fond of music, and squandered hundreds upon the squallini’s -of that day. At the end of the month the taciturnity and fasting, &c. -returned.” - -It is hardly necessary to say that De Steers, being unable to prevail on -the monomaniac to drink the Spa waters, the patient returned to England, -and became a furious and confirmed maniac. - -“As soon,” says Dr. Dordonville, “as the roads to Spa were rendered -passable, the English, travellers by disposition, and great admirers -of the picturesque, thronged to the fountains, and filled the town by -their magnificence. They loved to expend their riches; and those, whose -energetic passions threw them into dissipation, introduced a fatal and -ruinous luxury.” - -Although the caprice of fashion, and the attractions of other -watering-places have damaged Spa, it is still resorted to by many people -of this country, and great numbers from France, Belgium, and Germany. - - -POUHON. - -This is the most ancient of the springs. It is situated in the middle -of the town, surrounded by a marble basin, whence is bottled immense -quantities of the waters for France, England, Holland, and Germany. -Steers, who practised here for twenty-five years, is not behind his -brethren of the spas, in his eulogies of the Pouhon waters. “They have -an agreeable tartness, and have worked many miracles. Their effects are -all but supernatural, and have excited the curiosity and admiration of -physicians and philosophers who have come here from various countries.” - -It is very clear when received into a glass, which becomes covered on the -sides with bubbles of air, that also rise on the surface. The acidulous -and piquant taste is succeeded by a smack of steel. On standing for -some time there is a deposition of iron at the bottom of the glass, in -consequence of the disengagement of carbonic acid. Peter the Great, who -came here exhausted, and menaced with dropsy, completely recovered—and -his statue stands over the Pouhon as no mean certificate of the medicinal -powers of the spring. - -The SECOND SOURCE, SAUVENIERE, is half a league out of the town, and -situated in a romantic spot. This spa contains less iron than the Pouhon, -and used to precede the others in drinking. - -The GERONSTERRE was known to DE STEERS. It is to the south of the town, -but now of easy access by a beautiful road. This spring disengages some -sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which distinguishes it from the others. - -The TONNELET is situated between the Pouhon and Sauveniere, and has three -springs, all of the same quality. - -_Constituents of One Gallon (231 Cubic Inches)._ - - +-----------+------+--------+-------+---------+---------+------+-------+ - | |Carb.-|Solid |Muriate|Carbonate|Carbonate|Oxide | | - | SOURCES. |Acid |Matters.| of | of | of | of |Temper-| - | |Gas. | | Soda. | Soda. | Lime. |Iron. |ature. | - | |Cub. |Grains |Grains | Grains | Grains |Grains| | - | |Inch. | | | | | | | - +-----------+------+--------+-------+---------+---------+------+-------+ - |POUHON | 262 | 27 | 1 | 2¼ | 9 | 5¼ | 50°F. | - |GERONSTERRE| 168 | 12½ | ½ | 1½ | 5¼ | 1 | 49° | - |SAUVENIERE | 241 | 8½ | ¼ | ½ | 3¾ | 2¼ | 49° | - |TONNELET | 280 | 5½ | .. | .. | 1½ | 2¾ | 49° | - +-----------+------+--------+-------+---------+---------+------+-------+ - -From the above it will be seen that iron and large quantity of carbonic -acid gas are the main ingredients in the spa waters—and consequently that -they are simple chalybeates—without aperient qualities. - -Superb baths have been erected near the Pouhon, for the accommodation of -visitors. - - -MEDICINAL AGENCY. - -M. Dordonville is the most recent author on the Spa waters, as he has -resided there for many years, on account of his own health. According -to him, the first perceptible effect of drinking the Spa waters, -especially if taken on an empty stomach, is a slight affection of the -head resembling that which results from taking champaign. Four or five -glasses suffice to produce this phenomenon, especially at first. As this -arises from the carbonic acid gas, it is very transitory. This abundance -of gas renders these waters very pleasant to drink, but they are far -from agreeable when the gas has escaped—and they are then less easy of -digestion. Hence the bottled waters are far less efficacious than at -the sources. Since the mania of Broussais, it has not been uncommon -for French visitors to take the waters mixed with gum Arabic, by which -precious mess the springs were rendered nauseous and indigestible. We may -agree with Dr. Dordonville that the action of Spa waters is not confined -to the stomach, but extends to various organs with which the stomach is -bound in sympathy. This applies to debility of the digestive organs and -its consequences; but we must be cautious how we employ this chalybeate -where there are any obstructions or engorgements of other viscera, merely -because they are diuretic, and promote absorption. Both De Steers of -old, and Monsr. Dordonville, of the present day, assure us that these -waters require to be taken in large doses, and for a considerable time, -otherwise they will do harm instead of good. “Those who cannot take them -in this manner ought to desist from taking them at all.” Mons. D. has -seen many people who have taken from 300 to 350 ounces of the waters -daily. PETER THE GREAT generally took twenty-one glasses (three ounces -each) every morning. Dr. D. however, wisely leaves it to the feelings of -the patient, how many goblets he daily takes. - -These waters have been found very beneficial in chronic diarrhœa, as -might indeed be expected; but _large quantities_ of any liquid taken -in such cases, are detrimental, especially when conjoined with the -pedestrian exercises that are recommended. We can hardly subscribe to the -doctrine that these chalybeates are beneficial in obstructions of the -liver, and enlargments of the spleen—especially the former, considering -that they have no aperient quality. The same observation applies to -enlargement of the mesenteric glands. - -On the kidneys they have an evident action, and DE STEERS, the Sydenham -of his day, calls them _vesical_. - -“The waters of Spa remove heat of the kidneys and bladder, and expel -gravel more effectually than any other remedy.” - -One of the most general effects of these waters is an increase of -appetite, and most patients acquire flesh as well as strength under their -use. - -It is, however, to people of pallid complexions—leucophlegmatic -constitutions—and general debility, without organic disease, that these -waters may be very useful. The pallid female, affected with complaints -peculiar to the sex, may expect to acquire a healthy complexion, and -general strength from the waters of Spa, assisted by mountain air and -daily exercise. Sterility is one of the many maladies for which they are -loudly praised by the resident physicians. - -The sulphuretted chalybeate of the Geronsterre is recommended by Dr. -D. in tuberculous affections of the lungs—a recommendation which needs -confirmation, as the Americans say. - - -REGIMEN. - -M. Dordonville remarks that no small portion of those who come to Spa, -do so for pleasure, and not for health. These may eat and drink and -exercise as they would at home. But the invalid must pursue a systematic -regimen. The ancients always recommended aperient medicine previously to -taking mineral waters—and even De Steers made a point of giving a gentle -purgative to his patients every eight or ten days. The horror of opening -medicine entertained by people on the continent, medical men and all, is -productive of infinite mischief, when chalybeate waters, and all those -not aperient, are used. M. Dordonville cautions the drinkers of Spa very -strongly against exposure to cold—a necessary advice in a mountainous -region, where vicissitudes of temperature are frequent. The waters are -best taken early in the morning fasting; or before meals. Some people -drink them at their meals, without injury. Most of the inhabitants of Spa -have no other beverage. In affections of the chest they may be mixed with -milk—especially those of the Geronsterre. M. Dordonville considers the -Spring as the best season for the waters of Spa, and regrets that tyrant -fashion prevents invalids from coming to these waters till the middle -of Summer, or even till Autumn. From five to fifteen minutes’ interval -between the glasses is to be observed, with exercise during that time. -He recommends a light breakfast to be taken at the fountains, after the -waters, where delicious milk, fresh eggs, good butter, and bread can -always be had. From twenty to forty, or even sixty days are necessary for -a complete course of the waters. The same physician cautions us against -compound dishes or the least approach to repletion while taking the Spa. -“The great rock on which patients split is the pleasures of the table.” - -The environs of Spa are very picturesque, and even romantic—the rides and -promenades being extensive and varied in this mountainous region. The -railway from Ostende or Antwerp takes the invalid or visitor to within -twenty-four miles of the Spa, and will soon take him within six miles of -the town: and therefore the place may be reached on the third day from -London. - -Springing from my couch at five o’clock, in the morning after my arrival, -I first drank a large tumbler of the Pouhon, and started up the mountain -for the Geronsterre. The ascent is constant and rather steep; but the -mountain air gave me fresh vigour, and I reached the fountain (three -miles) without the slightest fatigue. It is prettily situated in a kind -of pleasure-ground, with shaded walks and pleasant benches for promenade -or repose, while taking the waters. The water itself did not convey -to my olfactory nerves that decided odour of sulphuretted hydrogen -which Dr. Dordonville maintains it does. It certainly tastes somewhat -different from the Pouhon, and they urge you to swallow it quickly, lest -the malodorous gas should escape. It was in vain that I told the Nymph -of the Spring that I was not sick, but only drinking the waters from -curiosity. Still she urged, and so did some of the drinkers, that the -most precious ingredient would vanish into air, if I did not gulp it down -in an instant: I now took an eastern road over the brow of the mountain, -through a wild forest, but along a good road, and reached the SAUVENIERE, -after a long walk of nearly three miles. Here I quaffed at the source -whence the Duchess of —— imbibed new life, or at least renovated health, -and hung up her votive tablet, in the shape of a dome and colonnade, in -gratitude to the fountain and its tutelar saint, Apollo. It tasted to my -palate much more inky than its neighbour the Geronsterre, as, indeed, it -ought to do, having more than double the quantity of iron, and nearly -half as much as the Pouhon. - -From thence I turned down a narrow road to the TONNELET, about a mile -distant from the Sauveniere. It was the briskest of them all, to my -palate, containing more carbonic acid gas than even the Pouhon. The -chalybeate taste was very marked, and the water, upon the whole, very -pleasant. By this time I had swallowed four large tumblers of mineral -water, and walked seven miles before breakfast, which was very well for -the first morning. I experienced no sensation whatever about my head, -nor any other than a sense of fulness in the stomach, and very little -appetite. Another walk of more than a mile to the town, dissipated the -sense of fulness and brought me an excellent appetite, which was again -removed by eggs, coutelets, potatoes, and coffee, at the hotel de Pays -Bas. After breakfast, the pedestrian exercise was again resumed, and the -heights to the eastward of the town, with all their devious and intricate -paths, were carefully explored. The views from these heights are various -and beautiful—the air delicate and exhilarating. Descending to the town, -and resting half an hour, I repaired to the bathing establishment, close -to the Pouhon, and ordered a mineral water bath, at a temperature of -98°. I found that the bath-master trusted entirely to his hand, for the -regulation of temperature, and on testing this “rule of thumb” by the -thermometer, he had only made a mistake of six degrees, the instrument -exhibiting 104°, instead of 98°. This, however, is very common at all -bathing places. The chalybeate bath produced in me no other sensations -than those arising from saline or plain baths elsewhere. The carbonic -acid was all gone, and the water tasted merely mawkish. It has very -little of the stimulating effects of the Wisbaden or other potent waters. -Although I did not rise from the bath “rajeuné comme un Phœnix,” I -experienced great refreshment after twelve miles’ walking-exercise, and -repaired to the three o’clock table-d’hôte in the PAYS BAS, with more -natural appetite than I had felt since leaving Modern Babylon. A siesta -of an hour after dinner was equally pleasant and salubrious. After some -ramblings about the town, a visit to the Redout finished the day’s work. - -The magnificent “grande salle” in this splendid edifice, was occupied -with the ball, while the “DÆMON-ROBBER bands” were plying their vocation -at the end of the room. The play, however, seemed to go on languidly; -and the waltz appeared to have more attractions for the company than the -roulette. The dancers and spectators were by no means _distinguée_. There -was not one fine woman in the room. We did not distinguish more than -half a dozen English in the whole assembly. They were almost all French, -Flemish, and a few Germans. - -Thus ended a SPA-DAY in the Ardennes. I do not recommend an imitation -of it to all those who go to Spa for health. But if the pedestrian -exercise were superseded by equestrian or carriage exercise, I think a -more effectual plan for the recovery of health could hardly be devised. -To those who are very delicate, the paths that are cut along the face of -the wooded precipices overhanging the town, afford most beautiful walks, -sheltered from the winds, and commanding pleasing prospects of Ardennes -scenery. The air there is bracing and elastic. - -It is not likely that such a “HAVEN OF HEALTH” as this is, should be -without its Cursaal, or gambling-table. The two grand hells are the -Redout and the Vauxhall. A few years before the Revolution the Church -sustained some damage in slander by these mansions of morality. It -appears that the Bishop of Liege, who united a temporal with an eternal -concern for the souls of the good citizens, had granted a monopoly of -fifty years gambling to the proprietors of the Redout—of course without -any other consideration than the advancement of religion and the good of -the people. But a rival establishment (Vauxhall) having been started, -the Bishop issued an ordonnance against the new tables, as not being -orthodox. An appeal was made to the legislature, and the holy canon was -reversed, on the principle that, as in a free state like that of Liege, -“every man had a right to do as he liked with his own”—and as gambling -was not contrary to law, so the Bishop had no right to grant a monopoly -to gamblers. This was an awkward affair; but an amicable arrangement -was soon made between the Bishop and the proprietors of the two hells, -by which the man of God modestly declined a tenth of the spoil, and -only accepted a _third_ of the profits of the tables at the end of each -season! “Le PRINCE EVEQUE recevra le tiers DES BENEFICES que se feront -dans ces deux maisons sur les jeux, apres la saison des Eaux.” - -In this way things went on smoothly for a while; when lo! a third CURSAAL -raised its lofty head to share the spoils of hazard with the noble firm -of “BISHOP, REDOUT, and VAUXHALL.” This was too much for the conscience -of M. L’EVEQUE. He justly considered that two royal roads to the regions -of his “FRIEND IN BLACK” were amply sufficient—and that to open a third -would only be adding another facility to the already “_faciles descensus -Averni_.” He therefore sent a file of “gens-d’armes” to turn the tables -on these scoffers at the holy command of their Bishop, which led to wars -and bloodshed. The Bishop, finding his palace of Liege rather warm for -him, appealed to the Emperor of Germany—or rather to Prince Metternich, -then at Coblentz. Metternich decided in favour of the original hells, as -being under the benediction of the Bishop, or perhaps of the Pope—and -therefore incapable of doing any thing inconsistent with the orthodox -religion! Soon after this, Metternich and his master had more important -games to play in the French Revolution, and how Mons. LEVOZ, the -unfortunate proprietor of the new Cursaal fared, this deponent knoweth -not. - -Spas are under the dominion of more influences than fashion. Who could -have supposed that the medicinal virtues of mineral waters should be -deteriorated or even destroyed by POLITICS. Yet such is the case. While -Holland and Belgium were under one crown, the Dutch dolls flocked -annually in great numbers to paint their cheeks in the Pouhon or -Geronsterre, returning to their dykes with a cargo of steel that secured -them, for ten months, against the damps and debilities of their vapoury -atmosphere. But no sooner had the “Braves Belges” revolted, than the -chalybeates of Spa lost all their efficacy, and grass is now likely to -grow, and water to run in the streets of this celebrated place! The Dutch -and most of the English at present resort to the Brunnens of Nassau—the -chalybeates of Brucknau—or the boiling Sprudel, for that health and -renovation which they used to seek and obtain in the forest of the -Ardennes! - -It would be equally useless and impertinent in me to attempt a revulsion -in the tide of spa-goers; yet, when I reflect on the locality of Spa—its -facility of access (forty-eight hours from London)—the efficacy of -its waters—the salubrity of its air—the variety of its promenades and -drives—the excellence of its hotels—the cheapness of living—and the -seclusion which is attainable by all—I cannot help regretting that -fashion, caprice, or some inexplicable spell should turn the tide of -British invalids so completely from SPA, and impel it with irresistible -impetus towards the BRUNNENS of GERMANY. - - - - -AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. - - -Antiquity is to a city what noble blood is to an individual. The _former_ -may fall into decay, and the _latter_ into poverty; but the pride of -ancestry supports them both in their fallen greatness. The Romans had -excellent olfactories, and a keen scent for steam or sulphuretted -hydrogen gas, wherever these issued through cracks or fissures of the -earth, in their wide domains. They were very fond of warm baths—and very -wisely made frequent use of them with no small advantage, considering -that these Lords of the Creation had no linen shirts, and wore thick -woollen, and probably somewhat greasy garments next the skin. The -boiling cauldron under Aix poured forth its nauseous and malodorous -broth as freely when Cæsar was mustering his legions on the banks of the -Rhine, or when Charlemagne, many a century afterwards, was uniting his -Franco-German subjects in the same place, as now, when the “DAMPSCHIPPE” -and “CHEMIN DE FER” are daily bringing hundreds of customers and guests -from the distant shores of Albion and Erin. Innumerable Roman relics are -here found—and actual baths were discovered, where the brother of Nero -probably bathed. - -Aix is situated in latitude 50° in the midst of a gentle valley, -environed, at some distance, by well-wooded hills. The substratum is -calcareous, but there are unequivocal marks of volcanic agency in the -neighbourhood. The town, like London, presents an old city environed by -a new one—especially towards the Borcette. The old town, in which almost -all the hotels, and indeed the baths are situated, is very irregular, and -cedes to few continental cities in the roughness of its pavements. - -The FONTAINE ELISÉE, the chief or only place for drinking the waters, is -situated exactly between the old and new towns, close to the theatre, -and is one of the handsomest places of the kind amongst the spas of -Germany—forming a remarkable contrast with the Hygeian fonts of Ems, -Wisbaden, and Baden-Baden. In the midst of the façade, 270 feet in -length, rises the rotunda (resembling the Temple of Vesta at Rome) -nearly fifty feet in height, supported by columns, flanked by two open -colonnades ending in cafées, and fronted by a promenade among trees. The -fountain, from which issue two streams, is situated ten or twelve feet -below the colonnade, at the bottom of two flights of marble steps—one -for descending to the font, and the other for ascending from it. There -is ample space in front of the fountain for slowly bibbing the fervid -spring. The whole is surmounted by a marble bust of Hygeia—taken from -a German Princess—and certainly exhibiting more benignity of mein than -beauty of feature. The two High Priests who fill the glasses from the -two streams, have no _sinecure_ of it from six till eight o’clock every -morning. I counted 300 drinkers the first morning—and then, being tired, -I counted no more. It must be the reputation, and not the taste or -flavour of these waters, that draws such multitudes of invalids to them -every year. The odour of sulphur is exceedingly strong—the temperature -129° Fahrenheit—the taste most nauseous—exactly resembling the washings -of a gun-barrel, with a dash of rotten eggs. It is astonishing how soon -the palate and olfactories get reconciled to these and other malodorous -waters. On the second morning I felt little or no repugnance to them. -They are clear as crystal. - -The best baths are at the HOTEL DE L’EMPEREUR (where the superior and -hottest source is found), and which is also a very good hotel. The maitre -(Mr. Nuellens) is a pleasant fellow, who speaks English, and is very -attentive to his guests. - -As Aix-la-Chapelle is not a place of resort for those who seek pleasure -only, the great body of the real visitors are really invalids, or think -themselves such. The few attendants on sick friends are seldom seen -taking either the waters or baths. - -At such a place the experienced eye of the physician can detect, with a -tolerable approach to accuracy, the prevailing maladies for the removal -of which these waters are employed. The drinkers can readily be divided -into three, if not four classes. 1st. I observed a certain proportion, -chiefly females—perhaps a twentieth or thirtieth part of the whole,—who -were clearly “malades imaginaires”—and whose complexions, features, -gait, voices, and condition of body, evinced the absence of all organic -disease, or even functional disorder, of any consequence. They appeared, -however, to be full as anxious to imbibe the prescribed quantity of this -terrible compound of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, muriate of soda and a few -other salts, as any of their neighbours, who shewed too evident marks of -corporeal sufferings. - -The SECOND CLASS—and by far the most numerous—were those whose -countenances and tout-ensemble indicated the presence of various -functional disorders—more especially stomach complaints, biliary -obstructions, cutaneous affections, and uterine derangements. A large -proportion of these were likely to benefit from the sulphur salines of -Aix. The THIRD CLASS could not be mistaken. The melancholy sequences of -apoplectic attacks (paralysis)—swelled limbs—dropsical effusions of the -body—jaundice,—enlarged livers and spleens—diseases of the heart—last -stages of indigestion—kidney diseases—panting asthma—hectic cough—in -short, the long black catalogue of organic diseases, which no waters but -those of oblivion could ever wash away. - -Yet hope, which clings to the human heart, had collected this unfortunate -class—and not in very small numbers—round the fountain and the baths—to -return to their homes with blighted expectations, there to linger out a -wretched existence! - -The German physicians appear to be convinced that mineral springs are -not merely waters impregnated with various mineral and gaseous matters, -with or without increase of temperature; but that they are possessed of -_vitality_—living beings, in fact, whose life is transfused into the -human organism, thereby communicating energy to the solids and purity -to the fluids of our bodies—in other words, correcting and expelling -disease and restoring health! Even the venerable ALIBERT was smitten with -this German transcendentalism, and he observes of the Aix waters—“these -springs, under the empire of Nature, most undoubtedly enjoy a species of -_vitality_ (une sorte de vitalité) in common with other living bodies -on this globe. They are _animated_ by a multitude of principles, which -will long, perhaps for ever, elude the most laborious researches of -chemistry. The waters of Aix-la-Chapelle, whether used internally or in -baths, act as potent restorers of vital energies. Their constituents are -powerfully aided in efficacy by the high temperature and the impregnation -of divers gases. Taken internally they excite the action of the abdominal -viscera—detach mucosities and other morbid secretions, and evacuate them -by the bowels, kidneys, and skin. The inhalation of the vapour rising -from these waters has been very serviceable in many cases of pulmonary -affections.” - -This _vitality_ hypothesis did not escape the notice of my friend Dr. -Granville, who appears, however, to have thought it rather too large -for John Bull to swallow, without some qualification. He therefore -substituted “caloricity” for “vitality,” in order that so good an idea -might not be lost—and that some _mysterious_ agency might aid the natural -operation of the German spas. This mode of explaining the _ignotum_ by -the _ignotius_ is, no doubt, very ingenious; but, for my own part, I -shall at once acknowledge my ignorance, not only of the manner in which -mineral waters are formed in the bowels of the earth, but of their -_specific_ action (if any) on the human frame. - -The spa doctors candidly allow that the waters of Aix, “if taken too hot -and in quantities too large, may produce irritation, and even purgation. -But the latter is not a very common effect of these waters. In small -doses they are favourable to digestion; and, taken in moderation, -they are not calculated to weaken.” As baths, these waters act on the -surface, and, by sympathy, on the internal organs, exciting the nervous, -secreting, and circulating organs. The temperature of the blood (98°) is -considered the best for the bath. “If taken at a higher degree, or too -often, they are dangerous.” - -Let us now advert to the bill of fare which Alibert, Monheim, Zillerland, -Dordonville, Reumont, and others, have spread before the invalids -resorting to Aix-la-Chapelle. I shall endeavour, here and elsewhere, to -form some scale or estimate of the probable, doubtful, and dangerous -agency of the waters and baths. - - 1. PROBABLE.—2. DOUBTFUL.—3. DANGEROUS. - - Difficult digestion, without organic disease (1)—Acidities - in the stomach and bowels (1)—Cramps in the stomach - (1)—Coliques (1)—Worms (1)—Constipation (2)—Mesenteric - obstruction (1)—Obstruction of liver (1)—Of Spleen (1)—Of - Kidneys (2)—Hypochondriasis (2)—Hysteria (1)—Hæmorrhoids - (1)—Want of sleep (2)—Jaundice (1)—Dropsy (2)—Derangement - of monthly health (1)—Sterility (2)—Diarrhœa (2)—Chronic - dysentery (2)—Chronic catarrh (2)—Renal and vesical calculi - (2)—Glandular enlargements (1)—Scrofula (1)—Tubercles of the - liver (2)—Rheumatism, fixed or wandering (1)—Gout, if perfectly - chronic (1)—Cutaneous eruptions, chronic and not inflammatory - (1)—Morbid effects of mercury (1)—Effects of mineral poisons, - as of lead (1)—Deafness (2)—Loss of voice (2)—Weak vision - (2).—These waters are contra-indicated in hæmorrhages—tendency - to apoplexy—(though they are said to be sometimes useful in the - paralysis following apoplexy.) - -The foregoing is a tolerably copious list of maladies which may be -benefitted by the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle—and from their sensible -qualities and long-established reputation, there is little doubt but that -_fashion_ has drawn away from them to other more favoured places, many -who would have derived great advantage from their use. The remarks on -drinking, bathing, and preparatory measures, will be found under the head -of EMS, to prevent repetition. - - - - -BORCETTE. - - -About a mile and a half from the “Fontaine Elisée,” in a romantic little -dell, over which the rail-road will soon pass, lies Borcette. The waters -resemble those of Aix-la-Chapelle, but they are (one of the sources) -entirely devoid of the sulphuretted hydrogen gas. The temperature is -about 150° Fahr. The water is clear, and has an acidulous taste. There is -one source where the waters are sulphurous. Latterly a chalybeate spring -has been discovered here. Borcette is more quiet, and the air fresher -than in the town, and the baths are a good deal frequented. The new town, -from the Fontaine Elisée to Borcette, is very handsome, and the theatre -is a most beautiful building. - - -AIX-LA-CHAPELLE - -Presents more Lions than the “Vitalised Waters” of Alibert. Within its -cathedral are preserved some of the most venerable relics that ever pious -Catholic bowed to in adoration—relics— - - “Which Jews might kiss and Infidels adore”— - -trophies over time, which might make St. Januarius blush, and give the -head of the church a fit of the jaundice! A tithe of these cannot be -noticed. 1. The robe of the Virgin Mary which she wore at the nativity. -It is made of cotton, and is five feet and a half in length.—2. A nail -from the holy cross.—3. The head of St. Anastasius.—4. One link of the -chain which bound St. Peter in prison.—5. Some of the oil which flows -from the tomb of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and which is possessed of -miraculous powers in curing various diseases!—6. Several fragments of the -ROD OF AARON. - -Who would believe that this rod of Aaron has never once scourged the -Demon of Play and his disciples, who carry on their diabolical works in -the depth of night, under the very nose of Charlemagne, surrounded as -he is by such stupendous relics, and aided by the prohibition of the -Prussian government?[48] - - - - -EMS. - - -No German spa is better known to the English than EMS, lying in a narrow -valley of the Lahn river, only six miles from Coblentz, in the Duchy of -Nassau. The town is built on the right bank of the little river, and the -slate hills rise almost perpendicularly behind it. The sun’s beams are -collected into a focus there, during a great part of the day, and the air -is hot and sultry. These hills, on both sides, are covered with vines, -trees, or cultivation. The walks about Ems are not so well shaded as at -Wisbaden and some other watering-places in Nassau; but there are plenty -of donkeys and guides to take the invalids up to the higher grounds for -pure air. The environs are very pretty, especially the road to Nassau, -about five miles from Ems.[49] - -These waters did not escape the notice of the Romans, whose coins and -other vestiges have been found there. The waters issue from the foot of -the eastern slate mountain (Mont de Bains) and their sources are hidden -from human eye and investigations.[50] They are clear and transparent as -crystal, when first drawn in a clean glass. The chief fountains are the -KESSELBRUNNEN and the KRACHENCHEN—the _first_ has a temperature of 115° -of Fahrenheit—the _latter_, only 83°. These are the drinking springs. -There are several others, varying in temperature from 80° to 124°, and -used as baths. Some of them are about the temperature of the blood, -and fit for general bathing, without increase or reduction. They have -the taste of chicken-broth, with a slight smack of iron. They preserve -their physical qualities (excepting temperature) for forty-eight hours, -uncorked—when corked and sealed, they are said to keep good for several -months. They are light and easy of digestion. - -The Ems waters are eminently alkaline. A pint (of the Kesselbrunnen) -contains 20 grains of bicarbonate of soda—two of carbonate of the -same—two of carbonate of magnesia—one of sulphate of soda—one of common -salt (muriate of soda)—and a very minute trace of iron. All the springs -contain nearly the same ingredients—but the Krachenchen shews much -more carbonic acid gas than the Kesselbrunnen, on account of its lower -temperature. - -Thilenius (the elder and younger) the Nestors of Ems, make the following -observations on the waters. - -“They operate on the human constitution mildly but efficiently, with -little disturbance to the functions of the body. On this account -they agree well with delicate persons, whose nerves are morbidly -sensitive,—the sad effects of mental emotions, civilized life, and -other debilitating causes. They are, therefore, peculiarly suited to -the female constitution.—They may be employed, too, in advanced stages -of disease, where other mineral waters of more exciting qualities, -would be inadmissible. Their alkaline properties enable them to resolve -obstructions, and free the functions of the kidneys, skin, liver, and -various other secreting organs—especially the uterine vessels. They -correct tenacious and morbid bile, as well as acidities—and thus prove -aperient in a mild degree. Their intimate connexion with carbonic and -sulphuretted hydrogen gas enables them to give activity to the secreting -vessels, and evacuate unhealthy humours, while they give vigour to the -whole organism, oppressed by chronic diseases. They have, at the same -time, a soothing and tranquillizing effect on the nervous system. No -waters, with the exception of Schlangenbad, produce such a pleasing and -salutary operation on the skin, which they cleanse, soften, and leave -in a sattiny state, thus improving the complexion, and clearing the -pores. They are potent in discussing glandular swellings, and promoting -absorption of abnormal deposits.” - -The foregoing exposition of the general effects of the Ems waters is more -rational, modest, and just, than we shall usually find in the eloges of -most other spa doctors. We shall now give a catalogue of the particular -maladies for which these waters are specially recommended—marking, as -usual, the probable, the doubtful, and the dangerous, with the numbers 1, -2, and 3. - - [1. PROBABLE. 2. DOUBTFUL. 3. DANGEROUS.] - - They are represented as prompt and efficacious in all - complaints dependent on ACIDITIES (1)—Glairy accumulations - in the bowels (1)—Foul humours in the blood (1)—Spasms - of the stomach (2)—Colics and vomitings (2)—Indigestion - (1)—Irregularity of bowels (1)—Flatulence (2)—Loss of - appetite (1)—Sense of distention and malaise after food - (1)—Embarrassments of the chest (2)—Neglected catarrhs - (1)—Inveterate coughs (1)—Asthma (2)—Hæmorrhage from the lungs - (2)—Hooping-cough (1)—Loss of voice (1)—Obstinate jaundice - (1)—Gall-stones (1)—Gravel (1)—Hypochondriasis (1)—Rheumatism - and gout (1)—Spleen (2)—Hysteria (2)—Chorea (2)—Epilepsy - (2)—Chlorosis or green sickness (1)—Uterine obstructions and - irregularities (1)—Painful periods (1)—Leucorrhœa (1)—Swellings - of the limbs (1)—Induration and enlargement of glands - (1)—Sterility (2)—Paralysis (1)—Nervous and intermittent - fevers of long standing (2)—Lameness (1)—Commotions of the - brain or spinal marrow (2)—(the baths in such cases might be - dangerous)—Neglected syphilitic affections (1)—Morbid effects - of mercury injudiciously administered (1)—Ascites otherwise - incurable (2)—Diseases of the skin (1)—Fistulæ (2)—Goitre - (1)—Dropsy (2)—Inveterate inflammation of the Eyes (2)—Rickets - of children (2)—Curvature of spine (2)—Scald-head (1). - -From this ample _carte des maladies_ (and I have omitted several which -will not bear publication in this country) the valetudinarian will be -able to select the dish that suits his taste—or rather the evil which -he wishes to discharge. I have endeavoured to estimate the value of -the remedy. Thilenius, indeed, expresses an apprehension that readers -may be sceptical as to the power of one remedy curing so many and such -different diseases. But he says—“let the sceptic come and see.” Who -can combat the following argument?—“The result of our most profound -researches is the firm persuasion that mineral waters are the gifts of -Divine mercy to suffering humanity.” The same might be said of every -medicine; but medicines often do harm, and so do mineral waters, unless -administered with prudence. It will be seen that the stigma of No. 3 -(dangerous) has been affixed in no instance to the Ems waters; but this -applies to drinking them and not to bathing. I cannot too often repeat my -conviction that there is far more mischief produced by spa-bathing than -by spa-bibbing—especially in the case of the Ems waters, which are by no -means of such an exciting nature as those of Wisbaden and several other -warm springs. In every case where there is either local inflammation or -constitutional excitement, these and other thermal waters are dangerous -as baths. Thilenius himself remarks as follows: - -“The condition of the body, when these waters are used, may be compared -to that in which a kind of fever exists. It includes a period of four -or six weeks, or even longer, in inveterate maladies. In this period, -the waters exert their influence for the removal of the disease. This -influence is felt, sooner or later. It is more or less distinctly -perceptible, according to the nature of the complaint. It manifests -itself, generally, by a kind of languor, in which the patient expresses -himself as being ‘affected by the waters.’” - -The waters of Ems have had greater reputation in affections of the -chest than most other mineral springs, in consequence of the strong -recommendation of Hufeland, who observes:—“We know how few mineral -springs there are that can be used with safety in diseases of the lungs. -Patients with such affections are commonly prohibited from visiting a -mineral spring. Here the reverse is the case; and, in my opinion, Ems -stands alone, with Selters, in this respect.” - -It is quite evident, however, that it is in the more incipient cases of -pulmonary diseases only, that Ems could be of any service—namely, where -the tubercles are few in number, and in an unexcited condition—where the -cough is slight, and the expectoration merely mucous, without fever or -emaciation. In affections of the trachea, however, dependent on chronic -inflammation of the mucous membrane, the waters and locality of Ems have -been found highly beneficial, as the crowds of people from all parts of -Germany can testify. It really would be well worth trying Ems, in such -cases, before undertaking a long journey to Pisa or Rome. - -Since the above was written, and while staying at Ems, in July, 1840, I -met with a recent work by Dr. Doring, bath physician at Ems, from which I -think it proper to make some extracts. - -“Among all the maladies which are alleviated or cured by the waters of -Ems, the affections of the chest are of the first consideration. - -1. _Pulmonary Complaints having their origin in other parts of the -body._—Where these result from congestion or engorgement of the viscera -of the abdomen, connected with gout. - -2. _Loss of voice, hoarseness, &c._ - -3. _Chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx, trachea, -and bronchia._—When this affection has attained the name and nature of -pituitary phthisis, the waters of Ems work wonders, especially where -this state depends on latent gout, rheumatism, or repelled cutaneous -complaints. The KESSELBRUNNEN is very efficacious in such conditions of -the mucous membrane. If the malady has not advanced beyond the limits of -curability, the warm baths prove auxiliary to the internal use of the -water. - -4. _Chronic inflammation of the substance of the lungs themselves._ - -5. _Debility of the chest._—However vague and inexact this term, there -is a _disposition_ to pulmonary disease to which it may be applied, and -which it is of great importance to recognize. One of the chief symptoms -is a susceptibility to colds, or irritability of the mucous membrane -of the chest, accompanied by oppression, weight, and hacking cough. If -this be neglected, it may lead to serious disease. A protracted course -of the Kesselbrunnen, repeated for several seasons, has been found very -efficacious in such states of the respiratory apparatus. - -6. _Tubercles of the lungs; or pulmonary consumption._—This dreadful -malady, which cuts off such prodigious numbers of the human race, is more -frequently arrested in its progress by the KESSELBRUNNEN, than by any -other remedy. At the same time it is proper to remark that neither this -nor any other remedy will prove efficacious, if the disease be confirmed. -It is where the tubercles are in a nascent or latent state, that the -Ems waters tend to purify the blood, and prevent further deposition -of tuberculous matter in the air-cells. Perhaps, too, they may cause -absorption of those already deposited. It need hardly be urged that the -earlier the waters are used the better. - -7. In obstinate and neglected _catarrhs of the mucous membrane of the -trachea and larynx_, the Kesselbrunnen has produced the most beneficial -effects. - -8. _Spitting of blood._—If this proceeds from irritability of the lungs -themselves—from active congestion—or general plethora, the Ems waters -will be absolutely injurious. But if the hæmorrhage be symptomatic of -disordered conditions of the liver and other abdominal organs, then, the -Ems waters taken internally, but not as baths, may prove serviceable. The -same reasoning will apply to asthma. - -9. _Scrofula._—Daily experience has proved the efficacy of the alkaline -waters of Ems in scrofulous affections generally. - -10. _Nervous disorders._—The waters of this spa have a singularly -soothing and tranquillizing effect on the nervous system, as great -numbers of patients can annually testify. Hence they are much used -in hypochondriasis, neuralgia, tic douloureux, periodical head-aches, -chorea, &c. - -11. _Congestions_ of the liver and abdominal organs -generally—hæmorrhoids—jaundice—engorgements and indurations -of the uterus, ovaries, &c.—colics, cramps, and epigastric -pains—heart-burns—vomitings, &c. These are all ameliorated or cured by -the waters of Ems. - -12. _Gout._—The action of the Ems waters on the constitution is to throw -out the morbid matter from the blood—the cause of this painful malady in -all the normal and irregular forms. At the same time, if the malady be of -long standing, and the individual of weakly constitution, the waters of -Wisbaden or Carlsbad will be more efficacious than those of Ems. - -13. _Rheumatism._—The same observations will apply to this as to gout. - -14. _Chronic eruptions and ulcerations of the skin_ are greatly -benefitted by this spa. - -15. _Disorders of the urinary organs._—In no class of disorders have the -Ems waters gained more reputation than in this, including catarrh of the -bladder, gravel, stone, diabetes, &c. - -16. _Catamenial irregularities._—Females from all parts of Europe resort -to the waters of Ems for the cure of these troublesome complaints, -including sterility, chlorosis, &c.”[51] - -I have introduced this quotation from one of the most recent writers on -the waters of Ems, and himself a practitioner there, of considerable -repute; but do not, and cannot vouch for the strict accuracy of all the -observations contained in it. As in most of the writings of spa doctors, -it must be taken “cum grano salis.” - - -COUNTERINDICATIONS. - -According to Dr. Doring, these are as follow:— - -1. The Ems waters are hurtful in all acute or subacute inflammations of -any organ or structure whatever. - -2. In people of florid complexions or plethoric constitutions, especially -if there be any disposition to hæmorrhages, or determination to the head. - -3. In dropsical effusions of chest, abdomen, or cellular membrane. - -4. In organic diseases of heart or great vessels. - -5. In confirmed consumption, and in marasmus from whatever cause. - - -POINT OF SATURATION, OR CRISIS. - -The Crises produced by the waters of Ems are not so distinct and -frequent as those resulting from some of the more potent spas. They -act more gently and more slowly than the generality of mineral waters. -Nevertheless, the following observations of Dr. Doring are to be -carefully attended to. - -“There are certain cases, constitutions, and forms of disease, in -which it would be unsafe to continue the Ems waters up to the point -of saturation. Thus if, after two or three weeks’ course, there occur -little indispositions or discomforts—feelings of debility—a sense of -prostration—a change of usual temper—an increase of sensibility; or -even an irritability or moroseness—an unusual propensity to sleep, with -agitating dreams—a loss of appetite—or, on the contrary, a thirsty -white tongue, bitter taste in the mouth, oppression and distention of -stomach, derangement of bowels and kidneys, and acceleration of pulse—it -is then time to lessen the quantity of the waters, or entirely to stop -them for some days. The foregoing are indications of over-drinking, or -over-bathing, to which the term _ueberbaden_ is given, and should never -be neglected.” - -As at Wisbaden, there is occasionally an eruption on the skin, after a -few baths, and this is considered to be critical. - -Thilenius, contrary to the custom of most of the spa doctors, admits -that, although the waters alone cure many disorders, yet, in a great -many cases, appropriate medicines are absolutely necessary. He contends, -however, and I believe with justice, that many diseases give way to the -combination of the waters and medicine, which resist the latter, if -unaided by the former. - -The preparation for the waters of Ems, as of all other mineral springs, -is of the greatest importance, and is but too little attended to. Many -patients repair to these sources, either exhausted by long-continued -illness and the fatigues of the journey, or in a state of excitability -from tonics and other medicines. In the one case some restorative -remedies are to be exhibited, and in the other, quietude and saline -aperients are necessary before the waters are used, internally or -externally. Temperance is indispensible both before and during the use of -the waters. - - -GENERAL RULES FOR TAKING THE WATERS AND BATHS. - -The best season is between the beginning of May and the end of September. -The waters are taken early in the morning. Weakly persons should begin -with small portions, till they are accustomed to the springs. The morning -is also considered the best time for bathing. The patient should immerse -himself slowly—first to the knees—and afterwards the whole body, having -first sponged the face and neck. Those who are subject to determinations -of blood to the head should keep a handkerchief moistened with cold -water to the head during the bath. A bladder of cold water is still -better. The individual should not lie quiet in the bath, and much less -should he go to sleep. He should keep constantly rubbing or sponging -the body or limbs—and if not able to do this, a servant should do it -for him. He should not remain more than ten minutes in the water, at -first—and he should gradually increase the time to half an hour or more. -Those whose skins are very sensitive ought to bathe in a flannel dress. -The temperature should be from 94° to 98° of Fahrenheit. On leaving the -bath, the individual ought to wrap himself up in a warm sheet, and when -dry to dress himself. It is recommended then to retire to his bed-room -and remain lying on the bed for a quarter or half an hour, but without -sleeping. Those who are aged, weakly, or nervous, may take a glass of -milk or a cup of coffee, after the bath. Most people can take a glass -of milk and Ems waters mixed. The latest time for bathing is two hours -before dinner. One bath in the day is quite sufficient.[52] - -The waters are drunk, sometimes before, sometimes after bathing. They -should be sipped warm at the source, otherwise some of their volatile -qualities are lost. The quantity taken, like that of food, must be -regulated by the power of digestion. Too much water, like too much food, -will produce the same distention and discomfort of stomach. The same -temperance and frugality is necessary in both cases. From two to three -wine-glassfuls of the waters taken twice, thrice, or four times, at -intervals of a quarter of an hour, will in general be sufficient. Some -cow’s or goat’s milk may be mixed with the waters. Gentle exercise, -between the doses of water, is essentially necessary. In some cases it -may be proper to take a few glasses of the waters two or three hours -after dinner—not sooner. - -Asthmatic people, and those labouring under serious maladies of vital -organs, are recommended to take a few glasses of the waters in their -beds, early in the morning—but never to exceed a pint in this way. - -A light breakfast may be allowed in half an hour or an hour after the -last tumbler of water at the springs. It is fortunate that near this, as -near most alterative waters, there is a chalybeate—viz. Schwalbach—where -the patient may be very conveniently sent, when no farther progress -is likely to be made at Ems; or where a tonic is necessary after the -debilitating effects of the latter have taken place. Those who cannot -visit Ems may take the bottled waters at a distance, with very little -loss of virtue. They will keep for several months. They are used with -considerable benefit _en lavement_. Of the _douches_ or local application -of the waters to the ailing region, I need not speak. - -The regimen, while taking these and other waters, is of some -consequence. Coffee or chocolate half an hour after the last glass, with -bread but no butter, is the rule of the day at Ems. Tea is prohibited, -as too much favouring perspiration—a rather unnecessary precaution I -imagine. A liquid preparation of rice (called _content_) with some spice, -is recommended to those of very nervous temperaments for breakfast. -Between breakfast and dinner, some light avocation, conversation, or -reading—after which a promenade. Temperance is essentially necessary at -these waters, as they generally excite the appetite. The dinner hour -of one o’clock at the TABLE-D’HÔTES is a great bore to all who are not -downright ill—and these had better dine at home. The siesta is condemned -in strong terms by Thilenius, if there be any fulness about the head, -or if the individual be plethoric; but to the weakly this indulgence is -allowed. The early dinner draws after it, as a necessary consequence, -some supper—so that, upon the whole, the four o’clock dinner, without -supper, will be found the most convenient and salutary. - -Of the gambling-tables I shall take another opportunity to speak: mean -time the following remark of Thilenius will not be inappropriate here. - -“He who cannot gamble _without losing his temper_, should avoid the -hazard-tables.” This is easy morality! The physical effects of passion -and all the horrible emotions of mind at roulette, are merely considered -as hurtful to the body of the bather; but no idea appears to be -entertained that these are detrimental to the soul as well as to the -body. The fact is, however, that none but gamblers by profession, and not -all of them, can win or lose money without passion, although they may -contrive not to shew it strongly in their countenances. In every point -of view, therefore, moral and physical, these hells on earth ought to be -shunned as eagerly as those of the nether regions. - -I may now make a few cautionary remarks on the dangers of bathing and -drinking the waters of Ems, and indeed of mineral waters (thermal) in -general—a subject little touched upon by writers at the spas themselves. -I cannot too often or too strongly warn every one against warm baths, -who has the slightest degree of local chronic inflammation going on in -any of the organs of the body, as evinced by white tongue, dryness of -skin, accelerated pulse, evening thirst, or scanty action of the kidneys. -The exciting mineral waters, taken internally or externally, will be -almost certain to raise the chronic into a subacute, or even acute, -inflammation, with a corresponding grade of constitutional irritation. Of -this I have seen many instances, both at home and abroad. The existence -of such conditions should be carefully ascertained before the spa is -introduced: and proper means taken to remove all traces of inflammation. -But even where there is no proof of any inflammatory action, the state -of plethora or general fulness of the vessels renders warm bathing -hazardous. In all, or almost all organic diseases of internal parts, -especially of the heart, brain, or lungs, the warm bath is to be -eschewed. The tide of the circulation carried to the surface by the hot -bath, must have a subsequent recoil, and then the weakened organ may -suffer. Besides, the warm and, still more, the hot bath excites the heart -and great vessels into increased activity for the time, and the blood -is carried with greater force towards the brain, endangering congestion -there. But what are the admonitory symptoms or phenomena by which the -patient may judge, when danger is approaching? The spa doctor is not -always at hand, in these emergencies. He is often too much employed -at such times. When giddiness, sleepiness, chilliness, confusion of -thought, weariness, head-ache, pains in the limbs, unusual sounds in the -ears, sparks before the eyes, loss of appetite, oppression after food, -feverishness, thirst, languor, depression of spirits, inability to sleep -at the usual hour, malaise or, in fact, any uncomfortable feeling, not -previously felt, occurs soon after drinking the waters, and especially -after bathing, and if these, or any of these recur after the second or -third day, let the waters be suspended till advice is taken. I am well -aware that the spa-doctors will say—“oh these are critical, or even -favourable symptoms, demonstrating the efficiency of the spring.” All I -say is—_Beware!_ you are standing on a precipice! - -We must now take leave of Ems. It is a very hot place in warm weather, -and I must say that the exterior and interior of the houses are not in -the most perfect accordance. The fogs are frequent in the mornings, -and the heat oppressive in the middle of the day. Few people can -sleep without some of the windows being kept open, and the danger of -catching colds is not inconsiderable. The reputation of the waters is -very extended. The Empress of Russia and her daughter were swallowing -them freely while we were there (1840), and seemed to require them or -some other restoratives, as they exhibited any thing but hyperborean -complexions. Several physicians have recommended a residence at this spa -during the Winter; and I am inclined to think that it would not be a bad -sejour for people with tracheal affections, or irritable conditions of -the mucous membrane of the lungs. - - - - -FRANKFORT. - - -This celebrated city has changed its nature, but not its name—the -_latter_ being now more appropriate than ever. It is a FREE-FORT, -that is, it is free from fort or citadel—rampart or fosse—glacis -or sallyport—cannon or mortar—shot or shells! All these have been -converted into much better things—gardens, shrubberies, and promenades. -Frankfort, I apprehend, has more of nominal freedom than real liberty. -The protection of the German potentates is stronger, no doubt, than her -ancient walls; but she is as much under the surveillance and control of -these “HIGH MIGHTINESSES,” as ever she was under that of her military -commandants, when a first rate fortress. Be that as it may, Frankfort is -now a great emporium or re-union of commerce and carriages—of Jews and of -Gentiles—of bankers and of brokers—of lenders and of venders—of consuls -and of caléches—of voitures and of retours—of envoyés and employés—in -fine, it is a large “normal school” for studying the first lines of -diplomacy, trickery, traffic, and stock-jobbery. - -The old and the new portions of the city present a curious contrast—youth -and beauty united to age and ugliness! - -One of the great lions of Frankfort is the cemetery, a few miles out of -town. It is a huge “painted sepulchre,” marble without, and mummy within. -This “city of the dead,” is not much smaller than its neighbour of the -living. True, the mansions are on a smaller scale, and the chambers are -low, dark, and unventilated; yet their inhabitants— - - “Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,” - -shew no symptoms of discontent, feuds, or family quarrels. They sleep -without dreams, unagitated by the habitual passions which invade the -bosoms of those whom they have left in the busy city on the banks of -the Main. If the rage for cemetrical building goes on at the present -rate of impulse, a time must come, when the cities of the dead will -equal, both in number and extent, those of the living—and necessity -will then compel the _latter_ to have recourse to the ancient mode of -sepulture—incineration. A small urn, instead of a costly tomb, will then -hold the ashes of our friends and ourselves, without any encroachment on -the soil that supplies us with food, fuel, and raiment. And, after all, -this seems a less revolting process of preserving some frail memorial of -those we loved and honoured, than that of committing them to the earth, -there to “lie in cold obstruction, and to rot,” the prey of worms, and -all crawling things! - -I believe there are few people, of reflective minds, who can wander round -the splendid cemetery or lonely churchyard, perusing the brief memoirs of -the silent inhabitants below, without feeling some of those sentiments -and emotions, which Hervey cloathed in language. These records of the -dead, short as they are, will be found, each, to contain at least two -facts or truths—the birth and death of the individual. I wish as much -could be always said for the lengthy biographies of the living! These -authentic documents—these “bills of mortality”—teach us one important -truth, viz.—that LIFE is a loan, and not a gift, granted to a piece -of clay, without interest indeed, but with the power of resumption at -the pleasure of the lender, with or without notice. DEATH, again, is -nothing more than the payment of a debt—the surrender of a policy. Has -man any just cause to murmur at the shortness or uncertainty of life, -because the vital spark animates, without solicitation, his atom of -earth—sparkles for a few moments—is extinguished by the same invisible -hand—and is reduced again to dust? If this be all, if the brief existence -of man be “rounded by a sleep,” he has little cause to be proud of the -intelligence which distinguishes him from the inferior animals. HE alone, -of all created beings, knows that he must die—a bitter thought at all -times—and cruelly bestowed, if death be annihilation! As we see no proofs -of injustice in the other works of the Creator, it is fair to presume -that there is none here, and that the fore-knowledge of death in this -world is indicative of life in another. - -If an inhabitant of another planet were to visit our cemeteries, -graveyards and churches, perusing the necrological literature of those -localities, he would soon come to the conclusion that this our little -Globe was a perfect Paradise, inhabited by the most amiable of all God’s -finite creatures. Every stone would present him authentic proofs that -the whole community consisted of affectionate fathers, loving husbands, -virtuous wives, indulgent parents, dutiful children, and sincere friends! -What would be his astonishment when, on mixing in the busy haunts -of men, he found them everywhere engaged in public wars or private -quarrels—in litigations, persecutions, robberies, and assassinations—torn -with all the vile passions of envy, hatred, malice, jealousy, and -malevolence—distorting the good actions of their neighbours, and -exaggerating their failings—violating the laws of Nature, and evading the -laws of man—in fine, exhibiting a picture the very reverse of that which -he found delineated on the tablets of the departed! - -In this perplexity, he would fly back to his native planet, and report -that the inhabitants of TERRA were a race of beings inexplicable in their -character—the dead all ANGELS—the living all DEVILS! And yet nothing -would be more erroneous than such a report. The haunts of the living and -the habitats of the dead—the city and the cemetery—the cheerful village -and the country church-yard, being found to contain the same relative -proportion of good and evil spirits. The reason of the discrepancy above -alluded to, has been appreciated in all ages—“de mortuis nil nisi bonum.” -The shroud is our last and kindest mantle. Its texture is so close as to -conceal all our vices—but at the same time so transparent as to reveal -all our virtues. It is not then on tombstones that we are to seek for -truth! - - - - -KISSENGEN. - - -This is comparatively a young cub amongst the great spa-lions of the -Continent; but it is one that is likely to attain an immense size. Dr. -Balling, resident physician at this spa, and, still later, Dr. Welsch, -son-in-law of Dr. Maas, have published on these waters. - -Kissengen is situated almost in the heart of Germany, in the kingdom -of Bavaria, and can be reached in two or three days from Frankfort. -The waters issue from the earth in a valley stretching from north to -south—the surrounding heights, covered with woods, and not averaging -more than 600 feet in altitude. The valley itself is fertile in corn, -wine, and fruits. The little river SAALE runs through the centre of it. -Kissengen is nearly equidistant from Wurtsburg, Bamberg, Meiningen, and -Fulda. Its latitude is 49° 50´, north—and it is not more than 600 feet -above the level of the sea.[53] The temperature, from April till October, -is moderately warm. In consequence of the great evaporation of saline -water at the salt springs, the atmosphere is a good deal impregnated with -saline principles, and is similar to sea-air. It is considered beneficial -in all scrofulous affections. - -There are a great many mineral springs here, but it will only be -necessary to notice the Maxbrunnen—Ragotzy—Pandur—Soolensprudel—and -Theresienbrunnen. - -1. _Maxbrunnen._—This rises near the Cursaal and Conversation-house, with -a bubbling or boiling noise—clear as crystal, and exhaling its gaseous -pearls with great rapidity. The carbonic acid gas adheres to the sides -of a glass and gives the water a milky appearance. All the springs of -Kissengen abound in this gas. The temperature is 52° Summer and Winter. -The taste is acidulous and refreshing. According to Kastner (1833) a pint -of this spring contains nearly 30½ grains of solid matters, and 31 inches -of carbonic acid gas. The principal ingredients are 18½ grains of muriate -of soda—1 grain ditto of potash—3 grains muriate of magnesia—2½ grains of -carbonate of lime—1½ grains of sulphate of soda—1 grain sulphate of lime. -This spring contains no trace of iron. - -2. _Ragoczy, or Ragotzy._—At the southern extremity of the colonnade is -seen this spring, together with that of the PANDUR. The Ragoczy rises -with considerable noise, discharging air-bubbles freely. The water is not -so clear as that of the Maxbrunnen—having a blueish cast. The temperature -is nearly the same as the other. The taste is salt and bitter, with -a degree of astringency. But the taste varies very much from day to -day—at one time the salt, at another the bitter, predominates, with, -occasionally, a ferruginous savour. It requires four large pumps to -exhaust the spring. - -The pint contains 85 grains of solid matters, and 26 cubic inches of -carbonic acid gas. Of these 85 grains, 62 are common salt—6 muriate of -magnesia—3 carbonate of lime—2 carb. magnesia—2 sulphate of soda—2 -sulphate of lime—2 silex. The other six grains are immaterial, except the -subcarbonate of iron, of which there are three-quarters of a grain in -each pint. - -3. _The Pandur._—Only 34 feet distant from the Ragoczy, the Pandur -springs to light, with great noise and bubbling. Its taste is more salt, -bitter, pure, and piquant than that of the Ragoczy—“and is much more -relished by the ladies.” It is so plentiful that it can furnish from -eight hundred to a thousand baths daily. The pint contains 76 grains of -solids—of which, 57 are muriate of soda—5 muriate of magnesia—5 carbonate -of lime—2 carb. of magnesia—about half a grain of subcarbonate of iron—1¾ -grs. of sulphate of soda—28 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. - -4. _Soolensprudel._—About a mile from the foregoing springs, and in -the middle of the valley, near the bank of the river, this remarkable -spring was discovered by boring 311 feet through the earth. It does not -flow in an even uninterrupted stream, but rises and falls at irregular -periods—often with a noise resembling cannon. It generally ebbs and -flows eight or nine times in the twenty-four hours. When the water is -at its greatest height, it boils, and roars, and foams at a great rate. -This spring rises through a salt-water mine, if the expression can be -used. Its solid contents are enormous, namely 172 grains in the pint! Of -these, common salt alone amounts to 107½ grains—muriate of magnesia 24½ -grains—muriate of lime 4 grains—sulphate of soda 25 grains—carbonate of -magnesia 6½ grains—carbonate of lime 1½ grains—subcarbonate of iron not -quite half a grain—carbonic acid gas 30½ cubic inches. From this it will -be seen that, in solid ingredients, the Soolensprudel outstrips all the -other springs. In temperature too, it differs from the others, being 66°, -or as nearly as possible that of the sea. - -5. _Theresienbrunnen._—This springs from a depth of 140 feet, and -discharges itself with a bubbling noise like the others. The water is -clear as crystal, and whitens the sides of the glass with the carbonic -acid gas. The temperature is 52 or 3°. The taste is tart, saltish, -agreeably pleasant and refreshing. The quantity furnished is abundant. -There are 29½ grains of saline matters in the pint, with 28½ cubic inches -of carbonic acid gas. Of these, 18½ grains are muriate of soda—2¾ muriate -of magnesia—2½ carb. magnesia—2 carb. lime—1½ sulphate of soda, with some -slight quantities of minor ingredients. - -Between this spring and the Maxbrunnen there is a considerable affinity; -but the Theresienbrunnen has the advantage, in possessing a greater -proportion of carbonic acid gas, by which the saline matters are held in -more complete solution. - - -MEDICINAL EFFECTS AND PROPERTIES OF THE KISSENGEN WATERS. - -The various springs, in their physical and chemical properties, have -one common and characteristic physiognomy. They rise from mountains -of the same formation, and with more or less identity of force. They -all contain abundance of muriate of soda and carbonic acid gas. -“Mineral waters, however, cannot be estimated merely by their physical -and chemical qualities. Each spring is an organic whole (_ensemble -organique_), and possesses its peculiar mode of existence—‘et a sa -propre maniere d’etre.’”[54] “In general, the springs of Kissengen, -when taken internally, excite the nutritive functions of the body—alter -them—promote the various secretions and excretions—and thus resolve, -purify, and re-organise the animal machine.”[55] In addition to these -effects (which an ordinary mortal might be content with), the springs -of Ragoczy and Pandur possess a strengthening and tonic quality, in -consequence of the iron which they contain. The Soolensprudel, whether -taken alone, or mixed with the Ragoczy, acts briskly as an aperient. -“In this combination of tonic with alterative properties, the Kissengen -waters (Ragoczy and Pandur), have no equals in the spas of Germany.” “In -all the other spas it is the solvent principle (principe resolutif) which -predominates—in these, the various principles are united harmoniously.” -The efficacy of these waters is greatly increased by a series of baths of -the same. The order of these baths is ranged as follows:—the Maxbrunnen -is gently exciting, and at the same time tranquillizing—the Pandur is -solvent and promotes the secretions—the Ragoczy, alterative and tonic—the -Soolensprudel profoundly penetrating and strongly solvent. The sensible -effects of these baths are of a refreshing, animating nature—altering and -bringing the functions of the skin into a normal or healthy condition, -and establishing the harmony between the cutaneous surface, and the -various organs and membranes of the interior—thereby dispersing disorders -of those parts. To these effects Dr. Balling adds those which result from -the absorption of the finer and more soluble ingredients of the waters, -which pervade all the organs and tissues through the medium of the -circulation. The doctor asks, where are to be found such baths as these, -containing such various minerals, and so easy of combination, as to meet -every variety of malady? - -“These mineral waters (internally and externally) applied to the -surface—taken into the circulation—or digested in the stomach or -duodenum, oppose themselves, in the living organism, to morbific -matters—afterwards exciting and assisting nature to expel these morbid -principles from the body. _In this case an irritation, a re-action -is established throughout the whole constitution, converting chronic -diseases into those of a greater or less degree of acuteness, accompanied -by febrile symptoms._ This fever assumes a septenary type, lasting, -sometimes one week, sometimes two. In this stage _it requires the -greatest care on the part of the patient, and the greatest vigilance and -skill on the part of the physician, to manage this febrile period, so as -not to let it run too high, nor yet to fall short of the salutary range_. -It is only in this stage, that the diseased organism perceives its -malady—and it is absolutely necessary that the patient should feel ill, -if he hopes to recover his health.”[56] - -Dr. Balling is perfectly right when he says that this febrile re-action -requires the greatest skill and care. But is it not evident that among -the shoals of patients who take the waters of Kissengen, or any other -waters of the kind, several must experience danger, and some even fatal -effects, from this re-action? We may be sure that the late Duke of Nassau -had the best advice at Kissengen, and yet he lost his life by the warm -bath there! - -The waters of Kissengen are recommended by our author with dietetic and -prophylactic intentions, to prevent diseases and correct a disposition to -them, as well as to remove them when fully developed. - -The waters of Maxbrunnen are excellent means for preserving the -constitution from dispositions, or, as they are termed, predispositions -to diseases, arising from original taint, or following attacks of acute -inflammatory complaints. - -The waters of the Maxbrunnen internally, and of the Pandur in baths, -have been used for many years _dietetically_ as preventive of scrofula, -in those whose parents had been strumous, or who themselves shewed -a tendency to it—and also of affections of the mucous membrane of -the chest, and also of the abdomen. They are used habitually against -disposition to venous congestion of the abdominal viscera, the prolific -source of gout, hypochondriasis, hæmorrhoids, cutaneous eruptions. Among -the chief symptoms of the abdominal plethora, Dr. B. adduces acidity, -disagreeable taste in the mouth, uneasy digestion, tension and fulness -of the hypochondria, sense of oppression at the chest, turbid urine, -irregular bowels, constipation, dry skin, or malodorous perspirations, -eruptions on the surface, &c. For these symptoms the Ragoczy and Pandur -are reckoned heroic remedies. - -Among the maladies actually developed, or developing themselves, Dr. -B. has arranged the following, with short remarks on each, as being -peculiarly under the influence of the waters of Kissengen. - -1. _Catarrhal affections_ of the mucous membrane of the chest, so far -advanced as to be threatening phthisis, have been cured or greatly -benefitted by the waters of this spa. They are said to be equally -efficacious in affections of the mucous membrane of the kidneys, bladder, -and uterine system, as well as of the alimentary canal. - -2. _Rheumatic complaints._—Great numbers of patients afflicted with the -large tribe of rheumatic affections, resort annually to Kissengen for -relief, and, as is asserted, with remarkable success. - -3. _Scrofula_, developed, as well as brooding in the constitution—now -so universally diffused among society—has, in the waters of Kissengen, -a powerful remedy—more especially enlargement of the mesenteric glands, -tubercles of the lungs, &c. Many unmarried females present a complication -of scrofulous and nervous symptoms, indicated by enlargement of the -mesenteric glands, pains and tenderness of the abdomen, hysteria, -irregular menstruation, and numerous symptoms of disordered digestion. -These are much benefitted, if not cured, by the Kissengen waters. - -4. _Hæmorrhoidal affections._—The Ragoczy and Pandur are famous in these -complaints, so prevalent on the Continent, and regarded with so much -importance there. It will be a sufficient specimen of German pathology -on this point, to remark that the very enlightened physician whose work -I am quoting, looks upon latent piles as indicated by the following -symptoms: viz.—head-aches—perspirations—pain in the spleen—cutaneous -eruptions—vertigo—diarrhœa—asthma—blennorhagia—ovarian tumors—weakness of -sight—spectral images before the eyes—vomiting of blood—swellings of the -liver, uterus, &c.—discharges of blood from the kidneys, bowels, &c. “In -all these masked forms of hæmorrhoids, the waters of Kissengen are more -or less beneficial.” p. 49. - -5. _Gouty affections._—Where gout wanders about, and annoys the internal -organs, the waters of this spa are asserted to be of great efficacy. - -6. _Cutaneous eruptions._—These are looked upon as only external signs of -internal affections—especially of disorder in the abdominal viscera, for -which the Kissengen spas are almost specific. - -7. _Hypochondriasis._—The vast number of hypochondriacs who annually -resort to Kissengen, are, Dr. B. thinks, incontestible proofs of the good -effects of the waters. Considering that hypochondriacs run every where, -and seldom get cured, this proof is rather equivocal. - -8. _Hysteria_, in all its various forms.—9. Melancholia.—10. Asthma—when -dependent on abdominal affections. - -11. _Stomach complaints._—12. Affections of the bowels.—13. Ovarian and -uterine diseases.—14. Neuralgic affections, tic douloureux, &c.—15. -Debility.—16. Various complaints following acute diseases, as fevers, -inflammations, &c. - - -PHYSICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF THE DIFFERENT SPRINGS. - -1. _Maxbrunnen._—This water, when taken early in the morning, causes a -certain degree of irritation in the fauces and nose, that leads to slight -cough or sneezing, succeeded by a sensation of heat in the stomach, and -not unfrequently by some confusion or giddiness in the head, as if from -wine. These phenomena are speedily followed by a comfortable feeling, -refreshment, and agility. After a few glasses of the water are drunk, -the secretion from the kidneys is augmented considerably, followed by -perspiration—and ultimately by some action on the bowels. This last -effect, however, does not generally take place till after the waters have -been used for a few days. The mucous secretion, however, both from the -bowels and air-tubes is always increased—especially if there had been -previously any tracheal or bronchial affection. This spring is found -to be most beneficial to people of bilious, phlegmatic, and plethoric -temperaments. People who shew a decided disposition to catarrhal -affections, or inflammation of the mucous membrane of the lungs, will -do well to mix the Maxbrunnen water with an equal quantity of whey. -Scrofula, chronic bronchitis, indigestion, and other affections, are -benefitted by these waters. - -2. _Ragoczy._—A glass of this water taken fasting, causes a refreshing -warmth in the stomach, followed by some degree of distention, with -slight eructations of gas. The head next becomes affected, with a -sense of pressure in the front, and even some degree of giddiness. If -sufficient exercise be taken between each glass, a gentle perspiration -occurs—the kidneys act more freely—and phlegm is expectorated from the -mucous membrane of the air-passages. All these symptoms are generally -followed by two or three actions on the bowels. This cycle of phenomena -occupies from two to four hours, when the symptoms all subside, and -the patient feels comfortable during the remainder of the day. These -phenomena continue for some days—and as the appetite augments, it is too -often indulged freely, with inconvenience. At the end of a few days, -all the functions of the body, but especially the mucous secretions, -take on a considerable degree of activity—and the secretions themselves -become changed in quality as well as quantity. From the end of the first -week till the end of the second, the general state of health is much -altered, in consequence of the excited condition of the whole organism, -which is now roused into action against the malady. “The patient becomes -irascible, capricious, discontented;—the waters no longer render him -comfortable, brisk, or increase his appetite:—on the contrary, the tongue -begins to be furred, the appetite to fail, the secretions to become -irregular and morbid, not only from the bowels, but from the other -mucous membranes, and even the skin, which often exhales a peculiar -acidulous odour.” The urinary secretion gets thick and sedimentary, with -a predominance of acid or alkali, and a scum over its surface. If the -liver or spleen were affected, they now become softer, and the abdomen -is sensible to pressure. The same is observed in the other abdominal and -pelvic organs when previously affected. In short, when the patient begins -to think that the waters are disagreeing with him, and making him ill, -the Doctor is of a very different opinion, viewing this re-action as a -salutary effort of Nature, assisted by the waters, to expel the morbific -matter or cause of disease from the system.[57] - -3. _The Pandur._—The physical effects of this spring are nearly the same -as those of the Ragoczy. It acts a little more strongly on the kidneys, -skin, and bowels. On this last account it is a most useful spring in all -abdominal congestions, torpid bowels, and sluggish liver. On the same -account also (its aperient qualities) it causes less of the re-action -described above, affects the head much less than the Ragoczy, and also -the chest. The effects of the Pandur, when taken in the evening, are -worthy of notice. If two or three glasses are taken in the evening, -it has a calming, tranquillizing effect on the whole system—promotes -sleep—or produces it if the individual were previously wakeful. At the -same time it promotes perspiration, and secretion from the kidneys; -but does not act on the bowels—unless a large quantity be taken. About -eight or nine in the morning, however, it opens the bowels comfortably, -especially if assisted by a few morning glasses of the same water. In -this respect it differs greatly from the Ragoczy—which cannot be taken -in the evening. It is also an important auxiliary to the Ragoczy. The -Pandur is preferable to the Ragoczy in all cases where an alterative, -solvent, and aperient effect is more desirable than a tonic. It is -fitter for young females affected with abdominal and uterine plethora—or -indeed plethora of any part, than the neighbouring spring. It is also -more profitable in nervous, irritable habits than the other. Where -constipation obtains, it is peculiarly useful. - -4. _Soolensprudel._—It is only about two years (before March 1839) -that this water has been used internally. It is strongly purgative -and solvent. Two or three glasses taken fasting, are sure to produce -one, or even several evacuations from the bowels, without griping or -inconvenience. Although there is a very small quantity of iron in the -Soolensprudel, yet, in combination with the carbonic acid gas, it does -not weaken the digestive organs, so much as some other waters of the -saline kind. It may be given, as an aperient, in all cases where the -Ragoczy and Pandur are proper. - - -THE BATHS. - -The effects of all the Kissengen waters, when used as baths, have a -considerable resemblance to each other. The plus or minus of carbonic -acid gas, and of iron, make the chief differences. As the baths have -hardly ever been employed without the internal use of the waters, their -effects cannot be positively ascertained as under other circumstances. -The general phenomena, however, may be stated as follows:— - -The patient feels soothed, refreshed, and even strengthened, by the first -few baths; but about the seventh day, the symptoms of re-action commence, -and then the pleasing sensations of the bath disappear—and he feels -enfeebled and uncomfortable after leaving the water. These phenomena -increase. The skin becomes relaxed—slightly reddened, and copious -perspirations break out—or if not, the kidneys act vigorously. If there -be any cutaneous eruptions, they increase, become inflamed, and discharge -freely. Rheumatic and gouty pains are exasperated, and sometimes carried -into a state of acute inflammation, with fever, which lasts three or four -days, and then disappears. In such cases, the baths must be discontinued -for a short time. In general, most of the diseases which are ultimately -cured by the baths and waters, are, for a certain period, rendered -worse. In the course, or rather towards the end of this re-action, -certain critical evacuations take place, more especially from the skin, -accompanied by a peculiar odour—or boils or other eruptions break -forth—or depositions take place in the urine, sometimes even of blood—or -by the bowels. This crisis past, a state of amelioration takes place, and -now the baths should be discontinued, not at once, but gradually. - -The morbid conditions which require the baths _more_ than the drinking -of the waters are—chronic affections of the skin—rheumatic and gouty -complaints, whether external or internal—neuralgic affections—complaints -driven from the surface to the interior. - -We need not dwell on the slight differences which take place in the use -of the baths of the Maxbrunnen, Pandur, and Ragoczy. The baths of the -Soolensprudel deserve a remark or two. The baths of this source are more -powerful than those of the others, often producing considerable heat -and irritation of the skin, accompanied by corresponding re-action of -the system generally—even to fever, which requires marked and vigilant -attention, otherwise very serious consequences may result. At the same -time, it may be observed that the baths of the Soolensprudel are less -disposed to affect the head and the chest, than other baths of weaker -powers, if used with caution. They have hitherto been chiefly employed -in cases of confirmed scrofula, both external and internal—in uterine and -ovarian affections—in inveterate rheumatic and gouty complaints. - -In the after-cure, the waters of Bocklet and Bruckenau, chalybeates both, -are almost essential, to restore the strength, after the alterative -and aperient waters of Kissengen, and after the struggle which the -constitution has had with the malady. - -1. _Season._—Dr. Balling conceives that different complaints require -different periods of the season for their removal by the waters of -Kissengen. In general, however, the time is from the middle of Spring -till the end of Autumn. - -2. _Preparation._—Dr. B. gives us some advice on this point, which we can -seldom follow—namely, to dismiss all care, before we visit Kissengen!—to -bring with us a statement of our case from the physician in ordinary—to -bring warm clothing, adapted to Winter as well as Summer—not to bring -unnecessary family and servants—to travel leisurely from home to -Kissengen—to rest a few days after the journey, before the waters or -baths are taken, and consult with the physician of the place. - -3. _Mode of taking the waters._—The time is from six till eight o’clock -in the morning. The quantity of the waters taken must depend on the -capability of the stomach to digest them. As there is much carbonic -acid gas in the waters, they ought to be drunk quickly, each portion. -The Ragoczy and Pandur are generally taken cold; but, in particular -cases, the chill may be taken off them. Ten or twelve minutes should -intervene between each goblet of the waters. The first glasses are more -easily digested than the later ones. Easy walking between the glasses is -beneficial. All persons disposed to congestions about the head or chest, -as evinced by giddiness, or oppression in the act of breathing, should be -very cautious and moderate in the use of these waters. In the period of -re-action, the symptoms should be marked by the patient and communicated -to the physician. Breakfast may be taken in half an hour after the last -goblet of water. If the waters are taken in the evening, it should be -four or five hours after dinner. These regulations apply chiefly to the -Ragoczy and Pandur. The Maxbrunnen spring is generally drunk with a -moderate proportion of whey or milk. - - -THE BATHS. - -The waters of the Maxbrunnen remain clear when heated. The others become -a little turbid by the heat. Patients are recommended not to bathe in -any of these waters for three or four days after their arrival. They -should be taken for some days internally, before the baths are used, in -order that the bowels may be free, and the secretions improved. They -ought to be employed to the point of saturation—which generally takes -place in a shorter time than by the drinking of the waters. The baths are -taken before noon, and after drinking the waters, before breakfast—or in -the evening. The baths, however, may be taken two hours after a light -breakfast—and are more agreeable to most people at this time than before -the repast. Once a day is often enough. They are generally raised to 96° -or 98° of Fahrenheit—and half an hour is the usual period of immersion. -It is prudent not to stay in more than ten or fifteen minutes at first, -and to gradually increase the period, till it comes to thirty or forty -minutes. - -“Patients who are disposed to convulsions, vertigo, faintings, or fulness -about the head, should not use these baths but with extreme caution. Such -people ought to keep the head covered with cloths wet with cold water -during immersion.”[58] These baths are absolutely prejudicial, if the -patient goes in when heated, perspiring, or excited by passions of the -mind. The bather ought not to plunge at once into the bath, but first to -sponge the chest and stomach with the warm water. It is hurtful to read -in the bath, and more so, to go to sleep. On the contrary, the bather -should keep in constant motion, to use friction with his own hands over -the chest and abdomen. “If, during immersion, the patient be seized -with feverish heat, chilliness, shivering, head-ache, oppression on the -chest—or any kind of malaise, he should immediately quit the bath, and -examine whether or not the temperature has been too high or too low. He -should dress himself quickly on leaving the bath, and take some turns in -the dressing-room before going into the open air. Gentle exercise after -the bath is very beneficial.” - -The point of saturation from the baths is considered by Dr. Balling as a -matter of great importance. This point is not attained till the morbific -matters are expelled from the constitution, and all the secretions -have become healthy and natural—especially those from the intestinal -canal. The time necessary for attaining this desirable condition will -be different in different constitutions—and in different diseases. -Generally speaking, it requires two weeks of the bath. After this period -the patient and physician should be on their guard, and watch well the -phenomena as they occur. - -The effects of these waters on the human organism do not cease when the -drinking and bathing are left off. They often continue for a long time, -and complete the cure which was left incomplete at the spa. It but too -frequently happens that, when patients experience no relief at medicinal -spas, they are told to hope for a cure from the _consecutive_ effects -of the waters. They are often disappointed. In respect to the Kissengen -springs, we are informed by Dr. Balling, that unless they produce the -_reaction_ already described, during the time the patient is using -them, no _consecutive_ effects are to be expected. But, on the other -hand, if the reaction clearly shews itself at the springs, considerable -consecutive effects, of a salutary nature, may be confidently looked -for—and the remainder of the cure may be safely trusted to nature at -the patient’s own home. The system of diet enjoined by the Kissengen -physicians, and Dr. Balling in particular, is nearly as rigid as at most -of the other spas, where certain doctors have hobbies which they ride to -death beyond the Rhine as well as in this country. - - -ORDER OF THE DAY. - -At six o’clock in the morning the band marches and plays through the -middle of the town to the garden, summoning the sick to their morning -potations. “It is here,” says Dr. B. “that a most curious scene presents -itself to the musing eye. Eight hundred or a thousand invalids (for -comparatively few others go to Kissengen) are quickly assembled in the -walks of the “JARDIN DE CURE,” of all conditions and ages—the prince -by the side of the tradesman—the queen by that of the peasant girl—all -having but one object in view, the recovery of health. Nothing can be -more interesting than the general physiognomy which characterises the -whole moving mass of human beings. - -The great spas present a morbid physiognomy each peculiar to -itself. Carlsbad exhibits the yellow and earthy—Ems the pallid and -hectic—Pyrmont, the pale chlorosis—the “green and yellow melancholy” of -the love-sick maiden. Kissengen has its peculiar physiognomy—but it is -a deceitful one—a countenance of morbid fulness and floridness, little -indicative of the grave maladies which lie concealed.” - -This garden is of considerable extent, and contains numerous walks. Those -who like to be in the crowd may find their wishes satisfied in the middle -alleys—those who are fond of solitude, may indulge their meditations -in the remote paths. Those who are fond of comparing notes with their -brother and sister sufferers, have ample means of doing so, in this -asylum of valetudinarians. - -At eight o’clock all disperse to their breakfasts; after which they -either repose for an hour or two, or take some walking exercise. At -eleven o’clock, the bathing process commences, after which another -promenade or repose—and then the one o’clock dinner. After dinner, -and perhaps a cup of coffee, the promenades in the garden, and the -excursions into the country are made. In the evening, the garden, the -conversation-halls, theatre, and gambling-tables, are the great places of -resort.[59] - -I shall conclude with the following remark of Dr. Balling. - -“In speaking of the gaming-tables of the Kurhaus, which are open from -three till ten o’clock every afternoon, it is to assert, in the most -positive manner, that all such games are eminently injurious to invalids, -and greatly obstruct the cure of their complaints. This is the case -whether the individual wins or loses money. In the state of excitement, -almost febrile, produced by the waters themselves and the re-action of -the constitution, the valetudinarian runs the risk of some dangerous -perturbation in the animal organism, which may cost him his life, and, at -all events, must interrupt the salutary operation of the springs.” - -P.S.—On visiting these waters in August, 1840, I found that the number -of English invalids had somewhat decreased during that season. The -reputation of the waters, however, is evidently on the increase. I saw -several English who had experienced considerable benefit in stomach -complaints; whilst others complained much of the bad effects of the -waters on the head and nervous system. They are powerful waters, and -require attention. The spa doctors of Kissengen now enjoin a most -rigid system of diet, which greatly aids the medicinal effects of the -waters. No wine is allowed. The food is confined to soup and a little -meat, without any pudding, fruit, vegetables, or made dishes of any -description! This dietary, with early hours and plenty of water, must -go a good way to insure restoration of health, independently of the -medicinal ingredients in the springs. - - - - -BOCKLET. - - -When the waters of Carlsbad or Kissengen have washed away the -superfluous green fat and ill-assimilated roast-beef from the body of -JOHN BULL—the sour krout and rancid sausages from the GERMAN—and the -caviare and train oil from the RUSS—then these worthy personages repair -to BOCKLET or BRUCKENAU, to undergo a very different process from that -of depuration—namely, to have their ribs lined with steel, and their -stomachs converted into gizzards. According to my information, those -who come to these acidulous chalybeate springs with digestive organs in -a state analogous to that of blotting-paper, go away from them, with -the same organs in a condition very closely resembling well tanned -sole-leather! - -The visitors of Carlsbad and Kissengen, are all radical reformers, -tearing up by the roots the numerous vices and abuses that have crept -into their constitutions;—but at Bocklet and Bruckenau, they become -eminently conservative—carefully rebuilding the various dilapidated -portions of the body corporate in the firmest manner, and on the most -durable foundations. - -Bocklet is only half-a-dozen miles from Kissengen, and the waters contain -little more than two-thirds of a grain of iron to the pint; but then -there are 31 cubic inches of free carbonic acid gas, which confer on -the iron the greatest possible state of solution, and consequently the -greatest degree of energetic action on the human frame. In the pint of -this water, also, there are 27 grains of muriate of soda—six grains of -sulphate of soda—seven grains of carbonate of lime—nearly two grains -of carbonate of magnesia, with some slight saline impregnations, of no -great importance. The whole of the solid contents are between 40 and 50 -grains in the pint. These ingredients, however, gently modify the action -of the iron, and render the water much safer, in many complaints and -constitutions, than the purer chalybeates (as for instance Bruckenau) -where the astringency and stimulation of the steel are unmitigated by -saline counter-poises. Dr. Hans, the Apollo of Bocklet, is loud in -the praises of these waters, taken internally and used as baths—and -indeed, from their composition and their physiological action, I think -it probable that they are of greater utility, and applicable to a wider -range of diseases than any other chalybeate in Germany, or perhaps in -Europe. - -At no spa do the applicants live more completely _en famille_ than -here—all dining, drinking, and promenading together, sans ceremonie. - -The cuisine at Bocklet appears to be under the superintendence of the -doctor. We dined at the one o’clock table-d’hôte, and had nothing but -soup—some bouilli—and roast chicken, instead of the endless courses -at other table-d’hôtes. The whole, with a pint bottle of wine, cost -about eighteen-pence for each person! Bocklet, however, seems but -little frequented, compared with Bruckenau, though its waters are of an -excellent quality. The drive from Kissengen along the side of the Saal, -is very pleasant, and passes the Soolensprudel and salt works, which we -stopped to examine. The Soolensprudel was in high feather, foaming and -boiling over into conduits that conveyed it to the baths. It is well -worth seeing. - -There are some pleasant excursions in the neighbourhood, where time may -be killed, and health promoted by the same process. - -The air for a mile or two around the salines strongly resembles sea -air, where there is much sea-weed on the shore. It is very grateful and -refreshing. - - - - -BRUCKENAU. - - -At the distance of sixteen miles from Kissengen, a route requiring -five hours and a half, with strong horses, over a road which is by no -means abundant in good scenery, but exuberant of steep hills and rough -causeways, lies BRUCKENAU, between two lofty and wooded hills, in the -pretty but certainly not romantic valley of the SINN—a chalybeate much -frequented, even by royalty—the King of Bavaria having a residence -there for taking the waters in the spa-season. There are three or four -springs—two, the Sinnberger and Wernarzer, close together, on the left -bank of the river—resembling tolerable, and only tolerable, soda-water, -in taste, having scarcely any savour of steel—and containing not more -than a grain of solid matters in the pint. The former of these is much -used in calculous complaints—scrofula—and chronic affections of the -mucous membrane of the lungs. Dr. Schipper affirms that the water of the -Sinnberger possesses a peculiar, or rather specific influence on the -skin, in the promotion of perspiration. - -The Wernarzer is nearly the same in taste and composition; but is more -used in dyspeptic complaints, or morbid sensibility of the gastric and -intestinal nerves. - -It is on crossing the little river Sinn, that we come to the lion of -the place—the BRUCKENAUER, springing up under a large red pavilion, and -discharging its contents through four tiny wooden tubes, into a circular -basin, encrusted with the red oxide of iron. I saw none of the commotion -which Dr. Granville describes; on the contrary, the Bruckenauer is one -of the most quiet and placid wells which I have ever seen, considering -that the water contains 36 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas to the pint, -which ought to make it as frisky as Champagne. It is pleasant to the -taste; but not more so than the Weinbrunnen at Schwalbach—the Pouhon at -Spa—or the Pandur at Kissengen. In fact, I was greatly disappointed, as -far as taste is concerned, in the waters of Bruckenau, so exaggerated -are the accounts which have been published respecting their ethereal, -sparkling, exhilarating, piquant qualities. - -The chalybeate nature of the Bruckenauer is unequivocally evinced by -the great deposition of iron on all parts of the basin in which it is -contained—and by the strong iron gout which it leaves in the mouth -after being swallowed. Although there is only a quarter of a grain of -steel in the pint, yet this mineral is at its maximum of oxidation, -in consequence of the great proportion of carbonic acid gas, and the -BRUCKENAUER is therefore held to be the clearest and most pure chalybeate -in the world. The physiological effects of this spa are considered to be -highly stimulating, tonic, and astringent—augmenting the velocity of the -circulation, and the volume of the pulse—oxygenating the blood—giving -tone to the body, and colour to the lips and cheeks of the blanched -female. In addition to these valuable qualities, the Bruckenau waters -are said to possess the opposite ones—of tranquillizing (“arresting -every symptom of irregular mobility,”) of the nervous system. Now, if -all the spa-doctors, between Carlsbad in the East, and Saratoga in the -West, combined to certify this fact, I would remain sceptical. I will -not maintain that such conflicting qualities are incompatible with each -other; but it would require very weighty facts to induce me to believe -that they co-exist in this pure chalybeate spring. - -Bruckenau is to Germany what Tonbridge Wells is to England. Although the -_latter_ spa contains much more iron than the Continental one, Bruckenau -has greatly the advantage in the large proportion of carbonic acid gas, -rendering the German chalybeate infinitely more tonic than the English. - -The water of Bruckenau, then, like all pure tonics, is a powerful engine -in skilful hands; but a dangerous weapon when wielded without judgment. -Debility, or at least a feeling of debility, attends almost every -disease, whether acute or chronic. To remove this symptom is the constant -prayer of the patient, and the great embarrassment of the practitioner, -who knows that those remedies which augment the general strength, too -often increase the activity and danger of the local disorder. It must -be owned that in medicine, as well as in other professions, there are -individuals who, for the sake of ill-got fame and sordid pelf, will -pander to the appetites, prejudices, and ignorance of the public, and, -through the agency of food and physic, force, as it were, the general -strength beyond the level at which the local malady can be safely -remedied. The fire is smouldered but not extinguished, and is sure to -break out, sooner or later, with redoubled violence. But the object of -the doctor is attained—the fees are secure, and his skill is already -attested by the deluded victim, who is ashamed afterwards to recall the -testimony. The attempt to restore general health or strength by tonics -or chalybeates, where there exists a local disorder of any organ or -structure, is not merely illusory, but prejudicial or even dangerous. -Hence the necessity of an accurate examination of all the organs, before -a course of tonics is entered on at home, or a journey to a chalybeate -spa abroad. Much expense, fatigue, and disappointment would be saved -by such a preliminary investigation. It is in cases where the general -health and strength are breaking down under _functional disorder_, and -where this disorder is corrected by other spas or proper medicines, that -the chalybeates of Spa, Schwalbach, Bruckenau, or Bocklet, act like a -charm in restoring energy to the constitution, taken internally and used -externally. - -The chalybeate bath requires caution and attention, as well as the -drinking of the waters. Although much of the iron is lost by the escape -of the carbonic acid gas, still the corrugation, redness, and roughness -of the skin produced by immersion in the chalybeate bath indicate a -powerful agency, and when lassitude, drowsiness, head-ache, or sense -of exhaustion follow the bath, the patient should be on his guard, and -either desist, or report to the bath physician. - -There must be an especial freedom from all organic disease, and even -from functional disorder—especially disordered function of the liver or -digestive apparatus, attended with morbid secretions, where such a pure -and powerful chalybeate as Bruckenau can be safely employed. - -The King of Bavaria has erected here a Cursaal apparently intended to -rival, or rather to eclipse its celebrated namesake of Wisbaden. It is -a structure of great height, dimensions, and decorations, surrounded -on all sides by a fine open colonnade, and presenting a noble portico. -At the table-d’hôte, of one o’clock, there sate down about eighty or a -hundred guests; but many of them were, no doubt, visitors from Kissengen. -They seemed to defy the rigid injunctions of the Kissengen doctors, and -probably considered that during the “NACH-KUR” or after-cure, and while -they were lining their ribs with steel, they ought to have a commensurate -latitude in the enjoyments of the table. - - - - -FRANZENSBAD. - - -At the distance of three short miles from the town of Eger or Egra, -in Bohemia, lies Franzensbad, a spa of considerable reputation. The -situation is not very pleasant, being rather bare of wood and shade, and -the surrounding country by no means picturesque. The town, or village, -in fact, is in the midst of a great bog, and the houses, like those -of Amsterdam and Venice, are built on piles driven into the ground. -Franzensbad is a colony from Egra, and dates only from 1795. It took its -name from the principal source—FRANZENSQUELLE. The houses are modern, -clean, and cheerful—the walks, though not yet sufficiently numerous or -shaded, are in progress—and the bazaars furnish all kinds of necessaries, -and even luxuries, to the spa-goers. - - -I. FRANZENSQUELLE, OR BRUNN. - -This is the lion of the place, and is the first spring on which we -stumble on our way from Eger. Its name was formerly the Egra, and its -waters, which are now exported to every corner of the earth, still go -by the name of Eger water. It is supposed to have been known for eight -hundred years past. The spring is placed under a circular temple, from -which the bazaar colonnade stretches round two sides of a square. It -sends forth 275 cubic inches of water per minute, at an invariable -temperature of about 49°. The water of this well is clear as crystal, -and discharges great numbers of bubbles of gas, which coat the sides of -the glass. It is a long time before it becomes turbid in the vessel. -In the course of several days it begins to be decomposed, and lets fall -some particles of oxide of iron. This spring is in continual agitation, -emitting with some noise its carbonic acid gas. It has no odour of any -kind, and the taste is very pleasant, piquant, and refreshing. The -après-gout, or after taste is decidedly chalybeate. Mixed with a fourth -part of white wine and some sugar, the Franzensquelle forms a remarkably -agreeable beverage. If the sugar be in fine powder, and briskly stirred -about in the glass, the whole foams up like Champagne. - -_Physiological properties._—The Franzensquelle is considered by all the -best medical authorities on the subject, as at one and the same time, -solvent, strengthening, and stimulant. Its chief contents are as follows: -in a pint or pound of the water, there are 34 grains of solid matters, -and 30½ cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. The chief ingredients are ¾ -grain of silex—6⅓ grs. bicarbonate of soda—one third of a grain of oxide -of iron—1¼ grain of carbonate of lime—19 grains sulphate of soda—7 grains -of muriate of soda—in all 34 grains.[60] - -Although it contains one-third of a grain of steel, and that minutely -dissolved by means of the carbonic acid, yet the Franzensquelle may be -administered to people who are both irritable and debilitated, without -any danger of proving too heating or exciting. - -Its internal use produces the following effects. 1. It acts on the -nervous system, which it strengthens, tranquillizes, and diminishes -irritability. 2. On the muscular system it exerts a tonic effect. 3. -On the vascular system it produces an increase of activity—accelerates -the circulation—augments the red colour of the blood, as well as the -animal heat of the body. It also increases the functions of digestion, -assimilation, and nutrition. 4. It dissolves mucus in the bowels, expels -worms, and rarely produces constipation. On the venous circulation of -the liver it is believed to act in a very salutary manner—dissipating -congestions in that quarter. 5. On the uterine system it acts vigorously, -proving both tonic and stimulant. Hence it is much used by females of -pale complexions, watery blood, and various derangements peculiar to -the sex. 6. The water of this spring is diuretic, and beneficial to -the kidneys, when their function is disturbed. 7. It is asserted that -the Franzensquelle is useful in relaxed states of the mucous membrane -of the trachea and bronchia. The union of a solvent and tonic property -is attributed not so much to the combination of saline and chalybeate -ingredients, as to their antagonism, thus producing a new agent of -specific powers. And here I consider it better to take the opinion of -the venerable Hufeland, on these waters, than the assertions of the -spa-doctors themselves. The following sentiments were published by the -celebrated Prussian physician in 1822. - -“When I speak of the waters of Franzensbad, it is as of an old and valued -friend. The renown of these waters has continued ever since the days of -Hoffman, and I myself have witnessed many remarkable cures effected by -them. In 1820, I drew a parallel between the waters of Franzensbad and -those of the Kreutzbrunn, at Marienbad—all from personal observation. It -was long the custom in Berlin and other large towns, for the merchants, -men of letters, politicians, and, in fact, the greater part of the -bureaucracy, to tear themselves from their various occupations, and -take the waters of Franzensbad for a month. They almost all laboured -under a complication of functional disorders, as difficult and painful -digestion, constipation, deranged secretions, or gouty affections. While -taking the waters, they were separated from their offices—kept early -hours—lived temperately—and enjoyed exercise in the open air. The effects -were remarkable. They laid in a stock of health for the remainder of the -year—and thus prevented functional disorders from advancing into changes -of structure. Frederick the Great was one of those who profited by the -waters of Franzensbad. This illustrious monarch often became a prey to -the most miserable feelings and gloomy sentiments. In 1748, this state -amounted to a high degree, aggravated by a tertian fever and various -gouty affections. At this period the king considered that his days were -numbered, and that his last ones were at hand. His physician prevailed -on him to try the waters of Egra (Franzensbad), where he completely -recovered his health, and lived to an advanced old age.” - -“Although the waters of Franzensbad belong to the chalybeate class, -their properties are quite peculiar. They are very ethereal, and combine -so much saline matters with the iron, that they are penetrating, easy -of digestion, tonic, exciting, animating without heating, solvent of -obstructions, aperient, and favourable to the promotion of healthy -secretions and excretions. These waters are incomparable when the -object is to purge without debilitating—to increase the activity of the -blood-vessels without heating or producing congestion—to strengthen -without constipating. It follows from this, that there are few chronic -maladies for which these waters are not an effectual remedy—and few -persons who will not bear their operation well. - -“I shall now briefly allude to the principal complaints to which the -waters of Franzensbad are particularly applicable. - -“In the first rank stands HYPOCHONDRIASIS, especially if accompanied by -atony of the bowels, congestion of the abdominal vessels, constipation, -hæmorrhoidal tendency, or determination of blood to any of the vital -organs. In such cases _pure_ chalybeates would only augment the evil; -whereas the saline chalybeates are of the greatest benefit. Chronic -nervous affections, with or without cramps or spasms of stomach and -bowels, are a class that derive great advantage from these waters. The -same may be said of all chronic disorders, the sequel of long-continued -indigestion, with flatulence, acidities, and eructations. Hæmorrhoids, -whether fluent or dry, are ameliorated or removed by the waters of -Franzensbad. They are almost specific in biliary derangements, from -torpid liver up to actual jaundice. Finally, in reverting to the case -of Frederick the Great, I can aver that, for the long catalogue of -human afflictions, the consequences of sedentary lives, full living, -anxieties of mind, and crowded cities, the waters of Franzensbad are -inimitable—even if only taken for a month each season. I have frequently -ordered them, and with great advantage, in affections of the mucous -membranes of the chest—and even where there were strong indications of -tubercles in the lungs. In these last cases, however, it will be prudent -to exhibit them in combination with warm milk—especially asses milk. In -chronic affections of the kidneys and bladder—in gravel and calculus, I -have given the waters with benefit. These waters are not injured by time -or carriage.” - -Such are the sentiments of the celebrated Hufeland, and I have preferred -them to the statements of the spa doctors themselves, for very obvious -reasons. - - -II. THE SALZQUELLE. - -This spring is situated in a turfy meadow a few hundred yards to the -eastward of the Franzensbrunn, at the end of a long colonnade. It is -defended from the rain by a circular dome. It throws up 133 cubic inches -of water per minute. It is perfectly clear, and disengages much carbonic -acid gas. It takes a good while to become decomposed, when it throws down -some whitish flakes, but no oxide of iron. It has no odour, and the taste -is brisk and refreshing, rather alkaline, but not in the least chalybeate. - -_Contents._-¼ grain of silex—7 grs. of bicarbonate of soda—a mere trace -of iron—1½ gr. carbonate of lime—13½ grs. sulphate of soda—7 grs. of -muriate of soda—total about 30 grains, with 20 cubic inches of carbonic -acid gas in the pint. - -From the above analysis it is evident that the SALZQUELLE differs -not essentially from the Franzensbrunn, except in the iron, which is -infinitely greater in quantity in the latter than in the former. The -Salzquelle bears considerable analogy to the waters of Carlsbad and -Marienbad. It is equally penetrating, solvent, and easy of digestion -as the Franzensquelle, but less irritating, and more refreshing. Weak -people, and those who are disposed to congestions of blood, bear this -spring better than its chalybeate neighbour. Hufeland, in 1823, published -the following opinion. - -“Franzensbad has gained much by the discovery of the saline (Salzquelle) -spring. I am acquainted with all the German spas, and have no hesitation -in stating that this source is quite peculiar in its nature, and hitherto -inscrutable. The physiological action of this spring is equally mild and -penetrating, promoting the secretions rather than the evacuations. The -waters of this source are more easily borne than those of the chalybeate.” - - -III. THE COLD SPRUDEL. - -This is a small circular well, close to another very large and oval -one, both of which are at a short distance behind the bazaar colonnade. -This water is in continual motion, like its more celebrated namesake at -Carlsbad; but does not leap so high, and is quite cold. It furnishes -3648 cubic inches of water per minute. When poured into a glass it is -clear and effervescent. The taste is agreeable, refreshing, and slightly -chalybeate. It has no flavour; the quantity of carbonic acid gas which it -disengages while drinking, often causes sneezing. - -_Contents._—6⅓ grs. bicarb, soda—⅒ gr. of oxide of iron—1¼ gr. carb. -lime—20 grs. sulphate of soda—6½ muriate of soda—total 33½ grs. in the -pint, with about 30 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. - -From the above analysis it appears that the Cold Sprudel holds a place, -both chemically and medicinally, intermediate between the Franzensquelle -and the Salzquelle. It is more solvent and aperient than the _former_—but -more exciting and irritating than the _latter_. It is unnecessary to go -into details as to the cases in which the one source is preferable to -the other. A combination or alternation of the two will often be more -beneficial than an exclusive use of either. - - -IV. LOUISENBRUNN. - -Close to the Sprudel, and under the same canopy, boils up in prodigious -quantities, the Louisenquelle. The basin is of a large oval form, and -contains several springs within itself. It disgorges 27,056 cubic inches -of water per minute! It is in perpetual agitation, like its neighbour -the Sprudel, and serves exclusively for bathing. The carbonic acid gas -boils up in large and innumerable bubbles, with considerable noise. It -appears turbid in the basin, but is perfectly clear in a glass. The taste -is quite as pleasant as that of the Franzensquelle, but without the -after-taste of ink produced by the latter source. - -_Contents._—⅑th of a grain of silex—4 grs. of bicarbonate of soda-¼ of a -gr. of carbonate of iron—1¼ gr. carb. lime—16 grs. sulphate of soda—5 -grs. muriate of soda—total 27 grains, with 24½ cubic inches of carbonic -acid gas in the pint. It may be stated that the waters of Franzensbad are -used externally as baths—cold, tepid, or warm, in all the diseases and -disorders for which the same waters are used internally. - -P. S.—Since the above was written I have received the following -information from a most talented pupil of St. George’s Hospital (Mr. -SPITTA), respecting a new source which had not been quite in operation -when I visited Franzensbad. - -“One source yet remains to be noticed, of recent date truly, but still -by no means to be overlooked—the Weisenquelle, or Source de la Prairie. -It is situated still further eastward of the Franzensquelle than the -Salzquelle; and is principally remarkable for containing a small quantity -of sulphur in the form of sulphuretted hydrogen gas. - -Drs. Kœstler and Palliardi have each published a small paper on its -virtues. - -It contains the most salt of any of the wells at Franzensbad. In sixteen -ounces there are 25.6554 grains of sulphate of soda—9.3254 of chloride -of sodium—8.9787 of bicarbonate of soda—besides carbonates of lime, -magnesia, iron, (.1780 gr.) magnesia, stronthian and lithion, phosphate -of lime, subphosphate of alumina, and silica, each in small quantities; -together with .0588 of a peculiar salt termed by Zembsch the analyst, -“quellsaures eisenoxydul,” or oxide of iron in combination with an acid -peculiar to this well—making in all 46.6903 grains of saline matter. - -This source gives off a great quantity of carbonic acid, and when you -approach it the well-known odour of sulphuretted hydrogen is immediately -recognised. - -According to the same chemist, Zembsch, 16 ounces contain 30.691 grs. of -free carbonic acid, and .162 gr. of sulphuretted hydrogen. Its medicinal -properties are like the other springs, aperient and antacid, but from -its containing so much salt, and so little iron, it forms a sort of -intermediate spring between the Salzquelle, which has the merest trace, -and the Franzensquelle, which contains about one third of a grain of that -metal in the pint. - -It is not so much employed as the other springs; so that its specific -effects dependent on the sulphur it contains have not as yet been very -distinctly observed.” - - -GAS BATHS. - -These and the Mud-baths to be presently described, are becoming very -fashionable in Germany. From every inch of surface in the peat bog -around Franzensbad, carbonic acid gas is constantly issuing forth in -such quantities that its extrication is audible and visible, wherever -there is water on the ground. To have a reservoir of this gas, it is -only necessary to build a house, and prevent the carbonic acid from being -dispersed in the air. It is there collected, and baths and douches are -constructed for its ready application to the body generally, or to any -particular part thereof. The Gas-bath or building at Franzensbad, stands -within thirty or forty yards of the Franzensquelle, and from the ground -of this house, which is of very moderate extent, there issues 5760 cubic -_feet_ of gas every twenty-four hours!! There is little doubt that the -extrication of carbonic acid is equally plentiful in any and every part -of the bog in which the town is situated. I should think that to go to -sleep on the ground, in a calm Summer’s night, would be inevitable death. -As it is, the good people of Franzensbad, inhabitants and visitors, must -be perpetually inhaling an atmosphere well impregnated with this gas. I -do not suppose, however, that this is productive of any injurious effects. - -The gas is conveyed into the bath through a cock at the bottom, and -the patient, being either dressed or undressed, sits down on a little -stool, while a wooden lid or cover, with a hole that fits tolerably -close to the neck, is placed over the body, the head being in the open -air. They have small tubes through which they can apply the gas to the -eyes, ears, or any part of the body, in a stream, the velocity of which -can be augmented or diminished at pleasure. They can also diminish the -intensity of the gas by applying a piece of muslin or taffeta over the -pipe, or over the eyes or ears that are subjected to the stream. I did -not try the gas baths here, but at Marienbad I used them generally and -locally, accompanied by my kind friend Dr. Herzig of that place. Standing -in the bath, the cock was turned without my being aware of it, and, in -a few seconds, I felt a sense of heat ascending quickly along my legs -towards the body. Without thinking of the gas I stooped, and put my head -down towards the aperture of the tube, by which I inhaled as much of -the carbonic acid as caused a sudden faintness. Dr. H. and the bathman -quickly extricated me from my perilous situation, and I went on with -the bath, while my head was in the open air. I found that the following -representation of the sensible, and physiological effects of the bath, as -given by Baron Aimé, is sufficiently correct. 1. The gas excites and even -irritates the skin, producing a pricking, and soon afterwards a strong -itching on the surface, accompanied by heat, and ultimately perspiration. -2. The gas stimulates the nerves of all parts to which it is applied. -I had a stream directed on my eyes, which caused a most profuse flow -of tears, with strong sense of heat. When it was applied to my ears, a -sense of heat, and a considerable noise were the effects produced.[61] -3. It is asserted by physicians of the Continent that this gas is -extremely useful when applied to old, ill-conditioned, and irritable -ulcers, as soothing and promotive of healthy discharge, and ultimately of -cicatrisation. 4. Although the breathing of this gas is as mortal as that -of the Grotto de Cane, yet if diluted with plenty of atmospheric air, it -is thought that it might prove serviceable in some states or stages of -phthisis, asthma, &c. 5. The action of this gas on the eyes and ears I -have already mentioned. Its remedial agency is much extolled in certain -disorders or diseases of those organs, attended with atony or morbid -irritability of their nerves and structures. 6. These baths are chiefly -employed in cases of paralysis attended with stiffness, feebleness, or -spasmodic movements. 7. In chronic, inveterate affections of a gouty or -rheumatic nature—chronic sores—glandular swellings—and various cutaneous -complaints, the gas baths are applied, and, as is affirmed, with success. -8. In uterine affections, irregularities, &c. attended with torpor, -debility, and irritability. - -Upon the whole I am disposed to think that the gas baths are active -agents, and that they may be made useful ones, when carefully applied. - - -MUD BATHS. - -Among the novelties—transcendentalisms, or, as some would call them, -extravaganzas, of Germany, the MUD BATHS deserve the “passing tribute” -of a short notice. But alas! there is “nothing new under the sun”—or -under the earth. To the mud of the Nile and the Ganges, virtues almost -miraculous—even the creative power of life—have been attributed, time -immemorial. Who does not know that the life of MARIUS was preserved by a -mud-bath in the Minturnian marshes?—The instincts of animals, too, are -not to be overlooked: We all know the extreme tenacity of life possessed -by eels—owing perhaps to their frequent use of mud-baths. Swine are -proverbially subject to cutaneous complaints, especially measles; to -prevent or cure which, Nature seems to prompt the daily employment of -mud-baths, in the Summer season. A remarkable instance of the force of -instinct is afforded by the Indian buffalo. That animal immerses himself -daily, during the hot season, in mud, up to the very nose; by which -means, we may conclude that he avoids the jungle fever, or cures himself -of liver-complaints. The alligator offers another example. When he has -swallowed a buffalo or a tiger, he buries himself up to the nose in mud, -on the oozy shores of the Ganges, no doubt for the promotion of digestion. - -It is unnecessary to multiply the virtues of mud-baths. Those who desire -ocular proofs must repair to Franzensbad in Bohemia, where they will -see—not mud but bog-baths in perfection; though they are now also got up -very well in Marienbad, Carlsbad, Teplitz, and other fashionable spas. - -I have alluded to the plentiful supply of bog which the immediate -vicinity of Franzensbad offers to the mud-bathers. This earth contains -the following materials:—viz: The fibres of plants not decomposed, and -whose organization is recognizable—matters soluble in water, such as -vegetable substances rich in carbon, and of a yellow colour;—sulphate of -lime—sulphate of magnesia—sulphate of iron—alum—bituminous extractive -matter—oxide of iron—fine sand. - -Thus we see that the mere boggy material of the mud-bath contains many -substances that may and do exercise a considerable physiological action -on the body; and medicinal agency on the constitution. - -The peat bog is carried to the neighbourhood of the baths, and there -allowed to dry to some extent. It is then sifted and separated from the -woody fibres and coarser materials, when it is mixed with the mineral -water of the Louisenquelle into the consistence of a very soft poultice. -In this state it is heated by steam to a temperature varying from 80° to -100° of Fahrenheit, when it is ready for the bather, being worked up by -means of wooden instruments and the hands into a complete black amalgam. -I took the mud-bath here, at Marienbad, and Carlsbad, and do not regret -the experiments. I confess that, at first, I felt some repugnance, not -fear, in plunging into the black peat poultice; but when up to the chin -(temperature 97°) I felt more comfortable than I had ever done, even -in the baths of Schlangenbad, Wildbad, or Pfeffers. The material is so -dense, that you are some time in sinking to the bottom of the bath—and -I could not help fancying myself in Mahomet’s tomb, suspended between -Heaven and Earth, but possessing consciousness, which I fear the prophet -did not enjoy. There was one drawback on the mud-bath, or peat-poultice. -We cannot roll about, like a porpoise or whale, as in the water-bath, -without considerable effort, so dense is the medium in which we lie; -but I found that I could use friction to all parts of the body, with -great ease, in consequence of the unctuous and lubricating quality of -the bath. After twenty minutes’ immersion, I felt an excitement of the -surface, quite different from that of the common mineral warm baths—even -of those of Wisbaden, Kissengen, or Schwalbach—attended, as I fancied, by -elevation of spirits. - -Whilst I was thus philosophizing, like Diogenes in my tub, the thought -came across my mind that I would have a dive in the sable mixture. I knew -that the sun and winds had so tanned my complexion, that IT would not -suffer by immersion; and if my hair should get dyed black, the change -would certainly be for the better. I therefore disappeared like an eel -in the mud; but, on emerging from the bog, I thought I should have been -suffocated before I cleared my face from the tenacious cataplasm. I had -now been nearly half an hour in the Schlammbad, and prepared to quit, as -the mixture was fast cooling down, and the heat could not be kept up, as -in the water-bath. On raising myself slowly and perpendicularly, with at -least twenty pounds of mud on my surface, I caught a full length portrait -of myself in the glass, and I think the view would have sickened -Narcissus of self-contemplation for ever!! I was really shocked at my -sudden metamorphosis into the Œthiopian, and began to doubt whether I -should ever “change my hue” again. The warm water-bath was close at hand, -but I had the presence of mind not to jump into it at once, as I should, -in that case, render it a black wash-tub; but by clearing away with both -hands, some sixteen or eighteen pounds of peat varnish from my body, I -rolled into the clear fluid, where it required half an hour’s rubbing and -scrubbing to purify myself from the “Bain de Boue.” Both on this, and on -subsequent occasions, at Marienbad, Carlsbad, and Teplitz, I experienced -a degree of exhilaration, strength, and elasticity from the mud-bath, -which I had never done from any other. The iron in these baths, instead -of corrugating the skin, as I expected, imparts to it a glossy or sattiny -feel and softness quite peculiar—and much more in degree than the waters -of Schlangenbad. - -The bog-earth is well picked, and in some places sifted, so as to remove -all the fibrous and woody parts, leaving the fat unctuous substance to be -mixed with the mineral water of the place. In general these baths produce -a pricking sensation, and sometimes an eruption on the skin, an effect -which I did not experience.[62] They are therefore much used in old -and obstinate cutaneous complaints, as well as in glandular swellings, -sequences of gout, rheumatism, &c. They are very exciting to the nervous -system, and should not be used where there are any local inflammations, -or much general excitability of the constitution. They do not lose their -heat so rapidly as the water-baths, and consequently they maintain the -volatile and penetrating principles longer than the latter. They are much -employed in paralysis, chronic ulcers, and cutaneous affections. - -Here and at other spas where mud-baths are employed, I met with several -veteran warriors, whose aching wounds reminded them too often of -battlefields and bloody campaigns. They almost all agreed in attributing -more efficacy to these than to the common baths—and I think, from what I -have seen, heard, and felt, that there is much truth in these statements. -The Schlammbads have one advantage over the others, which is more prized -on the Continent than in England—the facilities which they afford the -bathers, both male and female, of receiving morning visits from their -friends while in the mud, and that without any violation of delicacy, -propriety, or decorum; for there, persons are more completely veiled than -in any dress, even of the most dense and sable furs of Russia. An English -lady of rank, at Teplitz, was visited by her physician and friends while -immersed to the chin in peat-bog. They read to her, and conversed with -her till the signal was given for exchanging the black varnish for the -limpid and purifying wave, when they retired. - -The rules for taking the Franzensbad waters and baths do not vary -materially from those of other spas. The following concise direction is -from the pen of Dr. Clarus. - -“A complete course of these waters requires at least four weeks. When it -is thought desirable to take of more than one source, the change from -one well to another should not be abrupt, but gradual. We may commence -with one glass of the Salzquelle, and each day increase by the glass, -till, in a week, we come to six or seven glasses, taken at intervals of a -quarter of an hour. After this period, the Salzquelle is to be decreased, -glass by glass, and replaced by the Cold Sprudel. This change is to go -on during the second week. At the end of a fortnight, the Cold Sprudel -is to be changed, in the same gradual manner, for the Franzensquelle, -which is to be continued till the end of the course, unless some -circumstances arise to alter the arrangement. Those who are of very -weakly constitutions, and especially if they labour under any pulmonary -complaint, will do well to add some warm milk or whey to the mineral -water.” - -The baths are generally taken about two hours after breakfast. They ought -not to be taken unless the bowels are daily opened, either by the waters -or by aperient medicine. The temperature of the baths should be about 98° -of Fahrenheit, or that of the blood. - -Baron Aimé has collected from various sources a host of cases, of all -kinds of maladies, cured or relieved by the waters of Franzensbad; but -into these it is unnecessary to go. Here the tyrant fashion has caused -a comparative desertion for the more attractive localities, if not more -sanative springs, of Marienbad, Carlsbad, and Teplitz. The qualities -of the mud, and the profusion of the gas, at Franzensbad, however, may -probably turn the current by and bye in its favour. - - -_Extract of a Letter from Mr. Spitta to Dr. Johnson._ - -MY DEAR SIR,—I cannot quit the subject of Franzensbad without entering -into some detail on the celebrated Mud-baths. One hears much of mud-baths -at different spas of Germany: but a _genuine_ Schlammbad is _seen_ only -in Bohemia, and especially at Franzensbad. - -The mud is obtained, as you are undoubtedly aware, from a large bog or -moor, situated at the back of the Louisen and Caltsprudel wells, which, -according to Dr. Kœstler, who accompanied me to examine it, is nine miles -by three in extent; and he tells me also that the same schlamm extends -to a _depth_ of 20 feet. Indeed the whole village may be said to be -resting on this peat-earth; for you cannot dig up the soil to any depth -without discovering it. The surface of the moor looked singularly black -and barren; here and there, however, I discerned some yellow and white -efflorescences. The yellow was by far the most abundant; and, wishing to -know its composition, I collected a considerable quantity and brought it -to England. It is a highly acid salt, permanently reddening litmus paper, -and extremely styptic and acid to the taste. I dried some carefully; -and found that 100 grains which had been completely desiccated, yielded -97.6 grains soluble in distilled water. The solution was dark brown, -of the colour of beer, and contained an acid per-sulphate of iron. The -remaining 2.4 grains consisted principally of iron in combination with -some vegetable acid, or extractive matter. - -I was sorry I could not collect sufficient quantity of the white -efflorescence for examination. I merely remember its _taste_ to have been -equally styptic and disagreeable as the yellow. - -There are several minerals found in this moor. I am indebted to Dr. -Palliardi (one of the resident medical men) for a good specimen of blue -phosphate of iron; of the hydrated red oxyd of iron; and for one of -great interest discovered _there_ by himself, termed _Kieselguhr_. This -substance was first described by Professor Ehrenberg, of Berlin, to be an -aggregation, or to speak more accurately, the shells of a collection of -different species of infusoriæ. It is said to be pure silica—it is white; -extremely light and friable, and forms one of the most beautiful objects -for the microscope I have seen. I have a great quantity; and shall be -happy to furnish yourself, or any friend that may desire it, with a -specimen. - -I do not know whether you visited Dr. Palliardi’s study; it would have -been well worth the trouble. He is at once a mineralogist, a botanist, -an ornithologist, entymologist, chemist, and physician. I was pleased at -the simplicity with which they made a mud-bath—they merely picked and -sifted the mud (the sun having previously, to a certain extent, dried it) -and digested it in the water of the Louisenquelle warmed by steam. The -appearance of a bath when ready is anything but prepossessing; I must -confess, however, on making the trial, I was agreeably disappointed. - -Notwithstanding my qualms, Dr. Kœstler insisted on my taking one, and -making myself acquainted with his darling Schlammbads from personal -experience; and I must say, when quietly seated in the mire, the -sensations were by no means disagreeable. In other hot mineral baths -I almost invariably experienced an oppression and anxiety at the -chest; but here, I know not why, the breathing was quite natural, and -not at all hurried. The black mess was extremely acid, violently and -instantaneously reddening litmus paper; and it exhaled a peculiar odour -which I can compare to nothing but to blacking. Its taste was styptic -and saline—styptic evidently from some salt of iron, and more saline -than the water of any other mineral bath. This is no more than would -be expected when the quantity of salt it contains is considered. I am -informed by Dr. Kœstler that every bath requires 250lbs. of schlamm, in -which are contained 33lbs. of salts. And this statement I should imagine -to be tolerably correct, for I find that 120 grs. of this mud yield 15.5 -grains of matter soluble in water. The solution is light brown, very -acid, and contains the following substances: 1. A volatile acid, which -was separated by distillation at temp. 230 circ. and which had many of -the leading characters of acetic acid, and on which the peculiar odour -of the bath depends.—2. Some fixed extractive matter in combination -with iron.—3. A large quantity of the persulphate of iron; and 4. some -sulphate of soda. - -In examining this specimen, I was mostly struck with the very large -quantity of iron, and the comparative small quantity of other saline -matter. For a wonder it contained no _chloride_. There is a salt kept by -the chemists at Franzensbad, purporting to be the salt contained in the -mud. Had they said—made from the mud, they would have been correct. It -is perfectly neutral and efflorescent, and is nothing else but sulphate -of soda, with just sufficient persulphate of iron left unremoved, to -tinge its solution. The fact is—it is prepared by neutralising the acid -solution of the mud by _carb. soda_, and thus precipitating the iron, and -retaining the salt of Glauber in solution—one or two crystallisations -furnish it tolerably pure. The opinion that it contained the phosphate of -soda and phosphate of iron, is unfounded. - -In many respects, the mud-bath is unique in its action on the human -body. From the quantity of saline matter it holds in solution, it acts -as a powerful stimulus to the skin, exciting the capillaries to renewed -exertions; hence its great use in gouty and rheumatic paralysis. The -chalky and fibrinous depositions which form this disease are absorbed -under its influence; and so effectual is it, that Dr. Kœstler, the -oracle of Franzensbad, will prophecy the recovery of a patient from this -disheartening complaint, after the far-famed hot springs of Teplitz have -been tried in vain. - -It is to this same property perhaps that its influence in chronic painful -affections of single nerves is to be attributed. The point whether salt -is actually absorbed from a bath is not, I believe, absolutely decided; -but certainly, if the fact be true, as is my firm belief, it is worthy of -remark to those patients who look for the tonic effect of the absorption -of iron into the blood, that it is in the mud-baths only that this metal -is contained in a soluble state. In the baths of _Schwalbach_, so famous -for chlorosis, there is plenty of iron; but it is in the form of an -insoluble carbonate: yet it is stated to be absorbed by the skin, and to -produce its well-known effect on the coloring matter of the blood; it -has always appeared to me that, provided chlorotic patients could bear -the stimulation applied to the surface, the mud-baths of Franzensbad -would be pre-eminently serviceable. This remark applies equally to some -forms of hysteria; and to those irregular muscular contractions of the -limbs termed chorea. Indeed it is to the absorption of this iron, I deem -that the exhilarating effect universally experienced after their use is -to be attributed. Dr. Kœstler quoted to me two cases of diabetes, in -which these baths were extremely useful; he could not however say were -actually effectual. In conclusion, cutaneous affections of a chronic -character, unattended by fever, will be most effectually benefitted; -and I believe that these very obstinate complaints, which baffle in -so determined a manner the skill of the medical man, will derive more -benefit from the mud-baths of Franzensbad than from any other mineral -baths, with one exception—those of Kreuznach. I have entered more fully -than I had originally purposed into this subject; but I trust that its -very great interest, both in a scientific and medical point of view, will -be deemed a sufficient apology for trespassing so long on your patience. - -I am, dear Sir, - - Your’s very sincerely, - - ROBERT J. SPITTA. - - - - -MARIENBAD. - - -At the distance of sixteen or eighteen English miles from Eger, lies -the now celebrated spa of Marienbad, though a place of yesterday, -comparatively speaking. It is situated in a gorge or small valley between -cheerful and pine-clad hills; and the houses being all modern, look -extremely well. Numerous shady walks are constructed in every direction; -and two murmuring and crystal streams run rapidly down the valley. -Three of the springs are within a few hundred yards of each other—viz. -The Kreuzbrunn, the Carolinenbrunn, and the Ambrosiusbrunn. The -Ferdinandsbrunn, lies about a mile out of the village. There is another -spring still farther in the woods, which contains only 7/10ths of a grain -of solid matter in the pint of water. It is called the Marienbrunnen. - - -I. THE KREUZBRUNN. - -This is the lion of the place. It is the strongest of them all—its -predominant qualities being _solvent_, with an ulterior stimulant and -tonic property. It boils up under a beautiful building resembling a small -Grecian temple, from the entrance of which a fine shaded promenade, -with a bazaar on one side, and a dell on the other, extends to the -Carolinenbrunnen. In a pint of this spa there are 28½ grains of sulphate -of soda—10 grains of muriate of soda—7½ ditto of carbonate of soda—3 -grains of carbonate of lime—2 of carbonate of magnesia—⅒th of a grain of -iron—some vegetable extract, &c. making 52 grains in the whole. The cubic -inch of water contains about a cubic inch of carb. acid gas. - -_Physiological Effects._—This water sits easy on the stomach. Five or -six glasses are generally taken in the morning, without inconvenience, -and even with pleasure. When impurities, however, exist in the stomach -or bowels, the Kreuzbrunnen often causes sickness or disagreeable -eructations, and then some opening medicine should be taken. If this -water causes a sense of distention, weight, or oppression at the -stomach—or diarrhœa, or loss of appetite, it is a sign that the water is -taken in too large quantity—or taken too fast—or taken too long—or, in -fine, that it is not agreeing with the individual. Very often, however, -it is more owing to errors of diet than to the nature of the waters that -these phenomena occur. - -In general the appetite is increased by the Kreuzbrunn, after the third -or fourth day. It augments considerably the action of the kidneys, the -water becoming more pale and copious—and this effect generally continues -during the period of the cure. It acts on the bowels also—five or six -glasses usually operating two or three times. The exported water is -more aperient than that taken at the source. The evacuations are often -of a green, black, or brown colour—or glairy, and gelatinous. Sometimes -dark coagulated blood is passed. When the motions become watery, the -Kreuzbrunn is not answering the purpose. The discharges above-mentioned -afford indescribable relief to the sufferer. - -Things do not always, however, proceed so quietly. Occasionally -the abdomen becomes distended—the pulse accelerated—the bowels get -confined—and the fears of the hypochondriac are then greatly augmented. -According to Dr. Heidler, Dr. Herzig, and others, these symptoms are -_critical_, and soon disappear, when Nature has accomplished her object -by a discharge of vitiated excretions. It is quite a mistaken notion that -the dark or green colour of the motions is owing to the minute proportion -of steel contained in the water. - -The _circulation_ is sometimes disturbed. The head becomes giddy, -the chest oppressed, the pulse hard and frequent—with a sense of -prostration, or, on the contrary, of excitement. These are considered -by the authorities above-mentioned, as precursors of the critical -discharges, and return of health. In many cases such stormy crises do -not take place, and the cure is effected gradually and imperceptibly. In -people of plethoric habits and irritable temperaments, when any of the -foregoing symptoms occur, it is safest to mix the water with some warm -milk, or allow the carbonic acid gas to escape before it is taken. The -Kreuzbrunnen, however, is one of those solvent, and, at the same time, -tonic waters (according to Dr. Heidler) that may be taken by almost every -one, whatever the age, sex, or constitution, with little or no danger, -even where there are complications of organic diseases of the heart, -lungs, or great vessels. In such cases, the dilution with warm milk -and the extrication of the gas, will be proper. Dr. Heidler cites the -case of a young lady who came to Marienbad labouring under sympathetic -hectic fever, and who had had hæmoptysis. The stomach would retain no -food—especially the dinner. Constipation was obstinate, and nocturnal -perspirations were profuse. The Kreuzbrunn waters were taken, and, after -eight days, the fever ceased. In four weeks more the stomach became -retentive. Next Summer, however, she returned to Marienbad, with the -evening vomitings as before. Eight days’ course of the waters dispelled -the sickness, and she recovered her health. The physicians of Marienbad -exhibit the Kreuzbrunn to people who have had apoplectic attacks, -provided all symptoms of congestion be removed before the waters are -begun. In hæmorrhoidal and other sanguineous fluxes, the same source may -be used; but in moderate quantities. - -The effects of the Kreuzbrunn on the nervous system are much dwelt on -by Dr. Heidler and the other practitioners. They are considered to be -antispasmodic, and are highly praised in the numerous and Proteian forms -of hysteria, hypochondriasis, weakness of stomach, &c. Many patients of -this kind recover at the Kreuzbrunn, after vainly trying more tonic and -chalybeate springs elsewhere. - -In cases of pure debility, both of body and mind, the more tonic waters -of the Carolinenbrunn (to be presently noticed) are prescribed, together -with baths of the same. This water is much used in tremors of the limbs, -paralysis from mere weakness, or from losses of blood, excesses, severe -illnesses, distresses of mind, &c. It is to be remembered, however, -that mere debility is but seldom the cause of these nervous sufferings; -and that the feelings of lassitude and exhaustion, the small pulse, -cold extremities, cramps and spasms, so frequent among hypochondriacs, -are generally symptoms or effects of congestion in the vessels of the -liver and abdominal organs, giving rise to irritation in the nervous -system, constipation, and morbid secretions. The classes of people who -become hypochondriacal are those who have lived well, both in food and -drink, and who have led an idle life, mental and bodily. In such, the -pathological condition above-mentioned is likely to occur. The action of -the Kreuzbrunn is eminently calculated to clear away viscid and unhealthy -secretions, and rouse the circulation of the liver and glandular organs -of the abdomen. The Marienbad physicians employ the Kreuzbrunn in -gravelly complaints, but in small quantities, and with good effects -apparently. - -The physiological action of this water on the lymphatic or absorbent -system, is very striking, as might be expected. Tumours of the glands, -especially if not of long-standing, disappear or greatly diminish during -a course of the Kreuzbrunn. Cutaneous complaints are generally cured or -ameliorated by the same waters assisted by baths. - -But it is chiefly in chronic complaints of the abdominal, and -especially of the digestive organs, that the Kreuzbrunn is -famous. The symptoms which indicate the use of these waters, -according to Dr. Heidler and the other physicians of Marienbad, -are the following:—yellow, pale, or cachectic complexion—loss of -appetite—distaste of food—sickness—furred tongue with bitter taste -in the morning—acid or rancid eructations—oppression or cramps about -the stomach—distention and tenderness of the abdomen, local or -general—colics—kidney-affections—constipation—diarrhœa—dysury—deposits -in the water—irregularities of -females—sterility—leucorrhœa—hypochondriasis—hysteria—epilepsy—various -and anomalous nervous affections—headaches of all kinds—giddinesses -and vertigo—noise in the ears—sleeplessness—asthma—anxiety about -the chest—palpitation of the heart—languor of the muscles—cold -extremities—feeble circulation—atrophy, &c. - - -II. FERDINANDSBRUNN. - -This spring lies about a mile out of the town, and has a greater -affinity to the Kreuzbrunn than any of the other wells of Marienbad. Its -constituents are as follow:—In the pint there are 17 grains of sulphate -of soda—7 grains of muriate of soda—6½ carbonate of soda—3 of carbonate -of lime—2 of carb. magnesia—⅓rd of a grain of carbonate of iron—traces of -carbonates of strontia, manganese, and lithian—in all 36½ grains—with 146 -inches of carbonic acid gas to 100 cubic inches of the water. - -From the above analysis it will be seen that the Ferdinandsbrunn contains -nearly three times as much steel as the Kreuzbrunn, with considerably -more of carbonic acid gas; but it contains much less of the sulphates -and muriates of soda. Hence it is more tonic, and less aperient than the -master-spring, the KREUZBRUNN. The water is clear and transparent in the -glass—sparkles like champagne—and has a most agreeable refreshing taste. -It leaves a slight smack of ink on the palate. It may be administered -in the same class of maladies as the Kreuzbrunn is applied to—and that -either simultaneously, alternately, or successively. Thus, where the -solvent powers of the former spring are still wanted, but the debility -of the patient requiring a more tonic source, the Ferdinandsbrunn may -be advantageously conjoined with the Kreuzbrunn, or substituted for it -during a period. It may be as well to cite a case or two here from my -friend Dr. Heidler. - -“A gentleman, 60 years of age, who had led a sedentary life, and -experienced much trouble of mind, became extremely hypochondriac. -When he arrived at Marienbad, his complexion was cachectic—eyes dull -and sunk—tongue furred—appetite gone—abdomen distended, but not -tender—hæmorrhoids—bowels inactive—discharge of bloody mucus occasionally -with the motions—some eruption on the skin—slight wandering gouty -pains—skin dry—pulse small and slow. The Kreuzbrunn was first tried, -but produced watery evacuations, and distention of the stomach. The -Ferdinandsbrunn was therefore substituted at the end of ten days. -This water, in conjunction with mud-baths, produced, in the course of -five weeks, the most salutary effects, clearing the patient of his -hypochondriasis, and nearly the whole of the other symptoms.” - -_Case the second._—“A gentleman, 50 years of age, who had lived -well, became weak and cachectic after some considerable hæmorrhoidal -discharges—one of them amounting to several pints of blood in one day. -He had derived considerable advantage from the waters of Carlsbad the -preceding year, but it increased the intestinal hæmorrhage. On his -arrival at Marienbad, he presented the following symptoms:—complexion -pale, and inclining to a yellow tint—lips bloodless, as was -the tongue, and even the palate—swelling of the eye-lids—small -appetite—sleeplessness—rose from bed more fatigued than when he lay -down—great difficulty of breathing, but without any symptoms of water in -the chest, on ascending stairs—abdomen distended, but soft, and without -tenderness—constipation and diarrhœa alternately—the pulse feeble and 85 -to 95—skin rough and dry. - -“The Kreuzbrunn was tried, but caused oppression at the -stomach—diminution of appetite, and watery evacuations. The -Ferdinandsbrunn was then employed, and agreed better, and produced more -consistent motions, but very unhealthy—some blood was passed each time -from the hæmorrhoidal vessels. The appetite soon increased—the digestion -improved—and sleep became more refreshing. Towards the end of the course, -which lasted five weeks, he was able to go up stairs without difficulty. -He returned two years afterwards to Marienbad, with the same symptoms, -and was again relieved.” - -The Kreuzbrunn is preferable to the Ferdinandsbrunn, where the invalid is -of sanguine temperament, robust, inclined to apoplexy, or hæmorrhages. -Also for females who are subject to miscarriages—and, in general, for all -those who shew a tendency to fulness or congestion in any of the vital -organs—diseases of the chest—derangements of the circulation—inflammatory -complaints—and diseases of children. - - -III. CAROLINENBRUNN AND AMBROSIUSBRUNN. - -These two springs are near each other, and only a few hundred yards -distant from the Kreuzbrunn. They come under the head of “acidulous -chalybeates,” and only differ from each other in strength—the -Carolinenbrunn being rather more potent than the Ambrosiusbrunn, as the -following analysis will show. The CAROLINENBRUNN contains in the pint of -water, 2½ grains of sulphate of soda-½ grain muriate of soda—⅔rds of a -grain of carbonate of soda—nearly a grain of carbonate of lime—3 grains -of magnesia—⅓rd of a grain of carbonate of iron—in all amounting to about -9 grains—and 123 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas in 100 cubic inches of -the water. - -The AMBROSIUSBRUNN contains only six grains of solid matters in the -pint—the iron being only ¼ of a grain. The other ingredients are the same -in kind as in the Carolinenbrunn, but one-third smaller in quantity. The -carbonic acid gas is also rather smaller in quantity. - -Dr. Heidler considers the Ambrosiusbrunn as bearing considerable -analogy to Bruckenau, Bocklet, and the Stahlbrunn at Swalbach; but -as far as the chemical composition is concerned, there is much -difference, as may be perceived by reference to those springs. Dr. H. -prefers the Ambrosiusbrunn for children, and also for adults of very -weak and delicate constitutions, as preparatory to the water of the -Carolinenbrunn. It is easy of digestion, and may be taken for a long -time, without inconvenience. It is very useful in gravelly complaints. - -The Carolinenbrunn is of more extensive application than the -Ambrosiusbrunn; but much less so than the Kreuzbrunn, or even the -Ferdinandsbrunn. Experience has shewn that the “_acidulous chalybeates_,” -whose properties are exciting and tonic, are much less useful in chronic -diseases than those which are solvent, and which produce crises in the -course of their operation—especially through the medium of the bowels and -the kidneys. - -The first impression of the Carolinenbrunn on the stomach is excitant -and refreshing, like all other acidulous springs. It has been generally -used by the inhabitants as common drink; and yet it does not digest so -easy, among the invalids, as the other springs of Marienbad—many of them -experiencing weight and oppression at the epigastrium, particularly -if they are weak and irritable constitutions, or labouring under any -congestion or engorgement of the abdominal organs. It is much less -aperient than the Kreuzbrunn and the Ferdinandsbrunn—indeed it often -confines the bowels, and then the patient must take some of the other -waters with the Carolinenbrunn or aperient medicine. This spring is the -strongest in iron of all the others. It bears the greatest affinity to -Schwalbach and Spa; but is a stronger chalybeate, and contains more -carbonic acid gas than they do. It leaves an _après-gout_ of steel on the -palate, as also of sulphur.[63] - -The Carolinenbrunn may be classed amongst the exciting and tonic waters. -It moderately excites the circulation and the nervous system, by a -transient stimulation, which does not leave a debility behind. Although -it is not aperient, it rarely produces astringent effects, like bark, -steel and other tonics. It augments the action of the kidneys—and may -be said to gently increase the activity of the whole organism, without -checking any of the secretions. It is therefore prescribed, with much -advantage, in all cases of pure debility, and unattended with any fever -or local inflammation. Care ought always to be taken that the bowels -are cleared of all impurities before this water is used, and that -constipation is guarded against during the course. It is used in baths. -The rules for using the waters are not materially different from those -enforced at other spas. The season lasts from the beginning of May till -the end of September. - - -THE BATHS. - -The baths of Marienbad are on a splendid scale—including the mineral -water—the gas—and the mud baths. The grand source of the waters for -bathing is the MARIENBRUNN, which furnishes 5280 cubic feet of water in -24 hours. The basin is large and capacious—entirely covered over—and the -carbonic acid gas boils up in all directions, and in globes and globules -of all sizes, with astonishing vehemence and agitation. The disengagement -of gas here is, in my opinion, much more striking and wonderful than at -the Cold Sprudel and its neighbour at Franzensbad. There is always a -thick stratum of this deadly gas incumbent on the surface of the water. -There is an admixture of sulphuretted hydrogen gas with the carbonic. -All the experiments that are made on animals at the famous Grotto del -Cane, near Naples, may be repeated here with perfect success. The -Marienbrunn is more elevated than the bathing-establishments, so that the -water is conveyed fresh from the source, through pipes that prevent all -decomposition. - - -PHYSICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE BATHS. - -1. Soon after entering the bath—say at blood heat—innumerable globules -of carbonic acid gas are seen on the surface of the body. 2. Many people -perceive a redness of the skin, soon after immersion, accompanied by a -sense of heat, even when the bath is not above 88° or 90° of Fahrenheit. -3. Some people of irritable and sensitive constitutions, on the contrary, -experience a slight shiver, even when the temperature of the water is -above that of the blood. This phenomenon is, however, rare. 4. The bath -occasions a prompt and copious secretion from the kidneys. 5. Many -people who have had old wounds, fractures, or ulcers, feel pains in the -parts, while immersed in the water. 6. The same may be said of gout -and rheumatism; and this renewal of pains is considered a favourable -omen. 7. Old and ill-conditioned ulcers soon assume a more healthy -appearance under the use of the baths, and take on a more active, or -even inflammatory condition. Ulcers ought to be covered with oil-silk -or other defence while the patient is in the bath. 8. In the course of -the bathing—generally after ten or fourteen days, any eruptions that -previously existed become more developed—and very often new cutaneous -eruptions come out. These are considered to be more or less salutary. - -The Marienbrunn water is much weaker than the Kreuzbrunn and other -drinking springs, and is soon decomposed by exposure to the atmosphere. -These baths are contra-indicated, or even prejudicial in cases of dropsy, -phthisis, aneurysms, irritations or inflammations of any important -organ, especially if accompanied by fever or suppuration—disposition to -hæmorrhages, or vomitings of blood—disposition to miscarriage—paralyses -the result of apoplexy. With these exceptions there are few chronic -diseases which may not be benefitted by the Marienbad baths in -conjunction with the internal use of the waters. - -It is chiefly, however, in gout, rheumatism, tic-douloureux, paralytic -debility without preceding apoplexy or affection of the head, scrofula, -cutaneous eruptions, stiffness and contractions of joints, and old sores, -that the baths of Marienbad are recommended as essential auxiliaries to -the waters internally. The baths are generally used at a temperature of -94° to 98°, and at any time of the day except when digestion is going on -after dinner. - - -MUD-BATHS. - -These are in great requisition at Marienbad. The peat bog is found near -the spa. It is of a very dark brown colour—friable when dried, and -unctuous to the feel when wetted. It is here, as elsewhere, the product -of vegetable matters decomposed by water, and highly impregnated with -carbonic acid gas and sulphuretted hydrogen, which gases are disengaged -in prodigious quantities. Much sulphur is found in this earth, together -with various mineral salts, as hydro-chlorate of soda, sulphate of -soda—sulphates of lime and magnesia—carbonate of iron—silex—alum—bitumen, -&c. - -Besides the general effects of hot, warm, and tepid baths of mineral -water, the mud-baths exhibit effects peculiar to themselves. They may be -taken at a higher temperature than water-baths, without inconvenience. -They are never employed cold. They excite the skin much more than -the liquid baths,—cause a greater degree of redness—bring out more -eruptions—and stimulate the nerves of the surface, as well as the -vessels. They are employed by the Marienbad physicians in all those cases -where the mineral-water baths are used. They are preferred, however, -to the latter, in all those maladies where the natural and salutary -crisis takes place chiefly through the excretories of the surface, and -by determination to the joints, as in gout; and in those cases where the -disease is attributed to checked perspiration. The mud-baths are much -employed by Dr. Heidler, Dr. Herzig, and others, as local applications in -various local maladies, as, for example, in swellings and stiffness of -the joints—old wounds—ulcers—neuralgic affections, &c. - -As the stratum of mud in contact with the body soon loses some of its -caloric, it is proper and even necessary, to keep moving about in the -bath, and using friction with the hands as well as motion with the limbs. -The fluid bath, which is placed at the side of the mud-bath, loses -temperature also, while the bather is in the latter, and as it is often a -moveable tub, warm water cannot be always added to it—therefore it should -be two or three degrees higher than usual when operations are commencing. -No time should be spent in the washing-bath longer than is necessary for -cleaning the surface of the body. - -Having used the mud-baths both at Franzensbad and Marienbad, and -accurately watched their effects on my own person, I can aver that I -perceived no difference, either in sensible properties or physiological -results, between the mud-baths of the two places. I always felt more -exhilarated through the day, when I used the mud, than when I took the -common mineral-water bath. - - -GAS-BATHS. - -At Marienbad, as at Franzensbad, the carbonic acid gas rises from the -earth in such abundance, that it is only necessary to inclose a piece -of ground and form a reservoir, when the deadly mephitic gas collects -in such quantities as would destroy the whole population of those spas -in a few minutes! But as the most potent poisons have been converted -into the most efficient remedies, so has this deleterious emanation from -the bowels of the earth, been made an instrument for restoring various -lost powers in the human frame. The application of this gas is only of -modern date. The first notice I have seen is in the Dict. des Sciences -Medicales, 1812. Since then Dr. Heidler, Dr. De Carro, and others have -published on this subject. The gas-bath was first used at Marienbad about -twenty years ago, on the following occasion. Dr. Struve, of Dresden, had -been using the waters and baths of Marienbad for a painful affection -of the left thigh and leg, which prevented him from walking without -crutches, and, on any little exertion, caused the most excruciating pain. -A number of lymphatic glands were swelled in the course of the vessels of -that limb, and the vessels themselves were enlarged and inflamed, though -the limb was emaciated. He had a gorged liver and hæmorrhoids. He exposed -the afflicted member daily to the action of the carbonic acid gas, which -always floats on the surface of the Marienbrunn; and the following were -his words:—“I soon felt an agreeable warmth creep up the limb exposed to -the gas, which went on increasing, accompanied by a sense of formication -(creeping of ants) over the skin. After half an hour’s application, on -the first trial, I removed from the Marienbrunn, by the aid of my servant -and crutches; but my astonishment was great, when I found that I could -put my foot to the ground with increased power, and that the painful -titillation soon subsided. In the course of a few days the power of the -limb was so far augmented that I was able to walk without crutches or -even a stick. I continued, however, the Kreuzbrunn water internally—the -mud-poultices to the limb—and the gas-bath for three weeks, when the cure -was complete and permanent.”[64] - -This almost miraculous cure attracted Dr. Heidler’s attention to the -subject, and, from that period, he has made numerous experiments on other -patients, with this new remedy, as well as on himself personally, and -published the results in the year 1819, at Vienna. The succeeding year -six gas-bathing chambers were constructed, and now, (August 1840) this -gas-bathing establishment is on the completest scale of perfection. The -Count St. Leu, and Marshal Schwarzenberg, were among the first patients -who used the gas-baths after their establishment in 1819. The physicians -of Marienbad have, ever since the last-mentioned period, employed this -remedy in a great number of cases and diseases, and, they informed me, -with great advantage. - -The sensible effects are chiefly as follows: - -1. A sensation of heat (sometimes preceded by a slight coldness) very -soon is felt after entering the gas-bath, beginning at the feet and -mounting upwards over the whole body, in the majority of cases, but, -in others, it is most sensibly experienced in those parts of the body -or limbs which are or were the seats of diseases. In the abdomen, and -especially in the lower parts of the pelvis, this pleasant sensation of -heat is more felt than in the chest—a fact which led to the application -of gas to certain complaints in both sexes attended with torpor and -debility of particular functions. - -2. A sensation of twitching, formication, and even pain, is often the -result of the gas-bath, especially in parts which have formerly been -the seat of fractures, sprains, wounds, or severe gout or rheumatism. -These pains are so acute as sometimes to force the patient to quit -the bath before the usual time has expired. On the other hand, most -excruciating pains of rheumatism, tic, &c. unaccompanied by inflammation, -have been instantaneously relieved by the application of the gas. 3. -Perspiration is generally produced or augmented by the bath, either at -the time of immersion, a few hours afterwards, or in the following night. -4. The gas-bath sometimes brings on, at others regulates, periodical -discharges, hæmorrhoidal or otherwise. 5. The gas-bath is exciting or -even irritating to the organs of respiration, and should not be used -where there is any inflammatory action or congestion in the chest. 6. If -a certain proportion of the gas gets mixed with the common air, and is -thus breathed, it produces giddiness, vertigo, anguish at the pit of the -stomach, and oppression about the lungs. If the _pure gas_ is breathed, -instant death is the result. A few years ago the life of a female peasant -was lost by the stupidity of her husband, who put the cover of the bath -over her head, instead of being round her throat. No one is now allowed -to take a gas-bath without the medical or some experienced attendant.[65] - -The carbonic acid gas is generally employed here in commixture with a -small proportion of sulphuretted hydrogen gas. - -The mode of action of the gas-bath being decidedly stimulant, it -should never be employed where stimulants are improper. The disorders -in which it is most employed by Dr. Heidler, Dr. Herzig, and other -physicians at Marienbad, are the following:—1. Suppressed or scanty -menstruation—especially after the waters and common baths have been -used without effect. 2. Suppressed hæmorrhoidal discharges, in which -the mineral waters may also be employed. 3. In scrofulous ulcers -and swellings, aided by the mud-baths and mineral water. 4. Various -derangements of digestion, where there is no plethora of any of the -abdominal organs. 5. In gouty affections of a painful kind, without -actual inflammation, and where the other baths and waters have proved -ineffectual. In such cases, the gas-baths often bring out an acid and -fætid perspiration on the pained part. 6. In some chronic affections of -the sight, as amaurosis, not accompanied by inflammatory symptoms, the -local application of the gas has been found useful: also in deafness -dependent on torpor of the nerves and membranes of the ear, or where -the natural secretion is defective or nul. Great caution, however, is -necessary in the local application of streams of this gas to the eyes or -ears, where there is any tendency to vertigo, or fulness about the head. - -The gas-baths are taken locally or generally. In the general bath -the patient should be lightly cloathed, as the gas generally induces -perspiration. When it is used locally, by way of douche, it may often be -applied to the naked part, or with a gauze covering over the surface, -especially if to the eyes. Care should always be taken to prevent the -introduction of gas into the lungs—or even into the mouth or nose, lest -disagreeable consequences should ensue. - -This new remedy has attracted individuals of both sexes to Franzensbad -and Marienbad, from the wilds of Russia, and from various parts of the -South and centre of Europe. Those who come with the greatest anxiety, and -with the most ardent hopes, or at least expectations, to the gas-baths, -are such as have long sighed, but sighed in vain, to become— - - “The tenth transmitters of some foolish face,” - -placing, apparently, more faith in the physical operation of the waters, -baths, and gases of the spas, than in the intercession of saints or -even the prayers which they had offered up at the shrine of the Madonna -herself! How far and how often the gas-baths have wrought the happy -revolution, I cannot say. The doctors have firmly asserted, and the -patients have willingly believed the “flattering tale.” As the gas-baths -are seldom trusted to alone, it is impossible to say with accuracy, what -share they have in the general restoration of health, and the consequent -invigoration of the constitution. Upon the whole, I left Marienbad with -the strong conviction on my mind, that its waters and baths were among -the most efficient in the list of the German spas. - -The valley of Marienbad is well sheltered, and surrounded by pines in the -immediate neighbourhood of the spa; but we have only to mount a couple -of miles on the Carlsbad road, when we get into a high open country, -with a bracing air and a boundless prospect. Some parts of this route -are extremely picturesque—I would almost say romantic, especially a few -miles from Marienbad, where the road winds down a precipice in numerous -tourniquets, into a valley surrounded on all sides by steep acclivities, -some bare and rugged, others crowned with woods. A rivulet roars -through the valley, and a village, a convent, and some factories, give -cheerfulness and animation to the scene. - -P.S.—Before quitting the subject of the Marienbad waters, I must dedicate -a few lines to a small brochure on these waters, published by my friend -Dr. Herzig, in the Summer of 1840. - - Die Heilung der Krankheiten, mit hulfe des Kreuzbrunnen zu - Marienbad. Von Dr. L. Herzig.—The Cure of Diseases by the help - of the Marienbad Waters. - -The water of the Marienbad springs has a soothing effect on the nervous -system, and checks vomiting and pain in the stomach and bowels, in -consequence partly of the carbonic acid contained in the water, and -partly of its property of increasing all the secretions. - -In plethoric persons it often proves stimulating, and causes headache, -redness of face, and feelings of cerebral congestion—owing probably to -the carbonic acid and the iron contained in it. - -Its most marked effect is to increase all the secretions, especially -those of the bowels, liver, kidneys and skin—large quantities of mucus -are discharged with the stools. The mucous secretions of the bladder, and -also of the vagina, are usually much increased at first, but subsequently -greatly diminished, when these organs are in a state of weakness. Various -forms of cutaneous eruption often make their appearance, and rheumatic -and gouty pains are usually increased at first, but subsequently -disappear during the use of the waters. - -The digestive and nutritive functions are quickened and invigorated, -and the patients acquire strength and liveliness, in consequence of -the improved state of the intestinal secretions. The Kreuzbrunn waters -at Marienbad produce similar effects to those of the Carlsbad and the -Kissengen waters; but the former are more purging and evacuant, and act -less upon the vascular system, and more upon the digestive functions than -they do. - -The diseases in which the Marienbad waters are most useful, are— - -1. All congested states of the _portal_ system of veins, indicated by -torpid bowels, loss of appetite, hæmorrhoids, and gouty complaints; -and the various diseases connected with inactivity of the abdominal -circulation, such as hypochondriasis, dyspepsia, morbid sensibility, -headaches, &c. Numerous cases of chronic rheumatism and gout, which are -so frequently associated with congestion of the vena portæ, are relieved -by the use of the Marienbad waters. - -2. Diseased state of the mucous membranes, such as some obstinate -catarrhs, affections of the mucous coat of the bladder, uterus, &c. - -3. Plethora, sanguineous congestions, crampy pains of the limbs, absent -or difficult menstruation, and the numerous morbid symptoms dependent -upon this state. - -4. Torpor of the bowels, and its host of attendant evils. - -“By means of its property of increasing all the secretions and excretions -of the body, and of bringing out cutaneous eruptions and gouty affections -to the limbs, the Kreuzbrunn waters at Marienbad are an excellent remedy -in numerous diseases which depend either upon a plethoric state of the -abdominal circulation, or upon the accumulation of impurities in the -bowels, or upon an unhealthy condition of the mucous membranes. At the -same time, they subdue the morbid irritability of the whole system, or of -individual parts; they remove congestions, plethora, and various evils -dependent upon these. They are especially useful in all cases where -Nature herself seems to be striving to induce either an increase of the -secretions, or a flow of blood from certain parts, as the nose, anus, &c.” - -When the Marienbad waters do not prove sufficiently aperient, a small -portion of Glauber or Epsom salts may be added to it. In some cases, the -waters will agree better, if previously heated; and in others, they are -usefully combined with a little warm milk, or with a small portion of -wine. - -Dr. Herzig is an attentive physician, who speaks English, and may be -usefully consulted by my countrymen. I have also to express my grateful -thanks to Dr. Heidler, the spa physician of Marienbad, for his kindness -and attention. - - - - -CARLSBAD. - - ——fælix per secula mana, - Fons sacer, humano generique salutifer esto, - Redde seni validas vires. Pavidæque Puellæ, - Formosam confer faciem, morbisque medere - Omnibus, et patrias accedat lætior oras, - Quisquis in hæc lympha fragiles immerserit artes.[66] - - Sacred Font! flow on for ever, - Health on mankind still bestow— - If a virgin woo thee—give her - Rosy cheeks and beauty’s glow:— - If an old man—make him stronger— - Suffering mortals soothe and save— - Happier, send them home, and younger, - All who quaff thy fervid wave! - - -This is denominated the KING of the Spas, whilst Baden-Baden is the -QUEEN. I wish his majesty of the “WARM WASSERS” had condescended to hold -his noisy court a little nearer to that of his royal consort. Two hundred -and thirty miles from Frankfort, through a country that is not always -very smooth, or very interesting—with dust in some places half a foot -deep on the roads—the thermometer at 80°—and the rate of progression five -miles an hour, is a tolerable sacrifice to the hygeian goddess of the -Sprudel! It is not improbable that many of those who travel to Bohemia, -in search of health, might find it in various other directions, and much -nearer their own doors. The journey itself requires some good stamina, as -well as resolution, and, if borne well, gives promise of success at the -Sprudel.[67] - -I suppose Carlsbad claims the prerogative of curing by the “_Royal -touch_,” all those maladies that resist the powers of his subject -spas—and even of the Queen’s own at Baden. - -I think I have discovered one cause of the great efficacy of the Carlsbad -waters, which has escaped the notice of the spa doctors, including my -friend Dr. Granville. In travelling to Bohemia, the invalid must, on a -moderate calculation, swallow full a pound of sand and dust on the road. -This being mixed with an indefinite quantity of grease, oil, and vinegar, -at the hotels, forms a kind of amalgam, resembling “_fuller’s earth_,” -the clearing away of which, by the hot and alkaline waters of Carlsbad, -must leave the stomach, liver, kidneys, and other internal organs, as -bright and shining as a newly-scoured copper kettle. - -It is ascertained that Carlsbad is built on a thin crust of limestone, -forming a dome over several immense cauldrons of boiling mineral water. -At present the chief crater of this aqueous volcano offers a safety-valve -for all the superfluous soda-water unconsumed by the subterranean -spa-goers; but it has often been feared that the whole dome may one day -fall in, when the bibbers and bathers, the ramblers and gamblers, the -sick and the sound, will all have a dip in the Sprudel at its natural -temperature, and without the expense of 48 kreutzers for the bath! - -On some occasions the usual vent of the Sprudel has become obstructed, -and then the ground in the neighbourhood has trembled and vibrated, as if -from an earthquake. At one time the pent up water burst out in the bed of -the river: and here they have formed a large shield of wood and stones, -clasped with iron, with a plug or safety-valve in the centre, along the -sides of which the steam and water now oozes out, and the aperture can be -enlarged at any moment by removing the plug, when another Sprudel rises -in the middle of the Teple. - -Be this as it may, Carlsbad may now be considered as the grand “MAISON DE -SANTÉ” of Europe, where the patients support themselves, on the principle -of the Sanataria in general, and where Mr. Owen might find his social -system almost perfect. Thus we have at Carlsbad (and indeed at most of -the great German spas,) our food in common—our physic in common—and even -our physician in common. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and -gardens and walks where we exercise, are all in common. The socialists -might even find little reason to complain of that “accursed thing,” -MATRIMONY, for although _matches_ are occasionally projected at Carlsbad, -I believe that _marriage_ is seldom perpetrated there.[68] - -This great valetudinarium then presents four or five wards or hygeian -fountains, of which the SPRUDEL stands most conspicuous. I was -completely disappointed at the first sight of this lion of the Spas. -The descriptions and drawings of the spring are most outrageously -exaggerated. One would expect to see a fountain of boiling fluid rising -to a height of six or eight feet, and falling down in fervid and foaming -showers. No such thing. During half the time, it does not rise above the -level of the kettle in which it boils; and is often below that mark. Then -it mounts a foot or so, and every now and then spirts a small irregular -and ragged pillar or column of foaming water to a height of two, three, -or perhaps four feet above the reservoir. More frequently, however, it -squirts a jet of water to one or the other side of the kettle, which -splashes into the conduits that carry it off. The whole of the kettle, -reservoir, and exits are coated with calcareous deposits, and, in many -parts covered with green matter, the bodies or receptacles of animalculæ. -Still the Sprudel is a stupendous ebullition of hot medicinal water from -some infernal laboratory, amply sufficient for the expurgation of a whole -nation! The temperature of the water is 168° of Fahrenheit, each pint -containing about 44 grains of solid matters, of which the sulphates, -carbonates, and muriates of soda form 37 grains. A trace, and merely a -trace, of iron is found in the water. Some very recent analyses have also -detected traces of iodine, and of an animal substance, together with some -sulphuretted hydrogen gas. Its taste is certainly not very agreeable and -rather mawkish—and though clear at the fountain, it is turbid when cold. -It very much resembles the Cockbrunnen in savour. - -The second spring is the MUHLBRUNN, whose temperature is nearly 30° -below that of the SPRUDEL; but whose constituent salts are the same. -Nevertheless this difference of temperature is supposed to produce a -difference in the taste of the water, and renders it more acceptable to -the stomachs, or at least to the palates, of many of the drinkers at -Carlsbad.[69] - -The NEUBRUNN is separated from the former source only by a covered walk, -and marks 144° of heat. It did not appear to me to be so much in vogue at -this fashionable watering-place, as the Muhlbrunnen. - -Behind the Neubrunn there is a hill, cut into terraces and gravelled -walks, where rises the THERESIENBRUNN—a spring much frequented by the -ladies, and indeed by both sexes. The temperature is only 134° of -Fahrenheit, and the water is almost tasteless. These three (with the -Hygienequelle, close to the Sprudel) are the chief springs, which are -much frequented by the great mass of bibbers at Carlsbad.[70] - -The waters of all the springs deposit abundance of calcareous matters, -which crystallize in stalactites of all shapes and hues, called -_Sprudelstein_, and give employment to numerous hands in the formation -of snuff-boxes and various kinds of bijoux.[71] As incrustations form on -the surfaces of any woody, mineral, or vegetable substance immersed in -these waters, a fear is sometimes engendered in timid minds that similar -incrustations might form in the stomach, bowels, or kidneys of those -who drink them! It has been proved by Dr. De Carro and others, that the -stalactitious deposits will not take place on any _animal_ substance, -with the exception of the teeth. Even here, the quantity of stony matter -is so small in a dozen beakers of the Sprudel, that nothing is to be -apprehended to the teeth on this score. It would, perhaps, be a happy -circumstance for Germany, if the Sprudel had the faculty of encrusting -the teeth with a calcareous enamel! If such were the case, the whole of -the five springs at Carlsbad would be insufficient to supply dentrifice -varnish enough! - -A serio-comic anecdote is related of a hypochondriac, who had drunk of -these waters for some weeks before the _petrifying_ thought flashed -across his mind, (in consequence of some uneasy sensations in his -stomach) that incrustations were forming in his interior. From that -moment he became firmly convinced that snuff-boxes, heads of canes, -Madonnas, and even crucifixes, were torturing his entrails! He drenched -himself daily with drastic purgatives—but, unfortunately, no stalactites -came forth: on the contrary, his inward pains and miseries were increased -by the very means that were employed to expel the enemy! Whether he ever -recovered from his imaginary sufferings is not known. - -Another source of terror to the timid and nervous drinkers at Carlsbad -has lately arisen. A learned German philosopher has discovered living -fossil animalculæ in the waters of Carlsbad. Now if these little -salamanders can “live and move, and have their being,” in the Sprudel at -a temperature of 167°—or rather in the bowels of the earth, where the -water is at the boiling point, or even in the form of steam, it may well -be supposed that they would thrive luxuriously in the temperate climate -of the human stomach, where the heat does not exceed 98° of Fahrenheit. -However, the drinkers of the Thames water need have no fears respecting -the INFUSORIA of Carlsbad, which would soon be devoured by the proteiform -monsters which are daily ingurgitated by the citizens of London. - -I have already stated that some of the philosophic spa doctors have -broached the doctrine, that mineral waters are merely _secretions_ from -one great watery being residing deep in the bowels of the earth! As the -secretions from the human body are very various, so the secretions from -the mother Spa are almost innumerable, and thus the infinite variety of -mineral waters is readily explained and accounted for. Q. E. D.[72] - -The situation of Carlsbad is very picturesque—I might say romantic. It -might be pretty well characterised by a single line, descriptive of a -very different locality—the valley of the UPAS TREE: - - “Rocks rise on rocks and fountains gush between.” - -The town is built partly in the valley, partly on the ledges of granite -rocks that rise abruptly behind it, to a height of 1500 feet, while the -lazy TEPLE— - - “Slow as Lethe’s stream,” - -creeps at a snail’s space through the vale, contrasting remarkably with -the boisterous, foaming, upheaving, and boiling SPRUDEL, that gushes from -unknown and unfathomable depths in the bowels of the earth, carrying -health and life to its unnumbered votaries. - -Carlsbad cures, as a matter of course, nine-tenths of human maladies; -but as King of the Spas, it has a royal prerogative of a curious and -important nature—namely, the power of curing those diseases which -resist the virtues of all other spas and all other remedies! In answer -to a question, “why Carlsbad sustained its reputation undiminished?” -HUFELAND replied—“C’est qu’il guérit des maux rebelles a tout autre moyen -curatif.” It is true that, if we take the testimonies of the other spas, -none of which admit their fallibility in any case, this prerogative of -Carlsbad would be little more than a sinecure; but the promises of spa -doctors, like the waters which they prescribe, must be taken _cum grano -salis_; and we may safely conclude that some maladies present themselves -at the Sprudel which have resisted the Cockbrunnen, as well as many other -brunnens between the Rhine and the Danube.[73] - -The attestations to the power of the Carlsbad prerogative would fill -a volume. One just before me, as recorded by Dr. Granville, on the -authority of a British nobleman, well known in the world of wit, is -worthy of notice. Lord A——, it appears, through the efficacy of the -Carlsbad waters, “had lost a _pleuritic adhesion_ under the sternum (or -breast bone) the consequence of neglected inflammation in the chest, -which had annoyed him for a long time, and resisted all curative means. -The complaint made him short-breathed in ascending hills, and gave him -a dragging sensation whenever he sneezed—all which symptoms have since -disappeared.” - -Whether his lordship’s breathing, and consequently his years, have been -lengthened by the dissolution of substernal _adhesions_, or by certain -_corporate reforms_ effected by the Sprudel, may admit of some doubt; -but the narrative shews on what sort of evidence the miracles of the -spas sometimes rest! Not that this evidence is worse than we have often -at home—witness the attestation on oath by a nobleman, that he saw St. -John Long extract quicksilver from the brain of a man who had taken -mercury—and the solemn assertions of grave and learned doctors, that an -Irish girl could see through her navel, and hear with the points of her -fingers!! - -If we estimate the number of cures by the number of candidates, this spa -must be “a sovereign remedy” for many of our ills. But this criterion -is not always correct. It is not always the physician who sees most -patients that cures most diseases. But Carlsbad, like other bads, has -a very convenient postern to retreat through, when hard pressed for -testimonials. Thus, if the first season fails, the most confident hopes -are held out that the second will succeed. If the second turn out a -miscarriage, then the third will prove infallible! It requires no ghost -to prophesy that, if the pilgrim of the spas goes two successive years -to Bohemia, without relief, the third pilgrimage will, in all human -probability, be to that “undiscovered country,” whence no invalids return -to tell their tale of disappointment! If a patient die at home, it is -because he did not visit Carlsbad—if at Carlsbad, because he came too -late. - -The waters of Carlsbad were formerly used almost entirely as baths—but -now it is just the reverse—they are chiefly taken internally. In former -times the bathers passed eight or ten hours in the baths, as they now do -at Leuk, Baden, and Pfeffers. My friend De Carro thinks that, formerly, -cutaneous complaints were more rife—and now, that liver and stomach -affections are the prevailing maladies—hence the change from bathing to -drinking at this celebrated spa. There may be some truth in this. The -taste of these waters very much resembles that of weak chicken-broth, -with a flat and alkaline savour. It has been seen that SODA, combined -with sulphuric, muriatic, and carbonic acids, is the chief agent in the -Carlsbad waters. Soda uncombined with acids, either out of or in the -body, has rather a deleterious effect on the organs of circulation and -digestion. “But the Carlsbad water (says Chev. De Carro) though used for -a long time, reanimates, vivifies, excites the appetite, and promotes -digestion—thus with proper regimen, restoring the patient to health.” -Doubtless the efficacy of the waters is augmented by the admixture, -however small in quantity, of other elements, as the oxide of iron, the -carbonic acid, the iodine, and materials yet unknown, diffused in extreme -solution, through a fluid of a very high temperature, which enables the -component parts of the spring to permeate the minutest vessels of the -body. The Carlsbad salts are found in the renal secretion, as well as in -the cutaneous transpiration, after being taken internally. These waters -act by exciting the stomach, bowels, kidneys, liver, and abdominal -organs generally, augmenting the secretions and excretions—especially -those of the intestines, sometimes it is said even to purgation, when -they are taken in considerable quantity. This effect, however, must be -rather unfrequent, for I found no one, including myself, who experienced -it. “They excite the circulation, so as frequently to produce palpitation -of the heart, and determination of blood to the head. This water augments -the activity of the absorbents; but it is not till after its other -operations, that it acts as a direct TONIC.” Purgation is not considered -by the Carlsbad doctors as essential to its beneficial agency, which is -often produced without any action on the bowels, but only on the various -secretions already mentioned. In all cases, however, it is necessary -to guard against constipation, by adding some Carlsbad salts to the -water, or exhibiting some other aperient. Although these waters contain -no sulphuretted hydrogen gas, or extremely little, they produce fætid -eructations from the stomach when drunk—but they have not a corresponding -effect on the alvine evacuations. “The operation of the Carlsbad -waters, in fact, is what is called ‘_alterative_,’ or ‘_deobstruent_;’ -and as such they are applicable to a long list of maladies arising -from congestion or obstruction in the abdominal organs, particularly -the liver, spleen, mesentery and other glandular viscera, attended by -debility of the stomach, heart-burn, acidity, distention, eructations, -constipation, jaundice, biliary concretions, hypochondriasis, -hæmorrhoids, head-aches, giddiness, gouty feelings, cutaneous eruptions, -scrofula, and urinary obstructions.”[74] - -This is an encouraging picture, but I have no reason to consider it as -overcharged. Dr. De Carro observes, that it is impossible to explain -the _modus operandi_ of such simple and minute ingredients on the human -organism. “Whoever, he remarks, has experienced a crisis (called also the -spa fever—the bad-sturm, &c.) in his own person, will never doubt the -power of the Carlsbad waters.” - -Dr. De C. compares the action of the Carlsbad waters on the human frame -to a good filter that separates all impurities from the constitution. - -“Hypochondriacal affections appear nowhere under more various forms -than at Carlsbad; and the misanthropic and pusillanimous feelings of -those unfortunate beings, passing, without known motives, from hope -to despondency, from moroseness to exaltation, deserve the greatest -indulgence and sympathy. When we see so many hepatic and splenetic -patients whose temper depends entirely on the state of their abdominal -functions, we feel disposed to forgive the materialism of the ancients, -who placed the seat of so many passions in the liver; we remember -unwillingly the _Fervens difficili bile tumet jecur_, the _jecur -ulcerosum_ of Horace, as synonymous of _jealousy_ and _violent love_, and -we understand how they could say that men _splene rident, felle irascunt, -jecore amant, pulmone jactantur, corde sapiunt_.” - -The worthy Doctor deplores the disappointments and mortifications which -many invalids from far distant lands annually experience here, when they -learn, to their grief and dismay, that the mineral waters are totally -inapplicable to their maladies! They have then only the alternative -of laying their bones in Bohemian soil, or undertaking another long, -fatiguing, and expensive journey towards their native land. Dr. De -Carro blames the ignorance which prevails among the faculty generally, -respecting the medicinal properties of the Carlsbad and other spas. But -the spa doctors themselves, and spa tourists, are not entirely blameless. -The exaggerated accounts that are published respecting the _miraculous_ -powers of almost every spa in Germany, are quite sufficient to mislead -practitioners and patients who have no personal knowledge of these -vaunted springs. One great object of the present volume is the attempt -to sift the grain from the chaff, or to filter these waters and depurate -them of their gross crudities and absurdities. - -“The Carlsbad waters (says Dr. De C.) are detrimental when there are any -symptoms of inflammation, congestion, or vertigo present. If these exist -on the arrival of the invalid, they must be removed before he takes the -waters; if they occur during the use of the waters, these last must be -immediately discontinued.” - -Dr. De C. observes, that these springs are detrimental in phthisis or -any grade of pulmonary complaint—and that, in general, they aggravate -_organic_ diseases of all kinds, and hasten their march. Here then is a -rule which applies to many of the spas besides Carlsbad—namely, that the -constitution should be free from inflammation, congestion, and structural -changes in any organ, before the waters can be safely taken. Dropsical -affections, even where no organic disease can be detected as their cause, -are aggravated by the Carlsbad waters. Dr. De C. relates a melancholy -instance of a nobleman who was sent there from a great distance—only to -die of dropsy. - -In chlorotic and amenorrhœal disorders, Carlsbad waters are beneficial; -not so much from the minute quantity of iron they contain, as from their -stimulant and deobstruent qualities. Females ought not to use these -waters at all times. - -A painful complaint which often presents itself at Carlsbad is _biliary -calculi_. Dr. De C. thinks that the waters are almost specific in such -cases. He lately attended an invalid who had come from a great distance -to Carlsbad. On the third day of using the waters a prodigious number of -gall-stones, of all sizes, were expelled. He has often found gravel to -be expelled from the kidneys and bladder during the use of these waters; -but he does not vouch for their _lithontriptic_ powers—that is, their -power of _dissolving_ urinary calculi, although this quality has been -attributed to them by some physicians. - -It is in chronic gout, especially of the wandering and misplaced kind, -that the Carlsbad waters have acquired considerable renown, disputing -the palm with Wisbaden itself. It is in general necessary to take some -chalybeate waters, in such cases, after the course at Carlsbad is -completed. It is acknowledged by Sir John De Carro, that more than one -visitation to Carlsbad will be necessary in gouty affections of any -standing. - -In the nervous tremors occasioned by quicksilver, these waters have been -found very beneficial, both internally and externally. - - -THE CARLSBAD STURM, OR CRISIS. - -From the age of 35 years, Dr. De Carro was subject to severe attacks of -gout, each attack generally lasting ten or fifteen days, followed by -much debility, with great tenderness of the feet. The intervals were -of various duration—sometimes months—sometimes years. The complaint -is hereditary in his family for four generations. About fifteen years -ago (1825) one of the paroxysms ceased suddenly on the third day, -followed by alarming symptoms—difficulty of breathing—irritation about -the throat—total loss of sleep—copious muco-purulent expectoration, -of an acrid and acid taste—rapid emaciation—cadaverous expression of -countenance—and all the symptoms of approaching laryngeal phthisis. From -these, however, he gradually emerged; but a sense of constriction in -the trachea remained, occasioning loss of voice and many uncomfortable -feelings. In April 1826, many of the symptoms above-mentioned returned, -with considerable violence, and the Dr. removed from Vienna to Carlsbad. -The waters of this spa are not beneficial in pulmonic complaints -generally, but Dr. De C. considered his own malady as misplaced gout, -and he commenced the waters on the 17th of May, at the Neubrunn. “During -the first three days he felt no effect whatever. He had been unable to -get higher than seven goblets daily; but, on the fourth day, he felt as -if he were drunk—lost his appetite—staggered on his legs—had indistinct -vision—burning cheeks—excited and agitated circulation—overwhelming -drowsiness, and total inability to read or write. These violent -symptoms continued for three days, and were _much mitigated by copious -evacuations_, (tres soulagé par des evacuations copieuses) and, the storm -having subsided, he continued the course of waters for six weeks, without -further inconvenience. The bowels became regular, and there was a copious -but fætid secretion from the kidneys during the whole time. All the -symptoms of misplaced gout disappeared.”[75] - -Dr. De C. observes that, had he not been a physician, he would have -looked upon the above symptoms as forerunners of apoplexy. I am quite -confident that they were so, and that the apoplexy was warded off by the -“copious evacuations” that were procured, whether by nature or art. I -have seen several instances of this “BAD-STURM,” and have no doubt of -their being owing to some inflammatory action going on in some part -of the body (as was clearly the case in the present instance), or to -the neglect of aperient medicine taken in conjunction with the waters. -The misplaced gout, such as Dr. De C. presented, is readily relieved by -saline aperients, with small doses of colchicum and counter-irritation, -without the risk of the “BAD-STURM,” which is a violent conflict between -the constitution and the remedy. It is when the complaint is quiescent, -and all inflammatory symptoms removed, that the Carlsbad and other -mineral waters are beneficial. - -Dr. De Carro has a short chapter on the East and West Indian invalids who -resort to Carlsbad annually, for the relief of broken-down constitutions, -and especially for affections of the liver, the spleen, and for the -consequences of intermittent and remittent fevers contracted within -the tropics. The worthy doctor, who has the usual dread of mercury, so -widely infecting the Continental faculty, seems to hint pretty broadly -that many of the Anglo-Oriental and Occidental diseases, are as much -owing to the remedies as to the climate. Be this as it may, he gives the -pagoda-complexioned gentry great hopes of benefit from the waters of the -Sprudel. - -The regime laid down by Dr. De Carro, is rather more liberal than by -some of his confreres at the German Spas. Breakfast should not be taken -till an hour after finishing the last goblet. Besides the exercise -which is taken while drinking the waters, he recommends half an hour’s -promenade after leaving the spring, if the patient be not too fatigued. -The breakfast itself may be coffee, tea, or chocolate, according to -the habits or inclinations of the invalid. Coffee is rather hazardous -where there is any tendency to inflammatory action in the constitution. -The bread and the cream are excellent at Carlsbad. _Dejeuners a la -fourçhette_ are inadmissible here. The dinners at Carlsbad are very -abstemious, as the TRAITEURS are obliged to regulate them by the orders -of the faculty. They present no temptation to commit excesses. A very -temperate use of plain and well-boiled vegetables is permitted. Salads, -cheese, herrings, anchovies, and all raw fruit are strictly forbidden. -The supper should be a little soup—and the time of going to bed is ten -o’clock at the latest. Gambling is forbidden. The beer of the place, and -light wines are permitted. The Bohemian, Hungarian, and Austrian wines -are wholesome; but those of the Rhine, the Rhone, and Moselle may be -used. It is recommended to keep the mind tranquil and contented! Alas! -the prescription is easily written, but what pharmacy can supply the drug? - -The season at Carlsbad extends from the first of May till the 30th of -September. It is divided into three epochs. From the 1st of May till -the 15th June, those who love quietude, economy, and health, will go to -the spa. From the latter period till the middle of August, when the air -is nearly as hot as the waters, CARLSBAD swarms, like a bee-hive, with -legions of invalids and their friends, who lead, as Dr. De Carro says, -“une vie bruyante,” and pay handsomely for their accommodations. The -last six weeks, like the first, are more quiet, cool, and reasonable in -expense. Those, too, who are anxious to have long interviews with their -doctors, and pour out all their complaints into his attentive ear, will -avoid the hot and fashionable season, and prefer the beginning or end. - -It is remarked by Dr. De C. that a considerable number of people annually -resort to Carlsbad without any other complaint than constipation of the -bowels, obliging them to be constantly taking aperient medicine. “The -waters of Carlsbad generally establish the regularity of the bowels, and -during their use no aperient medicine whatever should be taken.” As the -causes of constipation are chiefly sedentary avocations, there is little -doubt but that a journey to Bohemia, and the waters of the Sprudel, will -generally obviate this troublesome complaint or inconvenience; but I -greatly doubt whether the Carlsbad waters will prevent its return, when -the causes come again into operation. - -Here our worthy author enters his protest against the codes of minute -instructions which are often issued by far distant practitioners, who -have no personal knowledge of the spas, for the guidance of the patients, -and by which they are often led into great errors or even dangers, by -neglecting to consult some physician on the spot, respecting the proper -waters to drink and the best mode of taking them. All indeed that the -distant physician ought to do is, to investigate well the complaint, and -recommend such spa as he deems proper, leaving the details of application -to the discretion of the medical practitioner on the spot.[76] - -Since the publication of Dr. De Carro, many monographs on the Carlsbad -waters have appeared by different authors, some of which have been -noticed in the annual ALMANACK of Carlsbad, composed and published by -Dr. De Carro himself. This little annual is of a miscellaneous nature, -combining amusement with information, and never omitting _one particular_ -item—a list of all the visitors, with their titles, avocations, rank, and -_celebrity_—where there is any fame. It may be as well to glance at some -of these monographs, so as to pick out as much information from them as -we can. - -Dr. Bamberg, of Berlin, published a paper on the modern practice of -Carlsbad, in the year 1835, from which I shall collect a few facts -or opinions. Dr. B. was astonished to find at least ten drinkers at -the NEUBRUNN or MUHLBRUNN for one at the “Old Man of the Valley,” the -splendid SPRUDEL. The Theresebrunn too, was not less frequented than her -sister Naiads. It appears that a spa-doctor, now dead, had denounced the -Sprudel as a most dangerous water on account of its high temperature, and -prejudicing the visitors against it, by alleging, when other arguments -failed, that it mounted up to the head with the same force and velocity -with which it springs from its hidden source! The prejudice was -erroneous. All the waters are from the same source, and the temperature -of the Sprudel is generally as low as that of the others before it -reaches the stomach. The Carlsbad doctors, however, are often greatly -teazed by the directions brought by visitors from their own physicians, -respecting the particular springs which they are to use. Some prejudice -still hangs over the Sprudel, and that it is generally looked upon as of -superior power to the others, is proved by the character of the drinkers -there. The sick are more seriously ill—their aspects more sinister—and -their figures more demonstrative of organic diseases at the Sprudel than -elsewhere. But fashion comes in to the aid of prejudice. The Archipelago -formed by the Neubrunn, Muhlbrunn, and Theresebrunn, is decorated so -elegantly, and the temperature so drinkable, as the water rises from its -source, that we need not wonder at the multitudes that crowd around them, -especially when the physicians assure their patients that the waters of -these fountains are precisely the same as the Sprudel. - -The Sprudel possesses two very curious and clashing properties—that of -creating stony concretions where they did not previously exist, and of -dissolving them when already formed—like the famous sword of antiquity, -whose rust healed the wound inflicted by its edge. The Carlsbad waters -have the power of dissolving calculi in the human bladder, and are much -resorted to for that purpose. Dr. Bigel, of Warsaw, has published his own -case, in a letter to Dr. De Carro, some particulars of which may here be -stated. - -Dr. B. became affected with calculus after the age of 60 years, having -previously passed several renal calculi, and was operated on by the -lithotritic apparatus. The stone was smashed, but several of the -fragments could not be discharged afterwards. He was then conveyed in -a kind of litter many hundreds of miles to Carlsbad, where he took the -waters under the direction of Dr. De Carro. On the third day of taking -the Theresebrunn, and that in small quantities, Dr. B. became affected -with fever, such as he experienced after the operation of lithotrity. -This was relieved by copious perspirations. Returning to the waters, a -similar attack of fever was kindled up on the fifth day—but with it the -expulsion of several fragments of stone, and much solace in the organ. -The fragments, which had hitherto been of a dark brown colour, were now -white, and their surfaces smooth and polished. The white colour was -found to penetrate to some depth from the surface. Dr. B. changed from -one spring to another of higher temperature, till he finished with the -Sprudel. At each of the sources he passed pieces of stone, and after -their disappearance for a fortnight, the bladder was explored, and no -more calculi were discoverable. All uneasiness in the bladder ceased from -this time. - -Dr. Creutzburg made some experiments on urinary calculi subjected to the -action of the Carlsbad waters, and the results appear to be favourable -to the idea that these waters are beneficial in calculous complaints. And -now, when lithotrity is so frequently employed, instead of lithotomy, -these waters may prove eminently useful in polishing and softening the -fragments left after the operation. - -But the waters of Carlsbad do not limit their powers to the solution or -expulsion of vesical calculi; they have done wonders in people afflicted -with biliary concretions. Dr. De Carro had a patient, aged 40 years, -who evacuated daily, by means of the waters, not only large quantities -of gravel, but numbers of gall-stones, of various shapes and sizes. -Liver-complaints occupy a considerable figure among the maladies which -are treated at Carlsbad—and biliary calculi are very frequently observed -there. Dr. De Carro has related numerous instances where the baths and -the waters of Carlsbad have appeared to dislodge the gall-stones, and -carry them off by the bowels. - -The Carlsbad baths, which are now much more used than formerly, often -bring forward masked gout, rheumatism, or neuralgic pains that had lain -more or less dormant in the constitution for months or years. - -Before quitting these celebrated waters, I must take a short notice of a -little work just published by a rising young physician of Carlsbad, whose -acquaintance I had the pleasure of making there. - - (_From the Medico-Chirurgical Review._) - - Geschichte von Karlsbad. Von Dr. Hlawaczek.—History of Carlsbad. - -The learned author gives a most elaborate account of almost every work -that has been published on these famous waters, since their discovery -by the Emperor Charles IV. in the sixteenth century. His book is, in -short, a catalogue raisonnée of the writings of his predecessors. The few -practical observations contained in it may be thus stated: - -The medicinal powers of the Carlsbad waters are the following: - -1. They invigorate the primæ viæ, and dislodge from them all impurities -and accumulations. Hence in various forms of dyspepsia, arising from -a sedentary life, from torpor of the bowels, &c. they are especially -useful; also in chronic jaundice, obstinate head-aches accompanied with -constipation, &c. - -With such patients the use of the Carlsbad waters often act as an emetic -for the first day or two.—Corpulent indolent persons, who feed too much -and take little exercise, are always benefitted. - -In all obstructed and infarcted states of the abdominal viscera, the -use of the Carlsbad waters may be recommended. Hence, in many cases -of hypochondriasis and hæmorrhoids, they are beneficial: also in -enlargements of the liver, spleen, and mesenteric glands. - -In addition to these maladies, we may enumerate many cases of -amenorrhœa and dysmenorrhœa—diseases which are so often dependent upon -accumulations in the bowels and general torpor and plethora of the system. - -2. The Carlsbad waters have the effect of freeing the blood of -acrimonious particles, either by neutralising and discharging them out of -the body, or by causing a metastasis and derivation of them to the joints -or to the skin. Hence in various forms of _internal_ gout and rheumatism, -they are singularly useful; the disease being often drawn from the -internal viscus which may happen to be affected to some outward part. - -3. The Carlsbad waters cleanse the urinary passages of calculous deposits. - -And lastly, they often effect a cure in a number of anomalous diseases, -whose causes are not known, and to which indeed, a name cannot be given; -as, for example, loss of power and feeling in the limbs, a tendency to -syncope followed by cramps, some cases of epilepsy and asthma; also in -certain disturbances of the mental functions. In all these cases, the -Carlsbad waters seem to act as an _alterative_. - -The venerable _Hufeland_ published in 1815, a treatise on the chief -medicinal springs in Germany. He recommends the use of the Carlsbad -waters in cases of constipation, tympanites, incipient disorganisation -of the stomach and bowels and other abdominal viscera, more especially -of the liver, of chronic jaundice, of congestion of the mesenteric and -portal veins; also in nervous ailments, as amaurosis, hypochondriasis, -and in various forms of calculous disease. He also strongly recommends -them in most of the forms of gout. The Carlsbad waters, in addition to -their purgative qualities, are possessed of remarkable alterative powers, -so that often they effect quite a change in the state of the blood and -other fluids of the body, depriving them of all acrimonious and hurtful -particles, and restoring them to a condition of health. Hence their -striking utility in numerous cases of cachexia, which are irremediable by -ordinary medical treatment.—HLAWACZEK. - - - - -VALETUDINARIUM. - - -It is often more easy to ascertain the internal condition of the body -through the medium of external phenomena, than that of the mind through -the physiognomy of the countenance. To the experienced observer, the -complexion, the expression, the eye, the gait, the tone of voice, the -figure, the proportion of the different parts of the body, and many other -indications incapable of description, convey very authentic information -respecting the condition of organs and structures that are far removed -from sight. It is in a great SANITARIUM like this, where invalids are -gathered from all quarters of the world, that a young physician, under -the guidance of an old one, might beneficially study the _physiognomy_ -of diseases. For, although the greater number of spas have much that is -common, both as respects the waters and the maladies for which they are -taken, yet each spa, or at least, each class of spas, exhibits some -characteristic features among the mass of visitors, indicative of the -maladies which led them to the Hygeian fountains of the place. Thus it -is impossible to stand long at the FONTAINE ELISÉE of Aix-la-Chapelle, -without discerning a large sprinkling of cutaneous complaints, however -carefully they may be concealed by the wearers of them. It is in vain -that— - - “Wrapp’d in his robe white LEPRA hides his stains,” - -the features of the LEPER disclose the worm that torments him by day -and by night. The French and Germans are universally imbued with the -doctrine that the repression of a certain malady, which has got the -musical soubriquet of “SCOTCH-FIDDLE,” is the cause of half the evils -to which flesh is heir. On this account, the continental folks have a -great longing, or rather a violent _itching_ for sulphureous waters. -The slightest odour of sulphuretted hydrogen gas in a newly-discovered -spring, is a real treasure—and in the old ones, it is sure to preserve -reputation to endless ages! - -The neighbouring mineral source—SPA—together with SCHWALBACH, BROCKENAU, -BOCKLET, and other chalybeate springs, attract a different class of -votaries—namely, the pallid, the debilitated, the leucophlegmatic—those, -in fact, who have been sucked, and left bloodless by vampyre diseases. - -The emblem of WISBADEN might be a swelled and gouty foot—that of WILDBAD -a crutch, or a hobbling paralytic invalid—KISSENGEN, the tumid liver and -green fat—MARIENBAD, the paunch of Falstaff, and the jaundiced eye. - -But CARLSBAD presents a greater medley than any of the other spas that I -have visited. When we contemplate, even for a single morning, the crowds -that surround the Sprudel alone, presenting specimens of almost every -human infirmity, not in solitary cases, but often in trains of twenties -or thirties in succession—when we consider that, in these various -specimens, there are many that are of a diametrically opposite nature -to each other—yet all cured or relieved by an upheaving fountain that -never varies in temperature, taste, or composition—doubts may well arise -whether there is not some truth in the sarcastic remark of an eminent -philosopher,—that “there are more false _facts_ than false _theories_ -in physic.”—But there is something to be said PER CONTRA. 1st. Many -complaints which are thought and believed to be cured by mineral waters, -are only _relieved pro tempore_—and the contradiction seldom or never -appears. 2d. Many different diseases are produced by the _same causes_ -acting on different constitutions. Thus luxurious living and idleness -will, in one person, induce gout—in a second, hæmorrhoids—in a third, -liver complaint—in a fourth, rupture of a bloodvessel in the lungs—in a -fifth, congestion in the brain—in a sixth, paralysis—in a seventh, stone -in the kidney or bladder,—and the list might be far extended. Now, if -the same cause or class of causes produce such a number of different -maladies; there is nothing unreasonable in the supposition that the same -remedy, or class of remedies, may be useful in abating or even removing -those varied disorders. - -3d. With the exception of a few specific remedies, such as mercury, -sulphur, colchicum, and ergot, with the real nature of whose -physiological operation on the human frame little is known, almost all -the other medicinal agents act through the medium of the digestive -organs, the liver, the kidneys, and the skin. Now, the mineral waters of -such spas as Wisbaden, Kissengen, Marienbad, Carlsbad, &c. act through -these organs also, and contain the elements of many of our most efficient -remedies. They have, besides, great advantages over ordinary medicines at -home, in consequence of the exercise of travelling, the change of air, -and the alteration of habits that precede the course of the waters. - -4. Through what channels do the noxious _physical_ agents enter the -constitution and produce disease? Through the digestive organs and skin, -without doubt,—to which may be added the lungs, which may imbibe the -principles of disorder with the oxygen from the air we breathe. - -5. But there is a great class of _moral_ causes of diseases, acting on -the body through the medium of the mind—a class so extensive that PLATO -considered it to be the origin of all corporeal maladies! - -6. Against these moral agents the great spas possess powerful auxiliary -counter-agents, _as preventives_, in the form of amusements on the spot -and abstraction from cares. They also present the means of removing (if -removeable) the effects which these moral causes have already inflicted -on the bodily frame. - -7. The far greater number of physical remedies act by altering and -improving disordered functions and secretions—by evacuation—and by -imparting tone to debilitated organs or the whole constitution. - -8. It must be allowed that mineral waters contain, to a very considerable -extent, the requisite ingredients for fulfilling one or all of the -foregoing indications. - -9. It is often found to be beneficial to combine tonics, alteratives, -and aperients in the same formula or prescription, in order that the -three indications alluded to, may be simultaneously accomplished.[77] -It is undeniable that some of the spas contain within themselves this -combination of chalybeates, aperients, and alteratives, either of which -ingredients can be increased at pleasure on the spot. - -10. The medicinal agents in the mineral waters, though in much smaller -quantities than when given in prescriptions, have a much better chance of -success, in consequence of their being so largely diluted by the hand of -Nature, and the temperature of the diluent being so very high, in most of -the springs. - -11. The early hours, and the exercise taken while drinking mineral -waters, have powerful influence in promoting their salutary operation. -How many invalids, in England, would start from their beds at five -o’clock in the morning, to drink salt and water till seven or eight -o’clock, using their limbs all the time in locomotion? very few! - -12. The warm bathing, which generally precedes or accompanies the -drinking of the waters, has also great effect in augmenting the medicinal -agency of the waters taken internally. The circulation is drawn to the -surface—the insensible perspiration augmented—and various internal organs -sympathise with the skin and are relieved from habitual congestion. - -13. The habit of early rising, which is unavoidable at the great spas, -leads to many other good habits. Early meals and early bed-going follow -of course, and of consequence. The excursions in the middle of the day, -undertaken while devoid of care, and free from business, contribute not a -little to the efficacy of the spas, and to soundness of repose at night. - -14. When I observed that many of the German spas combined tonic, with -aperient, and alterative qualities, I by no means averred that these -qualities were always well proportioned for all complaints and various -constitutions. On the contrary, they are often very deficient in one -or other of these qualities—and it is by overlooking this defect, and -trusting solely to the remedial agency of the waters, that continental -physicians commit a grand mistake—especially in the treatment of British -patients. - -15. The digestive organs of our continental neighbours are habitually in -a far more tender and excitable condition than those of our countrymen, -in consequence of their greasy and sloppy food, and the poverty and -acidity of their wines and other drink. They cannot, therefore, bear -medicines of any strength, without great suffering. Relying on identity -of constitution, the mineral waters are often administered ineffectually -by foreign physicians to the people of these islands. These last are -washed and drenched, from day to day, and from week to week, while the -glandular organs (the liver in particular) not directly affected by the -waters, become torpid in function, and vitiated in their secretions. -Hence it is that, after a week or a fortnight, much derangement takes -place in the digestive organs—febrile irritation is set up—the nervous -system is impaired—and then, when the patient declares that the -waters are disagreeing with him, the SPA DOCTOR consoles him with the -information that the spa-fever or crisis has come, and, if he lives -through it, he will be much better than before it commenced! All this, in -nine cases out of ten, might be prevented by taking a small dose of blue -pill—a couple of grains, for instance—over night. In this case, a much -smaller quantity of the waters would be sufficient in the morning, and -the liver and other glands would be roused to simultaneous action with -the bowels. The physicians of Cheltenham and Leamington act on this plan, -and render the course of waters far more beneficial than they otherwise -would be. The crisis or spa-fever appears to me an act of salutary -rebellion, on the part of Nature, against the injudicious employment of -the waters, and an effort to restore the equilibrium of function among -the great organs, which equilibrium has been disturbed by the waters -themselves. - -16. It is a well-known fact that soldiers, sailors, and even civilians, -will recover from illness much sooner in a public hospital than in their -own homes—although attended by the same physician or surgeon. The same -applies to infirmities of mind as well as of body. The individual who -becomes insane, has infinitely less chance of recovery at home amongst -his friends, than among strangers in an asylum. A great valetudinarium, -like the spas, comes under the same rule. How is this to be accounted -for? I have heard the aphorism of Rochefaucault quoted in explanation, -viz. “that we derive pleasure from the sight of misery and suffering in -others, even when they are our dearest friends.” From long acquaintance -with human nature, I venture to say that, in this celebrated aphorism—or -rather sophism—the author of it only stated _half_ a fact, and drew from -that half fact a _false_ inference. The emotion which we involuntarily -experience at the sight or the intelligence of misfortune or affliction -in others, whether strangers or friends, is not unmixed—but a compound of -_commiseration_ for the afflicted, and a feeling of _secret satisfaction_ -(magnified by Rochefaucault into _pleasure_) at our own immunity from -the evil. Two sailors are on the lee yard-arm furling the mainsail in -a tempest. The ship lurches—the yard-arm is swept by a wave—and one -of the sailors is torn from his hold, and plunged into the deep. Will -the French philosopher persuade us that the seaman, who clings to the -yard and escapes death, feels _pleasure_, unmixed with sorrow, at the -sight of his drowning mess-mate? The poet, who saw and described a -catastrophe identical with the above, but on a larger scale, was far from -entertaining the sentiment of the philosopher. - - “Bereft of power to help, their comrades see - Their late companions die beneath their lee, - With fruitless _sorrow_ their lost state _bemoan_.” - -17. But there are other and adequate causes assignable for the more -rapid recovery of health in public places of resort for invalids, than -in private life. Man is the creature of habit; and habit results chiefly -from imitation. In a great watering-place, we acquire, or at least comply -with, habits which we would not attempt at home. How many delicate and -fashionable invalids would start from their couches at sun-rise every -morning, in London, and drink repeated draughts of nauseous compounds -before breakfast? How many would dine at one, instead of seven o’clock? -How many would retire to bed at nine o’clock, instead of midnight or -later? How many gourmands and Bacchanalians, in England, would comply -with the rigid rules of abstemiousness enjoined by the spa doctors, and -which they dare not infringe, lest the disobedience might render the -waters useless, or even injurious? - -The revolution in social, but insalutary habits alone, would cure half -the _disorders_ for which the aristocratic valetudinarian flies to the -spas. If the maxim of Rochefaucault, too, have any foundation in truth, -what a prodigious source of pleasure must the spa-goer find in the -different watering-places, where he daily contemplates almost the whole -of the moving mass of mortals around him labouring under more or less of -bodily suffering! But, admitting the less humiliating explanation which -I have attempted of the philosophical maxim, the result will not be -materially different. Every one affected by _disorders_ at all curable, -will see many around him who are evidently afflicted by _diseases_ beyond -the reach of remedy. While commiserating the fate of their neighbours, -they have a pleasing consciousness and assurance that they themselves -are not in such a hopeless condition. As for the victims doomed to an -early grave, _they_ never despair. They see daily recoveries going on -around them—and HOPE, “that comes to all,” does not withhold its balmy -influence even from them! The resounding Sprudel is pouring forth its -healing waters for the incurable as well as for the curable, whilst the -veil of mystery that hangs over its origin and source, exaggerates, on -the well-known principle, “_omne ignotum pro magnifico_,” the virtues of -its miraculous qualities! The season of the year in which the journey is -made and the waters taken, is not a little favourable to the recovery of -health, and, combined with the sanguine expectations of recruited vigour -and emancipation from sufferings, gives wonderful efficacy to the spa. - - - - -GASTEIN, commonly called WILDBAD GASTEIN. - - -Gastein, Pfeffers, and Teplitz are triplet sisters of the same qualities, -physical and medicinal. They are so pure that they may be, and are used -as spring water for drinking and culinary purposes. The locality of -Gastein is only inferior in romantic scenery to that of Pfeffers. It is -much superior to that of Wildbad. It is situated on the frontiers of the -Duchy of Salzburg and Carinthia, in the midst of mountains ten thousand -feet in height, and its fervid springs, several in number, rise on the -borders, and in the very middle of a cataract that foams and flies over a -precipice, with a noise like thunder, into an abyss of nearly 300 feet in -depth. It is the little river ACHE that descends from the mountains, and -forms the striking feature of the landscape at Gastein, which was once a -place of wealth and consequence, by reason of the neighbouring mines; but -is now only a valetudinarium for the recovery of health. The people of -this neighbourhood are of remarkably robust and vigorous constitutions, -well made, and handsome in appearance—pastoral in their habits, and -simple in their manners. - -There are six available springs, besides those which rise in the bed -of the torrent. The highest is the Prince’s Well, near the Chateau, -and which is a very abundant source—furnishing 13,680 cubic feet of -water in the 24 hours—the temperature being always 37° of Reamur, or -115° Fahrenheit. It is used conjointly with the water of an adjoining -spring, called the “DOCTOR’S WELL,” which is one or two degrees higher -in temperature. This last furnishes 3,600 cubic feet of water in the -24 hours. These two sources supply, by means of a pump, the new baths -near the Chateau. Another is named after the Emperor Francis—and another -still, that of the Hospital, at the foot of the Richeuibein, throwing up -the astonishing quantity of 72,720 cubic feet of hot water in the day and -night! All these springs are on the right bank of the ACHE; but there are -other sources on the left bank also—the aggregate of all being upwards of -one hundred thousand cubic feet of mineral water in the 24 hours. - -There are ten or a dozen establishments for bathing at Gastein—some of -them not the most splendid or convenient in the world. The practice of -bathing in common is not very unusual here, and consequently upwards of -150 people may bathe at the same time. The complaint of Dr. Granville, -that the baths are seldom completely emptied during the day, is not -without foundation in truth. Gastein is now probably the only place where -men and women bathe together. - -“The common bath (says Dr. Streinz) in which gentlemen and ladies -assemble together, contains 365 cubic feet of water, and requires -nearly four hours to fill it. It will accommodate fifteen or sixteen -persons, who can walk about in the water, or rest upon seats which are -fixed there for the purpose. At each side of the bath there is a large -dressing-room, one for the men, the other for the women. Around the bath -runs a gallery, where the friends or acquaintances of the bathers can -assemble, and enter into conversation with them.”[78] - -It is quite useless to go into minute topographical details. Those who -repair to Gastein will not need them—and those who stay at home will not -read them. We shall therefore proceed to the properties of the waters -themselves. It has been already observed that they are purer than any -spring water, and so clear that you can discern particles of gravel -at a depth of some feet. They spring from the earth without noise or -bubbling. In certain damp states of the atmosphere, and preceding rains, -some people have perceived a slight odour of sulphuretted hydrogen gas -in these springs; but it is so questionable that they may be used as -common beverage. They suffer no change, when exposed to the air, nor -deposit any matter. Their temperature has been stated. When polished -silver is immersed for four or five hours in these springs it becomes -tinged of a brownish yellow colour, not easily effaced. The water leaves -incrustations on wood or other articles exposed to its action, which -incrustations are soft, astringent, and bitter to the taste. These waters -have a remarkably vivifying effect on flowers, fruits, and vegetables -exposed to their influence. In a pint of the water there is about 2⅔ -grs. of solid matters, chiefly sulphate and muriate of soda, with a -minute trace of iron. When brought near the magnetic needle it draws the -loadstone sensibly towards it, which quality diminishes as the water -cools. It has been ascertained that the Gastein water is composed of -three, instead of two atoms of hydrogen to one atom of oxygen. - -These waters are used as common baths—vapour-baths—and taken internally. -The douches are also much employed. Their remedial powers, seeing that -they have no chemical properties worth notice, have called forth much -speculation—the conclusion, however, being, that the cause of this -medicinal agency is veiled from human ken. This being the case, our -object is to investigate the actual effects of waters so pure on the -human frame. This, which is mere matter of observation, is far from -being an easy matter. Spa doctors become unintentionally prejudiced—and -spa tourists are often credulous—while patients themselves are often -deceived—attributing virtues to the waters which sprang from various -other causes that received no credit at the time. It is affirmed by Dr. -Streinz and others, that the waters of Gastein, whether used internally, -or externally, or both, produce a certain degree of excitation in the -human constitution, evinced by some increase of temperature in the -body—of power in the muscles—of animation in the eye and countenance—of -clearness in the complexion—of acceleration in the circulation—of -activity in the nervous system—of exhilaration of spirits. Those who -bathe in them experience (as they say) unusual pleasurable sensations. -The surface of the body becomes soft and smooth, with a slight but -pleasant pricking, and sometimes a minute vesicular eruption. Dr. -Granville’s description of the effects of the Gastein baths, however, is -directly the reverse of Dr. Streinz, who observed them so long in others, -and experienced them in his own person. - -“The effect (says Dr. G.) produced by the water on the skin of the hands -during the first ten minutes of immersion in it was curious. The bath -corrugated and crisped it as if the hands had been held in very hot -water for a considerable time; and on passing my hand all over the body, -previously to the skin of the fingers becoming crisp—in fact almost -immediately after going into the bath—instead of gliding smoothly and -oilily down it, as at Wildbad, it felt ruvid, and the two surfaces seemed -to meet with resistance, as if a third body, slightly rough, like the -finest sand, lay between them.” - -Here then we have two physicians giving diametrically opposite accounts -of the physical phenomena produced by the same waters—shewing how little -dependence can be placed on individual descriptions—the said phenomena -varying according to the temperament, state of health, or even temper of -mind of the personal observer! - -It is stated by the German physicians that, after the third or fourth -bath, some indisposition is usually felt—some giddiness about the head, -and a relaxation, or sense of weakness in the limbs. These symptoms -disappear in a day or two by repose and abstinence. The use of these -waters renders people more susceptible of atmospheric impressions, of -the electric kind, especially before or during a storm, accompanied by a -sense of prostration or exhaustion, and heaviness about the head, with -depression of spirits. The internal exhibition of these waters promotes -the action of the bowels, and still more of the kidneys, attended -by increase of appetite. The deposits of this water are extolled as -applications to old wounds and inveterate ulcers. - -“Long and multiplied experience (says Dr. Streinz) has proved that -the bathe of Gastein re-animate the vital powers that were almost -extinct—comfort and give tone to the flabby limbs—communicate new -and vivifying heat to the blood—vigor to the nerves—and, through -the medium of the magnetico-galvanic principle, re-establish the -activity of the whole animal organism. Those who labour under direct -debility, are those who have experienced most benefit from these -waters—as those who have lost their strength from excessive efforts -of the mind, large discharges of blood, or too copious and violent -evacuations of any kind—those who have never perfectly recovered from -severe acute diseases—who labour under disorders of the digestive -organs—tremors—hypochondriasis—hysteria—neuralgic pains—inveterate -gout and rheumatism—paralysis—contractions—affections of the -spine—scrofula—mercurial diseases, &c. Their exciting qualities, however, -render it necessary that both patient and physician should watch their -physiological action on the body, and observe a very mild and abstemious -regimen.” - -Dr. Granville appears to be quite as confident in the efficacy of the -Gastein waters as Dr. Streinz, Dr. Storch, or any of the most sanguine of -his German brethren. - -“I have no more doubt of the power which this mineral spring possesses, -in the diseases for which it has been recommended, than I have of the -effect of bleeding in subduing inflammation.” - -My friend’s “grain of faith” is not like that of a mustard-seed—it is as -large as a cocoa-nut! At all events, I cannot swallow it; and entertain -very strong doubts indeed of the efficacy of Gastein water in such a -multiplicity of serious diseases as are comprehended in Dr. Granville’s -or Dr. Streinz’s catalogue. I can easily conceive that these waters, -assisted by the mountain air, the romantic scenery, and the journey to -the place, may produce all the effects which can be expected from such -waters as Pfeffers, Wildbad, and Schlangenbad; but that they can work -like magic I entirely disbelieve. - - - - -PRAGUE. - - -Whether we view this ancient capital of Bohemia from the bridge below, or -the monastery above, we must acknowledge that, next to Constantinople, -Prague is the most picturesque city in Europe. It is, however, from -the central arch of the longest bridge in Germany, and certainly the -most _sainted_ one, that we have the finest view of a vast amphitheatre -rising tier above tier, from the broad stream of the Moldau, till the -highest ridges of the precipices seem groaning under the massive piles -of buildings that crown their brows. The huge structure, called the -HRADSCHIN, the palace of the Bohemian kings—frowns over endless domes, -spires, turrets, minarets, churches, convents, and cathedrals. The eye -comes down at length to a bridge more holy, though not more handsome, -than the Santa Trinita over the Arno. There are nearly as many saints -standing on the parapets here as there are sinners traversing the body -of the bridge! The master saint (St. John Nepomuck) was a priest, who, -refusing to disclose the secrets of the confessional, was pitched into -the Moldau by King Winceslaus for his contempt of court. But murder will -not sleep; and a flickering flame hovered over the spot where the priest -lay in his watery shroud, till he was discovered, and his body encased -in a gorgeous silver shrine, which may be still seen in the cathedral -(enclosed within the Hradschin) and is, perhaps, the most costly tomb -in the world. The silver alone weighs thirty-seven hundred weight! The -body of the sainted priest lies in a crystal coffin of great value! The -lions of Prague would require a volume for description, and as Murray -has dedicated twenty-seven columns to short notices of the chief objects -of curiosity, I shall not say a word on this head. Three or four days, or -a week, may be well occupied here, and the environs are very pretty. But -it is worthy of notice that, in this beautiful and picturesque capital of -Bohemia, the average duration of life, is one-third less than in London! -The annual mortality in Prague, is one in twenty-two. In London it is not -more than one in thirty-two. The Jews, who are here, as at Rome, crowded -into a low and dirty quarter on the banks of the river, are longer lived -than their tyrannical Christian oppressors. They are also more prolific. - -We spent a few days very pleasantly at Prague; but when preparing to -start for Teplitz, I was horrified at finding that I had lost the receipt -for my passport—and that too, in Austria! The Commissionaire at the “DREI -LINDEN,” seemed even more terrified than myself, and thinking he would -contrive to make a job of the business, I marched off to the Bureau, and -candidly stated the loss I had sustained. The officer, having cast a -scrutinizing glance at me, took down a huge pile of passports, and soon -singled mine out. “Voila, Monsieur, votre passport,” was all he said, -and he never made the least difficulty, or seemed to consider it the -slightest favour, to deliver me the precious document, without producing -a receipt! I say again, and again, the Austrian police is grossly -slandered. They are the most civil and polite on the Continent. - - - - -TEPLITZ.[79] - - -A long journey of sixty odd miles from Prague, through a country varied, -and often interesting, brings us to the fertile valley of Teplitz studded -with chateaux and villas, and well cultivated. The hills and mountains, -for many miles before we reach Teplitz, are all conical and volcanic. -This is the great WASH-TUB of Germany. What prodigious masses of exuviæ, -suds, and sordes, must annually float down the Elbe to fertilize its -shores! Three great public baths (and now a fourth, at Schoneau) for -men, women, and children, respectively, display an immense number of -human beings—all Adams and Eves without fig-leaves—immersed in water -at a temperature sometimes of 114° of Fahrenheit, inhaling a dense -steam, through which you could formerly have scarcely distinguished -them—panting, perspiring, and streaming blood from scarifications on -their backs to prevent their brains from being torn up by the excited -circulation! Such _was_ a picture from which DANTE might have drawn some -of his scenes in the inferno—except that here, it was not the “PURGATORY” -of guilty souls, but the “expurgatorium,” of unclean bodies.[80] - -The natural temperature of these waters is from 120° to 84°—and the -chief ingredient is carbonate of soda—about two or three grains in the -pint.[81] The private baths are upwards of eighty in number, in the -town, besides the long range of most elegant new baths in the village -of Schonau—decidedly the most superb bathing-places in Europe, and -are in full request from morn till dewy eve. The water is limpid, and -soon after immersion in a blood-heat temperature, or even lower, the -surface of the body (according to Dr. Granville) becomes rough, rigid, -and even wrinkled—a condition that obtains for some time after leaving -the bath.[82] Perspiration also is visible on the skin, in big round -drops, while the individual is proceeding to dry and dress. At a higher -temperature than that of the blood—say from 108° to 112° or 114°, the -action of the bath on the circulation and excitability is emphatic, and -must often be extremely dangerous. The excitation first induced, is, and -must be followed by a corresponding degree of depression or exhaustion. -The reputation of the Teplitz baths is probably as much founded on the -high temperature at which they are used, as on the composition of the -waters themselves. There ought to be a mart at Teplitz for the sale of -cast-off or second-hand crutches! “I may state (says Dr. Granville) that -the specific virtue of these baths lies in the power they possess of -restoring a cripple—it matters little from what cause—to perfect motion -and elasticity.” Among the list of maladies that may be perfectly cured -here, we have—“all cases of suppressed gout, chronic rheumatism, diseases -of the articulations, paralytic affections, contracted limbs, old -wounds, night pains in the bones, and many other diseases.”—_Granville._ -Again, Dr. G. avers that—“with proper management I should not despair of -recovering _from all his ailments_, the most pitiable object of gouty -tyranny.” These are strong assurances. But I would strenuously caution -the victim of suppressed gout respecting the baths of Teplitz, where the -temperature is much higher, though the ingredients are not much stronger -than in the waters of Wildbad or Pfeffers. - -A physician, though young in years, yet of good promise, at Teplitz, -(Dr. Richter) has written an interesting little work on these waters, and -as it is in French, I would recommend it to the perusal of those who go -to Teplitz for the purpose of bathing. During my stay at this celebrated -spa, I had the advantage of Dr. Richter’s company and experience through -the whole of the bathing establishments, and, through his influence, -was permitted (being only a doctor) to visit the public baths—even -those in which the women were bathing, with the greatest facility. It -was at Schonau that I first saw the female bath in full operation. -There might be about twenty women in the basin, when Dr. R. and myself -entered. There was a slight commotion among the bathers on my first -appearance, which quickly subsided, when my profession was announced and -my privilege explained. Dr. R. published his work in 1840, and it is the -most authentic guide and authority on the subject. I shall here give a -condensed analysis of the small volume. - -The various sources of the waters here differ but little in their -chemical, physical, or even thermal properties. The water is limpid, and -does not become turbid by standing, nor does it disengage bubbles of gas -or air, with the exception of the Gartenquelle. The temperature varies -from 120° Fahrenheit (the Hauptquelle), to 80° (the Gartenquelle). The -tunnels and reservoirs over which the waters pass become coated with -a brownish-yellow substance, composed chiefly of silex and acidulated -oxide of iron. There are other depositions and incrustations into which -the carbonates of lime and magnesia, as well as manganese and strontia, -enter. In the wells of Steinbad, Stadtbad, and Gartenquelle, there have -been observed various _thermal oscillatoria_. These waters do not present -the same slowness in boiling and cooling that some other hot spas have -evinced. - -The great disproportion between the physiological action and the -chemical composition of the Teplitz waters, has given rise to numerous -speculations, and support the grand argument that there is an occult -quality in mineral waters which defies our minutest chemistry. One thing -is obvious, that these waters are alkaline, saline, and chalybeate—and -consequently that they possess, at one and the same time, solvent and -tonic qualities, which are greatly augmented by their temperature. Dr. -R. very properly investigates their physical and physiological action, -according as they are applied hot, warm, tepid, or cold to the body. They -may be termed hot, when above 100°—very hot when approaching to 120°—warm -at blood-heat (98°)—tepid, when under 90°—and cold at the temperature of -the earth or air. - -The very hot bath (110° to 115°) produces quickly a general excitation -of the circulation and sensibility, like all other hot waters. It -augments the secretions, ending in considerable perspiration—and followed -ultimately by relaxation in the muscular and fibrous systems, and a -general softening of all the solid parts. When the bath is very warm, we -have often, in addition to the foregoing phenomena, oppression at the -chest—anxiety—palpitation—vertigo—dimness of sight—heaviness about the -head—syncope—and even apoplexy. It need hardly be added, that baths at -such a temperature as to induce the foregoing train of symptoms, are very -dangerous, and hardly ever necessary. - -But even at a moderate temperature—96° or 98°—these baths produce, -after a few days, sleeplessness, constipation, great disposition to -perspiration, emaciation, susceptibility to cold or damp, aggravation -of gouty or rheumatic pains, the aching of old wounds, prostration of -strength, &c. These occur about the eighth day, and, after more or less -duration, gradually disappear. After this period, there generally appears -an eruption on the skin, of a whitish yellow or red colour, accompanied -by considerable itching, discharging a watery humour, and finally -desquamating, with occasionally some fever. - -If the baths be continued longer, the prostration and lassitude -increase, accompanied by great irritability and moroseness, loss of -appetite, furred tongue, nausea, fætid eructations, repugnance to the -bath, wandering pains in the limbs—in fine, fever is kindled up, with -inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels. This is -what the Germans call “DAS UEBERBADEN,” or over-bathing—and occurs after -eighteen or twenty baths—sometimes not till after forty or sixty. - -Dr. Richter conceives that, in all cases where it is deemed proper to -stimulate the circulation and the lymphatics—to rouse the energy of -the nervous system when paralyzed—to excite strongly the functions of -the skin—to depurate bad humours—to expel a morbid principle from the -constitution or the internal organs—to relax contracted tendons or -muscles—to reduce abnormal or morbid growths—it will be necessary to -have recourse to the HOT baths of Teplitz, watching their effects, and -moderating their action from time to time, according to circumstances. - -The _warm_ baths (95° to 100°) re-animate the human organism—cause a -sense of comfort (bien-être)—gently excite the circulation—equalize the -excitability of the nervous system—and impart elasticity to the muscles. -They do not cause perspiration: but rather absorption of fluids, internal -as well as external—resolve enlargements of glands or other parts—correct -acidity—prove diuretic—and excite the healthy action of the uterine -system. The symptoms of “OVER-BATHING,” described under the head of hot -baths, less frequently occur, with the warm bath—are more moderate in -degree, when they do occur—and are longer in making their appearance. It -is needless to observe that these are much safer than the hot baths. - -The tepid baths of Teplitz (84° to 94°) diminish nervous -irritability—dispose to sleep—render the respiration slower—soften and -abate the action of the heart and arteries—diminish the size of external -parts—increase the action of the kidneys and internal glands—promote -absorption. With this temperature of the waters, the symptoms of -“over-bathing” seldom appear. It may be remarked, that they have here, -as at Wildbad, baths where the waters rise through the sand at the bottom -of the basin. As the spring is constantly rising and running away, the -temperature cannot be regulated, and those springs are selected for -the sand-baths, where the temperature is about blood-heat. The same -advantages are attached to the sand-baths here, as at Wildbad—namely, -that the waters are always running in and out of the bath, which is kept -at the same degree of heat always. The same advantage attaches to the -stone-baths at Pfeffers, and the latter are, I think, more cleanly—at -least to the imagination. - -The internal use of the Teplitz waters is considered favourable to the -physiological or remedial action of the baths. They have some aperient -properties—promote mucous and other secretions—but their chief action is -on the absorbents, and therefore they are most used in those cases where -there are tumours to be dispersed, or abnormal growths to be removed. -There can be little danger in drinking such pure waters as those of -Teplitz. - -The special or particular maladies for which the waters and baths -of this place have long been renowned, were already stated in the -extract from Dr. Granville. Dr. Richter has dedicated a chapter to -the _modus operandi_ of the Teplitz baths on gout, both local and in -its complications with affections of the digestive organs, lungs, -heart, &c.—on chronic rheumatism, in its various seats, and with -its painful consequences, as swellings of the joints, ankylosis, -muscular contractions, loss of power, &c.—_paralysis_, numbers of -patients affected with which, come annually to Teplitz, to throw -away their crutches, and—“retourner gaiement dans leurs foyers.” -The noise, however, of a brilliant cure too often brings to Teplitz -paralytic sufferers, with organic diseases of the brain or spine, and -therefore beyond the reach of all remedy. Rickets, disease of the -hip-joint, and spinal distortion, are said to be eminently relieved, -and often cured by the Teplitz waters. The same may be said of various -cutaneous diseases, especially in their chronic forms—suppression -of the natural or habitual evacuations—ulcers—disposition to gravel -and stone—old and painful wounds, healed or open—diseases resulting -from metallic fumes—swellings and engorgements of the liver, spleen, -and other abdominal organs—hæmorrhoids—nervous asthma—chronic -sickness—colics—hysteria—hypochondriasis—derangements peculiar to -females—sterility—in short, three fourths of human affections, in their -chronic or tedious conditions! - -The counter-indications are here much the same as at the other thermal -springs—namely, states of plethora, local or general—and all dispositions -to inflammatory or feverish affections. The cautions and precautions need -not be repeated in this place. - -Mud-baths have been established at Teplitz since 1835—one establishment -is at the Stadtbad—the other at the Schlangenbad. The peat-bog it found -to the north of the town, and contains, according to the analysis of -Messrs. Wolf and Pleische, the sulphates, muriates, carbonates, and -humates of soda—lime—magnesia—iron—and much ulmine and other organic -remains. They are prepared in the same manner as at Franzensbad and other -places, and are much used in cutaneous complaints—rheumatism and gout of -obstinate character—deformities and nodosities, the sequences of these -maladies—neuralgic and paralytic affections—metallic diseases—tumours and -indurations of glandular structures, as of the liver, spleen, mesentery, -ovaries, &c. They are wisely forbidden in organic diseases of the heart -and other vital viscera, in high grades of nervous irritability, and in -all predispositions to hæmorrhages, on account of their high powers of -stimulation. An English lady of rank was using them here, and spoke in -high terms of their salutary effects. - - -TOPOGRAPHY. - -The town of Teplitz is not very interesting. The street that leads -from the MARKET-PLACE to the PLACE DU CHATEAUX, is chiefly composed of -hotels—none of them of first-rate character. From the Prince de Clairy’s -palace (which looks like a cotton-factory in Manchester) we turn down -an abrupt little street to the great bathing-places—including the -Herrenhaus, and the gardens behind, where the waters are drunk by a very -few persons. The gardens behind the Prince de Clairy’s residence are -umbrageous and pleasant; but the masses of stagnant, or almost stagnant, -green water, amongst them, are neither agreeable to the eye nor healthy -to the constitution. - -The neighbourhood of Teplitz is very beautiful and picturesque. A walk -of fifteen minutes up a steep ascent from the Herrenhaus takes us to the -SPITALBERG, from the summit of which, where there is an imitation of a -ruin, a fine view may be taken of Teplitz and the surrounding country -for twenty miles in every direction. A still finer and more extensive -view is had from the SCHLOSSBERG, two miles distant from Teplitz, and -mounted without much difficulty. The mountain is crowned with the old -ruin of a strong castle, from which a magnificent panorama is seen. To -the South-East we contemplate Boreslau, and the numerous conical heads of -the Mittlegebirge mountains, as far as Aussig, where the silver Elbe is -seen flowing along.—To the North-East is the long line of the Erzgeberg -(Metalliferous) mountains, the frontiers of Saxony—while directly North, -the battle-field of Culm, with its three brazen monuments, lies stretched -before us, with all its historical associations and recollections of the -brave but bloody deeds which were there enacted, even in our own days! - -The history of the Schlossberg is veiled in obscurity. It was a rebel’s -or perhaps a robber’s citadel, some eight hundred years ago; but has -been a mass of ruins since the time of the Hussites. It was partially -rebuilt, in the fifteenth century, by John de Wresowec, and its praises -were chanted by the poet MITIS. - - ——Cujusdam refulgent - Mænia vixque non attingentia nubes, - Quæ WRESOWICHIA jecit de stirpe Joannes. - -The walls which then “all but reached the clouds,” have now, all but -crumbled into dust, like Wresowec and all his ancestors and descendants! -It was from this ruin that the Emperor of Russia, the Emperor of Austria -and King of Prussia surveyed, with no small anxiety—perhaps fear—the -great events that passed underneath them on the field of Culm. - -Upon the whole, Teplitz may be considered as the most fashionable -bathing-place in all Germany—scarcely a season passing, without crowned -heads and flocks of nobility coming here to rid themselves of bodily -infirmities or cares of the mind. - - -_Translation of a Note received from Dr. Richter, of Teplitz, (by Mr. -Spitta) dated 18th Sept. 1840._ - -MY DEAR SIR,—In my little work on the waters of this place, I find I -have entirely omitted to mention the subject of PARALYSIS, occasioned -by mechanical injuries, and especially those which sometimes follow -difficult accouchements. On this topic, Dr. Siebold, one of the most -eminent obstetrical practitioners in Germany, has published his opinions, -and strongly recommends the baths of Teplitz, as more efficacious than -any other remedy. - -I omitted also, in my “ENVIRONS OF TEPLITZ,” to allude to the mineral -waters of Püllna, Sedlitz, and Saidschitz, so celebrated all over Europe, -and which are situated at four leagues from Teplitz, on the Carlsbad -road. The village of Püllna lies in a beautiful plain, two or three -hundred yards from the Chaussee, on the right; and the mineral springs -themselves are close to the road. I refer you to Mr. Spitta for further -particulars. - -P.S.—A rail-road is forming between Dresden and Prague, to run by -Teplitz. This will render the communication between London, Teplitz, and -Carlsbad, extremely easy and quick. - -I am, dear Sir, - - Your’s truly, - - THEODORE L. RICHTER, M.D. - -_Teplitz, 18th Sept. 1840._ - - -_Extract of a Paper of Mr. Spitta’s on the Waters of Püllna, &c._ - -Within a morning’s drive from Teplitz, are situated three mineral -springs, little known, yet in many respects extremely interesting—Püllna, -Saidschitz, and Sedlitz. They all yield a water of a similar nature, rich -in the sulphates of magnesia and soda; and which is so peculiarly bitter, -as to have acquired the title of “Bitterwasser.” - -Having heard so much of this bitterwasser in Germany, and of the powders -of Sedlitz at home, I was anxious to ascertain the true nature of the -springs; and see if they really afforded a mineral water so agreeable -and salutary as we get in England by dissolving our “genuine _Sedlitz_ -powders.” I proposed an excursion, and Dr. Richter, of Teplitz, with his -usual urbanity, kindly accompanied me. - -So near as Teplitz is to these springs, it will doubtless appear strange -to others as it did to me, that, no one, not even the people at the -post-office, where we ordered the carriage, could tell us their exact -position. So great a traffic! so much Sedlitz salt prepared! one hardly -knew how to account for such ignorance. Püllna, indeed, they had heard -of; for, being on the road from Carlsbad to Teplitz, it could not well -have been overlooked; Saidschitz was conceived, by possibility, to exist; -but, as to poor Sedlitz, where all our powders come from, its very -existence was denied; nor was it, till we were within a mile, that we -learnt its situation from a few wandering peasants. - -I may mention a few of the general characters of these bitterwasser -springs before noticing each separately. Their method of formation is -peculiar. Large circular holes are dug into a stratum of earth, which -contains the saline ingredients; in these the rain-water is allowed to -collect: it dissolves the salts, and yields the bitterwasser. It is -really very remarkable, that a stratum of soil should be found containing -so large an amount of saline ingredient; and not the less singular, that -it is of so limited an extent; thus, at Saidschitz, it has a diameter -of about a quarter to half a mile; and a well dug beyond this area will -yield no bittersalz. The soil is easily recognized by its yellow-white -colour, and by the fact that nothing grows upon it. The plautago indeed, -and some species of hieracea (hawk’s weed) exist there; and I had the -curiosity to bring home a specimen of the former plant, because the man -who had been some years in charge of the wells at Saidschitz, knew the -character of the soil, and judged of the propriety of sinking another -well in any given spot, by its presence or absence. - -In a geological point of view, these springs are not without interest. -They are, if I may be allowed so botanical a comparison, a completely -different genus of the great class “mineral spring.” It has been -asserted, that mineral springs in general are formed by solution of -the salts in the neighbouring mountains, by the rain-water which -passes through them. This opinion, for many reasons, has _seemed_ to -me erroneous; but these springs furnish a _proof_ by analogy, of great -weight. For here are springs really formed by such an artificial method; -and what happens? The soil furnishes (which is not the case with the soil -in the neighbourhood of any other springs) the same water by artificial -digestion. The late Dr. Struve succeeded in this manner in forming a -very capital Püllna. Again, these springs formed so artificially are -uninfluenced, like others, by volcanic shocks, and earthquakes. The -Hauptquelle, at Teplitz, stopped for a moment, during the earthquake at -Lisbon, and then rushed forth with redoubled violence. Many other sources -also have been similarly affected. Indeed, from Lyall’s account, it -seems to be no uncommon circumstance: and new ones have even risen into -existence, at such awful crises. On they go, however, the bitter springs, -from year to year, totally regardless. They have no fixed temperature; -because, as I presume, they are not in connexion with the centre of the -earth. They have no fixed level of water, from the same cause. They vary, -on the contrary, like all other common springs at the surface, with the -temperature of the atmosphere, and the quantity of water which percolates -the earth to supply them. - - -SAIDSCHITZ. - -The first we visited was Saidschitz, about three hours drive from -Teplitz: and I would advise none but those anxiously desirous of medical -observation, to venture there. The road is shocking; at one part I was -walking, whilst my friend Dr. Richter was reclining in the carriage. -Suddenly a large rut appeared, and I feel convinced, that, had not the -coachman and myself propped up the side of the carriage, which was -falling towards us, it would, with all its professional contents, have -been quietly precipitated. - -Arrived at length, and eager to taste the water, of which so much had -been said, I swallowed some of the most nauseous physic it is possible -to prescribe. Instead of the nice saline draught which _our_ Sedlitz -powder makes, of tartrate of soda and potash, rendered even effervescent -by the succeeding additions of carbonated soda and tartaric acid, the -bitterwasser of Saidschitz consists of a strong solution of Epsom and -Glauber’s salts; and I need not say that the term “bitterwasser” is most -appropriately applied. There are twenty-two wells at Saidschitz, all -capable of furnishing a large quantity of water, though few only are in -actual use. They are included, as I previously said, within an area of -about a quarter of a mile; and each well is covered with a small wooden -shed, like a hay-cock. When drawn, the water is quite clear, and without -any bubbles of carbonic acid. It has no smell, but a slightly brown -color, depending on the presence of a peculiar acid, termed by Berzelius -the “_chrenic_” (χρηνη, source). It undergoes no alteration by standing. - -Most of these properties would have been anticipated from an inspection -of the following analysis[83] published by Professor Berzelius. - -Sixteen ounces contain, - - Sulphate of soda 46.8019 - Sulphate of potash 4.0965 - Sulphate of magnesia 84.1666 - Sulphate of lime 10.0776 - Chloride of magnesium 2.1696 - Iodide of magnesium .0368 - Nitrate of magnesia 25.1715 - Carbonate of magnesia 3.9858 - Chrenate of magnesia 1.0667 - Oxyde of iron and manganese .0192 - Oxyde of tin with traces of oxyde of copper .0307 - Silica .0360 - Bromine and fluorine traces - Ammonia traces - -------- - 177.6589 - -------- - -The water is not allowed to be bottled at Saidschitz, but is sent to -Bilin, a little town about two hours drive from Teplitz, for that purpose. - -Saidschitz salt however is prepared there in considerable quantities. -The water is evaporated to a proper degree of concentration, when the -three sulphates of soda, potash, and magnesia, crystallize. They present -crystals of large size. Again dissolved and concentrated, the latter salt -is separated from the two former by its greater solubility; and the new -solution, when crystallized, furnishes the Saidschitz salt—a tolerably -pure sulphate of magnesia. The popular term in Germany for sulphate -of magnesia corresponding to our “Epsom salt” is “bittersalz;” but it -is known also as Saidschitz and Püllna salz; so that, if you enter a -chemist’s, and demand a salt with either of the above titles, he will -supply you from a certain bottle, labelled sal-amarum. If you ask for -Sedlitz-salt, he will smile at your ignorance, and quietly tell you he -does not keep it; and for this, we shall presently see, there is the very -best of reasons. The prince is said to get about 1200 florins of good -Austrian money annually by his salt making. - - -SEDLITZ. - -It is but a quarter of an hour’s drive from Saidschitz to Sedlitz; a name -better known, perhaps, in England, than that of any other spa in Germany. -For who has not had a Sedlitz? a _genuine_ Sedlitz? or who has not bought -a box of these powders, with the acid in the blue and the alkali in the -white paper? as though the wondrous spring could produce a salt, acid or -alkaline, at the pleasure of the chemist who dispensed it? - -Large manufactories indeed must be there! and how thriving a village -Sedlitz must be!! A few miserable hovels, however, soon undeceive you, -tenanted by the poorest of the poor. There are nine springs, not separate -from the village of the same name, as at Saidschitz, but interspersed -among the houses; and really it requires no small discernment to -distinguish which are dwelling-houses, and which represent the wooden -sheds covering the wells. Spring, No. 2, is the only one in use; and -well, No. 2, the only one supplied with a bucket. The bucket was lowered -by a rope and windlass (just conceive how civilized a bath-place); and -brought up, full of water, for our inspection. I was not caught twice; -I did not venture to taste this Bitterwasser with so much rashness. Its -taste, color, and other physical properties, are exactly similar to -those of Saidschitz-water, except that they are rather less marked, from -its containing a smaller quantity of mineral ingredients. The following -analysis by Professor Steinmann will be interesting. - -Sixteen ounces contain, - - Sulphate of soda 17.446 - Sulphate of potash 4.414 - Sulphate of magnesia 79.555 - Sulphate of lime 4.144 - Chloride of magnesium 1.061 - Carbonate of magnesia 0.201 - Carbonate of lime 5.297 - Carbonate of stronthian .009 - Carbonate of protoxyde of iron and manganese, alumina, - silica and extractive .050 - ------- - 112.177 grs. - ------- - Carbonic acid gas 3.461 grs. - -But where is the salt-manufactory, asked Dr. Richter? The woman was -astonished—she knew not, nor had she ever heard of such a thing, although -she had been in charge of the wells for thirty years. Her aged mother -solved the difficulty. About thirty-three years ago. Prince Lobkowitz -rented Sedlitz of the “ordre des chevaliers de l’etoile rouge,” and then -a salt apparatus was in action. Finding, I presume, that Saidschitz was -a more prolific source of bittersalz, he stopped the process at Sedlitz; -so that absolutely, for the thirty-three long years that we have been -drinking and enjoying our _genuine_ Sedlitz powders, not a single atom of -salt has been prepared. - -But it is said, Saidschitz salt has been prepared, it imports little, -that the mere name should have been mis-spelt. I answer—truly; a mere -verbal error is of no moment; but when it is found, that the salt of -Saidschitz and Sedlitz waters is sulphate of magnesia or Epsom salts; -and when further it is observed, that the renowned Sedlitz powders are -composed, for the most part, of Rochelle salt, or the triple tartrate -of potash and soda, I confess, it seems that more than a verbal error is -committed. - -Like Saidschitz, the waters of Sedlitz are bottled at the establishment -of Prince Lobkowitz, at Bilin. Some is sent into Germany; by far the -greater part goes to Paris; none to England. The bottles are known by -the peculiar manner in which they are stopped; they have metal collars -round the necks, on which metal caps are screwed. It is a singular -circumstance, that, at Teplitz, not a single bottle of Sedlitz water -could be obtained. - -Before quitting Prince Lobkowitz and his springs, I may notice another -ingenious application of the Saidschitz water. At Bilin there is a -mineral spring, containing the carbonate of soda, about 23 grains in -the pint. The result is anticipated. It is concentrated considerably by -evaporation, and mixed with the Saidschitz water, also much concentrated; -a double decomposition of the proximate elements of the carbonate of soda -in the one, and the sulphate of magnesia in the other water, ensues: and -a very capital carbonate magnesia is precipitated. The prince is said -to add 500 more florins of good Austrian money to his income by this -preparation. - - -PÜLLNA, - -The last of the three bitter springs, lying on the road from Carlsbad -to Teplitz, is the property of the village of that name, close by, but -is rented at present, by a private individual. Compared with the two -former, it is quite an elegant spot. There is even a small white hotel -opposite the wells; where, if fortune smiles, and you are in time for -Table-d’hôte, you may get a dinner; but if not, you must fare, as we did, -on “butter-brod.” It contains, moreover, a few baths, supplied with water -from the springs; and one patient, Baron Christophe de Campenhausen, with -his medical attendant, was resident there for the cure. An attempt at -a registry of the visitors is also made. About thirty people, perhaps, -may have seen Püllna, certainly not more than half a dozen English. Of -the three bittersprings, the waters of Püllna have been by far the most -drank—it is said that 300,000 of the Püllna dumpty bottles are annually -circulated. Bittersalz is also made here in considerable quantity. - -The wells are scattered over a larger area than either at Saidschitz or -Sedlitz; but have the same odd appearance. The physical characters of -a bitterwasser, its yellow tint, oily consistence, and horribly bitter -taste, are here most strongly marked. The last analysis (which I obtained -at Püllna) is by Dr. Ticinus, professor of chemistry at Dresden; and it -will be seen how extremely concentrated a water it is. - -Sixteen ounces contain— - - Sulphate of soda 10.125 - Sulphate of potash 82.720 - Sulphate of magnesia 96.975 - Sulphate of lime .800 - Chloride magnesium 19.120 - Bromide magnesium .588 - Carbonate of magnesia 2.280 - Carbonate of lime .760 - Carbonate of iron traces - Nitrate of magnesia 4.602 - Crenate of magnesia 4.640 - Phosphate of soda .290 - ------- - 222.900 - ------- - Carbonic acid gas .49 cubic inches. - -I shall add but one word on the medical properties of the bitterwassers. -As a glance at the analyses would anticipate, they are solvent and -diuretic. They are aperient, however, without being at the same time -stimulating; as is the case with the Salzbrunn at Franzensbad, from its -abundance of carbonic acid, and with the Carlsbad water, from its heat. -They, especially the Püllna, which is employed the most frequently, are -too strong to be taken pure. One-third to the half of a dumpty bottle, -with an equal quantity of luke-warm water, will be found an efficient and -tolerably palatable dose. A medicine of this kind, repeated regularly -every morning, is of the greatest advantage to persons habitually costive -from sluggishness of action in the muscular fibre of the intestine, -brought on by sedentary lives, much study at late hours, &c. If this -state be accompanied with hæmorrhoids, the remedy, from its gentle -effect, is still more valuable. In congested states of the liver and -spleen, they are efficient; blood is determined to the intestine, to -the relief of the portal vessels. In actual jaundice, they are even -prescribed with advantage. - -In mentioning the leading properties of these bittersprings, I do not -think I should be inclined (were he willing) to send a patient there; for -I should expect to hear, either that he had been upset in his journey, or -starved on his arrival. But I have another motive. From the very nature -of the water, containing so little carbonic acid, and so little iron, it -can be imitated with great success. I saw Struve’s process at Dresden; -and I have taken that made at the Brighton spa, with all the effect of -the original and genuine Püllna. It seemed to me a remedy worthy of more -patronage than it had hitherto received. - -Finally, I would not wish, from what I have said, to depreciate the -character of our very old and tried friend, the “Sedlitz.” On the -contrary—I hold him in much veneration. One word only I would add to his -title—I would call him the “GENUINE (LONDON) SEDLITZ POWDER.” - - ROBERT J. SPITTA. - -P.S.—I may as well state here, for the information of travellers, and -especially of invalids, the ready means of communication that now exist, -independent of the rail-road abovementioned. - - From Teplitz to Tetchen 4 hours. - From Tetchen (through the heart of Saxon Switzerland by - steamer) to Dresden 12 ” - From Dresden to Magdeburg (passing through Leipzig—rail-road) 8 ” - Magdeburg to Hamburg (steam) 14 ” - Hamburg to London 48 ” - --- - Total 86 hours. - --- - -The whole run may be done in six days; the traveller sleeping every night -in his bed, and undergoing no fatigue whatever in the day. The opposite -course will require an additional day, on account of the stream of the -Elbe, but may be performed with great ease by all, to whom economy of -time, money, and bodily exertion is of any moment. It is only an easy -day’s journey from Teplitz to Carlsbad, and 24 miles from thence to -Marienbad. The route through Saxon Switzerland alone, will well repay the -journey, which is almost all by water, and the far greater part by river -steaming, where there is no chance of sea-sickness. In fine, the line of -the Elbe offers, as it were, an invalid carriage, by which the most frail -valetudinarian, or the most crippled victim of gout or rheumatism, may -repair to the great fountains of health in Bohemia, with almost as much -ease as if reposing in an arm-chair. J. J. - - - - -THE ELBE—SAXON SWITZERLAND. TEPLITZ TO TETCHEN. - - -CULM. - -On leaving Teplitz, we pass through a highly picturesque country, full -of mountain scenery, but not of that Alpine grandeur which excludes -fertility, cultivation, and beauty, till we come to the Thermopylæ of -Bohemia—the battle-field of Culm—whose history, though “Ære perennius,” -is yet commemorated by three monuments—the Russian and Prussian dedicated -to the memory of those heroes who fell in the combat—the Austrian, to -the general who turned the fortune of the day—and changed a doubtful -and sanguinary battle into a splendid and decided victory.[84] The -three monuments are of very different stature and dimensions. The first -we come to is the Russian, a Gothic pyramid of cast iron, of great -height, bearing on its summit the figure of Fame. The portrait of the -hero OSTERMAN, who, with 8000 Russians, checked Vandamme and 40,000 -Frenchmen, is sculptured on one side. This monument is like Russia -itself, infinitely more colossal than either of the others. The Prussian, -like its kingdom, is the smallest of all—while the Austrian, is next -in dimensions to the Russian, and dedicated, as was observed, to the -hero who conquered, and not to those who fell in the battle. After all, -this was perhaps the wisest plan. The living hero would feel pride and -pleasure in contemplating the monuments; but, alas! - - “Can storied urn or animated bust - Back to its mansion draw the fleeting breath? - Can honour’s voice provoke the silent dust, - Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death?” - -No! the blood of the brave has, no doubt, fertilized the soil of this -beautiful valley, while the bodies of heroes, who drew their natal breath -on the banks of the Gneiper and the Vistula—the Elbe and the Danube—the -Rhine and the Rhone—the Seine and the Tiber, have served to fatten the -birds and beasts of prey, as well as the mould of mother-earth—migrating -into myriads of new existences, and completing the mysterious circle of -the SAMIAN SAGE! - -When we glance at this infinitessimal speck of human consciousness and -identity, surrounded and swallowed up by the countless cycles of other -and ephemeral modes of existence, we may well marvel that MAN—reasoning -man—should be the only creature on this globe who wages eternal -war—against his own species! One would think that the span of human life -was narrow enough, without abridging or annihilating it by fire, famine, -and the sword! War indeed is a game which— - - ——were their subjects wise, - Kings _could_ not play at. - -It is rather singular that, in our days, at least, though monarchs -occasionally lose their crowns in these games of _hazard_, they rarely -part with their heads at the same time. - -Three Emperors and a King played one of those fearful games of _hazard_ -in the valley of Culm. From the summit of the Schlossberg the royal -Eagles of Austria, Russia, and Prussia beheld, with astonishment, if -not dismay, the sudden and unexpected descent through a gorge in the -Erzebirge mountains, the fierce, the rapacious, and the ferocious -VANDAMME, at the head of forty thousand Frenchmen, flushed with the -victory of Dresden (27th August, 1813) and pouncing on the scattered -troops of the allies in the valley, quite unprepared for such an -unexpected onslaught! The “COCK OF THE NORTH,” and HE of the Danube, -“immediately retired.” Not so the regal bird, with two heads, from -the Elbe and the Oder. He clapped his sable wings, as he snuffed the -sulphurous fumes from the roaring cannon—directed several movements of -the allies below—and presented a wall of steel, to a cloud of cossacks, -flying before the enemy—thus compelling them to face their foes. - -Meanwhile, OSTERMAN and his eight thousand Russians slowly and doggedly -retreated (fighting) before Vandamme and his forty thousand French, -till within two miles of Teplitz, when the Gallic general considered -the crowned heads as inevitably within his grasp! Here the Muscovites -stopped short—wheeled round—and crossed the narrow valley, like an avenue -of knotted oaks that might be borne down or torn up by the furious -storm or lightning’s flash, but never would bend. It was in vain that -the “ferocious” Vandamme brought up line after line of his men against -the northern phalanx. They were repulsed, one after the other, as the -basaltic columns of Staffa repel the onsets of the Atlantic surge! As -individuals fell in the Russian ranks, the lines instantly closed again, -as if by a vital and instinctive movement of the whole body! When the -last column of Vandamme had failed to break the Russian phalanx, the -furious and disconcerted Frank retreated in his turn, and encamped on the -field of Culm for the night. This gave time for the panic-stricken and -disordered allies to collect, combine, and arrange for the grand struggle -of the coming day. The dawn (30th August) had not yet unveiled the peaks -of the surrounding mountains, when all were ready and panting for the -sanguinary conflict. - - By torch and trumpet soon array’d, - Each horseman drew his battle-blade, - And furious every charger neigh’d, - To join the dreadful revelry. - - Then flew the steed, to battle driv’n— - Then shook the hills, with thunder riven— - And louder than the bolts of heaven, - Far flash’d the red artillery! - -The allies under Schwartzenburg may now have outnumbered the French -under Vandamme, but their _morale_ was depressed by the recent disasters -at Dresden, and their _physique_ exhausted by their almost superhuman -exertions in dragging their cannon, baggage, and ammunition over the -rugged summits of the Bohemian mountains. On the other hand, the French -were elated beyond measure by the recent and successive victories of -Lutzen, Botzen, and Dresden—but still more by the star of Napoleon, -which was now rising, like a Phœnix from the ashes of Moscow, and -approaching its second zenith on the banks of the Elbe. Daylight, -however, had scarcely enabled the armies to distinguish friend from -foe, when they rushed simultaneously into mortal conflict. Vandamme lay -between a great crescent of the allies on the West, and the towery ridge -of Erzeberg in his rear, and from which he had descended the preceding -morning. The “fiery Frank” fought like a tiger encompassed and goaded -by hunters—while the “furious HUN” successfully repelled his repeated -efforts to break the line of the allies, and even drove him nearer and -nearer to the mountain behind. The pass of the Erzeberg, through which -Vandamme descended into the valley, now presented the only opening by -which he could effect his egress out of it. The order for retreat was -given; but what was the surprize of the French on entering the defile -from below, when they beheld a body of Prussians enter it from above! The -surprize and consternation, however, were mutual. Kleist, who, with five -or six thousand Prussians, had been wandering among the mountains since -the disaster of Dresden, and who was now hurrying to Teplitz to join the -allies, was thunderstruck to see the French scrambling up the defile to -meet him, and considered his retreat as cut off. Vandamme looked upon -himself as in precisely the same predicament. Kleist knew that the French -columns were pressing onward in his rear—Vandamme knew full well that the -Austro-Prusso-Russian army was close at his heels. The object of each -corps in the defile was therefore to cut through its opponent, and escape -in the direction of its friends. Under these impressions, they rushed -into tumultuous combat, and were soon mingled in inextricable confusion. -The officers of one corps were sometimes in the midst of the soldiery of -the other, and _vice versa_—all fighting pell-mell like two hostile mobs, -without order or command—individually rather than collectively—often -wresting the arms from their opponents, and fighting with the weapons of -their enemies! So desperate a struggle on such a precipitous pass, was -never, perhaps, witnessed since the days of Leonidas in the Straits of -Thermopylæ! The Prussians had the vantage ground, inasmuch as their own -weight gave them an increased momentum in rushing down the declivity—the -French had greatly the advantage in numbers, both in horse and foot; but -Kleist prevailed, and Vandamme and his army were hurled back into the -valley below, when the allies closed round them and the Gallic Eagles -surrendered! - -On the field of Culm the sable wing of destiny threw a shade over the -star of Napoleon, which never afterwards regained its splendour, or -stayed its downward course, till it sunk in the far Atlantic. On the -plains of Marne and Waterloo, indeed,[85] that star emitted some vivid -corruscations; but they only tended to exhaust its fire and accelerate -its fall! - - -TETCHEN. - -Full of ruminations on the vicissitudes of human life—the vanity of -man’s hopes—and the nothingness of his works—we drove through a highly -picturesque valley, at the foot of the last range of the Bohemian -mountains, till we suddenly debouched on the silvery Elbe, at the -bustling and boating little town of Tetchen. The first object which -arrested our attention was a huge pile of white buildings standing on a -bold and jutting promontory some seven or eight hundred feet above the -right bank of the river, with thrice as many windows in its walls as -there were eyes in the head of Argus. Various were our conjectures as -to whether the edifice before us was an immense barrack, an overgrown -convent, where half the daughters of Bohemia might prepare for another -world, or a great factory? Even the oracular authority of the “RED-BOOK” -could not persuade us that it was a palace. The river at this place -is always crowded with boats of all shapes and sizes laden with -merchandize—chiefly hewn stone from the rocky banks, and timber from -the pine-clad mountains. We had some difficulty in getting the carriage -along between a precipice on the left, and the stream on our right, but -at length got safely housed in the JOSEPHSBAD Hotel—“in one of the most -romantic situations which the banks of the river Elbe afford.”—_Murray._ -Here we learnt that the great pile of building was actually the palace -or castle of Count Thun, and crossing the ferry we scrambled up through -a straggling town to the rear of the castle, and then climbed up a road -of rock that led to the chateau, and which was steep enough for goats, -though the tracks of wheels, worn in the smooth and precipitous stone, -shewed that less agile animals than the ibex had dragged their weary -way to the summit. The view from the castle is remarkably picturesque, -though rather hemmed in by hills, rocks, and mountains—the winding Elbe -soon disappearing in the dark ravines of SAXON SWITZERLAND. Count Thun’s -library is, I believe, the great lion of the castle; but as I never -could derive much amusement or information from a survey of the backs of -books, we returned to our eagle’s nest, the Josephsbad, and slept sound -over the murmuring Elbe. There is a chalybeate spring here of some local -reputation, and certainly an invalid could not easily select a more -romantic spot for the restoration of health than Tetchen. - -We embarked in a gondola early in the morning, and immediately entered -“SAXON SWITZERLAND,” a tract of country extending from Tetchen to the -neighbourhood of Dresden, and perfectly unique in character, bearing -little or no resemblance to Switzerland, or to any other country in the -world through which I have passed. It has none of the snowy solitudes, -the sparkling glaciers, or the majestic altitude of the Alps; but it -has a geographical and geological physiognomy, of which there is “nil -simile aut secundum” on this globe. The river runs through a gorge, which -is, in fact, a gigantic excavation—a huge crevasse—a profound chasm, in -the rocky bed of an antediluvian ocean, disclosing glimpses of “the -world before the flood,” and letting out some of the “secrets of the -prison-house.” Whether this ocean-bed was raised from its dark abyss by -the agency of subterranean fire, or was left uncovered by the subsidence -of the superincumbent sea, may admit of question; but no doubt can be -entertained as to the formation of those rocky walls that now rise a -thousand feet high on each side of the stream. They are piled, layer -over layer, in strata of different thickness and different density—but -all as horizontal as the ocean under which they once lay. They were all, -therefore, depositions from the sea, and considering that most of these -strata are hard enough to form millstones, imagination is lost in the -vain attempt to estimate the countless ages that must have rolled away -during the deposition and consolidation of even a single stratum—how many -millions of years, then, must it have required to form layer over layer, -of this immense crust, at the bottom of the ocean, leaving aside the -unknown intervals that must have elapsed between the various deposits!! -Again, the elevation of the earth, or the subsidence of the waters, so as -to produce the complete denudation of this rocky district, could not but -occupy ages of ages. In whatever way this long chain of stratifications -took place, it is quite evident that it was long subjected to powerful -currents. The layers are all grooved and furrowed _horizontally_, in the -line of the river, and not _perpendicularly_, as by rains descending -along their sides. It is true they are often split perpendicularly and -irregularly; but this is quite the work of time and decay—not at all -like the horizontal smoothing, the consequence of long-continued watery -friction. Some travellers have supposed that the river Elbe has hewn its -way through these rocks and formed the huge ravine on the principle— - - “Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed sæpe cadendo.” - -But as the very summits of the rock (800 feet high) shew the same proofs -of horizontal “wear and tear” as the lowest strata, what must have -been the state of the surrounding country, when the Elbe was 800 feet -above its present level? It was covered with water, and the grooves -in the rocks were the effects of currents, not rivers—in other words, -they are _diluvial_ and not _fluvial_ phenomena. But the banks of this -stream are not the only places here which exhibit proofs and records of -a deluge. The neighbouring country, especially on the right bank, and -where no rivers exist, is studded with “fragments of an earlier world,” -all bearing the same marks of watery attrition, from their highest to -their lowest strata. Although many of these “splinter’d pinnacles,” -are columnar in shape, they are tabular in construction—all shewing -horizontal strata (where they have not tumbled down), and all evincing a -greater wear and tear of the interstitial materials between the layers, -than of the layers themselves—another proof of the lateral and not -perpendicular action of the waters by which they were worn smooth. - -We descended slowly in our gondola, the day being splendidly clear, -and the wind blowing fresh against us, which retarded our progress, -but favoured our examination of the infinitely varied scenery in this -romantic gorge. At Neidergrund, on the left bank, we were stopped by the -last Austrian Douane, for examination of passports; and then continued -our descent. At this place, however, there is a huge fragment of rock -which must have rolled from the adjacent cliff, at some remote period, -but which is now perfectly smooth in every part of its surface, from -the friction of the floods. In this stone, there is also a polished -excavation, with a narrow door, in which, it is said, a pious hermit -once resided. Hence its name—“MONCHENSTEIN.” It is worth examining while -the tardy Douanier is poring over your passport, and filling unmeaning -columns in his musty journals. - -A league farther on, where the right bank rises like a wall to a -stupendous height, and demonstrating the stratifications with peculiar -distinctness, we come to a huge pile of buildings, overhung by massive -crags of rocks, and forming a douane, police-station, and hotel. Here -we encounter the Saxon Custom-house, where our trunks were opened and -examined—an operation which was never once performed by Prussian, -Bavarian, or Austrian, during our whole journey. And here I must do the -Austrians, who are represented as so very _austere_ in their police and -douanes, the justice to say that, in no part of their dominions did we -ever experience the slightest interruption or inconvenience in respect to -passports; nor did they ever ask us for the key of a trunk on entering, -travelling through, or quitting their territories. - -From this place (Herrnskretchen), excursions are often made, by -people who have plenty of time on their hands, to the summit of the -“WINTERBERG,” where a very extensive prospect of Saxon Switzerland and -the Bohemian ranges is obtained. The mountain prospect is hardly worth -the toil of the mountain journey. Better prospects are obtained from -two points to be presently noticed, where the view, though not quite so -wide, is infinitely more distinct and striking, and where the points -themselves possess the highest degree of interest, which the summit of -the Winterberg does not. The PREBERCHTHOR, however, a league and a half -from Herrnskretchen, is worth seeing. It is a gigantic natural arch of -rock, exhibiting well the stratified formation, and looking like the -portal of some enchanted castle, being 60 ells (French) in height, the -same in breadth, and 30 in depth. The arch itself is 1400 feet and more -above the level of the sea. The summit, or key-stone of the arch forms a -kind of narrow slanting platform, 30 or 40 feet in length, from which a -romantic prospect opens on the view. - -The Kuhstall (or cow-house) is another natural arch, where the strata of -rock appear to be somewhat bent as they stride over the aperture below. -Various other “disjecta membra” of an antediluvian world are scattered -about between the Winterberg and Schandau. - -We remained but a short time at Schandau; and, after dinner, hired a -gondola, where a female rowed manfully against the breeze, assisted by -her husband and brother, and in a couple of hours we reached - - -KŒNIGSTEIN. - -This is one of the lions of Saxon Switzerland—a kind of jung-frau -fortress that has never yielded to shot, shell, or escalade. It is -situated on the left bank of the river, near the town of Kœnigstein, from -whence we ascended by a long and steep road that required full an hour -before we arrived at the gate of this impregnable fortress. The Saxon -war minister being governor of Kœnigstein, our passports procured us -admission, with an orderly to shew us round. One of the most prominent -features of this country is, the projection from its surface of numerous -truncated cones of the same kind of stratified rock which compose the -banks of the Elbe. They rise almost perpendicularly from plain or hill, -to various heights of one hundred to seven or eight hundred feet, with -a flat surface on the top, like a sugar-loaf with its upper third cut -off. Kœnigstein is one of the largest of these natural forts, and the -strongest. It springs from an elevated ground, and is at least fifteen -hundred feet above the level of the Elbe that flows at its base. The -walls are not columnar, but masses of horizontal strata piled upon one -another, precisely like those composing the banks of the river, the -highest as well as lowest layers presenting the same horizontal “wear -and tear,” produced by the action of long-continued currents of water. -The plateau on the summit of this antediluvian citadel occupies a space -of two or three acres, which, considering the locality, supports a good -deal of vegetation, trees, and fruit. Excavations in the rock serve -as bomb-proofs for provisions, ammunition, and military barracks, if -assailed. The plateau is encircled by a coronet of cannon and mortars, -and in the spaces between the embrasures, immense heaps of stones are -piled up, to be hurled on the heads of those who ventured to approach -the rocky ramparts of this aerial fortress. Down through the centre of -the rock a well is bored to the depth of 1800 feet, and from this source -an abundant supply of excellent water is drawn up by a wheel, like a -tread-mill, worked, or rather walked, by half a dozen soldiers. In the -centre of the plateau there is a circus, where the governor with one of -his aide-de-camps was galloping round, for air and exercise. - -We made the entire circuit of the ramparts, and from these the most -extensive views are taken in every direction, embracing scenery so -strange, romantic, and beautiful, that no language can do it justice—nor -pencil neither! At its eastern base flows the winding Elbe, and directly -opposite, on the other side of the stream, rises LILIENSTEIN, about -three miles distant from Kœnigstein, and of a precisely similar shape -and composition. A German prince, who was also a Polish king, had the -courage and dexterity to scale the _Lilienstein_, and was so proud of -the exploit, that he commemorated it by an inscription near the place of -ascent. Napoleon, in one of his German forays, succeeded, with incredible -labour and difficulty, to elevate some guns to the summit of this -gigantic rock, in order to batter Kœnigstein, but his labour was lost, -for the shot fell short of the sister fortress. But Kœnigstein might -have laughed at Bonaparte even if his cannon could have swept the houses -from the plateau of the Saxon strong-hold. It would have remained as -impregnable as ever. The view from this spot takes in the whole or nearly -the whole of Saxon Switzerland, and extends to thirty or forty miles in -every direction—from the Winterberg to DRESDEN, the towers of which are -plainly visible. All the peculiar rocks in the shape of truncated cones, -as well as those masses of pillars and cliffs about the Bastei, are -distinctly seen from Kœnigstein. Mr. Russell has the following passage in -his work on Germany. - -“The striking feature is, that in the bosom of this amphitheatre, a plain -of the most varied beauty, huge columnar hills start up at once from the -ground, at great distances from each other, overlooking in lonely and -solemn grandeur, each its own portion of the domain. _They are monuments -which the Elbe has left standing to commemorate his triumph over their -less hardy kindred._ The most remarkable among them are the Lilienstein -and Kœnigstein, which tower, nearly in the centre of the plain, to a -height of above 1200 feet above the Elbe.” - -I have marked a sentence, in italics, because it conveys an erroneous -idea. It may be poetical; but it is not philosophical. If the Elbe was -the Deluge, or the Deluge was the Elbe, all well. But I think Mr. Russell -would hardly contend for this identity. The fact is, that the DELUGE wore -away the softer parts from around Kœnigstein, Lilienstein, and all the -other Steins, ten thousand, or, more likely, ten million of years before -the Elbe was born! The diminutive stream of the river merely conducted -its rills from the mountains through the bottom of the chasm hollowed out -by the mighty currents of an antediluvian ocean. - -It required two hours to visit the cloud-capt towers and frowning -battlements of this impregnable citadel, whose walls were not built by -human hands, but constructed beneath the waters of some mighty deep. -The magnificent and singular scenery which everywhere bursts on the -astonished eye from the cannon-crown’d crest of Kœnigstein, can never be -erased from the memory. - -We descended from the fortress to the town, tired, hunger’d, but highly -gratified by the excursion. Fickle Fortune is not always profuse of -her gifts. The feast of the eye this day was purchased by a fast of -the stomach. Notwithstanding the care we had taken to order the “HUHN -GEBRATEN,” the “SCHINKEN,” the “KARTOFLEN,” and other little matters -for dinner, all of which were civilly promised, with a hearty “ja wohl -mynheer,” into the bargain; yet, to our mortification, up came the -infernal or at least the eternal dish—mutton-chops, composed of old meat -pounded into a paste, squeezed into a mould, fried with butter, covered -with flour, and pierced with the ribs of some “_schaf_” that might have -been slaughtered the preceding year! Remonstrance was vain, and complaint -was unavailing. Dish after dish was returned untouched—and dish after -dish of the _same materials_, came back again, in other forms! With a -sorrowful heart and an empty stomach, I called to mind the first line of -Ovid’s Metamorphoses— - - “In _nova_, fert animus, _mutatas_ dicere _formas_, - _Corpora_.” - -As a forlorn hope, we requested some cheese; when, lo, after a quarter -of an hour’s expectation, in came a wedge exhaling such a complication -of all horrible and unutterable odours, that we were glad to launch -it out of the window among the pigs—and even they scampered off in -all directions at the sight, sound, and smell of this unexpected -and apparently unwelcome visitor! Good comes out of evil. This last -consummation of our miseries fortunately obliterated our appetites -as effectually as a fit of sea-sickness in a gale of wind. The beds -were as bad as the board, and the smell of the cheese seemed to have -called forth myriads of the most minute, agile, and animated beings, -who appeared to _leap_ and skip with joy, over our beds and round our -dormitory—but whether in search of the savoury “kase,” or bent on more -sanguinary depredations, I will not pretend to decide. This I know, that -the frolicksome gambols of these black and saltant imps conduced but -very little to sleep, notwithstanding the lightness of our supper. Mr. -Murray says that the INN at Kœnigstein is “tolerable.” It may be so, but -the INMATES are intolerable! I do not think that Horace spent a worse -night in the Pontine fens, when he was assailed, on one side by the “mali -culices,” and on the other, by the “ranæ palustres.” We had not the -“_mali culices_,” it is true—but we had far worse customers, the _mali -pulices!!_ In fine, it was the “frogs and flies” of Treponti in Italy, -_versus_ the “fleas and cheese” of Kœnigstein in Germany. I would pit the -_latter_ against the _former_ any Summer’s night of the year! - - - - -THE BASTEI. - - -We left Kœnigstein early on a beautiful morning in our gondola, and in -two hours we were housed in New Raden, at the foot of the BASTEI. Having -procured a guide, we commenced a laborious and steep zig-zag ascent -towards the summit of the arch-lion of Saxon Switzerland. It required an -hour or nearly so, to accomplish this task—each tourniquet of the ascent -opening out more and more extended and splendid prospects. At length we -got into the “regio petrea,” or stony region—sometimes winding round the -bases of huge cliffs—sometimes squeezing through narrow fissures of the -rock—and at others, crossing profound chasms over slender wooden bridges, -or rather foot-paths. When almost despairing of gaining the summit before -our strength was exhausted, we suddenly found ourselves on a small but -level platform, on the highest pinnacle of the Bastei, and commanding a -complete view, not only of the immense mass of splintered rocks around -us, but of the whole country in every direction. In all my peregrinations -round this globe, I never met with any locality or prospect similar to -the one which burst on my astonished sight at this place! - - I’ve travers’d many a mountain strand, - Abroad and in my native land;— - And it has been my fate to tread, - Where safety more than pleasure led— - But by my Halidome— - - A scene so rude, so wild as this— - Or so sublime in barrenness, - Ne’er did my wandering footsteps press, - Where’er I chanc’d to roam! - -We stood on the verge of a tremendous precipice, eight hundred feet in -height, and overhanging the Elbe below. Though its brow is fringed with -an iron ballustrade, I observed that very few ventured to look over the -frightful bourne, - - “Lest the brain turn and the deficient sight - Topple down headlong.” - -In the opposite direction, rises one of the most singular scenes that -ever opened on the human eye. The billows of an angry ocean suddenly -converted into stone, while agitated by a furious hurricane, might -convey some, but a very imperfect, idea of this astonishing locality. -The fractured rocks, though all presenting the stratifications so often -mentioned, and most of them still horizontal, assume almost every shape -and form that imagination bodies forth in the autumnal clouds that range -themselves along the western horizon, as the cortege of a setting sun, on -a beautiful evening. Pyramids, cliffs, spires, columns, ruins, cupolas, -turrets, battlements, castles, colossal statues and fantastic figures—of -everything, in short, which a fertile fancy can conjure up in the animate -or inanimate world.[86] - -After the first emotions of surprize and astonishment have subsided, we -begin to ask ourselves what convulsion of Nature could have produced -this scene of devastation, destruction, and dislocation? Was it an -earthquake?—a volcano?—or a DELUGE? Coupling this last idea with the -acknowledged fact that all these fractured rocks were once a series -of level and solid strata at the bottom of the ocean, the remarkable -expression in Holy Writ rushed on the mind—“And the fountains of -the great deep were broken up.” Whether this indescribable scene of -disruption and dilapidation was produced by any one of those three -causes, or by all in succession, must for ever remain a secret sealed -from human ken,—but it is abundantly evident, from the vast masses -of debris along the banks of the river, that the winds and rains are -constantly disintegrating the softer materials of this “MER DE PIERRES,” -and carrying them down towards the stream of the Elbe, which acts its -part in conveying them to the bed of the great Northern Ocean, there to -form new deposits, preparatory to some other revolution in our planet, -which may once more raise the bed of the sea into terra firma—and -overwhelm our mountains and plains in unfathomable depths of the vast -watery element! - -Various paths are formed among the intricacies of the rocks here, and -seats formed for contemplating - - “Craggs, knolls, and mounds confusedly hurl’d, - The fragments of an earlier world.” - -And few minds can dwell on such a scene without profound reflections -on that Almighty POWER whose operations are displayed here on such a -stupendous scale. - -The external or distant views from the Bastei are still more striking -than those from the fortress of Kœnigstein—more varied in their -character, and having Kœnigstein itself, and also Lilienstein, as most -prominent features in the landscape. The rocky mounds in the same shape -as the Lilienstein, which stand up in every direction, are all seats of -legendary tales, nearly as numerous as those of the Rhine. - -We were not a little surprized to find in this eyrie a very comfortable -hotel—the romantic situation of which has no equal in Europe, or in the -world. But we were still more astonished to find horses and carriages -in the court-yard of the inn! We were, at first, inclined to disbelieve -the evidence of our own senses: but soon discovered that the northern -approach to the Bastei admits of a good carriage road, so that invalids -or weakly tourists may ascend to the very edge of the plateau on the -summit of the highest rock, without the slightest fatigue. Near the -hotel, there is seen a gigantic excavation in the rock, five times the -size of the Coliseum in Rome, and very much in the form of a huge natural -amphitheatre, surrounded by a towering rocky wall, of immense height, -which wall is crowned by a great variety of grotesque and colossal -figures, bearing more or less resemblance to animals and artificial -constructions. Here is a very loud and distinct echo, which adds to the -interest of a scene quite unique on the face of this globe. - -We descended by the same path by which we ascended, enjoying the -prospects from various points, and bidding adieu to the most interesting -spot we had ever visited. - - -ELBE to DRESDEN. - -Our little gondola floated down the silver Elbe towards Dresden on -a beautiful day, the right bank of the river still preserving its -superiority of scenery over the left. Indeed I think the former bank -little, if at all, inferior to even the best parts of the Rhine—besides -the advantage of innumerable white villas, vineyards, gardens, and -orchards, scattered from the summit of the hills down to the water’s edge. - - -PILLNITZ. - -Passing the fortified town of PIRNA a on the left, we arrived at the -summer residence of the royal family at PILLNITZ; but too late to avail -ourselves of the permission given to foreigners to see, from a contiguous -gallery, the regal banquet at dinner-hour. The lions had not only -fed, but fled—perhaps to realize our nursery estimate of the felicity -attendant on crowns and sceptres— - - “The KING was in his cabinet, counting out his money: - The QUEEN was in the drawing-room, eating bread and honey.” - -I certainly feared that the faithful adhesion of Saxony to the fortunes -of Napoleon, though it saved the “galleries” and “green vaults” of -Dresden, had not tended to an overflow of the royal treasury—and I was -quite sure that the battle of Leipsic and the Congress of Vienna had by -no means enlarged the territories of the Saxon Monarch. As to the Queen, -Boney’s inordinate love of _bees_ must have greatly thinned the ranks -of her majesty’s hives on the sunny banks of the Elbe, and diminished -the supply of honey for the use of herself and maids of honour.[87] Be -that as it may, I sincerely hope that no _Saxon_ queen will ever be -reduced from bread and honey to bread and _cheese_—for in that event, her -majesty’s case would be hopeless. - -We greatly regretted that we had not a glimpse at that magnificent -lioness of Pillnitz, the Princess Amelia, sister to the monarch, and -PLAYWRITER to Germany in general. How she, as a Saxon princess, contrived -to depict on the stage, “the domestic manners of the Germans,” as Mrs. -Jameson very artfully terms her dramas, is beyond my comprehension, -unless she imitated the Eastern Princes of former days, who went _incog._ -among their subjects. Be this as it may, I confess I do not see any -delineation of character in these plays that might not be picked up in -the library, theatre, and drawing-room, by any clever girl of Princess -Amelia’s calibre and talents. There is a clearer insight into domestic -manners in one of Horace’s Odes or Satires (vide Sat. VIII.,) than in the -whole of the Princess’s plays put together. - - - - -DRESDEN. - - -We approached this city on a beautiful evening—its numerous spires -and domes, its raised terraces, shaded promenades, broad river, and -handsome bridge, making a favourable impression on the stranger’s mind. -The bridge, though said to be the finest in Germany, would make a sorry -figure alongside of our Waterloo—and it bears on its centre arch a -memorial that is not likely ever to appear on any bridge that crosses -the Thames—the marks of a blow-up by a French General. The memorial, -however, is not very complimentary to the Gallic soldiers, who performed -the exploit to prevent the allies from running—_after them_! I wish -the bridge regulation over the Elbe was enforced on all bridges, and -even streets—viz. that of compelling passengers to take the right-hand -side, by which they avoid jostlings or collisions. The new town, on the -right bank, is the unfashionable one—the old one, the reverse—though the -streets of the latter are narrow, the houses high, and very dull as well -as unadorned. - -You have scarcely descended from the bridge on the left bank, when -you find yourself entangled between a palace, a church, a theatre, -and a minister’s huge hotel, or rather bureau. Here I observed what I -had hitherto scouted—an “iter ad astra”—a ROYAL ROAD TO HEAVEN. From -the windows of the palace a royal arch strides across the street, and -enters the Catholic church, high up, near the regal box or pew over the -altar!—On the opposite side rises the theatre. Thus RELIGION sits calmly, -but proudly, between Comedy and Carousel; and the same musical corps -which “swell the notes of praise” in the solemn anthem of morning mass, -fill the air with the dulcet notes of Terpsichore, in the evening Opera. -Such easy transitions would excite some remark in holy England—though -there is nothing, after all, in these double duties of the vocal -train—“vox et pretærea nihil.” But the sight of an English king going -every Sunday to mass would astonish his Protestant subjects. Not so in -Dresden. The Saxons are just as much Protestants as the British are; -yet they take no umbrage at their monarch preferring the Romish to the -reformed ritual!! Would that such peaceable and charitable sentiments -were universal in the world! - -The palace itself is the most strange, straggling, and sombre mass or -rather chaos of state prisons that ever monarch inhabited—unless it -is HE of the Tartarian regions. It runs up the side of one street—down -that of another—cuts a third in two—swallows up a fourth in toto—and -then scatters itself into squares, courts, platzes, galleries, museums, -&c. from which a stranger would find no small difficulty in extricating -himself, except by the aid of Ariadne’s clue, or a rope-yarn longer -than any that was ever spun by a Greenwich pensioner. No wonder that -their majesties take their annual departure from this gloomy abode most -punctually on the first day of May, to enjoy the pure air and romantic -prospects of Pillnitz and the Bastei. - -The picture-galleries here have procured for Dresden the title of -“the FLORENCE of GERMANY.” I think the “GREEN VAULTS,” and “PORCELAIN -MANUFACTORIES,” entitle it to the additional appellations of “Royal -Toy-shop of Saxony,” and “China-Warehouse of Europe.” - -As good Protestants we first went to the cathedral—but as service was -over we climbed to the summit of the dome, and there we had a most -complete panoramic view of Dresden and the surrounding country, renewing -our acquaintance with our old friends Kœnigstein and Lilienstein, which -stand proudly forth as gigantic guardians of an enchanted land. The dome -of the cathedral is the first spot which a stranger should visit, as it -is the only place which spreads everything before him, as on a map, and -all in their just proportions and distances. The city of Dresden is by -no means extensive, even when including the old and new town; but the -surrounding and distant country presents scenery of great variety and -beauty. The southern views take in Saxon Switzerland—the northern, the -fertile plains and vales that stretch away towards Leipzig and Berlin. -It is from this elevated position that the great field of battle between -Napoleon and the allies (26th and 27th of August 1814) now smiles in -peace and cultivation, instead of being bristled with cannon, and strewed -with human sacrifices at the altar of Mars. The fortifications are -now levelled to the ground, or converted into beautiful shaded walks, -gardens, and groves, that lead out to meet a laughing landscape in every -direction. One, and only one, melancholy object arrests the wandering -eye of the delighted observer—the monument of MOREAU, on the spot -where he fell by the side of the Emperor Alexander. A plain free-stone -block commemorates at once, the death of the “HERO MOREAU,” and the -last victory of Napoleon! From that moment, the star of this “child -of destiny” began to fade in lustre, and descend from its meridian. -The battle of Culm and the disastrous defeat at Leipzig completed the -liberation of Germany; whilst the struggles in France and Belgium -afterwards, were only the pangs of a dying giant! - -It appeared that FORTUNE had, in Napoleon’s case, determined to wipe the -stain of fickleness from her character; but that she became exhausted by, -or, almost ashamed of, pouring incessant favours on a man, whose talents -were as brilliant as his ambition was boundless; and whose philanthropy -was so weak that the blood of the whole human race would scarcely have -satiated his thirst of power, while the faintest hope of attaining -or retaining it remained!—a man without moderation in prosperity, -magnanimity in adversity, fidelity in matrimony, philosophy in exile, or -religion in death.[88] He expired in the crater of an extinct volcano—a -suitable sepulchre for one who had grown up amid revolution, storms, -political earthquakes, and the thunders of war. His ashes, which reposed -in peace during twenty years, have been exhumed from the grave, and -cast like a fire-brand upon a huge pile of the most inflammable and -destructive combustibles that were ever amassed for the explosion of -another moral volcano! - - Paci funesta dies! en tristia erynnis— - Atlantiaca pulsa resurgit humo! - Ecce alias tœdas Helenæ, atque incendia Trojæ - Oceani, oceani prodita claustra vomunt! - -It was for a nation like France, to demolish the altar of the living God -(to use the words of Montalivert) to make room for the ashes of a Deist -dead! - -While memory retraces the page of history, written in blood on the -smiling landscape beneath us, the eye rests once more on the pyramidal -block which marks the fall of one of the ablest and best children of the -revolution. Some dastard, under the cover of night, nearly effaced the -word “HERO,” and substituted for it that of “TRAITOR.” Man is judged -in this world by his _actions_—in the next world by his _motives_. If -MOREAU warred against his country, he was a traitor—if he warred against -a tyrant, who usurped the sceptre and destroyed the liberties of his -country, he was a PATRIOT. - -Taking a last circumspective view of the splendid prospect around us, -we descended from the dome of the cathedral, and bent our steps to the -Catholic church, where high mass was about to be celebrated. Here we -found a sacred precept at once completely violated. “Whom God has joined -let no man separate.” But the wife is here severed from her husband, and -the sister from the brother—for what good purpose I am unable to divine. -If the two sexes are not allowed to pray together, lest the scandal -of assignations should result, the priesthood of Saxony are as little -acquainted with human nature as they are with the Aborigines of New -Holland. - -But what becomes of this regulation, when we see that it only extends -to the PIT, while in the galleries of this holy opera (for high mass is -neither more nor less than a sacred drama), the ladies and gentlemen are -allowed to listen and laugh—or peradventure to pray, during the service? - -The music here is said to be the best in Germany—and I suppose it must -be so. If the object of sacred music be the elevation of the soul to -the highest pitch of religious fervor and devotional enthusiasm, the -accomplishment of that object may be doubted where a multiplicity of -violins and other instruments drown rather than accompany the choir and -the organ. There is, however, one exception to this doubt. When, in the -performance of the solemn _requiem_, and at the words— - - Tuba, mirum spargens sonum - Per sepulchra regionum, - Coget omnes ante thronum— - -the trumpet pours its loud notes along the vaulted roof of some lofty -cathedral, which reverberates them on the crowd below, in imitation of -the “LAST TRUMP,” whose awful sounds shall penetrate every grave on this -globe—burst the marble cerements of the tomb—and summon their shivering -tenants to the foot-stool of their God—the effect is almost magical! And -well it may be so. The very idea of such a stupendous and miraculous -event, involving the hopes and fears, the rewards and punishments, the -eternal peace or endless misery of the whole human race, is sufficiently -astounding and overwhelming in itself; but when heightened by the most -artful and gorgeous imitation that human ingenuity could invent or -effect, the impression is beyond description or even conception! - -The picture-galleries are the master-lion of Dresden, and as a mere -catalogue of the paintings—not a “catalogue raisonnée”—fills a goodly -octavo volume, the reader may be assured that I will not, even if I -could, inflict on him a critical notice of this celebrated collection, -reiterated _ad nauseam_, by so many connoisseurs in the art and mystery -of the craft. Would that the pictorial critics would keep their -unintelligible jargon and puzzling lingo to themselves! How many hundreds -and thousands of the visitors of galleries have the cup of enjoyment -dashed from their lips, while admiring paintings, by hearing some pert -hypercritic condemn them as deficient in “depth of shade,” “breadth of -colour,” “truth of tint”—or some arbitrary quality which his brain has -engendered to bewilder the uninitiated, and display his own refinement of -taste and judgment! Then the host of pseudo-critics, who prick up their -ears and catch the _fiats_ of the connoisseur, become actual pests in the -galleries, retailing the DICTA of their superiors, and scattering doubts -and dissentions among the confiding crowd— - - ——Spargere voces - In vulgum ambiguas.—— - -In such a prodigious collection the great majority of pictures must be -of inferior note, and unworthy of attention. There are, however, a vast -number of gems and chef-d’œuvres, and on these, the traveller will, -almost always, find artists (male and female) constantly employed in -copying—many of them for their daily bread—not a few, as amateurs, even -of the highest rank in life. Here, then, are a series of guides, more -practical than all the critics which commit their lucubrations to the -press. - -Although Saxony is a Protestant _state_, it is a Catholic _kingdom_, and -therefore there is a good sprinkling of sacred subjects in the Dresden -galleries. The intentions of delineating the mysteries of our holy -religion on canvas, may be pious, but the attempt to do so is little less -than impious. What required the miraculous power of a Deity to effect, -is not likely to be imitated in oil and colours by the hands of MAN. The -great truths of RELIGION are addressed to the heart rather than to the -eye—to the internal feelings rather than to the external senses—to faith -rather than to demonstration. Let the painter beware how he tries to -reduce _these_ to sensible and visible representations! - -Be this as it may, the stranger will always find artists and artistes -busy in copying Bellini’s “CHRIST”—Titian’s “Tribute Money”—the same -painter’s “Mistress”—Veccio’s “Virgin and Infant”—P. Veronese’s -“Adoration of the Virgin and Child”—“The Finding of Moses”—Giorgione’s -“Meeting of Jacob and Rachael”—“The Marriage of the Doges of Venice with -the Sea”—the “Four Doctors of the Church,” by Dosso Dossi—Raphael’s -“MADONNA DE SAN SISTO,” the jewel of the gallery, which was bought -for £8000—Corregio’s “Virgin and Child”—the “Virgin and Infant in -the Manger,” the second gem of Dresden paintings,—the “Recumbent -Magdalene”—“the Sacrifice of Isaac,”—“Venus and Bacchus”—Rubens’ “Descent -of the Fallen Angels”—Van Dyk’s “Charles I. and Family”—Rembrandt’s “Own -Self and Wife”—Poussin’s “Discovery of Moses in the Bullrushes”—Claud’s -“Acis and Galatea,” &c. These and scores of others are in perpetual -transition from the walls of the galleries to the easels of the -copyists—hence a common complaint that such collections as these give the -highest encouragement to imitators, and almost annihilate originality. - - -THE GREEN VAULTS. - -This royal toy-shop—this magnificent museum of costly curiosities, -might satiate the eyes and appetites of all the Arabian princes and -princesses—of all the Persian shaws and Peruvian monarchs, that ever -lived—nay, it might leave the GRAND MOGUL himself (could his court be -re-established in Hindostan) nothing to wish for or want! - -“Whoever,” says an intelligent traveller, “takes pleasure in the glitter -of precious stones—in gold and silver, wrought into all sorts of royal -ornaments, into every form, however grotesque, that art can give -them, _without any aim at either utility or beauty_, will stroll with -satisfaction through the apartments of this gorgeous toy-shop. They are -crowded with crowns and jewels, and regal attire of a long line of Saxon -princes;[89]—vases and other utensils seem to have been made merely as a -means of expending gold and silver—the shelves glitter with caricatured -urchins, whose bodies are often formed of huge pearls, or of egg-shells, -to which are attached limbs of enamelled gold. One is dazzled by the -quantity of gems and precious metals that glare around him:—he must even -admire the ingenuity which has fashioned them into so many ornaments and -unmeaning nick-nacks. But there is nothing that he forgets more easily, -or that deserves less to be remembered.” - -Mr. Russell’s opinion has been cavilled at, as not giving sufficient -praise to the merit of patience labour and skill that have been expended -on this royal collection. If these had resulted in things that were -either useful or ornamental, the merit might have been granted; but -neither the one nor the other has been the consequence of an expense -equal to that of the national debt. The best exception to this general -censure is—“the COURT OF THE GREAT MOGUL,” representing the Emperor -AURENGZEBE upon his throne, surrounded by his guards and courtiers, in -appropriate costumes, according to the description of Tavernier. There -are 132 figures, all of pure enamelled gold, which cost DINLINGER eight -years’ labour, and the Saxon treasury eighty-five thousand dollars! This -is decidedly the most elaborate and meritorious work in the Green Vaults; -but is it more so than that which was proposed by DINOCRATES—the carving -of Mount ATHOS into a statue representing Alexander? I think the latter -was the more noble of the two. The Macedonian project would have given -occupation and subsistence to tens of thousands of labourers for half a -century—the _materials_ being barren rock. The Saxon enterprize occupied -only one man for eight years—the material being pure gold, and precious -jewels. But as men, women and children will run after pretty baubles, -glittering gewgaws, and rare curiosities—and as a tax of one shilling -a head is levied in the Green Vaults, a tolerable revenue is derived -from this royal shew-shop, independent of the constant influx of wealth -from the legions of travellers that ascend and descend the Elbe. It is -but justice to acknowledge that the curators who attend visitors around -these costly treasures, are polite and accomplished gentlemen, who speak -various languages, and are ever ready to afford the fullest information -on every subject. These vaults, the picture-galleries, and armoury, &c. -are open every day in the week to the public. - - -RUSTKAMMER. - -If a tour through the Green Vaults excites reflections on the ingenuity -which man has evinced in carving inanimate materials into the shapes -and forms of various living things, an inspection of the immense -armoury here, is calculated to call forth emotions of a very different -description! Here we find the ingenuity of man exerted and tortured -in the invention of innumerable deadly weapons by which his fellow -man may be carved into fragments, pierced with wounds, or battered -into mummies![90] The Rustkammer certainly leaves the Tower of London -at immeasurable distance in the rear, not only for the variety of -instruments used in general warfare, but for those which were employed -in tilts, tournaments, and the chase. Here we see not merely the arms -of the feudal ages, but the horses, the knights themselves, and all the -trappings and accoutrements thereunto belonging. - -The prodigious labour and wealth expended on man, horse, armour, and -trappings, excite our astonishment rather than our admiration. The great -variety of drinking vessels, horns, goblets and cups of all dimensions, -and adapted for all depths of potation, would have charmed the heart of -the Baron of Bradwardine, and, well nigh eclipsed the “BLESSED BEAR” -of that hospitable old Highlander! But what shall we say to the armour -of those days—for instance, that of Augustus the Second, surnamed the -Strong? The French giant, who displayed his powers some years ago, at the -Adelphi theatre, would hardly strut under it, weighing, as it does, more -than two hundred pounds! - -It has been observed that—“were Europe thrown back, by the word of an -enchanter, into the middle-ages, Saxony could take the field, with a -duly equipped army, sooner than any other power. We cannot easily form -any idea of the long practice which have been necessary to enable a man -to wear such habiliments with comfort, much more to wield such arms with -agility and dexterity. But the young officers of those days wore armour -almost as soon as they could walk, and transmigrated regularly from one -iron shell into another, more unwieldy than its predecessor, till they -reached the full stature of knighthood, and played at broad-sword, _with -the weight of a twelve-pounder on their backs_, as lightly as a lady -bears a chaplet of silken flowers on her head in a quadrille.” - -The “_twelve-pounder_” on the back is a pretty considerable bounce, far -outstripping Jonathan’s sea-serpent, since a “twelve-pounder” would -weigh at least fifteen hundred pounds! But let that pass. No discipline -or early tuition would enable a person of the present day to fight in -the armour of the middle-ages. It would require a series of generations -trained in the habits, diet, and manners of those times, to produce -a progeny capable of enduring such coats of mail, or wielding such -Herculean weapons as were in use seven hundred years ago. The present age -does not yield to that of any former period, in heroic deeds or personal -courage; but science now supersedes brute force, and the energies of the -brain amply compensate for diminution of muscular strength.[91] - -As there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous—from solemn -tragedy to laughing farce—so are there only a few paces between the -great magazine of toys in the green vaults, and the great magazine -of manslaughter in the Rustkammer. From these depôts we turn away, -more in pity than in admiration, to repositories of a very different -kind—those of the peaceful arts, that mingle with, and contribute to, our -domestic comforts and social enjoyments, and which combine elegance with -ornament, and utility with beauty. Need I allude to the Saxon porcelaine, -celebrated over Europe and the world. - -I own that I entertained a secret hope that the number of _other_ lions -in this city would drive _this_ particular one out of the memory of my -better-half. I had three reasons for this hope or wish:—1st, the saving -of expense—2d, of carriage and breakage—3d, of—smuggling! But I had -calculated without my host. Just when we had come to the conclusion, that -we had now seen all the sights, it was suddenly recollected that the -best of all was happily yet in reserve—the porcelaine manufactory! No. -You may as well attempt to drag a lady from Geneva without purchasing -trinkets, as from Dresden without buying China. A compact, however, was -signed, that we were only to enjoy the luxury of viewing the repository, -without encumbering our luggage with any of its precious but brittle -wares. Nevertheless, it happened that some of the articles were found to -be so “dog cheap,” and so pretty withall, that, to leave the Elbe without -taking away some specimens of its renowned manufactures, was considered -to be a kind of travelling solecism, if not a porcelaine suicide! It was -urged, moreover, that the _ad valorem_ duty, at an English Custom-house, -would be—next to _nothing_. I strongly suspect that this prophecy, like -many others, tended to fulfill itself, and that the _duty_ was, as -predicted, next to _nothing_! - -We had been bored, for some days, by the Laquais de Place, to make an -excursion to a place called Tharand, about ten miles from Dresden, a -locality which was represented as the ne plus ultra of all that is -sublime and beautiful in natural scenery—and moreover, that it was -visited by every traveller who passed through Dresden. So we posted off -one fine morning, and arrived at this valley of Rasselas. We found it -situated where three narrow and steep defiles meet at one point, and -where the ruins of an old castle, perched on a sharp promontory, overlook -a small village on one side, a watering-place on the other, and the road -to Dresden in front. The locality has nothing of the sublime, little -of the beautiful, and less of the romantic in its composition. It is a -picturesque spot, but not worth the trouble of going three miles to see -it. The lacquais de place will always endeavour to eke out an additional -day’s boar hunting, when lionizing is at an end. - -Of the Dresdenese themselves, it is “not my hint to speak.” They are like -most other people under similar latitudes, institutions, and governments. -Like most continental folks, they are fond of sitting in the open air, -smoking their pipes and sipping their coffee. And no wonder. The air of -the Bruhl Terrace, raised above the Elbe, and commanding a fine view -of the opposite bank, as it stretches away towards Saxon Switzerland, -contrasts wonderfully with the stagnant atmosphere and gloomy apartments -of their own houses. The demolition of the fortifications round Dresden -has given such lungs to the Saxon metropolis as must greatly increase the -longevity of its inhabitants—contrary to what is likely to occur to the -“heroes of the barricades,” who will now be barricaded, with a vengeance! - -Saxony being a favourite pupil of the “Grande Nation,” the “glorious days -of July” were rehearsed on the banks of the Elbe, and a representative -constitution was extorted, without much force, from the king. The -conversion of one archon (mon-arch) into three hundred archons elected by -the people, and forming the “tiers etat,” or house of representatives, -did not realize the golden dreams of the country. On the contrary, as the -odious task of levying taxes was shifted from the shoulders of the king, -who was always economical, to be divided among 300 representatives, the -latter body nearly doubled the taxes, being now mere tools of the court! - -However, the Saxons have obtained important privileges, and great -extension of the franchise. Among other valuable rights acquired, by -the people, is that of _electing their executioner_! This interesting -functionary is considered a kind of gentleman—at least he is an officer -of state, which is next thing to it—and has a house, land, and several -perquisites attached to the office. Among these last is a claim to the -bodies of all horses and cattle that die a natural death. This revenue -from hoofs, horns, and hides, is said to be very considerable. It would -be equally amusing and edifying to hear the professions and promises of -the candidate for _headsman_[92] delivered from the hustings, during the -canvass. One of the promises or temptations held out by this “limb of the -law”—this “_sharp_ practitioner”—this member of the _executive_—would, -doubtless, be that, should any of his constituents honour him with their -custom, he would be happy to _serve_ them, on the shortest notice, on the -most liberal terms, and with the utmost _dispatch_! - - -DRESDEN to LEIPZIG. - - Swift as CAMILLA scours along the plain— - So darts on iron wings the thundering TRAIN. - -The steam-engine possesses the all but miraculous power of contracting -space and expanding time. Thus, it compresses the sixty-two miles between -Dresden and Leipzig into fifteen miles—while it enables a three hours’ -run by rail to throw off an expansion of ten spare hours to see the -great emporium of books on the banks of the Estler, which hours would -otherwise be spent in traversing the most monotonous road that ever man -or beast drew their weary limbs along! Corn, corn, nothing but corn, or -the bare stubble from which it was cut, meets the tired eye between the -city of the pallet and the city of the pen. We become as sick, indeed, -of wheat and oats, as the unwashed artisan of Birmingham is of the laws -that confine these oceans of grain to the banks of the Elbe and the -Vistula, instead of being diffused through the factories and work-shops -of England—to appease the hunger and invigorate the limbs of a dense and -manufacturing population. The rapidity of the train, the clanking of -the machinery, the belching of steam, the evolution of smoke, and the -scattering of burning cinders, render the three hours’ journey bearable -enough. There is but one long tunnel, (between Dresden and Magdeburg) -through which the train runs and roars and spits its fires—while at -another place, it leaps clean over the river Elbe! A rail-road in the -North of Germany is quite an oasis in the desert. One hundred and forty -miles from Dresden to Magdeburg, with Leipzig in the centre, occupy only -seven or eight hours, instead of three or four toilsome days by the -snail-post. - - - - -LEIPZIG. - - -Having had a good deal—perhaps too much—to do with books, I had some -curiosity to see this great mart of BUCKHANDLUNGS—at once the cradle and -the grave of literature! The first thing that strikes the stranger is -the eternal “BUCKHANDLUNG” over every second door in the city. The next, -is the paucity of carriages—a drowsky or a private vehicle being rarely -visible. The third object is perpetually reminding us, not without sighs -and groans, of the smooth trottoirs over which we were wont to glide in -modern Babylon. Of all the towns through which I have limped and hobbled -in my journey of life, Leipzig bears the palm for maiming and laming -the unfortunate visitor, by means of its sharp stones and uneven pavée. -I wonder that the seven-leagued and iron-shod boots of the students, -together with the innumerable tomes of _heavy literature_ that are -biennially carted through the streets of Leipzig, have not ground off the -angles from the said stones. Yet they have not. - -As I was unwilling to do the penance of Peter Pindar’s pilgrim, I -directed my steps to the observatory, and mounted its highest balcony, -when Leipzig and its contiguous battle-field lay stretched beneath me. -The astronomer kindly pointed out the topography of the city and its -vicinity, with minute details of the great combat which he himself -had witnessed. Leipzig is a curious compound of the modern and the -antique—one side being new and the other old. But in every street, -bustle and business went on, while on every countenance thought and -reflection were so visibly painted that one would suppose the whole of -the books that came to the two fairs were studied by the inhabitants. -The demolition of the fortifications has secured the Leipzigers two -things—the presence of healthful walks, and the absence of bloody -sieges—blessings and curses which the Parisians seem neither to desire -nor dread. Cities should never be converted into fortresses. The extent -of the works and the number of the people are causes of weakness and -not strength. A fortress should only contain soldiers, who can lay in -provisions against long investment, and on whom, not on citizens, the -horrors of war should fall. - -I have said that this city is the cradle of literature. No -biblio-parturient author in Germany would think of being confined, and -delivered of his bantling of the brain, without the aid of a Leipzig -accoucheur. Whether his cerebro-gestation may have lasted nine months, -or, as Horace directs—as many years— - - “Nonum prematur in annum,” - -Mr. Brockhaus, or some of his obstetrical brethren in Leipzig, must usher -the “NOUVEAU NÉ” into light. - -But I have also said that Leipzig is the grave as well as the cradle of -literature, or rather of its authors. At every fair there is a number of -fairies on the look out for every promising birth, which is immediately -kidnapped—wrested from its lawful parents—and sold in distant markets! -In other words:—whenever a work of merit, or apparent merit, appears in -the Leipzig fair, it is pounced upon by literary sharks and vultures from -Frankfort, Wirtemburg, and other places, and instantly reprinted for the -benefit of those who have gone to no outlay in brains or money! It is in -vain that authors and publishers complain. The _former_ are told that, -although they have pocketed nothing by their long literary toil, they -have earned reputation, which is greatly superior to sordid gold; while -the publishers are laughed at for their foolish speculations! Hence it -is, that authors of the most splendid talents and universal renown, are -often forced to publish by subscription—a mode that would damn, or at -least, degrade them in the eyes of a British public. It may be said that— - - “All partial ill is universal good,” - -and that, though authors and booksellers are defrauded, the public are -gainers. But private industry is as deserving of protection as private -property—and there can be no doubt that many men of great talent and -learning are discouraged by these piracies, and deterred from embarking -in literary labours. This uncertainty too prevents all liberal outlay on -paper and type, both of which are disgracefully bad in Germany. - -Leipzig is not without interesting associations and reminiscences. But -some of the historical are too remote—some too recent—to be dwelt on -here. The poetical are too extravagant—and the literary too mystified -for much notice in this place. Yet we cannot bid adieu to this cradle -and grave of literature, without a passing thought on two of its -magnates—Gottsched and Klopstock—the _former_, the father of modern -German learning—the _latter_, the Goliath of the same. Gottsched was born -to be a great man—for his stature was such that he abandoned, through -pure modesty, his native land, and took refuge in Leipzig, lest he should -be promoted to the rank of a grenadier in the army of Frederick the -Great. There he claimed the character of an universal genius, acting, -at once, the philosopher, grammarian, critic and poet. But his body was -bigger than his brains, and he is now consigned to oblivion—perhaps -unjustly so. His language then (1740-60) was just emerging from -barbarism. It was a period of transition, and shewed no signs of -vigorous life. “He introduced a more cultivated style—attacked pedantic -extremes—and excited useful controversy.” - -Passing over Schlegel, Gellert, and other literary lions of Leipzig, we -must bear in mind that it was from this mart of learning that the great -Klopstock, like a huge gymnatus electricus, caused Europe to vibrate by -the birth of his Messiah. “It roused all Germany from Leipzig to its -circumference; and Bodmer, from the valleys of Switzerland, hailed its -author as the morning-star of a new æra.” - - -RETROSPECTIVE VIEW FROM THE TOWER OF THE OBSERVATORY. - -He must be a stoic, or something more, who can stand on this time-worn -tower, without recalling to mind those stupendous events which occurred -a quarter of a century ago, around the base of the building. No event, -ancient or modern, can at all compare with the battles around Leipzig, -in Oct. 1814: whether we look to the magnitude of the armies—the -discipline, valour, and enthusiasm of the men—the talents and skill -of the commanders—or the momentous object for which they fought. Six -crowned heads—three Emperors and three Kings—were present at these -terrific conflicts, and witnessed the carnage and havoc among FIVE -HUNDRED THOUSAND soldiers engaged for several days and nights in mortal -combat!! This was not the undisciplined rabble, or the effeminate retinue -of an Oriental despot, crossing the Hellespont in pride and ignorance; -but veterans from every country between the mountains of Norway and the -mouths of the Danube—between the Atlantic on the West and Siberia in -the East. These battles were not for mere victory, or to decide some -political quarrel between two or more states. No. It was for the very -existence of sceptres—for the independence or subjugation of every empire -and kingdom in Continental Europe. The struggle was between the oppressor -and the oppressed—between Napoleon the aggressor, and the allied -Sovereigns, as defenders of their crowns, hearths, and altars. The one -army had the disgrace of a hundred defeats to obliterate and avenge—the -other the laurels of a hundred victories to preserve and sustain. The -French fought for the glory of their country, or rather of their Emperor, -and the conquest of Europe—the Allies, for the liberation of their soil -from thraldom, and the repulsion, if not the deposition, of a tyrant -invader. - -Such a prodigious accumulation and concentration of martial -hosts,—excited, agitated, and impelled by the fiercer passions of our -nature—by ambition, hatred, and revenge—portended the approach of some -great crisis in the affairs of the world. The feeling on both sides was, -evidently, “aut Cæsar aut nullus.” The grand crisis was indeed at hand. -The benignant STAR of Peace and Justice was about to rise, in splendour, -from the East;—while the malignant METEOR OF WAR, that had scattered, for -twenty years, plague, pestilence and famine over a groaning world, was -about to descend from its bad eminence, and be extinguished for ever in -the Atlantic surge. - -Napoleon, with all his strength of mind, was superstitious; having some -peculiar notions about fate, and destiny, and stars and fortune—as though -these imaginary beings had any power to control the laws of Nature, or -interfere between cause and effect, whether in the moral or physical -world. - -It is not improbable that, when, in the night of the 15th October, -Napoleon saw three “DEATH-ROCKETS” rise from the southern horizon, -streaming their pale but brilliant light high through the Heavens—and, -when, immediately afterwards, he beheld four blood-red meteors springing -up far far to the northward, indicating too plainly that the signal -from the grand Austro-Russian army in the South was answered by the -Swedo-Prussian in the North, his moral courage may have experienced a -momentary depression, and his superstition an alarm! There was little -time, however, for reflection. Action, action was soon required. At the -dawn of day the Austro-Russian army attacked the whole southern front -of the French position with great fury but no success. Six desperate -attempts were reiterated, one after the other—but all failed! This was -discouraging enough—worse remained behind. The moment of exhaustion among -the allied troops was seized upon by Napoleon, who, by one gigantic -effort, pierced and penetrated the very centre of the allied line, while -Murat, Maubourg, and Kellerman, dashed through the gap with the whole -of the cavalry! At this moment of frightful peril, when the torrent of -French troops was pouring through the fatal breach with irresistible -impetuosity, shouting and exulting in the successful exploit, ALEXANDER -called to his faithful Cossack guards, and pointing to the column of -French cavalry that was thundering forward in the rear of the allies, -addressed a few, and but a few words to them—probably not dissimilar from -those of our own poet, at another terrific combat— - - ——on ye brave, - Who rush to glory or the grave— - Wave, Cossacks! all your banners wave! - And charge with all your chivalry! - -The valorous Pulk right well fulfilled the emperor’s order. The “furious -Huns” sprang, like tigers, on the “fiery Franks,” and not only charged -and checked the headlong torrent, but rolled back the dense mass of -cavalry at the point of their spears, with destructive carnage, through -the opening by which it had penetrated the Austro-Russian line. Thus, -at the moment when all appeared lost for the allies, a handful of -semi-savages from the banks of the Don overwhelmed the finest body of -French horse that ever paraded on the banks of the Seine—and that with -the King of Naples at its head! - -After this rebuff, the fickle goddess forsook her favourite child! The -assailing armies hemmed in, closer and closer, the contracting circles of -Napoleon’s troops, and after days of ineffectual struggles to revive a -sinking cause, the hero of a hundred victories was obliged to sue for an -armistice! No answer being returned, the mortified emperor prepared for -retreat. But even here Fortune turned her back on him. The Saxon troops -threw off their allegiance, and even fired on their former companions in -arms, while endeavouring to extricate themselves from the western gate -of Leipzig! The only bridge, too, by which they could escape, was blown -up by mistake, while twenty-five thousand Frenchmen were left prisoners -on the other side! Napoleon with difficulty reached the western bank of -the Estler—Poniatouski was drowned in that muddy ditch—and a mere wreck -of the Gallic army reached the Rhine. From that day, the star of Napoleon -descended till its light was quenched for ever in the western wave! Of -all the auxiliaries and mercenaries which various passions, propensities, -necessities, or interests had attracted round the standard of the -victorious emperor, ONE ONLY remained true to its trust in the memorable -retreat from Leipzig! Italians, Bavarians, Saxons, Swedes— - - “All, all forsook the friendless guilty mind, - But faithful Poland lingered still behind.” - -It may not require any great fortitude to meet the scowl or scorn of -our enemy, whether conqueror or conquered; but he must have nerves of -iron who can look in the face of _friend betrayed_. The sight of the -gallant and deceived Poles, bearing nobly the hardships and miseries of -a disastrous flight, might have wrung tears of remorse from Napoleon’s -eyes. But he had no heart. Egotism was the nutriment on which even his -ambition fed. What said he, when viewing the wretched remains of his army -when it halted at Erfurt, on the 23d of October? “_They are a set of -scoundrels, who are going to the devil._” Retributive justice ordained -that HE HIMSELF should not be far behind them! - -The Tower of the Observatory stands close to the Estler and the scene of -the dreadful evacuation of the town, the death of Poniatouski, and the -blowing up of the bridge. It also commands a view of most of the theatres -of operations during the successive battles, besides an excellent -bird’s-eye view of the town itself. No one should fail to visit this -spot, and recall the mighty events which occurred around it. - - -MAGDEBURG to HAMBURG. - -A good railroad whisks us along, through monotonous corn-fields, from -Leipzig to Magdeburg, in three or four hours. This is the strongest -fortification (always excepting Kœnigstein) on the Elbe—and contains more -than fifty-thousand people, garrison and all. It is, or rather _was_, -in Saxony; but, thanks to the auspices of Napoleon, in favour of his -pet of Dresden, it is now Prussian, and likely to be long so. It is of -immense extent, and would require thirty or forty thousand men to defend -it—consequently double that number to invest it. As all great virtues -are assailed by virulent abuse, so all strong cities are honoured with -long sieges. The history of Magdeburg should be printed and posted on the -gates of Paris. It has had its ups and downs in its day. It was besieged -many a time, and sometimes taken. Although it repulsed the famous Count -Wallenstein, in the thirty years’ war, it fell, after two years’ siege, -before the magnanimous Tilley (1631), who sacked the city; but in his -humanity, spared the whole of the inhabitants—except THIRTY THOUSAND, -whom he massacred, without distinction of age or sex!! These are among -the “splendid miseries” to which fortified towns and cities have been -entitled, time immemorial—from the days of Alexander and TITUS, to those -of Napoleon and Wellington—from the sacred heights of Solyma, to the -sandy plains of Haerlem! This doubtful glory—this dangerous pre-eminence, -appears to be the height of a great people’s ambition—though it is -probable that a nation’s strength has more in its moral courage and -physical energies, than in dead walls and deep ditches. - -A steamer starts at five o’clock every morning from Magdeburg to Hamburg, -and when the Elbe is not very low, the passage may be performed in one -day. But fortunately, or unfortunately, we had not had a wet day, or -hardly a cloud in the sky, from the day we left London, till our return -to that metropolis, and therefore the river was so shallow, that we were -forty-eight hours on the voyage. There never was a vessel that had a -greater partiality for the ground than ours—and when once her keel and -the sand came in contact, it was as difficult to separate them as to -disengage two furious mastiffs joined in mortal combat. Our captain, too, -had a singular method of loosening his vessel from her hold on the shoal. -Instead of carrying out an anchor astern, and dragging her off in that -direction, as we drag dogs from one another by their tails, he invariably -took the anchor out a-head, and after prizing the vessel as far forward -on the bank as possible, he then tried the retrogressive plan, and, of -course, succeeded, though sometimes after two or three hours’ delay. At -length we came to a dead stop—for there was not three feet water in any -part of the river; so we were obliged to shift into another steamer, -“_below bar_” and jogged along, as above the barrier, but more of our -time passed aground than afloat. However, we had a very pleasant society -on board—people from various countries—very good table-d’hôte—but, as -the weather was fine, and the berths close and crowded, I picked out the -softest plank I could find on deck, and slept in the open air, during our -descent of the Elbe. There is little or no improvement of the scenery -between Dresden and the mouth of the river. The Elbe pays a heavy fine -in the shape of monotony for its short but romantic route through Saxon -Switzerland! - - -HAMBURG. - -From the muddy wharves and quays, we scramble up through steep streets, -every second house having an inscription, or rather an advertisement in -English on its walls or over the door Of the Babel tongues that salute -the ear in every part of this city, the English seems to hold the next -rank to German and Dutch. Whether it was from the lowness of the Elbe, -and the long drought, I know not, but the canals that penetrate far -up several of the streets, appeared abominably filthy and malodorous. -Three-fourths indeed of their bottoms were bare of water, and only -exhibited reeking mud, well impregnated with all kinds of animal and -vegetable debris, and admirably calculated to spread pestilential -disorders through the city. - -At length we got to what might be termed “the West End,” though it is -here the North or North-East quarter, and the scene is entirely changed. -We find ourselves, all at once, on the borders of a spacious lake, which -is narrowed in the middle, and spanned there by a bridge, exhibiting on -its surface numerous pleasure-boats, and on its banks a succession of -handsome buildings. Shaded walks and terraces are constructed along the -shores, so that these lakes (for they may be considered as two formed -by a bridge) really present a most refreshing picture to the eye in -Summer, and furnish a magnificent skating-plain in Winter. The levelled -fortifications are now converted into superb and extensive promenades, -gardens, and shrubberies, exhibiting a pleasing contrast to the endless -batteries, fosses, and bastions of Magdeburg and other fortified towns. -No city or town on the Continent, that I have seen, presents anything -like the BUSTLE of BUSINESS that is going forward in every street of -Hamburg. Leipzig is nothing to it, since it wants all the elements and -materiel of maritime commerce. The great hotels face the lake (which, by -the bye, is a monstrous dam formed by a dribbling stream, the Alster) -and the _Salles-a-Manger_ there, shew us that we are almost clean out -of Germany, and nearly in the heart of old England. The table-d’hôte -is at four o’clock, where good substantial joints and dishes dance -merrily round the table, and are eagerly demolished by stomachs sharply -whetted on the exchange, the bureaus, warehouses, and shops of this most -singular entrepôt of European merchandize; The Hamburghers and Leipzigers -appear to belong to the class of ruminating animals, who flock to the -table-d’hôte for the purpose of swallowing, or rather bolting their -dinners, dispensing entirely with the process of mastication, and leaving -the triple functions of rumination, digestion, and calculation to go on -simultaneously, not successively, by which many hours of valuable time -are daily gained for the dispatch of business. I will not maintain that -this bolting system, followed by the hard labour of two important organs, -the head and the stomach, at one and the same time, is equally as well -calculated for the preservation of health as for the accumulation of -wealth; but probably it is not more insalubrious than the ennui, the -inertion, the eternal pipe, and the poisonous dishes of the noncommercial -Germans in general. - -It is upon the same principle of economy of time, and division of labour, -that the Hamburghers hire professed mourners to weep and wail over their -deceased relatives. By this ingenious procedure the business of the -living is not interrupted by the departure of the dead—perhaps not even -on— - - The first dull day of nothingness— - The last of suffering and distress! - -When the Hamburghers levelled their fortifications to the ground, they -took care to leave certain portals or barriers standing, by which -they might be enabled to levy contributions on—“the stranger within -their gates,” as well as on those who are outside. The nocturnal tax -on ingress and egress increases with every hour after sunset, and the -bustle and confusion occasioned by the embarkations and debarkations -of steam-travellers with their luggage, baffle all description. The -drowskies and their cads, the porters and their wads, the janitors, -the police, and the watermen—all jumbled in the darkness of the night -about the water-gate of the city—all vociferating in the most discordant -jargon; but all united in the strictest harmony of action, as to one -operation—the patriotic endeavour to empty the passengers’ purses of -every stray mark that might be encumbering their pockets—such a scene is -not easily delineated, nor will it be forgotten! - -A good steamer, fair weather, and a pleasant company, rendered a -forty-eight hours’ run to modern Babylon an agreeable variety in the -chequered scenes of a long tour. - - - - -CHARACTERISTIC TRAITS OF GERMANY AND THE GERMANS. - - -Having now brought my various perambulations (at various times) through -Germany to a close, it might be thought possible that a traveller could -form some definite idea—or draw some distinctive character of the -people themselves. This is more easy in theory than in practice. If -an intelligent Japanese were conveyed through the air to Connaught or -Kerry, and dropped there for a month, to observe the manners, habits, and -character of the inhabitants:—if he were thence deposited in Yorkshire, -for an equal time—then among the mountains of Wales—and finally in the -Highlands of Scotland: and if, after all this, “he returned to the place -from whence he came,” and was asked for some characteristic sketch of the -British nation, he would be not a little puzzled. In the first place, he -would assert that he had visited four nations, differing as much from -each other as the shamrock differs from the rose, or the thistle from -the leek. They differed in appearance, language, dress, manners, diet, -drink, avocations—soil—climate—and, for aught he knew, in religious -creeds. If pressed for some one characteristic common to all, he might be -tempted to reply that the only one thing in which they all agreed was—_to -eat potatoes_. However varied were the other component parts of their -food, they all _ate potatoes_. Now if, within the narrow boundary of the -British Isles, we find such diversity among their inhabitants, what may -we expect in that huge democracy of autocracies that stretches from the -Baltic to the Adriatic—from the banks of the Rhine to the confines of the -Russ—which extends over a surface of fifty thousand square miles—bears a -population of 38 millions of souls—and, what is still more remarkable, -sustains a weight of 38 sovereignties, of all shapes and sizes, from -Imperial Austria, of 12,000 square miles, down to the principality of -Lichtenstein, covering the enormous area of ten or eleven! Throughout -these vast and varied territories, there is diffused all the varieties -of physical organization, moral temperament, and intellectual capacity, -characteristic of the great European family. And yet there is a certain -degree of family likeness in these 38 sovereignties, that can hardly be -mistaken. - - ——Facies non omnibus una, - Nec diversa tamen.—— - -1. _Physiognomy._—The large head, the square face, the blue eyes, the -honest countenance, the solemn gait, the modest mein, and the punctilious -manners of the German, are everywhere conspicuous. - -2. _The Language._—This, it must be confessed, is grating enough to -the ear; but it is far more disagreeable to the eye! When will Germany -discard that barbarous, or at least Gothic system of hieroglyphics, -by which bad paper is disfigured by worse type! There is something so -singular, not to say startling, in the German language, that if a mummy -who had slept in one of the Pyramids since the days of Sesostris were to -awake among a mixed company of antiquarian unrollers, the German tongue -would surely be the first to tickle its withered ears. - -3. _Ideology._—The Germans are great dreamers—magnificent dreamers. The -Italian may imagine, the Frenchmen invent, the Spaniard may ruminate, -and the Dutchman may calculate; but it is the German who can DREAM while -wide awake. A German will dream you a dream, as long (to use a nautical -phrase) as the main-top-bow-line; or rather as an epic poem, and as full -of reality as the latter. - -4. If the four British races were unanimous only in one thing—the eating -of potatoes;—the 38 sovereignties beat them in this respect. All ranks -and classes smoke tobacco—and both sexes devour sour-krout, grease, and -vinegar. - -5. The PATIENCE of the German is proverbial. He is patient in -politics, affliction, adversity—and, what is still more commendable, -in _prosperity_. Hence he wins and loses at the gaming-table with more -equanimity than any other man. - -6. In RELIGION, Germany presents nearly as many creeds as principalities. -These, however, shoot forth from the Reformed Church. Popery is too -poor a soil for the growth of “heresies and schisms.” It will not bear -a plurality of faiths. If Catholicism be not the true belief, we must -admit that Catholics are the true believers. Of all the deviations from -the Protestant Church in Germany, _Rationalism_ and _Scepticism_ are -the most prominent and dangerous. Speaking of the latter, Dr. Hawkins -observes:—“We must anticipate, however reluctantly, that, not only -in Germany, but in some other parts of Europe, the heaviest calamity -impending over the whole fabric of society is the lengthening stride of -bold Scepticism.” And, after describing the tenets of the RATIONISTS, the -same authority remarks:—“They consequently disclose to us the frightful -fact, that all the essential doctrines of Christianity are unreservedly -rejected.” A question might here be asked: is this widespreading state of -no belief—of no religion—preferable to Catholicism, mixed up with a few -superstitions and errors? - -We hear constant complaints that Popery is on the increase. How can it -be otherwise? Where and when was UNION not a source of strength, and -DIVISION of weakness? The Protestant _High_ Church is like a brilliant -meteor shooting through the air in splendour and brightness; but -constantly detaching from its own body some vital elements of its own -existence. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, is like a snow-ball -rolling along the ground, with apparent humility, a dense and cohesive -mass, alike tenacious of that which it possesses, and attractive of that -which falls in its way.[93] - -7. _Affability._—I have before remarked, and it is remarked by all -travellers, that, in no part of Europe or the world, are affability, -amenity, and suavity of manners, in social intercourse, more conspicuous -among all classes, orders, genera, and species of society, than in -Germany; or a more complete absence of all prominent or repulsive -distinction of ranks. I endeavoured to account for this by education, -habit, and example. But there is one other cause adduced by Dr. Hawkins, -which I overlooked—the numerous sovereignties and states into which -Germany is divided, the very inter-collisions of which tend to preserve -a smoother surface, and a greater equilibrium of urbanity, than under -one great monarchy, or even republic. I shall attempt to illustrate this -moral phenomenon by a physical one. Let us take two small and tranquil -lakes, one to represent England, and the other Germany. Let a large stone -be dropped into the centre of the _former_, and we shall quickly observe -a series of waves or undulations, rolling in excentric circles to the -remotest edges of the water, in every direction—all parallel, all close -to each other, but never touching or mingling. This exactly represents -the gradations of rank, classes, professions, and avocations in England. -They diverge from the central monarchy in parallel lines down to the -peasant—always in close approximation; but never touching or amalgamating. - -Into the other lake, let 38 stones, of various shapes and sizes -(corresponding with the 38 sovereignties) be precipitated in as many -different parts of the glassy mirror. What shall we see? Not the series -of distinct waves rolling from centre to circumference—but a chequered -surface where one undulation is broken, crossed, or neutralized by -another, and where large or definite circles of waves are nowhere -perceptible. The application of this simile to German society requires no -explanation. - -8. _Education._—It is acknowledged that, in no other country is education -so cheaply and amply provided as in Germany. It is remarked by Dr. -Hawkins, that the _results_ of education in Germany and in England, -are very different. In the _former_, the student is almost entirely -engrossed by the physical and practical sciences—whilst the English -one is very much occupied with theology, morality, classics, poetry, -and rhetoric. “Yet in the end, the Englishman becomes most practical, -and the German the most theoretical and sentimental.” With all due -deference to Dr. Hawkins, I doubt or rather deny the fact, that the -practical _education_ of the German renders him theoretical: or that the -theoretical _education_ of the Englishman makes him practical. Will Dr. -H. maintain that a good education in the physical and practical sciences -would convert an Englishman into a theorist or sentimentalist? No, it -would not. It is not the education, but the different circumstances -in which the two people are placed, after leaving the schools, that -produce the contrast noticed by Dr. Hawkins. A complaint is made that -this facility of education leads to surplus candidates for professional -honours; and the German governments endeavour to divert the aspirants -into other channels than the learned professions. But where is there -_not_ this surplus? In England, where education is expensive enough, the -ranks of the church, bar, and medicine, are crowded to suffocation. Two -causes of this operate in Germany. The cheapness of education—and the -cheapness of living afterwards.—Two or three in England—the redundancy of -population, and the choaking up of the war-channels, those waste-pipes -and safety-valves of society. To these may be added the restless ambition -of the shopocracy to push some of their sons into the carriage from -behind the counter. - -A considerable portion of the English consider that education (among the -lower classes) without a particular creed, is worse than no education -at all. The real, though not the acknowledged meaning of this is, that -education, or knowledge, is, in the abstract, or _per se_, an evil rather -than a good. It would be much better to openly and candidly maintain this -doctrine at once, than mystify it under the term “religious instruction,” -that is, instruction combined with a _particular_ creed. An ingenious -casuist might easily shew—perhaps prove—the truth of the anti-education -doctrine. Beginning with the Garden of Eden, he might quote Scripture -that knowledge first - - “Brought death into this world, and all our woe.” - -And descending along the stream of time, he might adduce proofs that, -in exact proportion as nations advanced in knowledge, they became -discontented, refractory, immoral, and irreligious. But though it is -maintained by the High Church party in England, that a particular creed, -without knowledge, is preferable to knowledge without a particular -creed; yet it is confessed that the _latter_ is not always an infallible -corrector of the evil inherent in learning. We too often find sin and -science in those academic bowers where the thirty-nine Articles are -regularly inculcated, and implicitly believed. - -Be this as it may, in Germany, reading, writing, and arithmetic—Greek, -Latin, and mathematics—astronomy, geography, and navigation—anatomy, -physic, and surgery, &c. &c. are taught in public seminaries without -reference to any other creed than that of the general truth of -Christianity as contained in the New Testament. - -Some few particulars of the system of education in Prussia, may not be -uninteresting. - -Every department has a board of education, which employs -school-inspectors, residing in the chief towns. Every circle and parish -has also its school-board—and every school its proper inspectors. The -clergyman of the parish is, _ex officio_, one of the inspectors. The -whole system is under the cognizance and control of the Minister of -PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, assisted by a Council. The seminaries are divided -into—1. Elementary or Primary Schools—2, Burgher, or Middle Schools—3, -Universities. - -Parents unable to prove that they can give their children a competent -education at home, are compelled to send them to school at the age of -five years. Masters are obliged to give their servants and apprentices a -suitable education between the seventh and fourteenth year. No child can -be removed from the school till examined by the inspectors. Poor parents -are furnished with the means of sending their children to school. The -schools are supported by endowments—tax upon property—and contributions -from the affluent. The schools are built in healthy places, with -playgrounds, gymnasiums, &c. “The first law of every school is to train -up the young so as to implant in their minds a knowledge of the relation -of man to God—and to excite them to govern their lives according to the -spirit and precepts of Christianity.” The daily occupations begin and end -with a short prayer and some pious reflections. The New Testament shall -be given to those who can read. The more advanced scholars shall have the -Bible. “This book shall also be used for the religious instruction in -all the classes of gymnasiums (or middle schools.)” “Clergymen are to -seize every opportunity, whether at church or on visits of inspection, of -reminding teachers of their high and holy mission, and the scholars of -their duty towards the public instructors.” There are numerous “normal -schools” for training up schoolmasters. Of all the children in Prussia, -between the age of seven and fourteen years, it is calculated that -thirteen out of every fifteen, are educated in the national schools. - -9. _Learning._—That depth of erudition should be a necessary sequence of -cheap education may admit of question, or, at least of cavil; but one -thing is certain, that, whether as a _post hoc_, or a _propter hoc_, -this article is more abundant in Germany than in any other country. -Germany is, in fact, the great European granary of learning—a granary -sadly infested with rats and mice from poorer soils—whole shoals of these -vermin being seen crossing the Rhine annually, with all the voracity -evinced by their forefathers, when in pursuit of the Bishop of Maintz! - -But Germany is also a vast MINERY, where thousands are digging in the -dark, during the best years of their lives, extracting the most precious -literary lore from the masses of rubbish in which it lies concealed. -Around the mouths of these mines are always hovering certain birds of -prey, of passage, and of furtive propensities, which, under cover of the -night, commit depredations on the shining ore that is rescued from its -grave by the laborious miner. Among these are the literary cormorant, -the gull, the daw, and the magpie, who no sooner get _crammed_ with the -German spoils, than they fly off to their roosts and nests to exhibit -them as the legitimate produce of their own industry. I have known more -than one, two, or three of these daws who, having plumed themselves in -German feathers, strutted as proudly as if their habiliments had been of -genuine indigenous growth! - -The German seems to court, and to cultivate LEARNING for the sake of -itself, rather than of its attendant advantages. He climbs the rugged -steeps of science—wanders over the flowery fields of literature—or -explores the dark and mysterious labyrinths of metaphysics—with little -hope, and less prospect of reaping more than empty fame,—and that too -often posthumous! Yet the German is as modest in the profession, as he is -industrious in the pursuit of knowledge. In his patient researches, he is -hardly ever led aside to the right or to the left, by ambition, vanity, -or avarice. Truth is his object—accuracy, impartiality, and laborious -research, are the channels through which he reaches it. Not that he is -insensible to honours of all kinds. On the contrary, like the whole of -his countrymen, a ribbon, a cross, or a star, is to him not only a symbol -of distinction but an object of worship. - -The German illuminati, whether literary, philosophic, or scientific, -immersed in their libraries and laboratories, far removed from the -excitement of politics, commerce, arts, or manufactures, not seldom lean -to the speculative, rather than to the practical—to the mysterious, -rather than to the obvious.—Hence the transcendental dreams and -extravagant experiments, which daily rise, like meteors, from this land -of ideality and metaphysics, soon to dissolve in air—thin air. Yet these -eccentricities are not attributable to peculiarity of education, or -idiosyncrasy of constitution; but to those extrinsic circumstances in -which the German is placed. - -10. _The Press._—The freedom with which this powerful engine is wielded -in the different states of Germany, varies very much. Between Vienna -and Leipzig-liberty of the press, there is nearly as much difference -as between Negro freedom in Virginia and London. But the censorship -exists everywhere. The manuscript of volume, magazine, or newspaper must -first undergo the revisal of the phlegmatic and inexorable CENSOR, who -strikes out or alters every passage or paragraph which has any tendency -to exercise the imagination, excite the feelings, or appeal to the -passions. This at least, is the policy of Austria. Now it would require -but little ingenuity to prove—or at least, persuade, that this is the -very _ne plus ultra_ of good government. What engines are so potent -in the origination and propagation of evil as imagination, feeling, -passion? How praiseworthy is it in the Austrian Emperor to stifle and -suppress all combustible materials of this kind!—How beneficial would the -Censorship prove in England! Take, for instance, the subject of LIBEL—so -well calculated to introduce all kinds of hatred and ill-will amongst -Britons. The AGE or the SATIRIST might, without the possibility of -_prevention_, assert that “the QUEEN was—anything but a gentlewoman:”—and -that “the Chancellor of the Exchequer was lately _detected in picking the -pocket_ of one of his neighbours on the treasury bench!!” Now if such -paragraphs came before an Austrian Censor, that redoubtable OFFICIAL -would either erase them entirely and cite the audacious editor before one -of the tribunals, or substitute something like the following:—“From all -parts of the country congratulatory addresses are pouring in upon her -MAJESTY, in consequence of the recent happy event.” And in respect to the -alleged PICK-POCKET, it would probably run thus:—“The recent financial -measure of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the imposition of a tax on -rent-gatherers), has given universal satisfaction to all classes of the -community—with the exception, perhaps, of Daniel O’Connel, M.P., who -opposed the measure so stoutly in parliament.” - -But the _prevention_ of all sources of excitement and irritation -amongst the community, so much preferable to the _punishment_ of them -afterwards, would not be the only advantage of a shackled, that is, a -censored PRESS. The great majority of writers, who, being defective -in imagination, feeling, and passion—in other words, of GENIUS—are -now consigned to oblivion, would, under the paternal Austrian system, -spring up in myriads, and greatly tend to render the Plumbean rule of -authority a veritable wand of Mercury, soothing the great mass of -society into soporific torpor, and silencing effectually those turbulent -spirits of the age, who stir up men’s minds to mischief! Away then with -those hot-headed enthusiasts who prefer a “LIBERTAS PERICULOSA” to the -Austro-patriarchal system of “SERVITUDO QUIETA,” where the fiat of the -sovereign is the fate of the subject!! - -Then think of the incalculable benefit that would accrue to society from -the suppression of those myriads of critical and political reviewers, -trimestral, mestral, hebdomadal, and diurnal, who batten and fatten on -the vitals of authors, scattering their quivering members to the winds, -or flinging them about, like firebrands, to inflame the passions of the -community! In fine, till PRINCES muzzle the press, there will be no -millennium between them and their PEOPLE. - -11. _Domestic Manners._—A treatise on the _domestic_ manners of the -French and Germans, is like an essay on the rail-roads of the Alps in the -days of Hannibal—or steam-navigation in the voyage of Nearchus—or the -mariner’s compass in the Periplus of Hanno. Let us hear the testimony of -one who resided long in Germany, and was intimate with their habits and -language. - -“The Germans are not so domestic as the English, yet perhaps more so -than the French. The taste of the _middle and lower classes_ carries -them necessarily to public gardens, coffee-houses, the table-d’hôte, -and the theatre. A large portion of the male population dine daily -at the table-d’hôte, and here a considerable portion of their time -is dissipated. The _higher orders_, in addition to the theatre, -derive one of their chief gratifications from a Summer visit to some -of the mineral springs; and here they live all together in a family -manner—entire families at these bathe dine and sup, and even breakfast in -public.”—_Bisset Hawkins._ - -It is really no paradox, therefore, to say that an insight into -_domestic_ manners in Germany, will be best acquired in _public_—where -all classes, high, middle, and lower orders “live and move and have their -being!” - -12. _Women._—Perhaps in no country of Europe (as indeed the preceding -section would indicate) are the barriers around female honour more feebly -raised, or less vigilantly guarded;—yet in no country is female virtue -more free from stain. “Here the temperament of woman is cast in a happy -mould. Gentle, kind, unambitious, unaffected, she is less intent upon -adorning herself, than in administering to the happiness of those around -her. She is fenced round with few artificial restraints; and, in society, -she often meets with too much laxity of opinion and usage. Her full and -confiding heart requires a helpmate on whom to lean through life. This -support granted to her, she generally exhibits all the domestic virtues -in their vernal bloom.” - -To this it has been objected that, the number of children born out of -wedlock in Germany, is infinitely greater than in England. Thus, in the -great city of Prague, more than a third of the children born annually are -illegitimate. But mistresses may be virtuous without being married—and -they may be married without being virtuous. In many countries marriage -is only a civil, and not a religious rite. The neglect of that ceremony, -therefore, _in such countries_, involves neither sin, nor crime, nor -disgrace. The slender _liaison_ of affection is often stronger and more -durable than the massive chains of matrimony. The frequency of these -_liaisons_, therefore, is to be attributed to the influence of public -sentiment, rather than to depravity of the female heart. The facilities, -indeed, of effecting divorce in many Protestant States of Germany -render the tie of marriage little more than a nominal bond that can be -conveniently cancelled, when passions cool, tempers clash, or interests -predominate! - -13. _Morality._—Although there can scarcely be genuine RELIGION without -morality; yet there may be great display of MORALITY without religion. -Germany affords a proof and illustration. In no other country is there -less of RELIGION—in none is there less of CRIME. The apparent paradox -is easily solved. Crime is punishable by the laws of man, in this -world;—irreligion is punishable by the laws of God, in another. In a -country where little or no religion prevails, and consequently where -there is little or no belief in future rewards and punishments, it -may readily be supposed that the fear of the magistrate is much more -efficient than the fear of the Lord. - -14. _Socialism._—Smoking is not so sociable an affair in Faderland -as in some other countries. In this respect, indulgence in tobacco -presents a great contrast to that in tea. If you visit a cigar divan -in London, or an estaminet in Paris, you will find “the flow of soul,” -if not the “feast of reason,” in conjunction with the fumes of the -“cursed weed.” Not so beyond the Rhine. The German shrinks within the -cloudy atmosphere of his pipe, like a snail within its shell, and there -remains imperturbable, immoveable, and insensible to the external -world. Meanwhile the soul retires to some remote nook or corner of the -brain—probably the pineal gland—and there taking its metaphysical siesta, -dreams of all imaginable and unimaginable things! This appears to be the -real explanation of the idealism, mysticism, and transcendentalism of the -German character. - -15. TIME.—By half the world or more—by all who have much to do, whether -by the head, the hands, or the feet—TIME is regarded next to health, -as the most valuable article: by the other half—or a large portion of -it—TIME is looked upon as little better than a drug, and readily bartered -away for the merest trifles!—Nay, it is often voted to be a great -BORE, and a thousand ways and means are invented to kill the bore. In -Germany TIME is not over-rated, on the one hand, nor despised or hated, -on the other. All Germans have something to do (for who is without his -pipe), and few have very much work on hand. The German, therefore, -takes everything leisurely and coolly—never permitting himself to be -hurried or flurried—even by the sound of the dinner-bell, or the march -to the table-d’hôte. It is seldom of any use to bribe the waiter or the -postillion to increased velocity. The cook and the horses not being -participators of the _douceur_, are not at all inclined to assist in the -completion of the implied contract between the other parties. The German -never attempts to “KILL TIME,” well knowing that in such a conflict the -enemy must be ultimately victorious. But he daily and hourly offers him a -_narcotic_, by which his scythe may be blunted, and his ravages obscured. - -Of all the mythological divinities, TIME is most familiar to us, through -the medium of his works:—for he himself is invisible, inaudible, -intangible. TIME is cloathed, on one side, with flesh and blood:—the -other is a naked skeleton. In his right hand he holds a wand, by which -he calls into existence, every instant, countless myriads of beings -throughout the animal and vegetable world—leading them forward to -maturity and age. His skeleton hand is clenched on a crooked falchion, -with which he smites, destroys, and annihilates everything which he had -previously created—thus realizing the fabled monster that eternally -devours its own progeny![94] It is a melancholy spectacle—but it could -not have been otherwise! It is possible that the Almighty could have -created a single pair immortal—but the power of multiplying could not -have been conferred without the penalty of death! - -Tyrannical, inexorable, and pitiless, as he is, yet TIME is not without -some redeeming qualities. 1mo. He is strictly _impartial_. He slackens -not his pace at the command of the monarch—he hurries not his steps -at the prayer of the slave. 2do. TIME mitigates every _moral_ ill -that is unattended with culpability or remorse: and although he too -often aggravates _physical_ maladies, yet he invariably diminishes -our sensibility to pain, and thus tends to reconcile us to our lot of -suffering. 3tio. He is sure to remove from the sphere of their operations -all tyrants, oppressors, and evil-doers; thus giving the world a chance -of better successors. 4to. TIME is a great enemy to personal beauty, -of feature or form—apparently deeming such qualities to be dangerous -accompaniments to length of years. On the other hand, he is more -favourable to virtue, honour, morality, and RELIGION, of which TIME -_alone_ never deprives the individual till the curtain falls. - -On TIME PAST, hallowed in memory and mellowed by distance, we look back -as on an old and valued friend, whom we did not sufficiently appreciate -while living, but who is now lost to us for ever. - -TIME PRESENT we too often contemplate through the haze of prejudice, -passion, or impatience; underrating his value, overlooking his flight, -and neglecting the advantages which he offers, till, all at once, we find -that TIME PRESENT has changed into TIME PAST, and vanished from our grasp! - -TIME TO COME—is that fairy-land of promise—of air-built castles—of -hopes that are seldom to be realized, of fears that are generally -exaggerated—of phantoms, good and evil, conjured up by imagination on the -dim horizon of our mental vision, which dissolve as we approach, or fly -as we follow!! Yet these phantoms of futurity form the solace and the -misery of half the world! - -16. _Titles, Decorations, &c._—From the savage, with the ring in his -nose—the serjeant, with the tassel on his shoulder—the prince, with the -star on his breast—up to the monarch, with the diadem on his brow—all and -every of the human race, are nearly insatiable in the pursuit of honours, -titles, distinctions, or decorations. I do not presume to determine what -nation or people most _desire_ these pomps and vanities; but I think it -will be allowed that the Germans are not behind their neighbours in the -_display_ of them. The French may dispute the palm on this point; but I -doubt whether they will gain the victory. JOHN BULL appears to be the -least ostentatious of the European family, often pocketing his stars and -garters, when travelling, by which he saves in money what he loses in -eclat. - -After all, this weakness of the German and Frenchman is very pardonable. -Those who have _fairly_ earned honours are under no obligation to conceal -them; and those who have not done so, are not called upon to proclaim the -secret—especially as so many of their friends and neighbours are always -ready to kindly perform that office gratuitously. - -17. _Aerophobia._—From one end of Germany to the other, among all -ages, ranks, and professions, an _AEROPHOBIA_, or dread of fresh air, -universally prevails! If you take a seat in the diligence or eilwagen, -your German neighbour in the corner closes the windows immediately, lest -a breath of pure air should enter the vehicle. On arriving at the hotel, -half poisoned by the disoxygenated atmosphere of the coach, and enter -your chamber, you find all the windows securely fastened, and the air of -the apartment a mass of heavy mephitic vapour, like that which issues -from a long unopened tomb. If you descend to the spies-saal, where the -air is still farther vitiated by the fumes of tobacco, and throw open a -window, you are stared at by the ober-kellner, the under-kellner, and -every “GAST” in the “HAUS,” as a person deranged. I had long puzzled my -brains to account for this aerophobic phenomenon, and, at last, traced -its cause to the GERMAN STOVE—that black brewery of mephitism, which, -bearing a mortal antipathy to the fresh air of Heaven, imbues every one -who sits near it with the same prejudice. In fine, the German exhibits as -great a horror of oxygen, as he does a mania for azote! - -And what is the consequence of this?—Why, that the Germans are ten times -more susceptible of colds, rheumatism, face-aches, and tooth-aches, -than the English, who live in a far more variable, wet, and ungenial -climate. This aerophobia is one of the causes too, of that sallow, -unhealthy aspect which all Germans, who are not forced to be much in the -open air, exhibit. It is no wonder that they swarm like locusts round -their numberless spas, in the Summer, to wash away some of those peccant -humours engendered by their diet, and fermented by their stoves. - -18. _Female Peasantry._—Among a barbarous people, we always find that -the weaker sex have the harder work. It is not very flattering nor yet -creditable to the pride of civilization, that in many parts of Europe, -and even in Germany, the female peasant is little more than a beast of -burthen, with worse food and more care than the ox or the horse. Wherever -we see three persons employed in agricultural labour, two of them are -sure to be women. They cut the corn, and thrash out the grain—dig the -potatoes, and carry them home—whilst the large baskets on their backs -are filled with everything that requires transportation from the fields -to the house, or from the house to the fields. One of the most revolting -instances of this female slavery which I have seen, was in Belgium, -where, on the line of the railway, we observed women sitting with large -panniers on their backs, into which the men were shovelling the earth, -gravel, and stones, to be carried away by the females—many of them young -women! Every time that the earth or gravel was thrown into the pannier, -the shock caused a violent vibration of the whole female frame, from head -to foot! The sight was really disgusting. - -In travelling through many parts of Germany we are often surprised at the -paucity of men, and cannot help wondering where they are, or what they -are doing! Women are the universal drudges here! - -19. _Status quo._—Among all ranks and classes of Society in Germany, -from the prince to the peasant, there is, or there _appears_ to be, a -complete amalgamation, approximation—in fine, an _equalization_ in one -thing—POLITENESS. But the approximation goes no farther than the hat, the -cap, and the bow. It would be almost as easy for a Pariar in India, or a -Ladrone in China to break the boundaries of his cast, and rise through -the ranks above him, as for a German of low grade to mount into the -circles of the nobility. Each ascending series is all but hermetically -sealed against the inferior one! What is impossible to be done, is not -therefore attempted—perhaps it is scarcely desired. All this is reversed -in England. Here we have but very little reciprocity of external and -formal civility among the different ranks; but the barriers between them -are to easily—or at least so frequently overleaped, that almost every -individual has an ardent wish, and is engaged in a constant struggle to -rise above the grade in which Nature or accident placed him at birth. -It is evident that this contrasted state of things, quite independent -of politics, must produce tranquillity, if not content, in the one -country—commotion and even strife in the other. At the same time it -generates industry, energy, and enterprize in England. - -20. _Locomotion._—It is passing strange that the mercurial brains of our -French neighbours should never have infused any quicksilver into the -heels of their horses! No. There they go at the old jog-trot of five -miles an hour, over the “long rough road,” which seems as if it had -been stretched out over hill and dale, by some invisible and gigantic -apparatus, into a straight and narrow line, which is as tiresome to the -eye of the traveller as it is to the limbs of the horses. In plodding -Germany, however, we do not expect velocity in man or beast—or that the -schnell-post should go at any other rate than the snail’s pace. In that -country time and space seem to be confounded or amalgamated;—a league -signifying an hour, and an hour a league, the word “STUNDE” (derived no -doubt from “_stand_”) being applicable to either or both. - -There are several reasons, indeed, for the tardiprogression of a German -vehicle, independently of the breed and the build of those animals that -draw it along. _First._ The German never does anything in a hurry. He has -more time on his hands than any other man. His days are longer—his nights -are longer (though his beds are shorter) than those of an Englishman. Why -then should he hurry over the pleasant journey, or curtail the salutary -range of travelling exercise?—_Secondly._ A German’s luggage is twice -the size and weight of an Englishman’s, besides the huge crate in which -it is stowed above or behind the carriage. _Thirdly._ There is an outlay -of time, labour, and expense in frequently cleaning the harness of the -horses—the body, the wheels, or the leather of a carriage. This outlay is -prudently avoided by the German, who trusts to the winds and rains for -disencumbering his harness and eilwagen of some layers of those weighty -and numerous incrustations that have slowly formed on their surface. -_Fourthly._ There are no Collinge’s patent axletrees in Germany, which -will hold oil for a month; and although the post-master charges some -kreutzers for “grease” at every station, small is the portion of that -lubricating article which reaches the hot and creaking gudgeons of the -ponderous locomotive! - -But the primary and fundamental cause of tardiprogression in Germany may -be traced to the roads themselves, which, though much improved in many -places, are still villainously bad, and require the hardest and heaviest -wood and iron to withstand the tremendous succussions which the vehicle -is destined to experience at every step. Besides, as the German chaussée -marches straight forward over hill and dale, without deigning to wind -round the one, in order to evade the other, so the SCHNELL-POST must -necessarily go at a snail’s pace to the end of the chapter—or, at all -events, to the end of the journey. - -21. _The Burschen._—Perhaps no country, except Germany, _could_ generate, -or _would_ tolerate a large class of the rising generation—students by -profession, but demi-ruffians by habit—who are organized in clubs, and -banded in clans, for no other purpose but the violation of all law, -order, decency, and morality! The supreme felicity of the Burschen -is to swill beer, smoke tobacco, and fight duels. If they submit one -hour in the twenty-four to the rule of the professor, they rule him, -and tyrannize over others during the remainder of the day. Most of -the hours that can be spared from duelling, fencing, and dancing, are -dedicated to what they term “_renowning_”—that is, of working all kinds -of mischief—enacting all sorts of absurdities—attracting everybody’s -attention—and earning every one’s contempt and detestation. The evening -and much of the night are spent in the ale-house, where the summit of the -Burschen’s ambition is, who can drink most beer, smoke most tobacco—and -vociferate with the loudest voice— - - “Though wine, it is true, be a rarity here. - We’ll be jolly as gods with tobacco and beer. - “Vivallerallerallera.” - -While bellowing about liberty, justice, honour, and truth, the Burschen -will tyrannize over others with the most despotic sway—break the sword of -justice over the victim’s head—trample on the laws of honour—and violate -the sacred truth! - -“Full of lofty unintelligible notions of his own importance—misled by -ludicrously erroneous ideas of honour—the true BURSCHE swaggers and -renowns, choleric raw and overbearing. He measures his own honour by -the number of _scandals_ (duels) he has fought; but never wastes a -thought on what they have been fought for. He does not fight to resent -insolence; but he insults, or takes offence, that he may have a pretext -for fighting. The lecture-rooms are but secondary to the fencing-school. -_That_ is his temple—the rapier is his god—and the “COMMENT” (the -Burschen laws) is the Gospel by which he swears.”[95] - -Such is the BURSCHEN, or collegiate youth of Germany. The fraternity -itself is called the “LANDSMANNSCHAFTEN”—a confederation of various clans -for the double purpose of fighting among themselves, and defending -the corps against the Philistines, as the rest of the world is called! -Fortunately for society, this odious freemasonry which is forced on -the student at first, is dropped with the cap, long hair, uncouth -coat, and Jack-boots, the moment he bids adieu to Alma Mater—and he -settles down among his brethren the PHILISTINES, discharged from the -LANDSMANNSCHAFTEN, like an old soldier from the army, with nothing -but honorable(?) scars to remind him of the days of “renowning” and -“scandalizing,” in Gottingen, Jena, Leipzig, or Heidelburg. It is said, -but I doubt the assertion, that this three years’ training in habits the -most objectionable, seldom, if ever, exerts any influence on the citizen -in after-life—and that he becomes as peaceable, civil, and obedient -to the laws, as those who had never set foot within the walls of a -university. - -Be this AS IT may, it becomes a serious question whether initiation into -the Eleusinian mysteries and eccentric, not to say barbarous, habits of -the Burschen, be conducive to the welfare of British youth? The effects -of English universities are not always thrown off with the cap and gown! -Let parents ponder on the LANDSMANNSCHAFTEN. - -22. _German Cookery._—I am not going into a disquisition on continental -cookery in general, nor on German in particular. Man has been -characterized as a “COOKING ANIMAL,” and if refinement in this noble art -and science be a proof of civilization, our Gallic and Saxon neighbours -must stand unrivalled. The New Zealander, who roasts his hog, his dog, -and his prisoner in the same oven, sinks very low on the gastronomic -scale—not on account of his canine or cannibal predilections, but -because he cannot so mystify and transform the original materials of his -laboratory—the genera and species of his animal and vegetable stock—as to -defy Orfila himself to ascertain whether they had been inhabitants of the -air, the earth, or the “waters under the earth.” As I think I have made -a small discovery that may prove of some importance in the cuisine of my -native land, I shall here communicate it, _pro bono publico_. - -In almost all the cities, towns, and even villages of Germany, we find -on the bill of fare certain dishes that are great favourites with JOHN -BULL—namely, beef-steaks—mutton-chops—veal cutlets—pork-chops—lamb-chops, -&c. To be sure the titles are not very easily pronounced; but the kind -host is always ready to furnish you with rind-fleisch, schwein-fleisch, -lamms-fleisch, kalbfleisch, or hammelfleisch, without doubt or delay. -When these come on the table, they are so nicely browned, and crusted -over with bread-crumbs, flower, butter and other mysterious compounds, -that, except by the external figure, and the protuberant rib, no -discrimination between the different dishes could possibly be made. Nor -will the taste detect schweins-fleisch from any of the other fleshes. All -agree, however, in the tenderness, flavour, and delicacy of the steaks, -chops, and cutlets. Then, again, they remark, how well the fat is taken -off, leaving nothing but the meat; while the bone comes out as easy -and as clean as if it had been boiled and scraped in a separate vessel! -These eulogies attracted my attention, and I began to examine the chops -and steaks accurately. A very slight dissection demonstrated, beyond a -doubt, that all was a composition. A few further intrusions into the -cuisines explained the whole matter, without difficulty. The cold meat, -of every description, is pounded in a mortar, with pepper, salt, and -spices. When wanted, it is pressed into moulds (like butter) according -to the shape required—an old rib or bone is thrust into one end of the -chop—the whole is well covered with crumbs of bread, flour, or other -habiliments—made smoking hot in the oven—and brought to table as most -delicious mutton-chops, veal cutlets, pork-chops, beef-steaks—or—anything -you please to demand. - -Do I blame or criticise this ingenious manufacture? Far from it. The -pounded and compounded chops and steaks are better than original ones—are -easy of digestion—require little or no mastication—are savoury to the -taste, and warm to the stomach—and, what is of some consequence, they -are economical, and always ready for dressing at any hour of the day -or night. The only part of the compound to which I object, is the -_bony-part_. These bones remain in the kitchen, like heir-looms, serving -from generation to generation, as far as I know, and if the cook takes -the trouble to wash them daily, with the spoons’ and forks, my objection -vanishes at once. The above discovery explained an enigma which often -puzzled me when travelling on the Continent—namely, the impossibility of -getting cold meat at a hotel—even a few hours after the most splendid -table-d’hôte. - -I can have no reason—or at all events no right, to question the taste of -our continental neighbours in the preparation of their food. To German -cookery, German spas, German baths, and German waggons, I owe the loss -of fifteen pounds in weight, and that in a late tour of two months. But -then the lost flesh was London fed—and I gained in strength far more in -proportion than I lost in weight. This may prove a valuable hint to the -race of aldermen, and many others besides. - -23. _Gallic and German Patriotism compared._—The temperature of a -Frenchman’s patriotism seldom reaches the boiling, or even the fever -point, unless he is, in act or imagination, the aggressor or agitator. -It requires the fuel of pride, ambition, glory, revolution, or conquest, -present or prospective, to keep up the steam of national enthusiasm among -our Gallic neighbours. Not so beyond the Rhine. A German’s patriotism -rises in proportion as “FADERLAND” is borne down by misfortunes, or -trode upon by the foot of the haughty foreigner. The flame of devotion -to country never burns with greater intensity in a German’s breast, than -when it is apparently extinguished by the pressure of the victorious -enemy. Both these propositions are proved by history. Every one knows -the sacrifices which the people of France made in the late war, while -Napoleon was trampling on the liberties of Europe. Yet, when the tide -of his glory ebbed, and the energies of Germany and other countries -carried forward the contest into the heart of France—the French nation -sunk into apathy, stupor, or indifference. So, on a recent occasion, -when the thunder of British cannon demolished the ramparts of a Syrian -despot—a vice-regal slave-driver—and reverberated from the pyramids to -Montmartre, the flame of patriotism glowed in every Frenchman’s breast, -from the Mediterranean to the Moselle—and already the MARSELLAISE hymn -depicted the EAGLES, as pluming their wings and wafting their flight over -the Alps and the Rhine—over the Tyber and the Thames! For, although the -word “patriotism” means, in all other languages, the love of natal soil, -yet in the French vocabulary, it signifies the love of revolution at -home, or of conquest and spoliation beyond the limits of France.[96] The -wanton and threatening insult, though only prospective and intentional, -which she lately held out to Europe, called forth a “GERMAN MARSELLAISE,” -tuned to true patriotic principles, and containing no menace—no allusion -to former invasions of France, and capture of her capital. The whole -burthen of the song, and conclusion of each verse, breathed only the -firm resolution to resist aggression, and preserve their “Faderland” -independent. - - “No, never shall they have it, our free-born German Rhine, - Till deep beneath its surges, our last man’s bones recline!” - -German patriotism, in the long run, will prove superior to Gallic -ambition. The love of country is a nobler and safer passion than the love -of conquest.[97] - -The French tell us that the English are detested on the Continent—but -to adduce any reason for this, would be quite unlike a Frenchman—whose -assertion needs not the vulgar auxiliary of proof. The only plausible -cause which he might urge for this anti-Britannic hatred, is the fact -that the English assisted the continental nations to drive the French -back over the Rhine, and up to the Boulevards—hence the detestation of -Germany, Russia, Spain, &c. against England! This is quite the Gallic -style of ratiocination. - -24. _Prisons._—There would seem to be two, if not more, kinds of -liberty—political and personal; or national and individual. They do -not always run parallel. When our Gallic neighbours placed the CAP OF -LIBERTY on the head of a COURTEZAN, and worshipped her as a GODDESS, the -prisons were overflowing, and most of the inmates lost their caps—in -which their heads happened to be at the time! No one will contend that -Germany is overburthened with political liberty—but I believe that the -proportion of out-door to in-door prisoners there, is as great as in this -country. To say the truth there are not many temptations to take up free -quarters within the walls of a German prison—for although HOWARD, that -great practical reformer of “proved,” that is to say, _approved_ abuses, -was there; yet the hard labour, low fare, bastinado for men, and whip -for women, afford little encouragement to transgression of the laws. To -the honour of Austria be it said, that the functionaries are strictly -enjoined to apply the whip and bastinado, with all due regard to the -_moral feelings_ of the prisoners, and with the most scrupulous attention -to the forms and ceremonies prescribed for those occasions! - -In respect to food, the following is the Austrian dietary. “The prisoner -has one pound and a half of bread _per diem_—a farinaceous dish with milk -thrice a week—and on Sundays a soup, with a quarter of a pound of meat, -and the farinaceous dish again.” _Hawkins._ This, it must be confessed, -is meagre fare; but _half_ of what the prisoner can earn, _beyond his -daily task_, is given to him for the purchase of additional comforts. - -Instruction, both religious and lay, is provided by the state—consisting -of reading and sometimes of arithmetic—but not _writing_, as that might -lead to correspondence not entirely composed of love-letters or letters -of love! It is clear, indeed, that the Emperor of Austria (though himself -a PAPIST) has no great faith in the dogma of a POPE— - - “HEAVEN first taught _letters_ for some wretch’s aid. - Some banished lover, or some _captive maid_.” - -At all events, Prince Metternich has not recommended his master to follow -the example of HEAVEN in teaching his subjects to write _letters_; nor -is it likely that the veteran and wily minister will introduce a penny -postage, to enable the subjects of the whip and bastinado to— - - “Waft a _sigh_ from Indus to the Pole.” - -Nevertheless there are many good points about German prison-discipline. -The classification of the prisoners—the separation of the juvenile from -the hardened offenders—the law of rendering labour the only means of -procuring anything like comfortable diet—the regularity of religious -instruction and duties—the laudable exertion of Government to reinstate -the liberated and punished prisoner in the social position previously -occupied—not forgetting the humane injunction never to hurt the -_feelings_ of the flogged—are all worthy of praise and imitation. - -25. _Beds and Bed-rooms._—A German sleeping-room presents a real -paradox—beds that are at once plural and singular—plural in number, but -singular in office. One would suppose that all the men in that country -were monks, and all the women nuns. You look in vain for the large and -comfortable bed, on which John Bull and his spouse are accustomed to -repose when at home. Nothing of the kind will you see here! From the -moment that a married couple set foot on the Continent, the wife is -divorced, if not “_a mensa_” at least “_a thoro_.” I have said that the -German beds are _singular_. They are so in every sense of the word! In -other countries, they are designed to promote rest and sleep. In this -they act like strong coffee or green tea taken at ten o’clock. In a -German bed, the two extremities of the victim are “perched up aloft,” -while the body is “under hatches.” The only personage who can attain -anything like horizontality in these cribs, is the corporation gourmand -after a good eight o’clock table-d’hôte. If he turn in, or rather turn -_over_ on his face, with his feet on the taffrail, and his stomach -stowed in midships, he will be able to bring his head, his spine, and -his heels into something approaching a right line. In this position he -will have the great advantage of sleeping on his supper, and thus evading -the pressure of the night-mare. When the woolsack is laid over the -traveller’s body, the whole resembles the old moon in the lap of the new. - -It is very fortunate for John and Jane Bull that before they sojourn -long in Germany their travelling constitutions will have begun, like -new clothes, to suit them—and, which is of greater consequence, they -will have got rid of the most inconvenient article, by far, of their -luggage—(and that is saying a good deal, when a lady’s baggage is in -transit)—namely the—idea of COMFORT—an article which even the douanier -never searches for, as being not only out of his beat, but out of his -mother tongue! - -Many circumstances had, long ago, impressed me with a high sense of the -value of a TRAVELLING CONSTITUTION, as a kind of Mackintosh against -“skiey influences;” but none more so than an occasional glimpse at the -mysteries of the laundry. If a traveller happens to forget some valuable -article at his hotel, and hastens back to his chamber about mid-day, -he will be rather surprized to find the bed-linen on the floor, nicely -sprinkled with water, preparatory to a squeeze under a high-pressure -engine, which renders it of a glossy smoothness, and diffuses the watery -element so equally, that it feels delightfully cool to the next—and -even to the tenth tenant of the caravansera! I fear that this is often -the case nearer home, and where there is no “_travelling constitution_” -to resist the vapour-bath of exhalent sheets in our foggy and cold -atmosphere! The contracts between masters and chamber-maids for the -supply of damp linen to hotels, are too often contracts for the supply -of coughs, consumptions, and rheumatisms to travellers—greatly to the -advantage of doctors, druggists, and undertakers afterwards! - -Tourists who can afford space for leather sheets among their luggage, -should take these useful articles with them, as there are more maladies -than colds and rheumatisms _contracted_ in caravanseras, and for which -there is no provision made in the _contract_ between host and passenger. - -It must be acknowledged, however, that, of late years considerable -improvements have taken place in the bedding line. In several parts of -Germany, in the Autumn of 1840, we found very comfortable mattresses, -blankets, coverlets, and sheets, to our no small joy and surprize. - -26. _German Stove_ versus _English Chimney_.—That a room heated by -invisible caloric—with an atmosphere stagnant as the dead sea, humid -as a Scotch mist, and odoriferous as a slaughter-house—should prove -more congenial to the lungs of persons in the first or last stage of -consumption, than an apartment with a blazing fire at one end, a large -column of hot air rushing up the chimney, and a thousand tiny streams -of cold air stealing in through the chinks and crevices of doors and -windows, I do not, for a moment, deny. But, that the general balance of -salubrity is on the side of the German stove, and against the English -fire-place, I very much doubt. I admit that the air of an English room, -heated by fire, is frequently changing the degree of its temperature, -not only as a whole, but in different parts of the same chamber. This is -the alpha and omega of Continental objections to the English plan—and it -would not be difficult to show that this variability of heat, so much -complained of, is a powerful preservative against atmospheric disorders -in general. Nothing is more certain than that the most effectual way of -counteracting the effects of sudden changes in the temperature of the -air around us, is to _habituate_ ourselves to these vicissitudes. It is -in this way, that daily sponging of the face, throat, and other exposed -parts of the body, first with hot, and then immediately with cold water, -generally prevents face-aches, ear-aches, tooth-aches, and catarrhs, by -habituating those parts to changes of temperature. And it is on this -principle, that a person who has been for some time in an English room, -where variations prevail, goes out into the open air afterwards, with far -less risk than he who has been for an equal time in an actual sudatorium, -at a high and unvarying range of temperature. But let us look a little -more closely into the affair. In the room heated by a German stove and -consequently where there cannot be a free ventilation, every individual -is breathing the identical air that has circulated through the lungs of -every other individual in the same place—through the air-cells of the -scrofulous, the scorbutic, the asthmatic, the consumptive, &c.—air that -is not only deprived of its oxygen, but loaded with animal effluvia of -a very questionable character! Add to these the malodorous essence of -tobacco, much of which must drip down the throat, as well as into the -receptacle below the bowl of the pipe, during the day, to be exhaled in -_poisonous_ gases through the rooms at night! All must have experienced -the debilitating effects of disoxygenated air in crowded rooms, even -where there were various facilities of ingress and egress for the breath -of Heaven. But where these facilities are wanting, the depression of the -vital energies is indescribable. In short, I am of opinion that nothing -can compensate for the ventilation produced by the English chimney. -Those who stand or sit near a partially opened door, or a broken pane of -glass, may catch cold, or face-ache, or rheumatism, it is true; but if I -am to die or to suffer from atmospheric influence, let me do so in pure, -rather than in mephitic air! - -I have grounded these reasonings on salubrity alone—leaving _comfort_ -out of the question—as indeed it must be round the German stove! Why, -the very sight of a cheerful fire in a Winter evening, is worth a German -stove with the table-d’hôte thrown into the bargain! In a good fire we -have company, conversation, and even meditation. I do not wonder that the -Persees adore fire, as an emanation from the sun itself. I much doubt -whether the Egyptians would have worshipped a German stove, even when -they were so over-godly as to deify cats and crocodiles! But, to give -the devil his due, the German stove is not without some good qualities. -It is cheap—it does not set fire to ladies’ dresses—nor cause chilblains -by scorching the fingers and toes in frosty weather. But as a drawback -upon these negative good qualities, it renders the Germans a race of -hot-house plants, who shiver in the blast whenever they issue from their -vapour-baths, and are infinitely more liable to take cold than if they -had come from an English room. - -The introduction into this country of the ANGLO-GERMANIC stove—that -unsightly and unsocial laboratory of sulphur and suffocation—will not, I -think, succeed. It is bad enough in Germany, where the Dutch tiles with -which it is covered, emit no bad smell, and have a comparatively light -and cheerful appearance; but here the hybrid iron mass—that dark lantern, -“cui lumen ademptum”—is positively a nuisance. It may be borne, and even -prove useful, in large halls, where there are constant currents of cool -air. In a sitting-room or other chamber, it is very offensive—at least -to my senses, from its metallic and sulphurous emanations. I had rather -pitch my tent in the crater of Vesuvius, the valley of Solfatera, or the -hut of a charbonnier in the Maremma, than in the vicinity of that sable -distillery of “Northumberland diamonds,” from which every ray of light -has been previously extracted by the gasometer. - -27. _Verlobung, or betrothing._—The German system of affiance appears -to me to be a long courtship, and “something more.” It is a kind of -“little-go,” or ante-marriage contract, attended with form, ceremony, and -sequences. The affianced pair send out their cards bound together in the -silken bonds of Hymen, in perspective—are waited on and congratulated -by their friends,—are always invited together to parties, where they -sit next each other at table, engross each other’s conversation, and -appear like—or rather _unlike_, man and wife. At page 24 of this volume, -I ventured some observations on the danger and the miseries that often -attend on affiances, or long-promised marriages. Notwithstanding the -approval of Mrs. Jameson, I still hold my opinion. That lady indeed, is -not blind to some of the consequences of the verlobung. One of them will -be sufficient. “As the bridegroom is expected to devote every leisure -moment to the society of his betrothed—as he attends her to all public -places—as they are invariably seated next each other,—_they have time -to become tolerably tired of each others’ society before marriage, and -have nothing left to say_.” This is a charming prospect for matrimony! -The soft looks, the fine speeches, the glowing sentiments, nay even the -pretty riens, are all expended during the protracted affiance, and when, -at last, the knot is tied indissolubly, the gallant gay lothario is, as -Rosalind says—“gravelled for lack of matter.” - -But Mrs. Jameson says that this long state of probation enables the -parties to study well their respective characters, and detect failings -and faults which a short courtship would be apt to over-look. Now the -affiance is either binding or not binding. If the latter, of what use is -it? If the _former_, it is small consolation to the bride or bridegroom -to ascertain the causes of future misery before even Hymen lights his -torch! But who is unaware that courtship is a kind of warfare, in which -the belligerents take good care to mask their weak points and magnify -their strong positions. The Germans themselves, indeed, have an adage -that runs in little accordance with the tedious VERLOBUNG. - - “Early woo’d and early won, - Was never repented under the sun.” - -28. _March of Population._—Nothing exhibits a greater contrast between -England and the Continent than the progress of population. I believe it -goes on at least three times as fast in the British Isles as in France -and Germany. Many causes may be assigned for this disproportion. The -immense outlet for redundant population in our colonies—the prodigious -extent of our commerce and manufactures—the early period of marriage, -especially in Ireland—these are among the chief causes of the rail-road -speed at which the multiplication of mankind goes on in this country. -On the Continent, it is just the reverse. The pace of population there -is quite “_a la schnell-post_.” But lest this degree of velocity should -endanger the state waggon, government (in many parts of Germany) -has affixed a drag to the wheels, in the shape of a law prohibiting -matrimony, unless the high contracting parties can produce proof of their -possessing ways and means for supporting themselves and families. If -this regulation obtained in Great Britain, it would stop one half of the -marriages in Scotland, two-thirds of those in England, and nine-tenths -of those in Ireland. Here is a hint for the Poor Law Commissioners, that -may induce them to bring a Bill into Parliament for the prevention of -imprudent marriages, which would be more effectual in checking pauperism -than the terrors of the workhouse. - -But, when we consider that colonization and commerce carry off an -immense redundancy of British population, how are we to account for the -_permanent_ or domiciliated population of these islands increasing so -much more rapidly than that of the Continent, where the safety-valves are -of such narrow dimensions? There are some causes of these different rates -of progression, which are little known in this country; but the chief -cause must be the greater degree of prudence exercised by the people of -France and Germany than by the people of Great Britain. - -29. _Poetry._—The transition from population to poetry is not so abrupt -as might at first appear; for although we may have population without -poetry, we shall rarely have poetry without population. Looking at the -_words_ of the German language, a stranger to that language would be apt -to conclude that it must be as difficult to mould them into music or -poetry, as to convert hob-nails into ivory teeth—the bristles of a boar -into the ermine of a judge—or the rocks of Iona into columns of crystal. -Yet nothing would be a more erroneous prejudice than this conclusion. -The German, like the English language, is so rich in _synonimes_, as to -afford every facility for the intonations of the musician, and variety -of expression of the poet. The poverty of the French language in this -respect, presents a remarkable contrast to the German and English. French -poetry must have the jingle of rhyme to make it bearable by the ear. A -French poem in blank verse, would be like a monkey striding along on huge -stilts, exciting roars of laughter from the spectators. But this poverty -in synonims, renders the French language more precise, and the individual -words less equivocal than in any other. Hence its universal advantages in -diplomatic communications, where the synonims of other tongues would give -rise to perpetual ambiguity and quibble. - -A curious, not to say ludicrous, attempt has lately been made by an -American author to transplant the poetry of Goethe and Schiller into -English by _literal_ translation, the said author maintaining that -poetry _will_ be poetry _still_; and that the more close and servile -the traduction, the better will the spirit of the original poetry be -preserved! The following rather favourable specimen of this attempt -to clothe German ideas in English words, is quite a “curiosity of -literature,” and worth preserving. - -“TO A NATURALIST. - - “‘_What Nature hides within_’— - O thou Philistine!— - ‘_No finite mind can know._’ - My friend, of this thing - We think thou needest not - So oft remind us: - We fancy: Spot for spot - _Within_ we find us. - ‘_Happy who her doth win_ - _The outmost shell to show!_’ - Now that these sixty years I’ve heard repeated, - And, oft as heard, with silent curses greeted. - I whisper o’er and o’er this truth eternal:— - Freely doth nature all things tell; - Nature hath neither shell - Nor kernel; - Whole every where, at each point thou canst learn all. - Only examine thine own heart. - Whether _thou_ shell or kernel art.”[98] - -Now if any Transatlantic Philistine can crack the shell of this German -nut, and extract an eatable kernel, he must possess a MANDUCATOR pretty -considerably stronger than that with which SAMPSON cracked the skulls of -the ancient Philistines in the Holy Land—the jaw-bone of an ass. - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] The following is a rough attempt at a free translation of the above -celebrated passage in Horace. - - Behind the gilded coach pale Care ascends, - And haunts his victim wheresoe’er he wends, - On foreign shores the exile tries, in vain, - To banish thought, and fly from mental pain. - -[2] A gentleman, to whom I was remarking on the universal desire for -CHANGE, evinced by passengers of every kind of politics and religion, -observed that he, at least, was an exception. “I am going (said he) to -cross the Pontine Marshes by the ancient road—the VIA ROMANA. Now it -must be admitted that, in so doing, I am holding to the grand principle -of the _conservatives_ and _Chinese_—‘STARE SUPER VIAS ANTIQUAS.’” I -acknowledged the ingenuity of the argument; but questioned the policy of -the measure. I counselled him not to “stare” it too long on the “Vias -Antiquas” of the Pontine fens, but rather to keep _moving_ there, lest -his own constitution should shortly afterwords come in need of _reform_. - -[3] Mr. Chambers alludes to a curious custom in Holland—that of the -females sitting on chafing-dishes or, in fact, warming-pans. This custom -is prevalent in many parts of Germany, and is universal among the better -classes of women in Italy. It is not on account of the dampness of the -climate that it is adopted; but because there are no fire-places, where -a female can have the luxury of putting her feet on the fender, by a -cheerful fire, while conversing with her friend or reading a novel. The -atmosphere of a continental apartment, already vitiated by the vile -German stove, is rendered still farther malodorous as well as malarious -by the fumes from the foot-stool or warming-pan. - -[4] With another painting I was more at home—Rembrandt’s “Dissection.” -It has been said by a connoisseur that—“the corpse is less an image of -death than a vehicle of colour. It adjusts the equilibrium of _warmth -and coolness_, and supplies a focus of _brilliancy_ which irradiates the -whole scene.” I doubt whether this picture was painted from _life_ (I see -I am infected by the neighbouring bull), for such a corpse has never come -before me in the various dissecting-rooms which I have visited. - -[5] The Mer de Glace, for instance, is perpetually bearing on its surface -enormous blocks of rock detached from the sides of Mont Blanc, and -travelling onward, however slowly, to the Rhone, and to the Sea. - -[6] “Its ample volume (Rhine) of water from bank to bank, bearing a -greater resemblance to the Thames at Westminster, than any river with -which I am acquainted.”—_Chambers_, p. 49. - -[7] Leigh’s Rhenish Album, 1840. - -[8] I have attempted a liberal rather than a literal translation of this -remarkable passage in Horace. - - At palace gate and cottage door - Death knocks alike, nor long nor loud— - The shuddering tenant, rich or poor, - Next morn lies folded in the shroud. - -[9] Although the blue-eyed Maid of the Moselle, and the yellow-haired -Lord of the Rhine do not appear, at first, to relish the marriage that -has been suddenly and unceremoniously forced upon them; yet they soon get -reconciled, and afterwards set a good example to married folks on land. -They jog on harmoniously through rough and smooth, to the end of the -matrimonial journey, without altercations or recriminations—and without -application to Doctors’ Commons for divorce, alimony, or pin-money! - -[10] Planché. - -[11] Of these lines I shall attempt a rude translation. - - Grand-mamma was a MAG, who laid eggs by the score; - And had she not died, might have laid many more. - -[12] The Mineral Waters of Wisbaden. By Dr. Peez, p. 103. - -[13] In a Note to page 127 of Dr. Peez’s work, we have the following -words:—“There are some chemists, as for example, the Aulic Councillor -STRUVE, (_evidently actuated by mercantile motives_) who charge us with -purposely attempting to involve the origin and efficacy of mineral -springs in a magic gloom.” This is not a very _liberal_ insinuation! - -“_Mercantile motives!_” What motives led the doctor to study, and now -to practise physick?—_Answer._ Merely to heal the sick without fee or -reward. What are the motives which lead the lawyer to waste his time and -health by the midnight lamp, studying Coke upon Littleton?—_Answer._ The -prospective pleasure of pleading the causes of those who come into court -“in forma pauperis”! But then there is the parson. He spends years of -his life and thousands of his money at Oxford and Cambridge, studying -theology and mythology—with the view of going forth to preach the word -to Jew and Gentile, and without the most remote prospect of worldly -advantage! _Mercantile motives, indeed!_ Dr. Struve with great labour, -expense, and skill, has imitated the Wisbaden waters, so that those who -are unable to ascend the Rhine, may yet drink at the Kochbrunnen, without -feeing the SPA DOCTOR. - -[14] The fatal effects of hot-bathing in the case of the late Duke of -Nassau, have been alluded to, when speaking of the EMS waters. - -[15] Mineral Wells of Wisbaden, p. 360-6. - -[16] If Æachus, Minos, and Rhadamanthus still retain their seats on a -certain bench beyond the Styx, I opine that many of the petty sovereigns -of Germany may be taken to task about the revenue which they gained in -the upper regions by selling licenses to gambling-houses. - -[17] It is not long since an antediluvian elephant was discovered on the -shores of Siberia, and whose flesh was eatable by the dogs and wolves of -that country. - -[18] The _average_ duration of human life in London is 40 years, in the -country, from 40 to 60, according to the salubrity of the place. - -[19] Lee on the Mineral Waters of Nassau, 1839. - -[20] “Vous sortez des eaux de Schlangenbad _rajeuni cum un Phœnix_—la -jeunesse y devient plus belle, plus brillante, et l’age y trouve une -nouvelle vigeur.”—Fenner, p. 16. - -[21] “The people of England have flocked within the last few years to -Schlangenbad, to bathe in its _foul_ water, drawn from tanks and used in -tubs.”—Granville, vol. 1, p. 132. - -[22] I would advise Dr. Granville not to revisit the “Brunnens,” as -a very considerable prejudice exists against him there—especially at -Schlangenbad, where I understood, they were training a band of serpents -to hiss him out of the valley, should he ever re-enter it. Be this as -it may, I think he stands little chance of receiving an “ORDER” from -the Duke of Nassau—unless it be such a one as two of his brethren (Drs. -Downey and Lee,) received in the Summer of 1839—an “ORDER” to quit the -duchy in forty-eight hours.[23] This was neither a _civil_ nor a military -order, but through the police: it was one which my friend, Theodore Hook, -would be very apt to call an “ORDER OFF THE BATH.” I suspect, indeed, -that this would be my own fate, as well as that of Dr. Granville—but for -very different reasons—not for depreciating the virtues of the waters, -but for stigmatizing the licenses of the hells. - -[23] This was, upon the whole, a liberal “notice to quit;” since it would -be difficult, I imagine, to point out any spot in the dukedom, whence an -“exeat regno” might not be practicable in forty-eight minutes, on a good -horse. - -[24] One would suppose from the number, profundity, and duration of -these salaams, that Germans, of all ages and both sexes, had studied in -the “Imperial Academy of Ceremonies” at Pekin. Such outrageous bowing, -cap-doffing, pipe-squaring, spine-wriggling, and _bussel_-rending, I -never beheld in any other country, except the Celestial Empire. The -German, indeed, is taught civility or politeness from infancy, and far am -I from censuring this overplus of amenity. - -[25] It must, at the same time, be confessed that, in Germany, all this -quietude, order, and decorum, _appear_ to be the result of a spontaneous -disposition of the people. There is no _visible_ governing or directing -power—no policemen at the corner of every street, or gens-d’armes -watching their movements! All is _seemingly_ automatic. Yet there -must be some strong arm behind the scene—much careful pre-arrangement -and organization to effect this tranquillity and regularity. We see a -steam-carriage fly along a rail-road, without any outward or visible -impelling power; but what complicated machinery is stowed inside? What -vast labour was expended before the automaton started on the road! So it -may be with Germany. - -[26] See a verification of these facts in the MORNING CHRONICLE, of -Saturday, December 14th, 1839. - -[27] Effodiuntur opes irritamenta malorum. - -[28] - - “Vice is a monster of such horrid mein, - That to be hated, needs but to be seen— - But seen too oft—familiar with his face, - We first endure—then pity—then embrace.” - -[29] Granville, vol. 1, p. 110. - -[30] I do not, for one moment, doubt the fidelity of Dr. Granville’s -description; but I am convinced that the effects which he describes were -more owing to some happy mood in which he was at the time, than to any -peculiar properties of the waters. Let us remember the expression of -the Frenchman in the Serpent’s Bath at Schlangenbad—“_dans ces bains on -devient absoluement amoreux de soi-même_.” Now, I do not see why Dr. G. -might not have “fallen in love with self,” in the baths of Wildbad, as -well as Monsieur in those of Schlangenbad. - -[31] “Chargé par son Excellence Mons. le Comte De Witt, General au -service de la Russie, j’ai l’honneur d’avertir Mons. le Docteur Johnson, -qu’il est prié de se trouver a la fête que Mons. le Comte donnera ce soir -au Palais Royal. - - “Wildbad, Aug. 18, 1839. HEIM.” - -Circumstances did not permit me to accept the kind invitation, and I -can only thus return my thanks to Count De Witt for his politeness to a -casual bath-acquaintance. - -[32] The public and promiscuous bathing of both sexes, so common on -the Continent, is more easily condemned by prejudice than convicted -by argument. I confess that I was fairly beaten out of the field by a -German philosopher, while discussing the point. _First_, he urged the -antiquity of the practice—the Romans having public baths for both sexes -indiscriminately, on a most magnificent scale. The larger the bath, -however, the less the objection, and _vice versa_, which he acknowledged. -_Secondly_, he asked me what there was in the element _water_, to render -promiscuous assemblages of the sexes more indelicate than in the element -air? I answered that in the latter element the people were dressed. -Dressed! he exclaimed. Why in the _bath_ they are closely clothed from -the chin to the soles of the feet; while in the _ball-room_ the ladies -exclude dress from every spot which they dare expose without outraging -decency! There was no denying this. He added that, it was surely as -unobjectionable for invalids of both sexes to walk and wade about in the -bath, during the open day, as for people in high health to waltz about -in crowded assemblies, during the middle of the night. On observing -that the English were shocked at the practice of bathing promiscuously, -because their eyes were unaccustomed to the sight; he replied, “exactly -so—and the Germans, who are accustomed to it, feel nothing at all on the -occasion.” The only objection on which I was obliged to fall back, was -the loss of friction and shampooing in the bath—a drawback which the -German admitted as unavoidable in public baths, but which, he maintained, -was, in some degree, compensated for by the pleasure of conversation and -society. - -[33] The “AUXILIARY” which I have recommended to be taken over night, -while using the waters of WISBADEN, would prevent or mitigate the -spa-fever, or “bad-sturm” of WILDBAD, without any abatement of the -medicinal effects of the waters. - - J. J. - -[34] This child of the Revolution, and of fickle fortune, fell at the -battle of Dresden, and his body lies interred on the frozen banks of the -Neva! - -[35] Planché. - -[36] Mr. and Miss Hayward, Mrs. and Miss Johnson (now Mrs. Jackson) and -myself. - -[37] Since the foregoing account was drawn up—now nearly six years -ago—great improvements have taken place in the Baths of Pfeffers. A good -road for char-a-bancs and light cars is constructed from Ragatz to the -Baths, and the whole establishment has been taken out of the hands of the -monks of the neighbouring monastery, and put into lay hands. The Bad-haus -is improved, and better accommodations are provided for strangers. I -should not be surprized if this place becomes fashionable one day, and -eclipses Wildbad and Toeplitz! - -[38] “Le pont est etroit, souvent glissant, et quelquefois on n’est -separé que par une seule planche du noir abîme de la TAMINA.” - -[39] It is surprising that the author of the “Voyage Pittoresque en -Suisse,” and even Dr. Ebell, should have been led into the monstrous -error of imagining that the torrent of the Tamina had, in the course of -ages, hollowed out of the marble rock this profound bed for itself. We -might just as well suppose, that the bed of the Mediterranean had been -scooped out by the waters of the Hellespont, in their way from the Black -Sea to the Atlantic. The mountain was rent by some convulsion of Nature, -and apparently from below upwards, as the breadth, at the bed of the -Tamina, is far broader than the external crevice above. - -[40] This has not always been the case. The talented authoress of -“Reminiscences of the Rhine,” &c. appears to have lacked courage for -this enterprise, though her beautiful daughters advanced to the further -extremity of the gorge. - -[41] This circumstance illustrates, in a very remarkable manner, the -effects of passing from a hot, or vapour-bath, into cold air or water. -The immunity is nearly certain. The hotter the medium from which we start -into the cold, the less danger there is of suffering any inconvenience. -This principle in Hygiene is more understood than practised. It will be -adverted to farther on. - -[42] Lest I should be suspected of exaggeration, in this account of -the Baths of Pfeffers, I shall here introduce a short extract from -“REMINISCENCES OF THE RHINE,” &c. by Mrs. Boddington—a work eulogised -to the skies in the Edinburgh Review, and its author represented (and, -I understand, deservedly) as a lady of very superior talents and strict -veracity. After some slight notice of the Bath-house, Mrs. B. proceeds -thus:— - - “Behind rolls the stormy Tamina, hemmed in at one side by the - dark Bath-house and the impending cliffs, while, on the other, - a giant wall of perpendicular rock, starting up daringly, and - shutting out the world—almost the light of Heaven—closes up - the scene. Our guide proposed that we should visit the mineral - springs that boil up from the depth of an awful cavern, several - hundred paces from the Bath-house. A bridge, thrown from rock - to rock, crosses the flood, and a narrow ledge of planks, - fixed, I know not how, against the side of the rock, and - suspended over the fierce torrent, leads through a long dark - chasm to the source. I ventured but a little way; for, when I - found myself on the terrifying shelf, without the slightest - ballustrade, and felt it slippery, from the continual spray, - and saw nothing between us and the yawning gulf, to which - darkness, thickening at every step, gave increased horror, I - made a few rapid reflections on foolhardiness, and retreated.” - -The following lines were found in an Album at an Inn in the Canton of -Glarus, in the Summer of 1825, written by an anonymous English tourist, -immediately after visiting the Baths of Pfeffers. - -[Communicated by C. Raine, Esq.] - - Oft hast thou marvell’d much, I trow. - At him who twirl’d with well pois’d toe - On Strasburg’s pointed spire:— - Or him who, on the quivering slope - Of the tight-brac’d elastic rope, - Could bound in air much higher:— - But had they quaffed the fervid wave - In PFEFFERS’ dark and vapoury cave— - (Those half adventurous people)— - And paced the dizzy, fragile plank - Along the chasm’s terrific flank, - They then had scorned the paltry prank - Of dancing on a steeple. - -[43] In an old account of the baths we find the following passage:—“The -water of these baths is extremely clear, without taste or smell. It bears -with it the most subtle spirits of sulphur, nitre, vitriol, and divers -metals—amongst others, GOLD.” - -[44] In many people they produce slight vertigo—in more, they act freely -on the bowels. They were discovered in the 12th century, by two chasseurs -from the neighbouring monastery, who were seeking birds’ nests in the -ravine of the Tamina. For a long time they could only descend to these -baths by means of ropes; but at length human ingenuity formed zig-zags -along the rocks. As if every thing relating to these waters should -partake of the wonderful, it may be mentioned that they begin to flow in -May, when the Summer is approaching—are at their acmé when the skies are -fervid and the land parched with thirst, yielding 1500 pints of water -every minute—and cease entirely in September, when the rains begin to -fall, and the mountain streams to pour freely along every declivity! - -[45] A German writer informs us that the country people stay in these -baths from Saturday night till Monday morning. “Tous les Samedis on voit -accourir à Pfeffers une multitude de gens des campagne voisines, et ils -restent dans le bains jusqu’au Lundi matin pour provoquer la sueur.” - -[46] Dr. Engel, of Vienna. - -[47] For further particulars, see the Third Edition of my “ECONOMY OF -HEALTH,” or Stream of Human Life, &c. - -[48] Unfortunately I find that gambling _is_ permitted in Aix by the -Prussian government to all non-residents! - -[49] In the interval between 1834 and 1840, when I last visited this -place, Ems has been completely metamorphosed. I could scarcely recognize -it, so much has it been embellished and improved. It is now one of the -prettiest spas in Germany. A line of handsome buildings, a mile in -length, with a magnificent Cursaal in the centre, stretches along the -Lahn, while new edifices are fast rising on the other side of the river. -Beautiful promenades are formed all along this line, between the houses -and the Lahn, while two bands of music play several hours in the day. The -view from the highest point of the Morshutte, is very picturesque. - -[50] A short time ago Ems had nearly shaken the foundation of Carlsbad. -On cutting down, with incredible labour, through a bed of schistus and -other rock, on the opposite side of the Lahn, a spring boiled up with -a force equal to that of the Sprudel, and at a temperature of 168° of -Fahrenheit! The inundation, by infiltration, from the Lahn, overpowered -the efforts of the workmen, and the enterprize was abandoned. Various -fragments of masonry and wood were found in this place, rendering it -probable that, at some remote period—perhaps in the time of the Romans, -there was a thermal fountain in this place. The water is still seen -boiling up from the bed of the river at this place, and, on immersing my -thermometer in the water of the Lahn there, the mercury stood at 104°. - -[51] Ems, Les Eaux Thermales. Par M. Doring, 1839. - -[52] Dr. Doring affirms that bathing in the Ems waters is quite as -salutary in Winter as in Summer. - -[53] By far the pleasantest way to Kissengen is the cross-road, leaving -Wurtzburg far to the right. It will occupy about two and a half days’ -posting from Frankfort, through a highly picturesque and beautiful -country. Aschaffenburgh is the first night’s resting-place. The second -days’ journey leads through a portion of the ancient Hercynian forest, -and presents very fine scenery. - -[54] Balling, p. 33. - -[55] Ibidem. - -[56] Balling, p. 38-9. - -[57] It is a little remarkable that Dr. Granville scarcely makes any -allusion to this reactive process so conspicuous in the Kissengen -waters—and which is dwelt upon by the writers on all the energetic spas -of Germany. It is by far the most important phenomenon which medicinal -waters present, and requires the most vigilant attention. I have not the -least doubt that it is owing to the want of light aperient alteratives -taken over night, by which the biliary and other glandular secretions are -kept in a state of activity, corresponding with the action kept up on the -bowels by the waters.—_See the Section on Carlsbad._ - -[58] It would have been well if the late Duke of Nassau had observed this -rule—or rather if he had avoided these baths entirely.—_J.J._ - -[59] By the way, those visitors, who merely pass a day or two at -Kissengen, without any intention of taking the waters, have reason to -complain of the tax imposed on them by the King of Bavaria. When the -“reckoning” comes in, they find two florins for each person in the party -charged by the master of the hotel. I believe, however, that this is -an imposition of the hotels, and that four or five days’ residence are -allowed, before the tax is due. - -[60] It may be proper to state that, in a more recent analysis by -Professor FROMMSDORFF, some other ingredients were discovered, although -the aggregate quantity of saline matters was 34 grains, as above. The new -matters were very minute quantities of oxide of manganese—carbonate of -lithion—carbonate of strontian—and phosphate of magnesia. - -[61] The Baron suggests the more frequent application of this gas to -certain complaints of both sexes which are regarded with no small anxiety -by both parties. _Verbum sat._ - -[62] Dr. Clarus, Dr. Granville, and others state that the skin exhales -an acid odour, and even feels salt to the tongue for several hours after -leaving the bath. This I did not perceive in my own case at all. - -[63] There is another source in the forest, ten minutes walk from the -Kreuzbrunn, which contains double the quantity of solid materials found -in the Carolinenbrunn, termed Waldbrunnen. - -[64] Heidler, p. 334. - -[65] The apparatus at Marienbad are admirably constructed, both for -safety and efficacy. The hole in the lid of the bath embraces, by the -aid of a handkerchief, so well the throat, that no gas escapes, while -the patient suffers no difficulty of breathing. The gas enters by a tube -at the bottom of the bath, and the superfluity is carried off by several -others that enter near the top. Some covering is proper over the part -exposed to the _current_ of the gas from the pipe, to prevent taking -cold—as the clothes do not, in the slightest degree, diminish the action -of the gas on the body or members, provided they are light and thin. - -[66] Lobkowitz. Ode to the Sprudel—nearly 300 years ago. - -[67] The route by the Elbe, from Hamburg, through Dresden and Saxon -Switzerland, will now render the journey from London easy. - -[68] _Note from Mr. Spitta to Dr. Johnson._ - -The ancient history of _Carlsbad_ is interesting: it shews the powers of -mendacious tradition. There is a certain mountain on the left bank of the -Teple, termed _Hirschensprung_ [Spring of the stag], which carries in its -very name a wondrous tale. - -As early as the middle of the fourteenth century, Charles IV. Emperor -of Germany, and King of Bohemia, was pursuing a stag, and the animal, -pressed closely by the hounds, ascended that lofty mountain. The -huntsmen, unable to follow, on account of the steepness of the ascent, -were returning by the bank of the river, supposing they had lost their -game, when—imagine their surprise—they heard the cries of the scalded -animal on the opposite side. The cause was easily explained. In the last -despairing hope of escape, the animal had made a leap, from the top of -the Hirschensprung, over the Teple; and had fallen, quite accidentally, -into the boiling, bubbling Sprudel. The distance, as the crow flies, -may be a mile, perhaps a mile and a half (more or less), a difference -in tradition’s eye, of no importance. Thus the stag was found, and the -Sprudel discovered, simultaneously. Tradition’s stories are always -complete. King Charles happened to have a bad leg, for which (of course) -the exercise of hunting was beneficial; he happened to try the waters, -and happened to get well. The place henceforth assumed his name, Carlsbad -(Charles’ bath), and rose by degrees to the importance it now possesses. - -[69] Although the proportion of iodine and other materials, appears small -to the ALLOPATH, it is reckoned prodigious by the HOMŒOPATH, who indeed, -considers that the surplus waters which flow from the Sprudel into the -Teple, are quite sufficient to impregnate the stream of the Elbe at -Hamburgh abundantly for all medicinal purposes. M. Creutzburg calculates -that, in the course of a season at Carlsbad, during which he drank 404 -goblets of the waters, there were 3¼ grains of hydriodate of soda, in -that quantity. The quantity of carbonic acid gas in the pint is about 12 -cubic inches. - -[70] There is another spring, the Bernard’s Brunnen, near the New -Brunnen, which has a temperature as high as that of the Sprudel; but I -believe it is seldom used. The Schlossbrunnen, much higher up the hill, -is the least hot of all—and the Marktbrunnen, near the Muhlbrunn, is next -to it in temperature. It exhales some odour of sulphur. - -[71] _Note from Mr. Spitta._ - -I brought home one of the pretty stamps, made of Sprudelstein; and -had the cruelty to break it up for chemical examination. I found it -to be composed, as stalactites in all parts of the world are, of the -earthy carbonates; which, originally held in solution by carbonic acid -gas, are precipitated on its escape. The Sprudel contains a very small -quantity of carbonic acid, only sufficient, as Beecher has observed, -to keep its earthy carbonates in solution. As the water approaches -the exit of the cauldron, and the gas ceases to be under pressure, it -resumes its wonted elasticity, passes quietly off with the vapour which -issues from the boiler, and leaves its irony carbonates, sticking to -the edge of the reservoir. Carbonate of lime is the main ingredient of -the Sprudelstein—it contains besides, carbonate of magnesia and iron; -to the latter, its reddish-brown colour is to be attributed. There is -a portion of iron also, as peroxyde; and minute traces of one or two -other substances. With regard to the incrustations: they are nothing -more nor less than _petrifactions_ (as they are called), made exactly in -the same manner as other petrifactions, by the deposition of the _earthy -carbonates_. The difference in colour from other petrifactions arises -from the difference in the composition of the Sprudel water and the water -in other parts, where the _white_ incrustations are formed. The Sprudel -contains a small quantity of the _carbonate of iron_. This is deposited -with the carbonates of lime and magnesia; and hence the brown colour. - -[72] “Le celebre Carus a publié une tres-interessant Memoire sur les -Eaux Minerales, sur leur vitalité, sur leur formation dans le sein de la -terre, qu’il considere comme un _organism animé_, dont ces eaux sont les -secretions, aussi differentes entre elles que les fluides elaborés par -les divers organs secretoires du corps humain.”—DE CARRO. - -It must be confessed that the idea of daily ingurgitating such lots of -_secretions_ from some “great unknown” animal in the bowels of the earth, -is not a very comfortable one, and requires a stouter _stomach_ than that -which is necessary for the digestion of the bear’s broth at Wisbaden. -There is one consolation, that the whole is a dream; since there is just -as much proof or probability of the Spas of Germany being a _secretion_ -from a living animal, as that the German Ocean is a secretion from -Neptune or Amphitrite. - -[73] The remarkable influence of mind over matter, and hope over both, -was exemplified in 1839, in the person of Surgeon Fraser, of the Bombay -establishment. Being reduced almost to a skeleton by a disease, the -nature of which could not be ascertained, he happened to see my review of -Dr. Granville’s book, and immediately determined to travel _over-land_ -to Carlsbad. He embarked in a steamer for Suez—thence was carried in a -litter between two camels across the Desert—embarked again at Alexandria -for Constantinople—thence through the Black Sea up the Danube, and on to -Carlsbad, all this journey being sustained by hope, aided by “change of -air.” At Carlsbad the waters were eagerly taken; but alas! were found to -do no good! He lost confidence in them, and proceeded to Marienbad in -a litter. He died two days after his arrival there, and left his bones -in Bohemia! There is little doubt that had he travelled on, instead of -stopping at Carlsbad, he might have reached his native mountains in the -Highlands. - -On dissection the disease was found to be in the mesenteric glands. - -[74] Carlsbad; ses Eaux Minerales. Par De Carro. - -[75] Sur les Eaux, p. 167. - -[76] It is a curious fact that the waters of Carlsbad often cause a -swelling of the ankles, especially in females. Hoffman was the first who -noticed this phenomenon. - -[77] An English physician has realized a fortune by prescribing on this -plan, and enforcing a strict system of diet. The combination used is very -nearly the following:— - - ℞. Infus. rosæ c. ℥viss. - Acidi sulph. dil. ʒiss. - Magnes sulphat. ℥j. - Tinct. gent. c. ℥ss. - Sulphatis ferri gr. vij. - Misce ft. mistura, capt. coch. ij. mag. primo mane et meridie. - -I prefer the following formula. - - ℞. Extr. col. comp. - Pil. rhei. comp. aa ℈j. - —— hydrargyri gr. vj. - Ol. cassiæ, gtt. iv. - Misce ft. pil. xij. capt. i. vel. ij. hora somni omni nocte. - ℞. Infus. gent. c. ℥vjss. - Magnes. sulph. ℥j. - Acidi. sulph. aromat. ʒiss. - Sulph. ferri. grs. vij. - Tinct. aurantii comp. ℥ss. - -Misce ft. mistura, capt. coch. ij. vel. iij. mag. primo mane, et rept. -dosis intra horas duas, si alvus non respondeat. - -In this formula there is the alterative, the aperient, and the tonic -combined, so that no risk is run from any one of the ingredients. In -_both_ forms, there is some chemical decomposition, but the physiological -effects are good.—J. J. - -[78] Les Bains de Gastein, p. 34. - -[79] Erroneously spelled Toeplitz by most travellers. - -[80] This was the picture which presented itself to Dr. Granville four -or five years ago; but all is now changed. A dispute arose between the -doctors and the town council of Teplitz, as to the necessity or propriety -of having the process of bleeding and bathing simultaneously carried -on—the doctors being _pro_, and the authorities _con_. Some of the -doctors, however, ratted, and declared that the practice of cupping was -seldom necessary; and that, where it was deemed prudent, the operation -might be performed out of the bath, and without any flow of blood into -the water. The practice is now, therefore, almost entirely discontinued. - -[81] The whole of the solid contents of the various springs amounts to -about five grains in the pint, with a little iron. - -[82] This effect did not take place in my own person, nor in that of -any other with whom I conversed on the subject. Dr. Richter, the latest -writer on the waters, does not mention it in his work, and he told me he -had very seldom observed it in the persons of bathers. - -[83] This analysis, as well as that of Sedlitz, I obtained at Bilin, at -the establishment of Prince Lobkowitz; and they are interesting as being -the most recent yet published. This appeared in 1840. - -[84] In the “HANDBUCK,” Mr. Murray has committed a mistake in killing -Prince Colleredo here, instead of making him the fortunate soldier—“qui -decida la journée.”—Commend me to the Austrian policy. No man knew better -than Prince Metternich that one good living General was worth the full -of a church-yard of dead ones. Colleredo fought hard, and distinguished -himself at the battle of Leipzig after the battle of Culm. - -[85] February 1814, and July 1815. - -[86] Many of the rocks have acquired distinct and permanent appellations -from their rude, but often striking similitudes to animals and other -objects. More than one or two royal personages have here their profiles -_en gigantesque_, encompased by other figures of more ignoble character, -as “La grande Oie”—“La petite Oie”—“La Pierre de Merles”—“La Pierre de -Miel”—“Pierres des Ours,”—“Pierre d’Agneau”—“Pierre de Fourterelle,” &c. - -[87] Did Napoleon adopt the BEE as his emblem, because that animal is -equally expert in extracting the honey and implanting the sting? - -[88] His own words, as reported by Las Casas, were—“I was a Mahomedan in -Egypt—a Catholic in France. I do not believe in forms of religion; but in -the existence of a Deity.” There is not an infidel or sceptic from the -North to the South Pole, who doubts the existence of a God—provided he -has sense or reason enough to be able to distinguish his right hand from -his left. It was fortunate, perhaps, for Napoleon’s mental sufferings -that he believed not in a future state of existence, otherwise the ghost -of D’Enghien would have stood by his death-bed, and rendered his last -moments most horrible! I need not allude to his divorce of Josephine, for -his character in matrimony! - -[89] These regalia are now removed to some other place. 1840. - -[90] A dagger is here preserved which, on entering the body, separates -into three parts, rendering extraction more dangerous than the primary -wound! - -[91] By the way, the extreme care which the heroes of antiquity, as well -as those of the middle-ages, took to cover every part of their bodies -with brass and iron plates, does not exhibit any very striking proof of -their courage. Why should they not have fought without armour, trusting -to activity, bravery, and strength, rather than to coats of mail? In the -best days of the Roman legions, they fought without armour. - -[92] In Saxony, the punishment of death is by decapitation. - -[93] From the researches of the Rev. Mr. Gleig, Scepticism has invaded -the Catholic camp! - -“But, even in Catholic countries, the cloven-foot of Scepticism is for -ever thrusting itself from beneath the priest’s robe; while amongst -the Protestants, _to believe God’s word, as it is written, forms the -exception to the general rule which Rationalism has established_.”—Vol. -I. preface. - -[94] He might be represented as a person with two shadows. The shade -behind (time past) is tolerably distinct—that which is before (time to -come) is dim in the extreme, and ill-defined. - -[95] Russell’s Germany, Vol. I. pp. 123. - -[96] This trait in Gallic character has never been more clearly -discerned, or more cleverly met than by Viscount Palmerston. Palmam qui -meruit ferat. - -[97] Among the perversions of language we may notice the following in the -vocabulary of the French fire-eaters. “Offended pride” _means_ detected -fraud. - -[98] Translations from Goethe and Schiller. By J. S. Dwight. Boston, 1839. - - -THE END. - - - - -LATELY PUBLISHED BY THE SAME AUTHOR. - - - I. CHANGE OF AIR; or the Pursuit of Health and Recreation; - illustrating the Beneficial Influence of Bodily Exercise, - Change of Scene, Pure Air, and Temporary Relaxation, as - Antidotes to the Wear and Tear of Education and Avocation. 8vo. - Fourth Edition, price 9s. extra boards. - - II. AN ESSAY ON INDIGESTION; or Morbid Sensibility of the - Stomach and Bowels, as the proximate cause or characteristic - condition of Dyspepsia, Nervous Irritability, Mental - Despondency, Hypochondriasis, and many other Ailments of Body - and Mind, &c. Tenth Edition, price 6s. 6d. - - III. 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Raffles. - -7. FISHES of the PERCH GENUS, &c., 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and -Memoir of Sir J. Bankes. - -8. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS (Beetles), 32 Coloured Plates: Portrait and -Memoir of Ray. - -9. COLUMBIDÆ (Pigeons), 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Pliny. - -10. BRITISH BUTTERFLIES, 36 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of -Werner. - -11. RUMINATING ANIMALS, containing Deer, Antelopes, Camels, &c., 35 -Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Camper. - -12. RUMINATING ANIMALS, containing Goats, Sheep, Wild and Domestic -Cattle, &c., &c., 33 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of John Hunter. - -13. ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, TAPIRS, &c., 31 Coloured Plates; Portrait -and Memoir of Sir H. Sloane. - -14. BRITISH MOTHS, SPHINXES, &c., 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir -of Madame Merian. - -15. PARROTS, 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Bewick. - -16. WHALES, 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Lacepede. - -17 & 19. BIRDS OF WESTERN AFRICA, 68 Coloured Plates; Portraits and -Memoirs of Bruce and Le Vaillant. - -18. FOREIGN BUTTERFLIES, 33 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of -Lamarck. - -20 & 24. BIRDS of GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND, 68 Coloured Plates; -Portraits and Memoirs of Sir R. Sibbald and Smellie. - -21. FLYCATCHERS, their Natural Arrangement and Relations, 33 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Baron Haller. - -22. BRITISH QUADRUPEDS, 36 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of -Ulysses Aldrovandi. - -23. AMPHIBIOUS CARNIVORA, including the Walrus, Seals, and Herbivorous -Cetacea, 33 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Peron. - -25 & 28. DOGS, including also the Genera Hyæna and Proteles, 70 Coloured -Plates; Portraits and Memoirs of Pallas and D’Azara. - -26. BEES, including their Management, 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and -Memoir of Huber. - -27. FISHES, their Structure and Uses, 33 Coloured Plates; Portrait and -Memoir of Salviani. - -29. INTRODUCTION to ENTOMOLOGY, 38 Coloured Plates; Portraits and Memoirs -of Swammerdam and De Geer. - -30. MARSUPIALIA, or POUCHED ANIMALS, 36 Coloured Plates, Portrait, and -Memoir of Barclay. - -31. HORSES—The Equidae, or Genus Equus of Authors, 35 Coloured Plates, -Portrait and Memoir of Gesner. - -32. FISHES OF BRITISH GUIANA, Vol. I., By SCHOMBURGK, with his Life, -Travels, and Portrait, 34 Coloured Plates. - -Completion of the Work. - -The following Volumes, with which considerable progress has been made, -will complete the Series, forming in all 40 Volumes. - - FISHES OF BRITISH GUIANA, Vol. II, By SCHOMBURGK, with his Life, - Travels, and Portrait. - EXOTIC MOTHS, with a Copious Dissertation on the Silk Moth, by DUNCAN. - BRITISH BIRDS, Vols. III, & IV, By SIR W. JARDINE. - INTRODUCTION to the MAMMALIA, By COL. C. HAMILTON SMITH. - SUN BIRDS, By SIR W. JARDINE, with Portrait and Memoir of Willoughby. - BRITISH FISHES, 2 Vols., with Portraits and Memoirs of Humboldt and - Isaac Walton. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pilgrimages to the Spas in Pursuit of -Health and Recreation, by James Johnson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS *** - -***** This file should be named 60104-0.txt or 60104-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/1/0/60104/ - -Produced by Susan Skinner, K Nordquist and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Pilgrimages to the Spas in Pursuit of Health and Recreation - With an inquiry into the comparative merits of different - mineral waters: the maladies to which they are applicable, - and those in which they are injurious - -Author: James Johnson - -Release Date: August 15, 2019 [EBook #60104] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner, K Nordquist and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p class="titlepage lh"><span class="larger">PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">IN PURSUIT OF</span><br /> -HEALTH AND RECREATION;<br /> -<span class="smaller">WITH</span><br /> -<span class="larger">AN INQUIRY</span><br /> -INTO THE COMPARATIVE MERITS<br /> -<span class="smaller">OF</span><br /> -<span class="gothic">Different Mineral Waters:—</span><br /> -THE MALADIES TO WHICH THEY ARE APPLICABLE,<br /> -<span class="smaller">AND</span><br /> -THOSE IN WHICH THEY ARE INJURIOUS.</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">By JAMES JOHNSON, M.D.</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">PHYSICIAN EXTR. TO THE LATE KING.</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage">LONDON:<br /> -S. HIGHLEY, 32, FLEET STREET.<br /> -1841.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller">PRINTED BY F. HAYDEN,<br /> -Little College Street, Westminster.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p><i>The observations and reflections contained in the following pages, are -the results of several autumnal excursions in the line of the German -Spas, undertaken partly for health, partly for recreation, and partly -for information on a subject that now interests a large portion of English -invalids. The contents of the volume are like the objects which gave -it origin. They are miscellaneous—and probably this character will be objected -to, on the principle, “ne sutor ultra crepidam.” I have yet to learn, -however, why a physician should be debarred from indulgence in general -observations or reflections, and confined exclusively to professional topics. -His education, habits of thought, and knowledge of human nature do not -particularly disqualify him for a task which is daily undertaken by people of -all grades of acquirement, and degrees of ability. The truth is, that being -too independent to write for the mere purpose of catching the approbation of -others, I have followed the bent of my own inclinations, and, if taken to task -by censors, have little other reason to offer for my conduct than the old -one—“stat pro ratione voluntas.”</i></p> - -<p><i>There is one portion of the book, however, (a very small one, some twenty -pages of letter-press) which may require some apology. The course of the -Rhine leads to most of the German Spas, and is therefore traversed annually -by multitudes of invalids as well as tourists. Every castle and promontory on -its banks has its legend, and these traditions contribute to fix the picture of -the locality in the mind’s eye, by association, for ever afterwards. In one of -my excursions, some years ago, it struck me that these legends were <span class="antiqua">designed</span>, -originally, each to convey some moral precept—at all events, I became convinced -that they were <span class="antiqua">capable</span> of being <span class="antiqua">moralized</span>. Under this impression, -I condensed the principal traditionary tales that have their <span class="antiqua">locale</span> in sight of -the voyager, and deduced what I considered to be the moral or useful precepts -which they concealed under a wild and improbable fiction. If I have failed -in this attempt, the intention, at least, was good. Throughout the whole -volume, my object has been to compress into small space much useful information -for invalid or tourist, and, on all occasions, to start subjects for -meditation or reflection, well knowing, from long experience, that such occupations -of the mind on a journey, are eminently conducive both to pleasure -and health.</i></p> - -<p><i>In the principal or professional portion of the work, I have endeavoured to -collect all the information in my power, and, in the exercise of my judgment, -to sift the grain from the chaff, thus to steer clear of the extremes of -exaggeration and scepticism. There has been too much of the <span class="antiqua">former</span> abroad, -and too much of the <span class="antiqua">latter</span> at home. Holding myself perfectly free from all -obligation to subserve local interests on one side of the channel, or foster<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span> -national prejudices on the other, I have spoken my mind, with equal fearlessness -and, I hope, impartiality.</i></p> - -<p><i>The typography of this volume will prove that, although I must plead -guilty to the charge of “making a book,” it has not been constructed on the -approved principles of “<span class="smcap">book making</span>.” By certain mechanical processes -well known “in the trade,” this slender tome might have been easily expanded -into two or even three goodly, or at least costly octavos, without the expenditure -of a single additional line, word, or thought. But, bearing in mind the old -Greek maxim that “a great book is a great evil,” I was determined that, -should my lucubrations come under this head at all, the evil as well as the -book should be on a small scale. Spa-going invalids have evils enough, God -knows, to carry on their shoulders, without the addition, of a “<span class="smcap">Mega Biblion</span>” -in their wallets.</i></p> - -<p><i>There is one defect in this work, however, which common honesty compels -me to point out to the intending purchaser, before he parts with his money. If -the travelling invalid expects to find here a catalogue of the post-houses, the -signs of the inns, the prices of the wines, the fares of the table-d’hôtes, -the pretensions of the cuisine, &c. &c. &c., except upon very rare occasions, -he will be woefully disappointed. All this species of information, and a great -deal more, will be found in that excellent emporium of peripatetic lore—“<span class="smcap">Murray’s -Handbook</span>.” But even this useful feature in the “red-book,” -is not without its alloy. The character of caravanserais is perpetually -changing, as well as that of their landlords; and when one of these gets a -good name in a guide book, the afflux of travellers to that point too often causes -the master to become proud, the servants lazy, the fare bad, and the bill -exorbitant. Many a bitter anathema have I heard launched against the -“Handbooks, &c.” for leading tourists and invalids to be starved and fleeced -at the “<span class="smcap">Red Lion</span>,” when they might have fared sumptuously and cheaply at -the “<span class="smcap">Black Swan</span>.”</i></p> - -<p><i>Still, the Handbook is equally invaluable and indispensable to the continental -traveller; and, as far as the Spas are concerned, Dr. Granville’s work is full -of information on this subject. The profession and the public, indeed, are -deeply indebted to Dr. Granville and Mr. Edwin Lee for opening out wider -and clearer views of the continental mineral waters; but the subject itself, -so far from being exhausted, is only in its infancy of investigation. Whether -we regard the constituent elements of the waters themselves, their physiological -operation, or their remedial efficacy, there is ample room for many future -inquirers.</i></p> - -<p><i>I have now only to return my sincere thanks to the various German and -other physicians on the continent, from whom I received oral, written, or published -information, and to say that I shall feel myself honoured by any future -communications from the same sources, on the subject of the Spas.</i></p> - -<p class="right"><i>JAMES JOHNSON.</i></p> - -<p class="hanging"><i>Suffolk Place, Pall Mall,<br /> -May, 1841.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg">Page</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#First_Pilgrimage">First Pilgrimage.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hygeian Fountains of Germany</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Valetudinarian in pursuit of health</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Steamer</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Gathering in the Steamer</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Conservative Traveller</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Sea—the Maas</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Rotterdam</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_6">6</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Hague</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Haerlem</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Normal Schools</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Amsterdam</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Batavian Characteristics</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_12">12-14</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Cologne</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_15">15-17</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Rhine</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Drachenfels—Scenery</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Legend of Drachenfels</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Do. of Roland and Hildegund</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Last Nuns of Nonnenwerth</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Truenfels, or the Rock of Fidelity</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Flying Bridge</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Rheineck renovated</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hammerstein, Andernach, &c.</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coblentz</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Ehrenbreitstein—Gibraltar</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coblentz to Mayence—omnibussing</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Stolzenfels, and Legend</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Brothers—Legend</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Lurley, or the Echo, with Legend</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Singular Locality of Echo</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Schomberg—Reflections</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Seven Sisters, or Fate of Coquettes</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Pfalz</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Hall of Mirrors</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Moral of the Mirrors</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Devil’s Ladder</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Moral of the Ladder</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Bridal of Rheinstein</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Mouse Tower, and Moral</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Change of Scene</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#WISBADEN">WISBADEN.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Topography of</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Theories of Mineral Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Composition of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Effects of the Bath</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Phenomena produced by the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders benefitted by the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Counter-indications</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“Bad-sturm,” or Crisis</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hæmorrhoidal Mania</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Cautions respecting the Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Directions for using the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Spa-life</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“Cursaals,” or “<span class="smcap">Curst-Hells</span>”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>One-sided Morality</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Adler, or Eagle Bath</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Author’s Theory of Kochbrunnen</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Dandy of Sixty—Bath Cream</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mr. Lee on the Wisbaden Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#SCHLANGENBAD">SCHLANGENBAD.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Drive from Wisbaden to Schlangenbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Serpent’s Bath</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Cauldron of Medea</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Phœnix of Schlangenbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dr. Granville’s animadversions</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Waters of Schlangenbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“<span class="smcap">Order</span> <i>off</i> the <span class="smcap">Bath</span>”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Table d’Hôte at Schlangenbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>German Salaam</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Stomach and Teeth in Germany</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Value of Life</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Fame of the Serpent’s Bath</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#SCHWALBACH">SCHWALBACH.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Three Brunnens</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Composition of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Effects of the Chalybeates</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Indications for their Use</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Counter-indications</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mode of taking them</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>German Society and Manners</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#HEIDELBERG">HEIDELBERG</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span>Verbondung, or German Duel</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#BADEN-BADEN">BADEN-BADEN.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Scenery—Springs, &c.</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Ursprung</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Cautions respecting the Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Lines Written at the Alten-Schloss</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dissipation</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#WILDBAD">WILDBAD.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Journey from Baden-Baden to Wildbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Devil’s Mill</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Schwein-General</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Valley of the Enz</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Raft-floaters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Topography of Wildbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Warm Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Elysian Fountain</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disappointment</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Bathing in common—pros and cons</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Composition of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Effects of the Baths and Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Medicinal Properties</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Spa-Fever</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The “<span class="smcap">Auxiliary</span>” to Mineral Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders cured or relieved by Wildbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Counter-indications</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#RHINEFALLS">FALLS OF THE RHINE</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Zurich</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Lake of Wallenstadt</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#BATHS_OF_PFEFFERS">BATHS OF PFEFFERS</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Astounding Cavern</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Source of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Waters of Pfeffers</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Hydropathy">HYDROPATHY</a>;<br /><span class="smcap">or the</span> Cure of Diseases by Perspiration and Cold Water</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Calido-frigid Sponging</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Second_Pilgrimage">Second Pilgrimage.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Chemin de Mer—Chemin de Fer</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Antiquity of the Omnibus</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Belgian Rail-roads</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Antwerp route to the Spas</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Reminiscences of the Walcheren Expedition</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Liege</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAUDE_FONTAINE">CHAUDE FONTAINE.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Waters of Chaude Fontaine</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#SPA">SPA.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Route from Liege to Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Former Celebrity of Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Pouhon—Sauveniere—Geronsterre—Tonnelet</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>General Composition of the four Springs</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Medicinal Agency of the Spa Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Regimen proper at Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Environs of Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Gambling at Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Decadence of the celebrity of Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#AIX-LA-CHAPELLE">AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Antiquity and Site of Aix</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Fontaine Elisée</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Aspect of the Spa-drinkers</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Vitality of Mineral Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Caloricity Hypothesis</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders benefitted by the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#Borcette">BORCETTE.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Waters of the Borcette</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Antiquities of Aix-la-Chapelle</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#EMS">EMS.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Antiquity and locality of Ems</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A new Sprudel discovered there</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Composition of the Ems Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Physiological Operation of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders to which they are applicable</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Pulmonary Complaints benefitted by Ems</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Counter-indications</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Point of Saturation, or Crisis</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>General rules for taking the waters and baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Cautions necessary for using the Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#FRANKFORT">FRANKFORT.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>City and Cemetery—reflections on</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#KISSENGEN">KISSENGEN.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Situation in the heart of Germany</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span>Maxbrunnen—Ragoczy</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Composition of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Pandur—Soolensprudel—Theresienbrunnen</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Medicinal Agency of the Kissengen Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders to which the Waters are applicable</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Physical effects and medicinal properties of the different Springs</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Baths of Kissengen</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Counter-indications</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Point of saturation</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Order of the day at Kissengen</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Physiognomy of the various Spas</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#BOCKLET">BOCKLET.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Acidulous Chalybeate of Bocklet</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#BRUCKENAU">BRUCKENAU.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The purest Chalybeate in Europe</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_180">180</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#FRANZENSBAD">FRANZENSBAD.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>I. Franzensquelle or Brunn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hufeland’s Testimony to the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_184">184</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>II. Salzquelle</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>III. Cold Sprudel—IV. Louisenbrunn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Gas Baths of Franzensbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mud Baths of Franzensbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Personal experience of the Mud Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders to which the Mud-Baths are applicable</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mr. Spitta on the Mud-Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#MARIENBAD">MARIENBAD.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>I. The Kreuzbrunn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Composition and Physiological effects</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders to which the Kreuzbrunn is applicable</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>II. Ferdinandsbrunn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>III. Carolinenbrunn and Ambrosiusbrunn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Baths of Marienbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Physical and Physiological Effects of the Baths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mud-Baths of Marienbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Gas-Baths of Marienbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Physiological and Medicinal Effects</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Notice of Dr. Herzig’s Work on Marienbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#MARIENBAD">CARLSBAD.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Lobkowitz’s Ode to the Sprudel</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Ancient History of Carlsbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Description of the Sprudel</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Muhlbrunn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Neubrunn—Theresienbrunn</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sprudelsteins and Incrustations</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Serio-comic Anecdote of a Hypochondriac</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>German Hypotheses respecting the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Picturesque situation of Carlsbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hufeland’s Eulogy of the Carlsbad Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Lord A’s wonderful cure</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Melancholy case of Surgeon Fraser</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dr. De Carro’s opinions of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_214">214</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Crowd of Hypochondriacs at Carlsbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Counter-indications</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_216">216</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Bad-sturm, or Crisis, of Carlsbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Regime at Carlsbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Almanac of Carlsbad</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Changes of fashion respecting the Springs</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Sprudel on Calculous Complaints</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dr. Hlawaczek on the Carlsbad Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#VALETUDINARIUM">VALETUDINARIUM.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Physiognomy of Diseases at a great Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Auxiliaries to Recovery at a large Sanitarium</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Medicinal Auxiliaries</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Moral and Physical Auxiliaries</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#GASTEIN">GASTEIN</a>;<br /><span class="smcap">or</span> WILDBAD GASTEIN.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Romantic Situation of this Spa</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_228">228</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sources and establishments</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_228">228</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Qualities of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_229">229</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders to which they are applicable</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#PRAGUE">PRAGUE.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Romantic and Picturesque appearance of the City</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#TEPLITZ">TEPLITZ.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Picturesque Journey from Prague to Teplitz</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Splendid Bathing Establishments here</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Temperature of the Springs</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Former state of Public Baths—modern custom</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dr. Richter’s Work on the Teplitz Waters</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mode of Bathing and Remedial Agency</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Disorders to which the Waters are applicable</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Topography of the Contiguous Country</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Splendid View from the Spitalberg and Schlossberg</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Mr. Spitta on the Waters of Püllna, Saidschitz, and Sedlitz</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span><a href="#THE_ELBESAXON_SWITZERLAND_TEPLITZ_TO_TETCHEN">TEPLITZ TO TETSCHEN.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Battle-field of Culm—Historical Reminiscences</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Furious Combat between Vandamme and the Allies</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Bohemian Thermopylæ</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Napoleon’s Star fades for ever</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Tetschen—Count Thun’s Palace</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Enter Saxon Switzerland</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Remains of an Antediluvian World</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Monchenstein, a curious fragment of Rock</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hernskretchen, Preberchthor, Kuhstall</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Kœnigstein, impregnable Fortress of</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Geological Reflections</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A German Hotel, comforts of</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#THE_BASTEI">THE BASTEI.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Singularly wild and rude Scene of the Bastei</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Geological Reflections—Antediluvian World</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Huge Natural Colliseum, and fine Echo</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Elbe to Dresden</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_257">257</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Pillnitz—Regal Felicity—Royal Dramatist</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_257">257</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#DRESDEN">DRESDEN.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>First Impressions favourable</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Bridge, Palace, Cathedral, Theatre</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Magnificent View from the Cupola of the Cathedral</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Battle-field of August 1814—Tomb of Moreau—Star of Napoleon</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Character of Napoleon—Exhumation of his Ashes</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Royal Catholic Church—Music—The Requiem</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Picture Galleries of Dresden</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Jargon of the Connoiseurs</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Chef-d’œuvres of Art</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Green Vaults—Reflections in</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Rustkammer, or Armoury—Reflections</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dresden China</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Tharand—an Excursion</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Revolution in Saxony, after that in Paris of 1830</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Privileges of the People</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dresden to Leipzig</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>An Oasis in the Desert</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#LEIPZIG">LEIPZIG.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The Cradle and Grave of Literature</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Cerebro-gestation</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Retrospection from the Observatory</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_269">269</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>The decisive Battle of Leipzig, Oct. 1814</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_270">270</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Cossack Valour</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Fall of Napoleon’s Star</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Magdeburg</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Advantages of Fortifications</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Navigation of the Elbe</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Hamburg</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Conclusion of the Second Pilgrimage</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHARACTERISTIC_TRAITS">CHARACTERISTIC TRAITS OF GERMANY AND THE GERMANS.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Difficulty of drawing characteristics</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_276">276</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>1. Physiognomy—2. Language—3. Ideology—4. Unanimity</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>5. Patience—6. Religion</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>7. Affability</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub">Causes of Affability</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>8. Education</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub">Normal Schools</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>9. Learning</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>10. The Press</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_282">282</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub">Censorship</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_282">282</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>11. Domestic Manners</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>12. Women</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>13. Morality</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>14. Socialism</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>15. Time</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub">Time past</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub">Time present and to come</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>16. Titles, Decorations</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>17. Aerophobia</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>18. Female Peasantry</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>19. Status quo</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>20. Locomotion</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>21. The Burschen or Collegiate Youths</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_289">289</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>22. German Cookery</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_290">290</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>23. Gallic and German Patriotism</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>24. Prisons</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_292">292</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>25. Beds and Bed-rooms</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>26. The German Stove <i>versus</i> English Chimney</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>27. Verlobung, or betrothing</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_296">296</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>28. March of Population</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_297">297</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>29. Poetry</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_298">298</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<h1>PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS.</h1> - -<h2 id="First_Pilgrimage">(First Pilgrimage.)</h2> - -<p>Many tribes of the great <span class="smcap">John Bull</span> family appear, of late years, to have -abjured “red port” and “brown stout,” in favour of several breweries on -the Continent, and especially in Germany. These breweries are deeply -seated in the bowels of the Earth, and the art and mystery of their brewings -are far beyond the sight and cognizance of man. Whether cocculus -Indicus, logwood, sloe-juice, or opium enter into their gigantic vats and -boiling cauldrons, it is hard to say; but, however manufactured, they are -thrown up on the surface of our globe, <i>pro bono publico</i>—greatly to the -detriment of doctors, druggists, and apothecaries, in this and in many -other countries.</p> - -<p>The subterranean distilleries are conducted on the homœopathic principle—viz. -that of employing the minutest quantities of active materials—probably -in order to do the least possible harm. They have many and -great advantages over the homœopathic laboratories. They diffuse their -ingredients through such immense potions of water, that, to get at a few -grains of the <i>former</i>, we are obliged to ingurgitate some quarts of the -<i>latter</i>. Now the mere mechanical flow of such prodigious doses of fluid -through the various outlets—the bowels, kidneys, skin, &c. must sweep -away morbid secretions, and contribute to the breaking down of obstructions -in different organs, independently of the medicinal agents that are -diffused through the mass of liquids in the greatest possible state of division -and solution—circumstances which enable them to permeate and -penetrate through innumerable capillary tubes and complicated glandular -apparatuses, where grosser materials could never reach.</p> - -<p>The natural fountains of Hygeia, however, have other advantages and -auxiliaries, of which the laboratory of the chemist, and the pharmacy of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -the practitioner are deprived. <span class="smcap">Hope</span> itself, though often resting on fallacious -and exaggerated histories of cures, contributes much to the accomplishment -of even marvellous recoveries. The severing, or even relaxing -of that chain which binds care round the human heart, and augments the -sufferings and the progress of disease, is no mean ally of the spa. It is -true indeed, that the “splendid misery” of the great, and the corroding -grief of the exile, cannot be thrown off by change of climate—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Scandit æratas vitiosa naves</div> -<div class="verse">Cura—quid terras, alio calentes</div> -<div class="verse">Sole, mutamus—patriæ quis exul</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Se quoque fugit?<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">But the valetudinarian in pursuit of health, is somewhat differently circumstanced. -The change of scene and air—of food and drink—of rising -and retiring—of exercise and conversation—in short, of the whole moral -and physical conditions around him, effect, in many cases, such a mental -and corporeal improvement, as makes easy work for the mineral waters—especially -when the extreme dilution of their contents is taken into -consideration.</p> - -<p>Let it not be supposed, however, that this picture is without any reverse. -Many diseases—especially organic ones—are aggravated by the journey to -a distant spa—by the imprudent use of the water—by the warm or hot -bathing—by the enthusiasm or rather <span class="smcap">hydromania</span>, of the spa-doctor, -who, having little acquaintance with the constitution of the patient, extols -his favourite spring, and recommends it in almost every complaint. To -separate probabilities from improbabilities, and impossibilities from both, -will be attempted occasionally in the following pages, as we pass in review -some of the principal resorts of invalids on both sides of the Rhine.</p> - -<h4>THE STEAMER.</h4> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Batavier</span>, all humps and hollows—the reverse of what one would -expect in anything <i>Batavian</i>—and as ugly a black whale as ever floundered -through an Arctic Ocean, received an ample cargo on the 3rd. of -August 183—. I shall not attempt to minutely analyse such a numerous -as well as motley group, on the short acquaintance of twenty-six -hours. It was pretty evident, however, that we had on board representatives -of various classes of society—more especially of the arts, sciences,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -and professions. The lawyer had left his clients to live in peace—the -doctor had left his patients to die in peace:—and the pastor had committed -his flock to some vicarious shepherd. The merchant had handed his -ledger, and the banker his money-shovel to their clerks—and it seemed -as though half the shopocracy had left their counters in care of the -shopmen.</p> - -<p>All was bustle and confusion among the steamers starting for various -destinations—and I verily believe that the inhabitants of Pompeii did not -rush in greater haste or in greater numbers to the sea, when chased by -the ashes and lava of Vesuvius, than did the inhabitants of the metropolis -to the banks of the Thames on this beautiful morning! There were to be -seen <span class="smcap">senators</span>, who had patriotically injured their own constitutions while -reforming that of their country—<span class="smcap">tailors</span> from Bond Street, going to Vienna -and Athens to measure the “Corinthian pillars of the state,” on the philosophical -principles of Laputa—aldermen from Bucklersbury, to exude a -portion of green fat and callipash in the valleys of Switzerland—geological -chemists, with hammers, bags, and blow-pipes, bound for the mountains -of <span class="smcap">Taunus</span> to ascertain the age of <span class="smcap">Mother Earth</span>, by means of the fish-bones, -oyster-shells, and pebbles, which she had swallowed at some of her -grand suppers—antiquarians journeying to the Roman forum to disinter the -bones of M. Curtius and his horse, which had lain so long in their marble -cerements—engineers from a new joint-stock company to survey a line of -rail-road over the Great St. Bernard—candidates for the Traveller’s Club, -going to <i>qualify</i> by crossing some pons asinorum over the Danube—tourists -of all calibres; some to make a tour simply; some to write a tour badly; -but the greater number to talk of a tour afterwards—<span class="smcap">nabobs</span> from the -East; some with the complexion of a star pagoda; some as pallid as a -sicca rupee; and others as blue as Asiatic cholera—<span class="smcap">Cantabs</span>, with their -tutors, going to study spherics among the Alps of Oberland—<span class="smcap">Oxonians</span>, -to collate Greek and gibberish among the Ionian Isles—<span class="smcap">Missionaries</span> -from Paternoster-row and Albemarle-street, to convert foolscap into food -for circulating libraries, and the “bitter wassers” of Germany into Burgundy -and Champaigne for themselves—<span class="smcap">Conservatives</span> flying from the -“West-end,” to preserve the remnants of a shattered constitution—<span class="smcap">landlords</span> -from Green Erin going to spend their rack-rents in the fashionable -saloons of Baden Baden—<span class="smcap">roué’s</span> from St. James’s, repairing, as a -forlorn hope, to the Cur-saals (anglice, <span class="smcap">Cursed Hells</span>) of Nassau and -Bavaria—<span class="smcap">bacchanals</span>, <span class="smcap">debauchees</span>, and <span class="smcap">gourmands</span>, hastening to Kissengen -and Carlsbad, in hopes of restoring their jaded appetites and -reducing their tumid livers—<span class="smcap">Judges</span> from Westminster, who, in all actions -of “<span class="smcap">Rus</span> <i>versus</i> <span class="smcap">Urbem</span>,” had lately determined in favour of the -plaintiff, without reference to the jury—<span class="smcap">Bishops</span>, who had left their black -aprons on the Banks of the Thames, to have a peep at the lady with -scarlet petticoats on the banks of the Tyber—aspiring youths of enlarged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -views and high pretensions, determined to see the world from the summit -of Mont Blanc—<span class="smcap">pallid beauties</span>, from Portman Square, with their -anxious mammas, bound to Ems and Schwalbach, in hopes of transmuting -their lillies into roses, by exchanging the midnight waltz for the “mittag” -meal, and fiery port for the sparkling “wein-brunnen”—faded belles and -shattered beaux, of certain and uncertain ages, repairing to Schlangenbad, -for satin surfaces and renewal of youth. We had members of both houses -who had inhaled sulphuretted hydrogen gas to such an extent, in St. -Stephens, during the session, as to cause violent explosions of malodorous -philippics, to the great annoyance of their opposite neighbours:—these -were on their way to the Alps for pure air before the next eruption. Here -were seen veterans from the “United Service,” whose memories had survived -their hopes, bound on a pilgrimage to Waterloo and Camperdown, -to heave a last sigh over the setting sun of martial glory, and the degenerate -æra of insipid peace. Here were whigs, tories, radicals and revolutionists; -together with men of high church, low church, and no church -doctrines, but all (incredible to relate) unanimously agreed on one principle, -that of the “<i>mouvement</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>These and hundreds, not to say thousands of others, whose avocations, -objects, and pursuits were only known to themselves—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent8">——an undistinguished crew</div> -<div class="verse">O’er whom her darkest wing Oblivion drew——</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">were rushing to the Thames, and deserting the Metropolis, as though it -were the “City of the Plague,” or the seat of Asiatic cholera.</p> - -<p>But to return to the Batavier. Honour to the man who first applied -steam to locomotion. His ingenuity has enabled him to distil from water -a light vapour which conquers the ocean from whence it sprang. It more -than half diminishes the terror of the sea and the miseries of the voyage. -It brings Lisbon and Gibraltar within the same distance of London as -Edinburgh used to be. Though lighter than the air we breathe, it can -resist the impetuosity of the heaviest storm, and stem the torrent of the -most rapid river. It has nearly broken the trident of Neptune, and owns -little allegiance to his sceptre. Steam may now say to the watery god, -what the ocean monarch once said to a brother deity—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Non tibi imperium Pelagi sævumque tridentem,</div> -<div class="verse">Sed mihi sorte datur.”——</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Æolus may unchain the winds—Boreas may bluster, and Auster may -weep; but steam heeds them not. Resistance only lends it strength, and -oppression elasticity. The offspring of eternal and implacable enemies -(fire and water), its birth is invariably and necessarily fatal to its parents. -The new Being thus generated is as gigantic in power as it is transitory in -existence. Imprisoned for a moment, it bursts its barriers—regains its -liberty—and dies! But these struggles for freedom work the iron wings -that impel the monster steamer through the briny waves. Deep in the -womb of this moving volcano, we see the fires of Ætna glowing—cauldrons -boiling—pumps playing—chains clanking—Ixion’s wheels incessantly revolving—steam -roaring—and volumes of smoke belched upwards, to -darken the skies with artificial clouds. Could some of our forefathers rise -from their graves, and behold a steamer flying over the waves against wind -and tide, and without oar or sail, they would be not a little astonished, -and curious enough to know the name of the planet to which they had -been wafted after leaving their native earth.</p> - -<h4>THE SEA.</h4> - -<p>Campbell, our immortal poet, has dedicated an amatory epistle to the -sea, descriptive of her various charms. When in good humour, no lady -has a smoother face, or a more smiling countenance, and she then well -deserves the title of “mirror of the stars,” which the bard has gallantly -conferred on her. But when ruffled in temper, she is one of the veriest -termagants I have ever encountered. She will then fret and foam—aye, -and proceed from words to blows, knocking about her friends and her foes, -like stock-fish.</p> - -<p>Many have been the philtres and objurgations proposed for securing her -“crispid smiles,” and obviating her “luxurious heavings;” but few of -them are of any value. I have found it best to lie down, bandage my -eyes, and let the angry Goddess have her own way. In the present -instance her marine majesty was in a singularly mild mood, during the -passage. A nautilus might have spread his sail and gone to sleep in -safety. We approached the low sand hills concealing a still lower surface -of country—struck on the Brill—and after two or three rolls, the Batavier -tumbled like a whale into the Maas. We were soon abreast of Schiedam, -whence volumes of smoke and vapour redolent of gin were wafted over us -by the northern breeze, while a hundred windmills were whirling round -as far as the eye could reach. It is curious that in Holland, the most -watery country in the world, grain is ground by means of wind; while in -Switzerland, the most windy country in Europe, corn is ground by means -of water. A moment’s reflection clears up the paradox. In Holland,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -water sleeps during seven days in the week, unmolested, save by the occasional -crawling of the trackschuyt:—in Switzerland, every stream leaps -joyously from rock to rock, grinding the corn, washing the linen, spinning -the flax, turning the lathes, and performing a hundred domestic services.</p> - -<h4>ROTTERDAM.</h4> - -<p>In a few hours after passing the Brill, we arrived at the most bustling -and thriving town in Holland. A protracted line of shipping, receiving -and discharging their cargoes—an even jetty or quay, planted with majestic -trees—and a long row of noble-looking houses facing the river, preclude -all view of Rotterdam. It is impossible to get a prospect of any Dutch -town except from its highest steeple. Immediately, as is my custom, I -ascended the spire of St. Lawrence’s cathedral, and there enjoyed a magnificent -coup-d’œil of the fine sea-port, and the adjacent country, as far as -the Hague. Each street is a kind of duplicate (double portrait) of the -quay: the centre of almost every one being Macadamized, not with granite -or gravel, but with the masts, yards, decks, and high bugger-luggs of -ships. This species of Macadamization not being the most convenient for -carriages or pedestrians, the broad trottoirs on each side, roughly paved -and thickly planted, serve for all kinds of viators, and must give ample -encouragement to corn-cutters, blacksmiths, veterinary surgeons, and -coach-builders.</p> - -<p>Nine-tenths of the houses present their gable-ends to the street—a high -flight of steps leading to the hall—and a coach door at the side, leading to -the court. Each mansion (where there is not an open shop) is a merchant’s -castle, flanked with warehouses filled with goods, neatly furnished, and -kept remarkably clean. The inhabitants differ from those of an English -town much less than the inhabitants of any other continental city. The -women are far more fair and handsome than either the French, Germans, -or Italians—and the word “<span class="smcap">comfort</span>,” unintelligible in any language but -our own, is practically legible in every street of Rotterdam.</p> - -<p>I made my bow to the statue of Erasmus, though the name called up -some scholastic recollections, not of the most pleasant kind, as connected -with his Naufragium: after which, we perambulated this city of “ships, -colonies, and commerce,” till a late hour in the evening.</p> - -<p>From the moment that John Bull first sets foot on any part of the Continent -between Scandinavia and Cape Coast Castle, he begins to pay daily -the penalty of early-acquired and long-continued bad habits. But this is -not all. Some of his good habits stand in the way of his comfort and -health. The sooner he makes up his mind to the change, the better. And -first, of sleep. If he means to enjoy the blessings of “tired Nature’s -sweet restorer,” he must repair to his chamber as soon as possible after the -sun has taken his evening bath in the Atlantic. And he should spring -from his couch before, rather than after, Apollo pleases to—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Rise refulgent from Tithonus’ bed.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">In most of the continental towns, the streets are as silent as those of -Pompeii after ten o’clock; but the bustle begins at day-light, and he must -have taken a strong dose of opium who can sleep after that hour! The -cocks are crowing, the carts are clattering, the waiters are knocking up -the travellers going off by diligence or steamer, the travellers themselves -are bawling out for “eau chaude,” “warm wasser,” “boots,” “coffee,” -or the “billet”—in short, the jargon of different languages resounding -through the lobbies for an hour or two after day-light, would put Babel to -shame. And last, not least, the eternal ding-dong of bells, especially in -Catholic countries, from dawn of day till eight o’clock, might convince the -most sceptical Protestant that <span class="smcap">purgatory</span> is no fable, but an actual punishment -inflicted by the priests on this side of the grave, as a foretaste of -the future!</p> - -<p>Still, in most of the continental towns, there is an interval of five or -six hours in the night, during which the wearied limbs of the traveller -may rest, and his ears may be relieved from discordant sounds. Not so at -Rotterdam. The night is infinitely more noisy than the day. It is then -that the real bustle begins at the <span class="smcap">Hotel des Pays Bas</span>, and along the -whole line of the quay. The absence of light appears to operate on this -amphibious race in the same way as it does on frogs, bats, and owls, and -various animals addicted to nocturnal depredation. By midnight the sailors -of different nations begin to get sober for the second or third time since -morning, and the work of loading and unloading, craning and carting, &c. -begins in good earnest. The eternal chorus of “<i>yo heave ho</i>,” from a -thousand throats, o’ertopping, but not drowning the boisterous din of unutterable -discord on all sides, would rouse the god of sleep from his bed -of ebony, and put his prime minister, Morpheus, to flight.</p> - -<p>How the Rotterdamers preserve their lives in the midst of stagnant -water surrounding and pervading every habitation, and ingurgitated by -man, woman, and child, is only explicable on one of two principles—perhaps -of both. They are accustomed to it, as the eels are to skinning:—or -the neighbouring <span class="smcap">Scheidam</span> poisons the animalculæ, and prevents their -poisoning the people. There is yet one other supposition. In every -habitation and chamber of Rotterdam, and indeed of Holland, there is -very perceptible to the senses a malodorous effluvium, composed of three -different gases, and emanating from gin, peat and tobacco. This “tertium -<i>quid</i>”—this “tria juncta in uno”—may possibly tend to counteract, -or, at all events, to cover the malarious exhalations continually rising from -a quiescent pool, into which the <i>debris</i> of all utterable and <i>unutterable</i> -things are daily and nightly plunged!<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> - -<h4>THE HAGUE.</h4> - -<p>I have long been tired of rambling through museums and picture-galleries—churches -and palaces—gardens and promenades; but I am absolutely -sick of the endless and reiterated descriptions of all these and a -thousand other things, which every tourist delineates anew, as if he had -been the first visitor that ever saw the lions!</p> - -<p>In these catalogues there can be nothing new, even to the fire-side -traveller, and I shall pass them by, with merely an occasional reflection or -remark. I find but one or two notes in my diary of the Hague—one, the -record of a most capital BULL—not made by an Irishman, but by a Dutchman—the -“<span class="smcap">Jeune Taureau</span>,” by Paul Potter. This sturdy, stiff-necked, -sandy-haired representative of my countrymen, is no bad sample of the -breed. I wish a certain animal of this species, which stands in Fleet -Street, with a mouth wide open, and greedy for all kinds of provender, -were to be brushed up a little, <i>a la Paul Potter</i>. I am sure it would increase -the number of spectators, if not of subscribers, to our witty, keen, -and sarcastic hebdomadal of Temple-bar.<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>At the dull aristocratic and academic town of Leyden, we crossed a sad -memorial of fallen greatness—the drivelling descendant of the majestic -Rhine, reduced to the dimensions of a canal, and, like the degenerate -offspring of some renowned hero, disgracing the line of his noble ancestor! -Restive and perverse in its last act, it only <i>flows</i> when the tide <i>ebbs</i>, and -stands motionless during the flood. Leyden being a university “open to -all parties,” and influenced by merit only (with a little gold), it imposes no -oath on the candidates for its degrees—whatever may be the creed of the -aspirant.</p> - -<h4>HAERLEM.</h4> - -<p>This is a phrenological city, distinguished by a remarkable bump—the -largest “organ of music” in the world. But there is a greater lion in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -Haerlem than the great organ—one whose distant roarings have struck -more terror into the heart of John Bull than did ever Napoleon, with his -legions at Boulogne. This monstrous birth of the French revolution—this -offspring of atheism and education, in which the orthodox light is -extinguished—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">is neither more nor less than a “<span class="smcap">normal school</span>.” As this term is not in -Johnson’s Dictionary, it is inferred by our home oracles, that it exists not -in any language, ancient or modern. As I cannot give its derivation, I -shall try at its definition. It is a school where “<i>boys and girls are taught -the rudiments of knowledge without wrangling about creeds</i>.” It is alike -open to the Jew and the Gentile, the Protestant and Catholic, the Baptist -and Anabaptist, the Unitarian and Trinitarian. Now as each of these -sects holds its own theology to be the true orthodox one, I do not see -how any <i>one form</i> of religious instruction can be combined with elementary -education. We might as well try to force the same note on all the -inmates of a menagerie, as the same creed on all the elèves of a normal -school. And, after all, why should theology be taken out of the hands of -the pastor, to be put into those of the pedagogue? May not letters be -taught without a Liturgy—and cyphering without a Catechism? We see -that, in two of the most Protestant countries—Prussia and Holland—the -system works well, at least peaceably. The children of various sects can -learn to read without ridiculing, and to write without stigmatizing each -other’s creeds. They live in peace while acquiring the rudiments of human -knowledge at school—and they repair to the chapels or synagogues of -their parents to hear the word of God, where it is most properly delivered. -A youthful harmony or even friendship is thus generated among all persuasions, -and is never afterwards entirely obliterated.</p> - -<p>But I imagine that an unnecessary dread of this “tree of knowledge,” -whose mortal fruit—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Brought death into the world and all our woe,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">is entertained by the good people of England. Reading, writing, and -arithmetic do not constitute knowledge, but merely the machinery by -which it may be afterwards acquired. These rudiments are, like the types -of the printer distributed in their compartments—void of learning or -science in themselves, till they are worked up by the compositor—who, -himself is only an instrument in the hands of a higher agent. “The -instruction given in the schools (says an excellent observer, Mr. Chambers) -is deficient of nearly all that bears on the cultivation of the perceptive -and reflective faculties, and consequently the expansion of the -intellect.” This education rarely extends beyond reading, writing, arithmetic, -and geography—while the superior orders are taught the French<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -language. At or under 14 years of age, the child leaves school and -merges on the ordinary avocations of life. There is in Holland nearly a -total absence of scientific instruction. Words not things are taught, and -no taste is generated for literature. Yet this elementary education at -school, and religious instruction at home, have rendered the people remarkable -for order, piety, and morality. In no other country is there so -little crime or squalid poverty.</p> - -<p>I wish I could say as much for civil as for religious liberty in this -country. The press is more completely muzzled than any cart-dog in -London. The latter may open his jaws so far as to growl; but the press -is hermetically sealed in this submarine territory. No book can be translated -or published without the censor’s license—nay, a hand-bill, announcing -the importation of Warren’s blacking or Morrison’s pills, cannot -be printed or affixed to a wall, without a license and a stamp! In a conversation -with an intelligent Dutchman respecting this restriction on the -press, I was completely silenced by the following argument. I believe, -said the gentleman, that in your profession, <i>prevention</i> is considered to be -better than cure. I assented. Then, said he, I observe in all your newspapers -that people are tried, and sometimes severely punished, for publishing -libels, although the authors may not believe them to be such at -the time of writing them. Now the paternal Government of Holland -<i>prevents</i> such misfortunes and evils from happening to its subjects, by -examining the document before publication, and thus taking on itself the -responsibility, in case it should turn out afterwards to be libellous. There -was no answering this argument. The Dutch are the most patient animals -that ever lived beneath a yoke, or bowed beneath a load of taxes. -Talk of John Bull’s rates and taxes! They are bagatelles compared to -those in Holland! Every species of business, from the cobbler to the ship-builder, -is taxed after a graduated scale, varying from a few shillings to -twenty or thirty pounds annually. Every dwelling, every window, door, -fireplace—even the furniture, is taxed according to its value! The taxes -on houses are more than a fourth of the rent! The necessaries of life are, -in fact, extremely dear, and were it not for the solace of tobacco, gin, and -coffee, the poorer classes of Dutchmen would die in their dykes under the -pressure of hunger and taxation, notwithstanding their loyalty to <span class="smcap">King</span>, -and love of <span class="smcap">Vaderland</span>!</p> - -<h4>AMSTERDAM.</h4> - -<p>How often does the monotonized traveller in Holland and Belgium sigh -for the luxury of a zig-zag mule-track along the steep acclivity of some -alpine height, as a change of scene from the eternal right-lined chaussée, -terminating out of sight, beyond the verge of the horizon, or dipping apparently, -like Pharaoh’s route, into a lake or the ocean! The Haerlem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -pavé is constantly menaced by the Zuyder-Zee on the right, and the -German Ocean on the left; but it escapes a watery grave, and safely -lands the weary tourist in Amsterdam. Ascending the tower of the -Stadthouse, or palace, I cast my wondering eyes over the largest community -of beavers that ever lived upon logs, or drove their far-fetched -piles into the muddy bottom of lake or pool! Strange that the dry land -of this our globe should not afford space enough for cities or towns, without -invading the Adriatic and the Zuyder-Zee for the sites of Venice and -Amsterdam! From this bird’s-eye view, the confusion and commixture -of land and water is inextricable and incalculable. The city stands on -nearly one hundred detached islets, connected by more than three times -that number of drawbridges—the houses rising bolt upright out of the -water—each street being a quay lined with trees—and each mansion a -warehouse, as evinced by the crane and rope at the attic for hoisting in -goods, furniture, fuel, and provisions. The space between the houses and -the water, is much narrower than at Rotterdam, and I think the bustle -and activity of commerce are far less conspicuous in the northern than -in the southern entrepôt. The water, though capable of floating ships, -is unfit for cooking or drinking—and, were it not for the springs of -Seltzer, and the distilleries of Scheidam, I imagine that hydrophobia -would universally prevail.</p> - -<p>I suspect that the Amsterdammers were originally a colony from Palestine. -Like the “chosen people,” they are much fonder of conveying -merchandize from one hand to another, than of manufacturing any article -of trade or commerce. The only fabrications that I could see, were those -of ships to carry, and houses to contain goods. The building of houses -has long been limited to the re-construction of those whose foundations -had given way—and naval architecture has received many checks—the -annihilation of the whale-fishery among others. But the red-herring still -cheers the heart of the Hollander, and qualifies the brackish water of the -Zuyder-Zee. While wandering through the streets in the evening, I -found that gin-palaces were not confined to England. They are on a -splendid scale here, and frequented by better classes of society than in the -British metropolis. We saw burgesses—probably burgomasters—with -their wives, and sometimes with their children, drinking, smoking, and -listening to the dulcet sounds of Swiss or Bavarian hurdi-gurdies. This -was not quite in keeping with the grave, moral, and religious character of -the Dutchman.</p> - -<p>It is not my inclination—to say the truth, it is not my forte—to describe -the lions of Amsterdam—or of any of the other dams in this hybrid -offspring of land and water. It was quite enough for me to see the -shows—their pictorial delineation I leave to those of my tourist brethren -who have studied under that inimitable painter, and hero of the hammer, -Geo. Robins, Esq. They can readily transmute a varnished treckschuyt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -into a Cleopatra’s barge—a buggerlugg into a bust of bronze—a Flanders -mare into a prancing Bucephalus—a brick trottoir into a tesselated pavement—or -a Belgian flat into a garden of the Hesperides. The worst of -this is, that, by the time they have ascended the Rhine, or entered Switzerland, -their stock of the picturesque is expended, and they have only the -sublime to draw upon for the remainder of the tour.</p> - -<p>To see the sights of Amsterdam, the gilders and stivers must be in perpetual -motion. Even at the doors of the churches, the padré’s demand -your money for admittance into their cold, damp, and dreary tabernacles—a -most unusual practice on the Continent.</p> - -<p>In order to vary the journey, we returned by Utrecht to Rotterdam:—but -although the route was <i>alter</i>, the scene was <i>idem</i>—and I will not -detain the reader with any account of it.</p> - -<h4>BATAVIAN CHARACTERISTICS.</h4> - -<p>Of all the geological ups and downs which the surface of this globe -presents, none is more remarkable, or less remarked, than that which the -land of Holland has undergone. Every particle of its soil must once -have occupied some higher land or even mountain of the Continent, before -it travelled down to take its bath in the ocean—ultimately to rise to -nearly the level of the sea—then to be rescued from the waters, partly by -the operations of Nature, and partly by the industry of man. Even now -the mighty Alps are daily crumbling down, and every shower of rain, -and mountain torrent washes down its quota of soil to the Mediterranean -or the German Ocean.<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Should no volcanic revolution interrupt these -watery changes, a period must come—ten thousand years are but a dot in -the stream of time—when the high lands will be worn down into alluvial -deposits which, rising from their oceanic beds, will become annexations to -the existing plains. The lower heights will of course shew the effects -of this “wear and tear” sooner than the snow-clad Alps; but even these -last must one day undergo that transmutation and transplantation to -which all sublunary things are destined. This is no imaginary speculation. -It is not in Holland alone that we see vast tracts of land carried -down from the hills—buried in the deep, for a time—and afterwards -rescued from their watery beds. The Delta of the Nile was once among -the mountains of Abyssinia—the Sunderbunds have spread far and wide to -the south of Calcutta, dividing the Ganges into a hundred mouths—extending -the land into the bay of Bengal, and sustaining myriads of -animals, and even man himself—the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence -are digging the grave of the Alligagny mountains—the mighty Andes—“Giant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -of the Western Star,” who now</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Looks from his throne of clouds o’er half the world”—</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">is silently and slowly suffering disintegration by the <span class="smcap">Plata</span> and <span class="smcap">Amazon</span>, -committing its atoms to the depths of the Atlantic, thence to emerge, at -some remote epoch, the habitation of races of animated beings that have -no types, perhaps, in the present or past creations. Even the cloud-capt -Himalaya, whose base extends over thousands of miles, feeds with its -substance the insatiate mouths of the Indus, the Ganges, the Burrhampooter, -and the Yrawaddy, whose turbid waves roll down to distant seas -the alluvial tribute; themselves the unconscious ministers of an Almighty -will!</p> - -<p>Thus it would appear that the <i>levelling</i> principle is as operative in the -<i>physical</i> as in the <i>moral</i> world—among mountains as well as among men. -But there is one great and essential difference between the two. The -Himalaya may require thousands of years longer to wear down than the -Cordillera. This is merely a difference in time. But no time, or space, -or circumstance can effect an equilibrium in the moral or intellectual -world. If such a level could be obtained, it would instantly perish, or -recede to a greater distance than ever. Equality of this kind, like -Heaven’s bright bow—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Allures from far yet as we follow flies.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Equal right can never lead to equal might.</p> - -<p>But to return from this digression. How is it that the Helvetian and -the Hollander, whose countries are the very antipodes of each other—whose -manners, customs, and pursuits are as different as Alps are from -sand-hills, should yet present a more striking similarity in one moral feature, -than the inhabitants of any other two countries? Of all the nations -of Europe, the Helvetians and Hollanders, inhabiting the highest and the -lowest grounds in the world, are most enthusiastically attached to their -native soils, and experience the greatest degree of nostalgic yearning -when separated from home. The <i>amor patriæ</i> of the Swiss is proverbial—that -of the Dutchman is quite as strong, though not so well known.</p> - -<p>“The Hollander (says Mr. Chambers,) is bred up from his infancy to -have the highest ideas of his “<i>Vaderland</i>”—of her people—her warriors—her -wealth—her power. He is taught to consider this <i>Vaderland</i> as -standing highest in the rank of nations—that every thing belonging to -her is <i>best</i>. He is an admirer, without being a benefactor of his country—a -patriot without public spirit—contented and self-satisfied with his -country and every thing belonging thereto.”</p> - -<p>The Helvetian can hardly be more enamoured of his mountains than is -the Hollander of his alluvial plains! But whence this coincidence? Is -it that the Dutchman remembers the <i>high descent</i> of his native soil—that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -it floated down from the Alps and other highlands—that it was redeemed -from the ocean by his labour and skill—enriched, fertilized, and adorned by -the industry of his forefathers—and, finally, that it had become, under his -fostering care, a second “Garden of Eden,” the pride of Batavians, and -the envy of the world?</p> - -<p>Or is it that extremes approximate?—That the hardy Helvetian, raised -above the storm’s career, but whose—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Rocks by custom turn to beds of down,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">can look, with feelings of pride and independence, from his airy citadel -of health and activity, down on surrounding nations—whilst the phlegmatic -Hollander, secure from winds and waves, under the shelter of his -break-water ramparts, surveys with kindred feelings and self-gratulations -his fertile flats, his irrigated fields, and commerce-bearing canals—his -senses steeped in that musing mood, that “fool’s paradise” suspended -midway between the excitement of gin, and the tranquillity of tobacco?</p> - -<p>Be this as it may, there can be little doubt that the moral and physical -character—the inward temperament and outward man—are all very much -modified by the climate, the soil, and the circumstances around us. It -might not be difficult to shew that the prominent characteristics of the -people in question are modified by these external agencies. The Hollander -is accustomed to watch, with the patience of a cat, for that precise period -when the alluvial deposits on his shores have attained that level which -permits him to stretch out his mounds of earth, and grasp the piece of -newly-emerged ground for future culture:—hence his <i>patience</i> and <i>vigilance</i> -through life, while watching the opportunity of benefiting himself. -He observes, from infancy, the labour and expense of realizing this property -in the soil:—hence his <span class="smcap">economy</span>, even to parsimony. His climate -is damp and cold: his temperament is therefore <span class="smcap">phlegmatic</span>. The surface -of his country is flat and monotonous; without monuments of antiquity, -historical renown, or classical recollections:—there is, consequently, -no more <span class="smcap">poetry</span> in his composition than in a Dutch cheese, or a stagnant -canal. Living beneath the level of the ocean, he is liable to inundations -from the watery element:—he is therefore habitually <span class="smcap">cautious</span> of all contingencies. -The equinoxes, the vernal and autumnal floods, the changes -of the moon, are all important epochs and events in a submarine territory;—he -is, therefore, a <span class="smcap">calculating</span> animal, from his cradle to his grave. -At war with the elements, he is naturally <span class="smcap">brave</span> even to obstinacy, whether -the cause be right or wrong; and will fight to the knees in blood, -rather than either advance or retreat. Monotony being almost universal, -ideality is nearly null:—the Dutchman, therefore, smokes during the -greater part of his time, in default of conversation—tobacco being, at -once, the cause and the excuse for <span class="smcap">taciturnity</span>. In Holland there are -nearly as many canals for communication, as there are dykes for defence:—the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -Batavian is, therefore, eminently <span class="smcap">commercial</span>:—but the limits of -the soil being narrow, and the population dense, colonization became -necessary, despite of the “<span class="smcap">Vaderlandsleifde</span>,” and emigration continues -though the colonies have dwindled away. The intellectual views -of the Hollander are nearly as limited as his geographical. There are no -mountains, whence a wide and varied prospect can be taken in by the eye—neither -are there academic eminences, from which the mind can soar -into the regions of literature, science, art, or philosophy. As it is infinitely -more difficult to raise dykes than children—to extend the soil, than -to swell the census—so the Batavian has been a political economist long -before the science was taught by Malthus, or practised by Martineau, in -this country. As a merchant, he is honest and honourable in his negociations -abroad—punctual as his pipe in receipts and disbursements at -home. Exclusively occupied with the concerns of self—whether ruminating, -fumigating, or calculating—he has little time, and less inclination, -to meddle with affairs of state. The measure of his patriotism is amply -sufficient for an abundance of loyalty—and if “passive obedience and -non-resistance” be cardinal virtues in subjects, then the Dutch ought to be -dear to the heart of their sovereign. I have no doubt that they are so. -It is only a matter of reciprocal feeling—for assuredly the sovereign is -<i>dear</i> to the Dutch.</p> - -<p>Embarking at Rotterdam, the steamer ploughs its weary way through -the muddy Maas for three long days, before it reaches Cologne. One -night is spent in the malodorous town of Nymeguen—and the other on -board—so that, altogether, this is one of the most monotonous voyages -that could well be projected. There is not even the satisfaction of finding -one bank or place more ugly, or more uninteresting than another—which -would be some little variety, and afford some subject for remark. All -is puddle-dock in the near, and sand-bank in the distance. Here and -there the spire of a church, the roof of a house, or the mast of a schuyt -appears on the horizon, for a time, and vanishes again in the blank.</p> - -<h4>COLOGNE.</h4> - -<p>If the narrow streets of Cologne be famous, or rather infamous, for bad -smells, it is to be recollected that the <i>waters</i> of that ancient city are more -valuable than the <i>wines</i> of the neighbouring Rhine:—that they are carried -to every corner of the earth—and prized for their delicious flavour, beyond -the richest productions of Rudesheim or Johannisberg. Thus good cometh -out of evil—and the most grateful perfume is exhaled from the most malodorous -city of Europe. “Give a dog a bad name,” and the sooner you -shoot him the better. Yet if a stranger arrived at Cologne, by day or by -night, not knowing the name of the place, he might traverse its numberless -and crooked streets, without remarking more disagreeable scents than his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -nose would encounter on the banks of the Tiber, the Arno, or the Seine—in -the wynds of Auld Reekie, the Gorbals of Glasgow, the purlieus of the -Liffey—or even of father Thames, between Puddle-dock and Deptford. -I will not maintain that all the little rivulets which meander the streets of -this town, after a shower of rain, are the veritable “<i>Eau de Cologne</i>” of -Messieurs Farina; but I must say that the olfactories of my fair countrywoman -of the “Souvenirs,” were more delicate than impartial, when she -penned the following sentence. “But the dreadful effluvia of the black, -filthy streams that defile every street, penetrated even through the folds -of pocket-handkerchiefs soaked in perfume.”—<i>Souvenir</i>, p. 93.</p> - -<p>Fiction being the “soul of poetry,” we need not wonder that the <span class="smcap">Bard</span> -should seize the opportunity of having his fling at poor Cologne. Accordingly -<span class="smcap">Coleridge</span> exercised his wit and his acrimony in the following -lines, in which he apostrophises <span class="smcap">Cloacina</span>, and the nymphs, “who reign -o’er sewers and sinks.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“The river Rhine, it is well known,</div> -<div class="verse">Doth wash the city of Cologne,</div> -<div class="verse">But tell me nymphs, what power divine</div> -<div class="verse">Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine?”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Probably it was this real or supposed pollution which caused the noble -river to dive into the sands, soon after passing Cologne, and hide its head -for ever. It cannot be denied that Cologne is a city of the dirty and -malodorous order—and we cannot much wonder at the fact, seeing that -it was Roman in the beginning, and has never changed its nature or name -from the days of Germanicus to the present moment. After passing from -the Romans to the Franks, and from the Franks to the Germans, it became -a “<span class="smcap">Holy City</span>”—and that was enough to ruin Rome itself. It -became, of course, the rendezvous of priests, monks, and nuns, and the -seat of abbeys, monasteries, nunneries, and churches. Notwithstanding -these misfortunes, it rose into a rich and flourishing entrepôt of commerce, -when its bigotted ecclesiastical government took the wise resolution -of banishing the merchants, because most of them were Jews and -Protestants. The exiles settled in other cities on the Rhine, and left the -swarms of monks and priests among their rotten relics, to starve and -“stink in state.” Here we have a key to the malodorous effluvia that -penetrated the perfumed handkerchief of the lady of the “Souvenirs”—for -I will be bold enough to aver that she did not leave a nook or corner -unexplored in Cologne, where anything <i>curious</i> was to be seen. It is a -great pity that Napoleon, when he suppressed the convents and monasteries, -did not order the scavengers and police to sweep out all the -mouldering bones, putrefying flesh, and decomposing integuments of -saints and martyrs that have been congregated in churches, chapels, and -other monastic institutions for two thousand years. If this had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -done at Cologne, there would have been no occasion for perfumed handkerchiefs -to the noses of travellers.</p> - -<p>By the way, where were the brains of the three magi, or <i>wise</i> men of -the east, (whose skulls are crowned and impearled here,) when they -allowed the suicidal decree to go forth against the merchants of Cologne? -These relics of the church perform miraculous cures of physical ills; but -they never, by any accident, prevent, much less punish, the perpetration -of moral mischief. The schoolmaster is much more wanted than the scavenger -in Cologne!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent8">—— “Alchymists may doubt</div> -<div class="verse">The shining gold their crucibles give out;</div> -<div class="verse">But faith—fanatic faith—once wedded fast</div> -<div class="verse">To some dear falsehood—hugs it to the last.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The first rush is made to the hotel—and the next to the Dom Kirche—an -unfinished cathedral, of course—like all great abbeys—for, if finished, -no more contributions could be levied. A tower of the cathedral, <i>intended</i>—abbeys, -like some other places, are “paved with good intentions”—to -be 500 feet high, but which only attained the altitude of 20 feet, -throws all sentimental tourists into ecstasies. From its brother, which -grew up much taller, a good panoramic view of Cologne and vicinity is -obtained. Then comes the tomb of skulls—the crania of the three magi—Caspar, -Melchior, and Balthasar—stolen by the mother of Constantine -from the Holy Land—conveyed by some mysterious agency from Constantinople -to Milan—and thence pillaged by Barbarossa, and presented -to the Bishop of Cologne! For 700 years these empty skulls have been -gazed at by the millions of numbskulls still emptier, that have come to -visit them! They are decorated with gilt crowns, set with pearls—and -their names are written in ruby characters!</p> - -<p>Near these holy, but harmless relics, are deposited, among many masses -of bones and filth—“<i>les entrailles</i>” of Queen Marie de Medicis, together -with the head of St. Peter, &c. &c. &c. But in the church of St. Ursula, -things are done on a grander scale. The bones of 11,000 English ladies, -who were wrecked in the Rhine, <i>on their voyage to Rouen</i>!! are here -deposited—the owners having taken the veil rather than join in wedlock -with the <span class="smcap">Huns</span>, who then possessed the Holy City. Other records say -that, in imitation of Lucretia, they sacrificed their lives to preserve their -honour—and their bones were carefully preserved from that time to this! -Did the fair lady of the “Souvenirs” hold her “perfumed handkerchief” -to her nose, while contemplating these blanched remains of her heroic -sisterhood?</p> - -<p>The city of Cologne measures seven miles in circumference—her streets -are narrow—and her houses are high. Yet the population scarcely exceeds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -50,000 souls—with bodies attached to them!! Thus then, it is -evident that this Holy City is one vast cemetery, partly above, and partly -under ground—a huge museum of mouldering anatomy, useless alike to -the living and the dead, and only commemorative of the weakness, darkness, -ignorance, and superstition of the human mind!</p> - -<p>I confess that I was silly enough, nearly twenty years ago, to spend -some days and dollars in exploring these mummeries at Cologne; and -those who prefer such pursuits to the pure air of the mountains, and -the smiling landscapes of Nature on the banks of the Rhine, may follow -the example.</p> - -<p>At nine o’clock in the morning, we left the Hotel du Rhin, and repaired -to the busy banks of the river, where steam was hissing, and tourists were -bustling into the vessels. Five or six arches of the bridge suddenly slipped -their cables, and swinging round by the impulse of the stream, opened a -free passage for the ascending and descending boats. Away they went -upwards and downwards, full of passengers—some on the tiptoe of expectation -to see the wonders of the Rhine—others, having satisfied their -curiosity, were winging their way home, to the chalky cliffs of Old -England.</p> - -<h4>THE RHINE.</h4> - -<p>And here we change the land of facts for the land of fictions. We now -enter the regions of romance and robbery—of love and murder—of tilts -and tournaments—of dungeons deep and turrets lofty—of crusades -against the creed of the Ottoman abroad, and of forays against the property -or life of the neighbour at home—of riot and revelry in the castle, -and of penury and superstition in the cottage—of beetling precipice and -winding river—of basaltic rock and clustering vine—of wassail war and -vintage carol. It is probable that few ascend this famous river without -experiencing some feelings of disappointment, although none will acknowledge -it, lest their taste should be condemned, and themselves voted to be -barbarians, insensible alike to the beauties of nature and the wonders of -art. But the Rhine, like many a fine child, has been spoiled—especially -by poets and painters. The tourists and romance-writers, too, have combined -to spoil the Rhine-child—for although all romance-writers are not -tourists, yet all tourists are, <i>ex officio</i>, romance-writers.</p> - -<p>Thus the mountains of the Rhine, though none of them are much -higher than the rock of Gibraltar—are represented as “stupendous”—every -dingle and dell that opens between the hills, is painted as more -beautiful than the valley of Rasselas, Chamounix, or Grindenwalde—the -river itself is made to flow like liquid emeralds or sapphires, though it receives -so many muddy streams, after its partial filter in Constance, that it -is nearly as yellow as the Tiber, and as turbid as the Thames, before it gets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -half-way between Schaffhausen and Dusseldorf.<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The vines too, which -are strung on stunted sticks, like onions,—enclosed between rude stone -terraces—and which more frequently disfigure than embellish the banks of -the Rhine, are extolled beyond those of Italy, which are gracefully festooned -from tree to tree, bending down the branches with the weight of -delicious grapes. Notwithstanding these and many other deficiencies on -the one hand, and exaggerations on the other (which all will acknowledge -in their hearts, though none will declare by their tongues), the Rhine is -the most picturesque, beautiful, romantic, and interesting river on the face -of our globe. I have twice ascended, and thrice descended the stream, -from its source in the Alps to its sepulture in the ocean—with various -lateral excursions—and still with undiminished pleasure. But then I -came to the survey with a conviction that, like all other places of the kind, -it was flattered by the painter, falsified by the poet, and dressed in meretricious -ornaments by the tourist and novellist. I was therefore not disappointed, -but highly gratified.</p> - -<h4>DRACHENFELS.</h4> - -<p>Knowing, from experience, that the first twenty miles of the Rhine -from Cologne, are totally devoid of interest, I left my companions at their -wine in the <span class="smcap">Rhenischer</span>, and started in the diligence for Bonn—and -thence to Godesberg, where I slept. Long before sunrise I had crossed -the Rhine, and threaded my way up the steeps of the Drachenfels. This -is probably the finest view on the Rhine—far superior to that which Sir -F. Head has described as taken from the top of a tree on the hill behind -the Bad-haus at Schlangenbad.</p> - -<p>“The Drachenfels, which is the steepest of the Seven Mountains, -has infinitely the advantage of situation, rising abruptly from the river to -a stupendous height, clothed midway with rich vines and foliage, and terminating -in red and grey rock. On its brow are the ruins of an ancient -castle, standing on their colossal and perpendicular base—a type of man’s -perseverance and power. The magnificent and picturesque prospects -which encompass on all sides this enchanting spot, as if Nature, with a -profuse and lavish hand, had diffused around so many and varied beauties, -that having exhausted her wonted combination of mountain, hill, and dale, -with water, flowery mead, cultivated field, mantling forests, and luxuriant -vineyards, she had by this profusion of witching scenery peculiarly marked -it for her own.” This description is not exaggerated—which is saying a -great deal for it. The Drachenfels, indeed, has been immortalized by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -legendary tale, poetic lore, and pictorial delineation. An ingenious artist -of the present day, (Mr. Leigh,) has recently given a panoramic view -from the summit of this rock, with all the fidelity and minuteness of the -painter. I can corroborate the description, though I could not imitate the -picture. A short extract or two will serve as specimens.</p> - -<p>“The whole of this delicious panorama was bathed in a flood of subdued -golden light, which intermingled its luscious hues with the cooler -tones of twilight. As if preparing to receive the setting sun with glory, -the horizon emitted a deep yet brilliant crimson lustre, spangled with -flakes of gold, while richer and more fantastic streaks of purple appeared -ready to envelop its glowing form as it slowly and majestically sailed behind -the darkened curtain of the distant hills. The nearer features of -this lovely scene, illumined by the silvery aspect of lingering day, were -invested with a tranquil dignity and beauty which soothed the vision as it -embraced their harmonious contours, softened by the genial light. The -more distant objects partook of the hue of the glowing west, and, -by their deep tone, enhanced the paler radiance of the more immediate -prospect.</p> - -<p>“The character of the entire scene is extremely imposing: the site -whence it is beheld is sufficiently lofty to command an immense extent, -yet not so elevated as to make all around dwindle into collections of spots. -Its beauty is not of that uniform description which presents an endless -succession of cultivated points, without offering any features of striking -interest; for, while on the one side, the eye glides along vast and varied -plains, on the other, it ranges over all the diversities of a mountainous -country, from the bare and rugged castled crags to the green uplands -shelving down to picturesque valleys and streams.</p> - -<p>“To the north the series of gentle eminences and valleys lose their individual -distinctions, and blend into one extensive plain, patched with the -varied colours of their produce, and dotted with the divisions of trees and -hedges which unite by their graceful lines the numerous villages that intersect -it. On this variegated expanse the serpentine course of the unruffled -Rhine may be traced like a stream of molten silver, flowing onwards towards -Cologne, its bright bosom continuously seen, occasionally bearing -specks of vessels gently descending with the current. Innumerable -towers and spires gleam amidst the verdant glades, or peer from the -deepening woods; and as the eventide breeze flows through the gentle -air, the pleasing and varied harmonies of chiming bells, afar and near, -break upon the ear.”</p> - -<p>“On the same side, a series of gradual elevations, shelving down to -the Rhine, forms the commencement of the cluster of the Drachenfels, -whose bold forms sweep majestically around the towering rock of the -Dragon, like the turbulent waves of the ocean against the soaring lighthouse. -Turning to the west, the conical form of the Godesberg, surmounted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -by its picturesque towers, and relieved by the sparkling habitations -at its base, stands out conspicuously from the deeper toned ridge of -hills, by which it appears shut in between Bonn and Rolandseck. Behind -this wooded screen are the diversified forms of the Eifel chain, extending -in various ramifications towards Spa, Treves, and Luxembourg, occupying -the territory between the Mosel and the Maas.”</p> - -<p>“On the shore beyond, embowered amidst the surrounding uplands, is -the partially concealed town of Oberwinter; beyond which, a sharp point -of land juts into the Rhine, nearly opposite the village of Unkel. From -this point commences the interminable series of mountain summits, which -stretch along the horizon in all the grandeur of form, harmony of composition, -and fascination of colour. The eye rises from the placid bosom of -the Rhine, in which the pure sky is serenely mirrored, and, after dwelling -with rapture on the gorgeous hues of the nearer landscape, it glides with -increasing fervour over the air-drawn bulwarks which tower around this -lovely scene. These choice materials of redundant Nature, tipped with -the magical hues of a gorgeous sunset, and a translucent twilight, and invested -with the majesty of sweeping yet mellow shadows, sufficiently -account to my own mind for the lengthened description in which I have -with all humility indulged.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent5">‘——Expression cannot paint</div> -<div class="verse">The breadth of Nature and her endless bloom.’”<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>While viewing this magnificent scene from the little Caffé, perched as -close to the edge of a precipice as the ruined castle itself, it was impossible -not to recall the words of our immortal bard and country’s -boast—Byron.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The castled crag of Drachenfels</div> -<div class="verse">Frowns o’er the wide and winding Rhine,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose breast of waters broadly swells</div> -<div class="verse">Between the banks which bear the vine,</div> -<div class="verse">And hills all rich with blossom’d trees,</div> -<div class="verse">And fields which promise corn and wine:—</div> -<div class="verse">And scatter’d cities crowning these</div> -<div class="verse">Whose far white walls along them shine.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The river nobly foams and flows,</div> -<div class="verse">The charm of this enchanted ground,</div> -<div class="verse">And all its thousand turns disclose</div> -<div class="verse">Some fresher beauty varying round!</div> -<div class="verse">The haughtiest breast its wish might bound,</div> -<div class="verse">Through life to dwell delighted here</div> -<div class="verse">Nor could on earth a spot be found</div> -<div class="verse">To Nature and to me more dear.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> - -<p>From this spot the ruined tower of Godesberg, all lonely on a conical -mount, looks like a solitary vidette on his out-post, while the seven -mountains around us—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent3">——like giants stand</div> -<div class="verse">To sentinel enchanted land.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is here that the poetry of the Rhine commences, together with its -legendary lore, and romantic scenery. After a comfortable breakfast at -the Eagle’s Nest Inn, and a slight survey of the topography of the rock’s -narrow crown, I climbed to the highest practicable part of the ruin, and -seating myself securely, had several hours of leisure to contemplate the -scene, and indulge in meditation. On former occasions, I had read the -legends of the Rhine, while wandering on its banks, more for amusement -than instruction, yet it never till now crossed my mind that, in the comparatively -rude ages when they were written, they might have been <i>intended</i>, -each to convey some moral lesson. The more I reflected on this subject, -the more I was impressed with the idea, and, at all events, I determined -to try my hand at the extraction of a moral from each tale, whether such -moral were originally intended or not. I could not do better than begin -with the—</p> - -<h4>LEGEND OF THE DRACHENFELS.<br /> -(<i>No. 1.</i>)</h4> - -<p>Every visitor to this place is shewn the cavern, once occupied by a huge -dragon, to whom the neighbouring inhabitants paid divine honours, and -even offered human sacrifices. The prisoners of war were considered to -be the most agreeable victims to this Pagan monster. Among a number -of recent captives was one day found a beautiful young lady, educated in -the Christian religion. Her beauty was raising a quarrel among the conquering -chiefs, when the Elders advised that the cause of the contention -should be consigned to the dragon. She was accordingly led to the -summit of the rock, and chained to a tree. Multitudes were assembled -to view the sacrifice. The first rays of the sun that darted into the -cavern, roused the voracious reptile, who issued from his den, and directed -his tortuous course to the usual place of his bloody feast. As soon as he -came in sight, the destined victim drew from her bosom the crucifix and -image of her Saviour—fixed her eyes on the emblem of redemption—and -calmly awaited her fate. The monster gazed on his lovely and helpless -prey, already within his grasp—slackened his pace—stopped—appeared -petrified, with his basilisk eyes rivetted on the virgin. She stood as firm -as the rock beneath her or the faith within her! A thrill of horror ran -through the assembled crowd, and the silence that prevailed was still as -the grave. The moment of suspense was agonizing to the spectators;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -but continued only a few seconds, when the dragon sent forth a horrible -and unearthly yell—darted over the precipice—and disappeared for ever! -The multitude flew to the lady, unbound her chains, and fell at her feet, -as if she were an angel from Heaven. Conversion to the true faith among -the neighbouring people followed—a chapel was erected on the spot where -the miraculous interposition took place—and it was thenceforth considered -the cradle of Christianity in that part of the country.</p> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>The moral of this legend is sufficiently obvious. But it goes far beyond -the miraculous interposition of Providence, too commonly and too impiously -proclaimed in Protestant as well as in Catholic states. The legend illustrates -a great principle of human nature—the power of religion over the fear -of death—even when that death is aggravated by the horrors of merciless -cruelty and ignominious torture! Nor is it any drawback on true religion -that a <i>false faith</i> will sometimes exert a similar influence in the hour of -trial. The Hindoo widow mounts the funeral pyre of her husband, under -the influence of a religious persuasion that she is performing a sacred duty -to the dead—and braves the devouring element in the hope of joyful immortality. -It is also true that a few minds of a certain mould will spurn -the fear of death, under the influence of a greater fear—that of dishonour. -The Roman stoics, without the aid of religious faith, might prefer falling -on their own swords, to the disgrace of dragging the captive’s chains -behind the triumphal chariot of the conqueror:—but neither Cato nor -Cassius would have stood unmoved before the dragon of Drachenfels.</p> - -<p>The serenity of the Christian in the hour of peril, the agony of sickness, -and the approach of death, contrasts greatly with the sullen abandonment -of the stoic, and the reckless desperation of the infidel.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Here my meditations were broken by seeing the long black banner of -the steamer wreathing over the placid river, and impinging against the -sides of the hills. Descending from my airy seat, I soon joined my companions -on the crowded deck, and proceeded on our voyage. It is fashionable -for modern tourists to draw characteristic sketches of the passengers -in steam-boats on the Rhine. I think it is one of the worst theatres -that could be selected for that purpose. The scenery itself, and the -legendary tales which fix the localities in the memory, are quite sufficient -for ordinary attention, without attempting to dive into the peculiarities of -individual character, which are not so easily fathomed as the sentimental -tourist would have us to suppose.</p> - -<p>We have scarcely got disentangled of the Drachenfels, when we find -ourselves between a ruined tower on the summit of a volcanic peak on the -right, and a spruce hotel in the midst of the Rhine, on a little island to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -our left. The former is the far-famed Rolandseck, and the latter is the -ancient convent of Nonnenwerth converted into a modern caravansera.</p> - -<h4>ROLAND AND HILDEGUND, OR THE FATAL AFFIANCE.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Second.</i>)</h4> - -<p>The beautiful Hildegund and the valiant Roland (nephew of Charlemagne) -were ardently beloved by, and betrothed to each other. Roland, -however, postponed his marriage, till he had, once more, unsheathed his -sword against the infidels in Palestine. Every day of his absence seemed -a year to his Hildegund, who often listened in her bower to the praises of -her lover carolled by the boatmen of the Rhine. News arrived that the -Holy City was rescued from the Saracens, and that peace was signed:—But -Roland returned not. One evening a military knight craved hospitality -at her father’s castle. He had just returned from the seat of war, -and, to eager enquiries respecting Roland, related the manner of his death -on the field of battle, covered with honourable wounds! The effect on -the amiable Hildegund may be easily conceived. After a short noviciate -in the convent of Nonnenwerth, she took the veil, and next morning her -lover arrived at her father’s castle, expecting to fly into her arms! Petrified -by the astounding intelligence that Hildegund was wedded to Heaven, -Roland abjured all society—built himself a hermitage on the hill overlooking -the convent, and sat at its door from morning till night, listening -to the matins and vespers that ascended from the living sepulchre of his -betrothed. One day he saw a funeral on the island, and soon learnt that -it was that of his Hildegund! The next day he was found dead, sitting at -the door of his hermitage, his face turned to the convent!</p> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>The moral of this tale is homely, but not the less important on that -account. The misery resulting from long-existing affiances, where time, -or space, or adverse circumstances separate the betrothed, is of daily -occurrence, and comes within the observation of every one. How often -do we see females kept in this state of uncertainty till every prospect of -other settlement in the world has vanished—and, after all, where the -happiness of one party is blasted for ever by the death or inconstancy of -the other! Protracted courtships are bad enough; but prospective marriages -are far worse! Sat verbum sapientibus—or rather <i>amantibus</i>.</p> - -<p>A certain personage in the drama of the above legend, is deserving of a -passing word—viz. the eaves-dropper—one of those unlucky tale-bearers, -whose officious tongues too often destroy the peace of whole families, and -that without <i>malice prepense</i> on the part of the babbler!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> - -<h4>THE LAST NUNS OF NONNENWERTH.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Third.</i>)</h4> - -<p>The history of <span class="smcap">Nonnenwerth</span> discloses a curious trait of human nature, -which has seldom been noticed. In the first moral storms of the French -revolution, a number of nuns and novices of noble families, took refuge in -the Sestertian convent of Nonnenwerth. They remained tranquil till -Napoleon came to the throne, when a great disaster threatened to overwhelm -their peaceful asylum. The emperor was a calculating philosopher, -as well as an able general. He foresaw that monasteries and -convents—especially the latter—were bad nurseries for conscripts; and -therefore, in imitation of our Eighth Henry, of blessed and pious memory, -he suppressed them all, with one stroke of his pen! The nuns of Nonnenwerth -petitioned for an exemption from the proscription, but petitioned -in vain. Josephine, like Juno, interceded with the sceptre-bearer, and -begged that the convent on the Rhine might be made an exception to the -general rule—that the nuns might be suffered to remain, and add to their -number as death thinned their ranks. Napoleon, like Jove—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent7">“——Accorded half the prayer—</div> -<div class="verse">The rest, the god dispersed in empty air.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">They were permitted to retain possession of the convent during their -natural lives—after which, Nonnenwerth was to revert to the state. -This was a great concession, and the nuns were satisfied, as they themselves -were provided for—and some favourable revolution might occur -when they were gone.</p> - -<p>Time rolled on smoothly,—and, although a sister occasionally paid the -debt of nature, the event did not make a very serious impression, but only -afforded topics of reflection on the uncertainty of human life, or perhaps -recalled to the memory of the living some traits of goodness and amiability -in the dead, that had, somehow or other, escaped their notice while -their sainted sister resided amongst them. But every year diminished the -number of the survivors, till, at length, the vacant chambers and the contracted -circle at prayers and refection, forced themselves on the notice of -even the most inobservant of the sisterhood. And now it was that the -unwelcome question began to obtrude itself on the thoughts of the nuns:—“Who -shall go next to her long abode?” It required no great extent -of arithmetic to shew the strength of the establishment at present, as -compared with ten or twelve years before—and each sister began to -assume the office of actuary, and calculate the probable duration of life -within the walls of the convent! From this time, the serenity of their -minds was somewhat disturbed. The question would obtrude itself on -their thoughts, even in their devotions, and rise occasionally in the -troubled dream.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> - -<p>Meanwhile the inexorable tyrant did not fail to knock as regularly at -the gate of the convent as at the door of the peasant’s hut on the neighbouring -mountain.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas</div> -<div class="verse">Regumque turres!”—<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">The social circle was narrowed every year—the number of nuns fell to 20—15—12! -About this time a new question, still more appalling than -the other, flashed across the mind of every inmate of Nonnenwerth. It -was not as to who should be the <i>first</i> to—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Leave the warm precincts of the cheerful day,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">but who was likely to be the <i>last</i> to wander in solitude round the deserted -chambers, recalling the well-known features of each departed tenant,—or, -who was to be the <i>last</i> on the bed of sickness or death, without a sister’s -smile to soothe her sufferings—or a sister’s tear to mark the spirit’s -flight? This new subject of reflection absorbed all others. Even religion -failed to calm the troubled imagination of frail mortals placed in such -singular and unnatural circumstances! Any one of them could reconcile -herself to the idea, however triste, of dying in society—but none of them -to the horrible thought of living in solitude, and departing unwept!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“On some fond breast the parting soul relies,</div> -<div class="verse">Some pious drops the dying eye requires.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This little community resembled a <span class="smcap">Tontine</span>, but with all the advantages -of such an institution completely reversed and turned into calamities. -In the civil Tontine, every lapse of life renders the remaining lives -more valuable—in the Tontine of the convent on the Rhine, it rendered -them more miserable—the consummation, the ultimatum of human misfortunes, -being still reserved for—<span class="smcap">the last Nun of Nonnenwerth</span>!</p> - -<p>In one short year of epidemic influence and moral depression, the -solemn requiem was six times heard in the convent chapel, for the repose -of souls no longer to be troubled by mundane cares or fears. This reduced -the sisterhood to six.</p> - -<p>There are physical pains which the body cannot long sustain—and so -are there moral prospects on which the eye of reason is unable to dwell. -This was one of them. The remaining nuns took immediate steps to -secure other asylums—and soon afterwards separated from each other,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -and from Nonnenwerth—for ever! The island reverted to the state, -and the convent was converted into a caravansera, whose doors are -ever open to the travelling novice, without reference to age, sex, creed, -or country.</p> - -<p>This short history will suggest various reflections to the mind. The -legislator will see that solitude is more formidable to many minds than -death itself—while the philanthropist will be convinced that monastic -institutions are contrary to nature, and, as such, can never exist, without -constant supplies from society at large. The vanity of human wishes is -well illustrated by the history of Nonnenwerth. The nuns thought -themselves fortunate in securing a beautiful, healthy, and tranquil asylum -for life—little knowing how soon the convent would appear to them more -horrible than the dungeon of a prison!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Reverting from history to romance, we cannot leave the Seven Mountains -without noticing the—</p> - -<h4>TREUENFELS; OR, THE ROCK OF FIDELITY.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Fourth.</i>)</h4> - -<p>In a lonely and desolate valley near the Rhine, some remains of a tomb -are seen, with an inscription, of which the word “<span class="smcap">Liba</span>” only is legible. -Liba was the beautiful daughter of the Chevalier Balther, and betrothed to -the brave and amiable Count de Grunstein, whom she loved. But, the -“days of true love seldom do run smooth.” Balther owed a grudge to -the pious but severe Englebert, Archbishop of Cologne, and instigated -some of the prelate’s vassals, who were also indisposed to the Archbishop, -to take away his life. Several of the malefactors were seized and executed; -all confessing at the scaffold that Balther was the person who prompted -them to the murder. These confessions induced the Emperor to order -a troop of soldiers to burn the original conspirator’s castle and all within -its walls. The order was duly executed, and, in the middle of a stormy -night, the flames ascended to the apartments of Balther and Liba. The -affectionate daughter, with the greatest difficulty, and with wonderful presence -of mind, conducted her aged father through a subterranean passage, -to the neighbourhood of the chateau; but not before the old man was -dreadfully scorched by the fire. A cavern in the mountain’s side afforded -them shelter from the vengeance of the Emperor, and the affectionate -daughter sustained her parent by fruits and roots collected every night in -the vicinity of their retreat. Meantime Balther’s eyes were entirely destroyed -by the inflammation resulting from the flames of the castle; but he -became reconciled, or at least resigned, to his afflictions and fate. One -day, he begged to be conducted to the mouth of the cavern, where he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -might inhale the pure air, though he could no longer enjoy the cheerful -light of Heaven. The dutiful Liba indulged the wish of her afflicted -father, and, while they were sitting there, she espied, at no great distance, -her faithful lover, Grunstein, leaning in melancholy mood against a tree, -his javelin and dogs at his side. The first impulse of nature was to rush -into his arms, and implore his assistance; but love and reason instantly -checked her. She reflected that the asylum in Grunstein’s castle would -only expose her betrothed lover to the persecution of the Emperor. At -this moment, her father cried out that he saw the sun and the blue sky, -though his eyes were entirely destroyed. The maiden looked around, and -beheld a black speck in the heavens. She fell on her knees, and implored -the mercy and forgiveness of the Almighty towards her parent. Balther -joined in the prayer, and, at that instant, the thunder roared, and a flash -of lightning reduced the father to a cinder, and the pious daughter to a -corpse! Grunstein roused from his reverie, commenced his descent, and, -in his way down into the valley, beheld the fair form of his betrothed Liba, -apparently asleep—but totally lifeless! He erected a chapel on the spot, -dedicated to “Notre Dame des Douleurs,” and a tomb in the rock for his -Liba, where the name still remains legible.</p> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>The moral of this tale is two-fold. It illustrates the force of filial affection, -and the certainty of retributive justice.</p> - -<p>The artful instigations of Balther, which induced others to commit -murder, evaded the law of the land, but did not escape the Eye of Heaven. -The cruel and illegal steps of the Emperor, in burning the castle, thus involving -the innocent with the guilty, cannot be too severely reprobated, -though it was consonant with the tyranny of those dark ages. It may -<i>seem</i> inconsistent with divine justice, that the innocent and affectionate -daughter should have been struck down by the same thunderbolt that -hurled vengeance on her father’s guilty head. But although “the ways -of Providence are dark and intricate” in appearance, they are not, as the -Roman philosopher asserts, “puzzled in mazes and perplexed with <i>errors</i>.” -The amiable Liba may have escaped a life that might have been embittered -by the memory of her father’s fate, and tainted, in the eyes of the world, -by a father’s crime. She might have involved her faithful lover in ruin—and -thus have made a bad exchange of easy death and eternal happiness, -for a lingering existence of misery and degradation!</p> - -<p>The fidelity of Liba, in this legend, is only a fair sample of that moral -heroism and natural affection, that pervade the breasts of the daughter, the -mother, and the wife, as compared with those of the son, the father, and -the husband. The comparison is by no means flattering to the “stronger -sex.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At a very short distance from Nonnenwerth, we pass the town of -<span class="smcap">Unkel</span> on our left hand; and here the stream of the Rhine is narrowed -by some remarkable basaltic rocks on the opposite side of the river. -These ought to be observed by those who have not seen specimens of -this production of volcanic fire. It is the same kind of rock as that which -is seen at the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, and at Staffa in the Hebrides. -These basaltic columns had so much obstructed the navigation of the -river at this place, that some of them were obliged to be blown up, -about forty or fifty years ago.</p> - -<p>Passing by <span class="smcap">Remagen</span> on the right hand, and <span class="smcap">Linz</span> on the left, we soon -come to the ruins of Argenfels, close to the banks of the river, with its -legendary tale, which need not be noticed. Near this we have a specimen -of the <span class="smcap">Flying-bridge</span>, so common on this and other continental -rivers. A mooring is fixed in the middle of the stream, from which a -long chain or rope, suspended by small boats at convenient distances, -extends to the passage-boat, which swings from bank to bank, at the end -of this long rope, exactly like the pendulum of a clock, only it is horizontal, -not perpendicular. There is no occasion for oar or sail. The helm -of the passage-boat being turned to port or starboard, the stream of the -river acting on it, swings the tail of the pendulum, with its load of passengers, -from one bank to the other in a few minutes. Nothing can be -more simple or philosophical—but not one in one thousand of the passengers, -up and down the Rhine, comprehend the principle.</p> - -<p>We soon get so accustomed to “castled crags” and mouldering castles, -that we are rather surprised, on turning our eyes from the ruins of Argenfels -on our left, to see an ancient chateau (Rheineck) on our right, resuscitated -from the sepulchre of its forefathers, and perched in new life on -an airy cliff. An old tower stands at one end, like the head-stone of a -grave, reminding the modern mansion that it too will be a ruin in its -turn!</p> - -<p>Rheineck has undergone some of the transmigrations of Vishnou. It -was a Roman fort, and bore the imperial eagle on its banner. Then it -became a robber’s castle, and received the spoils of its master, torn from -their rightful owners. And now it is the residence of a philosopher (Professor -Holweg)—the seat of science, letters, and humanity. It is said to -be constructed in strict imitation of the castles of feudalism on the Rhine. -But although Rheineck has changed masters, it is still under the protection -of the same tutelar divinity—<span class="smcap">Mercury</span>, among his other numerous -avocations, having been the god of letters as well as of robbers.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Qui feros cultus hominum recentum,</div> -<div class="verse">Voce formasti, catus et decoræ</div> -<div class="verse indent14">more Palestræ.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Passing by Brohl on the right, we come to one of the most imposing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -and extensive ruins on the left—the shattered and scattered fragments of -Hammerstein Castle, crowning the mount and craggy rocks of the same -name. The precipices descend in rugged and jutting promontories to the -shores of the Rhine, each crowned with some remains of the ancient royal -and magnificent chateau, and presenting scanty terraces of the vine, creeping -up the crevices.</p> - -<p>We soon afterwards range along the ancient town of <span class="smcap">Andernach</span>, the -ruins of which, with modern towers and spires, are backed and flanked by -a vast screen of basaltic mountains of sombre hue and antique grandeur. -Here Drusus Germanicus erected one of his fifty towers, in his Rheinish -campaigns, and in the time of Julius Cæsar.</p> - -<p>The banks of the river now become more approximated, and the stream -more rapid. Steam, however, bids defiance to stream, and the vessel -ploughs its way, though with greatly retarded velocity. There is but -little remarkable between this and Coblentz, except the beautiful little -town of <span class="smcap">Neiwied</span>, with its flying-bridge, near which Julius Cæsar crossed -the Rhine—and, eighteen centuries afterwards, General Hoche, with the -victorious French army, performed the same feat, but with far more difficulty. -Here the Jew and the Gentile—the Protestant and the Catholic—the -Quaker and the Sceptic—all live upon equal terms, and with equal -rights, unmolested in the free enjoyment of their various beliefs or disbeliefs—and -travelling quietly towards the grave, or whatever “undiscovered -country” may lie beyond that bourne, without jostling each other -on the road, or forcing their creeds down the throats of their reluctant -neighbours!</p> - -<p>When will the “liberty of conscience,” in our own proud country, -be uncoupled with inequality of political rights, or unattended by the -rancour of the <span class="smcap">odium theologicum</span>!</p> - -<h4>COBLENTZ.</h4> - -<p>The cities, towns, villages, hamlets, and even the houses along the -Rhine, bear a closer resemblance to one another (each in its class) than -in any part of the world through which I have wandered. Even the old -castles, and the rocks on which they are built, are often such fac-similes -of each other—that it is next to impossible for the acutest perception, -joined with the most retentive memory, to retain distinct ideas of these -objects, passing in rapid succession before the eye of the tourist!—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Coblentz</span>, like Macedon, has a river—nay, a brace of them—one -brown, the other blue.<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> As necessary consequences, there are two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -bridges, as unlike one another, as any two things of the same kind can -well be. One rests its foundations on the rocky bed of the Moselle—the -other on the turbid surface of the Rhine. There is a number of streets—a -great number of houses—and a still greater number of people, amounting -to some 12,000. Then there are churches enough, considering the -number of church-goers—and in some of them, there are more dead -bodies present at divine service, than living souls. There is a palace—not -that of a prince, but of justice. There is good water and good wine; -but both of them are brought over the Moselle bridge. Of hotels, there -is no lack; the masters and “<i>kellners</i>” of which can tell a “hawk from -a handsaw”—and more than that, they can distinguish an Englishman -from a native, as readily as they can a Thaler from a Kreutzer. Coblentz -has evidently more strength than wealth—more soldiers than merchants—more -shells than yolks—more articles of war than of commerce. Her -high loop-holed walls along the banks of the river, with one or two -wharves, shew that she is compressed into a military fortress, rather than -expanded into a fine mart of commerce!</p> - -<h4>EHRENBREITSTEIN.</h4> - -<p>The following are the sentiments of two pictorial artists. “The whole -surface of the rock, glowed with the richest hues of sunset—its naturally -deep-toned and richly coloured form assuming an endless diversity of -tints combined with a focus of harmonious light, and relieved by the -broad shadows of the surrounding objects.”—<i>Leigh.</i></p> - -<p>“We behold the mighty and stupendous rock of Ehrenbreitstein, -crowned with fortifications—<i>the Gibraltar of the Rhine</i>—rising in towering -majesty, and frowning in sullen grandeur on the beautiful and picturesque -city of Coblentz, casting its deep and darkened shadow over the -calm and glassy surface of the Rhine beneath.”—<i>Tomlinson.</i></p> - -<p>I have been often past, and sometimes over this “broad stone of -honour,” and, I confess that, to my eye, it is about as shapeless and unpicturesque -a mass of mountain as I ever beheld. It is a huge truncated -cone—the lower-fourth of an enormous sugar-loaf—an Egyptian pyramid, -cut down to the first floor—or rather it is a gigantic butcher’s block, on -which a good bit of <i>mangling</i> has been done in its time. There is really -but little that excites interest about the fortress, except its massive and -passive strength—its <i>vis inertiæ</i>—its impenetrability by shot or shells. -You might as well batter <span class="smcap">Ben Nevis</span> as Ehrenbreitstein! You might -sweep its rugged brow of every man, mortar, parapet, and bastion, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -the rugged, dogged rock would stand in all its “brute force,” unmoved by -the iron showers that fell on its head!</p> - -<p>“The <span class="smcap">Gibraltar</span> of the Rhine!” No man who ever viewed that renowned -fortress, would have made the comparison. I resided on the rock -several months, and every feature of it is as fresh in my mind’s eye, as it -was 40 years ago, when I last left it. Imagine a gigantic rock rising out -of the ocean to a height of fifteen hundred feet, connected with the main -land only by a narrow, low isthmus of sand—with three sides perpendicular -(North, East, and South), and one sloping at an angle of 45 degrees -from the summit of the mountain to the water’s edge, sprinkled with little -gardens and lodges—while the sea-line is bristled with batteries and -flanked by spit-fire tongues, bearing the heaviest artillery, behind which -lies a town, containing specimens of every nation between the Ganges and -the Atlantic. Through the perpendicular cliffs that overhang the neutral -ground, vast galleries for cannon, and profound excavations for ammunition, -are cut, tier over tier, pointing destruction upon every foot of the -isthmus below. Then the ruins of the old Moorish castle, perched on the -crags at one extremity of the rock, while <span class="smcap">Europa Point</span>, a high table-land -a hundred feet above the level of the sea, stretches out to the South, -like a splendid parade, with barracks, hospitals, &c. But oh! from O’Hara’s -tower on the summit, what a glorious prospect! The boundless and tideless -Mediterranean to the East—the vast and heaving Atlantic to the West—the -fantastic mountains of Grenada to the North—and Africa fading -away towards Carthage and Algiers to the South.</p> - -<p>There is not, there cannot be a spot on this earth where such an extensive, -magnificent, varied, and beautiful view (one hundred miles in radius) -can be obtained, as from the summit of Gibraltar—a spot unique, between -two mighty oceans, and two great continents—having Africa and Europe, -the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as it were, at your feet!</p> - -<p>Is it nothing to stand on one of the “<span class="smcap">Pillars of Hercules</span>” and contemplate -the other within a few miles of you? Descending into St. Michael’s -cave, near the apex of the rock, we find ourselves surrounded by -thousands and tens of thousands of stalactitic figures, assuming the grotesque -forms of everything which the most fertile imagination could conceive—dispersed -through caverns where human step has never been able -to trace the depth or extent—and supposed to form subterranean, or rather -submarine, communications with the opposite fortress of Ceuta in Africa! -Wander through the town, and you will observe the costume, the language, -the manners, the habits, the productions, the features—almost the -passions and thoughts of every people on earth—from the Calmuc Tartar -of the East, to the Red Indian of the West—from the Laplander of the -North, to the Hottentot of the South. To compare Gibraltar with Ehrenbreitstein, -then, is to compare “Hyperion with a Satyr”—or Vesuvius -with the funnel of a steam-boat. I leave the prodigies of valour performed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -by Englishmen, in taking and retaining the key of the Mediterranean, out -of the question, believing that Prussian arms would, under similar circumstances, -have achieved equal exploits. Of all nations, <i>we</i> have the least -reason to doubt the prowess of Prussia. She fought at our side, when the -destinies of Europe vibrated in the balance!</p> - -<h4>COBLENTZ TO MAYENCE.</h4> - -<p>Between Cologne and Coblentz it is mere child’s play for the tourist. -The stream is wide, and the attractive objects are so reasonably distant -from one another, that the traveller has time to consult his map, peruse -Schreiber, and even con over some of the shorter legends, between castle -and castle. But it is another affair above Coblentz. The stream becomes -more confined and tortuous—the banks more abrupt and contiguous—the -ruins, towns, and villages more numerous—the embarkations and debarkations -more frequent, with all their consequences of hurly-burly among -the passengers, topsyturvy of luggage, scrambling after books, charts, and -sacs-de-nuits, bowings, kissings, and embracings, or, as Hood would say, -“omni-bussings,” among goers and comers, together with the clattering -of plates and dishes, and the chattering of all known and unknown tongues—these, -and many other interruptions, sadly discompose the contemplations -of the philosopher, and the musing meditations of the tourists in -pursuit of the picturesque, or the Syntaxes in search of the sublime.</p> - -<p>The “Rhenish Confederacy” must have had a most salutary influence -in fraternising the people of these provinces. Not only does every German -in the steamer salute his “cousin Germans” on both cheeks; but, if his -neck were long enough, he would kiss every man, woman, and child, on -both banks of the river, from Cologne to Constance! These palpable inosculations, -however, being impracticable, the caps and hats are converted -into social telegraphs, which</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and establish a chain of sympathies and reciprocities between land and -water along the whole course of the Rhine.</p> - -<h4>STOLZENFELS.</h4> - -<p>We have proceeded but a little way above Coblentz, when we find ourselves -between two remarkable ruins—one on the banks of the Lahn, -(Lahenec), and one on our right—<span class="smcap">Stolzenfels</span>. This last has a short -legend attached to it, which may be glanced at, <i>en passant</i>.</p> - -<p>The robber chief of this strong-hold was remarkable, even among the -Rhine-robbers, for cruelty and ferocity. This was not all. He contemned -the gods, and laughed at religion as the superstition of the ignorant.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -In the intervals of robbery and murder, he amused himself with tormenting -his vassals, whose lives hung upon the mere caprice of their tyrant lord. -One evening, while carousing and scoffing, the light of the moon was suddenly -obscured—flocks of ravens flew screaming through the air—darkness -overspread the Rhine—and distant thunder was heard growling among the -mountains. The Stolzenburger turned pale, and, for the first time in his -life, fell on his knees to pray. Before he could utter a word, a dreadful -crash was heard—a thunderbolt had struck the castle—and the tyrant was -buried in the ruins!</p> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>A death-bed repentance may be better than none; but that piety which -is extorted by terror, hardly deserves the name.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The long and straight reach of the river, from the entrance of the Lahn -to the chateau of Liebneck, presents no striking feature, except the frowning -castle (now an hospital) of <span class="smcap">Marksburg</span>, crowning an apparently inaccessible -mountain, which modern art might render impregnable. In another -reach or two, we pass Boppart, and come to the scene of a legendary -tale.</p> - -<h4>THE BROTHERS; OR, LIEBENSTEIN AND STERNFELS.<br /> -“The course of true love never did run smooth.”<br /> -(<i>Legend the Fifth.</i>)</h4> - -<p>A little above <span class="smcap">Boppart</span>, but on the opposite side of the river, two mouldering -ruins, on two craggy rocks, close to each other, arrest the attention -of even the most indifferent passenger. The legend attached to them is -of a very melancholy character. A nobleman had two sons and an amiable -ward, of whom both of the brothers were enamoured. The elder resigned -his pretensions, and retired to Rheuse, a part of the family estate. -The younger was affianced to, and beloved by, the beautiful ward, <span class="smcap">Eloise</span>, -whose name deserves to be transmitted to posterity. The Holy, but -insane Crusades, however, induced the intended bridegroom to join the -military bigots of that day, in a war of extermination against the Musselmen. -The result of his religious zeal was the conquest—not of the Holy -City, but of a Grecian mistress, with whom he returned to his castle on -the Rhine. The elder brother (Liebenstein), incensed at this double crime -(profanation of the crusade and breach of his vows to the lady), challenged -him to mortal conflict. The amiable ward (Louisa) rushed between the -combatants—prevented fratricide—and immediately took the veil. The -guilty pair led, at first, a riotous, but soon a wretched life. The Grecian -lady proved faithless, and eloped! The brothers became reconciled—lived -in the contiguous castles, whose ruins are still seen—and died without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -issue!—The property of the ward was dedicated to the purpose of founding -a convent (Bornhoffen) at the foot of the mountain on which the castles -were built. As to the brothers—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">They never enter’d court or town,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nor looked on woman’s face,</div> -<div class="verse">But childless to the grave went down,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The last of all their race.</div> -<div class="verse">And still upon the mountain fair,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Are seen two castles gray,</div> -<div class="verse">That, like their lords, together there</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sink slowly to decay.<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>The darker features of this drama are every day seen on the stage of -life. Lovers’ vows plighted, soon to be broken—man’s promises of eternal -love cancelled—women’s hopes and happiness blighted—but perfidy -sooner or later punished.</p> - -<p>It was enough for Sternfels to bring home a mistress from Palestine, -without parading his guilty partner before the eyes of his betrothed and -insulted Louisa. Yet this, <i>and worse</i>, we every day witness! Sternfels’ -punishment was not light. The ingratitude of his mistress, and a life of -solitude and remorse, were severe chastisements!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Winding along from the ruins last-mentioned, we come to a very striking -object, a little short of St. Goar, which attracts the attention of all -passengers. It is a dismantled fortification, still black with the powder by -which it was blown up in the French revolution. The <span class="smcap">Rheinfels</span> was -long a robber-fortress of the first water, and its tyrant chiefs carried their -depredations and extortions to such a height as to league all the adjacent -provinces against them. The chiefs held out and defied the country; but -at length the strong-hold fell—and, with it, the whole of the brigand castles -on both sides of the Rhine.</p> - -<h4>LURLEY, OR THE ECHO.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Sixth.</i>)</h4> - -<p>Almost immediately after passing the ruins of the Rheinfels, we enter a -narrow and sombre river gorge, where the stream is impetuous, turbulent, -and tortuous; the cliffs of dark basalt rising almost perpendicular, but in -rugged strata or layers, inclining in all directions from the horizontal to -nearly the vertical. Here the Rhine like its sister the Rhone—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent7">——“Cleaves its way between</div> -<div class="verse">Rocks that appear like lovers who have parted</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -<div class="verse">In haste; whose mining depths so intervene,</div> -<div class="verse">That they can meet no more, though broken-hearted.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And here is still heard that prattling nymph, Miss <span class="smcap">Echo</span>, who, like many -a descriptive tourist, repeats her parrot-note for the tenth time—with no -other variation than that of diminished force and distinctness. This lady, -who, when young, was dismissed from the skies for allowing her tongue -to wag too freely, has since endured the severe punishment of keeping -silent, except when spoken to! She is not permitted to ask, but only to -iterate questions—having the privilege, on some rare occasions, and in -some peculiar places, of repeating the said question, or rather the last -word or syllable of it twice or even many times. The present spot is one -of these favourite localities—and the voices which she loves to hear and to -imitate are those of the cannon, the bugle, and the horn. The clanking -and plashing of the steamers are unfavourable to the delicate iterations of -Echo, and often drown her voice entirely. Though not so witty as her -sister of Killarney, who answers, instead of repeating the questions put -to her, yet she occasionally cracks a joke on the mayor of the neighbouring -town, when some stentorian German bawls out from the opposite -rock, “<i>Who is the mayor of Oberwesel?</i>” The damsel, with a faint but -clear titter, replies, “<i>esel</i>”—or ass! so that lord mayors on the banks -of the Rhine, as well as of the Thames, are sometimes treated with -ridicule.</p> - -<p>There can be little doubt that boat-wrecks, raft-wrecks, and loss of life -were of frequent occurrence in a locality like this, where the rapid stream -is twisted into whirlpools, between rugged banks, the very proximity of -which increases the difficulty of the passage, and the danger of drowning, -where the vessel or flotilla is stranded. The eddying surge, the sunken -rock, and the serrated perpendicular shore, in a dark and tempestuous -night, must render the navigation of this dreary ravine most hazardous—and -escape, in case of an overturn, all but hopeless.</p> - -<p>That a place so singular and so perilous, coupled with a remarkable and -musical echo, should become the scene of some popular or superstitious -legend, is not at all wonderful. Accordingly a fourth <span class="smcap">Siren</span> was added -to the classical list, and located on the banks of the Rhine, instead of the -coast of Sicily, to lure (lurlei) the enchanted mariner from his helm or -oar, by her melodious song, and wreck himself and bark on the treacherous -rocks. Lurley carried on the trade of her elder sisters for some time, -with considerable success, but not without some redeeming qualities; for -she often pointed out the best places for the poor fishermen to cast their -nets. At length a young Palatine Count determined to emulate the hero -of Ithaca, and break the spell of the enchantress. For that purpose he -embarked on the Rhine, and steered towards the dangerous pass, but -without taking the precaution of the wily Greek, to stop the ears of the -crew with wax, and cause himself to be bound to the mast. As the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -count’s barge approached the rocks, Lurley poured forth one of her most -melodious lays over the face of the river. The men dropped their oars, -and the count’s senses were all absorbed in listening to the divine strains. -A sudden eddy of the stream whirled the boat’s head towards the shore—another -dashed her against the rocks—and, in another instant, all were -engulphed in the boiling whirlpool!</p> - -<p>This catastrophe caused a great sensation, and the count’s father sent a -veteran warrior, with a select party of soldiers, to surround the rock, and -seize the sorceress. On approaching the summit, Lurley was seen for the -first time by human eyes, with arms, ankles, and neck encircled with -corals, and even her flowing tresses braided with the same emblems of the -deep. She demanded their purpose. The veteran announced his determination -to force her into the Rhine, there to expiate the death of the -young count. Lurley replied, by throwing her corals into the river, singing -at the same time—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Entends ma voix, puissant Pere des eaux,</div> -<div class="verse">Fais parter, sans delai, tes rapides chevaux.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Instantly a great storm arose—the river boiled with foam—and two -towering waves, bearing some resemblance to milk-white steeds, surged -along the rock, and bore <span class="smcap">Undine</span> (for such was the nymph) to her paternal -grottoes under the waters. From that time the song of Lurley was -never heard; but her spirit still hovers about her favourite rocks, and -mimicks the voices of the boatmen as they pass the place.</p> - -<p>The veteran warrior returned to the count’s father, and was agreeably -surprised to find the son safely returned to his paternal mansion by the -kind <span class="smcap">Undine</span>.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A contemplation of this locality irresistibly leads me to the conclusion -that, here existed in some remote period, a cataract, similar to that now -existing, but rapidly crumbling down, as at Schaffhausen. The alluvial -plains between Heidelberg and the present bed of the Rhine, were unquestionably -a large lake, which would be drained by the wearing down -of a cataract at some lower part of the river. When the falls of the -Rhine at Schaffhouse are reduced to mere rapids, it is probable that the -lake of Constance will become an alluvial valley. The valley of the -Rhone was once a lake, till the flood-gate at St. Maurice gave way, and -converted the lake into a plain. The huge walls of basaltic rock piled up -in strata on each side of the Rhine at Lurley, torn by fire and worn by -water, draw the mind to contemplate the myriads of years which must -have rolled along, since first they upsprung from the bowels of the earth -in liquid lava—and the countless ages required to form this sombre gorge -by the mere attrition of the unceasing current!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> - -<h4>SCHOMBERG.</h4> - -<p>While passing the picturesque little town of Oberwesel, and just beyond -the Lurley-rocks, we raise the eye to the ruins of <span class="smcap">Schomberg</span>, possessing -some interest to the British traveller, as the patrimonial castle of Duke -Schomberg, who lost his life in the battle of the Boyne. Alas! that the -very name of a mouldering ruin should, after the lapse of a century and a -half, engender in the breasts of the same people, living under the same -government, professing the same religion, speaking the same language, -and having the same interests, such deadly sentiments of hatred and animosity! -No two feudal robbers and enemies on the banks of the Rhine, -ever viewed each other with such cut-throat propensities, as do the Orange-man -and White-boy on the banks of the Boyne! A century and a half -hence, when the fiery passions of the present day shall have long been -quenched in the grave, and the immortal spirits shall be awaiting the verdict -of a final tribunal, posterity will scarcely believe that, amongst their -ancestors, Christian charity meant murderous extermination—and that -the surest road to Heaven was that which was tracked with the blood of -our neighbours! The glorious orb of day shines as joyously over those -mouldering ruins, as when the proud castle first rose in majesty over the -frowning precipices—nay, as when the Rhine itself first began to trickle -from the virgin snows of the Alps:—and why should not the heavenly -light of Christianity shed its benign influence over the professors of that -faith, as well now, as when the <span class="smcap">Redeemer</span> inculcated charity and forbearance -during his mission on earth? No! It is much easier to preach -than to practise the Christian virtues—and the former is considered the -more efficacious of the two, by the disciples of <span class="smcap">Faith</span>.</p> - -<h4>THE SEVEN SISTERS; OR, THE FATE OF COQUETTES.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Seventh.</i>)</h4> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cupid</span> is not a god that may be safely tampered with. His arrows are -sharp, his feelings are keen, and his resentments are sometimes implacable. -Seven beautiful sisters resided in the castle of Schomberg, overhanging -the Rhine; and their hearts were as insensible to love as are the seven -rocks in that river near Oberwesel, which now bear their names. Their -charms and their wealth attracted crowds of suitors from various quarters. -The sisters, however, gave smiles to all, yet favours to none of their admirers. -Proffers of marriage were always declined, and sometimes treated -with levity. Vanity was their ruling, almost their only passion, and adulation -was its food. Their public suitors were the subjects of their private -merriment. But mischief sometimes mingled with their mirth. By words, -looks, or demeanour, they occasionally seemed to shew a preference to certain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -of their admirers. This led to jealousies, quarrels, bloodshed, and -even death. The ranks, however, were constantly filled up by adventurous -and ardent lovers, as the Byzantine throne (according to Gibbon) was -never without a tenant, though the grave was always ready dug at its -foot! But beauty, which is the gift of Nature and Chance, is the first -charm which falls before the hand of Time. The sisters had only this one -personal attraction, and it began to fade. The suitors diminished in number, -and at length totally disappeared! It was then too late to remedy -the evil of their own vanity and cruelty. The scene of their former -flattery had now become insupportable, and they prepared to remove -across the Rhine to a sequestered retreat, where their wounded pride and -present humiliation might alike be buried in obscurity. They selected a -dark night for leaving their castle and passing the river. When near the -<span class="smcap">Lurley Rocks</span>, the gnome of that place, who had often witnessed the imprudent -and unfeeling conduct of her neighbouring sisters, lured the boatmen -towards a treacherous sunken shoal, when the vessel was overturned, -and all were buried in a watery grave! The Seven Sisters are still seen -occasionally, in very low states of the river, raising their heads out of the -water, in the form of rocks, and struggling with the foaming and impetuous -current!</p> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>The moral of this short legend is transparent. The coquette, the flirt, -the jilt, is a kind of moral swindler who, having no feelings or affections -herself, trifles with those of others. It must be confessed that there are -similar characters among the other sex, who are, if possible, still more reprehensible. -But the female who plays this disreputable game, runs a -greater risk, for obvious reasons, than the male deceiver. The foregoing -legend illustrates the danger of relying on mere personal charms, as the -great magnet of attraction. Qualities and accomplishments of mind -are more durable, and more to be depended on, than beauty of form or -feature!</p> - -<h4>PFALZ.</h4> - -<p>The robbers of the Rhine were not content with building depôts for -stolen, or rather plundered goods, on every eminence, and levying “black -mail” on every kind of land carriage; but they invaded “the free navigation -of the Rhine,” as some of their descendants now do. A rock on -the river whereon to erect a toll-bar was a great treasure in days of yore. -The quadrupeds of the mouse-tower were much less voracious and graminivorous, -than the bipeds of the same. The latter might not perhaps -have nibbled at the body of a bishop, but they took good care to shear his -flocks, in their transit up and down the Rhine. Nearly opposite <span class="smcap">Caub</span> -we pass close to an object which looks like a dwarf castle, sailing up the -stream on the back of a whale. This was a very convenient edifice for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -the Rhenish palatines of the adjacent castle of <i>Stahlee</i>. It served the -purpose of a custom-house, to collect the “rint,” and a prison to secure -the refractory:—in other words, it performed the double function of dungeon -and douane. One of the involuntary tenants of this narrow crib, -was the own and the only daughter of Conrad, the palatine himself, whose -name was Agnes. The lady had been betrothed, with her parents’ and -her own consent, to Henry Duke of Brunswick; but a king having offered -his hand, Conrad commanded her to change her affections, and set them -on a higher rank than that of a duke. Agnes demurred in her own -breast, though not openly; for affection, like faith or belief, will not come -or go at our own bidding—much less at that of another. In the temporary -absence of the father, Agnes, with the consent and privity of her -mother, was privately married to the duke. When Conrad learnt this, he -ordered his daughter to the Pfalz, till the marriage could be dissolved. -Meantime it soon became evident that certain proofs of prior attachment -on the part of Agnes, would be too unequivocal to escape the notice of the -regal suitor, if the marriage were annulled; and Conrad, after a double -confinement of Agnes in the Rhine prison, became reconciled to the duke—and -all ended happily.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Passing <span class="smcap">Bacharach</span> and the “<span class="smcap">Ara Bacchi</span>,” which shews its propitious -face in fertile vintages, we soon come to <span class="smcap">Lorch</span>, where we have a -legend that must not be passed unnoticed.</p> - -<h4>TEMPTATION, OR THE HALL OF A HUNDRED MIRRORS.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Eighth.</i>)</h4> - -<p>Three students from Nuremburg, determined, during one of their vacations, -to make the tour of the Rhine. Arrived at Lorch, they learnt that -the sombre and triste valley of Wesperthal, behind Mount Kedrick, was -the habitation of hobgoblins, who failed not to harass and frighten every -one who penetrated into its dreary recesses. This account only stimulated -their curiosity, and tempted their courage. They therefore repaired -to the valley, and were soon treading on fairy ground. While wandering -about, they came to an enormous mass of rock, bearing some rude resemblance -to an old castle. In its sides were several apertures, like gothic -windows, and its summit was something in the shape of a dome. Presently -at one of these apertures there appeared three young ladies of surpassing -beauty, who, instead of frowning on the young cavaliers, invited -them, by their smiles and signals, to approach the castle. They soon -found a narrow door, through which they entered, and passing along a -kind of avenue, they came to a stair-case, which they mounted, and entered -a vast and magnificent vestibule. They had scarcely time to cast a -glance around them, when they were involved in the most Cimmerian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -darkness. After groping about, for some time, they discovered a door, -which they managed to force open, when they found themselves in a -splendid hall, illumined by hundreds of chandeliers, and covered from the -dome to the floor with brilliant mirrors. But instead of finding the three -nymphs, who had beckoned them from the windows, they were astounded -by the sight of at least three hundred, who all stretched out their hands, -at once, while welcoming the three youths to their father’s mansion! -The students were stupified, not knowing which to address, or whom to -salute, so bewildered were they by the reflection of three hundred beauties, -and double that number of hands, from the surrounding mirrors! -Their embarrassment was not lessened by the peals of laughter set up by -the mischievous nymphs. In the midst of this scene, a door opened, and -a venerable old man, with locks like snow, but clothed in jet black vestments, -entered. “Welcome, my children,” said he; “you are come, no -doubt, to demand my daughters in marriage. You shall have them, and -with each a hundred weight of solid gold. But there is one condition. -My daughters have lost their pet birds, and you must search for them, -and bring them back from yonder wood.” “<i>Take each your partner</i>,” -then said the old man, in a voice of thunder. The youths stepped forward, -each to seize the hand of his mistress—but grasped only empty air. -At this, the father joined his daughters in a peal of laughter. When the -merriment had subsided, the old man led the young suitors to the real -nymphs, whose salutes assured the students that they were real flesh and -blood, and whose beauty soon captivated their whole souls. They were -now eager to fulfil the condition imposed upon them. “You will recognize -the <span class="smcap">Starling</span>,” says the old man, “by the riddles which it has got -by rote and is always propounding—the <span class="smcap">Rook</span> by its hoarse croak—and -the <span class="smcap">Magpie</span>, by the burthen of its chatter, being the birth, parentage, and -education of its grandmother.” They set out for the forest, and soon -found the three birds, perched on the branch of an oak, chattering and -chanting the ditties which they had been taught in the chateau. I have -only room for the magpie’s theme—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Ma grand-mêre etait une pie,</div> -<div class="verse">Qui pondait des œufs d’ou sortaient des pies.</div> -<div class="verse">Et si elle n’etait pas morte,</div> -<div class="verse">Elle serait encore en vie.”<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The young gentlemen soon secured the pet birds, and returned with -them to the castle. But what a change presented itself to their horrified -senses! The chateau was gray with moss—the hall deprived of its mirrors<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -and lustres, and only exhibiting naked walls! In three niches, sate -three withered, tawny, toothless hags, with wine and fruit before them, on -three small tables! They instantly rose, and stretched out their wrinkled, -yellow, and skinny arms to embrace their lovers, while they mumbled and -snivelled, from mouths and noses, their nauseous welcomes, and most -loving assurances of eternal attachment and fidelity! To add to the mortification -of the bridegrooms, the three pet birds joined their mistresses in -such a chorus of squallings, croakings, and catterwaullings, that the young -men were obliged to stop their ears to keep out the infernal din! Meanwhile -the withered witches led their paramours to the tables, and presented -them refreshments, for which they had little stomach. Each, -however, took a glass of exquisite wine, which they had scarcely swallowed, -when they fell into a state of complete insensibility! When they -awoke, which was not till mid-day, they found themselves lying among -prickly bushes at the foot of a tall rock, worn into furrows by the storms -and rains, their limbs so cold and stiff that they had the greatest difficulty -in retracing their steps! While dragging their weary limbs along, they -were saluted from every projecting rock by the old hags—and from every -branch of tree by the chatterings and croakings of the cursed pet birds! -On clearing the valley, the young gentlemen made a vow never again to -pay attention to the allurements of female beauty, when proffered on the -“voluntary system” of the nymphs of <span class="smcap">Wesperthal</span>.</p> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>I think the allegory of Wesperthal is little inferior to that of <span class="smcap">Circe</span>, -or even of the Syrens. It combines, indeed, the morals of both. Under -the head of curiosity and thirst of rash adventure, are shadowed forth the -headstrong passions of youth. Then the allurements and temptations by -which they are so easily led from the paths of virtue—the Cimmerian -darkness in which they are plunged—the blaze of false light, glittering -tinsel, and meretricious splendour that attracts them on to their ruin—the -penalties which are soon exacted from this short-lived felicity—the stupor -in which their senses are drowned—and the remorse and horror in which -they finally wake from the delirium of “passion’s wild career.”</p> - -<p>Among some sly strokes of irony conveyed in this allegory, the accomplishments -of the “pet birds” are biting satires on the education and -mental habits of their mistresses in the chateaus of that time. Happily -for us, there are <i>now</i> no charades of the starling, croakings of the rook, -or magpie chatterings about ancestral honours, among the wives and -daughters of the nineteenth century.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<h4>THE DEVIL’S LADDER.<br /> -RUTHELM AND GARLINDA, OR LOVE REWARDED AND INHOSPITALITY PUNISHED.<br /> -“Omnia vincit amor.”<br /> -(<i>Legend the Ninth.</i>)</h4> - -<p>There cannot be a doubt that the legend of the “<span class="smcap">Devil’s Ladder</span>,” -was clearly intended to convey a double moral, as will presently be -seen.</p> - -<p>Over the little town of <span class="smcap">Lorch</span>, rises abruptly the craggy, and apparently -inaccessible mountain of <span class="smcap">Kedrick</span>, on which is a solitary tower. -<span class="smcap">Sibo</span>, the Chief of Lorch, was a gloomy, eccentric, and rather misanthropic -character. One stormy night, a decrepid old creature, of extremely -dwarfish stature, rapped at his door, and demanded the usual rights of -hospitality, commonly accorded in that age of chivalry. <span class="smcap">Sibo</span> drove him -from his gate with rudeness, and even brutality. Next day, when the -dinner-bell rang, <span class="smcap">Garlinda</span>, the only child of <span class="smcap">Sibo</span>, a beautiful girl, -twelve years of age, was nowhere to be found! Search was made in all -directions, but in vain. A shepherd, however, reported that, early in the -morning, he saw a young girl, who was culling flowers at the foot of the -Kedrick, surrounded and seized by a number of little old men, who climbed -with her up the mountain. The chevalier cast his eyes towards the summit -of the steep, and clearly discerned his daughter there, who appeared -to be stretching her arms towards her parent’s habitation! The vassals -were summoned, and numerous efforts were made to scale the rock; but -every attempt was frustrated by fragments of stone coming down the precipices -with such fury, that the men were forced to fly for their lives. -The wretched <span class="smcap">Sibo</span> now endeavoured by penances, prayers, donations to -the churches, monasteries, and convents, as well as distributions among -the poor, to propitiate the powers above, and regain his only child. -Heaven seemed hardened against him, and the gnomes of Kedrick retained -their captive. The only consolation of the father was, that Garlinda was -seen at sunrise and sunset, looking from her airy prison down to the valley -of Lorch. Days, months, and years rolled on, without any prospect of -regaining his lost treasure. Meantime, every care was taken of Garlinda’s -health and comfort by the fairies of the rock—and especially by an aged -female gnome, who watched her assiduously, and occasionally gave her -hopes of deliverance from captivity.</p> - -<p>Four years had now elapsed, and <span class="smcap">Sibo</span> gave up all expectation of recovering -his daughter; when <span class="smcap">Ruthelm</span>, a brave young knight, who had -distinguished himself in the wars against the Infidels, returned to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -place of his nativity, near Lorch. On learning the fate of Garlinda, he -determined to effect her rescue, or sacrifice his life. Her father promised -the hand of the lady to her deliverer. Ruthelm reconnoitred, with -anxious eye, every side of the rocky mountain; but no part offered the -least prospect of escalade. It rose like a rugged wall in every direction! -Returning to his chateau in pensive meditation, he met a diminutive dwarf -on the road, who accosted him, and asked him if he had heard the story -of Garlinda’s captivity on the summit of Kedrick? On replying in the -affirmative, the dwarf hinted that he could effect her freedom if Ruthelm -promised to marry her. The lover eagerly closed with the proposal, and -the dwarf vanished from his sight.</p> - -<p>The youthful knight began to fear that the promise of the dwarf was a -deception, when an aged female gnome stood before him, and presenting -him with a small bell, desired him to repair to the valley of Wesperthal, -a gloomy and haunted ravine behind the Kedrick, and there seek the -entrance of a deserted mine, which he would recognize by two old pine -trees that grew at its mouth. When he had descended a few steps into -the mine, he was to ring the bell thrice, and abide the result. Ruthelm -was punctual to the directions, and found the place. As soon as the bell -was rung, a light was seen rising from the bottom of the mine, and presently -a dwarf appeared, and demanded what Ruthelm wanted. He related -the promise of the female dwarf, and her injunction to ring the bell -which she had given him. The dwarf examined the bell. The inhabitant -of the mine commanded Ruthelm to be at the foot of the mountain before -the dawn of next morning. Then drawing a small trumpet from his -girdle, he sounded it thrice, when instantly the ravine and the whole -valley swarmed with gnomes carrying ropes, hatchets, saws, and hammers. -In a few minutes trees were heard falling down the sides of the -ravine, felled by the axes of the gnomes, while hundreds of these nimble -gentry were busily employed in forming the wood into the different parts -of the ladder.</p> - -<p>Ruthelm slept little that night, and was at his post before the dawn of -morn. He found the ladder placed against the perpendicular precipice, -and reaching to its highest pinnacle. He began to mount the ladder; -but the terrific vibrations and oscillations of the slender machine, required -all the courage of a hero, and all the devotion of a lover—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent7">——lest the deficient sight</div> -<div class="verse">Topple down headlong.——</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>At length he reached the summit of the rock, and was rewarded for his -hazard, by the sight of Garlinda reclining asleep in a bower of roses and -eglantine. Her beauty surpassed all that had been reported, even by her -own friends. While gazing on the sleeping nymph, she awoke, and -Ruthelm dropped on his knee. At that instant the little old man, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -had carried off Garlinda, stood before them, and, with frowning looks, -demanded the name of the intruder, the cause of his visit, and the means -by which he had ascended the mountain? Ruthelm firmly replied, that -he came to deliver Garlinda from her prison, and restore her to an affectionate, -but broken-hearted parent—that the means of his access would -be explained by the bell, which he held in his hand. Garlinda, at these -words, burst into a flood of tears, and entreated the dwarf to allow her to -visit her father. The dwarf paused for a moment, and then replied:—“Your -father, Garlinda, has been amply punished for his inhospitality, -and you deserve reward for your patience and resignation. For you, Sir -Knight, (addressing Ruthelm,) the jewel you seek is not yet purchased, -even by the perils you have encountered. A more dangerous task remains—the -descent from this mountain. You must return by the ladder; I will -conduct Garlinda by a secret path to her father’s mansion.”</p> - -<p>Ruthelm, in descending the ladder, found infinitely more difficulty than -in his ascent: and several times his head turned giddy, and he was nearly -precipitated to the bottom of the ravine. When he reached Sibo’s castle, -he found the daughter in the arms of her father, who was weeping for -joy. <span class="smcap">Sibo</span>, from that moment, kept his gate open to every object of -distress—a practice which was continued by Ruthelm and Garlinda, -during a long series of years.</p> - -<h5>MORAL.</h5> - -<p>To counterpoise the baser passions and propensities of our nature, the -Omniscient Creator has implanted others in the human breast of an ennobling -kind. Thus charity and benevolence antagonise selfishness and -avarice. But these passions and propensities, good and bad, are not left -to contend with each other in anarchy, like jarring elements. Over them -is placed a power without passion, an emanation from the Deity, designed -to control the vicious and foster the virtuous workings of the spirit, either -by direct influence, or, which is more common, by nullifying the bad by -the good propensities.</p> - -<p>It is this God-like <span class="smcap">Reason</span>, which distinguishes <span class="smcap">Man</span> from the -<span class="smcap">Brute</span> creation. The latter have but one governing passion or <span class="smcap">instinct</span>, -each, from which they cannot deviate, and which never fails to lead them -to their proper objects. But even in <span class="smcap">Man</span>, and especially in uncultivated -states of mind, <span class="smcap">Reason</span> is too often unequal to the governance of the -unruly passions, and requires the aid of another and higher power—<span class="smcap">Religion</span>.</p> - -<p>Reason may, and too often does, err; but instinct is as undeviating in -its course as the earth in its revolutions round the sun. Whenever the -voice of Reason and the dictates of Religion are resisted, and ultimately -disregarded, some prominent passion from the vicious side of human -nature is sure to gain and to retain the mastery. The consequences need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -not be told! Every day that vice retains possession of the soul, diminishes -the chance of virtue regaining the ascendancy:—Hence the evil of -procrastination in the work of reformation!</p> - -<p>But to return. Hospitality to the stranger, and charity to the indigent -are virtues so universally acknowledged, that few are bold enough to deny -them in theory, though there are many <span class="smcap">Sibos</span> who are chary of the practice. -The sums which were lavished on monasteries and convents, in -useless remorse, would have saved the Chieftain of Lorch many a bitter -hour of reflection, had they been judiciously applied to the relief of -penury and misfortune, before he was made to taste the bitter cup of -anguish himself!</p> - -<p>The other part of the legend illustrates the well-known fact that—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Love will hope where Reason would despair.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And not only hope, but accomplish things apparently impossible of -achievement. Ruthelm was not the only one who has fallen in love of -unseen objects, and only known through pictorial or descriptive representations. -Few have passed the juvenile period of life without having -some imaginary goddess or hero in their thoughts, endowed with all the -virtues and charms which—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Youthful poets fancy when they love.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Whether time and experience have always <i>realized</i> (as Jonathan would -say) these golden dreams, can only be determined by the knowledge of -each individual.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Leaving Lorch, then, on our left, (in ascending the river) our attention -is strongly attracted to a renovated chateau on our right—<span class="smcap">Rheinstein</span>. -Here we must halt for a few minutes.</p> - -<h4>THE BRIDAL OF RHEINSTEIN; OR, THE RUNAWAY MARRIAGE.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Tenth.</i>)</h4> - -<p>About midway between Lorch and Bingen, on our right hand, stands -the renovated castle of Rheinstein, on a romantic eminence, and very near -the Rhine. It is no longer a desolate pile of ruins, but the habitation -of a royal prince of Prussia, whose proud banner floats on its lofty -turret. No destructive missile or drawn sword now repels the inquisitive -stranger. The draw-bridge falls at the approach of Jew or Gentile, rich -or poor—and the renovated halls are thrown open to the inspection of all -visitors.</p> - -<p>Tradition informs us that the original castle was inhabited by a Baron -Sifred, a dissolute young robber, who carried off from France, a beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -maiden, and detained her in durance vile within his impregnable fortress. -The captivity of the lady, however, made a wonderful revolution in the -baron’s life. The noise of revelry and arms was superseded by the sounds -of the lute—and <span class="smcap">Yutta</span> became the bride of <span class="smcap">Sifred</span>. Twelve months of -love and happiness flew rapidly round, and Yutta presented her husband -with a pledge of their affection—a female child. The mother survived -the birth only a few hours. The baron shut himself up in his castle, and -dedicated his time to the education of his daughter.</p> - -<p>Guerda grew up to the delight of her father’s declining years—and to -the relief of wandering pilgrims, who sought refuge in the castle, and who -sounded the fame of Guerda’s beauty far and near.</p> - -<p>Hosts of suitors now flocked to the castle, but they were referred by -Sifred to an approaching tournament at Mayence, where his daughter -would select the most valiant knight. Her appearance at the assemblage -excited universal admiration; and two knights determined to win her -hand—Kuno of Reichenstein, and Conrad of Ehrenfels. The latter was -the elder, and of a fierce disposition—the former was evidently preferred -by the lady. Notwithstanding prodigies of valour, Kuno was defeated, -and Conrad claimed the hand of Guerda. The father received the victor -as his future son-in-law; while the dejected Kuno prepared to join an -expedition to Palestine. The hapless Guerda was overwhelmed with -grief; but her father was inexorable! The day of the nuptials was fixed—the -cavalcade, with Guerda, the pallid victim of parental tyranny, -mounted on a milk-white steed, proceeded towards the chapel, which was -midway between the castle of her father and that of Kuno of Reichenstein. -When near the sacred edifice, Guerda’s horse suddenly reared and -plunged, endangering the life of the bride. Conrad, while endeavouring -to seize the reins, received a dreadful kick from the furious steed, which -prostrated him on the ground. The animal immediately darted forward, -like an arrow from a bow, and never stopped till he carried the betrothed -to the very gate of Kuno’s castle. Her lover, who witnessed this exciting -scene, flew to the gate—gave admittance to Guerda—dropped the -portcullis—and secured the treasure! Conrad was killed by the blow -from the steed, and Sifred soon afterwards gave consent to the nuptials of -Kuno and Guerda.</p> - -<p>Would that, in every mercenary and ill-assorted match, the bride were -mounted on so spirited and sensible a palfrey as that of Guerda, when -proceeding to the altar! The <i>runaway</i> marriage of Rheinstein was far -preferable to many of those slow and stately processions which attend the -contracts of fashionable modern life!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> - -<h4>THE RAT OR MOUSE-TOWER.<br /> -(<i>Legend the Eleventh.</i>)</h4> - -<p>It appears that there were corn-laws, or at least corn-monopolists, in -days of yore as well as now. A dignitary of the church (not <i>our</i> church), -the bishop of Mentz, had well-stored granaries, and fared sumptuously. -A time of scarcity arrived. The populace begged for bread; but the -bishop would only give them blessings. These would not fill the stomach, -and the clamour becoming louder, the bishop waxed wroth. He -flung open one of his granaries containing but little grain. The people -rushed in—he bolted the doors—and set fire to the building! Murder -will be out, sooner or later, and even punished in this world. The rats -and the mice took up the cause of their masters. They cut through the -floors and ceilings of the palace—nibbled holes in the arras—and poked -their little noses through to smell the fat bishop. This was notice to -quit, or furnish a cannibal supper for the unwelcome intruders.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent1">“They gnawed the arras above and beneath,</div> -<div class="verse">They ate each savoury dish up.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And shortly their sacrilegious teeth</div> -<div class="verse">Began to nibble the bishop!”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The holy man betook himself to a tower in the middle of the Rhine; -(Tours des Rats) but the nimble little quadrupeds swam across in legions—scaled -the tower—and devoured the bishop!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">One morning his skeleton there was seen,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">By a load of flesh the lighter,</div> -<div class="verse">They had picked his bones uncommonly clean,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And eaten his very mitre!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The moral is good, though the tale is improbable. But if the <span class="smcap">Auto -da Fé</span> of the bishop was a romance, the atrocity of the action has too -often been surpassed even in our time—and that by “butcherly blockheads” -in the cause of bigotry and superstition, though in the name of -religion!</p> - -<p>I suspect that the moral of the “Mouse or Rat Tower” lies much -deeper than is supposed. It seems to indicate that, although the rich and -the powerful may sometimes evade the law, they can never escape punishment. -The inward monitor cannot be stifled, cross what rivers, seas, or -mountains we may—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Cœlum non animum mutant</div> -<div class="verse indent5">qui trans mare currunt.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">which I would liberally translate thus:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">O’er sea and land the guilty flies,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To blunt the stings of conscience keen;</div> -<div class="verse">Vain hope! That “worm that never dies,”</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Preys on his vitals all unseen!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The mice were meant to represent the conscience of the cruel bishop, -from which, neither the streams of the Rhine nor the battlements of the -tower could protect him.</p> - -<h4>CHANGE OF SCENE.</h4> - -<p>After passing <span class="smcap">Bingen</span>, the poetry of the Rhine disappears—or sinks -into smooth but unimpassioned prose. The “castled crags” and precipitous -cliffs soften down into sloping glades and country villas—the river -widens, and becomes studded with innumerable islets, verdant to the -water’s edge—the majestic and romantic features of the scenery are -changed into the beautiful and the fertile—it is like turning from the -statues of Mars and Bellona to those of Cupid and Psyche! The legends -and tales vanish with the rocks and ruins where they had a “local habitation”—romance -degenerates into reality—the fervid imagination is -softened down into sober judgment—and the excitement of admiration -subsides into the tranquillity of reflection! The eye is spoiled for the -charms of the wide-spread Rhinegau, teeming with the grape, and with -every necessary of life; yet the landscape is loveliness itself. What it -has lost in sublimity, it has fully gained in beauty.</p> - -<p>The sun had just set beneath the horizon, and while—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Twilight’s soft shades stole o’er the village green,</div> -<div class="verse">With magic tints to harmonize the scene,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">our contemplations were broken by the steamer suddenly sheering alongside -the jetty at Biberich, and discharging its cargo of human beings -close to the royal palace of Nassau. After the usual bustle attendant on -the transmigration of souls, bodies, and baggage, from water to land, we -were safely deposited, in less than an hour, at the Adler Hotel, within a -stone’s throw of the celebrated <span class="smcap">Kochbrunnen</span>, or chicken-broth distillery -at Wisbaden.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="WISBADEN">WISBADEN.</h3> - -<p>This is one of the most celebrated spas in Germany—and more frequented, -as a <i>medicinal spa</i>, than any other by our countrymen and women. -It is only four miles from Biberich, near Mayence, and is very pleasantly -situated, with a ridge of the Taunus to the north-east, while the country -is open between it and the Rhine, in the opposite quarter. It is a very -handsome town, of seven or eight thousand souls, and the capital of the -duchy of Nassau. It is, itself, in a slight depression of the ground, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -not so much as to impede a free circulation of air. Wisbaden is healthy, -though rather warm, owing, probably, to the hot springs under the surface. -The temperature, however, renders it a good winter residence for -those who are unable or disinclined to seek the shores of Italy or other -southern localities. The neighbouring country produces all the necessaries -of life in abundance, and the vicinity of Frankfort, Mayence, and the -Rhine, secures it the luxuries, when required. Excellent water is conducted -from the Taunus for the use of the town. The <span class="smcap">Cursaal</span> is the -most magnificent in Europe—the hotels are numerous and good—the -walks and rides exceedingly varied, cheerful, and salubrious. There are -from ten to fifteen thousand annual spa-drinkers and bathers—while a far -greater number spend a short time at Wisbaden for pleasure. A considerable -number of the hotels have bathing establishments—the Eagle is -the oldest—and is well appointed. In turning up from this hotel towards -the Cursaal, we stumble on the <span class="smcap">Kochbrunnen</span>, (the scalding spring,) the -grand source of the drinking waters, and also of several baths. It has -rather a mean appearance, and the water looks rather of a greenish-yellow -colour, and seems turbid in the well, with a scum over a part of it, which -is called “<i>cream</i>,” and is considered by the chemists as a peculiar animal -or extractive matter, whose nature and source are unknown. The taste is -that of weak chicken-broth with rather too much salt. There are upwards -of nine hundred baths in the different establishments.</p> - -<p>The plantations, extending from the back of the Cursaal to the old -ruin of Sonnenburg Castle, are very beautiful—and thence are paths cut -among the umbrageous woods to the <span class="smcap">Platte</span>, the Duke’s Summer-house, -on one of the mountains of Taunus, whence a magnificent view is obtained—Rhineward -and Inland.</p> - -<p>The road to Schwalbach and Schlangenbad present fine airy drives and -walks over high, open, and unwooded grounds, communicating health -and vigour to the enfeebled frame.</p> - -<p>As may be supposed, the Romans were well acquainted with Wisbaden, -and close to the Kochbrunnen, in the Romerbad, may be still seen the -remains of several Roman baths—and one in particular having two -springs of its own. But the monuments of antiquity in this place are -numerous.</p> - -<p>Three grand theories respecting the causes and sources of thermal -springs divide the transcendental philosophers, naturalists, and physicians -of Germany. These are the electro-chemical—the volcanic—and the -vital. <span class="smcap">Wurzer</span> expresses the opinions of the first class thus:—“As -Nature is performing her operations in her immense laboratory, she has -here a <i>galvanic apparatus</i> of immense size. Extensive masses of mountains, -<i>perhaps</i> of unfathomable depth, <i>probably</i> form the individual plates -of this voltaic column.” This is tolerably bold. While Brand and -Faraday are dissolving metals by the tiny galvanic apparatus in Albemarle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -Street, Nature is manufacturing mineral waters at Wisbaden, Ems, and -Carlsbad, on a magnificent scale! Lichtenberg, however, surpasses Wurzer -in the sublimity of his ideas on this subject.</p> - -<p>“In the distilling operations of Nature, the belly of her retort sometimes -lies in Africa—its neck extending all over Europe—whilst its recipient -is in—Siberia.”!!</p> - -<p>Bischoff, Struve, Kastner, and others, are more moderate in their -flights. They ascribe the origin of some thermal springs to volcanic -operations in the bowels of the earth—of other springs to the gradual -solution of their component parts in subterranean reservoirs.</p> - -<p>The third class of philosophers have boldly cut the Gordian knot, instead -of untying it, and erected thermal springs and mineral waters generally -into <i>animated beings</i> which transfuse their vitality into the bodies of -the spa-drinkers, and thus cure all diseases!</p> - -<p>“These and similar observations (says Dr. Peez, of Wisbaden,) compel -us to admit the existence of a <i>peculiar vital principle in mineral waters, -communicating to the human body either an attractive faculty more consonant -with the medicinal component parts of the water; or, acting by itself as a -healing power upon the diseased organism</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>italics</i> are those of Dr. Peez, and not mine. German mysticism -could hardly be expected to go farther. But it has outdone itself, as the -following extract will shew:—</p> - -<p>“The partial effect of the medicinal component parts of mineral waters -is pushed back, as it were, retreating under the ægis of a general power -which directly excites the autocracy of the animated animal body, and -<i>compels it to act according to the particular quality of the mineral spring -determined by its component parts</i>.”—(104.)</p> - -<p>Here we have a good specimen of German ideality, and transcendental -mystification!<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> - -<p>My friend, Dr. Granville, like every other man of genius, has a hankering -after a theory; but he was too shrewd not to see that this monstrous -German hypothesis of “vitality” would be too large even for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -swallow of John Bull. He has therefore substituted a much more rational -and intelligible reason for the effects of thermal spas—namely, their -<i>caloricity</i>, as differing materially from that of common water heated to -the same degree of temperature. It is very easy to conceive that cauldrons -that have been kept boiling in the bowels of the earth for thousands -of years, will have diffused the caloric more uniformly and minutely -through the waters, and dissolved more completely the mineral ingredients, -than pots and kettles in the laboratory of the chemist. This, in -all probability, is the solution of the mystery respecting the superior efficacy -of thermal spas.</p> - -<p>The composition of the Kochbrunnen is as follows:—Forty-four grains -of common salt—five of muriate of lime—one and a half of carbonate of -lime, out of fifty-nine grains in the pint. The remaining nine grains are -not worth enumerating, as the salt and lime are clearly the main ingredients. -There are only seven cubic inches of carbonic acid gas in the -pint. The temperature is little short of 160° of Fahrenheit. Let us -begin with the baths. At a temperature of 86° to 90°, the bath generally -occasions a slight sensation of chilliness, which goes off in a few -minutes, and is succeeded by a feeling of comfort—serenity of mind—and -ultimately a degree of weariness or lassitude, inclining the bather to lie -quiet and repose himself. The volume of the body rather diminishes than -expands, and the skin of the hands and feet are gently corrugated—the -pulse becomes slower and softer—irritability is lessened—spasmodic feelings -(if they existed,) disappear under the soothing influence of the waters -on the nervous system and circulation—the functions of the intestinal -tube are encreased, as are those of the skin, kidneys, and various glandular -organs.</p> - -<p>At a temperature of 94° to 98°, the bather, at the moment of immersion, -experiences an agreeable sense of warmth—the vital powers are exalted, -and all the functions of the organs are put into a state of increased -activity. The pulse expands and quickens, but is still soft—and all the -secretions and excretions are augmented after leaving the bath.</p> - -<p>As the weight of the body is increased from half-a-pound to a pound -and a half, while immersed, there can be no doubt that a considerable absorption -takes place. At above 98°, or blood heat, the bath excites the -pulse and renders it both full and hard—embarrasses the breath—flushes -the face—reddens the whole surface of the body—excites perspiration—powerfully -draws the circulation to the skin—and not seldom causes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -head-aches, vertigo—and even apoplexy. Douches and shower-baths are -often ordered before the plunging or vapour-bath. Lavements of the spa-water -are also employed—and it is said with good effects, relieving the -stomach from the ingurgitation of so much fluid.</p> - -<p>Preceding, and sometimes during the cure, the following phenomena -occur in a majority of cases, in addition to those already described:—viz. -a prostration of strength—headaches—giddiness—constriction over the -eyes—drowsiness. In some cases, there will be constipation—loaded -tongue—loss of appetite—oppression about the chest—feebleness of the -limbs—nervous irritability—disturbed sleep—perspiration—palpitations—eruptions -on the skin. These symptoms are acknowledged by the spa-practitioners -themselves to indicate an inconvenient use either of the baths -or the drink—or some abnormal susceptibility of the constitution—or -some impropriety of regime. They soon disappear by lessening the application -of the remedy, and taking some aperient medicine—an omission, -however, which most of the spa-doctors are sure to make, trusting, as -they do, almost entirely to the operation of the waters.</p> - -<p>It is necessary to remark that, the rheumatic and gouty who resort to -these waters, (and they are by far the most numerous classes,) must expect -to suffer a considerable increase of their complaints at the commencement—amounting -often to acute pain and even inflammation of the parts -affected. The local medical authorities represent these as the sure precursors -of great relief, if not a radical cure of the maladies in question. -I would advise patients to be on their guard in this respect. The first -two individuals whom I fell in with at Wisbaden, and whom I formerly -attended, were in imminent danger of their lives, from the effects of -drinking and bathing in the waters. One was on the verge of apoplexy—and -the other in a fair way for a rheumatic fever. Both were soon -relieved by aperients, colchicum, and starvation.<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> - -<p>There is another class who experience no uncomfortable symptoms -during the use of the waters, which operate by the skin, the kidneys, -and the bowels—and these proceed quickly and favourably to a restoration -of health.</p> - -<p>There is still a third class who experience no relief from the waters, but -rather an exasperation of all their maladies. The spa doctors give them -this consolation, that, long after their return to their homes, they will -probably get much better—or quite well! The following passage from -Dr. Peez, should awaken precaution.</p> - -<p>“Let us now take into consideration a phenomenon we observe first -after patients have for some time been drinking, or bathing in, the thermal -water of Wisbaden, and which might alarm timorous minds. The reaction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -taking place in the beginning of the patient’s making use of the -water, mentioned above, returns with <i>some individuals</i>. I have observed -this being the case particularly with females of a hysteric disposition, attended -with a <i>tendency</i> to hemorrhoïdal complaints, who, for that reason, -were very irritable. Bathing in, and drinking thermal water of this place -for a fortnight, three weeks, and longer, are extremely favorable,—each -day is attended with additional success: one ailment after the other disappears; -a pause then ensues, the irritability of the body rises—the patient’s -sleep grows restless; some complain of palpitating of the heart, -oppression of the chest, and slight vertigo. In this case it is necessary -to cease bathing, at least for some days, and to observe what nature -means by that excitation. This, however, commonly ceases in the course -of a few days, when the patient may again take the bath without hesitation, -and with advantage, provided he be careful to follow the direction of -his physician. Others, however, in that case have attained to the limits -of bathing, prescribed by nature, and if they obstinately transgress these -laws, their career on the road to recovery takes a retrograde turn. I have -seen such improvident bathers, who, not knowing the nature of these -phenomena, continued bathing without consulting their physician, were -seized with spasms, spitting of blood, and other ailments.”</p> - -<p>It is remarked by Dr. Richter, that as the greater number of patients at -Wisbaden are afflicted with gouty or rheumatic complaints, so they must -expect to experience the specific effects of the waters more sensibly than -other people. It is not uncommon therefore for these to suffer, at the -beginning of the course, very high states of excitement, pain, and even -inflammation of the parts involved in the original malady. This may be -encouragement to perseverance; but it may also prove extremely hazardous. -The following case from Dr. Peez, will exemplify this remark.</p> - -<p>“The abdomen of a lady aged 52 years, having been afflicted for a long -time with <i>plethora abdominalis</i>, began at last to swell and to grow hard, -her complexion being tinged with a greyish-yellow colour, whilst her organs -of digestion were impaired at the same time. She was particularly alarmed -by occasional palpitations of her heart, most commonly troubling her at -night, and obliging her to quit her bed. Having bathed in, and drunk, -our thermal water, the palpitations grew more violent, and rendered it -necessary that a small quantity of blood should be taken from her occasionally.”</p> - -<p>In the third week of the course, she was seized with a copious <i>purgation</i> -of morbid secretions, when the palpitations vanished—the abdomen -became soft—the complexion cleared—and she was soon well.</p> - -<p>Now it is clear that this good lady laboured under congestion of the -liver, jaundice, and loaded bowels. Nature rescued her from the heat of -the Kochbrunnen, by a process which ought to have been instituted three -weeks before.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - -<p>I shall endeavour to shew in other places, that these crises, spa-fevers, -bad-sturms, and re-actions, described by the foreign writers on the Spas, -are often attributable to the want of combining some mild mercurial alterative -and aperient with the use of the waters. Many cures are prevented -or rendered ineffectual by the dread of mercury entertained by the German -physicians.</p> - -<p>The following <span class="smcap">auxilio-preservative</span> (if I may so term it), will be -found of essential service every night before taking the morning waters.</p> - -<table summary="Recipe"> - <tr> - <td>℞.</td> - <td>Extr. Col. Comp.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Pil. Rhei. Comp. aa ℈ij.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Pil. Hydrarg. gr. x.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Ol. Caryoph. gt. vj.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2">Ft. pil. xx. capt. j. vel. ij. hora somni.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>We shall now advert to the remarks of Dr. Richter, who has published -a very sensible little treatise on the Wisbaden waters, in the year 1839.</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Group of Disorders in which the Waters, either Internal or -External, or both, are likely to be useful.</span></h4> - -<p>1. <i>Complaints having their seat in the abdominal organs, and especially in -the biliary apparatus.</i>—The signs or indications of these are—acidities—eructations—furred -tongue—troubled digestion—loss of appetite—sense of -tightness or oppression about the stomach and bowels, after food—costiveness, -or relaxed bowels—congestion about the liver, with or without enlargement -of that organ—hypochondriasis and hysteria—hæmorrhoids and -their consequences—irritations about the kidneys and bladder—sequences -of residence in tropical climates.</p> - -<p>2. <i>The various forms of gout and their sequences.</i>—Besides the regular -or periodical gout, Dr. Richter enumerates the multitudinous forms which -it assumes when latently preying on different organs and structures. -There is no end to the proteian features of masked gout—extending as -they do from the terrific lacerations of <span class="smcap">tic douloureux</span> down to the most -anomalous morbid feeling, whether internal or external. “In all these,” -D. R. avers, “the waters and baths of Wisbaden are eminently beneficial.” -The baths, when assisted by the internal use of the waters, bring anomalous -and latent gout into its proper place and form—into the extremities, -thus relieving the interior.</p> - -<p>3. <i>Paralysis, general or local</i>—the sequence of apoplectic attacks, or -the consequences of metastases of gout, rheumatism, or cutaneous eruptions -from the surface to the brain or spine—also those paralytic affections -occasioned by the poisons of lead, arsenic, mercury, &c. or contusions or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -other injuries of the head and back. Dr. Richter cautiously observes that, -during the use of the Wisbaden waters for the foregoing class of complaints, -it will often be necessary to bleed, cup, or leech, as well as to take -aperient medicines from time to time, under the guidance of the medical -attendant.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Scrofulous complaints</i>, of all kinds and degrees.</p> - -<p>5. <i>Rheumatism</i>, with its various consequences. Of course it is <i>chronic</i> -rheumatism that is here meant, with enlargements of joints, contractions, -effusions into the capsular ligaments, &c. which attend on and follow that -painful class of diseases.</p> - -<p>6. The <i>sequences of mercurial courses</i> for various diseases, both in this -country and between the tropics.</p> - -<p>7. <i>Several pulmonary complaints</i>, occasioned by repressed gout, rheumatism -or cutaneous eruptions.</p> - -<p>8. The Wisbaden waters (like many other mineral springs) are lauded -as efficacious in certain complaints and defects of both sexes, which it is -not convenient or proper to notice in this place.</p> - -<h4>COUNTER-INDICATIONS.</h4> - -<p>Dr. Richter dedicates a chapter to those complaints which are not -benefited, but injured by the waters of Wisbaden.</p> - -<p>1. All <i>acute</i> diseases—that is to say, diseases accompanied by fever or -inflammation, are totally and entirely prohibited from these waters. But -this is not all. Wherever there is febrile action in the constitution, or -local inflammation, however subacute, or even chronic, the use of thermal -springs, either as drink or baths—but especially the baths—is dangerous. -“These waters, internal and external, will excite the circulation and -nervous system (already too much exalted) into the most dangerous reactions, -and lead to the most deplorable consequences.” P. 43.</p> - -<p>Phthisical affections, except in the earliest stage, and before any material -change has taken place in the lungs, preclude the idea of utility from -these waters. Emaciation, from internal suppuration in any organ, and -resembling phthisis, forbids the waters of Wisbaden. The same may be -said of cachectic habits, where the blood is broken down, and the solids -wasted. Dropsy of the chest, abdomen, or skin will be prejudiced by -these sources—and in short, all diseases connected with, or dependent on -defect of vital energy; or, in other words, debility of constitution generally. -Catarrhal affections of kidneys and bladder—fluor albus—severe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -derangement of the digestive organs, (grand derangement des organs de -la digestion)—chronic diarrhœa, &c. with emaciation, will derive no benefit -but injury from these waters. All tendency to spitting of blood—all -enlargements of the glandular abdominal organs with debility and wasting, -prohibit the use of Wisbaden waters. The same holds good with -respect to stony concretions in the kidneys or bladder—biliary concretions -in the gall-bladder or ducts—scirrhous formations in any of the organs of -the interior, or exterior parts—all organic affections of the heart or large -vessels—epilepsy—catalepsy—St. Vitus’s dance—very inveterate forms -of gout, with chalk-stones, paralytic lameness, and considerable debility. -In some of these last cases, Dr. R. thinks that, when directed with skill -and caution, the waters may afford some relief though nothing like a cure. -Sterility, with constitutional exhaustion and debility, has little to hope -from Wisbaden.</p> - -<p>The reader will here perceive a long list of maladies which the Wisbaden -waters will not cure, but aggravate. It is very rare for a spa-doctor -to offer any such list. Their springs are panaceas for all the ills to which -flesh is heir. There is a passage in Dr. Peez’s work respecting the baths -which deserves attention. He remarks that there is a point of <i>saturation</i> -in the use of thermal waters, beyond which it is dangerous to proceed. -But this point of saturation is difficult to ascertain. The following is not -very consolatory.</p> - -<p>“The temperature of the bath must be made to correspond as exactly -as possible with their individuality. Baths that are but <i>one</i> degree too -warm or too cool, will very soon produce the point of saturation. Neither -is it advisable that such a person should bathe daily, nor, in the beginning, -stay in the bath longer than 15-25 minutes: for his great irritability -very easily provokes in the very beginning those excitations that are -the forerunners of critical secretions and accelerate the appearance of the -symptoms of overbathing, and if the patient be not exposed to the danger -of a violent artificial fever, the success of his cure is, at least, rendered -very doubtful. He is, in this case, obliged to discontinue bathing so long -that the time intended to have been spent in bathing passes, or must be -prolonged considerably.” 161.</p> - -<p>In many people this critical point of <i>saturation</i> is announced by very -restless sleep, disturbed by dreams—or somnolency by day—tenderness of -the eye to light—uneasiness, despondency, and anxiety, without any -adequate cause—derangement of the digestion—loaded tongue. If these -symptoms be overlooked or disregarded, phenomena of more importance -present themselves, such as palpitations—difficulty of breathing—profuse -sweats—nausea—and finally a fever. Dr. P. is very averse to any -active remedies to reduce the fever of over-bathing, and especially bleeding -or purging. He advises that nothing be done but to desist from bathing, -and to take some cooling acidulous waters, as those of Selters or Fackingen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> - -<p>The same author assures us that the Wisbaden waters are extremely -easy of digestion—that they improve the appetite—open the bowels, in a -majority of cases—are eminently diuretic—but occasionally produce constipation. -From all that I could observe myself, these waters have very -little aperient effect.</p> - -<p>To enumerate the diseases for which the Wisbaden waters are renowned -would require a small volume—at least according to the testimony of -Peez. In one word, they cure all diseases in general, and many others -in particular!! On looking over the works of spa-doctors, we must come -to one or other of the following conclusions, viz. there must either be a -universal conspiracy among the faculty of Europe against spas, and in -favour of their own monopoly of thinning the ranks of the population by -physic—or the world is deaf to the entreaties of the water-doctors, and -desire not to be cured—or, what is not quite impossible, the virtues of -mineral waters are a little too much extolled by those who have the administration -of them. It is perhaps fortunate for the world that one or -other of these prejudices or infatuations prevail—otherwise there would -be no bills of mortality—no doctors—no undertakers—in short, man -would be immortal even in this world!</p> - -<p>There will still be a considerable number, however, of afflicted beings -who will not despise the blessings so freely and so cheaply offered by the -high priests of Hygeia.</p> - -<p>It is pretty well known that a kind of monomania prevails among all -classes on the Continent respecting hæmorrhoids—a complaint almost as -much dreaded by the English as it is courted by foreigners. By the people -it is considered quite a god-send—the absence of it being a calamity, -and its presence a talisman against every malady—by the physician, its -sanative powers are represented as only inferior to the waters of Wisbaden, -Kissengen, or Carlsbad. By the physiologist and pathologist hæmorrhoids -are calculated to bear the same relation to the constitution that the -safety-valve does to the steam-engine. Without the one, the boiler would -burst—without the other the German would die. In a word, the German -had rather live without his pipe, than without his piles!</p> - -<p>To the deficiency, absence, or interruption of hæmorrhoids are attributed -chiefly all those obstructions of the abdominal viscera which lead to dropsy -and other fatal diseases. The waters of Wisbaden are represented as -having the normal or salutary power of restraining piles, when in excess—encouraging -them when languid—and reproducing them when accidentally -arrested. <span class="smcap">Hypochondriasis</span> is one of the grand forms in which -suppressed hæmorrhoids harasses the patient for years, according to the -continental pathology.</p> - -<p>“How often,” says Dr. Peez, “does it, however, happen, that an abdominal -disease exclusively confined to the nervous system, suddenly -changes its character, preferably affecting the bloodvessels, and thus is -transformed into an active hemorrhoïdal disorder!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I have had occasion to observe the case of a husbandman, who had -been suffering the torments of hypochondria for some years; he was -emaciated and ill fed. His means did not allow him to attempt a radical -cure, and he applied only from time to time for my assistance, when his -sufferings were most painful. In spring 1821 he was suddenly seized with -palpitations of the heart, and when these ceased, his pulse continued for -some months to be full and hard, as in the case of fever. Discerning the -character of his disorder, I made him come to Wisbaden. Here he took -half-baths, drank the water in copious doses, and was cupped in his legs -several times. In twelve days the hemorrhoïds declared themselves in the -usual shape and delivered him from his melancholy, anxiety, and oppression -of the stomach, which had tormented him so long.” 196.</p> - -<p>Dr. Peez informs us that the sequences of tropical diseases are radically -cured by the Wisbaden springs.</p> - -<p>“Among the consequences of these endemic diseases of the Indies we -must reckon: tumefactions of the liver, and the spleen, which frequently -are encomous, as well as other tumors in the cavity of the abdomen: -swellings and obstructions of the intestinal glands (which frequently also -are the products of malignant cutaneous diseases, peculiar to the torrid -zone), obstinate jaundice, spasms of the stomach, accompanied with a -vomiting of food.</p> - -<p>“The English and Dutch physicians have these many years been in the -habit of sending patients of this class to Carlsbad or Wisbaden, after those -of the former first had tried Cheltenham to no purpose; and these two -springs produce, in the above mentioned diseases, an effect really wonderful.” -198.</p> - -<p>Now we were told by the more cautious and candid Dr. Richter, a page -or two back, that “all enlargements of the glandular abdominal organs, -with debility,” were diseases not to be remedied by these waters. All -these morbid growths are attended and nourished by more or less of chronic -inflammation, and in these cases the Wisbaden, or any other thermal baths, -are more likely to do harm than good. The aperient waters of Kissengen -or Pulna are far more efficacious and safe. Dr. P. has a chapter on -the efficacy of these waters in “paralysis the consequence of apoplexy.” -Now every physician knows that the cause of the paralysis succeeding -apoplexy is the clot of blood effused in the attack, and the damage which -the brain has received in the neighbourhood of that clot. Nature, at -length, absorbs the effused blood, or surrounds it with a sac, and then the -adjacent brain gradually recovers its function, if within the power of -nature, and the motion of the paralyzed limb is regained in proportion. -How this salutary process is to be accelerated by the baths or waters of -Wisbaden, I cannot imagine; but I can very easily conceive that these -warm baths may readily interrupt the work of nature, and convert a paralysis -into an apoplexy. Such conversions, in fact, do occur every year at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -the German thermal spas. He says, “paralysis arising from <i>plethora</i> will -be cured with more facility by means of the thermal waters, than that -which is caused by the accumulation of lymph in the brain or the spinal -marrow.” This doctrine may be true in one sense, but it is dangerous in -another. Paralysis from plethora is undoubtedly more susceptible of -cure than dropsy of the brain or spine; but it must be a most hazardous -attempt to try the waters of Wisbaden for plethora of the brain or -spinal-marrow.</p> - -<p>Our author’s directions for using the waters appear unobjectionable, and -therefore I shall cull out some of his chief rules.</p> - -<p>1. The waters ought to be drunk fasting, and before the bath—using -gentle exercise and cheerful conversation between each draught. The -cup should never be emptied at once, but sipped slowly. Some people -may drink four hours after dinner, but in less quantities and at a lower -temperature.</p> - -<p>In gouty affections, and where the skin is torpid, the water should be -drunk as hot as possible—and even in bed, if necessary. Some find it -better to drink it luke-warm, and mixed with a little milk. Half an hour -after finishing the waters, breakfast, (chocolate, coffee, or egg-milk, or -broth with the yolk of an egg,) may be taken. “The less nourishment -that is taken between drinking and bathing the better.” Half an hour or -an hour should elapse even after the lightest breakfast, before the bath. -It is dangerous to bathe when heated or perspiring. “Persons taking a -whole bath, should immerse themselves into the water only by slow degrees, -up to the neck, having previously sponged the chest and abdomen -with the bath water.” If seized with headache or vertigo in the bath, it -is too hot, and ought to be left immediately. Baths in which you perspire -are too hot, spoil the appetite, weaken the patient, and put him out -of humour all day. “All baths, even those of common water—sometimes -cause a sensible congestion of blood in the head.” The head should then -be sponged with cold water. Great care should be taken to avoid sleep in -the bath—or even after a hot bath—but after a tepid bath it may be allowed.</p> - -<p>In many cases it is very beneficial to use friction, by means of a brush -or sponge, whilst in the bath. The duration of the bath is a quarter of -an hour to an hour and a half. People should always begin with the -short period—and not too high a temperature. Where it is desirable -to encourage gentle perspiration after the bath, the patient should go to bed.</p> - -<p>As all sudden extremes are repugnant to nature, invalids, when travelling -towards watering-places, should begin to adopt the regimen and -hours which they must follow at the spas. A few tepid baths of plain -water are useful preparations, and light cooling diet, should be employed -for a week or two before arriving at the spa.</p> - -<p>The following sketch of the motives, hopes, and prospects which lead -invalids to spas—and their routine of life and enjoyments at those places,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -is drawn by a <span class="smcap">Spa Doctor</span> of twenty years’ standing. It is nearly free -from the sins of commission—but not of <i>omission</i>. It is penned <i>en couleur -de rose</i>—and, like the speech of an advocate, it slurs over all features of -the case that might seem disadvantageous to the cause of the client. -I shall supply some deficiencies at the end.</p> - -<p>“It is owing, in a great measure, to the enlivening influence which a -temporary residence at some watering-place exercises on the mind of the -visitor, that the most successful results are obtained there, and which the -best endeavours of the regular physician can seldom effect at home.</p> - -<p>“Persons not labouring under serious disorders—such as men of business, -who purpose only to repose from the fatigues with which the performance -of their official duties is attended, and to partake of the amusements -afforded by bathing-places—the man of letters, who takes refuge -in them for relaxation from his serious studies;—the tender mother, -resorting to them to obtain relief for a beloved daughter—all these -have disengaged themselves, as much as possible, from the trammels of -their professional and domestic occupations and relations, and enter this -new world with renovated spirits. The cheerful and gay life of a bathing-establishment -presents to all of them charms with which they were -entirely unacquainted before. Individuals of all ranks, gathering there -from neighbouring parts and the most distant countries, united there -within narrow confines, mostly for one and the same purpose, meet for -the first time in that motley assemblage, and also hail each other, perhaps, -for the last time, for a long series of years. This variety, this contact of -individuals, frequently distinguished by high rank and eminent talents -and accomplishments, enhances the charms of indiscriminate social intercourse, -and adds an additional value even to the patient’s solitary hours, -as I have frequently experienced myself, by ushering in the dawn of a -happier futurity.</p> - -<p>“The variety of interesting objects that present themselves to his view, -attracts his attention, and occupies his eyes and imagination, and kindred -spirits find many opportunities at watering-places to meet and to form -familiar connexions. A common purpose, the same society, the participation -of the same amusements and pleasures, facilitate the formation of -many interesting connexions. The opportunities of mutual intercourse -are numerous: the social meetings are not hampered by the trammels of -ceremony, and we readily acknowledge and enjoy mental and social talents -wherever we meet with them.</p> - -<p>“The patients meet early in the morning on the public walks and at -the wells. There they interchange their wishes and hopes of recovery. -Many are on the eve of returning health; and, encouraged by the improving -state of convalescents whom they daily see, or by the perception -of encreasing strength, feel themselves elated with the pleasing hope of -experiencing in their own persons the successful results of bathing which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -they behold in others. New hopes awake in others that are still groaning -under the burden of severe and painful disorders, when they hear many -of their acquaintances bless the beneficent spring that has restored to them -health and the means of enjoying life.</p> - -<p>“Here plans for the amusements of the day are discussed, appointments -for shorter or longer excursions made, according to the strength and inclination -of each individual; and these excursions, this enjoyment of the -open air, contribute a great deal to heighten the salubrious efficacy of the -wells. A cheerful mind exercises the most happy influence on the body, -and who could indulge his melancholy bent and remain a cool observer -amidst the charms of nature and in the society of persons that are endeavouring -to enjoy them?</p> - -<p>“Now the patient takes the bath, and is happy to remain in the congenial -fluid to which earth communicates her vital warmth; he feels himself -strained more closely to the bosom of our common mother, whilst he is -surrounded by the salubrious liquid, issuing from her womb, and joyfully -presages the tendency of her mysterious powers.</p> - -<p>“After the bath the patient regularly indulges himself with a few hours -of rest, which affords him additional enjoyment. He notes down what -he has seen and heard, reads, writes, or directs his steps to the colonnade -of the <i>Cursaal</i>, (pump-room,) where a select band of performers on wind -instruments gives an additional zest to the charms of the morning hours, -until the company meet in the dining-hall, where they sit down to a comfortable -dinner, seasoned by the sweet sounds of excellent music.</p> - -<p>“Happy would it be if temperance and a sensible conversation did -always characterise these meals, and if all would be mindful, that the -offended Naiad severely punishes all kinds of excess, by which the strict -regimen she requires, is profaned!</p> - -<p>“In the afternoon the plans formed in the morning are executed, each -patient trying the strength he has regained;—and, in the evening, the -lovers of dancing repair to Terpsichore’s temple; whilst others spend the -evening in one of the parties that are formed in every bathing establishment. -After the fatigues of the day, a balmy sleep, which is interrupted -no more by restlessness, improves the encreasing strength, and the dreams -that formerly were the mirrors of a melancholy reality, are superseded by -cheerful sports of fancy.</p> - -<p>“These are the general outlines of a life that may be led at a much-frequented -watering-place, and by many is realized in a shape still more -pleasing and refined. The great diversity of enjoyments that may be procured -at these places, allots to each as much as he may want, and sometimes -even more than many a one desires.”<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<p>But is there no drawback on this scene of sunshine? Do all experience -the invigorating influence of returning health? No. Not one half! Do -the hypochondriacs who resort to Wisbaden in shoals, throw off their load -of mental despondency and bodily infirmities? Let Dr. Granville, who is -not inclined to depreciate spas in general—and “<span class="smcap">Spas of Germany</span>” in -particular, decide the question.</p> - -<p>“What a dreadful picture of human wretchedness the hypochondriac -at Wiesbaden presents! He is sombre, thoughtful, or absent, in the -midst of a laughing world. For ever brooding over his fate, his disease -absorbs the whole of his attention. He disdains even the most trifling -conversation with his fellow-creatures, and flies from those ephemeral -acquaintances which are so easily formed at watering-places, exactly because -one cares little how soon after they are forgotten. In fact, he -would feel himself alone in the world, and never concern himself about -those around him, did he not envy their healthy looks, their firmer muscles, -and their sounder stomachs, which can sustain an indigestion with impunity!”</p> - -<p>There are a great many others, besides hypochondriacs, who are destined -to feel the melancholy effects of blighted hopes in these last resorts -of suffering—and who turn their weary steps homewards, without the -cheering expectations that gilded their journey to a foreign land!</p> - -<p>But is there no risk of receiving, in exchange for dear-bought health, -a moral contagion that poisons the springs of life, and saps the foundation -of every virtue? Beneath the gilded domes of that splendid mansion—that -palace of Plutus—that <span class="smcap">Cursaal</span>, or <i>Curst Hell</i>—the dæmons of -play exhibit their piles of glittering ore—those “irritamenta malorum—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“From night till morn, from morn till dewy eve,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">familiarizing the uninitiated eye to scenes of desperate speculation—imbuing -the soul with the wicked thirst of gold unjustly acquired—of plunder, -without fear of punishment—of robbery, without danger of the gallows! -The atmosphere of this Pandemonium—for the devils are in legions here—is -too infectious to be long resisted. The open manner in which the vice -is practised by day, and by night—in the presence of multitudes of all -ages, nations, and both sexes—on the sabbath of the Lord, as well as on -the day of work—this legalization, not merely permission of a violation of -morality, religion, and social order, which, in England, must skulk in holes -and corners—the kind of social heroism with which the most destructive -vicissitudes of fortune are borne by some of the hardened haunters of these -splendid hells—these and various other circumstances combine to mask the -hideous mien of the monster, and strip the crime itself of half its horrors, -till, by daily presentation, it becomes at length endurable without terror, -and embraced without remorse! The neophyte has no sooner wound up his -courage to the staking of his piece of gold, than the spell of security is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -broken—the charm of serenity is dissolved—the flood-gate of the passions -is thrown open—the “<i>auri sacra fames</i>” takes possession of the soul—and -the dæmon of the night enrols one more name on the list of his -victims!</p> - -<p>The Spartan practice of exhibiting the drunken slave to disgust the -rising generation with the vice of inebriety, was a doubtful experiment at -best—but, in the present case, there can be no doubt at all as to its inapplicability. -There is always seen a certain proportion of the fair sex -round the gambling-tables—many of them playing with quite as much -desperation as the men. It is melancholy to state that, we too often see -delicate English females squeezing in between parded Jew and whiskered -German, to stake their gold or silver on the gyrations of a ball or the -colour of a card!</p> - -<p>Here is an excellent <span class="smcap">normal school</span>, where the wives, and daughters, -and sons of our nobility and gentry can learn the rudiments—“<i>and something -more</i>”—of heartless vice and headlong dissipation, without reference -to sectarian creed, theological faith, or national religion;—while the children -of the Protestant peasant and mechanic would be contaminated by -the presence of Catholic or Dissenter in the same grammar-school, when -acquiring the rudiments of reading and writing! If this be not “straining -at gnats and swallowing camels,” I know not what is!</p> - -<p>And here I may glance at a curious species of one-sided morality strictly -enforced by the late Duke of Nassau—the prohibition of gambling in the -“<span class="smcap">curst-hells</span>,” among his own subjects; while free permission is given -to all foreigners to rob and plunder each other at roulette and rouge et -noir, in the open day—Sundays and Saturdays! When I said <i>free</i> permission, -I was wrong. The license to gamble is sold to the bankers of -each Cursaal (curst hell) for a large sum—which goes into the ducal treasury. -I puzzled my brains, for a long time, in the attempt to discover the -<i>principle</i> of this law, and at length found it, as far off as China. The -geographers of that country represent the Celestial Empire as occupying -nearly the whole of the dry land of this globe—the various other countries -of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, being located as small islands -dotted in the ocean, and inhabited by <span class="smcap">barbarians</span>. Now it is clear that -the late Duke considered his Duchy of Nassau as the Celestial Empire of -Europe, the other nations, as Russia, Prussia, Austria, Italy, Spain, England, -America, &c. being mere barbarians, whose morals were not worth -preserving—whose souls were not worth saving—and whose gold alone -was worth gathering into the royal exchequer at Biberich!<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - -<p>The young sovereign of Nassau has now a good opportunity of signalizing -his accession to power by abolishing the gambling tables of the -Cursaals. The income derived from the licensing of “hells” cannot yield -good interest here or hereafter.</p> - -<h4>THE ADLER, OR EAGLE BATH.</h4> - -<p>It is not my custom to entertain my readers with the names of hotels, -the prices of wines, or the hours of table-d’hôtes. These pieces of information -I leave for others. The present anecdote is an exception to the -general rule. Having arrived late at Wisbaden, we put up at the nearest -hotel, which was the Adler, or Eagle, the one where Dr. Granville resided, -and the locality of which is not considered the very best by him. We -found it a very good hotel, and well supplied with excellent baths. Early -next morning, my friend Mr. Cooper, of Brentford, and myself, took out our -tickets from the “<span class="smcap">Bade-maitre</span>” in the hall, and strolled round the establishment, -without meeting with any person whatever. As several of the -baths were standing open, we went into the first two that struck our fancy, -and bathed. I observed an unusual quantity of the scum or cream on the -surface of mine, and which I could have dispensed with. I took the opportunity, -however, of examining this cream, by means of four out of the -five senses, viz. by sight, touch, taste, and smell. Before I left the bath I -came to a conclusion as to its nature and origin. I have not a doubt that, -at the great deluge, an immense posse of white antediluvian bears, then as -large as elephants, were swept from the polar regions, and hurled headlong -into the great cauldron beneath Wisbaden. There they have been simmering -from the days of Noah—their flesh, fat, and marrow oozing up -daily, in the shape of cream or bear’s grease, as well as broth, through the -Kochbrunnen, greatly to the advantage of the Wisbadenites, and the benefit -of those afflicted with gout, rheumatism, and the stiff-joints of old age.<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> -I am astonished that Dr. Granville and Sir Francis Head should have -framed so puny an hypothesis as that of the <span class="smcap">Kochbrunnen</span> and <span class="smcap">Chicken-broth</span>. -Why, I appeal to every one who has travelled in Germany, -whether it would be possible to extract an ounce of fat from all the cocks, -hens, and chickens in Nassau, even if stewed in a Papin’s digester for six -months together. No, no. The cream and broth of the Kochbrunnen are -the veritable essence and decoction of the antediluvian bear, spiced perhaps -with a sprinkling of the “organic remains” of wolves, tigers, jackalls, -hyenas, and other small gear.</p> - -<p>While I was dressing after my dip in this delectable soup, and carrying -out the details of my theory, a series of heavy blows and unintelligible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -vociferations at the door, induced me to think that the hotel was on fire, or -that the Kochbrunnen had exploded. I hastily drew the bolt, when in -rushed the infuriated bath-master’s cad, with his Medusa-faced cadess, -breathing forth all kinds of imprecations on my devoted head; and, from -their gestures and actions, menacing me with a drowning instead of a -plunging bath! I instantly threw myself into a posture of defence, determined, -if I must drink the bear’s broth again, that the cad or his gentle -mate should have the first gulp. On seeing this, they retreated a few feet -but still kept up a roar of abuse, till I had finished dressing, when my -friend Cooper joined in the affray. The assailants followed us, till I had -nearly got to the bad-master’s office, where, opening one of Dr. Granville’s -volumes, which I had under my arm, I pointed out the notice (not too -favourable) which had been already taken of the Adler, and told him that -I, too, was a <span class="smcap">spa-tourist</span>, and would render his baths either famous or -infamous, by the portrait which I should draw of them, as a warning to -my countrymen. The bath-master was astonished, and not a little terrified. -He immediately summoned his cad and cadess, informing them that -the English gentleman was an <span class="smcap">author</span>, and threatened to publish in -England an unfavourable account of the hotel and baths. The “<i>cream</i>” -of the jest soon came out. It appeared that a dandy of sixty—a Cupid -of the grand climacteric, had occupied for the season the bath which I -used, taking care that the water should be turned in over night, in order -that the cream, or bear’s grease, should have time for concretion on the -surface, and thus “smoothe the wrinkled brow,” as well as lubricate the -unpliant joints, of this veteran Adonis. The denouement disarmed me of -my wrath, especially when I recollected that, in this land of minute -regulations, I ought not to have descended into a vacant bath, without the -express sanction of the bad-master’s cad, in the subterranean regions. The -hotel itself is a very excellent one, and its master, who speaks English, a -very civil and obliging host. I recommend it to my countrymen, with this -proviso, that they never go into a bath that has an unusual proportion of -bear’s grease on the surface, without the cad’s permission, lest they spoil -the watery mirroir of some antiquated Narcissus, who hopes—vain hope!—by -means of baths and broths, to relume the lack-lustre eye—to efface -the time-ploughed furrows from the faded cheek—to communicate elasticity -to the indurated muscle—vital heat to the stagnant veins—activity to the -body, and energy to the mind:—and all these, <i>after</i> the allotted hours of -human existence have danced their giddy rounds<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>—after the cup of enjoyment -has over-flowed, times without number, and is now drained to the -dregs—<i>after</i>,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“The soul’s dark cottage battered and decayed,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">has begun to afford feeble shelter against the storms of moral adversity, -and the stings of physical infirmity—<i>after</i> the discovery of Solomon, that -“all is vanity,” has been amply verified! That humanity should still -cling fondly to the cheerful clay, <i>after</i> all these warnings, is not wonderful, -because it is the natural impulse and instinct of every animated being, -from the gnat to the elephant. But that reasoning man, and woman too, -should attempt, not merely to conceal the ravages of time, but deck them -out in the false colours of youth, is a mortifying reflection and preposterous -exhibition! We see it however, every day—and the Adonis of the Adler -is an exquisite specimen.</p> - -<p>I shall close this Chapter with an extract from a little work on the Spas -of Nassau, published in 1839, by my friend Mr. Lee, who practised three -years at Wisbaden, and made himself well acquainted with the remedial -efficacy of these waters.</p> - -<p>“It is becoming evident in England, that the high reputation which -the Wisbaden springs have always enjoyed, for the cure and relief of gouty -and rheumatic affections, has not been over estimated, from the numbers -who annually return home in an improved state, several of whom having -for years been subject to repeated attacks of gout, have escaped any recurrence -after a course of the baths, during the whole winter and spring, -and have returned in subsequent seasons greatly improved in appearance, -more for the purpose of more effectually preserving themselves from a -relapse, than from any actual necessity. In cases of long standing, of the -atonic kind, with or without deposition of calcareous matter in the joints, -occurring in persons beyond the middle period of life, the Wisbaden baths -are calculated to render the most eminent service; indeed, according to -Dr. Peez, the more inveterate the gout is, the more effectually can it be -combated by these waters. Though bathing is the essential part of the -treatment, it is advisable in most of these cases to combine with it the -internal use of the water. Mild douching will also tend very much to the -dispersion of local swellings, puffiness, stiffness of the joints, of the wrist, -fingers or foot, and also of chalky concretions, <i>although it should not be -used if there be a tendency to inflammatory action, nor until a certain number -of baths have been taken</i>. During an attack, the baths will require to be -suspended, till the more severe symptoms have subsided; when the patient -may again begin, by previously drinking the water, while confined to his -room. In general, patients who have been accustomed to free living do -not bear a low regimen, and will be the better, after the inflammatory -symptoms are allayed, for being allowed some solid food if an inclination -be felt for it; care being taken, that the quality be plain and light, and -that the quantity be small. In cases of erratic, irregular, or repelled gout, -these baths will also most probably be productive of great benefit, and not -unfrequently cause the morbid action to restrict itself to one spot; a more -regular attack being sometimes induced, previous to an amelioration taking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -place. Persons who have only experienced two or three attacks, but in -whom the predisposition is strong, may generally expect to derive permanent -benefit from the baths; provided they are subsequently cautious -in their mode of living, and do not indulge too freely in the pleasures of -the table; on the other hand, where there is much tendency to acute inflammation, -in persons of a plethoric or highly irritable habit, I should -consider Wisbaden less likely to suit than a warm alkaline spring, as Vichy -or Teplitz. I should be inclined also to counsel many young persons, in -whom the gout developed itself at an early age, in consequence of a -strong hereditary tendence, to give the preference to a spring of this kind; -though it is probable that they would equally derive advantage from Wisbaden. -It cannot be expected however, that a single course of the waters -would suffice to eradicate the disease; and, in order to have the chance -of a permanent cure, persons afflicted with gout would do well to return, -for two or three consecutive seasons, to the springs from which they derived -benefit; passing the intervening months in a suitable climate, and -paying attention to the regulation of their diet and mode of living.</p> - -<p>“As the mornings are frequently chilly, and it is of importance to -prevent the action of a cold atmosphere on the surface of the body, while -under a course of bathing, I do not in general recommend, to English -patients, the very early hours of rising and drinking the water, adopted -by the Germans; six, or half-past, will be sufficiently early, even for -those who take their bath before breakfast, and for those who do not, any -time between that hour and half-past seven; breakfast being taken an -hour after drinking, and consisting of tea or coffee, according as the one -or other is found best to agree. Those who dine at one o’clock, should -again drink about seven in the evening; while for those persons who -prefer dining at four, or later, from two to three will be the best time for -taking their second dose. The effects of the water are thus better sustained -than when the whole quantity prescribed is taken in the morning, -and an interval of four-and-twenty hours allowed to elapse between the -periods of drinking; the water is often thus better digested, and is well -borne, when the distention of the stomach by the same quantity if taken -before breakfast, would disagree and give rise to unpleasant symptoms, -or occasion a too active operation upon the bowels or kidneys.—It is -also advisable, when a full course of these and other mineral waters is -required, to recommend a temporary suspension of the course, and change -of air for three or four days, after a certain period of drinking and bathing -has elapsed; by this means, the system is not too early saturated, and the -patient returns to resume the use of the water, in a more fit state for its -absorption, and with a greater probability of more durable benefit.</p> - -<p>“Most chronic rheumatic affections will be removed or greatly relieved -by the Wisbaden baths. In the slighter cases, not of long standing, a -short course, for about three weeks, will be frequently sufficient. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -more intractable cases of articular and muscular rheumatism, as also in -the pains of a rheumatic nature affecting the face, head, and other parts; -a more prolonged course will often be required, combined with the use of -the douche. In some cases the hot bath, vapour-bath, or douche, may be -advantageously employed, especially in elderly persons whose skin is dry, -and seldom perspirable. Where however the complaint has supervened -upon, or has been continued from an acute attack, in which any symptoms -of the heart or pericardium being affected, were present—which is more -frequently the case than is generally supposed—it would be well to ascertain, -by auscultation and percussion, that none of those symptoms remain, -as they would very likely be aggravated by the employment of the water. -Those rheumatic affections depending upon long exposure to wet or cold, -to which military men on duty are peculiarly subject, are especially relieved -by these baths. Two or three bad cases of this kind fell under my -observation last year, in which the most beneficial and unexpected results -followed a full course of the waters. One gentleman in particular who -returned from India invalided, was scarcely able to get about with the -assistance of a stick; who was sceptical of the power of mineral waters, -and not over-attentive with respect to his diet, recovered the comparatively -free use of his limbs before he left Wisbaden, and was completely -restored when I met him about a month afterwards, in a steamer on the -Mediterranean, being on his way to rejoin his regiment.”</p> - -<p>“Those nervous pains recurring in paroxysms affecting the branches -of particular nerves of the face, head, or extremities, to which the term -neuralgia or tic is generally applied, and which not unfrequently originate -from a rheumatic or gouty diathesis, from the suppression of habitual discharges, -or of cutaneous eruptions—which causes, though perhaps somewhat -exaggerated by continental practitioners, are not sufficiently attended -to in England—are more likely to be relieved and cured by a properly -directed course of mineral waters, than by pharmaceutical remedies or -local applications. To many of these cases Wisbaden would be exceedingly -applicable, especially when the functions of the skin are sluggishly -performed, and there exists a congested state of the abdominal or pelvic -viscera, with retardation or irregularity of the periodical secretion in -females. In those cases which appear to arise from other causes, as moral -influences, a high state of nervous excitability, &c., I should be more inclined -to recommend waters of a different kind, of which I shall have to -speak presently. Water or vapour douches may in general be advantageously -combined with the baths and the internal use of the same water—or -of a water of a different nature, as that of Homburg, Marienbad, &c. -according as circumstances may seem to indicate their employment.</p> - -<p>“The state of abdominal plethora, with congestion of the liver, and -obstruction in the circulation of the vena portæ, termed by the Germans -<i>Unterleibsvollblütigkeit</i>, with its consequences, as impaired digestion, deficient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -or vitiated biliary secretion, piles, &c.—occurring for the most part -in persons about or beyond the middle period of life, who have been -addicted to the pleasures of the table, and marked by more or less protuberance -of the abdomen, with diminished muscular and nervous energy—is -one well calculated to be relieved by the use of the Wisbaden waters -internally and externally employed. The baths, by exciting the activity -of the nervous and vascular systems, and by determining powerfully to the -surface, tend most materially to equalize the circulation and remove the -internal congestion, while by the internal use of the water the secretions -of the mucous membranes, of the alimentary canal, of the liver and kidneys, -are improved in quality, and often perceptibly increased in quantity;—at -the same time that the mesenteric glands and absorbent vessels are -stimulated to increased activity, and the digestion is consequently improved. -Even when, under these circumstances, the drinking of the water -is not followed by immediate sensible effects, either upon the bowels or -kidneys, it is frequently not the less efficient on that account, and unless -some inconvenience be experienced, it should be persisted in, as after a -certain time copious critical evacuations will often occur, and be followed -by immediate relief; whereas were similar effects produced by artificial -means, as the exhibition of drugs, the relief would only be temporary, -and the frequent repetition of the same or analogous measures, would be -necessary, and would tend but little to the permanent amelioration of the -patient. In several of these cases, especially where there exists hardness -or tension in the region of the liver, spleen, or in other parts of the abdomen, -the douche will be of material assistance in the treatment.”</p> - -<p>“In many cases of paralysis, baths of mineral waters offer the most -efficient, and often the only means of arousing the nervous energy of the -system, and of the paralysed parts; and few have a more beneficial influence -in this way than those of Wisbaden; but here again it cannot always -be determined beforehand, that baths of this kind will be more effectual -than those of other springs containing but a small proportion of solid and -gaseous substance, as the latter occasionally succeed after the failure of -the former. In the obscurity which still envelops the mode of action of -mineral baths, this cannot be satisfactorily accounted for, except upon the -principle of idiosyncrasy, or by the supposition that the disturbing action -of a thoroughly impregnated spring is less adapted to certain of these -cases, than the more tranquilizing and sedative influence of a simple thermal, -or slightly alkaline, warm spring. In most instances, however, where -there does not exist a high degree of nervous excitability, or tendency to -fulness in the cerebral vessels, the baths of Wisbaden may be used with -great prospect of advantage; especially when the complaint is of a rheumatic -origin, depending upon the impression of poisonous influences upon -the nervous system, as malaria, the abuse of mercury, or the employment -of this and some other metals by workmen; as also in those cases, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -the disease appears to be of a purely local nature, not connected with -cerebral disease, but arising from deficient energy of the nerves of the part, -or of the spinal marrow, consequent upon exposure to cold and wet, or -other analogous causes. Even in paralysis affecting a limb or one side -of the body, remaining after an apoplectic seizure, baths of this and other -mineral waters may often be advantageously employed, provided there be -no symptoms of cerebral congestion, or organic disease. Plethoric individuals, -and those whose digestive organs are disordered, will frequently -require some preparatory treatment, previous to using the baths, in paralytic, -as well as in other diseases. These, then, are the principal diseases -which the Wisbaden waters are more especially calculated to relieve, and -in which their use in the form of baths and douches is the most essential -part of the treatment. There are besides various other complaints to -which the external or internal use of the water, or both combined, is extremely -suitable, in common with several other mineral springs; but of -which the peculiar circumstances of each case require to be investigated, -in order to enable the practitioner to decide upon the springs likely to be -most effectual. Of these, many scrofulous affections will be cured or -greatly ameliorated by the internal and external application of these waters; -particularly enlarged lymphatic glands of various parts, and of the mesentery, -occurring in children or young persons of a torpid habit, with tumid -upper lip and abdomen, a vitiated state of the intestinal secretions, and a -harsh dry condition of the skin. Here the exciting and resolvent powers -of the waters are exceedingly effectual, by improving and augmenting the -secretions of the alimentary canal, and of the skin; and, by stimulating the -absorbent and vascular systems, mostly cause the speedy diminution of -glandular or bony swellings.</p> - -<p>“Another case, in which the Wisbaden springs are often eminently -serviceable, is, where there is a general disordered state of the health, -without the existence of any actual disease, or material derangement of -any particular functions, except perhaps impaired digestive powers—as is -very frequently seen in Londoners, and inhabitants of other large cities, -closely engaged in trading, mercantile or professional occupations; as also -in those who have been resident in a tropical or unhealthy climate: such -a state, though relieved and palliated for a time by medicines, not unfrequently -terminates in serious functional or structural disease, if allowed -to continue for a long period—and nothing would tend more effectually -to its removal than temporary absence from the cares of avocation, change -of air and mode of life, and the employment of a mineral spring like -Wisbaden, followed by that of a chalybeate water, in those cases where it -is not counterindicated.</p> - -<p>“The same may be said of several cases of hypochondriasis, with -disordered digestive powers, to which Wisbaden is applicable, both on -account of its waters, tending to rectify the deranged state of the digestive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -organs, and also from the beneficial influence which would be exerted in -most instances on the patient’s <i>morale</i>, by the movement of the place, its -cheerful appearance, the beauty of its environs, and the neighbourhood of -so many objects of interest. To some patients of this class, tepid bathing -with the internal use of a cold gaseous spring is most applicable. To -others again, certain other mineral springs are best adapted.</p> - -<p>“The suppression or painful performance of periodical functions peculiar -to females, is frequently benefitted by the Wisbaden baths; especially, -if the cause be cold, checked perspiration, or a congested state of the abdominal -or pelvic viscera. Some syphilitic affections, especially where -much mercury has been employed, and certain chronic cutaneous diseases, -as psoriasis, impetigo, &c. where the skin is generally in a dry state; as -also eruptions of the face depending upon derangement of the alimentary -canal or liver, will often be removed, by baths of a warm saline water, like -Wisbaden; and likewise by sulphurous or alkaline springs, either alone, or -combined with the internal use of the same, or some other mineral water. -In certain bronchial and laryngeal affections, with cough, and scanty or -deficient expectoration, the Wisbaden baths, combined with the internal -use of the water, and the inhalation of its vapour, may be expected to be -of material advantage.</p> - -<p>“On the other hand, these springs, like most others, will generally be -prejudicial in organic disease of the lungs, heart, or large vessels, in disorganisation -of the abdominal or pelvic viscera, with fever, profuse -hemorrhagy or discharges <i>per vaginam</i>, either depending upon relaxation -or upon the presence of hypertrophy, polypus, or other structural -disease.”<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="SCHLANGENBAD">SCHLANGENBAD.</h3> - -<p>The extensive cook-shop and laboratory under Wisbaden have communicated -no small portion of caloric to the air, as well as to the waters of -that place. We no sooner begin to ascend the slopes or ridges of the -Taunus than we experience a remarkable transition from languor and oppression -to vigor and elasticity—not confined to the <i>physique</i>, but extending -also to the <i>morale</i>. Of the two roads from Wisbaden to Schlangenbad, -we preferred the mountainous, or inland route, to that along the -Rhine, for the sake of a bracing air and a boundless prospect. We trotted -merrily along the hills and vales of the Taunus, over a Macadamized road, -till, in two hours, we found ourselves, all at once, in a romantic dell or -valley, bounded on both sides, by densely wooded mountains rising nearly -perpendicular, from the narrow space between. In this small compass rise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -three or four huge buildings, white as snow, and each having more windows -than there are days in the year. I set them down as manufactories -of cotton or cutlery, but the absence of all clanking of machinery or hissing -of steam, soon undeceived me. On driving into a little square between -the two principal Hoffs, all was silent as Pompeii—and not a human being -was seen in any direction. There was no competition here between the -two chief hotels—both belonging to one master—and he the sovereign of -the country. As it was about 12 o’clock, all true Germans were in their -holes and corners, meditating on, and preparing for the grand <i>business</i> of -the day—the onslaught of the <i>couteau</i> and <i>fourçhette</i> at the <i>mittag</i> table-d’hôte. -To the Serpent’s Bath, the intervening hour was dedicated. The -cosmetic and renovating qualities of the Schlangenbad are nearly as far-famed -now as the cauldron of Medea was, in days of yore. The Old Man -of the Brunnens dipped his pencil in prime copal <i>varnish</i>, when he <i>embellished</i> -the baths of this sequestered valley. The description is a real -bijou of its kind,—a diamond of the first <i>water</i>—equally profitable to the -pen of the painter and the purse of the royal proprietor!</p> - -<p>“The baths at Schlangenbad are the most harmless and delicious luxuries -of the sort I have ever enjoyed; and I really quite looked forward to -the morning for the pleasure with which I paid my addresses to this delightful -element. The effect it produces on the skin is very singular; it -is about as warm as milk, but infinitely softer: and after dipping the hand -into it, if the thumb be rubbed against the fingers, it is said by many to -resemble satin. Nevertheless, whatever may be its sensation, when the -reader reflects that people not only come to these baths from Russia, but -that the water in stone bottles, merely as a cosmetic, is sent to St. Petersburg -and other distant parts of Europe, he will admit that it must be soft -indeed to have gained for itself such an extraordinary degree of celebrity: -for there is no town at Schlangenbad, not even a village—nothing therefore -but the real or fancied charm of the water could attract people into -a little sequestered valley, which in every sense of the word is out of sight -of the civilised world; and yet I must say, that I never remember to have -existed in a place which possessed such fascinating beauties; besides which, -(to say nothing of breathing pure dry air,) it is no small pleasure to live -in a skin, which puts all people in good humour—at least with themselves. -But besides the cosmetic charms of this water, it is declared to possess -virtues of more substantial value: it is said to tranquillize the nerves, to -soothe all inflammation; and from this latter property, the cures of consumption -which are reported to have been effected, among human beings -and cattle, may have proceeded. Yet whatever <i>good</i> effect the water may -have upon this insidious disorder, its first operation most certainly must be -to neutralize the <i>bad</i> effect of the climate, which to consumptive patients -must decidedly be a very severe trial, for delightful as it is to people in -robust health, yet the keenness of the mountain air, together with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -sudden alternations of temperature to which the valley of Schlangenbad -is exposed, must, I think, be anything but a remedy for weak lungs.</p> - -<p>“The effect produced upon the skin, by lying about twenty minutes in -the bath, I one day happened to overhear a short, fat Frenchman describe -to his friend in the following words—‘<i>Monsieur, dans ces bains on devient -absolument amoureux de soi-même!</i>’ I cannot exactly corroborate this -Gallic statement, yet I must admit that limbs, even old ones, gradually do -appear as if they were converted into white marble. The skin assumes a -sort of glittering, phosphoric brightness, resembling very much white objects, -which, having been thrown overboard, in calm weather within the -tropics, many of my readers have probably watched sinking in the ocean, -which seems to blanch and illuminate them as they descend. The effect -is very extraordinary, and I know not how to account for it, unless it be -produced by some prismatic refraction, caused by the peculiar particles with -which the fluid is impregnated.</p> - -<p>“The Schlangenbad water contains the muriates and carbonates of lime, -soda, and magnesia, with a slight excess of carbonic acid which holds the -carbonates in solution. The celebrated embellishment which it produces -on the skin is, in my opinion, a sort of corrosion, which removes tan, or -any other artificial covering that the surface may have attained from exposure -and ill-treatment by the sun and wind. In short, the body is -cleaned by it, just as a kitchen-maid scours her copper saucepan; and the -effect being evident, ladies modestly approach it from the most distant parts -of Europe. I am by no means certain, however, that they receive any -permanent benefit; indeed, on the contrary, I should think that their -skins would eventually become, if anything, coarser, from the removal of a -slight veil or covering, intended by nature as a protection to the cuticle.</p> - -<p>“But whether this water be permanently beneficial to ladies or not, the -softness it gives to the whole body is quite delightful: and with two elements, -air and water, in perfection, I found that I grew every hour more -and more attached to the place.”</p> - -<p>This glowing description of the Old Man has worked a greater miracle -than that of changing water into wine. It has actually transmuted the -spring of Schlangenbad into liquid gold—<i>aurum potabile!</i> If the author -be accused of “exaggeration”—(now a dangerous term)—he may quote -the sentiments of the <span class="smcap">Esculapius</span>—the Apollo of the place.</p> - -<p>“Never did bath produce such delightful sensations as the Serpent’s -Bath at Schlangenbad. These salubrious waters exert on the body an -agreeable and gentle pressure—voluptuously expand the limbs—and tranquillize -the nerves and the blood. You rise from the waters of Schlangenbad -<i>like a Phœnix from its ashes</i>. Youth becomes more beautiful—more -brilliant—and old age is imbued with new vigour.”<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> - -<p>Well done Dr. Fenner! You have beaten the “Old Man of the -Brunnens” fairly out of the field! Why the very waters themselves -must have blushed when they saw the account of these their miraculous -qualities—and the serpents must have waltzed merrily round the pine -trees that overhang the source of the magic Brunnen.</p> - -<p>And yet the whole is little more than an ingenious romance, closely allied -to the legends of the neighbouring Rhine—as the story of the Drachenfels, -for example. It is unnecessary to comment on the <span class="smcap">Phœnix</span> of Dr. Fenner. -That fabulous bird speaks for itself; but Sir F. Head’s account requires -some remark. In the first place, the appearance of the limbs and body of -the bather, is precisely the same as in other clear and tepid waters, as -those of Wisbaden, Baden-Baden, Wildbad, &c.—or, indeed, in plain -water. The “glittering phosphoric brightness,” and the blanching and -illumination of sinking bodies in tropical seas, are all the offspring of a -fanciful or poetical imagination. Then again, the soapy, satiny, and -unctuous feel communicated by the Schlangenbad waters, is not peculiar -to them. The first time I ever bathed in the Ems waters, many years -ago, I remarked this, and can never forget the sense of <i>bien-être</i> which I -then experienced. And no wonder, for the waters of Ems are infinitely -more alkaline—especially in the baths—than those of Schlangenbad. -The effects, however, of these last on the skin, appeared to me more -marked and pleasant than those of Wildbad, Wisbaden, or Baden-Baden. -The tranquillity and sedative qualities of the Serpent’s Bath are somewhat -exaggerated by the “<span class="smcap">Old Man</span>,” and outrageously so by Dr. Fenner; -but nevertheless they possess these influences to a considerable extent.</p> - -<p>And here I must say that my friend Dr. Granville appears to have -viewed poor Schlangenbad with a jaundiced eye.<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> The waters of the -Kochbrunnen may have stirred up the bile—for assuredly the waters of -Schlangenbad are clearer, and the mountains are higher, and the trees are -larger than he has represented them. The very description of Captain -Head proves the transparency of the waters—and the following passage -from Mr. Lee, which I can corroborate, will remove the stigma from the -baths themselves.</p> - -<p>“The bathing-cabinets, notwithstanding the depreciating terms in -which Dr. Granville has spoken of them, are exceedingly convenient, -more so, indeed, than at most other baths, and infinitely superior to the -closets for undressing adjoining the piscinæ at Wildbad. They are for -the most part lofty and well ventilated, and are divided into a dressing-room -and a large and spacious marble <i>baignoire</i> capable of containing five -or six persons; though it is only intended for a single person; bathing -in common not being the practice at Schlangenbad. The bather consequently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -is not obliged to lie down in water about two feet deep, but has -ample space to play or move about, the water being admitted in large -quantity, so as to rise nearly breast-high; the temperature can also be -increased by the bather, at pleasure, by admitting more warm water, -though some persons, in the height of summer, prefer bathing in the -water at its natural temperature,—about 22° Reaumur. A bath of this -water, like others of the same class, imparts softness to the skin, with a -pleasurable sensation while it lasts, and a feeling of <i>bien-être</i> for the -remainder of the day.”<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>The waters of Schlangenbad contain only about six grains of solid -substances in the pint—half of which is carbonate of soda—and very -little carbonic acid gas. Small as these ingredients are, they are larger -than those in the waters of Wildbad, or Pfeffers. They are, as Captain -Head observes, safe waters, both for bathing and drinking. The temperature -being about 86°—something higher than Buxton, they may be -used by many people without any artificial increase. But, generally -speaking, it will be prudent to raise them ten or twelve degrees for gouty -and rheumatic patients. Every body knows—or has been told—that the -medicinal virtues of Schlangenbad waters were discovered by a hide-bound -heifer—and proved by a young lady under a similar state of skin. Whether -this story be true or fabulous, I cannot tell; but I apprehend that -its cosmetic and satinizing properties are those which draw most of its -foreign customers from the shores of the Baltic, and the banks of the -Thames. Captain Head justly suspects the durability of the satin skin—and -there is little doubt that if half a pound of soda or potash were added -to a common warm bath in England, the same softness of surface would -be the result.</p> - -<p>I do not much wonder that the “Old Man” should have become enamoured -of Schlangenbad, considering the disposition which he evinced for -solitude, contemplation, and reflection. The locality is well adapted for all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -these. Society is so concentrated in this little valetudinarium, and so -quiet withal, that human nature may be studied with a kind of “microscopic -eye,” and all its modifications, peculiarities, and eccentricities noted -without distraction or bustle. On the mountain’s romantic brow, under -the shade of the sombre pine, and in the stillness and serenity of the -forest, the mind has ample time to meditate on, and inwardly digest the -observations made in the little miniature world below.</p> - -<p>As one o’clock approached, the solitude of Schlangenbad began to exhibit -some symptoms of change. From various points of the compass -isolated individuals, bearing the marks of illness, were seen carefully picking -out the softest—or, at all events, the <i>smoothest</i> stones of the pavé, -over which to wend their way, towards what an Irishman would call -“three centres” of attraction. Soon afterwards, we heard three or four -bells simultaneously sounding, when immediately the solitary videttes -were succeeded by whole columns marching to their appointed rendezvous. -Never did veteran Roman phalanx advance with more steady pace—more -death-like silence—or more inflexible resolution, to the assault of -barbarian foe, than does a German corps—men, women, and children—to -the work of demolition at a mittag table-d’hôte.</p> - -<p>Falling into the ranks of the largest column, we soon found ourselves -in the salle-a-manger of the New Bad Haus, where about one hundred sat -down to dinner. There was a fair proportion of English—full an eighth -of the whole. There is little difficulty in distinguishing the German from -the Britannic guests. The sallow complexion, black and broken teeth, -matted locks, extravagant mustachios—and transcendental salutations at -meeting and parting—are some of the most prominent features of distinction; -yet there are many others of a minor cast.<a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> An inferiority in -the cloth of the coat—a peculiarity in what a sailor would call “the cut of -the jib”—enormous rings on the fingers, and brooches in the breast, are -characteristic of our German neighbours. Independently of these, you may -smoke a German in any part of the room—or scent him at a quarter of a -mile’s distance in the open air, if the wind be favourable. For although -he ceases to smoke when he begins to eat, yet from one pocket the reeking -pipe is exhaling its odours—while from the other, a load of the -“cursed weed” itself is diffusing its aroma in all directions. But I find -that I have been mistaken in giving a truce to smoking during the act of -eating. The fair author of “Souvenirs” has corrected me. “Yonder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -is an old gentleman actually eating and smoking at the same time—the -long pipe being pushed into one corner of his mouth, so as to leave an -entrance in front for the spoon or fork.” On reading this passage, I -could not help feeling certain anatomical and physiological difficulties in -the way of this triple function of mastication, smoking, and swallowing, -being all simultaneous. I believe I can explain the phenomenon, however, -without questioning the fact of the fair writer. Every person must -have seen a horse eat oats and hay, with the bit of the bridle in his -mouth. It was so with the old gentleman. All Germans have numerous -vacancies among their grinders, and the one in question was able to keep -his pipe ready lit for service between the courses, in one corner of his -mouth. But it is certain that the triple or even double function of smoking -and eating simultaneously, is next to impossible.</p> - -<p>These external peculiarities of the German are probably not more striking -to John Bull, than are the singularities of the latter to the German. -As to internal qualities—moral and intellectual—my conviction is, that the -German has far more head and heart than nine-tenths of his continental -and insular neighbours.</p> - -<p>In fine, the more I have seen of the Germans, the more I admire their -honesty, zeal, single-heartedness, quietude, order, hospitality, learning, -and humanity. These solid qualities leave the little personal peculiarities -which I have sketched above, as “dust in the balance.”</p> - -<p>It is not quite so easy to discriminate between the German ladies and -those of our own country, as between the gentlemen of the two nations. -One reason is, that the German ladies do not smoke long pipes, and wear -long mustachios. I shall not libel the sex, as Pope has done, by making -the colour of the hair the characteristics of women:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“And best distinguished by black, brown, or fair.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">There is one peculiarity in the manners of the German fair (besides a certain -“je ne sçais quoi,”) which is, their <span class="smcap">bowing</span> instead of <span class="smcap">curtseying</span>, -on meeting or parting from friends—and that quite as low as their -brothers, fathers, and husbands. This was the reason of my introducing -the term “<i>bussel</i>-rending” in the description of a German <span class="smcap">salaam</span>.</p> - -<h4>TABLE-D’HÔTE.</h4> - -<p>Not being deeply versed in the science of gastronomy and its nomenclature, -I shall introduce the following order and succession of dishes as -drawn by a fair countrywoman (Souvenirs of a Summer in Germany,) -whose fidelity of description cannot be doubted.</p> - -<p>“First, as usual, was the soup—then the invariable boiled beef, with -its accompaniments of pickled cucumber, onions, or sour krout. After -the beef, is a course of cutlets, sliced raw ham, omelettes, and vegetables. -Then come partridges, chickens, sausages, ducks—all which are replaced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -by various kinds of fish—some so besauced and bedecked with garnishes, -that they are hardly recognizable as belonging to the finny tribe—and -pyramidical dishes of cray-fish. The puddings come next, with smoking -boats of fruit and wine-sauce. Is this the finale? Not at all. The -pudding is a kind of æra, whence fresh courses take their date. A more -formidable array of dishes next makes its appearance. Roast joints—req, -(a kind of deer,) geese, turkeys, hares, &c. &c. with innumerable -satellites of preserved pears, plums, cherries, salads, &c. This substantial -course is followed by sweets—cherry tarts—enormous cakes, all spices -and vanille with a snowy summit of powdered sugar—custards, creams, -&c. The dessert and bon-bons close the proceedings.”</p> - -<p>Now, it is to be observed, that this was the bill of fare at Schwalbach -or Schlangenbad, where nine-tenths of the guests are notoriously invalids. -It would scarcely serve for a dejeuner a la fourçhette at the sumptuaries -of Baden or Wisbaden. The fair authoress admits that the German partakes -of every dish; but argues that he does not eat more in the aggregate -than the Englishman. This statement is so decidedly contrary to all -observation, that I can only account for it by supposing that the fair lady -noted more accurately the compliments to “la belle Anglaise,” proceeding -out of the mouths of her favourite Germans, than the provender which -proceeded in a contrary direction. Is it likely that the keeper of a -German hotel would dress more dishes than are generally consumed, -seeing that the price of the whole dinner is under two shillings? Not he -indeed. The fact is undeniable that the Germans—indeed all the continentals -who can afford it, eat not only a greater variety and complication -of “dishes tortured from their native taste,” but a greater quantity -in the aggregate. The question naturally arises—what is the consequence? -Compare the complexions of the Germans and English. No -one will attempt to deny that the contrast is most striking. The tints of -health predominate in the looks of the Islanders—pallor and sallowness -in those of the Continental. But the lady may reply—“nimium ne crede -colori”—complexion, like beauty, is only skin-deep. Be it so. We shall -look deeper. Let us follow the example of the horse-dealer, and examine -the teeth. If my fair countrywoman has preserved any “souvenirs” of -these important actors in the drama of human life, she will not be inclined -to maintain that a German is like an elephant—with a mouth full of ivory. -I never saw the hearty laugh of an honest German, without thinking of a -temple—whose portal consisted of broken columns of ebony. If 40 Germans, -at the age of 40, were compared with the same number of English, at the -same age—all taken indiscriminately from the streets of Vienna and -London—what would be the comparative number of sound teeth in the -heads of the two classes? I shall attempt a calculation presently; mean -time, it will be admitted on all hands, that the Germans are woefully -afflicted with unsound teeth. What is the reason? A pair of mill-stones<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -will grind only a certain quantity of corn—or last only a certain number -of years. It is the same with the human mill-stones, or molares. They -will only grind a certain quantity of food, or do a certain amount of labour, -before they are worn out, like their namesakes in the mill. Now if the -Germans eat one-third more than the English—and I firmly believe they -do—then their teeth have one-third more of work, and ought to experience -a corresponding degree of wear and tear. This, however, will not -account for the premature decay of the teeth, but only for their wearing -out sooner than under other circumstances. We must seek deeper for -the causes. As the millstones are spoiled and rendered useless by allowing -improper things to be mixed with the grain, as pebbles, &c. so the -teeth are injured by the quality as well as by the quantity of our food. -The oils, acids, tobacco, and other deleterious substances, for ever mixing -with continental meals, must greatly injure the organs of mastication as -well as of digestion.</p> - -<p>The human frame is a congeries of organs, all in harmony, when in -health, and each assisting the others. But when we deviate from simplicity -and temperance, these same organs quarrel with each other, to -the detriment, and sometimes to the destruction of the whole constitution. -The stomach is one of those patient and willing organs that -will work wonders for years and years; but at length it will rebel—and -even retaliate. The teeth, which have long sent down immoderate quantities -of food, too often of the most abominable composition, for the -stomach to grind over again, become visited with pains and penalties -by the offended organ, under the vain hope that less work will be done -in the upper mill. The warning is unheeded; and then the stomach begins -the process of demolition in good earnest. It is in this state of, -what the geologists would call “transition,” that we see the teeth of the -Germans—and, it must be confessed, of the English sometimes also—in -a state disagreeable to the eye, offensive to the nose, and injurious to the -health. The stomach, which has inflicted this punishment on the mouth, -so far from being benefitted thereby, is still farther injured by the failure -of mastication; and then the various organs and functions of the body -become involved in the consequences of long-continued deviations from -the paths of Nature, simplicity, and temperance!</p> - -<p>If this penalty be still considered as imaginary, I shall adduce more -cogent arguments. The bills of mortality contain very stubborn facts. -Let us take the two capitals of Germany and England—Vienna and -London. In the <i>former</i>, one twenty-fourth of the population goes to the -grave annually:—in the latter (London) one-fortieth part only. In the -language of the insurance-offices, “the value of life is more than one-third -greater in London than in Vienna.” Now this difference will surely -not be attributed to climate merely—since the continentals themselves -anathematize the climate of England, and the fogs of London, as most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -“horrid.” Here then we have some clue to the comparative number of -teeth in individuals of the same age, at home and abroad. We shall probably -find the proportion of 24 to 40 (the ratio of mortality) as exhibiting -a fair estimate of the number of teeth in equal masses of the population -in Germany and England. Thus, for example, if the Englishman, at the -age of 50, have twenty teeth in his head, the German, at the same period -of life, will have only twelve, and so on.</p> - -<p>But to return to the table-d’hôte. A glance round the “<span class="smcap">salle-a-manger</span>” -brought a strong conviction on my mind, that <span class="smcap">Fame</span> had either -exaggerated the virtues of the Serpent’s Bath, or had excited hopes that -would seldom be realized. A majority of the guests were females; and -not a few of these were of a certain—or rather of an <i>uncertain</i>, age. Of -the males, the greater number were evidently dandies in decay. I never -remember to have seen, in the same compass, a greater variety of feature -and complexion—indicating a re-union, in this sequestered spot, of individuals -from various and remote regions. But however diversified in external -physiognomy, there was one point in which there was a wonderful -coincidence and similarity—that point was—<i>not</i> the point of <span class="smcap">beauty</span>. It -is with mortification, I confess, that the English portion of the guests did -not form a prominent exception to the general rule. To say the truth, -the whole company exhibited sorry samples of the great European and -Transatlantic family;—and if appetite was any index, the majority had met -here, partly for health, but principally for—<span class="smcap">re</span>-<i>creation</i>. How far the -transmutation from age to youth—from decrepitude to vigour—from the -wrinkled skin to the polished surface, was effected by plunges in the -Serpent’s Bath, I had not time to ascertain. I candidly acknowledge that -I never saw a <i>real</i> phœnix—but if <i>these</i> were specimens of Dr. Fenner’s -phœnixes, “rising from their ashes,” then I must say that they very much -resembled a batch of old cocks and hens roosting at Schlangenbad during -the molting season.</p> - -<p>The first impression which a stranger receives, while prying through -Schlangenbad, is that the waters have an uglifying rather than a beautifying -effect on the human frame. This is erroneous. We do not go through -the wards of an hospital to search for samples of rude health—neither -ought we to go to Schlangenbad for specimens of smooth skin and delicate -complexion.</p> - -<p>We rambled through winding and umbrageous paths up the mountain -behind the Old Bad-haus, to its summit—and I think there are few places -in the world better adapted to profound meditation, while, at the same -time, inspiring the most pure, bracing, and salubrious atmosphere. I -descended in a contemplative mood, when I stumbled into a long kind of -gallery or hall, which looked like an enclosed promenade. There the -accursed <span class="smcap">roulette</span>-table met my eye and excited my choler. What! In -this valley of Rasselas—in this asylum of health—in this peaceful retreat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -from the stormy passions of the city—to find the symbol of Hell, and the -instrument of the devil, was more than I could bear with patience! True, -it was deserted. Not a human being was seen in the place; but its presence -indicated too surely the work of destruction that would go on in -the evening. Julius Cæsar, I think, observed that the Germans, in his -time, were so passionately addicted to gambling, that, when they had lost -all their money and goods, they would stake their wives and children! -It therefore seems to be impossible to eradicate this dreadful propensity -from the German mind. Still the public exercise of it might be prevented. -The King of Saxony prohibits and <i>prevents</i> smoking in Dresden! If such -a miracle as this can be wrought in Germany, we need not despair, even -of gambling!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="SCHWALBACH">SCHWALBACH.</h3> - -<p>The wizzard of Nassau—the knight of the “Bubbles,” has wrought a -real modern miracle—the transmutation of water into wine, or rather into -nectar.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“The conscious Brunnens saw their god and blushed.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Every spring in the Duchy has danced more merrily, and bubbled more -briskly to the beams of the rising sun, since the children of Albion have -swarmed round the living fountains, in search of health or amusement. -Well may Dr. Fenner say—“cette reputation est due surtout aux Anglais. -La plume caustique de <span class="smcap">Head</span> a puissament contribué à nous faire-faire une -connaissance plus intime avec cette nation.” The pen of Sir Francis may -be likened to the bath of Schlangenbad—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Nullum tetigit quod non ornavit.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">By “ornavit” I do not mean the <i>embellishment</i> which is sometimes synonymous -with exaggerations or distortions; but merely that charm which -the pen of genius can throw round the most common subjects. Schwalbach -is still as it was, in a deep narrow valley—and invisible till we are -within a few hundred yards of it. The houses, though more generally -painted, and greatly increased in number since the time of the “Old Man,” -are still as though they had been shaken in a bag and scattered through -the ravine, without the slightest regard to order or regularity. Sir Francis -could find no shops in his time—now he would find a bazaar! The town -is still somewhat in the form of a Y or a fork, at the end of one prong of -which is the <span class="smcap">Stahl-brunnen</span>—while the other prong, or rather prongs, -boasts of two hygeian fountains—the <span class="smcap">Wein-brunnen</span> and the <span class="smcap">Paulinen-brunnen</span>. -The <span class="smcap">Wein-brunnen</span> is the most powerful—the <span class="smcap">Stahl-brunnen</span> -is the most palatable—and the <span class="smcap">Pauline</span> is the most fashionable. -The climate of this place, according to the testimony of Dr. Fenner, supported -by that of Sir F. Head and others, is very pleasant and salubrious. -On the hills we have cool breezes—in the valley shelter from cold winds—in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -the woods, ample shade beneath umbrageous foliage, when the sun -is powerful and the heat oppressive.</p> - -<p>When the “bad humours” of the spa-going invalids have been washed -away by copious libations at Aix-la-Chapelle, Ems, and Wisbaden—when -the gouty and misshapen limbs have shrunk into “the lean and slippered -pantaloon,” beneath the powerful influence of the Kochbrunnen, the -Ragoczy, and the Sprudel—when the purple nose of the alderman has -faded into the pale proboscis—when the turgid liver, the tumid spleen, and -the over-fed corporation have receded within the normal boundaries of a -double-reefed waistcoat—when the knotty and contracted joints of rheumatic -gout have taken their departure, leaving a legacy of the crutches—when—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Wrapp’d in his robe, white <span class="smcap">Lepra</span> hides his stains,</div> -<div class="verse">Robb’d of his strength, but unsubdued his pains”—</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">when tottering palsy has been discharged from Wisbaden and Wildbad, as -much reduced in general, as recruited in local power—when blighted ambition, -wounded pride, ruined fortunes, and corroding cares, have sapped -the energies of mind and body, and marked their impress on the pale and -sickly countenance—when the “green and yellow melancholy” of hopeless -love or severed affections wanes to the alabaster hue on the maiden’s -cheek—then <span class="smcap">Schwalbach</span>, with its ruby fountains and sparkling gases, -comes to the rescue, and works as many miracles and metamorphoses as -steel and carbonic acid can any where effect. The saline spas of Germany -are all of the radical cast. They are qualified to break down and expel -the rotten and decayed parts of the constitution—but they can seldom -build up or repair the vacant spaces. The chalybeate spas, among which -<span class="smcap">Schwalbach</span> holds a distinguished rank, unite the principles of conservatism -and reform. They are calculated to preserve the original constitution, -and to <i>re</i>-form those portions that have been pulled down and extruded -by the “<i>mouvement</i>,” or radical waters of the saline class.</p> - -<p>In none of the three springs is there more than three-fourths of a grain -of iron to the pint—and in the Pauline—the most fashionable one—there -is little more than half a grain; but it contains nearly 40 cubic inches of -carbonic acid gas to the pint, which, with six grains of carbonate of -sodium, two grains of carbonate of lime, and nearly three grains of magnesia, -makes it the most ætherial and aperient of the three sisters. The -water of the Wein-brunnen is limpid, pleasant to the taste, and sparkling -like champaigne. It is very easy of digestion, even when taken in considerable -quantity. Almost immediately after being swallowed, it produces -an agreeable warmth in the stomach, and thence diffuses a sensation -of comfort, nearly amounting to pleasure, through the whole frame. It -acts gently on the bowels in most cases. It is easily preserved in bottles -for any length of time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Stahl-brunnen is the greatest favourite with the ladies. It contains -about three-fourths of a grain of iron, and little more than three -grains of other substances in the pint. It is sharper and rougher to the -taste, and has more of the inky gout than either of the other springs. It -is also much more refreshing and exhilarating. The carbonic acid is very -abundant. The waters more nearly resemble Champaigne than the other -sources, and quickly diffuse a powerful energy over the whole frame. -Formerly these waters caused an eruption on the skin; but they do not -so at present.</p> - -<p>The Pauline was only discovered in 1828, at a depth of fourteen feet. -The quantity it discharges is prodigious. The taste is extremely agreeable -and refreshing. It is one of the mildest and purest chalybeates that -is known. It is very easy of digestion, and operates very gently on the -bowels. By quickly amalgamating itself with the blood, it is rapidly diffused -through every organ and tissue of the body, producing favourable -changes there, and proving a general restorative. The vigor which it inspires -is remarkable from day to day—and the change of complexion from -pale to rosy, is equally surprising.</p> - -<p>The waters of Schwalbach, generally belong to the class of æthereal or -volatile chalybeates—very agreeable to the palate, and producing a slight -and temporary feeling of intoxication. Their chief ingredients are steel -and carbonic acid, in such a state of combination as gives the iron a great -efficacy in consequence of its minute solution in the waters.</p> - -<p>“At the same time (says Dr. Fenner,) that this spring causes agreeable -sensations in the palate and stomach, it excites the muscular fibres -and the nerves of the whole alimentary canal, into a state of activity—invigorates -the circulation—corrects the secretions—increases them when -defective—and gives new vigor to the whole process of digestion and -nutrition. In doing this it enlivens the spirits, and imparts tone to the -intellectual functions.”</p> - -<p>The indications for using the Schwalbach chalybeates, according to the -same authority, are the following:—</p> - -<p>1. In atony or debility of the stomach and bowels, whether from -natural constitution, or from excesses previously committed—whether -isolated from other complaints, or connected with affections of other -organs, as the liver, spleen, &c. This atony eventuating in difficult, -painful, or imperfect digestion, with all its consequences, is remedied by -the waters. It is in these kinds of complaints that the Stahl-brunnen is -chiefly employed—“the Wein-brunnen being too strong, and the Pauline -too volatile.” Strict regimen, in such cases, is indispensible.</p> - -<p>2. When the blood is in a watery or deteriorated condition—when it is -deficient in red globules—and consequently not fitted to support the energies -of the muscles, the tone of the nerves, or the functions of the great -organs of assimilation, secretion, &c. It is in such cases that the chalybeates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -produce their most brilliant and unequivocally good effects. Females, -from the delicacy of their constitutions, the effects of civilization, -and certain disorders to which their sex subjects them, are the peculiar -votaries of these springs. Hence those affected with chlorosis—with -hæmorrhages—with menorrhagia—hysteria—obstructions, &c. are seen -flocking to Schwalbach, there to regain strength, colour, and health.</p> - -<p>“Quels que les noms des maladies qui se developpent, ici le malade -peut esperer, avec raison, d’etre gueri. Quelques semaines suffisent souvent -pour regenerer ses humeurs d’une maniere sensible.”</p> - -<p>Although this is the assurance of a <span class="smcap">Spa Doctor</span>, yet the nature of -these waters, and the reputation they have obtained, produce a considerable -degree of confidence in the assertion of Dr. Fenner.</p> - -<p>3. In great weakness of the nerves, and where their influence is not -sufficient to impart energy to the various functions, particularly of chylification -and sanguification, the chalybeates of Schwalbach are said to -have proved eminently serviceable. Dr. Fenner asserts their efficacy in -hypochondriasis, hysteria, melancholia, and in partial and complete paralysis. -In sterility they have also acquired considerable reputation.</p> - -<h4>COUNTER-INDICATIONS.</h4> - -<p>The waters of Schwalbach have limits to their medicinal agency, and -are even injurious in many states of disease.</p> - -<p>1. In plethoric states of the constitution, accompanied by irritable condition -of the heart and great vessels—in sanguineous temperaments—and -in all cases where there is a tendency to local inflammation or general -fever—or even to congestion in any of the organs or tissues of the -body. “High attacks of acute inflammation, of hæmorrhage, and of -apoplexy, have followed the imprudent employment of these chalybeates.”—<i>Fenner.</i></p> - -<p>2. In those cases of indigestion, connected with, or dependent on, -organic disease of stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys, or mesenteric glands, -these waters would be improper and hurtful.</p> - -<p>3. But the chalybeates of Schwalbach are not to be recommended in -cases where the vital powers are <i>greatly</i> prostrated—the blood and humours -extremely vitiated—or the nervous system too much shattered. -“Those who venture on these waters, under such circumstances, and -where the constitution is at so low an ebb,—‘trouvent, loin des siens et -de leur patrie, une mort certaine et premature.’”—<i>Fenner.</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The waters are taken fasting. The best season is the spring and summer. -From one to three glasses are prescribed, with a quarter of an -hour’s exercise between each glass. After this a light breakfast, where -the bath is not used.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> - -<h4>THE BATHS.</h4> - -<p>These are prescribed in the morning, after taking a glass or two of the -waters. They are generally given at a low temperature, such as 90° of -Fahrenheit, unless ordered otherwise. They therefore are several degrees -lower than the heat of the bather’s blood, and about the same heat as the -<i>external</i> surface of the body. They feel neither warm nor cold; but it is -asserted by Sir F. Head, who used them for some time, that they impart -a feeling of invigoration soon after immersion—and “he could almost -have fancied himself lying with a set of hides in a tan-pit.” The same -author remarks that they are very apt to produce—“headaches, sleepiness, -and other slightly apoplectic symptoms.” He thinks these effects -must result from not immersing the head as well as the body. In this -he is mistaken. The best way to avoid such consequences is to keep -the head cool—and the atmosphere of the bath is and must be many degrees -below that of the water. The bare head will therefore be cooler -out of the bath than in it. But the fact is, that the symptoms above-mentioned -are not seldom apt to occur in all tepid and warm baths, from -the action of the waters on the nervous and vascular systems of the surface, -producing an excitement and determination to the brain. They -should be taken as warnings, and not be trifled with.</p> - -<p>Upon the whole, the waters of Schwalbach, from what I could learn -on the spot, and from those who have prescribed them, and used them, -are very useful and mild chalybeates, which may be considered as a kind -of “<span class="smcap">finish</span>,” after the powerful alterative waters of Wisbaden, and the -strong alkaline waters of Ems;—always remembering that <span class="smcap">Schlangenbad</span> -is to give a <i>polish</i> to the surface at the end of the process.</p> - -<h4>GERMAN SOCIETY AND MANNERS.</h4> - -<p>There are few places where a stranger can have a better coup-d’œil of -German habits and manners, than at the <span class="smcap">spas</span>; where all ranks and classes, -from the prince to the peasant, are jumbled together, without ever jostling -each other. They drink together, bathe together, walk together, talk -together, smoke together, joke together, dine together, muse together, -sup together—and, then go to bed, all with the greatest decorum, quietude, -civility—and I may add, ceremony.</p> - -<p>“The company,” says Sir F. Head, “which comes to the brunnens for -health, and which daily assembles at dinner, is of a most heterogeneous -description, being composed of princes, dukes, barons, counts, &c. down -to the petty shop-keeper, and even the Jew of Frankfort, Mainz, and other -neighbouring towns; in short, all the most jarring elements of society, -at the same moment, enter the same room, to partake together, the same -one shilling and eight-penny dinner—still, all those invaluable forms of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -society which connect the guests of any private individual were most -strictly observed; and, from the natural good sense and breeding in the -country, this happy combination was apparently effected without any -effort. No one seemed to be under any restraint, yet there was no freezing -formality at one end of the table, nor rude boisterous mirth at the other. -With as honest good appetites as could belong to any set of people under -the sun, I particularly remarked that there was no scrambling for favourite -dishes;—to be sure, here and there, an eye was seen twinkling a little -brighter than usual, as it watched the progress of any approaching dish -which appeared to be unusually sour or greasy, but there was no greediness, -no impatience, and nothing which seemed for a single moment to -interrupt the general harmony of the scene; and, though I scarcely heard -a syllable of the buzz of conversation which surrounded me; although -every moment I felt less and less disposed to attempt to eat what for some -time had gradually been coagulating in my plate; yet, leaning back in my -chair, I certainly did derive very great pleasure, and I hope a very rational -enjoyment, in looking upon so pleasing a picture of civilized life.”</p> - -<p>It must be candidly confessed that this scene, which is every where the -same, exhibits a striking contrast to spa-society in England, where each -class forms a clique that repels its neighbour, as one electrified ball repels -another. It is therefore highly desirable that the <i>cause</i> of this happy concordance -throughout the whole chain of society on the Continent, should -be ascertained, in order, if possible, to introduce it into our own country. -Sir F. Head seems to attribute it to a high degree of <i>civilization or refinement</i>. -“I fear it cannot be denied that we islanders are very far from -being as highly polished as our continental neighbours.” If civilization -consist in <i>civility</i>, I admit the truth of this assertion. But a Gentoo is -even more <i>civil</i> than a German—and a Chinese is more ceremonious than -either—yet we do not place the Hindoo or the Hong at the very top of -the tree of civilization.</p> - -<p>But I apprehend that this harmonious amalgamation of all ranks and -classes in Germany is not to be traced to one, but to several causes. I -would attempt to account for the phenomenon by one, or more, or all of -the following circumstances.</p> - -<p>1. Natural disposition.—2. Education, inducing habit.—3. Comparative -paucity of trade, commerce, and manufactures.—4. Government.</p> - -<p>1. We see peculiarities in the natural dispositions of nations, as well -as of men. Some evince a disposition to music, another to arms, a third -to navigation, a fourth to agriculture, a fifth to commerce, &c. The Germans -may have a natural disposition to order, quietude, and politeness. -Of this I am by no means sure.</p> - -<p>2. What is man, individually or collectively, but the creature of those -circumstances in which he is placed?—of the elements around him—of -the education impressed on him—of the religion within his breast—of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -examples before his eyes? In all the lauded and laudable traits of character -delineated by Sir. F. Head, the German has been trained from his -infancy—and from these he has neither inducement nor inclination to -deviate.</p> - -<p>3. The third circumstance I consider to be very operative. The struggles, -the collisions, the jealousies—the host of evil and of exciting -passions, which agitate a commercial, trading, maritime, and manufacturing -country like England, have, comparatively, no field in Germany; -where life is far more allied to agricultural and pastoral, than to commercial -and manufacturing pursuits. There is as much difference between -the Germans and the English, generally, as between the peasantry of -Lincolnshire and the mechanics of Birmingham—between the chaw-bacons -of Hampshire, and the black and white devils of Merthyr-Tidvill and -Sheffield.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Government.</i>—I attribute no small share to this class of influential -causes in modifying the manners of a nation. In absolute monarchies, -where the will of the sovereign is the law of the people, the <i>latter</i> are not -likely to be so frisky, boisterous, and turbulent, as under a limited and -constitutional government, inclining to democracy, where the vox populi -is not seldom the vox Dei—and where—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent8">——Imprisoned factions roar,</div> -<div class="verse">And rampant Treason stalks from shore to shore.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>On another occasion I shall allude to the minuteness with which the -German governments regulate the most trifling concerns of life, when -mentioning that a passenger in a public diligence is forbidden to move from -the seat allotted to him, to the next vacant one at his side, without permission -from the post-master of the first town at which the conveyance -stops! In such countries would the Age, the Satirist, or even the <span class="smcap">Times</span> -be long allowed to take liberties with crowned heads, courts, or ministers? -No verily! Their tongues would soon be as smooth, and civil and ceremonious, -as those of the crowds of spa-drinkers around the Wein-Brunnen -of Schwalbach!<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p>Whether the state of things on the South side of the Channel be better -or worse than that on the North, I presume not to say. Davus sum, non<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -Œdipus. But I think I have proved that, while these differences exist, the -manners and habits of Germany are not likely to blend or amalgamate -with those of England. Nothing, I think, would produce this fusion of -the two people, except some strange geographical revolution that might -convert the British Isles into a small appendix to the Continent; without -“ships, colonies, or commerce”—without iron mines or coal mines—without -cotton or cutlery—without fisheries or factories—without steam-engines -or printing-presses—but above all, without that great national or normal -school of agitation—the <span class="smcap">Parliament</span>—where deputies learn to “speak -daggers,” and chartists are encouraged to make pikes—where orations are -directed not to the ears of the <span class="smcap">Commons</span>, but to the eyes of the <span class="smcap">Constituents</span>—where -the campaign is opened with a speech recommending concord; -carried on with speeches full of discord; and concluded with a -speech of gracious accord—finally, where multiplicity of <i>motion</i> in the -beginning is synonymous with paucity of <i>action</i> in the end. When all -these incentives to turbulence shall have vanished, and also when English -stomachs shall prefer sour krout and rancid oil to roast beef and brown -stout, then, and not till then, may Sir Francis hope to see his favourite -German <i>polish</i> and Gallic <i>varnish</i> lacquering over the rough manners of -his native Isle.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="HEIDELBERG">HEIDELBERG.</h3> - -<p>Many a time have I dragged my weary limbs up the series of steep -terraces that lead to the old red Castle of Heidelberg. Not being able to -feign ecstasies which I do not feel, I fear I shall give great offence to those -sentimental tourists who discover in this town, castle, and surmounting -hills, romantic views and picturesque beauties of the first order. Upon this, -as upon all other occasions, I appeal to the unbiassed feelings of the traveller -himself. The mouldering ruins of the Red Castle have something about -them too modern for antiquity, and too antiquated for the modern. I am -unable to give any <i>architectural</i> explanation of this impression—unless it -be the following:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“I do not like thee Mr. Bell,</div> -<div class="verse">The reason why, I cannot tell!”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">The view from the Castle, and from the Botanical Garden above it, over -the alluvial plain that stretches to the Rhine, and embracing the country -to the West of that river, is interesting, but neither striking nor romantic. -The tiny <span class="smcap">Neckar</span>, that meanders along its rocky bed, in the travelling -season, excites our apprehensions lest it should fare the fate of the Arethusa, -and disappear altogether. When heavy rains descend among the -mountains of the Black Forest however, it makes up for its torpidity in the -dry weather, and thunders past Heidelberg in great foam and fury.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> - -<p>In rambling through the streets of Heidelberg, whose University is one -of the crack seminaries in Germany, we cannot help recognizing the students, -although deprived of their red caps and long hair, by order of Government. -They have a semi-academic, semi-barbarous,—or, perhaps, -more properly speaking, a semi-ruminating, semi-fumigating appearance, -not very distantly allied to the revolutionary or bandittal.</p> - -<p>The German students of this and other Universities having ineffectually -endeavoured to regenerate—<i>id est</i>—to revolutionize their country, -were put under the <i>ban</i> of Austria and Prussia, a procedure which very -completely secured them against doing any mischief—<i>to the State</i>. Thus -cramped in their generous and patriotic enterprize to involve society in -war, they formed societies for warring among themselves, called the <span class="smcap">verbondungs</span>, -or congresses, for regulating, arranging, and conducting duels!! -The following graphic description of one of these fights, was drawn up on -the scene of action, in November 1839, by an eye-witness.</p> - -<p>“On Wednesday last, as I took my customary walk after dinner, a friend -came up to me, and told me that he perceived by various circumstances -that a ‘lorgehen’ was about to take place. He pointed out to me a man -sauntering lazily along the bridge, with a basket slung over his shoulder, -and who stopped at every minute to look down into the water, or watch a -barge dragged with difficulty against the stream by its single horse. An -old woman sat at the corner of a house, a short distance up the river, in -a position which commanded a view of the bridge and the road from the -town, and a man pushed a boat about objectless in the middle of the river. -These, to the initiated eye, gave certain evidence of what was going on; -these persons being all employed in watching, that an alarm may be given -in case of the police gaining information of the affair. We walked for -some distance up the right bank of the Neckar, till we arrived at the -opening of a mountain gorge, down which a small stream rushed impetuously, -and from which a girl was apparently filling her pails. We ascended -this pass for a short distance till we arrived at a dirty, dilapidated house, -which my companion pointed out as the scene of these disgraceful combats. -We ascended to the door of the beer-shop by a flight of broken -steps, and passed through a passage into a yard, where two men were -grinding, to the highest pitch of sharpness, a long, thin, basket-handled -rapier; the blade resembled, in shape and sharpness, two blades of a pen-knife -placed back to back. In a few minutes we mounted to the first -floor, and traversing a low room set out with tables and benches for refreshment, -passed into a lofty and spacious saloon, without furniture of -any sort, but a few forms placed against the walls, and a table with towels -and a basin of water, in one corner. In the opposite corner of the room, -at about four yards apart, were marked upon the floor two letters in chalk; -these, the initials of the verbondungs to which the combatants belonged, -marked the position of the fighters. A few students stood listlessly about,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -smoking or talking in whispers. A man entered, and threw down near -the scene of action a bundle of swords, a huge, thickly stuffed glove, -reaching to the shoulder, and a piece of matting resembling a mattress, to -be tied round the middle of the second, to guard against chance thrusts. -Thus some minutes passed, till at length one of the gladiators themselves -appeared. He was a short, but strongly and beautifully proportioned young -man, having a pleasing countenance, with a thin silky moustache, and long -glossy, black hair, reaching far below his cap, which was drawn closely -over his eyes, and bore the colours of his club. His body, from the chest -downwards, was enveloped in a thickly stuffed leather apron, impervious -to every blow, but slashed and stained in a hundred places from the effects -of former contests. The neck was covered also with a thick defence, -above which he could hardly lift his chin. Lastly, his right arm was bandaged, -and wrapped so carefully with paddings, that it was necessary to -have a person to support it until the moment of fighting. The body was -only covered by a ragged and dirt-soiled shirt. Thus equipped, with his -sword-arm resting on the neck of a companion, the little hero began to -walk up and down the room to promote circulation and to exercise the -limbs. In a few minutes his antagonist entered, habited in the same -manner, his cap decked with his peculiar colour, resting his arm likewise -on a friend. He was a tall and handsome youth, his face was pale as -death, but his step was firm as he paced the saloon for the same purpose as -the other. At this minute not a sound was heard but the tramping of the -two combatants and their seconds as they passed and repassed each other -without the slightest regard. Neither of them spoke a word, and the -seconds but seldom addressed to them in a whisper some sentence of advice -or caution. Presently a movement was observed towards the approaching -scene of action; the few and almost indifferent spectators drew -round, and a chair was placed within, beside which the judge stood to -mark the number of the rounds. The combatants were led to their respective -posts, their right arms extended, holding their rapiers in hand, and -resting still on the arm of a friend. The seconds planted themselves at -their left side, equipped in their defensive trappings, and holding above -their heads a blunted sword. ‘<i>Silentium!</i>’ exclaimed the judge. The -quiet which reigned before became instantly doubly quiet. One second -cried aloud, ‘<i>Verbindite Kling</i>’ (‘fasten blades’ literally), placing at the -same time, the point of his mock weapon a little in advance of his principal, -the other doing likewise. ‘<i>Los</i>’ instantly followed, and the glittering -swords of the two gladiators were crossed for battle. A moment they -looked at one another, then their blades flashed in the air, a blow was -struck and parried, and the seconds struck their arms up with a cry of -‘Halt!’ The heavy sword arm was again rested on the attendants, and a -moment’s pause ensued. ‘<i>Silentium!</i>’ repeated the judge, and another -round began. Whenever a blow was aimed, whether it took effect or not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -the seconds interfered, and the round was ended. Thus they continued -through twenty-two onsets without pause, except to replace a broken blade, -or for a fresh cap on the head of the combatants. The latter of the two -was a wary swordsman, who had fought frequently before. He watched -cautiously the movement of his adversary, and, whenever his stroke failed, -made a quick and well-directed blow at his head. He, though it was his -first battle, guarded well: but at length the blade of his opponent passed -like lightning through his cap, and inflicted an awful wound on his head. -A large space was laid bare, and his whole person deluged in blood: his -long thick hair hung matted and discoloured over his shoulders. In a few -moments, however, he retaliated fully upon his antagonist, his face was -laid open from the ear to the nose, effectually marking him for life. In all, five -wounds were given, three of which the smaller of the two received, having, -besides that on the head, one under the right arm and one under the ear; -the other had also a gash under the ear. In about twenty minutes the -number of onsets was completed; the combatants retired, their padding -was taken off, and the worst part of the affair began—namely, the sewing -up of the wounds. Here they are in the habit (as if to punish as much as -possible the folly of these duels) of <i>sewing</i> up even comparatively trifling -wounds, so that the mark is seen certainly for years after its infliction. -The tall man in a short time was able to walk home; the other, however, -was compelled to have a carriage, so weak had he become from loss of -blood. This, I must tell you, was an unusually bloody combat, as in two -others, which I saw immediately after, not a single wound was given. The -average number of duels taking place daily is seven: the consequence is, -that every third man you meet in the street has a gash across his face.”</p> - -<p>Bad as is British pugilism, it is exceeded in atrocity by this barbarous -system of German duelism. What says the government to it? Virtually -and literally this:—“you are naughty boys, and deserve to be punished -for thus hacking and carving each other; but, as paternal solicitude for -the happiness of our loving subjects is our ruling principle, we will—<i>pension -a surgeon to sew up your wounds</i>. There, now, be gone—but mind, -young gentlemen! no <i>political</i> discussion in your verbondungs! If you -are ever caught at <i>that</i>, perpetual incarceration will be your lot!” This is -literally the fact. The state not only winks at this Gothic war among the -students, but pays a state surgeon for attending the wounded!<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> - -<p>The parents of youths going to universities of all kinds, have some -reason for anxiety—if they knew all:—but the <span class="smcap">verbondungs</span> of Germany -are a disgrace to civilized Europe!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="BADEN-BADEN">BADEN-BADEN.</h3> - -<p>Along almost the whole way from Wisbaden to Baden-Baden, we have -Belgium on our right, and Devonshire on our left. The road, which -generally skirts the bases of the undulating hills to the eastward, has -hardly a rise or fall, the alluvial and fertile plain stretching away to -the Rhine, till the mountains of Alsace arrest the attention on the western -bank of that river. The whole space between the hills and the river, -was, indisputably, a lake, at some remote period, drained by the breaking -down of some obstruction to the stream—probably in the vicinity of the -present Lurley-rocks.</p> - -<p>Five or six miles from Rastadt and the Rhine, embosomed in a narrow -dell, and encircled by steep and wooded hills, lies the far-famed <span class="smcap">Baden-Baden</span>. -The comparative localities of Wisbaden and this place, might be -imagined by supposing the former to be a saucer, and the latter an egg-cup. -And yet the air of Baden, though in an egg-cup, is fresher if not -purer, than that of its celebrated rival of Nassau, where there are no -eminences of any altitude within some miles of the town. It is true that -the thermal springs of Wisbaden are a few degrees higher in temperature -than those of Baden, but this is quite insufficient to account for the difference -of atmosphere.</p> - -<p>A very few visits to the wells in the morning, the hells in the evening, -and the hotels in the middle of the day, will convince any observant -traveller that three-fourths of the sojourners at Baden, go there to drink -wine rather than water—and to lose money, rather than regain health.</p> - -<p>The thermal springs here are of great antiquity. They served to scour -the Roman legions stationed at Baden, in the days of Aurelian, as they -now do to scald the pigs and poultry of the butchers and poulterers of the -same place. The far-famed Ursprung issues from the ruins of an old -Roman structure on the side of a hill overlooking the town, at a temperature -of 154 degrees of Fahrenheit, and in quantities sufficient to -wash and drench the whole town, visitors and all. The water is translucid, -and tastes much less either of the chickens or salt, than its contemporary -of the Kochbrunnen at Wisbaden. It has, however, especially -in the baths, a very faint odour of bear’s grease, or green fat, which I -have noticed when speaking of the Kochbrunnen. The whole of the -solid contents in a pint of the water, are only about 24 grains, of which -common salt makes 16 grains, the other ingredients being chiefly lime, in -different combinations with sulphuric, muriatic, and carbonic acids. There -is just iron enough for the chemists to swear by—but not for the drinkers -to distinguish by taste.</p> - -<p>Whatever may <i>have</i> been the reputation of the Baden waters, taken -internally, I apprehend that their fame is not very great in the present -day. On several successive mornings, between five and eight o’clock, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -the Ursprung, I never could muster more than 130 bibbers—many of -whom appeared to have been attracted to the Paleotechnicon from curiosity -rather than in search of health. Except occasionally a fashionable -lady’s-maid, or governess, no English were seen at the spring. The -waters being led, however, into all the principal hotels, where there are -baignoires in abundance, the number of bathers outstrip very considerably -the number of bibbers. Although the waters of Baden are neither -so potent when drunk, nor so stimulant when bathed in, as those of Wisbaden -and many other places, yet they manage to do a fair proportion of -the annual mischief occasioned by hot mineral springs in general. Thermal -spas and quack doctors, indeed, have more good luck than usually -falls to the lot of men and things. They completely reverse the order of -events in the moral world. Their good actions are graven on <i>brass</i>—their -evil deeds are written in <i>water</i>. Unless some illustrious character receive -his quietus in a hot bath—as the Duke of Nassau did at Kissengen—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem”—</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">we seldom hear a word about the inferior souls who are deprived of their -terrestrial tenements by the boiling Kochbrunnen, Ursprung, or Sprudel. -And, when a great man actually falls a sacrifice, sufficient mischief is done -before his death, by his example and recommendation. It is well known -that the Duke of Nassau’s preference of the Kissengen waters to those of -his own Wisbaden, drew many illustrious patients to the former springs, -who would have been contented with the latter. That the hot mineral -baths produce a powerful effect even in health, and still more in disease, -we have ample proofs. We need only take the testimony of my friend -Dr. Granville himself, who will not be suspected of any prejudice or timidity -in respect to these agents. “One of the first effects of the hot water -bath at Baden (and I may say the same of Toplitz, Carlsbad, Wisbaden, -&c.) produced on me, was an almost irresistible inclination to fall asleep. -To resist this is of the utmost consequence.” “The operation of bathing -in water endowed with much power, from heat and other circumstances, -is not to be viewed lightly. Much mischief has arisen—nay, fatal results -have followed, from its indiscriminate adoption. A rich merchant, who, -but a few hours before, had been noticed on the public promenade after -dinner, on the day after our arrival, was found dead in a bath at 8 o’clock -of the same evening. A lady was pointed out to me, who had lost the -use of her limbs after using three hot baths.”</p> - -<p>The injurious effects of hot baths, even of common water, are daily -witnessed at home—and these agents are still more powerful abroad. Their -physiological effects on the normal or healthy constitution, as mentioned -above, by Dr. Granville, I certainly did not experience in my own person; -but this might be from the thickness of my skull, the hardness of my brain, -or the weakness of my circulation. The sensations produced by these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -baths were always of the most pleasant kind, with far more disposition to -ruminate than to sleep. In these effects, indeed, consists much of the -danger. There are few diseases, however unsuited for hot bathing, that -do not appear to be soothed or mitigated, at first, by this agent—and this -apparent relief throws the practitioner off his guard, and leads the patient -to extol the remedy, and persevere in the hazardous experiment, till the -mischief actually occurs. There is, in truth, much less danger from improper -drinking of mineral waters, than bathing in the same. The stomach -or other organs are pretty sure to give ample notice of approaching -injury from the imprudent use of mineral waters internally taken. Not -so in the case of bathing. While the train of destruction is preparing—nay, -at the moment when the match is applied to the train, the victim is -lulled into a fatal security, not only by the absence of painful feelings, -but by the positive induction of sensations the most pleasurable.</p> - -<p>It is unnecessary to reiterate the precautions already stated in other -places, as to the use of warm and hot bathing here. Rheumatic, gouty, -paralytic, and cutaneous affections are those which can reap much benefit -from the <span class="smcap">Ursprung</span>—and, in these cases, all inflammatory and congestive -states of the constitution, as well as of particular organs, should be carefully -removed, before the waters are used, either internally or externally.</p> - -<p>It would be easy to resuscitate ample testimonies, lay and professional, -to the <i>miraculous</i> efficacy of the <span class="smcap">Baden</span> springs, in all diseases, curable -and incurable. An attendance among the fragments of antiquity round -the Ursprung must convince the most credulous that <span class="smcap">Baden</span>, as I said -before, is not the Pool of Bethesda, as far as its healing virtues are concerned, -though its waters are daily “troubled” by angels somewhat different -from those that descended, for benevolent purposes, near the Holy -City. <span class="smcap">Baden</span> is, in fine, neither more nor less than a fashionable place of -pleasure, dissipation, vice, and gambling—abounding in hot-baths, hells, -hotels, scandal, and good scenery.</p> - -<p>The last item in the above list has been most grossly exaggerated, as -any one will acknowledge who has visited the place and compared its -scenery with the following bombast.</p> - -<p>“The surpassing <i>grandeur</i> of the scenery has been so constantly dwelt -upon, that the hopeless task of description is unnecessary. Should you -love all that is <i>awful</i>, sombre, wild, and <i>grand</i> in scenery, wander but <i>half -a mile</i> from town, and you may be lost amid the dark valleys that wind -through the pine-covered mountains.”—<i>Mrs. Trollope.</i></p> - -<p>Now I most positively deny that there is anything either grand, or -awful, or sublime, in the scenery of Baden. The valley is picturesque, -romantic, or even beautiful—and the view from the ruins of the old castle -(rather more than half-a-mile, by the way, from the town) is extensive -and very fine; but the sublime and the awful do not enter into the composition -of Baden scenery. You must wander among the Alps for these.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<h3>LINES<br /> -<i>Written at the <span class="smcap">Vieux Chateau</span>, August, 1834.</i></h3> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The pine-clad mountains boldly rise</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Round <span class="smcap">Baden’s</span> hot and healing spring;</div> -<div class="verse">And cloudless are the azure skies,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With <span class="smcap">Health</span> on every Zephyr’s wing.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But ah! in this romantic dell,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where streams of life for ever flow,</div> -<div class="verse">The demons of destruction dwell,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With <span class="smcap">Vice</span>, the harbinger of woe!</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">That horrid thirst of other’s gold—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Those hell-born passions pent within,</div> -<div class="verse">Corrupt alike the young and old,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For “sin doth always pluck on sin!”—</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">At tables piled with many a heap</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of ore from Earth’s dark entrails torn,<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></div> -<div class="verse">The harpy brood their vigils keep</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From dewy eve till rosy morn.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Hither the pamper’d landlords hie—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">While shivering tenants pine for bread—</div> -<div class="verse">Transform’d to brutes in Circe’s stye,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To every Christian precept dead!</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The prince, the peasant, and the peer,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The soldier, cit, and baron bold,</div> -<div class="verse">On equal terms assemble here—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The race is not for rank—but gold!</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And whilst the whirling ball flies round,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In dread suspense the gamester stands—</div> -<div class="verse">It drops—and quick each shining mound</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Dissolves—and shifts to other hands.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Shall Albion’s sons and daughters roam</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To Baden’s fonts for “change of air,”</div> -<div class="verse">And bring these foreign vices home—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Abhorr’d—endured—but <i>practis’d</i> there!<a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Haste then, my friend, from scenes like these—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And scale the mountain’s airy height—</div> -<div class="verse">Inhale the morning’s balmy breeze,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And contemplate the landscape bright:—</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">That glorious view of hills and dales—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of fertile plains and winding Rhine—</div> -<div class="verse">Of forests vast—romantic vales—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And slopes that “teem with corn and wine.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Or hie thee to the healing wave,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">By Heaven to suffering mortals sent—</div> -<div class="verse">The cold and palsied limbs to lave,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or soothe the joints with torture rent.—</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But ye, whom <span class="smcap">health</span>, or pleasure calls,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To seek that prize in distant lands,</div> -<div class="verse">Avoid, as ye would death, those halls,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where dwell the <span class="smcap">DÆMON-ROBBER</span> bands!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Lest I should be suspected of taking a cynical view of Baden-Baden, -I shall adduce the following quotations from Dr. Granville.</p> - -<p>“Here men, as well as women, took their places at, or stood round, -the several tables of “<span class="smcap">roulette</span>” and “<span class="smcap">rouge-et-noir</span>,” which were -in full play. One only remark I will venture to make in reference to this -subject—and that remark will be an expression of deep sorrow, at having -observed the daughters of Englishmen, to all appearance highly respectable, -joining the circle of such as pressed round the tables, to stake their -<i>petite pieces</i>, and be elbowed by some rude fellow-gambler, who had probably -as little character as he had money to lose.”</p> - -<p>I am happy to say that in the interval between 1834 and 1839, when -I last visited Baden, some improvement seemed to have taken place in -this respect, especially among our fair countrywomen. I saw very few of -them in the act of gambling, but the sight of such scenes—during the -whole of the Sabbath day—is most injurious to our youth of both sexes! -I cannot say so much for the balls in the evening. They are the same -now as when Dr. Granville wrote.</p> - -<p>“Away whirled the galoppe-dancers in giddy circles, until the very -breathing of the fair partners became audible, and their countenances lost -all traces of placid loveliness. And the rude grasp and <i>étroite liaison</i>, -during such dances—do they become the modest nature of an Englishwoman—or -of any woman? Oh, it grieved me to see the graceful—elancé—and -exquisitely elegant Mrs. M——, at the slightest invitation -from a booted hussar, or an embroidered <i>attaché</i>, or a disguised -<i>vaurien</i> of the lowest class, plunge with them into all the attitudes, -now violent, and now languishing, of a dance better suited for bacchanalian -or Andalusian representation! And she bore on her alabaster and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -shining cheek, the deep round flush of consumption, which parched her -lips, and made her fly, at the termination of each performance, to the refreshment-room -with her partner—there to quench, with perilous experiment, -the inward fever, by an ice dissolved in freezing water; while the -big drops of moisture stood on her forehead, or trickled down her face, -increasing the general disorder of her appearance.”</p> - -<p>Yes! The <span class="smcap">roulette</span> and the <span class="smcap">waltz</span> are the veritable “normal schools -of <i>agitation</i>” for the sons and daughters of the nobility and gentry of the—happy, -pious, and Protestant England!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="WILDBAD">WILDBAD,<br /> -OR THE ELYSIAN FOUNTAIN OF THE BLACK FOREST.</h3> - -<p>The glowing description of this mineral spring, and the all but magical -effects of its baths on the human frame, as given by Dr. Granville, have -led hundreds of additional visitors to the sequestered valley of the Enz—some -in quest of health, but many to satisfy curiosity, and test the picture -which has been drawn in such flattering colours by the talented author of -the “<span class="smcap">Spas of Germany</span>.” The difficulties, however, which Dr. Granville -experienced in his journey from Baden-Baden to Wildbad, must have -deterred a great number of spa-tourists from visiting the Elysian fountain -of the Black Forest. The journey occupied thirty hours, including one -whole night on the road. We accomplished it in eight hours, by an excellent -road, with the same pair of horses, and with ample leisure to lunch -and rest midway. This route lies through some of the most beautiful, -picturesque, and romantic scenery on the Continent. It is only thirty -English miles, six or seven of which Dr. Granville pursued, when by some -strange intelligence or mistake, he turned to the <i>right</i>, at Guernsbach, -and went <i>wrong</i> all the rest of the way.</p> - -<p>Sick of the frivolities and dissipations of Baden-Baden, we started at -eight o’clock in the morning for Wildbad; and, wending our course up a -steep acclivity, everywhere covered with pines, we passed the <i>Mercurius -Berg</i>, with its altar dedicated to the god of thieves—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Calidum quicquid placuit jocoso</div> -<div class="verse indent9">condere furto”—</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">just as the Romans had left it, together with the frowning ruins of Eberstein, -where thievery rose to the rank of robbery, and was christened -under the high-sounding title of <span class="smcap">Feudalism</span>! The higher we ascended, -the denser became the woods, and the darker the road. There is something -peculiarly sombre and solemn in the pineries of the Schwartswald, -through many parts of which I had formerly journeyed. The vast extent -of the forest, the great number and altitude of the hills and mountains, -the gigantic growth and height of the trees, the darkness of the foliage, -and the intensity of the silence, occasionally augmented rather than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -broken by the distant and scarcely audible stroke of the woodman’s -axe, all combine to form a scene of solitude well adapted for contemplation -and reflection.</p> - -<p>After an hour’s labour, we gained an open space, when the eye has an -opportunity of ranging over a sea of peaks and mountains to the South -and East, all clothed in the dark green livery of the pine to their utmost -summits. To the North and West the prospect was nearly as unlimited as -from the Alte-Schloss, from Radstad and the Rhine up the valley of the -Mourg to Guernsbach, which seemed like a white speck on the river at a -prodigious depth below us. Down to this little town we cautiously slid, -with drags on the wheels, winding in serpentine courses, often along the -brinks of dangerous ravines, but every little vale or valley cultivated till -the forest forbad the plough, the spade, and the scythe. The little town of -Guernsbach, built on both sides of the Mourg, with a good bridge across, -contains nearly two thousand inhabitants—almost all of whom live <i>by</i> the -produce of the mountains, and a good number of the poorer classes <i>in</i> the -woods themselves. Here the raftlets and rafts are seen descending to the -Rhine, afterwards to aggregate into flotillas carrying hundreds of rowers, -steerers, and navigators,—and conveying the Black Forest into the flats of -Holland. But a little farther on, I shall take more notice of this immense -traffic and source of wealth. The Castle of Eberstein and the church -crown the heights over the town. Here Dr. Granville, instead of crossing -the bridge, turned up along the banks of the Mourg, and had to go all the -way to Stuttgardt, on his way to Wildbad.</p> - -<p>From Guernsbach we ascended another lofty mountain to the romantic -village of Laffenau. The prospect of the valley of the Mourg, with -Guernsbach on its banks, and a sea of pine-clad heights in every direction, -is most beautiful. Near Laffenau we have the “<span class="smcap">Teufels Muhle</span>,” or -Devil’s Mill, with its legendary tale—briefly as follows:—</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Prince of Darkness</span> took it into his head, once on a time, to -turn parson, and to preach from a chair or pulpit, still called by the name -of that right reverend divine. His audience became more numerous than -enlightened, when an angel, from quite a different quarter, pitched his tent -on a neighbouring peak, and held forth in opposition to the man in black. -The eloquence of the new preacher drew away great numbers from the old. -Satan, in hopes of disturbing the congregation of his rival, vented his rage -in some caverns in the rock, and in growls and groans that resembled -thunder. But still the audience of the new preacher multiplied. This -was more than any preacher, human or divine, could bear; and the old -gentleman forthwith built himself a mill, the noise of which, together with -the <i>diabolical</i> hootings, yells, and howlings of the miller and his men, he -hoped would distract the audience of the orthodox ecclesiastic. Even this -would not do, and his reverence of the cloven foot and long tail betook -himself from words to things. He hurled masses of rock across the valley<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -against the successful candidate for popular applause, with as much ease -as a man would pitch quoits. This was “too bad;” and therefore a bolt -from Heaven was directed against this teacher of impieties which demolished -the mill, and prostrated the miller and his crew amongst the ruins! -The disturber of the peace fell with such force among the rocks that the -print of his body remains evident to the present hour.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">The tale may be false, or the tale may be true,</div> -<div class="verse">As I heard it myself, I relate it to you.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The legend concludes with one piece of intelligence, to the truth of -which most people will assent: namely, that after the above event, the -arch enemy has seldom ventured to hold forth from the pulpit, <i>in propria -persona</i>, but has employed a great number of emissaries in human shape, -who disseminate among mankind, and some of them <i>ex cathedra</i>, too, those -“false doctrines, heresies, and schisms,” which scandalize the church and -cause dissensions among the people.</p> - -<p>With the exception of a few miles, the whole route from Baden-Baden -to Nuenburg, is a series of steep mountains and narrow valleys, presenting -the greatest variety of scenery, from the picturesque and beautiful, up -to the romantic, wild, and savage character. A thunder-storm, with heavy -rain the preceding night—and now a beautiful day, with brilliant sun, gave -us every advantage; while the mountain air, with active and passive exercise -in alternation, produced, at once, sensations of health and hunger, so -little felt in the close and deep valley of dissipation which we had left -behind us at Baden.</p> - -<h4>SCHWEIN-GENERAL.</h4> - -<p>It was on the summit of a lofty mountain between Laffenau and Herrenalb, -that we fell in with one of those generals, or, I should rather say, -<i>field</i>-marshals, (immortalized by the “Old Man of the Brunnens”) who, -with three or four aid-de-camps, was marching and manœuvering a -“swinish multitude” of raw recruits among these alpine heights. They -were evidently less a fighting than a foraging party, levying contributions -on every thing edible in these sombre pineries. It was also manifest that, -whether from the morning air or the supperless night, they were by no -means over nice, either in their olfactory or gustatory senses; for nothing -seemed to come amiss to them, or to prove unsavoury or indigestible. But -although provender turned up at almost every step, they were a grumbling -and grunting, as well as an awkward squad, and so prone to predatory excursions, -that the schwein-general and his staff were constantly flogging -them into the regular ranks. Their long legs and lank sides shewed that -their fare was not of the most fattening nature—or, that they had little -else than predatory rations to live upon. They had been called out early -that morning, by bugle and horn, from their various bivouacs in Laffenau,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -with more appetite than order, for their mountain drill. The general (or -field-marshal) with his aid-de-camps, and some vigilant videttes, of the -canine species, had no small difficulty in compelling their guerilla corps of -maurauders to keep “close order;” for they were constantly deploying to -the right and to the left—shooting a-head—or straggling in the rear, despite -the proclamations of the general, the stripes of the subalterns, and the biting -rebuffs of the quadrupeds, who, ever and anon, <i>lugged</i> back into the ranks -some long-faced and bleeding deserter, amid the grunts and groans of his -sympathising companions, on whom, however, these summary sentences of -a drum-head, or rather mountain-head, court-martial appeared to make -but a transient impression.</p> - -<p>On taking leave of General Swein, I could not help making some -“odious comparisons” between him and some other generals, “<i>melioris -notæ</i>,” in various parts, and at various epochs of this world. <span class="smcap">He</span> did not, -like too many of his order, lay villages in ashes, and massacre the inhabitants -when rushing from the flames—or deliver their wives and daughters -to the tender mercies of an enfuriate soldiery—<span class="smcap">he</span> did not murder his -prisoners in cool blood, by nailing them to trees, as marks for an undisciplined -rabble of fanatic banditti to exercise their muskets—<span class="smcap">he</span> did not drag -citizens of a free state from their homes, and consign them to the mines -and wilds of Hyperborean regions—<span class="smcap">he</span> did not mock the forms of <span class="smcap">Heavenly</span> -justice, and slaughter the victims of his ambition or revenge in the -fosse or on the glacis—<span class="smcap">he</span> did not turn the fertile district into a frightful -desert, as the effectual means of ensuring peace—(“ubi solitudinem faciunt, -pacem vocant”)—<span class="smcap">he</span> did not perform these or any similar exploits, -and, <i>therefore</i>, he has had no pious advocate to justify his crimes, or impartial -historian to record his virtues!</p> - -<p>Descending by a long and zig-zag road from the Swine-General’s camp, -we arrive at <span class="smcap">Herrenalb</span>, situated in a romantic glen, enclosed by lofty -mountains. Here we lunched, and rested our horses, who certainly had -better fare than their masters. Black bread, bad butter, hard eggs, and -chopped hay for tea, were devoured without grumbling, in consequence -of the canine appetite acquired on the alpine heights. On leaving -Herrenalb, we pass on our left, one of the most singular and fantastic -groups of basaltic rocks which I have anywhere seen. They appear like -a gigantic fortress, with buttresses and embrasures. A traveller has remarked -of these productions of subterranean fire, that—“on croirait qu’une -imagination fantastique a presidé a leur formation.” They probably issued -from a deep-seated volcano, in the form of molten lava, at the time when -Staffa and the Giant’s Causeway rose from the bowels of the earth, and -congealed in pillars on the shores of Antrim and Argyll.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Firm on its rocky base each pillar stands—</div> -<div class="verse">No chissel’d shaft, no work of mortal hands.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Ere man had ceased in savage woods to dwell—</div> -<div class="verse">Roots for his food, his drink the crystal well;</div> -<div class="verse">Ere cities grew, or Parian marble shown,</div> -<div class="verse">Yon columns stood—and stand while they are gone.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>From these “fragments of an earlier world,” these real monuments of -antiquity, compared with which, the Pyramids of Egypt are as mushrooms -of yesterday, and whose rugged brows the rains and tempests of ten -thousand years have not yet smoothed, we ascended to a great height, and -reached a comparatively open and partially cultivated country, between -<span class="smcap">Frauenalb</span> on the left, and <span class="smcap">Rothensal</span> on the right. This alpine -plateau continued for six or seven miles—the prospect towards the North -and West being of great extent, over a fine champaigne country which, -from this altitude, appeared like an immense plain. The South and East -presented a vast sea of mighty mountains, the insurgent billows of which -were feathered with perennial forests. After doubling the North-western -extremity of a high alpine ridge, we turned short round to the right—plunged -into a deep wood—and descended quickly by a precipitous route -to the town of <span class="smcap">Nuenburg</span>, situated on the foaming Enz, in a narrow and -gloomy valley. Here we got black bread and water for the horses, and -Seltzer water with wine for ourselves. While the horses were resting, -we scrambled up to the ancient chateau, now occupied by the foresters. -From this there is a good view of the valley of the Enz, for a few miles -above and below the town. The valley is here not more than five or six -hundred yards broad at the bottom, with the river in the centre, and the -pine mountains rising abruptly on both sides. We had now about eight -miles to Wildbad, close along the right bank of the river, and consequently -with only a gentle ascent the whole way.</p> - -<p>The valley of Wildbad, between Nuenburg and the town of Wildbad, -is about 1400 feet above the level of the sea—and the mountains on each -side about 1500 above the river. It resembles a good deal the <i>Vallée -d’Enfer</i>, well known to most travellers. There is but a narrow border of -cultivated ground on each side of the Enz—in some places not exceeding -two or three hundred yards—in others, creeping up the steep acclivities -nearly a quarter of a mile. Hay, corn, and potatoes are the chief productions -of the valley. The pine occupies every slope not cultivated; the -forest, on each side, presenting a serrated border, the salient angles sometimes -coming nearly down to the banks of the stream—the interspaces -being occupied with potatoes or some culinary vegetable. But the Enz -itself presents more bustle and activity than its banks. Small and precipitous -as is the torrent, it is made to carry the mountains—or at least -their forests, on its slender back. The flotteurs or rafters are a race and -craft distinct from the wood-cutters, who hew the trees in the mountains, -and hurl them down their steep sides to the river. The Enz falls 370 feet -in the short distance of nine miles between Wildbad and Nuenburg, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -yet they manage to float down numerous rafts, or rather raftlets, two or -three hundred feet in length, along this trajet. The method is simple -but ingenious. At convenient distances, dikes or dams are run diagonally -across the stream, with a sluice or flood-gate in the centre. When the -gate is shut, the back-water accumulates so as to float the raft from the -next dam higher up. The rafts are narrow, but very long and jointed. -When one, two, or more have arrived at the dam, the head of the raft is -brought close to the sluice—the gate is opened—and away darts the raft, -with a loud noise and fracas—dashing against the rocks—each joint, as -it passes over the dam, rising up like the dorsal fin of a huge whale rolling -about in the sea. In this way they are conveyed from the mountains -to the Rhine—the raftlets augmenting in breadth, or number of trees, in -proportion as the stream augments and enlarges into a river. As every -mountain must have a valley, so every valley must have a rivulet. However -small the stream, it can be dammed so as to float one tree at a time—and -when contributary streamlets from the mountains enlarge the parent -stream, the raftlets increase in size also. Thus the main wealth of -Wildbad is constantly floating down the Enz, consigned to distant countries, -but leaving profit for the merchant, and affording employment for -thousands and thousands of the industrious poor. The raftlets grown -into rafts, having arrived at the Rhine, change hands, and the local -boucherons, or floaters, return to their native valleys to renew their labours -from spring till the approach of winter. The aggregated rafts now become -<span class="smcap">flotillas</span>, capable of bearing an army on their backs, and actually -inhabited by four or five hundred—not seamen but raftmen, while they -glide down the majestic stream of the Rhine.</p> - -<p>Let us see whether this animated scene of industry, hilarity, and wealth -has any back-ground to the picture—any alloy to the pure metal. Many -a gaudy tissue, embroidered robe, and sparkling gem, has been produced -by sordid hands, amidst penury, disease, and despair! The wood-cutter -of the Black Forest mountains leads a gloomy and miserable life. His -labour is eternally the same—affording no food or reflection for the mind—the -workmen being secluded in dark and dreary forests for days, weeks, -and months, without any communication with their families; while their -children are entirely neglected, as far as education is concerned! They -are, as it were, cut off from human society—become morose, taciturn, -melancholic—or even misanthropic. What is worse, they are frequently -brought home maimed, lamed, or stricken with some dangerous or fatal -disease! They almost always die prematurely. Yet the facility of gaining -a livelihood by cutting and floating wood, leaves very few inhabitants -of this valley inclined to pursue any mechanical occupation. The trees, -when felled and the branches lopped off, are dragged in traineaus to the -edges of the declivities, from whence they descend along cleared tracks, -or a kind of wooden tunnel, by their own weight, to the vicinity of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -river. A little field of potatoes—a wooden hut—a couple of goats to feed -the children—and a pig to be killed at Christmas—constitute the whole -riches of the woodman, whether of mountain or valley.</p> - -<p>After a very pleasant drive of nine miles along the right bank of the Enz, -we came suddenly upon the little town of Wildbad, now celebrated for -the divine effects of its baths on the human frame. The town contains -279 inhabited houses, and 115 buildings of other kinds. It is nearly -equally divided by the foaming little Enz, the backs of houses, on each -side of the valley, being actually built against the feet of the mountains. -As these are some 1500 feet high, an hour, at least, of the rising, and -another of the setting sun, are unseen and unfelt in Wildbad—except in -the curious phenomenon of the sunshine creeping down the western mountain -in the morning, and up the eastern mountain in the evening.</p> - -<p>The valley of Wildbad lies nearly North and South, and consequently -the winds are felt only in those two directions. The temperature of the -atmosphere necessarily varies considerably, but cold prevails over heat. -Snow ordinarily lurks on the summits of the mountains from the middle -of November till the middle of May. From the first of July till the middle -of August, the heat is generally great. “In a hot summer (says Professor -Heim) the temperature is almost insupportable about mid-day, when the -breeze is scarcely perceptible in the depth of the valley.” In June, July, -and August, the thermometer in Wildbad mounts occasionally to 90, in -the hottest days—and falls correspondingly in the winter. In the season -(months of June, July, August, and September) of 1834, there were 47 -clear days—five thunder-storms—and 34 rainy days. In 1837—35 clear -days—44 rainy days—and 11 thunder-storms. During the years 1834-5-6 -and 7, the mean temperature of the four summer months, at mid-day, -was 66° of Fahrenheit, which is very moderate. Lightning has never -struck any of the houses in Wildbad—the contiguous mountains proving -excellent conductors. There are no peculiar diseases at Wildbad, except -those produced by scanty food and hard labour. Scarcely any goitres or -cretins are seen here. The inhabitants hardly ever take any other medicines -than the warm waters of the place. Doctors would inevitably starve -here, were it not for the foreign visitors. The water of Wildbad is excellent, -both for cooking and drinking. Pulmonary complaints are exceedingly -rare in this valley, and indeed in the Black Forest generally. The -same may be said of goitre and cretinism.</p> - -<p>We took up our quarters at the <span class="smcap">Bear</span>, exactly opposite the baths, and -had no reason to complain of our accommodations in this hotel. My -chamber was in the back of the house, just over the noisy little Enz; but -its murmurings only lulled me to a sound sleep, after the keen mountain -air, and the healthy exercise of the day.</p> - -<p>It is only within these few years that Wildbad has become much known, -through the writings of Drs. Flicker and Granville. Professor Heim has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -now added to the means of its publicity. In 1830, the number of bathers -was 470—in 1837, 1,003—in 1838, the number was 1,235. In this list, -the real bathers and drinkers only are inscribed. The mere passengers of -a day or two are omitted. In 1837, there were only ten English, who -used the waters. In 1838, there were 130. In 1839, about the middle -of August, when I was there, the number had still encreased. The -accommodations hitherto have been insufficient. In this year, 1840, a -new and grand edifice will be completed, capable of contributing to the -comfort—would that it may not add to the gambling luxury or destruction -of—a large number of visitors! The <span class="smcap">Palace</span>, which is close to the -baths, is open to the public—in fact, it is a hotel, for the refreshment of -body and mind. It would be unjust, not to commemorate here the wise, -salutary, and beneficent injunction against <span class="smcap">gambling</span>, which is rigorously -enforced by the government. May it continue in force, <i>per omnia secula -seculorum</i>!</p> - -<p>The warm baths of Wildbad issue from several sources in the granite -rock; but are collected into four basins, isolated from each other, and -under particular regulations. Just opposite the Bear Hotel is the place -for drinking the waters, a few feet below the surface of the square or -market-place. There are two spouts, and I observed for two hours the -devotees of this Hygeian spring. I should have little hesitation in swearing -that there was not a single malingerer (to use a military phrase for -one who <i>feigns</i> disease,) in the whole group, amounting to about sixty or -eighty. They all bore intrinsic marks of indisposition; but the maimed, -the lame, the paralytic, and the rheumatic, constituted nine-tenths of the -assemblage. I had an early note from Professor Heim, politely offering -to shew me the baths. With him I proceeded to the <span class="smcap">Furstenbad</span>, or -Prince’s Bath, in which Dr. Granville bathed. On entering the <span class="smcap">Bad</span>, I -found it occupied by two persons—one quite naked, the other with white -drawers on—while Dr. Fricker, who stood on the steps with a watch in -his hand, was directing the operations. I naturally shrunk back, with an -apology for intruding; but my kind and honest friend, Dr. Heim, pushed -me forward, observing, that there was “no offence.” The bather was a -Russian General, Comte ——, and he who sat behind him in the bath, -rubbing his back, was the bad-meister. I entered into conversation with -the General and his medical director, and found them agreeable, intelligent, -and frank communicants. The douche having been applied, and -the bathing process finished, I withdrew for a quarter of an hour, while -the bath was preparing for myself. Most of my readers must have read -or heard of these celebrated waters by Dr. Granville, and I must here -record his account of the surprising sensations which they produce on the -human frame immersed in them.</p> - -<p>“After descending a few steps from the dressing-room into the bath-room, -I walked over the warm soft sand to the farthest end of the bath,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -and I laid myself down upon it, near the principal spring, resting my head -on a clean wooden pillow. The soothing effect of the water as it came -over me, up to the throat, transparent like the brightest gem or aquamarine, -soft, genially warm, and gently murmuring, I shall never forget. -Millions of bubbles of gas rose from the sand, and played around me, -quivering through the lucid water as they ascended, and bursting at the -surface to be succeeded by others. The sensation produced by these, as -many of them, with their tremulous motion, just <i>effleuraient</i> the surface of -the body, like the much vaunted effect of titillation in animal magnetism, -is not to be described. <i>It partakes of tranquillity and exhilaration; of the -ecstatic state of a devotee, blended with the repose of an opium eater. The -head is calm, the heart is calm, every sense is calm; yet there is neither -drowsiness, stupefaction, nor numbness; for every feeling is fresher, and the -memory of worldly pleasures keen and sharp.</i> But the operations of the -moral as well as physical man are under the spell of some powerfully tranquillising -agent. It is the human tempest lulled into all the delicious -playings of the ocean’s after-waves. From such a position I willingly -would never have stirred. To prolong its delicious effects what would I -not have given! but the bad-meister appeared at the top of the steps of -the farther door, and warned me to eschew the danger of my situation; -for there is danger even in such pleasures as these, if greatly prolonged.</p> - -<p>“I looked at the watch and the thermometer before I quitted my station. -The one told me I had passed a whole hour, in the few minutes I had -spent according to my imagination; and the other marked 29½° of Reaumur, -or 98¼° of Fahrenheit. But I found the temperature warmer than -that, whenever, with my hand, I dug into the bed of sand, as far down as -the rock, and disengaged myriads of bubbles of heated air, which imparted -to the skin a satiny softness not to be observed in the effects of -ordinary warm baths.</p> - -<p>“These baths are principally used from five o’clock in the morning -until seven, and even much later; and again by some people in the evening. -The time allowed for remaining in the water is from half an hour -to an hour; but it is held to be imprudent to continue the bath to the -latter period, as experience has shown that such sensations as I felt, and -have endeavoured to describe, prove ultimately too overpowering to the -constitution, if prolonged to excess.”<a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>Dr. Kerner, who preceded Dr. Granville, makes use of the following -expressions, quoted by the latter author.</p> - -<p>“The use of the Wildbad waters cannot be too much commended. -They serve, indeed, <i>to make the old young again</i>; while younger persons, -who have become prematurely old, owing to exhaustion, and those who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -are exhausted by close application and incessant fatigue, <i>rise out of these -baths with new strength and youth</i>.”</p> - -<p>Although I called to mind these identical expressions, as applied by -Dr. Fenner to the Serpent’s Bath at Schlangenbad, and remembered also -my disappointment; yet I could not divest myself of the pleasing anticipations -that Wildbad would realize the effects recorded by my friend -Dr. Granville, and that I should retreat from this romantic valley at least -ten years younger than when I entered it. I dispensed with the attendance -of the bad-meister—locked the door—descended into the bath—and creeping -to the identical spot where Dr. Granville experienced the “ecstatic -state of a devotee, blended with the repose of an opium-eater,” I waited, -not without some impatience, the advent of this fore-taste of Paradise. -But no such good fortune awaited me! I eyed the gas bubbles that rose -around me, not indeed “in millions,” nor even in dozens—but so sparingly -that I could have easily numbered them, eager though they had been to -“quiver through the lucid water” in their ascent to greet my friend and -confrere a few years previously. With every wish to be pleased, and with -the most minute attention to my own sensations, I must confess that -I experienced no effects from the waters of Wildbad, other than I did -from baths of similar temperature and composition, as those of Schlangenbad, -Baden, and Pfeffers.<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> They have the same advantage as the -Pfeffers, in maintaining the same temperature, however long we may remain -in them—the stream running in and out of the baths. Whether -this may not sometimes tempt the bad-meisters to save the trouble and -time of emptying the baths after each bather, I do not profess to know. -With respect to the bed of warm sand at the bottom, I think it is more -pleasant to the feelings than to the imagination. It is impossible that <i>it</i> -can be changed; and the idea of lying down in a bed which a leper may -have just left, is not the most pleasant in the world. For myself, I should -prefer the clean marble, or even the wood to this substratum of sand. It -is but justice to state, that there is a rule for all persons to go through the -quarantine of a plain bath before commencing the medicinal. Such a rule, -however, was not imposed upon me—nor I believe, on the generality of -casual bathers. I stayed in the bath half an hour, and felt exceedingly -refreshed by it. I have no hesitation, therefore, in giving it as my opinion -that the waters of Wildbad are inferior to none, in their medicinal agency,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -as baths of a non-stimulant and simple kind. Their improper use is not -nearly so hazardous as those of Wisbaden, Kissengen, or Carlsbad, whose -saline ingredients act powerfully on the sentient extremities of the nerves of -the skin, and too often excite dangerous commotions in the animal economy.</p> - -<p>In the course of the day I fell in with my bath acquaintance, Count -——, the Russian General, and had a long conversation with him. He -had been in the memorable campaign of 1812, and had, for some years, -laboured under a paralytic affection of the lower extremities. He assured -me that in four or five weeks of these baths and douches, he had regained -a good deal of power in his limbs; but his general strength had decreased, -and he was about to repair to Schwalbach, in hopes that the chalybeate -springs there would invigorate his constitution. We had a polite invitation -to a fête at the palace that evening, from the gallant General.<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>In respect to the “bathing in company,” I confess I have a repugnance -to it on many accounts, only one of which I shall state. The pleasure of -conversation, in such places, is dearly purchased by the impossibility, (for -the bather must go in a light dress,) of employing friction and shampooing -on the naked surface—one of the greatest luxuries and salutary processes -that can possibly be practised in warm-baths of any kind. This objection -alone is entirely fatal to the “community of bathing,” laying aside the -indelicacy of the thing.<a name="FNanchor_32" id="FNanchor_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> - -<p>The douches are easily and simply performed by a kind of pump and -hose, by which the warm water is directed against any part of the body, -and with any degree of force. A new source was discovered last year, -near the Furstenbad, which will greatly extend the means of bathing singly. -Already the refuse waters from the baths are sufficient to turn a mill as -they run out from the baths to the Enz—the river never freezing in the -town.</p> - -<p>In chemical and physical properties, the waters of Wildbad closely resemble -those of Pfeffers and Schlangenbad. They are clear and odourless; -but have a mawkish taste. In a pint, Professor Sigwart found 3½ -grains of saline matters, of which nearly 2 grains were common salt—half -a grain of carbonate of soda—and nearly the same of sulphate of -soda. The other ingredients are chips in porridge, if we except a mere -trace of iron. When boiled, it disengages a very trifling quantity of carbonic -acid gas. The air which bubbles up from the waters contains (according -to Gaeger and Gaertner) five parts of carbonic acid—7 of oxygen—and -88 of azote. Since that analysis, it has been found that there is -little or no oxygen in the air. The temperature varies in the different -sources from 88° to 99° of Fahrenheit. It is quite independent of summer, -winter, storms, or calms.</p> - -<p>When waters, so simple as scarcely to differ from the purest spring -used for drink, produce medicinal effects, the cause is attributed to some -mysterious power, incognizable by the senses and inimitable by human art.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Arcana Dei miraculis plena.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Professor Heim takes up the same hypothesis as others before him, and -Dr. Granville among the rest, that the caloric of mineral waters is of a -<i>specific</i> kind, analogous to the vital heat of the body. “It is a heat incorporated -with the water by a chemico-vital process.” “And as no external -warmth can supply the body with <i>vital</i> heat, so no artificially created -temperature can be a real substitute for the natural heat of thermal -springs.”</p> - -<p>The temperature, then, of the Wildbad waters being that of the human -blood, immersion in them produces but a slight sensation of heat, the surface -of our bodies being below that of our blood in temperature. The -sensation is that of <i>comfort</i>—a word not to be more nearly translated into -French than by the term “<i>bien-être</i>.” Here Professor Heim quotes, of -course, Dr. Granville’s description of the “ecstatic” feelings which he experienced -in these waters. He adds:—“But another circumstance which, -more than all the rest, conduces to this favourable impression, is the <i>dynamic -combination</i> (le lien dynamique) of the solid and gaseous elements—the -spirit of the water—received from the hand of Nature, in the bowels -of the earth. It is this general impression on the whole human organism, -which effects the cure of divers sufferings and maladies, by awakening and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -reviving the vital powers enfeebled or prostrated—and thus restoring activity -to the circulation and to the nervous system, through which a reaction -and energy is communicated to all the functions of the body.”</p> - -<p>These effects, Prof. Heim acknowledges, cannot be accounted for by -the chemical composition of the water. The cosmetic qualities of Wildbad -and Schlangenbad, he thinks, may be <i>partly</i> owing to the soda contained -in them, which forms a kind of oily soap on the surface, and gives -it that feeling of lubricity and softness, so much vaunted: but he believes -it to be <i>principally</i> owing to the peculiar power of the bath to invigorate the -functions of the skin as well as of the internal organs—a power greater, -he maintains, in the waters of Wildbad than of Schlangenbad.</p> - -<p>Although these waters generally produce an exciting or exhilarating -effect, yet in a certain number of instances, they cause a sense of lassitude -and heaviness in the extremities, with an inclination to sleep, especially -after leaving the bath. These effects are commonly attributable to improper -use of the baths, or staying too long in them, in consequence of -the pleasant feelings derived from them. Dr. H. recommends all persons -to stay but 10 or 15 minutes in the bath at first, gradually increasing the -time to half or three-quarters of an hour. In some, the head is affected -with vertigo—in others, there is oppression on the chest—all which soon -go off, after five or six baths.</p> - -<p>“It is to be remembered that a majority of the bathers experience the -‘reaction fever’ (fièvre de réaction) in the course of the treatment. The -period of its occurrence is uncertain, and often it is so slight as to pass -almost unobserved by the patient. This, however, is the critical moment -precursory of the cure. This state of irritation seldom lasts more than a -few days, and generally disappears without any internal medicine. This -reaction is precisely that which ought to inspire the greatest hopes in the -patient, as it announces a change in his constitution, and a victory over -his malady. The disagreeable sensations, however, which he feels, often -puts him out of humour with the baths, especially if old pains and discomforts, -that had ceased, now re-appear, which they often do. He becomes -impatient and morose, when he is re-visited by rheumatic pains, -neuralgia, gout, hæmorrhoids, &c. which he had thought to be extinct. -Such re-action, however, is indispensable towards the victory of nature and -the baths over the disease for which they were employed. The waters of -Wildbad, indeed, are remarkable for this reproduction of old disorders, at -the moment they are eradicating the more recent ones.”</p> - -<p>These most important properties of the waters of Wildbad are passed -entirely unnoticed by Dr. Granville, and from my own knowledge, several -English have left Wildbad, at the very time they were on the point of experiencing -the greatest benefits. This reaction or bath-fever, is common, -as I have shewn, to most of the medicinal waters, as was seen under the -head of Wisbaden, Kissengen, &c. At the former place I saw several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -well-marked instances of it, and satisfied myself of its reality. I have not -found any description of it in the accounts of the German Spas published -in England. It is a subject of the greatest importance to the invalid.</p> - -<p>The following case is related by Dr. <span class="smcap">Kaiser</span>, formerly director of these -baths. I have greatly abridged it.</p> - -<p>“An officer, aged 26 years, fell down a flight of stone stairs, and -pitched on the right haunch, or hip-bone. He was stunned to insensibility, -from which he slowly recovered. When examined, the right leg -and thigh were cold as ice, but no fracture or dislocation could be discovered. -He was confined several weeks to his bed; and then could -only hobble about on crutches with great pain. At length he was able to -dispense with the crutches, but every motion of the limb caused great -agony. He tried the waters and baths of Wisbaden; but experienced no -benefit. Thirteen months after the accident, and when the excruciating -pains had rather gained than lost force, he came to Wildbad. The first -bath produced no sensible effect. The second called forth some pains in -the loins, where he had felt no inconvenience previously. These augmented -after the third bath till the seventh, when they became so violent, -that he could not stand, and was confined to his bed. At this time he -suddenly experienced a most painful sense of coldness in the right foot, -which was succeeded by heat, reaction, and ultimately a profuse perspiration -over the whole limb, and even in the loins. From that time he was able -to move the leg without pain, and quickly regained the power of walking -without a stick.”</p> - -<p>The Wildbad baths are celebrated for the removal of those various -pains and aches which not seldom attend old gunshot and other wounds. -A case is related of an officer who had been wounded in the arm by a -musket-ball in the late war, and who was harassed by pains in the site of -the wound for many years afterwards. The use of the Wildbad baths re-opened -the wound, from whence a piece of flannel was discharged, and -the pains ceased.</p> - -<p>These waters are considered to be specific in certain female complaints -which are difficult of removal, and subversive of health, in too -many instances.</p> - -<p>“La proprieté de rajeunir, que les dames vantent tant dans le bain de -Wildbad, il faut moins la chercher dans sa vertu cosmetique, que dans la -circonstance que je viens de signaler.”</p> - -<p>It is to be remarked that it is not in all persons that the re-action -above alluded to takes place. In many there is a gradual amelioration of -health, without any perturbation of the constitution, and only marked by -an encreased action in the functions of the skin and kidneys—sometimes -of the bowels.</p> - -<p>“On the other hand, says Professor Heim, where the malady is obstinate, -there is a greater struggle in the constitution, attended with considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -fever, disorder of the secretions, irritation of the nervous system, -full pulse, restless nights, distressing dreams, loss of appetite, dry hot skin, -occasional hæmorrhoidal discharges, purging, gouty attacks, cutaneous -eruptions, &c. which precede a restoration of health.”</p> - -<p>These are trials which require the fortitude of the patient, and the vigilance -of the physician. It is not to be wondered at that, when they -occur in the stranger, and especially in the English invalid, who has little -confidence in the foreign practitioner, and finds himself ill in a secluded -valley like that of Wildbad, great alarm should be produced, and much -prejudice raised against the baths and waters of the place. The worst of -it is, that a similar train of disorders may arise from an injudicious use of -the baths, and where no salutary crisis is the result.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Notre mal s’empoisonne</div> -<div class="verse">Du secours, qu’on lui donne!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>These are circumstances which ought to be pointed out to our countrymen -and women, who are too often led to distant mineral waters -and baths by flowery descriptions and miraculous cures, without any -warning as to the consequences that may ensue—whether salutary or -dangerous. The concealment of this spa or bath fever, is any thing but -beneficial either to the waters or the water-drinkers. It deceives the one, -and injures the reputation of the other. The local physicians of these -mineral springs never omit to point out the consequences of bathing in, -and drinking the waters, as I have already shewn by several quotations; -and it is highly desirable that all spa-goers should be aware of them.<a name="FNanchor_33" id="FNanchor_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> - -<p>Cutaneous eruptions are frequent consequences of the Wildbad waters, -and are considered salutary. The kidneys, next to the skin, shew the -greatest sensibility to the action of these waters. In some people (especially -where the waters are drunk as well as bathed in,) a most copious -and clear secretion is produced; but this is seldom a critical or salutary -discharge. It is when the secretion from the kidneys is deep-coloured, -sedimentous, and exhaling a peculiar odour, especially in gouty subjects, -that benefit may be confidently anticipated. The bowels are seldom acted -on by these waters—more frequently, indeed, constipation is the result, -requiring aperient medicine both before and during the course. The -hæmorrhoidal and monthly periods are promoted by the waters, thus -relieving plethoric fulness of the abdominal organs.</p> - -<p>“In dispositions to rheumatism, cutaneous complaints, erysipelas, catarrhal -affections, neuralgia, chlorosis (green sickness,) tubercles, scrofula,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -difficult and premature accouchments, the waters of Wildbad are strongly -recommended.”</p> - -<p>Professor Heim warns the patient not to be discouraged, even if he -leaves the waters unrelieved, or worse than when he commenced the -course. The cure will often follow, when the individual has regained his -home, weeks or months after leaving Wildbad.</p> - -<p>It is only since 1836, that a source of waters for drinking has been discovered -and established at Wildbad. The mineral ingredients do not -materially differ from those of the baths. They are now very generally -used in conjunction with the latter, and are found to be very useful auxiliaries. -They sit lightly on the stomach, and prove rather aperient than -otherwise. They increase the appetite, and promote materially the action -of the skin, kidneys, and glandular organs generally.</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Disorders for which the Waters of Wildbad are chiefly used.</span></h4> - -<p>Dr. Fricker has laid open to Professor Heim the records of 25 years’ -observation and experience of these waters; from which, and also from -his own practice, the latter physician has, in ten chapters, classified the -maladies for which the baths and waters have been employed, detailing -numerous cases, and superadding commentaries of his own. It will be -necessary to skim lightly over the heads of these chapters, in order to -shew the properties of the Wildbad spa in its direct application to practice.</p> - -<p>I. <i>Rheumatism, Gout, and their Consequences.</i>—“Our baths have always -maintained great reputation for the cure of these two classes of tormenting -maladies, arising from different causes, but presenting many traits of -character in common.” The author cautions the bather against using the -baths, where there is any acute or even subacute inflammation in the -joints, muscles, or internal organs. It is in the <i>chronic</i> and painful forms -of gout and rheumatism, together with their numerous consequences, -that the Wildbad waters will be found beneficial—indeed, according to -the authors abovementioned, almost infallibly curative. Messrs. Fricker -and Heim trace many cases of tic, vertigo, deafness, affections of the sight, -asthmatic coughs, intermissions of pulse, tracheal and bronchial affections, -&c. to suppressed gout and rheumatism, as they are often removed by the -baths and waters. Fifteen cases in illustration are detailed with great -minuteness by Dr. Heim, to which the Wildbad bather may refer on the -spot.</p> - -<p>II. <i>Affections of the Spinal Marrow, and its Consequences, Paralysis.</i>—Diseases -of the spinal marrow are seldom recognized in their early stages,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -not indeed till symptoms of paralysis begin to shew themselves in the -limbs. This class of complaints is daily augmenting in number, as the -baths of Wildbad can testify. These waters have, says M. Heim, often -dissipated the symptoms which usually precede attacks of paralysis, -and therefore, if used early, would be more useful than when taken after -the paralysis is actually developed. But even here, it is averred that the -progress of the malady is frequently arrested, and an amelioration procured.</p> - -<p>When the paralysis of the lower extremities is complete—when the individual -is no longer able to walk or stand, without assistance, the waters -of Wildbad have often produced wonderful effects in restoring power—indeed -it is curious that, according to the physicians aforesaid, these baths -are frequently more successful in these cases than in those which are not -so far advanced towards a complete paralysis. An immense number of -cases are detailed by Dr. Heim under this head; and I am tempted to extract -one, which is the case of a countryman of our own.</p> - -<p>“A young English gentleman, after bathing in a river, the water of -which was very cold, became completely paralytic of the lower extremities. -He came to Wildbad, and, without consulting any physician, commenced -the warmest of the baths. At the end of a fortnight he found -himself so considerably improved, that he was able to lay aside his crutches, -and walk by the aid of a cane. At this time the coronation of our youthful -queen was announced, and the patient determined to assist at the -ceremony. He bore the journey well—and returned to Wildbad after a -few weeks, without any relapse. He took a second course of the baths, -and left Wildbad ultimately in a very improved condition.”</p> - -<p>Those paralyses which affect one side only, are almost universally the -result of an apoplectic attack. “When these attacks have been occasioned -by suppressed hæmorrhoidal discharges—eruptions of the skin suddenly -extinguished—engorgements or obstructions of the organs of the abdomen—female -obstructions at a certain period of life—metastases of gout or -rheumatism—in such cases of hemiplegia, the Wildbad waters have proved -serviceable, and it is delightful to see so many of these paralytics leave -Wildbad every season, with firm steps, although confined for years previously -to the couch, or crutches.”</p> - -<p>Professor Heim wisely cautions those who have been of a plethoric constitution, -from too free an use of the baths, till they have ascertained how -they agree with their constitutions. Before any amelioration takes place, -the patient generally experiences some pricking pains and tinglings in the -paralyzed parts, followed by a sense of heat, perspiration, and increase of -feeling. To these symptoms succeed a gradual restoration of muscular -power, accompanied by a sense of electrical sparks passing along the -nerves. Numerous cases of paralysis of one side are detailed by Dr. -Heim.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<p>III. and IV. These chapters are dedicated to paralysis occasioned by -poisons—and also to cases of local paralyses of particular nerves—as those -of the face. I must pass them over. The waters appear to have been -useful in many of these instances.</p> - -<p>The 5th Chapter relates to affections of the joints—to lumbago—sciatica—white -swellings of the knee—contractions, &c., in which the baths -of Wildbad are lauded. One caution, however, is invariably enjoined—not -to use the waters while there is any inflammation actually existing.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Sixth Chapter</span> is on diseases of the bones, with numerous cases, -which I shall pass over.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Seventh Chapter</span> treats of diseases of the skin, cured or relieved -by the Wildbad baths and waters. Herpes—ringworm—prurigo—pityriasis—acne—inveterate -itch—fetid perspirations, &c. &c. are said to be -those which receive most advantage from these waters. Indeed I think -it probable that the eulogiums are not much exaggerated as to this class -of complaints.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Chap. VIII.</span> relates to scrofula and glandular affections generally. In -such complaints it is of the greatest consequence to conjoin the internal -with the external use of the waters of Wildbad. These waters are much -employed by people with goitre, and Drs. Fricker and Heim consider them -very beneficial in enlargements of the liver, spleen, and even of the mesenteric -glands.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Chap. IX.</span> Wildbad appears to have attained some considerable reputation -in female complaints. Next indeed in number to the class of lame -and paralytic patients, which I saw around the baths and waters of this -place, were the chlorotic females, whose countenances exhibited the -“green and yellow melancholy” of Shakespeare’s “love-sick” maiden—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent8">——“She never told her love,</div> -<div class="verse">But let concealment, like a worm i’th’bud,</div> -<div class="verse">Feed on her damask cheek.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>There are more ailments than love-sickness, however, which cause the -youthful maid to “pine in thought,” and exchange all her lillies for the -pallid rose—the sparkling expression for the lack-lustre eye—and the -elasticity of youth for the languor of premature old age. For the irregularities -and obstructions that generally lead to this chlorotic state, the -baths and waters of Wildbad are strongly recommended. Dr. Heim avers -that, of late years, he has only failed in one instance to bring these -females to a state of regularity and health—where no organic disease existed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -Although this is rather a startling assertion, yet the concourse of -female invalids to this place, bearing such unequivocal marks of a particular -class of ailments, offers a fair presumption that many receive benefit -there, else the numbers would diminish instead of increasing from year to -year. I can also easily believe that a course of these baths, with the daily -ingurgitation of large potions of a simple diluent water, may remove many -obstructions, and, at all events, bring the constitution into that condition -in which some good chalybeate, as Schwalbach, Spa, or Brockenau, might -exert a powerful influence on the restoration of health.</p> - -<p>The new spring for drinking is at a temperature of 92°, and contains -four grains of saline substances in the pint, of which two are muriate of -soda or common salt. It is used like other thermal waters, and is slightly -aperient, but chiefly alterative.</p> - -<p>The public walks to the southward of the town, extend nearly a mile -along the noisy Enz, and are very pleasant. A contemplative philosopher -might there indulge his sublime speculations—the poet his “wayward -fancies”—and the devotee his celestial meditations, with little interruption.</p> - -<p>The counter-indications, or disorders not benefited, but aggravated by -the waters of Wildbad, are not materially different from those mentioned -under the head of other thermal springs—as plethora, or fulness—tendency -to apoplexy, to hæmorrhage of any kind, or to engorgements or inflammations -of any of the internal organs. Neither are they proper in cases of -considerable debility. They are not to be used in inveterate catarrhal -affections of the kidneys or bladder, attended with wasting of strength, -and probably with organic disease—in chronic diarrhœa—diabetes—internal -suppurations—confirmed phthisis—indurations of spleen or liver in an -advanced stage—dropsies—scirrhus and cancer—biliary and urinary calculi—organic -diseases of the heart—varicose veins—hypochondriasis and -hysteria, with debility—original or idiopathic epilepsy, chorea, catalepsy -and other convulsive affections of this nature—sterility dependent on organic -disease of the reproductive viscera—alienation of mind, &c. On no -account should women in a state of pregnancy use the baths or waters of -Wildbad.</p> - -<p>I have now presented the reader with all the information which I could -collect on the spot, from the conversations and writings of those best acquainted -with the nature and properties of the waters. Most of the -English spa-goers will be disappointed in the magic effects of the baths, -as somewhat highly-coloured by Dr. Granville—and will consider the -locality as too sombre; while the appearance of the bathers and drinkers—being -veritable invalids—many of them on crutches, and many apparently -on their way to the grave—will prove anything but cheering to the -British hypochondriac, and the sensitive nervous female. A considerable -number of English leave Wildbad in a day or two after arriving there—and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -of the few who take the waters, the majority become alarmed at the -spa-fever or irritation, abandoning the waters at the very time they are -likely to prove serviceable.</p> - -<p>To those, however, who prefer quietude to fashionable frivolity—and a -secluded glen to a dashing, gambling Kursaal, the baths and waters may -prove serviceable in many of the complaints above enumerated. I would -advise all who sojourn at Baden-Baden, or who pass near Wildbad, to -visit this place, were it only for curiosity, and the singular scenery of its -neighbourhood. The journey from Baden-Baden is an easy one of a single -day—but that day should be a fine one, else all the pleasures of the excursion -will be lost. In fine, I can conscientiously aver that, in respect -to Wildbad, I have neither exaggerated its merits—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Nor set down aught in malice.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>SCHAFFHAUSE.</h4> - -<p>Winding through the sombre solitudes of the Black Forest, we enter -the <i>Vallée d’Enfer</i>, through the narrow and frowning pass, where <span class="smcap">Moreau</span> -stemmed the torrent of the Austrian legions, as did Leonidas the myriads -of Xerxes in the Straits of Thermopylæ. Little did that able but unfortunate -general dream, during his memorable retreat through the Black -Forest, that, a few years afterwards, he would meet his death from -the mouth of a French cannon, while combatting in the ranks of the -Allies.<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<p>What a curse would <i>foreknowledge</i> prove to man, although so ardently -desired by curious and eager mortals! A single glance through the telescope -of futurity would render us miserable for life! If good was in store, -we would relinquish all efforts to obtain it, as being certain. Every day -would seem an age till the happiness arrived—and when it came, all -relish for it would be gone. On the other hand, if the glass showed misfortune, -sickness, and sorrow in the distance—the prospect would soon -drive the wretch insane!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Oh blindness to the future wisely given!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Disposer</span> of events alone can be the safe depository of prescience.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="RHINEFALLS">RHINEFALLS.</h3> - -<p>I have always experienced some degree of disappointment at the sight -of waterfalls. Where the volume of water is great, the fall is, comparatively<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -trifling—and where the descent is from a great height, then the -stream is insignificant. If the <span class="smcap">Niagara</span> could be translated to the Staubach, -and the mighty St. Lawrence thundered from a height of eight -hundred feet into the valley of Lauterbrunnen, the scene would be awfully -grand, and sufficient to startle the Jaungfrau on her icy throne.</p> - -<p>The Rhine, at Schaffhause, falls about seventy or eighty feet, and -is by no means impressive, even when viewed from the camera obscura -directly opposite the cataract. We drove from the town on a beautiful -moonlight night, and descending the stairs on the left bank of the river, -we came close to the water’s edge, and also to that of the fall itself. -Here is the spot to see and hear the deluge of water, all sparkling with -foam, in the mild light of the moon, come thundering from aloft, and -threatening every instant to overwhelm the spectator in the boiling flood. -If terror be a source of the sublime, there certainly is some degree of this -emotion, mixed with the contemplation of a vast mass of water rolling down -from a great height, apparently in a direct course towards us. The roar -of the cataract, too, is unlike that of any other sound, and adds considerably -to the effect produced on the sense of sight.</p> - -<p>I do not know how the association of ideas first commenced, but I -never see a great waterfall, or a rapid river, without their suggesting -themselves as emblems of time or eternity. The torrent rolling along -in the same course through countless ages—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“In omne volubilis ævum”—</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">without change or rest, is calculated to excite reflections on the great -stream of time itself—and that inconceivable abyss—eternity—to which -it leads. But all things move in circles. The water that runs in the -river, must <i>first</i> fall from the clouds—and the rains that descend from the -air, must <i>first</i> rise from the earth. And so, perhaps, time and eternity -may be but parts of one vast, immeasurable, and incomprehensible cycle, -without beginning, middle, or end!</p> - -<p>It is probable that, ere many centuries roll away, the falls of the Rhine -will become merely a rapid. The stream has worn down four or five -channels in the rocky barrier, leaving three or four fragments, resembling -the broken arches or piers of a natural bridge, standing up many feet -above the surface of the water where it begins to curl over the precipice. -The centre fragment is much higher than its brethren, and it is surmounted -by a wooden shield, (how they managed to place it there is not -easily imagined,) with the arms and motto of Schaffhause.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Deus spes</div> -<div class="verse">Nostra es.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The torrent, thus split into four or five divisions, has given rise to some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -extravagant comparisons, one of which is their similitude to five foaming -white steeds, that have broke away from their keepers.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Hark! ’tis the voice of the falling flood!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And see where the torrents come—</div> -<div class="verse">Thundering down through rock and wood,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Till the roar makes Echo dumb!</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Like giant steeds from a distant waste,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That have madly broke away,</div> -<div class="verse">Leaping the crags in their headlong haste,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And trampling the waves to spray.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Five abreast! as their own foam white—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Their wild manes streaming far—</div> -<div class="verse">A worthy gift from a water-sprite</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To his Ocean-monarch’s car!<a name="FNanchor_35" id="FNanchor_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The next best place to that which I have mentioned, for viewing the -falls, is in a boat, brought as close as prudence will permit to the boiling -eddies. In a camera obscura opposite the falls, is a reflected picture of -the cataract—but I cannot imagine why it should be preferable to the -real object before our eyes.</p> - -<p>There is a “German Switzerland” on the banks of the Elbe—and so -is there a “Swiss Germany” on the banks of the Rhine. From Schaffhause -to Constance, Zurich, Berne, and even Geneva, the country is -pretty and well cultivated; but it is not <span class="smcap">Switzerland</span> till we get past the -above points, and penetrate among the mountains. For the same reason -that we should ascend the Rhine from Holland, we ought to enter Switzerland -from the North, so that the grandeur and majesty of the scenery -may be always on the increase till we ascend the Splugen, the St. Gothard, -the Simplon, the St. Bernard, or the Mount Cenis.</p> - -<p>Pursuing our route to the next <span class="smcap">Spa</span> on the list of this tour, we come to -Zurich.</p> - -<p>Zurich, like Geneva, is situated between a placid lake and a crystal -river. Lake Leman, having filtered its waters, discharges them through -the “blue and arrowy Rhone,” into the tideless Mediterranean, not to -pass on to the vast Atlantic, but again to rise in exhalations to the clouds, -and fall—Heaven knows where. The lake of Zurich has a different taste. -It sends its purified waters through the Limmatt, to mingle with the -Rhine, (also freed from impurities in the lake of Constance,) and thence -to find its way to the great Northern Ocean—probably to visit the -Thames, the Ohio, or even the Ganges, before it makes another aerial -voyage to the skies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> - -<p>The scenery about Zurich is tame and insipid, compared with that about -Geneva, where the Jura and the high Alps in the distance, contrast with -the lovely Pais de Vaud in the vicinity of the lake.</p> - -<h4>LAKE OF WALLENSTADT.</h4> - -<p>This lake, which is only a good day’s journey from Zurich, presents, in -my opinion, the finest lake-scenery in Switzerland. The mountains, on -the northern shore, rise almost perpendicularly to the height of five or six -thousand feet, sprinkled with ledges of rock, on which are perched the -shepherd’s chalet, and giving footing and scanty nutriment to the pine and -alpine shrubs and flowers. The mountains on the southern side are equally -high, but not so perpendicular in their descent to the lake; but the whole -circle of scenery is most magnificent. The transit of the lake is east and -west, a distance of some twelve or thirteen miles, and the passage is -usually favoured by a kind of trade wind, which blows from the westward -during one part of the day, and from the eastward during the other. The -little village of <span class="smcap">Wesen</span>, is the point of embarkation from the Zurich side, -and is situated most romantically under stupendous mountains. We -started at two o’clock, with carriage, horses, and live lumber, in the passage-boat, -which did not convey much idea of safety, being low, flat, and -rigged with a tall frail mast and square sail. The dangers of the Wallenstadt -navigation are, no doubt exaggerated; but it is evident that, along -the whole of the northern board of the lake there is but one small spot -where a boat could put in for safety in a storm. Along this shore we -sailed with a fine breeze, and enjoyed the prospect of one of the finest -scenes in Switzerland. The mountains on the northern board are so high -and precipitous, that I think it is physically impossible for a gale of wind -to blow direct on the shore, when a boat comes close to the rocks. It could -only be by the impulse of the waves that a boat might be forced amongst -the breakers. Accidents, however, very seldom happen. The afternoon -was clear sunshine—the boatmen abandoned the oars, being wafted along -by a fine breeze—the song was commenced—and the <span class="smcap">Ranz de Vache</span> -was returned from the ledges of rock, and patches of vegetation among -the cliffs, by many a blithsome shepherd, tending his flocks, or collecting -his little autumnal harvest—the long and slender cataracts poured in -sheets of gauze along many a craggy precipice—and the whole scene was -kept as a moving panorama by the steady progression of the boat.</p> - -<p>In the enjoyment of Swiss or Alpine scenery, everything depends on -the state of the atmosphere, and on that of our health and spirits at the -time. Hence it is that one person is delighted with a prospect, which -another passes without pleasure or surprize at all. Of this I am certain, -that a good view of this lake’s scenery can never be erased from the -memory.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<p>We landed at the little town of Wallenstadt, situated near the lake, in -a marshy and malarious locality, often inundated by the floods, and very -insalubrious. No traveller should sleep here, as the distance to <span class="smcap">Sargans</span> -is only eight or nine miles.</p> - -<p>We slept at this rook’s nest, perched on an eminence above malarious -and alluvial marshes, and at the foot of a high and craggy mount, from -the summit of which there is a superb prospect of the Rhine on its way to -Constance, and of a sea of Alps, of all altitudes—many of them shining -with snow and glaciers. Those who do not like to mount the Scholberg, -may still enjoy a magnificent panorama from the ruins of an old chateau -just above Sargans, and which is of very easy access. The town itself -presents better air than fare—the two inns being little better than <i>cabarets</i>, -but health and appetite compensate well for coarse viands and hard beds.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="BATHS_OF_PFEFFERS">BATHS OF PFEFFERS.</h3> - -<p>Among the strange places into which man has penetrated in search of -treasure or health, there is probably not one on this earth, or under it, -more wonderful than the <span class="smcap">Baths of Pfeffers</span>, situated in the country of -the Grisons, a few miles distant from the Splugen road, as it leads from -Wallenstadt to Coire. They are little known to, and still less frequented -by the English; for we could not learn that any of our countrymen had -visited them during the summer of 1834.</p> - -<p>Having procured five small and steady horses accustomed to the locality, -a party of three ladies and two gentlemen<a name="FNanchor_36" id="FNanchor_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> started from the little town of -Ragatz on a beautiful morning in August, and commenced a steep and -zig-zag ascent up the mountain, through a forest of majestic pines and -other trees. In a quarter of an hour, we heard the roar of a torrent, but -could see nothing of itself or even its bed. The path, however, soon approached -the verge of a dark and tremendous ravine, the sides of which -were composed of perpendicular rocks several hundred feet high, and at -the bottom of which the <span class="smcap">Tamina</span>, a rapid mountain torrent, foamed along -in its course to the valley of Sargans, there to fall into the upper Rhine. -The stream itself, however, was far beyond our view, and was only known -by its hollow and distant murmurs. The ascent, for the first three miles, -is extremely fatiguing, so that the horses were obliged to take breath every -ten minutes. The narrow path, (for it is only a kind of mule-track,) often -winded along the very brink of the precipice, on our left, yet the eye could -not penetrate to the bottom of the abyss. After more than an hour of -toilsome climbing, we emerged from the wood, and found ourselves in one -of the most picturesque and romantic spots that can well be imagined. -The road now meanders horizontally through a high, but cultivated region,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -towards, the village of Valentz, through fields, gardens, vineyards, and -meadows, studded with chaumiers and chalets, perched fantastically on -projecting ledges of rock, or sheltered from the winds by tall and verdant -pines. The prospect from Valentz, or rather from above the village, is one -of the most beautiful and splendid I have anywhere seen in Switzerland. -We are there at a sufficient distance from the horrid ravine, to contemplate -it without terror, and listen to the roaring torrent, thundering unseen, -along its rugged and precipitous bed. Beyond the ravine we see the -monastery and village of Pfeffers, perched on a high and apparently inaccessible -promontory, over which rise alpine mountains, their sides covered -with woods, their summits with snow, and their gorges glittering with -glaciers. But it is towards the East that the prospect is most magnificent -and varied. The eye ranges, with equal pleasure and astonishment, over -the valley of Sargans, through which rolls the infant Rhine, and beyond -which the majestic ranges of the Rhetian Alps, ten thousand feet high, -rise one over the other, till their summits mingle with the clouds. Among -these ranges the <span class="smcap">Scesa-plana</span>, the <span class="smcap">Angstenberg</span>, the <span class="smcap">Flesch</span>, (like a -gigantic pyramid,) and in the distance the Alps that tower round Feldkirck -are the most prominent features. During our journey to the baths, the -morning sun played on the snowy summits of the distant mountains, and -marked their forms on the blue expanse behind them, in the most distinct -outlines. But, on our return, in the afternoon, when the fleecy clouds -had assembled, in fantastic groups, along the lofty barrier, the reflexions -and refractions of the solar beams threw a splendid crown of glory round -the icy heads of the Rhetian Alps—changing that “cold sublimity” with -which the morning atmosphere had invested them, into a glow of illumination -which no pen or pencil could portray. To enjoy the widest possible -range of this matchless prospect, the tourist must climb the peaks that -overhang the village, when his eye may wander over the whole of the -Grison Alps and valleys, even to the lake of Constance.</p> - -<p>From Valentz we turned abruptly down towards the ravine, at the very -bottom of which are the <span class="smcap">Baths of Pfeffers</span>. The descent is by a series -of acute and precipitous tourniquets, requiring great caution, as the horses -themselves could hardly keep on their legs, even when eased of their riders. -At length we found ourselves in the area of a vast edifice, resembling an -overgrown factory, with a thousand windows, and six or seven stories high. -It is built on a ledge of rock that lies on the left bank of the <span class="smcap">Tamina</span> -torrent, which chafes along its foundation. The precipice on the opposite -side of the Tamina, and distant about fifty paces from the mansion -or rather hospital, rises five or six hundred feet, as perpendicular as a -wall, keeping the edifice in perpetual shade, except for a few hours in the -middle of the day. The left bank of the ravine, on which the hospital -stands, is less precipitous, as it admits of a zig-zag path to and from the -Baths. The locale, altogether, of such an establishment, at the very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -bottom of a frightful ravine, and for ever chafed by a roaring torrent, is -the most singularly wild and picturesque I had ever beheld; but the wonders -of Pfeffers are not yet even glanced at.<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> - -<p>From the western extremity of this vast asylum of invalids, a narrow -wooden bridge spans the Tamina, and by it we gain footing on a small -platform of a rock on the opposite side. Here a remarkable phenomenon -presents itself. The deep ravine, which had hitherto preserved a width -of some 150 feet, contracts, all at once, into a narrow cleft or crevasse, of -less than 20 feet, whose marble sides shoot up from the bed of the torrent, -to a height of four or five hundred feet, not merely perpendicular, but actually -inclining towards each other, so that, at their summits, they almost -touch, thus leaving a narrow fissure through which a faint glimmering of -light descends, and just serves to render objects visible within this gloomy -cavern. Out of this recess the Tamina darts in a sheet of foam, and with -a deafening noise reverberated from the rocks within and without the -crevasse. On approaching the entrance, the eye penetrates along a majestic -vista of marble walls in close approximation, and terminating in -obscurity, with a narrow waving line of sky above, and a roaring torrent -below! Along the southern wall of this sombre gorge, a fragile scaffold, -of only two planks in breadth, is seen to run, suspended—as it were—in -air, fifty feet above the torrent, and three or four hundred feet beneath the -crevice that admits air and light from Heaven into the profound abyss. -This frail and frightful foot-path is continued (will it be believed?) nearly -<i>half a mile</i> into the marble womb of the mountain! Its construction must -have been a work of great difficulty and peril; for its transit cannot be -made even by the most curious and adventurous travellers, without fear -and trembling, amounting often to a sense of shuddering and horror. -Along these two planks we crept or crawled, with faltering steps and palpitating -hearts. It has been my fortune to visit most of the wonderful -localities of this globe, but an equal to this I never beheld.</p> - -<p>“Imagination, (says an intelligent traveller,) the most vivid, could not -portray the portals of Tartarus under forms more hideous than those -which Nature has displayed in this place. We enter this gorge on a -bridge of planks (pont de planches) sustained by wedges driven into the -rocks. It takes a quarter of an hour or more to traverse this bridge, and -it requires the utmost precaution. It is suspended over the Tamina, -which is heard rolling furiously at a great depth beneath. The walls of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -this cavern, twisted, torn, and split (les parois laterales contournées, fendues, -et dechirées) in various ways, rise perpendicular, and even incline -towards each other, in the form of a dome; whilst the faint light that -enters from the portal at the end, and the crevice above, diminishes as we -proceed;—the cold and humidity augmenting the horror produced by the -scene. The fragments of rock sometimes overhang this gangway in such -a manner, that the passenger cannot walk upright:—at others, the marble -wall recedes so much, that he is unable to lean against it for support. -The scaffold is narrow, often slippery; and sometimes there is but a single -plank, separating us from the black abyss of the Tamina.<a name="FNanchor_38" id="FNanchor_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> He who has -cool courage, a steady eye, and a firm step, ought to attempt this formidable -excursion (épouvantable excursion) in clear and dry weather, lest he -should find the planks wet and slippery. He should start in the middle -of the day, with a slow and measured step, and without a stick. The -safest plan is to have two guides supporting a pole, on the inside of which -the stranger is to walk.”</p> - -<p>We neglected this precaution, and four out of the five pushed on, even -without a guide at all. At forty or fifty paces from the entrance the -gloom increases, while the roar of the torrent beneath, reverberated from -the sides of the cavern, augments the sense of danger and the horror of -the scene. The meridian sun penetrated sufficiently through the narrow -line of fissure at the summit of the dome, to throw a variety of lights and -of shadows over the vast masses of variegated marble composing the walls -of this stupendous cavern, compared with which, those of Salsette, Elephanta, -and even Staffa, shrink into insignificance. A wooden pipe, which -conveys the hot waters from their source to the baths, runs along in the -angle between the scaffold and the rocks, and proves very serviceable, -both as a support for one hand while pacing the plank, and as a seat, -when the passenger wishes to rest, and contemplate the wonders of the -cavern. At about one-third of the distance inward, I would advise the -tourist to halt, and survey the singular locality in which he is placed. -The inequality of breadth in the long chink that divides the dome above, -admits the light in very different proportions, and presents objects in a -variety of aspects. The first impression which occupies the mind is -caused by the cavern itself, with reflection on the portentous convulsion of -Nature which split the marble rock in twain, and opened a gigantic aqueduct -for the mountain torrent.<a name="FNanchor_39" id="FNanchor_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> After a few minutes’ rumination on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -action of subterranean fire, our attention is attracted to the slow but -powerful operation of water on the solid parietes of this infernal grotto. -We plainly perceive that the boisterous torrent has, in the course of time, -and especially when swelled by rains, caused wonderful changes both in -its bed and its banks. I would direct the attention of the traveller to a -remarkable excavation formed by the waters on the opposite side of the -chasm, and in a part more sombre than usual, in consequence of a bridge -that spans the crevice above, and leads to the Convent of Pfeffers. This -natural grotto is hollowed out of the marble rock to the depth of 30 -feet, being nearly 40 feet in width, by 26 feet in height. It is difficult -not to attribute it to art; and, as the whole cavern constantly reminds us -of the Tartarean Regions, this beautifully vaulted grotto seems to be fitted -for the throne of Pluto and Proserpine—or, perhaps, for the tribunal of -Rhadamanthus and his brothers of the Bench, while passing sentence on -the ghosts that glide down this Acheron or Cocytus—for had the <span class="smcap">Tamina</span> -been known to the ancient poets, it would assuredly have been ranked as -one of the rivers of Hell.</p> - -<p>One of the most startling phenomena, however, results from a perspective -view into the cavern, when about midway, or rather less, from its -portal. The rocky vista ends in obscurity; but gleams and columns of -light burst down, in many places, from the meridian sun, through this -“palpable obscure,” so as to produce a wonderful variety of light and -shade, as well as of bas-relief, along the fractured walls. While sitting -on the rude wooden conduit before alluded to, and meditating on the infernal -region upon which I had entered, I was surprised to behold, at a -great distance, the figures of human beings, or thin shadows (for I could -not tell which), advancing slowly towards me—suspended between Heaven -and earth—or, at least, between the vault of the cavern and the torrent -of the Tamina, without any apparent pathway to sustain their steps, but -seemingly treading in air, like disembodied spirits! While my attention -was rivetted on these figures, they suddenly disappeared; and the first -impression on my mind was, that they had fallen and perished in the horrible -abyss beneath. The painful sensation was soon relieved by the reappearance -of the personages in more distinct shapes, and evidently composed -of flesh and blood. Again they vanished from my sight; and, to -my no small astonishment, I beheld their ghosts or their shadows advancing -along the opposite side of the cavern! These, and many other optical -illusions, were caused, of course, by the peculiar nature of the locality, -and the unequal manner in which the light penetrated from above into this -sombre chasm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>Surprise was frequently turned into a sense of danger, when the parties, -advancing and retreating, met on this narrow scaffold. The “laws of -the road” being different on the Continent from those in Old England, -my plan was to screw myself up into the smallest compass, close to the -rock, and thus allow passengers to steal by without opposition. We -found that comparatively few penetrated to the extremity of the cavern -and the source of the Thermæ—the majority being frightened, or finding -themselves incapable of bearing the sight of the rapid torrent under their -feet, without any solid security against precipitation into the infernal -gulf. To the honour of the English ladies, I must say that they explored -the source of the waters with the most undaunted courage, and without -entertaining a thought of returning from a half-finished tour to the regions -below.<a name="FNanchor_40" id="FNanchor_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> - -<p>Advancing still farther into the cavern, another phenomenon presented -itself, for which we were unable to account at first. Every now and then -we observed a gush of vapour or smoke (we could not tell which) issue -from the further extremity of the rock on the left, spreading itself over -the walls of the cavern, and ascending towards the crevice in the dome. -It looked like an explosion of steam; but the roar of the torrent would -have prevented us from hearing any noise, if such had occurred. We -soon found, however, that it was occasioned by the rush of vapour from -the cavern in which the thermal source is situated, every time the door -was opened for the ingress or egress of visitors to and from this natural -vapour-bath. At such moments the whole scene is so truly Tartarean, -that had Virgil and Dante been acquainted with it, they need not have -strained their imaginations in portraying the ideal abodes of fallen angels, -infernal gods, and departed spirits, but painted a <span class="smcap">Hades</span> from Nature, with -all the advantage of truth and reality in its favour.</p> - -<p>Our ingress occupied nearly half an hour, when we found ourselves at -the extremity of the parapet, on a jutting ledge of rock, and where the -cavern assumed an unusually sombre complexion, in consequence of the -cliffs actually uniting, or nearly so, at the summit of the dome. Here, -too, the <span class="smcap">Tamina</span> struggled, roared, and foamed through the narrow, dark, -and rugged gorge with tremendous impetuosity and deafening noise, the -sounds being echoed and reverberated a thousand times by the fractured -angles and projections of the cavern. We were now at the source of the -<span class="smcap">Thermæ</span>. Ascending some steps cut out of the rock, we came to a door, -which opened, and instantly enveloped us in tepid steam. We entered a -grotto in the solid marble, but of what dimensions we could form no estimate, -since it was dark as midnight, and full of dense and fervid vapour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -We were quickly in an universal perspiration. The guides hurried us -forward into another grotto, still deeper in the rock, where the steam was -suffocating, and where we exuded at every pore. It was as dark as pitch. -An owl would not have been able to see an eagle within a foot of its saucer -eyes. We were told to stoop and stretch out our hands. We did so, -and immersed them in the boiling—or, at least, the gurgling, source of the -<span class="smcap">Pfeffers</span>. We even quaffed at this fountain of Hygeia.</p> - -<p>Often had we slept in damp linen, while travelling through Holland, -Germany, and Switzerland. We had now, by way of variety, a waking -set of integuments saturated with moisture <i>ab interno</i>, as well as <i>ab externo</i>, -to such an extent, that I believe each of us would have weighed at -least half a stone more at our exit than on our entrance into this stew-pan -of the Grison Alps.</p> - -<p>On emerging into the damp, gelid, and gloomy atmosphere of the -cavern, every thing appeared of a dazzling brightness after our short immersion -in the Cimmerian darkness of the grotto. The transition of temperature -was equally as abrupt as that of light. The vicissitude could -have been little less than 50 or 60 degrees of Fahrenheit in one instant, -with all the disadvantage of dripping garments! It was like shifting the -scene, with more than theatrical celerity, from the Black Hole of Calcutta -to Fury Beach, or the snows of Nova Zembla. Some of the party, less -experienced in the effects of travelling than myself, considered themselves -destined to illustrate the well-known allegory of the discontented—and -that they would inevitably carry away with them a large cargo of that -which thousands come here annually to get rid of—<span class="smcap">rheumatism</span>. I -confess that I was not without some misgivings myself on this point, -seeing that we had neither the means of changing our clothes nor of drying -them—except by the heat of our bodies in the mountain breeze. The -Goddess of Health, however, who is nearly related to the Genius of Travelling, -preserved us from all the bad consequences, thermometrical and -hygrometrical, of these abrupt vicissitudes.<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> - -<p>We retrograded along the narrow plank that suspended us over the -profound abyss with caution, fear, and astonishment. The <span class="smcap">Tamina</span> seemed -to roar more loud and savage beneath us, as if incensed at our safe retreat. -The sun had passed the meridian, and the gorge had assumed a far more -lugubrious aspect than it wore on our entrance. The shivered rocks and -splintered pinnacles that rose on each side of the torrent, in gothic arches -of altitude sublime, seemed to frown on our retreating footsteps—while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -the human figures that moved at a distance along the crazy plank, before -and behind us, frequently lost their just proportions, and assumed the most -grotesque and extraordinary shapes and dimensions, according to the degree -of light admitted by the narrow fissure above, and the scarcely discernible -aperture at the extremity of this wonderful gorge. The <span class="smcap">Tamina</span>, -meanwhile, did not fail to play its part in the gorgeous scene—astonishing -the eye by the rapidity of its movements, and astounding the ear by the -vibrations of its echoes. It seemed to growl more furiously as we receded -from the depths of the crevasse.</p> - -<p>At length we gained the portal, and, as the sun was still darting his -bright rays into the deepest recesses of the ravine, glancing from the -marble rocks, and glittering on the boiling torrent, the sudden transition -from Cimmerian gloom to dazzling day-light, appeared like enchantment. -While crossing the trembling bridge, I looked back on a scene which can -never be eradicated from my memory. It is the most singular and impressive -I have ever beheld on this globe, and compared with which, the -<span class="smcap">Brunnens</span> are “bubbles” indeed!<a name="FNanchor_42" id="FNanchor_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<p>While examining the waters, the baths, and the internal economy of the -vast <span class="smcap">valetudinarium</span> that stands in this savage locality, the bell announced -the approach of the second, or superior dinner, which happened -that day to be rather later than usual. The <span class="smcap">Salon</span>, overlooking the -torrent of the Tamina, was soon replenished with guests of the better -order; the canaille, or swarm of inferior invalids having dined two hours -or more previously, in the common <span class="smcap">Salle a Manger</span>. It needed but -little professional discrimination to class and specify them. The majority -proclaimed the causes of their visits to the Pfeffers. Rheumatism, scrofula, -and cutaneous diseases, formed the prominent features in this motley assemblage. -Invalids, with chronic complaints, real or imaginary, such as -abound at all watering places, foreign and domestic, were mingled in the -group; while a small portion, including our own party, evinced anything -but corporeal ailments—unless a “<span class="smcap">canine appetite</span>” at a genuine German -<i>table-d’hôte</i> may be ranked among the evils to which English flesh is -heir. Some monks, from the neighbouring monastery, (to which the Baths -belong,) took rank, and indeed precedence, in this small division. The -mountain breeze and fervid sun of the Convent of Pfeffers had bronzed -them with much of that nut-brown complexion, which travelling exercise -in the open air had conferred on their British visitors; while their sleek -cheeks and portly corporations proved, almost to a demonstration, that the -holy fathers descended into the profound ravine of the Tamina to give their -benediction to the waters, rather than to drink them—and to add a sacred -zest to the viands of the <span class="smcap">Refectory</span>, by the alacrity with which they -swallowed them. Their appearance illustrated the truth of the adage—“What -will not poison will fatten.”</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Waters of Pfeffers.</span></h4> - -<p>The Waters of <span class="smcap">Pfeffers</span> have neither taste, smell, nor colour. They -will keep for ten years, without depositing a sediment, or losing their transparency. -But we are not to infer that they are destitute of medicinal -powers, because they possess no sensible properties. In their chemical -composition, they have hitherto shewn but few ingredients; and those of -the simpler saline substances, common to most mineral springs.<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> It does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -not follow, however, that they contain no active materials because chemistry -is not able to detect them. Powerful agents may be diffused in -waters, and which are incapable of analysis, or destructible by the process -employed for that purpose. The only sure test is <span class="smcap">experience</span> of their -effects on the human body. It is not probable that the Baths of Pfeffers -would have attracted such multitudes of invalids, annually, from Switzerland, -Germany, and Italy; and that for six centuries, if their remedial -agency had been null or imaginary.<a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Their visitors are not of that fashionable -class, who run to watering-places for pleasure rather than for health—or, -to dispel the vapours of the town by the pure air of the coast or the -country. Yet, as human nature is essentially the same in all ranks of -society, I have no doubt that much of the fame acquired by the Baths of -Pfeffers, has been owing to the auxiliary influence of air, locality, change -of scene, moral impressions, and the peculiar mode of using the waters. -Their temperature—100° of Fahren.—certain physical phenomena which -they evince, and the nature of the diseases which they are reported to cure, -leave little doubt in my mind that their merits, though overrated, like -those of all other mineral springs, are very considerable.</p> - -<p>The disorders for which they are most celebrated, are rheumatic and -neuralgic pains, glandular swellings, and cutaneous eruptions. But they -are also resorted to by a host of invalids afflicted with those anomalous -and chronic affections, to which nosology has assigned no name, and for -which the Pharmacopœia affords very few remedies. As the Baths belong -to the neighbouring Convent of Pfeffers, and, as the holy fathers afford -not only spiritual consolation to the patients, but medical assistance in -directing the means of cure, there is every reason to believe, or, at least, -to hope, that the moral, or rather divine influence of Religion co-operates -with mere physical agency, in removing disease and restoring health.</p> - -<p>The Waters of Pfeffers are led from their sombre source in the cavern, -along the narrow scaffold before described, into a series of baths scooped -out of the rocky foundation of this vast hospital, each bath capable of accommodating -a considerable number of people at the same time. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -thermal waters are constantly running into and out of the baths—or rather -through them, so that the temperature is preserved uniform, and the waters -themselves in a state of comparative purity, notwithstanding the numbers -immersed in them. The baths are arched with stone—the window to each -is small, admitting little light, and less air:—and, as the doors are kept -shut, except when the bathers are entering or retiring, the whole space not -occupied by water, is full of a dense vapour, as hot as the Thermæ themselves. -The very walls of the baths are warm, and always dripping with -moisture. Such are the <span class="smcap">Sudatoria</span> in which the German, Swiss, and -Italian invalids indulge more luxuriously than ever did the Romans in the -Baths of Caracalla. In these they lie daily, from two, to six, eight, ten—and -sometimes sixteen hours!<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> The whole exterior of the body is thus -soaked, softened—parboiled; while the interior is drenched by large quantities -swallowed by the mouth—the patient, all this while, breathing the -dense vapour that hovers over the baths. The Waters of Pfeffers, therefore, -inhaled and imbibed, exhaled and absorbed, for so many hours daily, -must permeate every vessel, penetrate every gland, and percolate through -every pore of the body. So singular a process of human maceration in -one of Nature’s cauldrons, conducted with German patience and German -enthusiasm, must, I think, relax many a rigid muscle—unbend many a -contracted joint—soothe many an aching nerve—clear many an unsightly -surface—resolve many an indurated gland—open many an obstructed passage—and -restore many a suspended function. The fervid and detergent -streams of the Pfeffers, in fact, are actually turned, daily and hourly, -through the Augean stable of the human constitution, and made to rout -out a host of maladies indomitable by the prescriptions of the most sage -physicians. The fable of <span class="smcap">Medea’s</span> revival of youthful vigour in wasted -limbs is very nearly realized in the mountains of the Grisons, and in the -savage ravine of the <span class="smcap">Tamina</span>. Lepers are here purified—the lame commit -their crutches to the flames—the tumid throat and scrofulous neck are -reduced to symmetrical dimensions—and sleep revisits the victim of rheumatic -pains and neuralgic tortures.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="Hydropathy"><span class="smcap">Hydropathy, Hydro-sudo-pathy—or Hydrotherapeia.</span></h3> - -<p>These are the titles given to a system of healing human maladies by -means of perspiration and cold water. It is making rapid progress in -Germany, that land of ideality—and the tribe of other pathys.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -Homœopathy—allopathy—and even spa-pathy are in danger. Although it is no -new system, being practised for a long time by the Russians, yet it is -only about fifteen years since Priestnitz, a Silesian peasant, introduced it -amongst his native mountains, and in a shape and manner differing somewhat -from the Russian practice.</p> - -<p>There can be no doubt that the application of cold water to the -surface of the body, whether generally or locally, is a powerful agent, -when skilfully managed. The chill that is painfully felt on the first -plunge—the recoil of the circulation from the surface to the great central -organs and vessels—the shrinking of all external parts—the rapid abstraction -of animal heat—the hurried respiration—and last and most -important of all—the reaction which follows the bath—are all important -phenomena, that may work much good or evil in the animal economy, -according as they are watched and regulated. The reaction after the cold -bath is not less curious than the recoil. The heart and great internal -organs seem overwhelmed and stunned, for a time, by the first shock. -But soon after emerging from the bath, they begin to recover energy, and -to free themselves from the volume of congested blood, under which they -laboured. They then drive the circulation to the surface with increasing -force, filling and distending the vessels of the skin beyond the normal or -medium condition. With this distension comes a glow of heat all over -the body, and a feeling of elasticity, or bien-être, which it is difficult to -describe. A third series of phenomena now commence. All the glandular -organs of the body now take on an augmented degree of activity, -and their secretions become more copious than before the bath. Contemporary -with this increase of secretion internally, the skin itself acts more -vigorously, and not only the insensible, but the sensible perspiration becomes -more copious. In fact, the cold bath gives rise to a series, or rather -three series of phenomena, very closely resembling a paroxysm of ague—viz. -the cold, hot, and sweating stages. After a few hours all the functions -return to their normal or usual routine of duty.</p> - -<p>But things do not always run thus smoothly. If any particular internal -organ be much disordered in function, or at all changed in structure, it is -very apt to be so overpowered by the recoil or first shock of the cold bath, -that when reaction comes on, it is only partial and imperfect, in consequence -of the weak organ or organs remaining in a state of congestion, -and incapable of freeing themselves from the overplus of blood determined -upon them by the retreat of the circulation from the surface. -Then we have headache, lassitude, drowsiness, general malaise, or local -uneasiness, imperfect reaction, scanty or disordered secretions, with many -other uncomfortable feelings, instead of that elasticity and buoyancy which -have been already noticed.</p> - -<p>Before proceeding further on the cold bath, let us glance at the -peculiar manner in which it is employed by the hydro-therapeutic doctors<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -of Germany, who have now establishments in many of the principal -towns.</p> - -<p>About four or five o’clock in the morning, the patient is wrapped up to -the chin (while in bed) in a thick woollen shirt. Outside of this is placed -another covering of down, fur, or any warm and impermeable material. -In a short time the disengagement of animal heat from the body thus -enveloped, forms a fervid atmosphere around him, which soon induces a -copious perspiration, in the greater number of individuals. It has been -observed that, in diseased parts, as for instance, in the joints of gouty -people, the perspiration was longest in breaking out. When the skin is -obstinate, friction and other means are used to accelerate the cutaneous -discharge. When the physician judges that the perspiration has been -sufficient, the patient is quickly disrobed and plunged into a cold bath, -which is kept ready at the side of his bed. The first shock is very unpleasant; -but that over, the invalid feels very comfortable, and when the -process is likely to prove favourable, there is frequently observed on the -surface of the water a kind of viscid scum, the supposed morbid matter -thrown off from the body. The period of immersion in the cold bath is -carefully watched, for if protracted too long it proves hurtful, or even -dangerous. Some people will not bear the cold immersion above a minute—others -are allowed to remain till the approach of a second shiver. -Where the patient is very delicate or weak, the temperature of the bath is -raised a little. In other cases, the bath is artificially depressed below the -natural temperature of the water.</p> - -<p>On emerging from the bath, the patient is quickly dressed, and immediately -commences exercise, and drinks abundantly of cold water. The -limit to this ingurgitation is sense of pain or weight in the stomach. -The patient, although rather averse to the cold drink at first, soon becomes -fond of it, and will swallow fifteen or twenty goblets with a keen -relish. After the promenade and cold drink is over, a nourishing breakfast -is taken. All stimulating or exciting beverages are entirely prohibited. -The appetite generally becomes keen, and the digestion, even of -dyspeptics, strong and effective during this course. Between breakfast -and dinner is variously employed, according to the strength of the patients -or the nature of the disease. Some take riding or pedestrian exercise—others -gymnastics—and a few have more cold water, as a plunging or -shower bath.</p> - -<p>The dinner is to be light, and soon after mid-day. It is generally taken -with a keen appetite. During the three or four hours after dinner, all exercise -of mind or body is forbidden, but sleep is not to be indulged in. -Towards evening, some of the stronger patients repeat the same process -which they underwent in the morning; but those who are weak, or in whom -the crisis is approaching, only take cold water to drink in moderation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -After a slight supper the patient retires to sleep, in order that he may early -resume the routine of the water-cure.</p> - -<p>The professors of this system vary the mode of application almost infinitely—especially -the external application of the cold water, according to -the general or local seat of the complaint. They act very much on the -doctrine of revulsion or derivation. Thus when there are symptoms of -fulness or congestion about the head or the chest, a half-bath or hip-bath -of cold water is employed, disregarding the first impression of cold on the -lower parts of the body, but looking to the <i>reaction</i> which is to take place -there, and to the consequent derivation of blood from the head and chest. -Foot-baths, cold lotions, fomentations, and poultices are variously used, -according to the nature or seat of the malady.</p> - -<p>Like the spa waters, this <span class="smcap">hydrotherapeia</span> produces, in a great many -instances, a <span class="smcap">crisis</span>. For some days the patients feel themselves much -more energetic and comfortable than before the course was begun; but -after a time “a veritable state of fever is produced, the result of this -general effervescence.”<a name="FNanchor_46" id="FNanchor_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> Then the symptoms of the complaint, whatever -it may be, are all exasperated and acquire an increase of intensity—even old -diseases, that were forgotten, will sometimes re-appear—but all this commotion -is the precursor of a salutary crisis and a return to health. A kind -of prickly heat, with itching of the skin, is a common occurrence in the -course of the cure. “The effects produced even on organic diseases by -this hydro-therapeutic treatment would convince the most sceptical of its -wonderful efficacy.”—<i>Engel.</i></p> - -<p>The diseases to which this remedy is now applied in Germany are numerous -and very different. Fevers, even of the most inflammatory kind, are -said to yield to it. Pure inflammations of vital organs are fearlessly submitted -to it. The first case related by Dr. Engel, is one of pneumonia, -well marked, in a young girl who had been exposed to a current of cold -air after violent exercise in the heat of the day. Dr. Weiss ordered her -to be enveloped in a blanket, wet with cold water, and then other blankets -over the wet one, with plenty of cold water to drink. Some amelioration -of the symptoms followed; but in two hours they were again intense. -Two foreign physicians accompanied Dr. E. to the bed-side of the patient, -and prognosticated a fatal termination unless she were bled, and the cold -water treatment declined. Dr. E. with the greatest confidence, ordered -the blanket to be again wetted with cold water. This second application -was followed by increase of the burning heat, and also by delirium. Notwithstanding -the remonstrances of the foreigners, Dr. E. was still firm in -his purpose—and ordered the wet blankets to be applied every half-hour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -No change took place till after the sixth application, when the kidneys -acted copiously. The seventh application was followed by diminution of -the thirst and heat—the patient became more tranquil—began to perspire—and -fell into a short sleep. The perspiration continued copious for -twenty-two hours, and was kept up by the drinking of large quantities of -cold water. The perspiration having ceased, the patient was put into a -cold half-bath (slipper) where the respiration became more free. On being -taken out and covered over she perspired copiously. The wet blankets -were now applied only twice a day, with an occasional half-bath. On the -fifth day she was well. (Weiss.)</p> - -<p>Before proceeding farther, it will be proper to explain that the transition -from a hot bath to a cold one, even in a state of perspiration, is not half so -dangerous as most people imagine. It is well known that if we jump out -of hot water into cold, we resist the shock, and bear the effects of the -latter better than if we took the plunge without any preparation. But -then there is a strong prejudice that <i>perspiration</i> is an insuperable bar to -the application of cold water to the surface. If the individual has come -into a state of perspiration from bodily exercise, and especially if he be -fatigued or exhausted—then the cold water would be dangerous. But this -is not the case, to any extent, when he is warmed either by the hot bath, -or by the accumulation of heat generated in his own body. This is proved -by authentic facts which have come under my own observation. Forty -years ago, when the Russian troops were encamped in the islands of -Guernsey and Jersey, the soldiers constructed rude stone huts or ovens -along the beech, for vapour baths. Into these they put stones, and heated -them by fire, when they poured water over them, and thus filled the hut -with a dense vapour. When the men had continued in this rude vapour-bath -till they were in a state of perspiration, they leaped into the sea, and -swam about till they were tired. All this was done, partly for health, partly -for pleasure. It is well-known to all northern travellers that the Russians -are in the habit of steaming themselves in the vapour-baths, and then -directly rolling themselves in the snow. Every one, too, must have observed -postillions dashing their foaming and perspiring horses into any convenient -water at the end of their journey, without the least fear of their animals -being injured by the dip.</p> - -<p>Here then is a complete counter-part, or rather prototype of the <span class="smcap">hydro-sudo-pathy</span>, -as already described. But there is one process which will -appear incredible to most people—that of procuring perspiration by means -of blankets wetted with cold water. Let us see whether an illustration of -this may not be found. Every one who has read the Waverly Novels must -have been struck with the singular practice pursued by some Highlanders -(outlaws I think) who were obliged to pass many winter nights unsheltered -on the freezing mountains. When they were desirous of sleeping, they -dipped their plaids in the freezing water of the nearest pool or stream,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -and, wrapping themselves in this dripping and gelid mantle, went quietly -to sleep! So long as the plaid kept wet, the Highlander kept warm, and -slept soundly; but the moment it got dry, the man was awoke by the -cold, and proceeded to the brook or stream to saturate his bed-clothes -again with cold water. Here we have the prototype of the German process -described in the case of the girl with inflamed lungs. By what process -of <i>reasoning</i> the Silesian peasant and the Celtic mountaineer, arrived -at the knowledge of these curious facts, would be difficult to imagine. -There was probably no reasoning in either case, but chance, observation, -and experience.</p> - -<p>It is sometimes more easy to explain a phenomenon when discovered, -than to arrive at it by any process of reasoning previously. The wet plaid -by confining the animal heat of the Highlander, soon occasioned a warm -atmosphere around his body, which kept him comfortable. But as soon -as the plaid got dry and its texture <i>pervious</i>, then the animal heat rapidly -escaped, and the feeling of cold dispelled sleep. In the case of pneumonia -related by Dr. Weiss, the wet blanket was surmounted by several other -blankets, which effectually prevented the escape of animal heat, which -would soon accumulate and eventuate in perspiration. In such cases there -would be a chill at first, succeeded by reaction, heat, and transpiration. -We see this exemplified every day, where cold lotions are applied to an -inflamed part. If the clothes are defended from the external air, they -soon become warm, and form a fomentation—whereas, if exposed to a -current of air, they will almost freeze the part by evaporation. Dr. -Weiss’s patient would never have perspired, if the wet blanket had not -been covered by dry ones.</p> - -<p>We are now prepared to glance at some other cases recorded by the -professors of hydropathy.</p> - -<p>Dr. Engin relates the following cases of catarrhal and rheumatic fever. -A delicate female, aged 30 years, was taken ill on the 27th of April 1837, -with the abovementioned complaint, but was under an allopathic doctor -till the 30th, when Dr. E. found her labouring under acute pains in the -joints—inflamed throat—difficulty of swallowing—joints swelled and red—inability -to move—pulse 100. The patient was enveloped in a cold wet -blanket, over which several dry ones were placed, twice a day, for three -days consecutively. She soon began to perspire copiously each time of -application. On the fourth day she was plunged into a cold bath while -deluged with sweat. This was repeated twelve days in succession, the -inflamed joints being kept, in the intervals, covered with cold wetted -cloths. During all this time she was ordered to drink plenty of cold -water. The fever and all the other symptoms gradually diminished, and -finally disappeared. Towards the end of the treatment a critical eruption -appeared on the skin.</p> - -<p>This was certainly as unfavourable a case for the hydropathic treatment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -as could well be imagined; and the fact of its being put in practice, even -with impunity, may afford matter for reflection.</p> - -<p>Cases are detailed by Dr. Engin and others, where scarlatina, erysipelas, -herpes, and other cutaneous eruptions, were treated on hydropathic -principles, and seemingly with success. Hæmorrhages of various kinds, -from nose, lungs, bowels, &c. are subjected to this treatment, as well as a -host of chronic maladies, including constipation, hæmorrhoids, amenorrhœa, -chlorosis, liver complaints, jaundice, gout, rheumatism, melancholia, -hypochondriasis, hysteria, epilepsy, tic douloureux, gastrodynia, scrofula, -rickets, &c.</p> - -<p>Now, although I should be far from recommending this practice in many -of the complaints where it has been employed, yet, as the institutions for -the hydropathic treatment are now spread all over Germany, and open to -the inspection of all medical men, (unlike the hocus-pocus fraud, mystery, -and deception of homœopathy,) it would be unwise not to examine into a -system which shocks our prejudices rather than runs counter to historical -facts and philosophical reasoning.</p> - -<p>At all events, this system corroborates a practice which I have now -followed and publicly recommended for many years; namely, the “<span class="smcap">Calido-frigid -Sponging</span>, or <span class="smcap">Lavation</span>.” This consists in sponging the -face, throat, and upper part of the chest, night and morning, with <i>hot</i> -water, and then immediately with <i>cold</i> water. I have also recommended -that children should be habituated to this sponging all over the body, as -the means of inuring them to, and securing them from, the injuries produced -by atmospheric vicissitudes. It is the best preservative which I -know against face-aches, tooth-aches, (hot and cold water being alternately -used to rinse the mouth,) ear-aches, catarrhs, &c. so frequent and distressing -in this country. But its paramount virtue is that of preserving -many a constitution from pulmonary consumption, the causes of which -are often laid in repeated colds, and in the susceptibility to atmospheric -impressions.<a name="FNanchor_47" id="FNanchor_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p class="titlepage">END OF THE FIRST PILGRIMAGE.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="Second_Pilgrimage">(Second Pilgrimage.)</h2> - -<h4>CHEMIN DE MER—CHEMIN DE FER.</h4> - -<p>A short run of fourteen hours from the Tower, on a road as smooth as -that of the Great Western Railway, deposited us safely at Ostende—a kind -of flat and fortified Gravesend, where John Bull, as far as tongue and -table are concerned, is as much at home as if he were in Deptford or -Greenwich. At six in the morning, every thing is bustle among the baggage, -and it requires half a dozen omnibuses to convey travellers, trunks, -clothes-bags and band-boxes from the hotels to the station. And here I -would advise every passenger to mark the <i>destination</i> on every package, -and take care of the receipt ticket, otherwise he may find, on his arrival -at Brussels, Liege, or Antwerp, that his luggage has travelled to quite a -different quarter, requiring a “reclamation” to be sent along the lines, and -perhaps two or three days’ delay! One of my trunks, and that too, -the one containing the “sinews of war,” was “absent without leave,” -when I reached Brussels, and was afterwards found lying in the office at -Ghent!</p> - -<p>Short as was our passage to the Station by the <span class="smcap">omnibus</span>, it gave rise -to a warm discussion respecting this very convenient and economical -vehicle, which was considered by one of the party as a great recent improvement -on hackneys, cabs, and stage-coaches. An Irish Tutor, however, -who was one of the company, maintained that the <span class="smcap">omnibus</span> was in -common use more than two thousand years ago, in every country between -the banks of the Ganges and the pillars of Hercules. This was so startling -an assertion that the gentleman was called on for proof. “That I -will give,” said he, “from the tenth Satire of Juvenal, which commences -thus:”—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“OMNIBUS in terris quæ sunt à gadibus usque</div> -<div class="verse">Auroram et gangem.”——</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">The cockneys stared at each other, and one or two gentlemen laughed -most immoderately. The <span class="smcap">Domine</span> proceeded to translate the passage for -the benefit of the ladies, and others who might not possess a knowledge -of the dead languages.</p> - -<p>“<i>Omnibus in terris</i>” there are OMNIBUSES in all countries, “<i>quæ -sunt</i>,” that lie, “<i>a gadibus</i>,” between Cadiz, “<i>auroram et gangem</i>” and the -banks of the Ganges.</p> - -<p>This ingenious distortion of the celebrated passage in Juvenal, was delivered -with such assumed gravity and apparent honesty, that it carried -conviction to nine-tenths of the passengers, and those few who detected -the sophistry, were so much pleased with the joke, that they applauded -the learning of the Theban. Nor would it have been very easy to prove -that he was <i>literally</i> wrong. “<span class="smcap">Omnibus</span>” was in use wherever the latin -language prevailed; and though not specifically designed as a vehicle for -<i>passengers and luggage</i>, it was employed to carry <i>all kinds of things</i>—hence -the application of it to the modern and very useful Noah’s Ark on four -wheels.</p> - -<p>A good deal of scepticism has been expressed respecting the “flying -Dutchman” of the novelist and others. But I do not see why we should -not have a “flying Dutchman,” seeing that we have “flying Belgians.” -If, in the good old times of Marlbro’, Napoleon, and Wellington, a train -of artillery moving at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, was called -a <i>“flying” train</i>, surely a train going at the rate of twenty-five or thirty -miles an hour, and carrying a small army with its baggage on its back, -deserves the epithet of a “<i>flying train</i>.” Never was country better calculated -for rail-roads than a great portion of Holland and Belgium. You -have only to lay down sleepers and rails in any direction, and all is ready -for the engine. Nor is there any extra expence required for guarding man -or beast against accidents. The train brushes along the sides or gable of -a cottage—dashes through the centre of a village—plunges through the -suburbs of a city—skips over a public road without disturbing a stone of -the pavé—darts over a canal—and all with scarcely a rail or fence to -prevent intrusion on the lines. The Belgians are either very cautious, or -very reckless of life. You will see men, women, and children standing or -sitting within six feet of the trains; but no accident seems ever to occur. -As for cattle straying on the rail-roads, there is little danger of that; for -you may travel from Ostende to Liege, without seeing ox or ass, cow or -calf, sheep or goat—or anything with four legs—except in the towns. All -is corn, hay, potatoes, and clover—or clover, potatoes, hay and corn—or -some combination of these four staple articles.</p> - -<p>But neither rail-roads nor love are found to run always smooth. As we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -approach Liege the ground becomes so rugged, and the hills so steep, that -tunnels of prodigious length and depth are necessary to complete the line -to Liege, Aix, and Cologne. It is said the Americans contemplate a perforation -of the Allighany Mountains, in order that rail-roads may be extended -to Kentucky. The task will not be much less difficult to connect -Ostende with the Rhine. But the persevering industry of Germans—the -“improbus labor”—will conquer all obstructions.</p> - -<h4>ANTWERP ROUTE.</h4> - -<p>While the train is flying along between Brussels and Liege, let us glance -at the Antwerp route. It is generally preferred to that of Ostende—though -for what good reason I am ignorant. The land is surely more -natural to man than the water. True the difference between the two -routes consists chiefly in the length of the river voyage; but, of all the -navigations which I have ever experienced round this globe, the “<span class="smcap">Navigation -of the Scheldt</span>,” is amongst the most insipid and monotonous. -To me, too, it recalled scenes the most triste, and reminiscences the most -dolorous. The very lapse of time itself (31 years) since I first anathematized -its malodorous and malarious banks, is not a very pleasing retrospect. -But the recollection of what passed there in 1809, can never be -called up without pain and mortification!</p> - -<p>While the steamer was ploughing her weary way between Flushing and -Cadsand, <span class="smcap">Memory</span>, that mysterious power, quickly reproduced the drama, -on which the curtain had fallen for more than thirty years! The hundred -pendants floating in the air—the masses of troops, whose polished arms -gleamed in the sun—the frowning and hostile ramparts and batteries on -each side of the pass covered with thousands of soldiers and citizens—the -daring rush of three men-of-war (in one of which, the <span class="smcap">Valiant</span> of -seventy-four guns, I then was,) into the Scheldt, while shells were bursting -over us, and the heavy shot whistling through our rigging—the debarkation -of the British troops—the bombarding and battering of Flushing—the -conflagration of the town—the sorties of the garrison, repulsed, scattered, -and driven back by British bayonets, as quickly and certainly as -the Ocean’s surge is shivered into foam by the perpendicular rocks—the -devastation of the ramparts by the showers of shot and shells for ever -thundering against them—the awful preparation for storm—the capitulation -of the garrison;—all these and many other scenes rose on the intellectual -mirror, and flitted round the mental diorama, as fresh as when they -were first spread before the material eye.</p> - -<p>Then came the still darker side of the drama, on which Memory, even -yet shudders to dwell! Our hopes and expectations scattered on the winds—the -great object of the Expedition (French fleet) secured beyond our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -reach, though before our eyes—while our luxurious commander was employed -in eating turtle and throwing the <i>shells</i> at the enemy.</p> - -<p>The stimulus of action, the expectation of booty, and the prospect of -battle being withdrawn, vexation and disappointment prepared the way for -the deadly poison of malaria. Now came the “foul fiend of the fens” in -a hundred horrid forms; and, like a destroying angel, mowed down the -ranks of our legions, lingering on these pestiferous plains in disgust or -despair! Happy were they who fell victims, at once, to the destructive -agent. Many of those who survived the endemic, were harassed to their -dying days by repeated attacks of the Walcheren malady.</p> - -<p>Yet, on both sides of the river, the country is a luxurious garden,—teeming, -equally, with the necessaries of life and the seeds of death.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The city of Antwerp itself is worthy of a visit, there being numerous -paintings by the Flemish masters of the art, while the citadel -calls forth exciting recollections of valiant assaults, and equally gallant -defences.</p> - -<h4>LIEGE.</h4> - -<p>Liege is quite metamorphosed—revolutionised—or, more properly speaking, -<i>Cockrellized</i>—within the last twenty years. In times of war, it presented -a picture of peace—and now, in times of peace, it exhibits the -bustle of war. It is no longer the quiet abode of burghers, as in the days -of Quentin Durward! In every direction you observe tall chimnies belching -forth volumes of dense smoke—forges roaring—steam-engines sobbing -hammers clattering—and files grating—all in the preparation and construction -of various kinds of destructive weapons, from a 42-pounder to a -pitchfork! Liege, in fact, is now the Brumagem of Belgium, and can -rival the great British manufactory of metals in no small degree. Musket-barrels -can be procured at Liege for three shillings each! Let England -look to her corn-laws! The “factory system” has not greatly improved -the manners, habits, or morals of Liege. Those who have not visited this -place for ten or fifteen years are astonished at the difference among the -lower order of the people.</p> - -<p>The country around Liege, and between that city and Aix and Spa, is -magnificent—equal in beauty, cultivation, and fertility, to the finest parts -of Devonshire—or indeed of any other shire in England. Unlike France -and many parts of the Continent, the country here is spangled with handsome -villas and neat cottages in every direction.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="CHAUDE_FONTAINE">CHAUDE FONTAINE.</h3> - -<p>About six miles from Liege, on the road to Spa, most beautifully situate,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -lies the little warm spring of the above name. The waters are limpid, -inodorous, and tasteless. The temperature is 90½° of Fahrenheit. The -specific gravity is that of common water. It contains small quantities of -carbonic, sulphuric, and muriatic acid, and also some lime. One hundred -pints of this spring yielded 240 grains of saline matters—of which 88 -were common salt—91 carbonate of lime—14 sulphate of lime—15 muriate -of magnesia—12 alumine—and 15 silice. They are, therefore, very -analogous to the waters of Pfeffers, Wildbad, and Schlangenbad—and -may be used for the same purposes as their more celebrated contemporaries. -They may be reached in nine or ten hours from Ostende, by the -rail-road. A young lady from England, who bathed in these waters once, -and sometimes twice a day, remarked that she always “felt like eel” after -leaving them, and throughout the same day. I do not exactly know what -the “eel-feel” is, but I can easily believe that it is not precisely that which -the eel itself experiences when it changes its mud-bath for the hands of -the cook.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="SPA">SPA.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Heureux qui s’ecartant des sentiers d’ici bas,</div> -<div class="verse">A l’ombre du desert allant cacher ses pas.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Thirty miles South of <span class="smcap">Aix-la-Chapelle</span>, and twenty-four South-east -of Liege, embosomed in a sombre but rather romantic valley of the Ardennes, -lies <span class="smcap">Spa</span>, formerly one of the most aristocratic and celebrated -chalybeates of Europe.</p> - -<p>We proceed from Liege to Spa along the valley of the Vesdre, and a -more beautiful drive can hardly be met with. I do not think it inferior to -the banks of the Meuse, and it certainly is much more <i>beautiful</i> than many -parts of the Rhine. The sides of the valley are clothed with wood, or -cultivated carefully, from their very summits, and studded with beautiful -villas, cottages, and hamlets, in all directions. At every winding, we see -hundreds of men at work, carrying the new rail-road over rivers and -through the solid rock.</p> - -<p>“Cette route charmante decouvre à chaque detour de ravissants vallons -qui laissant aperçevoir au loin des maisons de plaisance, de vieux chateaux, -et de riants villages. Les cotes escarpées des montagnes qui en dessinent -les sinuositées parsemées d’arbres, de rochers, et de precipices.”</p> - -<p>At the village of Pepinsterre, about sixteen miles from Liege, we quit -the Aix-la-Chapelle road, and turn up to the right. The whole way from -this to Spa is a constant ascent, the air becoming more bracing, and the -scenery more wild, or of the Ardennes-forest character, till we approach -the town through a triple avenue, the centre one a pavé, and the side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -ones for walking or riding. Spa itself lies in a very picturesque dell, the -eastern side of which is very abrupt, and covered with wood. The houses -are all white and clean, and the locale, altogether, pleased me more than -almost any spa I had previously visited.</p> - -<p>Yet the place is comparatively abandoned! We saw very few English -there, and up to the 23d July, 1840, only about a thousand names were -entered on the books, many, perhaps most, of whom were casual visitors, -or merely passengers to other spas! I fear the good citizens of Spa will -not erect a statue to Sir Francis Head.</p> - -<p>A catalogue of the emperors, kings, queens, princes, and nobility of all -grades (laying aside the gentry and bureaucracy) who have lined their ribs -with steel, and tanned their slender chylopoietics in the Pouhon or Geronsterre, -would fill a volume. Our countrymen bear a conspicuous part in -this roll of worthies. Henry the Third, of France, visited Spa in the -sixteenth century—in the same, Charles Stuart, having lost his kingdom, -repaired to Spa to regain his health. In 1717, <span class="smcap">Peter the Great</span> drank -the waters of the Pouhon and Geronsterre—in one single year, (1783,) -the list of princes, dukes, and princesses, alone, amounted to 33, besides -the hosts of inferior gentry.</p> - -<p>The following history of one of our countrymen, recorded by <span class="smcap">Henry -de Steers</span>, the Sydenham of Spa, is not a little curious:—“In 1620, -arrived here a Milord Anglais, accompanied by his medical attendant. -The College of Physicians in London, who had been consulted in this -case, instead of putting Milord into a strait-waistcoat—or, at all events, -under surveillance, recommended him to the care of De Steers, at Spa. -This unfortunate gentleman laboured under monomania of three distinct -forms, which attacked him periodically, and in succession. During the -first ten days of every month, he neither ate, nor drank, nor spoke. He -kept to his room all the time. On the eleventh morning he would rise -from his bed early, go out a hunting, and come home hungry, eating and -drinking enormously. This was his occupation during the second decade -of the month. In the third decade, the scene entirely changed. He became -passionately fond of music, and squandered hundreds upon the -squallini’s of that day. At the end of the month the taciturnity and -fasting, &c. returned.”</p> - -<p>It is hardly necessary to say that De Steers, being unable to prevail on -the monomaniac to drink the Spa waters, the patient returned to England, -and became a furious and confirmed maniac.</p> - -<p>“As soon,” says Dr. Dordonville, “as the roads to Spa were rendered -passable, the English, travellers by disposition, and great admirers of the -picturesque, thronged to the fountains, and filled the town by their magnificence. -They loved to expend their riches; and those, whose energetic -passions threw them into dissipation, introduced a fatal and ruinous -luxury.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> - -<p>Although the caprice of fashion, and the attractions of other watering-places -have damaged Spa, it is still resorted to by many people of this -country, and great numbers from France, Belgium, and Germany.</p> - -<h4>POUHON.</h4> - -<p>This is the most ancient of the springs. It is situated in the middle of -the town, surrounded by a marble basin, whence is bottled immense quantities -of the waters for France, England, Holland, and Germany. Steers, -who practised here for twenty-five years, is not behind his brethren of the -spas, in his eulogies of the Pouhon waters. “They have an agreeable -tartness, and have worked many miracles. Their effects are all but supernatural, -and have excited the curiosity and admiration of physicians and -philosophers who have come here from various countries.”</p> - -<p>It is very clear when received into a glass, which becomes covered on -the sides with bubbles of air, that also rise on the surface. The acidulous -and piquant taste is succeeded by a smack of steel. On standing for -some time there is a deposition of iron at the bottom of the glass, in consequence -of the disengagement of carbonic acid. Peter the Great, who -came here exhausted, and menaced with dropsy, completely recovered—and -his statue stands over the Pouhon as no mean certificate of the medicinal -powers of the spring.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">second source</span>, <span class="smcap">Sauveniere</span>, is half a league out of the town, -and situated in a romantic spot. This spa contains less iron than the -Pouhon, and used to precede the others in drinking.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Geronsterre</span> was known to <span class="smcap">De Steers</span>. It is to the south of the -town, but now of easy access by a beautiful road. This spring disengages -some sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which distinguishes it from the others.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Tonnelet</span> is situated between the Pouhon and Sauveniere, and has -three springs, all of the same quality.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Constituents of One Gallon (231 Cubic Inches).</i></p> - -<table class="borders" summary="Constituents of One Gallon (231 Cubic Inches)."> - <tr> - <th>SOURCES.</th> - <th>Carb.-Acide Gas.<br />Cub. Inch.</th> - <th>Solid Matters.<br />Grains</th> - <th>Muriate of Soda.<br />Grains</th> - <th>Carbonate of Soda.<br />Grains</th> - <th>Carbonate of Lime.<br />Grains</th> - <th>Oxide of Iron.<br />Grains</th> - <th>Temperature.</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Pouhon</span></td> - <td class="tdr">262</td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="fraction">27</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="fraction">1</span></td> - <td class="tdr">2¼</td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="fraction">9</span></td> - <td class="tdr">5¼</td> - <td>50°F.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Geronsterre</span></td> - <td class="tdr">168</td> - <td class="tdr">12½</td> - <td class="tdr">½</td> - <td class="tdr">1½</td> - <td class="tdr">5¼</td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="fraction">1</span></td> - <td>49°</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Sauveniere</span></td> - <td class="tdr">241</td> - <td class="tdr">8½</td> - <td class="tdr">¼</td> - <td class="tdr">½</td> - <td class="tdr">3¾</td> - <td class="tdr">2¼</td> - <td>49°</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Tonnelet</span></td> - <td class="tdr">280</td> - <td class="tdr">5½</td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="fraction">..</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="fraction">..</span></td> - <td class="tdr">1½</td> - <td class="tdr">2¾</td> - <td>49°</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>From the above it will be seen that iron and large quantity of carbonic -acid gas are the main ingredients in the spa waters—and consequently -that they are simple chalybeates—without aperient qualities.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> - -<p>Superb baths have been erected near the Pouhon, for the accommodation -of visitors.</p> - -<h4>MEDICINAL AGENCY.</h4> - -<p>M. Dordonville is the most recent author on the Spa waters, as he has -resided there for many years, on account of his own health. According -to him, the first perceptible effect of drinking the Spa waters, especially if -taken on an empty stomach, is a slight affection of the head resembling -that which results from taking champaign. Four or five glasses suffice to -produce this phenomenon, especially at first. As this arises from the -carbonic acid gas, it is very transitory. This abundance of gas renders -these waters very pleasant to drink, but they are far from agreeable when -the gas has escaped—and they are then less easy of digestion. Hence the -bottled waters are far less efficacious than at the sources. Since the mania -of Broussais, it has not been uncommon for French visitors to take the -waters mixed with gum Arabic, by which precious mess the springs were -rendered nauseous and indigestible. We may agree with Dr. Dordonville -that the action of Spa waters is not confined to the stomach, but extends -to various organs with which the stomach is bound in sympathy. This -applies to debility of the digestive organs and its consequences; but we -must be cautious how we employ this chalybeate where there are any obstructions -or engorgements of other viscera, merely because they are diuretic, -and promote absorption. Both De Steers of old, and Monsr. -Dordonville, of the present day, assure us that these waters require to be -taken in large doses, and for a considerable time, otherwise they will do -harm instead of good. “Those who cannot take them in this manner -ought to desist from taking them at all.” Mons. D. has seen many people -who have taken from 300 to 350 ounces of the waters daily. <span class="smcap">Peter -the Great</span> generally took twenty-one glasses (three ounces each) every -morning. Dr. D. however, wisely leaves it to the feelings of the patient, -how many goblets he daily takes.</p> - -<p>These waters have been found very beneficial in chronic diarrhœa, as -might indeed be expected; but <i>large quantities</i> of any liquid taken in such -cases, are detrimental, especially when conjoined with the pedestrian exercises -that are recommended. We can hardly subscribe to the doctrine -that these chalybeates are beneficial in obstructions of the liver, and enlargments -of the spleen—especially the former, considering that they have no -aperient quality. The same observation applies to enlargement of the -mesenteric glands.</p> - -<p>On the kidneys they have an evident action, and <span class="smcap">De Steers</span>, the Sydenham -of his day, calls them <i>vesical</i>.</p> - -<p>“The waters of Spa remove heat of the kidneys and bladder, and expel -gravel more effectually than any other remedy.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> - -<p>One of the most general effects of these waters is an increase of appetite, -and most patients acquire flesh as well as strength under their use.</p> - -<p>It is, however, to people of pallid complexions—leucophlegmatic constitutions—and -general debility, without organic disease, that these waters -may be very useful. The pallid female, affected with complaints peculiar -to the sex, may expect to acquire a healthy complexion, and general -strength from the waters of Spa, assisted by mountain air and daily exercise. -Sterility is one of the many maladies for which they are loudly -praised by the resident physicians.</p> - -<p>The sulphuretted chalybeate of the Geronsterre is recommended by Dr. -D. in tuberculous affections of the lungs—a recommendation which needs -confirmation, as the Americans say.</p> - -<h4>REGIMEN.</h4> - -<p>M. Dordonville remarks that no small portion of those who come to -Spa, do so for pleasure, and not for health. These may eat and drink and -exercise as they would at home. But the invalid must pursue a systematic -regimen. The ancients always recommended aperient medicine previously -to taking mineral waters—and even De Steers made a point of -giving a gentle purgative to his patients every eight or ten days. The -horror of opening medicine entertained by people on the continent, medical -men and all, is productive of infinite mischief, when chalybeate waters, -and all those not aperient, are used. M. Dordonville cautions the drinkers -of Spa very strongly against exposure to cold—a necessary advice in a -mountainous region, where vicissitudes of temperature are frequent. The -waters are best taken early in the morning fasting; or before meals. -Some people drink them at their meals, without injury. Most of the -inhabitants of Spa have no other beverage. In affections of the chest -they may be mixed with milk—especially those of the Geronsterre. M. -Dordonville considers the Spring as the best season for the waters of Spa, -and regrets that tyrant fashion prevents invalids from coming to these -waters till the middle of Summer, or even till Autumn. From five to -fifteen minutes’ interval between the glasses is to be observed, with exercise -during that time. He recommends a light breakfast to be taken at -the fountains, after the waters, where delicious milk, fresh eggs, good -butter, and bread can always be had. From twenty to forty, or even -sixty days are necessary for a complete course of the waters. The same -physician cautions us against compound dishes or the least approach to -repletion while taking the Spa. “The great rock on which patients split -is the pleasures of the table.”</p> - -<p>The environs of Spa are very picturesque, and even romantic—the rides -and promenades being extensive and varied in this mountainous region. -The railway from Ostende or Antwerp takes the invalid or visitor to within -twenty-four miles of the Spa, and will soon take him within six miles of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -the town: and therefore the place may be reached on the third day from -London.</p> - -<p>Springing from my couch at five o’clock, in the morning after my -arrival, I first drank a large tumbler of the Pouhon, and started up the -mountain for the Geronsterre. The ascent is constant and rather steep; -but the mountain air gave me fresh vigour, and I reached the fountain -(three miles) without the slightest fatigue. It is prettily situated in a -kind of pleasure-ground, with shaded walks and pleasant benches for -promenade or repose, while taking the waters. The water itself did not -convey to my olfactory nerves that decided odour of sulphuretted hydrogen -which Dr. Dordonville maintains it does. It certainly tastes somewhat -different from the Pouhon, and they urge you to swallow it quickly, -lest the malodorous gas should escape. It was in vain that I told the -Nymph of the Spring that I was not sick, but only drinking the waters -from curiosity. Still she urged, and so did some of the drinkers, that the -most precious ingredient would vanish into air, if I did not gulp it down -in an instant: I now took an eastern road over the brow of the mountain, -through a wild forest, but along a good road, and reached the <span class="smcap">Sauveniere</span>, -after a long walk of nearly three miles. Here I quaffed at the -source whence the Duchess of —— imbibed new life, or at least -renovated health, and hung up her votive tablet, in the shape of a dome -and colonnade, in gratitude to the fountain and its tutelar saint, Apollo. -It tasted to my palate much more inky than its neighbour the Geronsterre, -as, indeed, it ought to do, having more than double the quantity of iron, -and nearly half as much as the Pouhon.</p> - -<p>From thence I turned down a narrow road to the <span class="smcap">Tonnelet</span>, about a -mile distant from the Sauveniere. It was the briskest of them all, to my -palate, containing more carbonic acid gas than even the Pouhon. The -chalybeate taste was very marked, and the water, upon the whole, very -pleasant. By this time I had swallowed four large tumblers of mineral -water, and walked seven miles before breakfast, which was very well for -the first morning. I experienced no sensation whatever about my head, -nor any other than a sense of fulness in the stomach, and very little appetite. -Another walk of more than a mile to the town, dissipated the sense -of fulness and brought me an excellent appetite, which was again removed -by eggs, coutelets, potatoes, and coffee, at the hotel de Pays Bas. After -breakfast, the pedestrian exercise was again resumed, and the heights to -the eastward of the town, with all their devious and intricate paths, were -carefully explored. The views from these heights are various and beautiful—the -air delicate and exhilarating. Descending to the town, and -resting half an hour, I repaired to the bathing establishment, close to the -Pouhon, and ordered a mineral water bath, at a temperature of 98°. I -found that the bath-master trusted entirely to his hand, for the regulation -of temperature, and on testing this “rule of thumb” by the thermometer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -he had only made a mistake of six degrees, the instrument exhibiting -104°, instead of 98°. This, however, is very common at all bathing -places. The chalybeate bath produced in me no other sensations than -those arising from saline or plain baths elsewhere. The carbonic acid -was all gone, and the water tasted merely mawkish. It has very little of -the stimulating effects of the Wisbaden or other potent waters. Although -I did not rise from the bath “rajeuné comme un Phœnix,” I experienced -great refreshment after twelve miles’ walking-exercise, and repaired to the -three o’clock table-d’hôte in the <span class="smcap">Pays Bas</span>, with more natural appetite -than I had felt since leaving Modern Babylon. A siesta of an hour -after dinner was equally pleasant and salubrious. After some ramblings -about the town, a visit to the Redout finished the day’s work.</p> - -<p>The magnificent “grande salle” in this splendid edifice, was occupied -with the ball, while the “<span class="smcap">Dæmon-robber</span> bands” were plying their -vocation at the end of the room. The play, however, seemed to go on -languidly; and the waltz appeared to have more attractions for the company -than the roulette. The dancers and spectators were by no means -<i>distinguée</i>. There was not one fine woman in the room. We did not -distinguish more than half a dozen English in the whole assembly. They -were almost all French, Flemish, and a few Germans.</p> - -<p>Thus ended a <span class="smcap">Spa-day</span> in the Ardennes. I do not recommend an imitation -of it to all those who go to Spa for health. But if the pedestrian -exercise were superseded by equestrian or carriage exercise, I think a -more effectual plan for the recovery of health could hardly be devised. To -those who are very delicate, the paths that are cut along the face of the -wooded precipices overhanging the town, afford most beautiful walks, -sheltered from the winds, and commanding pleasing prospects of Ardennes -scenery. The air there is bracing and elastic.</p> - -<p>It is not likely that such a “<span class="smcap">Haven of Health</span>” as this is, should be -without its Cursaal, or gambling-table. The two grand hells are the Redout -and the Vauxhall. A few years before the Revolution the Church sustained -some damage in slander by these mansions of morality. It appears -that the Bishop of Liege, who united a temporal with an eternal concern -for the souls of the good citizens, had granted a monopoly of fifty years -gambling to the proprietors of the Redout—of course without any other -consideration than the advancement of religion and the good of the people. -But a rival establishment (Vauxhall) having been started, the Bishop -issued an ordonnance against the new tables, as not being orthodox. An -appeal was made to the legislature, and the holy canon was reversed, on -the principle that, as in a free state like that of Liege, “every man had a -right to do as he liked with his own”—and as gambling was not contrary -to law, so the Bishop had no right to grant a monopoly to gamblers. -This was an awkward affair; but an amicable arrangement was soon made -between the Bishop and the proprietors of the two hells, by which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -man of God modestly declined a tenth of the spoil, and only accepted a -<i>third</i> of the profits of the tables at the end of each season! “Le <span class="smcap">Prince -Eveque</span> recevra le tiers <span class="smcap">des Benefices</span> que se feront dans ces deux maisons -sur les jeux, apres la saison des Eaux.”</p> - -<p>In this way things went on smoothly for a while; when lo! a third -<span class="smcap">Cursaal</span> raised its lofty head to share the spoils of hazard with the noble -firm of “<span class="smcap">Bishop</span>, <span class="smcap">Redout</span>, and <span class="smcap">Vauxhall</span>.” This was too much for -the conscience of M. <span class="smcap">L’Eveque</span>. He justly considered that two royal -roads to the regions of his “<span class="smcap">friend in black</span>” were amply sufficient—and -that to open a third would only be adding another facility to the -already “<i>faciles descensus Averni</i>.” He therefore sent a file of “gens-d’armes” -to turn the tables on these scoffers at the holy command of their -Bishop, which led to wars and bloodshed. The Bishop, finding his palace -of Liege rather warm for him, appealed to the Emperor of Germany—or -rather to Prince Metternich, then at Coblentz. Metternich decided in -favour of the original hells, as being under the benediction of the Bishop, -or perhaps of the Pope—and therefore incapable of doing any thing inconsistent -with the orthodox religion! Soon after this, Metternich and -his master had more important games to play in the French Revolution, -and how Mons. <span class="smcap">Levoz</span>, the unfortunate proprietor of the new Cursaal -fared, this deponent knoweth not.</p> - -<p>Spas are under the dominion of more influences than fashion. Who -could have supposed that the medicinal virtues of mineral waters should be -deteriorated or even destroyed by <span class="smcap">politics</span>. Yet such is the case. While -Holland and Belgium were under one crown, the Dutch dolls flocked -annually in great numbers to paint their cheeks in the Pouhon or Geronsterre, -returning to their dykes with a cargo of steel that secured them, for -ten months, against the damps and debilities of their vapoury atmosphere. -But no sooner had the “Braves Belges” revolted, than the chalybeates -of Spa lost all their efficacy, and grass is now likely to grow, and -water to run in the streets of this celebrated place! The Dutch and -most of the English at present resort to the Brunnens of Nassau—the -chalybeates of Brucknau—or the boiling Sprudel, for that health and -renovation which they used to seek and obtain in the forest of the -Ardennes!</p> - -<p>It would be equally useless and impertinent in me to attempt a revulsion -in the tide of spa-goers; yet, when I reflect on the locality of Spa—its -facility of access (forty-eight hours from London)—the efficacy of -its waters—the salubrity of its air—the variety of its promenades and -drives—the excellence of its hotels—the cheapness of living—and the seclusion -which is attainable by all—I cannot help regretting that fashion, -caprice, or some inexplicable spell should turn the tide of British invalids -so completely from <span class="smcap">Spa</span>, and impel it with irresistible impetus towards the -<span class="smcap">Brunnens</span> of <span class="smcap">Germany</span>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="AIX-LA-CHAPELLE">AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.</h3> - -<p>Antiquity is to a city what noble blood is to an individual. The <i>former</i> -may fall into decay, and the <i>latter</i> into poverty; but the pride of ancestry -supports them both in their fallen greatness. The Romans had excellent -olfactories, and a keen scent for steam or sulphuretted hydrogen gas, -wherever these issued through cracks or fissures of the earth, in their wide -domains. They were very fond of warm baths—and very wisely made -frequent use of them with no small advantage, considering that these -Lords of the Creation had no linen shirts, and wore thick woollen, and -probably somewhat greasy garments next the skin. The boiling cauldron -under Aix poured forth its nauseous and malodorous broth as freely when -Cæsar was mustering his legions on the banks of the Rhine, or when -Charlemagne, many a century afterwards, was uniting his Franco-German -subjects in the same place, as now, when the “<span class="smcap">Dampschippe</span>” and -“<span class="smcap">Chemin de Fer</span>” are daily bringing hundreds of customers and guests -from the distant shores of Albion and Erin. Innumerable Roman relics -are here found—and actual baths were discovered, where the brother of -Nero probably bathed.</p> - -<p>Aix is situated in latitude 50° in the midst of a gentle valley, environed, -at some distance, by well-wooded hills. The substratum is calcareous, but -there are unequivocal marks of volcanic agency in the neighbourhood. -The town, like London, presents an old city environed by a new one—especially -towards the Borcette. The old town, in which almost all the -hotels, and indeed the baths are situated, is very irregular, and cedes to -few continental cities in the roughness of its pavements.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Fontaine Elisée</span>, the chief or only place for drinking the waters, -is situated exactly between the old and new towns, close to the theatre, -and is one of the handsomest places of the kind amongst the spas of -Germany—forming a remarkable contrast with the Hygeian fonts of Ems, -Wisbaden, and Baden-Baden. In the midst of the façade, 270 feet in -length, rises the rotunda (resembling the Temple of Vesta at Rome) nearly -fifty feet in height, supported by columns, flanked by two open colonnades -ending in cafées, and fronted by a promenade among trees. The fountain, -from which issue two streams, is situated ten or twelve feet below the -colonnade, at the bottom of two flights of marble steps—one for descending -to the font, and the other for ascending from it. There is ample space -in front of the fountain for slowly bibbing the fervid spring. The whole -is surmounted by a marble bust of Hygeia—taken from a German Princess—and -certainly exhibiting more benignity of mein than beauty of -feature. The two High Priests who fill the glasses from the two streams, -have no <i>sinecure</i> of it from six till eight o’clock every morning. I counted -300 drinkers the first morning—and then, being tired, I counted no more.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -It must be the reputation, and not the taste or flavour of these waters, -that draws such multitudes of invalids to them every year. The odour of -sulphur is exceedingly strong—the temperature 129° Fahrenheit—the -taste most nauseous—exactly resembling the washings of a gun-barrel, -with a dash of rotten eggs. It is astonishing how soon the palate and -olfactories get reconciled to these and other malodorous waters. On the -second morning I felt little or no repugnance to them. They are clear as -crystal.</p> - -<p>The best baths are at the <span class="smcap">Hotel de l’Empereur</span> (where the superior -and hottest source is found), and which is also a very good hotel. The -maitre (Mr. Nuellens) is a pleasant fellow, who speaks English, and is -very attentive to his guests.</p> - -<p>As Aix-la-Chapelle is not a place of resort for those who seek pleasure -only, the great body of the real visitors are really invalids, or think themselves -such. The few attendants on sick friends are seldom seen taking -either the waters or baths.</p> - -<p>At such a place the experienced eye of the physician can detect, with a -tolerable approach to accuracy, the prevailing maladies for the removal of -which these waters are employed. The drinkers can readily be divided -into three, if not four classes. 1st. I observed a certain proportion, chiefly -females—perhaps a twentieth or thirtieth part of the whole,—who were -clearly “malades imaginaires”—and whose complexions, features, gait, -voices, and condition of body, evinced the absence of all organic disease, -or even functional disorder, of any consequence. They appeared, however, -to be full as anxious to imbibe the prescribed quantity of this terrible compound -of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, muriate of soda and a few other -salts, as any of their neighbours, who shewed too evident marks of corporeal -sufferings.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">second class</span>—and by far the most numerous—were those whose -countenances and tout-ensemble indicated the presence of various functional -disorders—more especially stomach complaints, biliary obstructions, -cutaneous affections, and uterine derangements. A large proportion of -these were likely to benefit from the sulphur salines of Aix. The <span class="smcap">third -class</span> could not be mistaken. The melancholy sequences of apoplectic -attacks (paralysis)—swelled limbs—dropsical effusions of the body—jaundice,—enlarged -livers and spleens—diseases of the heart—last stages of -indigestion—kidney diseases—panting asthma—hectic cough—in short, -the long black catalogue of organic diseases, which no waters but those -of oblivion could ever wash away.</p> - -<p>Yet hope, which clings to the human heart, had collected this unfortunate -class—and not in very small numbers—round the fountain and the -baths—to return to their homes with blighted expectations, there to linger -out a wretched existence!</p> - -<p>The German physicians appear to be convinced that mineral springs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -are not merely waters impregnated with various mineral and gaseous -matters, with or without increase of temperature; but that they are possessed -of <i>vitality</i>—living beings, in fact, whose life is transfused into the -human organism, thereby communicating energy to the solids and purity -to the fluids of our bodies—in other words, correcting and expelling disease -and restoring health! Even the venerable <span class="smcap">Alibert</span> was smitten with -this German transcendentalism, and he observes of the Aix waters—“these -springs, under the empire of Nature, most undoubtedly enjoy a -species of <i>vitality</i> (une sorte de vitalité) in common with other living -bodies on this globe. They are <i>animated</i> by a multitude of principles, -which will long, perhaps for ever, elude the most laborious researches of -chemistry. The waters of Aix-la-Chapelle, whether used internally or in -baths, act as potent restorers of vital energies. Their constituents are -powerfully aided in efficacy by the high temperature and the impregnation -of divers gases. Taken internally they excite the action of the abdominal -viscera—detach mucosities and other morbid secretions, and evacuate -them by the bowels, kidneys, and skin. The inhalation of the vapour -rising from these waters has been very serviceable in many cases of pulmonary -affections.”</p> - -<p>This <i>vitality</i> hypothesis did not escape the notice of my friend Dr. -Granville, who appears, however, to have thought it rather too large for -John Bull to swallow, without some qualification. He therefore substituted -“caloricity” for “vitality,” in order that so good an idea might -not be lost—and that some <i>mysterious</i> agency might aid the natural operation -of the German spas. This mode of explaining the <i>ignotum</i> by the -<i>ignotius</i> is, no doubt, very ingenious; but, for my own part, I shall at -once acknowledge my ignorance, not only of the manner in which mineral -waters are formed in the bowels of the earth, but of their <i>specific</i> action -(if any) on the human frame.</p> - -<p>The spa doctors candidly allow that the waters of Aix, “if taken too -hot and in quantities too large, may produce irritation, and even purgation. -But the latter is not a very common effect of these waters. In -small doses they are favourable to digestion; and, taken in moderation, -they are not calculated to weaken.” As baths, these waters act on the -surface, and, by sympathy, on the internal organs, exciting the nervous, -secreting, and circulating organs. The temperature of the blood (98°) is -considered the best for the bath. “If taken at a higher degree, or too -often, they are dangerous.”</p> - -<p>Let us now advert to the bill of fare which Alibert, Monheim, Zillerland, -Dordonville, Reumont, and others, have spread before the invalids resorting -to Aix-la-Chapelle. I shall endeavour, here and elsewhere, to form -some scale or estimate of the probable, doubtful, and dangerous agency of -the waters and baths.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">1. Probable.—2. Doubtful.—3. Dangerous.</span></p> - -<p>Difficult digestion, without organic disease (1)—Acidities in the stomach -and bowels (1)—Cramps in the stomach (1)—Coliques (1)—Worms -(1)—Constipation (2)—Mesenteric obstruction (1)—Obstruction of liver -(1)—Of Spleen (1)—Of Kidneys (2)—Hypochondriasis (2)—Hysteria -(1)—Hæmorrhoids (1)—Want of sleep (2)—Jaundice (1)—Dropsy (2)—Derangement -of monthly health (1)—Sterility (2)—Diarrhœa (2)—Chronic -dysentery (2)—Chronic catarrh (2)—Renal and vesical calculi (2)—Glandular -enlargements (1)—Scrofula (1)—Tubercles of the liver (2)—Rheumatism, -fixed or wandering (1)—Gout, if perfectly chronic (1)—Cutaneous -eruptions, chronic and not inflammatory (1)—Morbid effects -of mercury (1)—Effects of mineral poisons, as of lead (1)—Deafness (2)—Loss -of voice (2)—Weak vision (2).—These waters are contra-indicated -in hæmorrhages—tendency to apoplexy—(though they are said to be -sometimes useful in the paralysis following apoplexy.)</p> - -</div> - -<p>The foregoing is a tolerably copious list of maladies which may be -benefitted by the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle—and from their sensible qualities -and long-established reputation, there is little doubt but that <i>fashion</i> -has drawn away from them to other more favoured places, many who -would have derived great advantage from their use. The remarks on -drinking, bathing, and preparatory measures, will be found under the head -of <span class="smcap">Ems</span>, to prevent repetition.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="Borcette"><span class="smcap">Borcette.</span></h3> - -<p>About a mile and a half from the “Fontaine Elisée,” in a romantic -little dell, over which the rail-road will soon pass, lies Borcette. The -waters resemble those of Aix-la-Chapelle, but they are (one of the sources) -entirely devoid of the sulphuretted hydrogen gas. The temperature is -about 150° Fahr. The water is clear, and has an acidulous taste. There -is one source where the waters are sulphurous. Latterly a chalybeate -spring has been discovered here. Borcette is more quiet, and the air -fresher than in the town, and the baths are a good deal frequented. The -new town, from the Fontaine Elisée to Borcette, is very handsome, and -the theatre is a most beautiful building.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Aix-la-Chapelle</span></h3> - -<p class="noindent">Presents more Lions than the “Vitalised Waters” of Alibert. Within -its cathedral are preserved some of the most venerable relics that ever -pious Catholic bowed to in adoration—relics—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Which Jews might kiss and Infidels adore”—</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">trophies over time, which might make St. Januarius blush, and give the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -head of the church a fit of the jaundice! A tithe of these cannot be -noticed. 1. The robe of the Virgin Mary which she wore at the nativity. -It is made of cotton, and is five feet and a half in length.—2. A nail from -the holy cross.—3. The head of St. Anastasius.—4. One link of the chain -which bound St. Peter in prison.—5. Some of the oil which flows from the -tomb of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and which is possessed of miraculous -powers in curing various diseases!—6. Several fragments of the <span class="smcap">rod -of Aaron</span>.</p> - -<p>Who would believe that this rod of Aaron has never once scourged the -Demon of Play and his disciples, who carry on their diabolical works in the -depth of night, under the very nose of Charlemagne, surrounded as he is -by such stupendous relics, and aided by the prohibition of the Prussian -government?<a name="FNanchor_48" id="FNanchor_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="EMS">EMS.</h3> - -<p>No German spa is better known to the English than <span class="smcap">Ems</span>, lying in a narrow -valley of the Lahn river, only six miles from Coblentz, in the Duchy -of Nassau. The town is built on the right bank of the little river, and the -slate hills rise almost perpendicularly behind it. The sun’s beams are -collected into a focus there, during a great part of the day, and the air is -hot and sultry. These hills, on both sides, are covered with vines, trees, or -cultivation. The walks about Ems are not so well shaded as at Wisbaden -and some other watering-places in Nassau; but there are plenty of donkeys -and guides to take the invalids up to the higher grounds for pure air. The -environs are very pretty, especially the road to Nassau, about five miles -from Ems.<a name="FNanchor_49" id="FNanchor_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> - -<p>These waters did not escape the notice of the Romans, whose coins and -other vestiges have been found there. The waters issue from the foot of -the eastern slate mountain (Mont de Bains) and their sources are hidden -from human eye and investigations.<a name="FNanchor_50" id="FNanchor_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> They are clear and transparent as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -crystal, when first drawn in a clean glass. The chief fountains are the -<span class="smcap">Kesselbrunnen</span> and the <span class="smcap">Krachenchen</span>—the <i>first</i> has a temperature -of 115° of Fahrenheit—the <i>latter</i>, only 83°. These are the drinking -springs. There are several others, varying in temperature from 80° to 124°, -and used as baths. Some of them are about the temperature of the blood, -and fit for general bathing, without increase or reduction. They have the -taste of chicken-broth, with a slight smack of iron. They preserve their -physical qualities (excepting temperature) for forty-eight hours, uncorked—when -corked and sealed, they are said to keep good for several months. -They are light and easy of digestion.</p> - -<p>The Ems waters are eminently alkaline. A pint (of the Kesselbrunnen) -contains 20 grains of bicarbonate of soda—two of carbonate of the same—two -of carbonate of magnesia—one of sulphate of soda—one of common -salt (muriate of soda)—and a very minute trace of iron. All the -springs contain nearly the same ingredients—but the Krachenchen shews -much more carbonic acid gas than the Kesselbrunnen, on account of its -lower temperature.</p> - -<p>Thilenius (the elder and younger) the Nestors of Ems, make the following -observations on the waters.</p> - -<p>“They operate on the human constitution mildly but efficiently, with -little disturbance to the functions of the body. On this account they agree -well with delicate persons, whose nerves are morbidly sensitive,—the sad -effects of mental emotions, civilized life, and other debilitating causes. -They are, therefore, peculiarly suited to the female constitution.—They -may be employed, too, in advanced stages of disease, where other mineral -waters of more exciting qualities, would be inadmissible. Their alkaline -properties enable them to resolve obstructions, and free the functions of -the kidneys, skin, liver, and various other secreting organs—especially -the uterine vessels. They correct tenacious and morbid bile, as well as -acidities—and thus prove aperient in a mild degree. Their intimate connexion -with carbonic and sulphuretted hydrogen gas enables them to give -activity to the secreting vessels, and evacuate unhealthy humours, while -they give vigour to the whole organism, oppressed by chronic diseases. -They have, at the same time, a soothing and tranquillizing effect on the -nervous system. No waters, with the exception of Schlangenbad, produce -such a pleasing and salutary operation on the skin, which they -cleanse, soften, and leave in a sattiny state, thus improving the complexion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -and clearing the pores. They are potent in discussing glandular swellings, -and promoting absorption of abnormal deposits.”</p> - -<p>The foregoing exposition of the general effects of the Ems waters is -more rational, modest, and just, than we shall usually find in the -eloges of most other spa doctors. We shall now give a catalogue of the -particular maladies for which these waters are specially recommended—marking, -as usual, the probable, the doubtful, and the dangerous, with -the numbers 1, 2, and 3.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="center">[<span class="smcap">1. Probable. 2. Doubtful. 3. Dangerous.</span>]</p> - -<p>They are represented as prompt and efficacious in all complaints dependent -on <span class="smcap">acidities</span> (1)—Glairy accumulations in the bowels (1)—Foul -humours in the blood (1)—Spasms of the stomach (2)—Colics and -vomitings (2)—Indigestion (1)—Irregularity of bowels (1)—Flatulence -(2)—Loss of appetite (1)—Sense of distention and malaise after food (1)—Embarrassments -of the chest (2)—Neglected catarrhs (1)—Inveterate -coughs (1)—Asthma (2)—Hæmorrhage from the lungs (2)—Hooping-cough -(1)—Loss of voice (1)—Obstinate jaundice (1)—Gall-stones (1)—Gravel -(1)—Hypochondriasis (1)—Rheumatism and gout (1)—Spleen -(2)—Hysteria (2)—Chorea (2)—Epilepsy (2)—Chlorosis or green sickness -(1)—Uterine obstructions and irregularities (1)—Painful periods (1)—Leucorrhœa -(1)—Swellings of the limbs (1)—Induration and enlargement -of glands (1)—Sterility (2)—Paralysis (1)—Nervous and intermittent -fevers of long standing (2)—Lameness (1)—Commotions of the brain or -spinal marrow (2)—(the baths in such cases might be dangerous)—Neglected -syphilitic affections (1)—Morbid effects of mercury injudiciously administered -(1)—Ascites otherwise incurable (2)—Diseases of the skin -(1)—Fistulæ (2)—Goitre (1)—Dropsy (2)—Inveterate inflammation of -the Eyes (2)—Rickets of children (2)—Curvature of spine (2)—Scald-head -(1).</p> - -</div> - -<p>From this ample <i>carte des maladies</i> (and I have omitted several which -will not bear publication in this country) the valetudinarian will be able to -select the dish that suits his taste—or rather the evil which he wishes to -discharge. I have endeavoured to estimate the value of the remedy. -Thilenius, indeed, expresses an apprehension that readers may be sceptical -as to the power of one remedy curing so many and such different diseases. -But he says—“let the sceptic come and see.” Who can combat the following -argument?—“The result of our most profound researches is the -firm persuasion that mineral waters are the gifts of Divine mercy to suffering -humanity.” The same might be said of every medicine; but medicines -often do harm, and so do mineral waters, unless administered with prudence. -It will be seen that the stigma of No. 3 (dangerous) has been -affixed in no instance to the Ems waters; but this applies to drinking them -and not to bathing. I cannot too often repeat my conviction that there -is far more mischief produced by spa-bathing than by spa-bibbing—especially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -in the case of the Ems waters, which are by no means of such an -exciting nature as those of Wisbaden and several other warm springs. In -every case where there is either local inflammation or constitutional excitement, -these and other thermal waters are dangerous as baths. -Thilenius himself remarks as follows:</p> - -<p>“The condition of the body, when these waters are used, may be compared -to that in which a kind of fever exists. It includes a period of four -or six weeks, or even longer, in inveterate maladies. In this period, the -waters exert their influence for the removal of the disease. This influence -is felt, sooner or later. It is more or less distinctly perceptible, according -to the nature of the complaint. It manifests itself, generally, by a kind -of languor, in which the patient expresses himself as being ‘affected by -the waters.’”</p> - -<p>The waters of Ems have had greater reputation in affections of the -chest than most other mineral springs, in consequence of the strong -recommendation of Hufeland, who observes:—“We know how few -mineral springs there are that can be used with safety in diseases of the -lungs. Patients with such affections are commonly prohibited from visiting -a mineral spring. Here the reverse is the case; and, in my opinion, -Ems stands alone, with Selters, in this respect.”</p> - -<p>It is quite evident, however, that it is in the more incipient cases of -pulmonary diseases only, that Ems could be of any service—namely, where -the tubercles are few in number, and in an unexcited condition—where -the cough is slight, and the expectoration merely mucous, without fever -or emaciation. In affections of the trachea, however, dependent on chronic -inflammation of the mucous membrane, the waters and locality of Ems -have been found highly beneficial, as the crowds of people from all parts -of Germany can testify. It really would be well worth trying Ems, in -such cases, before undertaking a long journey to Pisa or Rome.</p> - -<p>Since the above was written, and while staying at Ems, in July, 1840, -I met with a recent work by Dr. Doring, bath physician at Ems, from -which I think it proper to make some extracts.</p> - -<p>“Among all the maladies which are alleviated or cured by the waters of -Ems, the affections of the chest are of the first consideration.</p> - -<p>1. <i>Pulmonary Complaints having their origin in other parts of the body.</i>—Where -these result from congestion or engorgement of the viscera of -the abdomen, connected with gout.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Loss of voice, hoarseness, &c.</i></p> - -<p>3. <i>Chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx, trachea, -and bronchia.</i>—When this affection has attained the name and nature of -pituitary phthisis, the waters of Ems work wonders, especially where this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -state depends on latent gout, rheumatism, or repelled cutaneous complaints. -The <span class="smcap">Kesselbrunnen</span> is very efficacious in such conditions of the mucous -membrane. If the malady has not advanced beyond the limits of curability, -the warm baths prove auxiliary to the internal use of the water.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Chronic inflammation of the substance of the lungs themselves.</i></p> - -<p>5. <i>Debility of the chest.</i>—However vague and inexact this term, there -is a <i>disposition</i> to pulmonary disease to which it may be applied, and which -it is of great importance to recognize. One of the chief symptoms is a -susceptibility to colds, or irritability of the mucous membrane of the chest, -accompanied by oppression, weight, and hacking cough. If this be neglected, -it may lead to serious disease. A protracted course of the Kesselbrunnen, -repeated for several seasons, has been found very efficacious in -such states of the respiratory apparatus.</p> - -<p>6. <i>Tubercles of the lungs; or pulmonary consumption.</i>—This dreadful -malady, which cuts off such prodigious numbers of the human race, is -more frequently arrested in its progress by the <span class="smcap">Kesselbrunnen</span>, than by -any other remedy. At the same time it is proper to remark that neither -this nor any other remedy will prove efficacious, if the disease be confirmed. -It is where the tubercles are in a nascent or latent state, that the Ems waters -tend to purify the blood, and prevent further deposition of tuberculous -matter in the air-cells. Perhaps, too, they may cause absorption of those -already deposited. It need hardly be urged that the earlier the waters are -used the better.</p> - -<p>7. In obstinate and neglected <i>catarrhs of the mucous membrane of the -trachea and larynx</i>, the Kesselbrunnen has produced the most beneficial -effects.</p> - -<p>8. <i>Spitting of blood.</i>—If this proceeds from irritability of the lungs -themselves—from active congestion—or general plethora, the Ems waters -will be absolutely injurious. But if the hæmorrhage be symptomatic of -disordered conditions of the liver and other abdominal organs, then, the -Ems waters taken internally, but not as baths, may prove serviceable. The -same reasoning will apply to asthma.</p> - -<p>9. <i>Scrofula.</i>—Daily experience has proved the efficacy of the alkaline -waters of Ems in scrofulous affections generally.</p> - -<p>10. <i>Nervous disorders.</i>—The waters of this spa have a singularly -soothing and tranquillizing effect on the nervous system, as great numbers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -of patients can annually testify. Hence they are much used in hypochondriasis, -neuralgia, tic douloureux, periodical head-aches, chorea, &c.</p> - -<p>11. <i>Congestions</i> of the liver and abdominal organs generally—hæmorrhoids—jaundice—engorgements -and indurations of the uterus, ovaries, -&c.—colics, cramps, and epigastric pains—heart-burns—vomitings, &c. -These are all ameliorated or cured by the waters of Ems.</p> - -<p>12. <i>Gout.</i>—The action of the Ems waters on the constitution is to -throw out the morbid matter from the blood—the cause of this painful -malady in all the normal and irregular forms. At the same time, if the -malady be of long standing, and the individual of weakly constitution, the -waters of Wisbaden or Carlsbad will be more efficacious than those of -Ems.</p> - -<p>13. <i>Rheumatism.</i>—The same observations will apply to this as to gout.</p> - -<p>14. <i>Chronic eruptions and ulcerations of the skin</i> are greatly benefitted -by this spa.</p> - -<p>15. <i>Disorders of the urinary organs.</i>—In no class of disorders have the -Ems waters gained more reputation than in this, including catarrh of the -bladder, gravel, stone, diabetes, &c.</p> - -<p>16. <i>Catamenial irregularities.</i>—Females from all parts of Europe resort -to the waters of Ems for the cure of these troublesome complaints, including -sterility, chlorosis, &c.”<a name="FNanchor_51" id="FNanchor_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<p>I have introduced this quotation from one of the most recent writers on -the waters of Ems, and himself a practitioner there, of considerable repute; -but do not, and cannot vouch for the strict accuracy of all the -observations contained in it. As in most of the writings of spa doctors, -it must be taken “cum grano salis.”</p> - -<h4>COUNTERINDICATIONS.</h4> - -<p>According to Dr. Doring, these are as follow:—</p> - -<p>1. The Ems waters are hurtful in all acute or subacute inflammations -of any organ or structure whatever.</p> - -<p>2. In people of florid complexions or plethoric constitutions, especially -if there be any disposition to hæmorrhages, or determination to the head.</p> - -<p>3. In dropsical effusions of chest, abdomen, or cellular membrane.</p> - -<p>4. In organic diseases of heart or great vessels.</p> - -<p>5. In confirmed consumption, and in marasmus from whatever cause.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> - -<h4>POINT OF SATURATION, OR CRISIS.</h4> - -<p>The Crises produced by the waters of Ems are not so distinct and frequent -as those resulting from some of the more potent spas. They act -more gently and more slowly than the generality of mineral waters. -Nevertheless, the following observations of Dr. Doring are to be carefully -attended to.</p> - -<p>“There are certain cases, constitutions, and forms of disease, in which -it would be unsafe to continue the Ems waters up to the point of saturation. -Thus if, after two or three weeks’ course, there occur little indispositions -or discomforts—feelings of debility—a sense of prostration—a -change of usual temper—an increase of sensibility; or even an irritability -or moroseness—an unusual propensity to sleep, with agitating -dreams—a loss of appetite—or, on the contrary, a thirsty white tongue, -bitter taste in the mouth, oppression and distention of stomach, derangement -of bowels and kidneys, and acceleration of pulse—it is then time -to lessen the quantity of the waters, or entirely to stop them for some -days. The foregoing are indications of over-drinking, or over-bathing, to -which the term <i>ueberbaden</i> is given, and should never be neglected.”</p> - -<p>As at Wisbaden, there is occasionally an eruption on the skin, after a -few baths, and this is considered to be critical.</p> - -<p>Thilenius, contrary to the custom of most of the spa doctors, admits -that, although the waters alone cure many disorders, yet, in a great many -cases, appropriate medicines are absolutely necessary. He contends, however, -and I believe with justice, that many diseases give way to the combination -of the waters and medicine, which resist the latter, if unaided by -the former.</p> - -<p>The preparation for the waters of Ems, as of all other mineral springs, -is of the greatest importance, and is but too little attended to. Many -patients repair to these sources, either exhausted by long-continued illness -and the fatigues of the journey, or in a state of excitability from tonics -and other medicines. In the one case some restorative remedies are to be -exhibited, and in the other, quietude and saline aperients are necessary -before the waters are used, internally or externally. Temperance is indispensible -both before and during the use of the waters.</p> - -<h4>GENERAL RULES FOR TAKING THE WATERS AND BATHS.</h4> - -<p>The best season is between the beginning of May and the end of September. -The waters are taken early in the morning. Weakly persons -should begin with small portions, till they are accustomed to the springs. -The morning is also considered the best time for bathing. The patient -should immerse himself slowly—first to the knees—and afterwards the -whole body, having first sponged the face and neck. Those who are subject -to determinations of blood to the head should keep a handkerchief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -moistened with cold water to the head during the bath. A bladder of -cold water is still better. The individual should not lie quiet in the bath, -and much less should he go to sleep. He should keep constantly rubbing -or sponging the body or limbs—and if not able to do this, a servant should -do it for him. He should not remain more than ten minutes in the water, -at first—and he should gradually increase the time to half an hour or -more. Those whose skins are very sensitive ought to bathe in a flannel -dress. The temperature should be from 94° to 98° of Fahrenheit. On -leaving the bath, the individual ought to wrap himself up in a warm -sheet, and when dry to dress himself. It is recommended then to retire -to his bed-room and remain lying on the bed for a quarter or half an hour, -but without sleeping. Those who are aged, weakly, or nervous, may take -a glass of milk or a cup of coffee, after the bath. Most people can take -a glass of milk and Ems waters mixed. The latest time for bathing is -two hours before dinner. One bath in the day is quite sufficient.<a name="FNanchor_52" id="FNanchor_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p>The waters are drunk, sometimes before, sometimes after bathing. -They should be sipped warm at the source, otherwise some of their volatile -qualities are lost. The quantity taken, like that of food, must be -regulated by the power of digestion. Too much water, like too much -food, will produce the same distention and discomfort of stomach. The -same temperance and frugality is necessary in both cases. From two to -three wine-glassfuls of the waters taken twice, thrice, or four times, at -intervals of a quarter of an hour, will in general be sufficient. Some cow’s -or goat’s milk may be mixed with the waters. Gentle exercise, between -the doses of water, is essentially necessary. In some cases it may be -proper to take a few glasses of the waters two or three hours after dinner—not -sooner.</p> - -<p>Asthmatic people, and those labouring under serious maladies of vital -organs, are recommended to take a few glasses of the waters in their -beds, early in the morning—but never to exceed a pint in this way.</p> - -<p>A light breakfast may be allowed in half an hour or an hour after the -last tumbler of water at the springs. It is fortunate that near this, as -near most alterative waters, there is a chalybeate—viz. Schwalbach—where -the patient may be very conveniently sent, when no farther progress -is likely to be made at Ems; or where a tonic is necessary after the debilitating -effects of the latter have taken place. Those who cannot visit -Ems may take the bottled waters at a distance, with very little loss of -virtue. They will keep for several months. They are used with considerable -benefit <i>en lavement</i>. Of the <i>douches</i> or local application of the waters -to the ailing region, I need not speak.</p> - -<p>The regimen, while taking these and other waters, is of some consequence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -Coffee or chocolate half an hour after the last glass, with bread -but no butter, is the rule of the day at Ems. Tea is prohibited, as too -much favouring perspiration—a rather unnecessary precaution I imagine. -A liquid preparation of rice (called <i>content</i>) with some spice, is recommended -to those of very nervous temperaments for breakfast. Between -breakfast and dinner, some light avocation, conversation, or reading—after -which a promenade. Temperance is essentially necessary at these waters, -as they generally excite the appetite. The dinner hour of one o’clock at -the <span class="smcap">table-d’hôtes</span> is a great bore to all who are not downright ill—and -these had better dine at home. The siesta is condemned in strong terms -by Thilenius, if there be any fulness about the head, or if the individual -be plethoric; but to the weakly this indulgence is allowed. The early -dinner draws after it, as a necessary consequence, some supper—so that, -upon the whole, the four o’clock dinner, without supper, will be found the -most convenient and salutary.</p> - -<p>Of the gambling-tables I shall take another opportunity to speak: -mean time the following remark of Thilenius will not be inappropriate -here.</p> - -<p>“He who cannot gamble <i>without losing his temper</i>, should avoid the -hazard-tables.” This is easy morality! The physical effects of passion -and all the horrible emotions of mind at roulette, are merely considered as -hurtful to the body of the bather; but no idea appears to be entertained -that these are detrimental to the soul as well as to the body. The fact is, -however, that none but gamblers by profession, and not all of them, can -win or lose money without passion, although they may contrive not to -shew it strongly in their countenances. In every point of view, therefore, -moral and physical, these hells on earth ought to be shunned as -eagerly as those of the nether regions.</p> - -<p>I may now make a few cautionary remarks on the dangers of bathing -and drinking the waters of Ems, and indeed of mineral waters (thermal) -in general—a subject little touched upon by writers at the spas themselves. -I cannot too often or too strongly warn every one against warm baths, who -has the slightest degree of local chronic inflammation going on in any -of the organs of the body, as evinced by white tongue, dryness of skin, -accelerated pulse, evening thirst, or scanty action of the kidneys. The -exciting mineral waters, taken internally or externally, will be almost certain -to raise the chronic into a subacute, or even acute, inflammation, -with a corresponding grade of constitutional irritation. Of this I have -seen many instances, both at home and abroad. The existence of such -conditions should be carefully ascertained before the spa is introduced: and -proper means taken to remove all traces of inflammation. But even where -there is no proof of any inflammatory action, the state of plethora or -general fulness of the vessels renders warm bathing hazardous. In all, or -almost all organic diseases of internal parts, especially of the heart, brain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -or lungs, the warm bath is to be eschewed. The tide of the circulation -carried to the surface by the hot bath, must have a subsequent recoil, and -then the weakened organ may suffer. Besides, the warm and, still more, -the hot bath excites the heart and great vessels into increased activity for -the time, and the blood is carried with greater force towards the brain, -endangering congestion there. But what are the admonitory symptoms -or phenomena by which the patient may judge, when danger is approaching? -The spa doctor is not always at hand, in these emergencies. He is -often too much employed at such times. When giddiness, sleepiness, -chilliness, confusion of thought, weariness, head-ache, pains in the limbs, -unusual sounds in the ears, sparks before the eyes, loss of appetite, -oppression after food, feverishness, thirst, languor, depression of spirits, -inability to sleep at the usual hour, malaise or, in fact, any uncomfortable -feeling, not previously felt, occurs soon after drinking the waters, and -especially after bathing, and if these, or any of these recur after the second -or third day, let the waters be suspended till advice is taken. I am well -aware that the spa-doctors will say—“oh these are critical, or even -favourable symptoms, demonstrating the efficiency of the spring.” All -I say is—<i>Beware!</i> you are standing on a precipice!</p> - -<p>We must now take leave of Ems. It is a very hot place in warm -weather, and I must say that the exterior and interior of the houses are -not in the most perfect accordance. The fogs are frequent in the mornings, -and the heat oppressive in the middle of the day. Few people can sleep -without some of the windows being kept open, and the danger of catching -colds is not inconsiderable. The reputation of the waters is very extended. -The Empress of Russia and her daughter were swallowing them freely -while we were there (1840), and seemed to require them or some other -restoratives, as they exhibited any thing but hyperborean complexions. -Several physicians have recommended a residence at this spa during the -Winter; and I am inclined to think that it would not be a bad sejour for -people with tracheal affections, or irritable conditions of the mucous membrane -of the lungs.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="FRANKFORT">FRANKFORT.</h3> - -<p>This celebrated city has changed its nature, but not its name—the <i>latter</i> -being now more appropriate than ever. It is a <span class="smcap">free-fort</span>, that is, it is -free from fort or citadel—rampart or fosse—glacis or sallyport—cannon -or mortar—shot or shells! All these have been converted into much better -things—gardens, shrubberies, and promenades. Frankfort, I apprehend, -has more of nominal freedom than real liberty. The protection of the -German potentates is stronger, no doubt, than her ancient walls; but -she is as much under the surveillance and control of these “<span class="smcap">high -mightinesses</span>,” as ever she was under that of her military commandants,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -when a first rate fortress. Be that as it may, Frankfort is now a great -emporium or re-union of commerce and carriages—of Jews and of Gentiles—of -bankers and of brokers—of lenders and of venders—of consuls -and of caléches—of voitures and of retours—of envoyés and employés—in -fine, it is a large “normal school” for studying the first lines of diplomacy, -trickery, traffic, and stock-jobbery.</p> - -<p>The old and the new portions of the city present a curious contrast—youth -and beauty united to age and ugliness!</p> - -<p>One of the great lions of Frankfort is the cemetery, a few miles out of -town. It is a huge “painted sepulchre,” marble without, and mummy -within. This “city of the dead,” is not much smaller than its neighbour -of the living. True, the mansions are on a smaller scale, and the chambers -are low, dark, and unventilated; yet their inhabitants—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">shew no symptoms of discontent, feuds, or family quarrels. They sleep -without dreams, unagitated by the habitual passions which invade the -bosoms of those whom they have left in the busy city on the banks of the -Main. If the rage for cemetrical building goes on at the present rate of -impulse, a time must come, when the cities of the dead will equal, both in -number and extent, those of the living—and necessity will then compel -the <i>latter</i> to have recourse to the ancient mode of sepulture—incineration. -A small urn, instead of a costly tomb, will then hold the ashes of our -friends and ourselves, without any encroachment on the soil that supplies -us with food, fuel, and raiment. And, after all, this seems a less revolting -process of preserving some frail memorial of those we loved and honoured, -than that of committing them to the earth, there to “lie in cold obstruction, -and to rot,” the prey of worms, and all crawling things!</p> - -<p>I believe there are few people, of reflective minds, who can wander round -the splendid cemetery or lonely churchyard, perusing the brief memoirs of -the silent inhabitants below, without feeling some of those sentiments and -emotions, which Hervey cloathed in language. These records of the dead, -short as they are, will be found, each, to contain at least two facts or truths—the -birth and death of the individual. I wish as much could be always -said for the lengthy biographies of the living! These authentic documents—these -“bills of mortality”—teach us one important truth, viz.—that -<span class="smcap">life</span> is a loan, and not a gift, granted to a piece of clay, without -interest indeed, but with the power of resumption at the pleasure of the -lender, with or without notice. <span class="smcap">Death</span>, again, is nothing more than the -payment of a debt—the surrender of a policy. Has man any just cause -to murmur at the shortness or uncertainty of life, because the vital spark -animates, without solicitation, his atom of earth—sparkles for a few moments—is -extinguished by the same invisible hand—and is reduced again -to dust? If this be all, if the brief existence of man be “rounded by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -sleep,” he has little cause to be proud of the intelligence which distinguishes -him from the inferior animals. <span class="smcap">He</span> alone, of all created beings, -knows that he must die—a bitter thought at all times—and cruelly bestowed, -if death be annihilation! As we see no proofs of injustice in the other -works of the Creator, it is fair to presume that there is none here, and -that the fore-knowledge of death in this world is indicative of life in -another.</p> - -<p>If an inhabitant of another planet were to visit our cemeteries, graveyards -and churches, perusing the necrological literature of those localities, -he would soon come to the conclusion that this our little Globe was a perfect -Paradise, inhabited by the most amiable of all God’s finite creatures. -Every stone would present him authentic proofs that the whole community -consisted of affectionate fathers, loving husbands, virtuous wives, indulgent -parents, dutiful children, and sincere friends! What would be -his astonishment when, on mixing in the busy haunts of men, he found -them everywhere engaged in public wars or private quarrels—in litigations, -persecutions, robberies, and assassinations—torn with all the vile passions -of envy, hatred, malice, jealousy, and malevolence—distorting the good -actions of their neighbours, and exaggerating their failings—violating the -laws of Nature, and evading the laws of man—in fine, exhibiting a picture -the very reverse of that which he found delineated on the tablets of -the departed!</p> - -<p>In this perplexity, he would fly back to his native planet, and report -that the inhabitants of <span class="smcap">Terra</span> were a race of beings inexplicable in their -character—the dead all <span class="smcap">angels</span>—the living all <span class="smcap">devils</span>! And yet nothing -would be more erroneous than such a report. The haunts of the living -and the habitats of the dead—the city and the cemetery—the cheerful -village and the country church-yard, being found to contain the same relative -proportion of good and evil spirits. The reason of the discrepancy -above alluded to, has been appreciated in all ages—“de mortuis nil nisi -bonum.” The shroud is our last and kindest mantle. Its texture is so -close as to conceal all our vices—but at the same time so transparent as to -reveal all our virtues. It is not then on tombstones that we are to seek -for truth!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="KISSENGEN">KISSENGEN.</h3> - -<p>This is comparatively a young cub amongst the great spa-lions of the -Continent; but it is one that is likely to attain an immense size. Dr. -Balling, resident physician at this spa, and, still later, Dr. Welsch, son-in-law -of Dr. Maas, have published on these waters.</p> - -<p>Kissengen is situated almost in the heart of Germany, in the kingdom -of Bavaria, and can be reached in two or three days from Frankfort. The -waters issue from the earth in a valley stretching from north to south—the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -surrounding heights, covered with woods, and not averaging more than -600 feet in altitude. The valley itself is fertile in corn, wine, and fruits. -The little river <span class="smcap">Saale</span> runs through the centre of it. Kissengen is nearly -equidistant from Wurtsburg, Bamberg, Meiningen, and Fulda. Its latitude -is 49° 50´, north—and it is not more than 600 feet above the level -of the sea.<a name="FNanchor_53" id="FNanchor_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> The temperature, from April till October, is moderately -warm. In consequence of the great evaporation of saline water at the -salt springs, the atmosphere is a good deal impregnated with saline principles, -and is similar to sea-air. It is considered beneficial in all scrofulous -affections.</p> - -<p>There are a great many mineral springs here, but it will only be necessary -to notice the Maxbrunnen—Ragotzy—Pandur—Soolensprudel—and -Theresienbrunnen.</p> - -<p>1. <i>Maxbrunnen.</i>—This rises near the Cursaal and Conversation-house, -with a bubbling or boiling noise—clear as crystal, and exhaling its gaseous -pearls with great rapidity. The carbonic acid gas adheres to the sides of -a glass and gives the water a milky appearance. All the springs of -Kissengen abound in this gas. The temperature is 52° Summer and -Winter. The taste is acidulous and refreshing. According to Kastner -(1833) a pint of this spring contains nearly 30½ grains of solid matters, -and 31 inches of carbonic acid gas. The principal ingredients are 18½ -grains of muriate of soda—1 grain ditto of potash—3 grains muriate of -magnesia—2½ grains of carbonate of lime—1½ grains of sulphate of soda—1 -grain sulphate of lime. This spring contains no trace of iron.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Ragoczy, or Ragotzy.</i>—At the southern extremity of the colonnade -is seen this spring, together with that of the <span class="smcap">Pandur</span>. The Ragoczy rises -with considerable noise, discharging air-bubbles freely. The water is not -so clear as that of the Maxbrunnen—having a blueish cast. The temperature -is nearly the same as the other. The taste is salt and bitter, with a degree -of astringency. But the taste varies very much from day to day—at one -time the salt, at another the bitter, predominates, with, occasionally, a -ferruginous savour. It requires four large pumps to exhaust the spring.</p> - -<p>The pint contains 85 grains of solid matters, and 26 cubic inches of -carbonic acid gas. Of these 85 grains, 62 are common salt—6 muriate -of magnesia—3 carbonate of lime—2 carb. magnesia—2 sulphate of soda—2<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -sulphate of lime—2 silex. The other six grains are immaterial, except -the subcarbonate of iron, of which there are three-quarters of a grain -in each pint.</p> - -<p>3. <i>The Pandur.</i>—Only 34 feet distant from the Ragoczy, the Pandur -springs to light, with great noise and bubbling. Its taste is more salt, bitter, -pure, and piquant than that of the Ragoczy—“and is much more relished by -the ladies.” It is so plentiful that it can furnish from eight hundred to a -thousand baths daily. The pint contains 76 grains of solids—of which, -57 are muriate of soda—5 muriate of magnesia—5 carbonate of lime—2 -carb. of magnesia—about half a grain of subcarbonate of iron—1¾ grs. -of sulphate of soda—28 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Soolensprudel.</i>—About a mile from the foregoing springs, and in -the middle of the valley, near the bank of the river, this remarkable spring -was discovered by boring 311 feet through the earth. It does not flow -in an even uninterrupted stream, but rises and falls at irregular periods—often -with a noise resembling cannon. It generally ebbs and flows eight -or nine times in the twenty-four hours. When the water is at its greatest -height, it boils, and roars, and foams at a great rate. This spring rises -through a salt-water mine, if the expression can be used. Its solid contents -are enormous, namely 172 grains in the pint! Of these, common -salt alone amounts to 107½ grains—muriate of magnesia 24½ grains—muriate -of lime 4 grains—sulphate of soda 25 grains—carbonate of magnesia -6½ grains—carbonate of lime 1½ grains—subcarbonate of iron not -quite half a grain—carbonic acid gas 30½ cubic inches. From this it will -be seen that, in solid ingredients, the Soolensprudel outstrips all the -other springs. In temperature too, it differs from the others, being 66°, -or as nearly as possible that of the sea.</p> - -<p>5. <i>Theresienbrunnen.</i>—This springs from a depth of 140 feet, and discharges -itself with a bubbling noise like the others. The water is clear -as crystal, and whitens the sides of the glass with the carbonic acid gas. -The temperature is 52 or 3°. The taste is tart, saltish, agreeably pleasant -and refreshing. The quantity furnished is abundant. There are 29½ -grains of saline matters in the pint, with 28½ cubic inches of carbonic acid -gas. Of these, 18½ grains are muriate of soda—2¾ muriate of magnesia—2½ -carb. magnesia—2 carb. lime—1½ sulphate of soda, with some slight -quantities of minor ingredients.</p> - -<p>Between this spring and the Maxbrunnen there is a considerable affinity; -but the Theresienbrunnen has the advantage, in possessing a greater proportion -of carbonic acid gas, by which the saline matters are held in more -complete solution.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<h4>MEDICINAL EFFECTS AND PROPERTIES OF THE KISSENGEN WATERS.</h4> - -<p>The various springs, in their physical and chemical properties, have one -common and characteristic physiognomy. They rise from mountains of -the same formation, and with more or less identity of force. They all -contain abundance of muriate of soda and carbonic acid gas. “Mineral -waters, however, cannot be estimated merely by their physical and chemical -qualities. Each spring is an organic whole (<i>ensemble organique</i>), and -possesses its peculiar mode of existence—‘et a sa propre maniere d’etre.’”<a name="FNanchor_54" id="FNanchor_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> -“In general, the springs of Kissengen, when taken internally, excite the -nutritive functions of the body—alter them—promote the various secretions -and excretions—and thus resolve, purify, and re-organise the animal -machine.”<a name="FNanchor_55" id="FNanchor_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> In addition to these effects (which an ordinary mortal might -be content with), the springs of Ragoczy and Pandur possess a strengthening -and tonic quality, in consequence of the iron which they contain. -The Soolensprudel, whether taken alone, or mixed with the Ragoczy, acts -briskly as an aperient. “In this combination of tonic with alterative -properties, the Kissengen waters (Ragoczy and Pandur), have no equals -in the spas of Germany.” “In all the other spas it is the solvent principle -(principe resolutif) which predominates—in these, the various principles -are united harmoniously.” The efficacy of these waters is greatly -increased by a series of baths of the same. The order of these baths is -ranged as follows:—the Maxbrunnen is gently exciting, and at the same -time tranquillizing—the Pandur is solvent and promotes the secretions—the -Ragoczy, alterative and tonic—the Soolensprudel profoundly penetrating -and strongly solvent. The sensible effects of these baths are of a refreshing, -animating nature—altering and bringing the functions of the -skin into a normal or healthy condition, and establishing the harmony between -the cutaneous surface, and the various organs and membranes of -the interior—thereby dispersing disorders of those parts. To these effects -Dr. Balling adds those which result from the absorption of the finer and -more soluble ingredients of the waters, which pervade all the organs and -tissues through the medium of the circulation. The doctor asks, where -are to be found such baths as these, containing such various minerals, -and so easy of combination, as to meet every variety of malady?</p> - -<p>“These mineral waters (internally and externally) applied to the surface—taken -into the circulation—or digested in the stomach or duodenum, oppose -themselves, in the living organism, to morbific matters—afterwards exciting -and assisting nature to expel these morbid principles from the body. <i>In -this case an irritation, a re-action is established throughout the whole constitution, -converting chronic diseases into those of a greater or less degree of -acuteness, accompanied by febrile symptoms.</i> This fever assumes a septenary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -type, lasting, sometimes one week, sometimes two. In this stage -<i>it requires the greatest care on the part of the patient, and the greatest -vigilance and skill on the part of the physician, to manage this febrile period, -so as not to let it run too high, nor yet to fall short of the salutary range</i>. -It is only in this stage, that the diseased organism perceives its malady—and -it is absolutely necessary that the patient should feel ill, if he hopes to -recover his health.”<a name="FNanchor_56" id="FNanchor_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> - -<p>Dr. Balling is perfectly right when he says that this febrile re-action -requires the greatest skill and care. But is it not evident that among the -shoals of patients who take the waters of Kissengen, or any other waters -of the kind, several must experience danger, and some even fatal effects, -from this re-action? We may be sure that the late Duke of Nassau had the -best advice at Kissengen, and yet he lost his life by the warm bath there!</p> - -<p>The waters of Kissengen are recommended by our author with dietetic -and prophylactic intentions, to prevent diseases and correct a disposition -to them, as well as to remove them when fully developed.</p> - -<p>The waters of Maxbrunnen are excellent means for preserving the -constitution from dispositions, or, as they are termed, predispositions to -diseases, arising from original taint, or following attacks of acute inflammatory -complaints.</p> - -<p>The waters of the Maxbrunnen internally, and of the Pandur in baths, -have been used for many years <i>dietetically</i> as preventive of scrofula, in -those whose parents had been strumous, or who themselves shewed a tendency -to it—and also of affections of the mucous membrane of the chest, -and also of the abdomen. They are used habitually against disposition to -venous congestion of the abdominal viscera, the prolific source of gout, -hypochondriasis, hæmorrhoids, cutaneous eruptions. Among the chief -symptoms of the abdominal plethora, Dr. B. adduces acidity, disagreeable -taste in the mouth, uneasy digestion, tension and fulness of the hypochondria, -sense of oppression at the chest, turbid urine, irregular bowels, -constipation, dry skin, or malodorous perspirations, eruptions on the surface, -&c. For these symptoms the Ragoczy and Pandur are reckoned -heroic remedies.</p> - -<p>Among the maladies actually developed, or developing themselves, Dr. -B. has arranged the following, with short remarks on each, as being peculiarly -under the influence of the waters of Kissengen.</p> - -<p>1. <i>Catarrhal affections</i> of the mucous membrane of the chest, so far advanced -as to be threatening phthisis, have been cured or greatly benefitted -by the waters of this spa. They are said to be equally efficacious in affections -of the mucous membrane of the kidneys, bladder, and uterine system, -as well as of the alimentary canal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. <i>Rheumatic complaints.</i>—Great numbers of patients afflicted with the -large tribe of rheumatic affections, resort annually to Kissengen for relief, -and, as is asserted, with remarkable success.</p> - -<p>3. <i>Scrofula</i>, developed, as well as brooding in the constitution—now so -universally diffused among society—has, in the waters of Kissengen, a -powerful remedy—more especially enlargement of the mesenteric glands, -tubercles of the lungs, &c. Many unmarried females present a complication -of scrofulous and nervous symptoms, indicated by enlargement of the -mesenteric glands, pains and tenderness of the abdomen, hysteria, irregular -menstruation, and numerous symptoms of disordered digestion. These -are much benefitted, if not cured, by the Kissengen waters.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Hæmorrhoidal affections.</i>—The Ragoczy and Pandur are famous in -these complaints, so prevalent on the Continent, and regarded with so -much importance there. It will be a sufficient specimen of German pathology -on this point, to remark that the very enlightened physician whose -work I am quoting, looks upon latent piles as indicated by the following -symptoms: viz.—head-aches—perspirations—pain in the spleen—cutaneous -eruptions—vertigo—diarrhœa—asthma—blennorhagia—ovarian tumors—weakness -of sight—spectral images before the eyes—vomiting of -blood—swellings of the liver, uterus, &c.—discharges of blood from the -kidneys, bowels, &c. “In all these masked forms of hæmorrhoids, the -waters of Kissengen are more or less beneficial.” p. 49.</p> - -<p>5. <i>Gouty affections.</i>—Where gout wanders about, and annoys the internal -organs, the waters of this spa are asserted to be of great efficacy.</p> - -<p>6. <i>Cutaneous eruptions.</i>—These are looked upon as only external signs -of internal affections—especially of disorder in the abdominal viscera, for -which the Kissengen spas are almost specific.</p> - -<p>7. <i>Hypochondriasis.</i>—The vast number of hypochondriacs who annually -resort to Kissengen, are, Dr. B. thinks, incontestible proofs of the -good effects of the waters. Considering that hypochondriacs run every -where, and seldom get cured, this proof is rather equivocal.</p> - -<p>8. <i>Hysteria</i>, in all its various forms.—9. Melancholia.—10. Asthma—when -dependent on abdominal affections.</p> - -<p>11. <i>Stomach complaints.</i>—12. Affections of the bowels.—13. Ovarian -and uterine diseases.—14. Neuralgic affections, tic douloureux, &c.—15. -Debility.—16. Various complaints following acute diseases, as fevers, inflammations, -&c.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<h4>PHYSICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF THE DIFFERENT -SPRINGS.</h4> - -<p>1. <i>Maxbrunnen.</i>—This water, when taken early in the morning, causes -a certain degree of irritation in the fauces and nose, that leads to slight -cough or sneezing, succeeded by a sensation of heat in the stomach, and -not unfrequently by some confusion or giddiness in the head, as if from -wine. These phenomena are speedily followed by a comfortable feeling, -refreshment, and agility. After a few glasses of the water are drunk, the -secretion from the kidneys is augmented considerably, followed by perspiration—and -ultimately by some action on the bowels. This last effect, -however, does not generally take place till after the waters have been used -for a few days. The mucous secretion, however, both from the bowels -and air-tubes is always increased—especially if there had been previously -any tracheal or bronchial affection. This spring is found to be most beneficial -to people of bilious, phlegmatic, and plethoric temperaments. People -who shew a decided disposition to catarrhal affections, or inflammation of -the mucous membrane of the lungs, will do well to mix the Maxbrunnen -water with an equal quantity of whey. Scrofula, chronic bronchitis, indigestion, -and other affections, are benefitted by these waters.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Ragoczy.</i>—A glass of this water taken fasting, causes a refreshing -warmth in the stomach, followed by some degree of distention, with slight -eructations of gas. The head next becomes affected, with a sense of -pressure in the front, and even some degree of giddiness. If sufficient -exercise be taken between each glass, a gentle perspiration occurs—the -kidneys act more freely—and phlegm is expectorated from the mucous -membrane of the air-passages. All these symptoms are generally followed -by two or three actions on the bowels. This cycle of phenomena occupies -from two to four hours, when the symptoms all subside, and the -patient feels comfortable during the remainder of the day. These phenomena -continue for some days—and as the appetite augments, it is too -often indulged freely, with inconvenience. At the end of a few days, all -the functions of the body, but especially the mucous secretions, take on a -considerable degree of activity—and the secretions themselves become -changed in quality as well as quantity. From the end of the first week -till the end of the second, the general state of health is much altered, in -consequence of the excited condition of the whole organism, which is -now roused into action against the malady. “The patient becomes -irascible, capricious, discontented;—the waters no longer render him comfortable, -brisk, or increase his appetite:—on the contrary, the tongue -begins to be furred, the appetite to fail, the secretions to become irregular -and morbid, not only from the bowels, but from the other mucous -membranes, and even the skin, which often exhales a peculiar acidulous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -odour.” The urinary secretion gets thick and sedimentary, with a predominance -of acid or alkali, and a scum over its surface. If the liver or -spleen were affected, they now become softer, and the abdomen is sensible -to pressure. The same is observed in the other abdominal and pelvic -organs when previously affected. In short, when the patient begins to -think that the waters are disagreeing with him, and making him ill, the -Doctor is of a very different opinion, viewing this re-action as a salutary -effort of Nature, assisted by the waters, to expel the morbific matter or -cause of disease from the system.<a name="FNanchor_57" id="FNanchor_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> - -<p>3. <i>The Pandur.</i>—The physical effects of this spring are nearly the same -as those of the Ragoczy. It acts a little more strongly on the kidneys, -skin, and bowels. On this last account it is a most useful spring in all -abdominal congestions, torpid bowels, and sluggish liver. On the same -account also (its aperient qualities) it causes less of the re-action described -above, affects the head much less than the Ragoczy, and also the -chest. The effects of the Pandur, when taken in the evening, are worthy -of notice. If two or three glasses are taken in the evening, it has a -calming, tranquillizing effect on the whole system—promotes sleep—or -produces it if the individual were previously wakeful. At the same time -it promotes perspiration, and secretion from the kidneys; but does not act -on the bowels—unless a large quantity be taken. About eight or nine in -the morning, however, it opens the bowels comfortably, especially if -assisted by a few morning glasses of the same water. In this respect it -differs greatly from the Ragoczy—which cannot be taken in the evening. -It is also an important auxiliary to the Ragoczy. The Pandur is preferable -to the Ragoczy in all cases where an alterative, solvent, and aperient -effect is more desirable than a tonic. It is fitter for young females -affected with abdominal and uterine plethora—or indeed plethora of any -part, than the neighbouring spring. It is also more profitable in nervous, -irritable habits than the other. Where constipation obtains, it is peculiarly -useful.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Soolensprudel.</i>—It is only about two years (before March 1839) that -this water has been used internally. It is strongly purgative and solvent. -Two or three glasses taken fasting, are sure to produce one, or even several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -evacuations from the bowels, without griping or inconvenience. Although -there is a very small quantity of iron in the Soolensprudel, yet, in combination -with the carbonic acid gas, it does not weaken the digestive -organs, so much as some other waters of the saline kind. It may be -given, as an aperient, in all cases where the Ragoczy and Pandur are -proper.</p> - -<h4>THE BATHS.</h4> - -<p>The effects of all the Kissengen waters, when used as baths, have a considerable -resemblance to each other. The plus or minus of carbonic acid -gas, and of iron, make the chief differences. As the baths have hardly -ever been employed without the internal use of the waters, their effects -cannot be positively ascertained as under other circumstances. The general -phenomena, however, may be stated as follows:—</p> - -<p>The patient feels soothed, refreshed, and even strengthened, by the first -few baths; but about the seventh day, the symptoms of re-action commence, -and then the pleasing sensations of the bath disappear—and he feels -enfeebled and uncomfortable after leaving the water. These phenomena -increase. The skin becomes relaxed—slightly reddened, and copious -perspirations break out—or if not, the kidneys act vigorously. If there -be any cutaneous eruptions, they increase, become inflamed, and discharge -freely. Rheumatic and gouty pains are exasperated, and sometimes carried -into a state of acute inflammation, with fever, which lasts three or four -days, and then disappears. In such cases, the baths must be discontinued -for a short time. In general, most of the diseases which are ultimately -cured by the baths and waters, are, for a certain period, rendered -worse. In the course, or rather towards the end of this re-action, certain -critical evacuations take place, more especially from the skin, accompanied -by a peculiar odour—or boils or other eruptions break forth—or depositions -take place in the urine, sometimes even of blood—or by the bowels. This -crisis past, a state of amelioration takes place, and now the baths should -be discontinued, not at once, but gradually.</p> - -<p>The morbid conditions which require the baths <i>more</i> than the drinking -of the waters are—chronic affections of the skin—rheumatic and gouty -complaints, whether external or internal—neuralgic affections—complaints -driven from the surface to the interior.</p> - -<p>We need not dwell on the slight differences which take place in the use -of the baths of the Maxbrunnen, Pandur, and Ragoczy. The baths of -the Soolensprudel deserve a remark or two. The baths of this source are -more powerful than those of the others, often producing considerable heat -and irritation of the skin, accompanied by corresponding re-action of the -system generally—even to fever, which requires marked and vigilant attention, -otherwise very serious consequences may result. At the same time, -it may be observed that the baths of the Soolensprudel are less disposed -to affect the head and the chest, than other baths of weaker powers, if used<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -with caution. They have hitherto been chiefly employed in cases of -confirmed scrofula, both external and internal—in uterine and ovarian -affections—in inveterate rheumatic and gouty complaints.</p> - -<p>In the after-cure, the waters of Bocklet and Bruckenau, chalybeates -both, are almost essential, to restore the strength, after the alterative and -aperient waters of Kissengen, and after the struggle which the constitution -has had with the malady.</p> - -<p>1. <i>Season.</i>—Dr. Balling conceives that different complaints require -different periods of the season for their removal by the waters of Kissengen. -In general, however, the time is from the middle of Spring till the -end of Autumn.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Preparation.</i>—Dr. B. gives us some advice on this point, which we -can seldom follow—namely, to dismiss all care, before we visit Kissengen!—to -bring with us a statement of our case from the physician in ordinary—to -bring warm clothing, adapted to Winter as well as Summer—not to -bring unnecessary family and servants—to travel leisurely from home to -Kissengen—to rest a few days after the journey, before the waters or baths -are taken, and consult with the physician of the place.</p> - -<p>3. <i>Mode of taking the waters.</i>—The time is from six till eight o’clock -in the morning. The quantity of the waters taken must depend on the -capability of the stomach to digest them. As there is much carbonic acid -gas in the waters, they ought to be drunk quickly, each portion. The -Ragoczy and Pandur are generally taken cold; but, in particular cases, -the chill may be taken off them. Ten or twelve minutes should intervene -between each goblet of the waters. The first glasses are more easily digested -than the later ones. Easy walking between the glasses is beneficial. -All persons disposed to congestions about the head or chest, as -evinced by giddiness, or oppression in the act of breathing, should be very -cautious and moderate in the use of these waters. In the period of re-action, -the symptoms should be marked by the patient and communicated -to the physician. Breakfast may be taken in half an hour after the last -goblet of water. If the waters are taken in the evening, it should be four -or five hours after dinner. These regulations apply chiefly to the Ragoczy -and Pandur. The Maxbrunnen spring is generally drunk with a moderate -proportion of whey or milk.</p> - -<h4>THE BATHS.</h4> - -<p>The waters of the Maxbrunnen remain clear when heated. The others -become a little turbid by the heat. Patients are recommended not to bathe -in any of these waters for three or four days after their arrival. They -should be taken for some days internally, before the baths are used, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -order that the bowels may be free, and the secretions improved. They -ought to be employed to the point of saturation—which generally takes -place in a shorter time than by the drinking of the waters. The baths -are taken before noon, and after drinking the waters, before breakfast—or -in the evening. The baths, however, may be taken two hours after a light -breakfast—and are more agreeable to most people at this time than before -the repast. Once a day is often enough. They are generally raised to -96° or 98° of Fahrenheit—and half an hour is the usual period of immersion. -It is prudent not to stay in more than ten or fifteen minutes at -first, and to gradually increase the period, till it comes to thirty or forty -minutes.</p> - -<p>“Patients who are disposed to convulsions, vertigo, faintings, or fulness -about the head, should not use these baths but with extreme caution. -Such people ought to keep the head covered with cloths wet with cold -water during immersion.”<a name="FNanchor_58" id="FNanchor_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> These baths are absolutely prejudicial, if the -patient goes in when heated, perspiring, or excited by passions of the mind. -The bather ought not to plunge at once into the bath, but first to sponge -the chest and stomach with the warm water. It is hurtful to read in the -bath, and more so, to go to sleep. On the contrary, the bather should -keep in constant motion, to use friction with his own hands over the chest -and abdomen. “If, during immersion, the patient be seized with feverish -heat, chilliness, shivering, head-ache, oppression on the chest—or any kind -of malaise, he should immediately quit the bath, and examine whether or -not the temperature has been too high or too low. He should dress himself -quickly on leaving the bath, and take some turns in the dressing-room -before going into the open air. Gentle exercise after the bath is very -beneficial.”</p> - -<p>The point of saturation from the baths is considered by Dr. Balling as -a matter of great importance. This point is not attained till the morbific -matters are expelled from the constitution, and all the secretions have become -healthy and natural—especially those from the intestinal canal. The -time necessary for attaining this desirable condition will be different in -different constitutions—and in different diseases. Generally speaking, it -requires two weeks of the bath. After this period the patient and physician -should be on their guard, and watch well the phenomena as they -occur.</p> - -<p>The effects of these waters on the human organism do not cease when -the drinking and bathing are left off. They often continue for a long -time, and complete the cure which was left incomplete at the spa. It but -too frequently happens that, when patients experience no relief at medicinal -spas, they are told to hope for a cure from the <i>consecutive</i> effects of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -the waters. They are often disappointed. In respect to the Kissengen -springs, we are informed by Dr. Balling, that unless they produce the -<i>reaction</i> already described, during the time the patient is using them, no -<i>consecutive</i> effects are to be expected. But, on the other hand, if the reaction -clearly shews itself at the springs, considerable consecutive effects, -of a salutary nature, may be confidently looked for—and the remainder -of the cure may be safely trusted to nature at the patient’s own home. -The system of diet enjoined by the Kissengen physicians, and Dr. Balling -in particular, is nearly as rigid as at most of the other spas, where certain -doctors have hobbies which they ride to death beyond the Rhine as well -as in this country.</p> - -<h4>ORDER OF THE DAY.</h4> - -<p>At six o’clock in the morning the band marches and plays through the -middle of the town to the garden, summoning the sick to their morning -potations. “It is here,” says Dr. B. “that a most curious scene presents -itself to the musing eye. Eight hundred or a thousand invalids (for comparatively -few others go to Kissengen) are quickly assembled in the walks -of the “<span class="smcap">Jardin de cure</span>,” of all conditions and ages—the prince by the -side of the tradesman—the queen by that of the peasant girl—all having -but one object in view, the recovery of health. Nothing can be more interesting -than the general physiognomy which characterises the whole -moving mass of human beings.</p> - -<p>The great spas present a morbid physiognomy each peculiar to itself. -Carlsbad exhibits the yellow and earthy—Ems the pallid and hectic—Pyrmont, -the pale chlorosis—the “green and yellow melancholy” of the -love-sick maiden. Kissengen has its peculiar physiognomy—but it is a -deceitful one—a countenance of morbid fulness and floridness, little indicative -of the grave maladies which lie concealed.”</p> - -<p>This garden is of considerable extent, and contains numerous walks. -Those who like to be in the crowd may find their wishes satisfied in the -middle alleys—those who are fond of solitude, may indulge their meditations -in the remote paths. Those who are fond of comparing notes -with their brother and sister sufferers, have ample means of doing so, in -this asylum of valetudinarians.</p> - -<p>At eight o’clock all disperse to their breakfasts; after which they either -repose for an hour or two, or take some walking exercise. At eleven -o’clock, the bathing process commences, after which another promenade or -repose—and then the one o’clock dinner. After dinner, and perhaps a -cup of coffee, the promenades in the garden, and the excursions into the -country are made. In the evening, the garden, the conversation-halls, -theatre, and gambling-tables, are the great places of resort.<a name="FNanchor_59" id="FNanchor_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>I shall conclude with the following remark of Dr. Balling.</p> - -<p>“In speaking of the gaming-tables of the Kurhaus, which are open from -three till ten o’clock every afternoon, it is to assert, in the most positive -manner, that all such games are eminently injurious to invalids, and greatly -obstruct the cure of their complaints. This is the case whether the individual -wins or loses money. In the state of excitement, almost febrile, -produced by the waters themselves and the re-action of the constitution, -the valetudinarian runs the risk of some dangerous perturbation in the -animal organism, which may cost him his life, and, at all events, must interrupt -the salutary operation of the springs.”</p> - -<p>P.S.—On visiting these waters in August, 1840, I found that the -number of English invalids had somewhat decreased during that season. -The reputation of the waters, however, is evidently on the increase. I -saw several English who had experienced considerable benefit in stomach -complaints; whilst others complained much of the bad effects of the -waters on the head and nervous system. They are powerful waters, and -require attention. The spa doctors of Kissengen now enjoin a most rigid -system of diet, which greatly aids the medicinal effects of the waters. No -wine is allowed. The food is confined to soup and a little meat, without -any pudding, fruit, vegetables, or made dishes of any description! This -dietary, with early hours and plenty of water, must go a good way to -insure restoration of health, independently of the medicinal ingredients in -the springs.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="BOCKLET">BOCKLET.</h3> - -<p>When the waters of Carlsbad or Kissengen have washed away the superfluous -green fat and ill-assimilated roast-beef from the body of <span class="smcap">John -Bull</span>—the sour krout and rancid sausages from the <span class="smcap">German</span>—and the -caviare and train oil from the <span class="smcap">Russ</span>—then these worthy personages repair -to <span class="smcap">Bocklet</span> or <span class="smcap">Bruckenau</span>, to undergo a very different process from that -of depuration—namely, to have their ribs lined with steel, and their stomachs -converted into gizzards. According to my information, those who -come to these acidulous chalybeate springs with digestive organs in a state -analogous to that of blotting-paper, go away from them, with the same -organs in a condition very closely resembling well tanned sole-leather!</p> - -<p>The visitors of Carlsbad and Kissengen, are all radical reformers, tearing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -up by the roots the numerous vices and abuses that have crept into their -constitutions;—but at Bocklet and Bruckenau, they become eminently -conservative—carefully rebuilding the various dilapidated portions of the -body corporate in the firmest manner, and on the most durable foundations.</p> - -<p>Bocklet is only half-a-dozen miles from Kissengen, and the waters contain -little more than two-thirds of a grain of iron to the pint; but then there -are 31 cubic inches of free carbonic acid gas, which confer on the iron -the greatest possible state of solution, and consequently the greatest degree -of energetic action on the human frame. In the pint of this water, also, -there are 27 grains of muriate of soda—six grains of sulphate of soda—seven -grains of carbonate of lime—nearly two grains of carbonate of magnesia, -with some slight saline impregnations, of no great importance. The -whole of the solid contents are between 40 and 50 grains in the pint. -These ingredients, however, gently modify the action of the iron, and -render the water much safer, in many complaints and constitutions, than -the purer chalybeates (as for instance Bruckenau) where the astringency -and stimulation of the steel are unmitigated by saline counter-poises. Dr. -Hans, the Apollo of Bocklet, is loud in the praises of these waters, taken -internally and used as baths—and indeed, from their composition and their -physiological action, I think it probable that they are of greater utility, -and applicable to a wider range of diseases than any other chalybeate in -Germany, or perhaps in Europe.</p> - -<p>At no spa do the applicants live more completely <i>en famille</i> than here—all -dining, drinking, and promenading together, sans ceremonie.</p> - -<p>The cuisine at Bocklet appears to be under the superintendence of the -doctor. We dined at the one o’clock table-d’hôte, and had nothing but -soup—some bouilli—and roast chicken, instead of the endless courses at -other table-d’hôtes. The whole, with a pint bottle of wine, cost about -eighteen-pence for each person! Bocklet, however, seems but little frequented, -compared with Bruckenau, though its waters are of an excellent -quality. The drive from Kissengen along the side of the Saal, is very -pleasant, and passes the Soolensprudel and salt works, which we stopped -to examine. The Soolensprudel was in high feather, foaming and boiling -over into conduits that conveyed it to the baths. It is well worth -seeing.</p> - -<p>There are some pleasant excursions in the neighbourhood, where time -may be killed, and health promoted by the same process.</p> - -<p>The air for a mile or two around the salines strongly resembles sea air, -where there is much sea-weed on the shore. It is very grateful and -refreshing.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="BRUCKENAU">BRUCKENAU.</h3> - -<p>At the distance of sixteen miles from Kissengen, a route requiring five -hours and a half, with strong horses, over a road which is by no means -abundant in good scenery, but exuberant of steep hills and rough causeways, -lies <span class="smcap">Bruckenau</span>, between two lofty and wooded hills, in the pretty -but certainly not romantic valley of the <span class="smcap">Sinn</span>—a chalybeate much frequented, -even by royalty—the King of Bavaria having a residence there -for taking the waters in the spa-season. There are three or four springs—two, -the Sinnberger and Wernarzer, close together, on the left bank of -the river—resembling tolerable, and only tolerable, soda-water, in taste, -having scarcely any savour of steel—and containing not more than a grain -of solid matters in the pint. The former of these is much used in calculous -complaints—scrofula—and chronic affections of the mucous membrane -of the lungs. Dr. Schipper affirms that the water of the Sinnberger -possesses a peculiar, or rather specific influence on the skin, in the -promotion of perspiration.</p> - -<p>The Wernarzer is nearly the same in taste and composition; but is more -used in dyspeptic complaints, or morbid sensibility of the gastric and intestinal -nerves.</p> - -<p>It is on crossing the little river Sinn, that we come to the lion of the -place—the <span class="smcap">Bruckenauer</span>, springing up under a large red pavilion, and -discharging its contents through four tiny wooden tubes, into a circular -basin, encrusted with the red oxide of iron. I saw none of the commotion -which Dr. Granville describes; on the contrary, the Bruckenauer is -one of the most quiet and placid wells which I have ever seen, considering -that the water contains 36 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas to the pint, -which ought to make it as frisky as Champagne. It is pleasant to the -taste; but not more so than the Weinbrunnen at Schwalbach—the Pouhon -at Spa—or the Pandur at Kissengen. In fact, I was greatly disappointed, -as far as taste is concerned, in the waters of Bruckenau, so -exaggerated are the accounts which have been published respecting their -ethereal, sparkling, exhilarating, piquant qualities.</p> - -<p>The chalybeate nature of the Bruckenauer is unequivocally evinced by -the great deposition of iron on all parts of the basin in which it is contained—and -by the strong iron gout which it leaves in the mouth after -being swallowed. Although there is only a quarter of a grain of steel in -the pint, yet this mineral is at its maximum of oxidation, in consequence -of the great proportion of carbonic acid gas, and the <span class="smcap">Bruckenauer</span> is -therefore held to be the clearest and most pure chalybeate in the world. -The physiological effects of this spa are considered to be highly stimulating, -tonic, and astringent—augmenting the velocity of the circulation, -and the volume of the pulse—oxygenating the blood—giving tone to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -body, and colour to the lips and cheeks of the blanched female. In addition -to these valuable qualities, the Bruckenau waters are said to possess the -opposite ones—of tranquillizing (“arresting every symptom of irregular -mobility,”) of the nervous system. Now, if all the spa-doctors, between -Carlsbad in the East, and Saratoga in the West, combined to certify this -fact, I would remain sceptical. I will not maintain that such conflicting -qualities are incompatible with each other; but it would require very -weighty facts to induce me to believe that they co-exist in this pure chalybeate -spring.</p> - -<p>Bruckenau is to Germany what Tonbridge Wells is to England. Although -the <i>latter</i> spa contains much more iron than the Continental one, -Bruckenau has greatly the advantage in the large proportion of carbonic -acid gas, rendering the German chalybeate infinitely more tonic than the -English.</p> - -<p>The water of Bruckenau, then, like all pure tonics, is a powerful engine -in skilful hands; but a dangerous weapon when wielded without judgment. -Debility, or at least a feeling of debility, attends almost every -disease, whether acute or chronic. To remove this symptom is the constant -prayer of the patient, and the great embarrassment of the practitioner, -who knows that those remedies which augment the general strength, -too often increase the activity and danger of the local disorder. It must -be owned that in medicine, as well as in other professions, there are individuals -who, for the sake of ill-got fame and sordid pelf, will pander to -the appetites, prejudices, and ignorance of the public, and, through the -agency of food and physic, force, as it were, the general strength beyond -the level at which the local malady can be safely remedied. The fire -is smouldered but not extinguished, and is sure to break out, sooner or -later, with redoubled violence. But the object of the doctor is attained—the -fees are secure, and his skill is already attested by the deluded victim, -who is ashamed afterwards to recall the testimony. The attempt to restore -general health or strength by tonics or chalybeates, where there exists a -local disorder of any organ or structure, is not merely illusory, but -prejudicial or even dangerous. Hence the necessity of an accurate examination -of all the organs, before a course of tonics is entered on at -home, or a journey to a chalybeate spa abroad. Much expense, fatigue, -and disappointment would be saved by such a preliminary investigation. -It is in cases where the general health and strength are breaking down -under <i>functional disorder</i>, and where this disorder is corrected by other -spas or proper medicines, that the chalybeates of Spa, Schwalbach, -Bruckenau, or Bocklet, act like a charm in restoring energy to the constitution, -taken internally and used externally.</p> - -<p>The chalybeate bath requires caution and attention, as well as the -drinking of the waters. Although much of the iron is lost by the escape -of the carbonic acid gas, still the corrugation, redness, and roughness of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -the skin produced by immersion in the chalybeate bath indicate a powerful -agency, and when lassitude, drowsiness, head-ache, or sense of exhaustion -follow the bath, the patient should be on his guard, and either -desist, or report to the bath physician.</p> - -<p>There must be an especial freedom from all organic disease, and even -from functional disorder—especially disordered function of the liver or -digestive apparatus, attended with morbid secretions, where such a pure -and powerful chalybeate as Bruckenau can be safely employed.</p> - -<p>The King of Bavaria has erected here a Cursaal apparently intended to -rival, or rather to eclipse its celebrated namesake of Wisbaden. It is a -structure of great height, dimensions, and decorations, surrounded on all -sides by a fine open colonnade, and presenting a noble portico. At the -table-d’hôte, of one o’clock, there sate down about eighty or a hundred -guests; but many of them were, no doubt, visitors from Kissengen. They -seemed to defy the rigid injunctions of the Kissengen doctors, and probably -considered that during the “<span class="smcap">Nach-Kur</span>” or after-cure, and while they -were lining their ribs with steel, they ought to have a commensurate latitude -in the enjoyments of the table.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="FRANZENSBAD">FRANZENSBAD.</h3> - -<p>At the distance of three short miles from the town of Eger or Egra, in -Bohemia, lies Franzensbad, a spa of considerable reputation. The situation -is not very pleasant, being rather bare of wood and shade, and the surrounding -country by no means picturesque. The town, or village, in fact, is -in the midst of a great bog, and the houses, like those of Amsterdam and -Venice, are built on piles driven into the ground. Franzensbad is a colony -from Egra, and dates only from 1795. It took its name from the principal -source—<span class="smcap">Franzensquelle</span>. The houses are modern, clean, and cheerful—the -walks, though not yet sufficiently numerous or shaded, are in progress—and -the bazaars furnish all kinds of necessaries, and even luxuries, -to the spa-goers.</p> - -<h4>I. FRANZENSQUELLE, OR BRUNN.</h4> - -<p>This is the lion of the place, and is the first spring on which we stumble -on our way from Eger. Its name was formerly the Egra, and its waters, -which are now exported to every corner of the earth, still go by the name -of Eger water. It is supposed to have been known for eight hundred -years past. The spring is placed under a circular temple, from which the -bazaar colonnade stretches round two sides of a square. It sends forth -275 cubic inches of water per minute, at an invariable temperature of -about 49°. The water of this well is clear as crystal, and discharges great -numbers of bubbles of gas, which coat the sides of the glass. It is a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -time before it becomes turbid in the vessel. In the course of several days -it begins to be decomposed, and lets fall some particles of oxide of iron. -This spring is in continual agitation, emitting with some noise its carbonic -acid gas. It has no odour of any kind, and the taste is very pleasant, -piquant, and refreshing. The après-gout, or after taste is decidedly chalybeate. -Mixed with a fourth part of white wine and some sugar, the -Franzensquelle forms a remarkably agreeable beverage. If the sugar be -in fine powder, and briskly stirred about in the glass, the whole foams up -like Champagne.</p> - -<p><i>Physiological properties.</i>—The Franzensquelle is considered by all the -best medical authorities on the subject, as at one and the same time, solvent, -strengthening, and stimulant. Its chief contents are as follows: in -a pint or pound of the water, there are 34 grains of solid matters, and 30½ -cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. The chief ingredients are ¾ grain of -silex—6⅓ grs. bicarbonate of soda—one third of a grain of oxide of iron—1¼ -grain of carbonate of lime—19 grains sulphate of soda—7 grains of -muriate of soda—in all 34 grains.<a name="FNanchor_60" id="FNanchor_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> - -<p>Although it contains one-third of a grain of steel, and that minutely -dissolved by means of the carbonic acid, yet the Franzensquelle may be -administered to people who are both irritable and debilitated, without any -danger of proving too heating or exciting.</p> - -<p>Its internal use produces the following effects. 1. It acts on the -nervous system, which it strengthens, tranquillizes, and diminishes irritability. -2. On the muscular system it exerts a tonic effect. 3. On -the vascular system it produces an increase of activity—accelerates the -circulation—augments the red colour of the blood, as well as the animal -heat of the body. It also increases the functions of digestion, assimilation, -and nutrition. 4. It dissolves mucus in the bowels, expels worms, -and rarely produces constipation. On the venous circulation of the liver -it is believed to act in a very salutary manner—dissipating congestions in -that quarter. 5. On the uterine system it acts vigorously, proving both -tonic and stimulant. Hence it is much used by females of pale complexions, -watery blood, and various derangements peculiar to the sex. 6. The -water of this spring is diuretic, and beneficial to the kidneys, when their -function is disturbed. 7. It is asserted that the Franzensquelle is useful -in relaxed states of the mucous membrane of the trachea and bronchia. -The union of a solvent and tonic property is attributed not so much to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -combination of saline and chalybeate ingredients, as to their antagonism, -thus producing a new agent of specific powers. And here I consider it -better to take the opinion of the venerable Hufeland, on these waters, than -the assertions of the spa-doctors themselves. The following sentiments -were published by the celebrated Prussian physician in 1822.</p> - -<p>“When I speak of the waters of Franzensbad, it is as of an old and -valued friend. The renown of these waters has continued ever since the -days of Hoffman, and I myself have witnessed many remarkable cures -effected by them. In 1820, I drew a parallel between the waters of -Franzensbad and those of the Kreutzbrunn, at Marienbad—all from personal -observation. It was long the custom in Berlin and other large -towns, for the merchants, men of letters, politicians, and, in fact, the -greater part of the bureaucracy, to tear themselves from their various occupations, -and take the waters of Franzensbad for a month. They almost -all laboured under a complication of functional disorders, as difficult and -painful digestion, constipation, deranged secretions, or gouty affections. -While taking the waters, they were separated from their offices—kept early -hours—lived temperately—and enjoyed exercise in the open air. The -effects were remarkable. They laid in a stock of health for the remainder -of the year—and thus prevented functional disorders from advancing into -changes of structure. Frederick the Great was one of those who profited -by the waters of Franzensbad. This illustrious monarch often became -a prey to the most miserable feelings and gloomy sentiments. In 1748, -this state amounted to a high degree, aggravated by a tertian fever and -various gouty affections. At this period the king considered that his days -were numbered, and that his last ones were at hand. His physician prevailed -on him to try the waters of Egra (Franzensbad), where he completely -recovered his health, and lived to an advanced old age.”</p> - -<p>“Although the waters of Franzensbad belong to the chalybeate class, -their properties are quite peculiar. They are very ethereal, and combine -so much saline matters with the iron, that they are penetrating, easy of -digestion, tonic, exciting, animating without heating, solvent of obstructions, -aperient, and favourable to the promotion of healthy secretions and -excretions. These waters are incomparable when the object is to purge -without debilitating—to increase the activity of the blood-vessels without -heating or producing congestion—to strengthen without constipating. It -follows from this, that there are few chronic maladies for which these waters -are not an effectual remedy—and few persons who will not bear their -operation well.</p> - -<p>“I shall now briefly allude to the principal complaints to which the -waters of Franzensbad are particularly applicable.</p> - -<p>“In the first rank stands <span class="smcap">Hypochondriasis</span>, especially if accompanied -by atony of the bowels, congestion of the abdominal vessels, constipation, -hæmorrhoidal tendency, or determination of blood to any of the vital<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -organs. In such cases <i>pure</i> chalybeates would only augment the evil; -whereas the saline chalybeates are of the greatest benefit. Chronic nervous -affections, with or without cramps or spasms of stomach and bowels, -are a class that derive great advantage from these waters. The same may be -said of all chronic disorders, the sequel of long-continued indigestion, with -flatulence, acidities, and eructations. Hæmorrhoids, whether fluent or dry, -are ameliorated or removed by the waters of Franzensbad. They are almost -specific in biliary derangements, from torpid liver up to actual jaundice. -Finally, in reverting to the case of Frederick the Great, I can aver that, -for the long catalogue of human afflictions, the consequences of sedentary -lives, full living, anxieties of mind, and crowded cities, the waters of -Franzensbad are inimitable—even if only taken for a month each season. -I have frequently ordered them, and with great advantage, in affections of -the mucous membranes of the chest—and even where there were strong -indications of tubercles in the lungs. In these last cases, however, it will -be prudent to exhibit them in combination with warm milk—especially -asses milk. In chronic affections of the kidneys and bladder—in gravel -and calculus, I have given the waters with benefit. These waters are not -injured by time or carriage.”</p> - -<p>Such are the sentiments of the celebrated Hufeland, and I have preferred -them to the statements of the spa doctors themselves, for very obvious -reasons.</p> - -<h4>II. THE SALZQUELLE.</h4> - -<p>This spring is situated in a turfy meadow a few hundred yards to the -eastward of the Franzensbrunn, at the end of a long colonnade. It is -defended from the rain by a circular dome. It throws up 133 cubic inches -of water per minute. It is perfectly clear, and disengages much carbonic -acid gas. It takes a good while to become decomposed, when it throws -down some whitish flakes, but no oxide of iron. It has no odour, and -the taste is brisk and refreshing, rather alkaline, but not in the least -chalybeate.</p> - -<p><i>Contents.</i>-¼ grain of silex—7 grs. of bicarbonate of soda—a mere trace -of iron—1½ gr. carbonate of lime—13½ grs. sulphate of soda—7 grs. of -muriate of soda—total about 30 grains, with 20 cubic inches of carbonic -acid gas in the pint.</p> - -<p>From the above analysis it is evident that the <span class="smcap">Salzquelle</span> differs not -essentially from the Franzensbrunn, except in the iron, which is infinitely -greater in quantity in the latter than in the former. The Salzquelle bears -considerable analogy to the waters of Carlsbad and Marienbad. It is -equally penetrating, solvent, and easy of digestion as the Franzensquelle, -but less irritating, and more refreshing. Weak people, and those who are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -disposed to congestions of blood, bear this spring better than its chalybeate -neighbour. Hufeland, in 1823, published the following opinion.</p> - -<p>“Franzensbad has gained much by the discovery of the saline (Salzquelle) -spring. I am acquainted with all the German spas, and have no -hesitation in stating that this source is quite peculiar in its nature, and -hitherto inscrutable. The physiological action of this spring is equally -mild and penetrating, promoting the secretions rather than the evacuations. -The waters of this source are more easily borne than those of the -chalybeate.”</p> - -<h4>III. THE COLD SPRUDEL.</h4> - -<p>This is a small circular well, close to another very large and oval one, -both of which are at a short distance behind the bazaar colonnade. This -water is in continual motion, like its more celebrated namesake at Carlsbad; -but does not leap so high, and is quite cold. It furnishes 3648 cubic -inches of water per minute. When poured into a glass it is clear and -effervescent. The taste is agreeable, refreshing, and slightly chalybeate. -It has no flavour; the quantity of carbonic acid gas which it disengages -while drinking, often causes sneezing.</p> - -<p><i>Contents.</i>—6⅓ grs. bicarb, soda—⅒ gr. of oxide of iron—1¼ gr. carb. -lime—20 grs. sulphate of soda—6½ muriate of soda—total 33½ grs. in -the pint, with about 30 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas.</p> - -<p>From the above analysis it appears that the Cold Sprudel holds a place, -both chemically and medicinally, intermediate between the Franzensquelle -and the Salzquelle. It is more solvent and aperient than the <i>former</i>—but -more exciting and irritating than the <i>latter</i>. It is unnecessary to go into -details as to the cases in which the one source is preferable to the other. -A combination or alternation of the two will often be more beneficial than -an exclusive use of either.</p> - -<h4>IV. LOUISENBRUNN.</h4> - -<p>Close to the Sprudel, and under the same canopy, boils up in prodigious -quantities, the Louisenquelle. The basin is of a large oval form, and contains -several springs within itself. It disgorges 27,056 cubic inches of -water per minute! It is in perpetual agitation, like its neighbour the -Sprudel, and serves exclusively for bathing. The carbonic acid gas boils -up in large and innumerable bubbles, with considerable noise. It appears -turbid in the basin, but is perfectly clear in a glass. The taste is quite as -pleasant as that of the Franzensquelle, but without the after-taste of ink -produced by the latter source.</p> - -<p><i>Contents.</i>—⅑th of a grain of silex—4 grs. of bicarbonate of soda-¼ of -a gr. of carbonate of iron—1¼ gr. carb. lime—16 grs. sulphate of soda—5<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -grs. muriate of soda—total 27 grains, with 24½ cubic inches of carbonic -acid gas in the pint. It may be stated that the waters of Franzensbad -are used externally as baths—cold, tepid, or warm, in all the diseases and -disorders for which the same waters are used internally.</p> - -<p>P. S.—Since the above was written I have received the following information -from a most talented pupil of St. George’s Hospital (Mr. <span class="smcap">Spitta</span>), -respecting a new source which had not been quite in operation when I -visited Franzensbad.</p> - -<p>“One source yet remains to be noticed, of recent date truly, but still -by no means to be overlooked—the Weisenquelle, or Source de la Prairie. -It is situated still further eastward of the Franzensquelle than the Salzquelle; -and is principally remarkable for containing a small quantity of -sulphur in the form of sulphuretted hydrogen gas.</p> - -<p>Drs. Kœstler and Palliardi have each published a small paper on its -virtues.</p> - -<p>It contains the most salt of any of the wells at Franzensbad. In sixteen -ounces there are 25.6554 grains of sulphate of soda—9.3254 of -chloride of sodium—8.9787 of bicarbonate of soda—besides carbonates -of lime, magnesia, iron, (.1780 gr.) magnesia, stronthian and lithion, -phosphate of lime, subphosphate of alumina, and silica, each in small -quantities; together with .0588 of a peculiar salt termed by Zembsch the -analyst, “quellsaures eisenoxydul,” or oxide of iron in combination with -an acid peculiar to this well—making in all 46.6903 grains of saline -matter.</p> - -<p>This source gives off a great quantity of carbonic acid, and when you -approach it the well-known odour of sulphuretted hydrogen is immediately -recognised.</p> - -<p>According to the same chemist, Zembsch, 16 ounces contain 30.691 -grs. of free carbonic acid, and .162 gr. of sulphuretted hydrogen. Its -medicinal properties are like the other springs, aperient and antacid, but -from its containing so much salt, and so little iron, it forms a sort of intermediate -spring between the Salzquelle, which has the merest trace, and -the Franzensquelle, which contains about one third of a grain of that -metal in the pint.</p> - -<p>It is not so much employed as the other springs; so that its specific -effects dependent on the sulphur it contains have not as yet been very distinctly -observed.”</p> - -<h4>GAS BATHS.</h4> - -<p>These and the Mud-baths to be presently described, are becoming very -fashionable in Germany. From every inch of surface in the peat bog -around Franzensbad, carbonic acid gas is constantly issuing forth in such -quantities that its extrication is audible and visible, wherever there is water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -on the ground. To have a reservoir of this gas, it is only necessary to -build a house, and prevent the carbonic acid from being dispersed in the -air. It is there collected, and baths and douches are constructed for its -ready application to the body generally, or to any particular part thereof. -The Gas-bath or building at Franzensbad, stands within thirty or forty -yards of the Franzensquelle, and from the ground of this house, which is -of very moderate extent, there issues 5760 cubic <i>feet</i> of gas every twenty-four -hours!! There is little doubt that the extrication of carbonic acid is -equally plentiful in any and every part of the bog in which the town is -situated. I should think that to go to sleep on the ground, in a calm -Summer’s night, would be inevitable death. As it is, the good people of -Franzensbad, inhabitants and visitors, must be perpetually inhaling an atmosphere -well impregnated with this gas. I do not suppose, however, that -this is productive of any injurious effects.</p> - -<p>The gas is conveyed into the bath through a cock at the bottom, and -the patient, being either dressed or undressed, sits down on a little stool, -while a wooden lid or cover, with a hole that fits tolerably close to the -neck, is placed over the body, the head being in the open air. They have -small tubes through which they can apply the gas to the eyes, ears, or any -part of the body, in a stream, the velocity of which can be augmented or -diminished at pleasure. They can also diminish the intensity of the gas -by applying a piece of muslin or taffeta over the pipe, or over the eyes or -ears that are subjected to the stream. I did not try the gas baths here, -but at Marienbad I used them generally and locally, accompanied by my -kind friend Dr. Herzig of that place. Standing in the bath, the cock was -turned without my being aware of it, and, in a few seconds, I felt a sense of -heat ascending quickly along my legs towards the body. Without thinking -of the gas I stooped, and put my head down towards the aperture of -the tube, by which I inhaled as much of the carbonic acid as caused a -sudden faintness. Dr. H. and the bathman quickly extricated me from -my perilous situation, and I went on with the bath, while my head was in -the open air. I found that the following representation of the sensible, -and physiological effects of the bath, as given by Baron Aimé, is sufficiently -correct. 1. The gas excites and even irritates the skin, producing a -pricking, and soon afterwards a strong itching on the surface, accompanied -by heat, and ultimately perspiration. 2. The gas stimulates the nerves -of all parts to which it is applied. I had a stream directed on my eyes, -which caused a most profuse flow of tears, with strong sense of heat. -When it was applied to my ears, a sense of heat, and a considerable noise -were the effects produced.<a name="FNanchor_61" id="FNanchor_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> 3. It is asserted by physicians of the Continent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -that this gas is extremely useful when applied to old, ill-conditioned, -and irritable ulcers, as soothing and promotive of healthy discharge, and -ultimately of cicatrisation. 4. Although the breathing of this gas is as -mortal as that of the Grotto de Cane, yet if diluted with plenty of atmospheric -air, it is thought that it might prove serviceable in some states or -stages of phthisis, asthma, &c. 5. The action of this gas on the eyes and -ears I have already mentioned. Its remedial agency is much extolled in -certain disorders or diseases of those organs, attended with atony or morbid -irritability of their nerves and structures. 6. These baths are chiefly -employed in cases of paralysis attended with stiffness, feebleness, or spasmodic -movements. 7. In chronic, inveterate affections of a gouty or -rheumatic nature—chronic sores—glandular swellings—and various cutaneous -complaints, the gas baths are applied, and, as is affirmed, with success. -8. In uterine affections, irregularities, &c. attended with torpor, -debility, and irritability.</p> - -<p>Upon the whole I am disposed to think that the gas baths are active -agents, and that they may be made useful ones, when carefully applied.</p> - -<h4>MUD BATHS.</h4> - -<p>Among the novelties—transcendentalisms, or, as some would call them, -extravaganzas, of Germany, the <span class="smcap">Mud Baths</span> deserve the “passing tribute” -of a short notice. But alas! there is “nothing new under the sun”—or -under the earth. To the mud of the Nile and the Ganges, virtues almost -miraculous—even the creative power of life—have been attributed, time -immemorial. Who does not know that the life of <span class="smcap">Marius</span> was preserved -by a mud-bath in the Minturnian marshes?—The instincts of animals, -too, are not to be overlooked: We all know the extreme tenacity of life -possessed by eels—owing perhaps to their frequent use of mud-baths. -Swine are proverbially subject to cutaneous complaints, especially measles; -to prevent or cure which, Nature seems to prompt the daily employment -of mud-baths, in the Summer season. A remarkable instance of the force -of instinct is afforded by the Indian buffalo. That animal immerses himself -daily, during the hot season, in mud, up to the very nose; by which -means, we may conclude that he avoids the jungle fever, or cures himself -of liver-complaints. The alligator offers another example. When he has -swallowed a buffalo or a tiger, he buries himself up to the nose in mud, on -the oozy shores of the Ganges, no doubt for the promotion of digestion.</p> - -<p>It is unnecessary to multiply the virtues of mud-baths. Those who -desire ocular proofs must repair to Franzensbad in Bohemia, where they -will see—not mud but bog-baths in perfection; though they are now also -got up very well in Marienbad, Carlsbad, Teplitz, and other fashionable -spas.</p> - -<p>I have alluded to the plentiful supply of bog which the immediate -vicinity of Franzensbad offers to the mud-bathers. This earth contains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -the following materials:—viz: The fibres of plants not decomposed, and -whose organization is recognizable—matters soluble in water, such as -vegetable substances rich in carbon, and of a yellow colour;—sulphate of -lime—sulphate of magnesia—sulphate of iron—alum—bituminous extractive -matter—oxide of iron—fine sand.</p> - -<p>Thus we see that the mere boggy material of the mud-bath contains -many substances that may and do exercise a considerable physiological -action on the body; and medicinal agency on the constitution.</p> - -<p>The peat bog is carried to the neighbourhood of the baths, and there -allowed to dry to some extent. It is then sifted and separated from the -woody fibres and coarser materials, when it is mixed with the mineral water -of the Louisenquelle into the consistence of a very soft poultice. In this -state it is heated by steam to a temperature varying from 80° to 100° of -Fahrenheit, when it is ready for the bather, being worked up by means of -wooden instruments and the hands into a complete black amalgam. I took -the mud-bath here, at Marienbad, and Carlsbad, and do not regret the -experiments. I confess that, at first, I felt some repugnance, not fear, in -plunging into the black peat poultice; but when up to the chin (temperature -97°) I felt more comfortable than I had ever done, even in the -baths of Schlangenbad, Wildbad, or Pfeffers. The material is so dense, -that you are some time in sinking to the bottom of the bath—and I could -not help fancying myself in Mahomet’s tomb, suspended between Heaven -and Earth, but possessing consciousness, which I fear the prophet did not -enjoy. There was one drawback on the mud-bath, or peat-poultice. We -cannot roll about, like a porpoise or whale, as in the water-bath, without -considerable effort, so dense is the medium in which we lie; but I found -that I could use friction to all parts of the body, with great ease, in consequence -of the unctuous and lubricating quality of the bath. After -twenty minutes’ immersion, I felt an excitement of the surface, quite different -from that of the common mineral warm baths—even of those of -Wisbaden, Kissengen, or Schwalbach—attended, as I fancied, by elevation -of spirits.</p> - -<p>Whilst I was thus philosophizing, like Diogenes in my tub, the thought -came across my mind that I would have a dive in the sable mixture. I -knew that the sun and winds had so tanned my complexion, that <span class="smcap">it</span> would -not suffer by immersion; and if my hair should get dyed black, the change -would certainly be for the better. I therefore disappeared like an eel in -the mud; but, on emerging from the bog, I thought I should have been -suffocated before I cleared my face from the tenacious cataplasm. I had -now been nearly half an hour in the Schlammbad, and prepared to quit, -as the mixture was fast cooling down, and the heat could not be kept up, -as in the water-bath. On raising myself slowly and perpendicularly, with -at least twenty pounds of mud on my surface, I caught a full length portrait -of myself in the glass, and I think the view would have sickened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -Narcissus of self-contemplation for ever!! I was really shocked at my -sudden metamorphosis into the Œthiopian, and began to doubt whether -I should ever “change my hue” again. The warm water-bath was close -at hand, but I had the presence of mind not to jump into it at once, as -I should, in that case, render it a black wash-tub; but by clearing away -with both hands, some sixteen or eighteen pounds of peat varnish from -my body, I rolled into the clear fluid, where it required half an hour’s rubbing -and scrubbing to purify myself from the “Bain de Boue.” Both on -this, and on subsequent occasions, at Marienbad, Carlsbad, and Teplitz, -I experienced a degree of exhilaration, strength, and elasticity from the -mud-bath, which I had never done from any other. The iron in these -baths, instead of corrugating the skin, as I expected, imparts to it a glossy -or sattiny feel and softness quite peculiar—and much more in degree than -the waters of Schlangenbad.</p> - -<p>The bog-earth is well picked, and in some places sifted, so as to remove -all the fibrous and woody parts, leaving the fat unctuous substance to be -mixed with the mineral water of the place. In general these baths produce -a pricking sensation, and sometimes an eruption on the skin, an effect -which I did not experience.<a name="FNanchor_62" id="FNanchor_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> They are therefore much used in old and -obstinate cutaneous complaints, as well as in glandular swellings, sequences -of gout, rheumatism, &c. They are very exciting to the nervous system, -and should not be used where there are any local inflammations, or much -general excitability of the constitution. They do not lose their heat so -rapidly as the water-baths, and consequently they maintain the volatile -and penetrating principles longer than the latter. They are much employed -in paralysis, chronic ulcers, and cutaneous affections.</p> - -<p>Here and at other spas where mud-baths are employed, I met with several -veteran warriors, whose aching wounds reminded them too often of battlefields -and bloody campaigns. They almost all agreed in attributing more -efficacy to these than to the common baths—and I think, from what I have -seen, heard, and felt, that there is much truth in these statements. The -Schlammbads have one advantage over the others, which is more prized on -the Continent than in England—the facilities which they afford the bathers, -both male and female, of receiving morning visits from their friends while -in the mud, and that without any violation of delicacy, propriety, or decorum; -for there, persons are more completely veiled than in any dress, even -of the most dense and sable furs of Russia. An English lady of rank, at -Teplitz, was visited by her physician and friends while immersed to the -chin in peat-bog. They read to her, and conversed with her till the signal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -was given for exchanging the black varnish for the limpid and purifying -wave, when they retired.</p> - -<p>The rules for taking the Franzensbad waters and baths do not vary -materially from those of other spas. The following concise direction is -from the pen of Dr. Clarus.</p> - -<p>“A complete course of these waters requires at least four weeks. When -it is thought desirable to take of more than one source, the change from -one well to another should not be abrupt, but gradual. We may commence -with one glass of the Salzquelle, and each day increase by the glass, -till, in a week, we come to six or seven glasses, taken at intervals of a -quarter of an hour. After this period, the Salzquelle is to be decreased, -glass by glass, and replaced by the Cold Sprudel. This change is to go on -during the second week. At the end of a fortnight, the Cold Sprudel is to -be changed, in the same gradual manner, for the Franzensquelle, which is -to be continued till the end of the course, unless some circumstances arise -to alter the arrangement. Those who are of very weakly constitutions, -and especially if they labour under any pulmonary complaint, will do well -to add some warm milk or whey to the mineral water.”</p> - -<p>The baths are generally taken about two hours after breakfast. They -ought not to be taken unless the bowels are daily opened, either by the -waters or by aperient medicine. The temperature of the baths should be -about 98° of Fahrenheit, or that of the blood.</p> - -<p>Baron Aimé has collected from various sources a host of cases, of all -kinds of maladies, cured or relieved by the waters of Franzensbad; but -into these it is unnecessary to go. Here the tyrant fashion has caused a -comparative desertion for the more attractive localities, if not more sanative -springs, of Marienbad, Carlsbad, and Teplitz. The qualities of the mud, -and the profusion of the gas, at Franzensbad, however, may probably turn -the current by and bye in its favour.</p> - -<h4><i>Extract of a Letter from Mr. Spitta to Dr. Johnson.</i></h4> - -<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>,—I cannot quit the subject of Franzensbad without -entering into some detail on the celebrated Mud-baths. One hears much -of mud-baths at different spas of Germany: but a <i>genuine</i> Schlammbad is -<i>seen</i> only in Bohemia, and especially at Franzensbad.</p> - -<p>The mud is obtained, as you are undoubtedly aware, from a large bog -or moor, situated at the back of the Louisen and Caltsprudel wells, which, -according to Dr. Kœstler, who accompanied me to examine it, is nine miles -by three in extent; and he tells me also that the same schlamm extends -to a <i>depth</i> of 20 feet. Indeed the whole village may be said to be resting -on this peat-earth; for you cannot dig up the soil to any depth without -discovering it. The surface of the moor looked singularly black and -barren; here and there, however, I discerned some yellow and white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -efflorescences. The yellow was by far the most abundant; and, wishing -to know its composition, I collected a considerable quantity and brought -it to England. It is a highly acid salt, permanently reddening litmus -paper, and extremely styptic and acid to the taste. I dried some carefully; -and found that 100 grains which had been completely desiccated, yielded -97.6 grains soluble in distilled water. The solution was dark brown, of -the colour of beer, and contained an acid per-sulphate of iron. The remaining -2.4 grains consisted principally of iron in combination with some -vegetable acid, or extractive matter.</p> - -<p>I was sorry I could not collect sufficient quantity of the white efflorescence -for examination. I merely remember its <i>taste</i> to have been equally -styptic and disagreeable as the yellow.</p> - -<p>There are several minerals found in this moor. I am indebted to Dr. -Palliardi (one of the resident medical men) for a good specimen of blue -phosphate of iron; of the hydrated red oxyd of iron; and for one of great -interest discovered <i>there</i> by himself, termed <i>Kieselguhr</i>. This substance -was first described by Professor Ehrenberg, of Berlin, to be an aggregation, -or to speak more accurately, the shells of a collection of different -species of infusoriæ. It is said to be pure silica—it is white; extremely -light and friable, and forms one of the most beautiful objects for the microscope -I have seen. I have a great quantity; and shall be happy to -furnish yourself, or any friend that may desire it, with a specimen.</p> - -<p>I do not know whether you visited Dr. Palliardi’s study; it would have -been well worth the trouble. He is at once a mineralogist, a botanist, an -ornithologist, entymologist, chemist, and physician. I was pleased at -the simplicity with which they made a mud-bath—they merely picked and -sifted the mud (the sun having previously, to a certain extent, dried it) -and digested it in the water of the Louisenquelle warmed by steam. The -appearance of a bath when ready is anything but prepossessing; I must -confess, however, on making the trial, I was agreeably disappointed.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding my qualms, Dr. Kœstler insisted on my taking one, and -making myself acquainted with his darling Schlammbads from personal -experience; and I must say, when quietly seated in the mire, the sensations -were by no means disagreeable. In other hot mineral baths I almost -invariably experienced an oppression and anxiety at the chest; but here, -I know not why, the breathing was quite natural, and not at all hurried. -The black mess was extremely acid, violently and instantaneously reddening -litmus paper; and it exhaled a peculiar odour which I can compare to -nothing but to blacking. Its taste was styptic and saline—styptic evidently -from some salt of iron, and more saline than the water of any other mineral -bath. This is no more than would be expected when the quantity of -salt it contains is considered. I am informed by Dr. Kœstler that every -bath requires 250lbs. of schlamm, in which are contained 33lbs. of salts. -And this statement I should imagine to be tolerably correct, for I find that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -120 grs. of this mud yield 15.5 grains of matter soluble in water. The -solution is light brown, very acid, and contains the following substances: -1. A volatile acid, which was separated by distillation at temp. 230 circ. -and which had many of the leading characters of acetic acid, and on which -the peculiar odour of the bath depends.—2. Some fixed extractive matter -in combination with iron.—3. A large quantity of the persulphate of iron; -and 4. some sulphate of soda.</p> - -<p>In examining this specimen, I was mostly struck with the very large -quantity of iron, and the comparative small quantity of other saline matter. -For a wonder it contained no <i>chloride</i>. There is a salt kept by the chemists -at Franzensbad, purporting to be the salt contained in the mud. -Had they said—made from the mud, they would have been correct. It is -perfectly neutral and efflorescent, and is nothing else but sulphate of soda, -with just sufficient persulphate of iron left unremoved, to tinge its solution. -The fact is—it is prepared by neutralising the acid solution of the mud by -<i>carb. soda</i>, and thus precipitating the iron, and retaining the salt of Glauber -in solution—one or two crystallisations furnish it tolerably pure. The -opinion that it contained the phosphate of soda and phosphate of iron, is -unfounded.</p> - -<p>In many respects, the mud-bath is unique in its action on the human -body. From the quantity of saline matter it holds in solution, it acts as -a powerful stimulus to the skin, exciting the capillaries to renewed exertions; -hence its great use in gouty and rheumatic paralysis. The chalky -and fibrinous depositions which form this disease are absorbed under its -influence; and so effectual is it, that Dr. Kœstler, the oracle of Franzensbad, -will prophecy the recovery of a patient from this disheartening complaint, -after the far-famed hot springs of Teplitz have been tried in vain.</p> - -<p>It is to this same property perhaps that its influence in chronic painful -affections of single nerves is to be attributed. The point whether salt is -actually absorbed from a bath is not, I believe, absolutely decided; but -certainly, if the fact be true, as is my firm belief, it is worthy of remark -to those patients who look for the tonic effect of the absorption of iron -into the blood, that it is in the mud-baths only that this metal is contained -in a soluble state. In the baths of <i>Schwalbach</i>, so famous for chlorosis, -there is plenty of iron; but it is in the form of an insoluble carbonate: -yet it is stated to be absorbed by the skin, and to produce its well-known -effect on the coloring matter of the blood; it has always appeared to me -that, provided chlorotic patients could bear the stimulation applied to the -surface, the mud-baths of Franzensbad would be pre-eminently serviceable. -This remark applies equally to some forms of hysteria; and to those irregular -muscular contractions of the limbs termed chorea. Indeed it is to -the absorption of this iron, I deem that the exhilarating effect universally -experienced after their use is to be attributed. Dr. Kœstler quoted to me -two cases of diabetes, in which these baths were extremely useful; he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -could not however say were actually effectual. In conclusion, cutaneous -affections of a chronic character, unattended by fever, will be most effectually -benefitted; and I believe that these very obstinate complaints, which -baffle in so determined a manner the skill of the medical man, will derive -more benefit from the mud-baths of Franzensbad than from any other -mineral baths, with one exception—those of Kreuznach. I have entered -more fully than I had originally purposed into this subject; but I trust -that its very great interest, both in a scientific and medical point of -view, will be deemed a sufficient apology for trespassing so long on your -patience.</p> - -<p>I am, dear Sir,</p> - -<p class="center">Your’s very sincerely,</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Robert J. Spitta</span>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="MARIENBAD">MARIENBAD.</h3> - -<p>At the distance of sixteen or eighteen English miles from Eger, lies the -now celebrated spa of Marienbad, though a place of yesterday, comparatively -speaking. It is situated in a gorge or small valley between cheerful -and pine-clad hills; and the houses being all modern, look extremely -well. Numerous shady walks are constructed in every direction; and two -murmuring and crystal streams run rapidly down the valley. Three of -the springs are within a few hundred yards of each other—viz. The -Kreuzbrunn, the Carolinenbrunn, and the Ambrosiusbrunn. The Ferdinandsbrunn, -lies about a mile out of the village. There is another spring -still farther in the woods, which contains only 7/10ths of a grain of solid -matter in the pint of water. It is called the Marienbrunnen.</p> - -<h4>I. THE KREUZBRUNN.</h4> - -<p>This is the lion of the place. It is the strongest of them all—its predominant -qualities being <i>solvent</i>, with an ulterior stimulant and tonic -property. It boils up under a beautiful building resembling a small Grecian -temple, from the entrance of which a fine shaded promenade, with a bazaar -on one side, and a dell on the other, extends to the Carolinenbrunnen. In -a pint of this spa there are 28½ grains of sulphate of soda—10 grains of -muriate of soda—7½ ditto of carbonate of soda—3 grains of carbonate of -lime—2 of carbonate of magnesia—⅒th of a grain of iron—some vegetable -extract, &c. making 52 grains in the whole. The cubic inch of water -contains about a cubic inch of carb. acid gas.</p> - -<p><i>Physiological Effects.</i>—This water sits easy on the stomach. Five or -six glasses are generally taken in the morning, without inconvenience, and -even with pleasure. When impurities, however, exist in the stomach or -bowels, the Kreuzbrunnen often causes sickness or disagreeable eructations,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -and then some opening medicine should be taken. If this water causes a -sense of distention, weight, or oppression at the stomach—or diarrhœa, or -loss of appetite, it is a sign that the water is taken in too large quantity—or -taken too fast—or taken too long—or, in fine, that it is not agreeing -with the individual. Very often, however, it is more owing to errors of -diet than to the nature of the waters that these phenomena occur.</p> - -<p>In general the appetite is increased by the Kreuzbrunn, after the third -or fourth day. It augments considerably the action of the kidneys, the -water becoming more pale and copious—and this effect generally continues -during the period of the cure. It acts on the bowels also—five or six -glasses usually operating two or three times. The exported water is more -aperient than that taken at the source. The evacuations are often of a -green, black, or brown colour—or glairy, and gelatinous. Sometimes dark -coagulated blood is passed. When the motions become watery, the -Kreuzbrunn is not answering the purpose. The discharges above-mentioned -afford indescribable relief to the sufferer.</p> - -<p>Things do not always, however, proceed so quietly. Occasionally the -abdomen becomes distended—the pulse accelerated—the bowels get confined—and -the fears of the hypochondriac are then greatly augmented. -According to Dr. Heidler, Dr. Herzig, and others, these symptoms are -<i>critical</i>, and soon disappear, when Nature has accomplished her object by -a discharge of vitiated excretions. It is quite a mistaken notion that the -dark or green colour of the motions is owing to the minute proportion of -steel contained in the water.</p> - -<p>The <i>circulation</i> is sometimes disturbed. The head becomes giddy, the -chest oppressed, the pulse hard and frequent—with a sense of prostration, -or, on the contrary, of excitement. These are considered by the authorities -above-mentioned, as precursors of the critical discharges, and return of -health. In many cases such stormy crises do not take place, and the -cure is effected gradually and imperceptibly. In people of plethoric -habits and irritable temperaments, when any of the foregoing symptoms -occur, it is safest to mix the water with some warm milk, or allow the carbonic -acid gas to escape before it is taken. The Kreuzbrunnen, however, -is one of those solvent, and, at the same time, tonic waters (according to -Dr. Heidler) that may be taken by almost every one, whatever the age, -sex, or constitution, with little or no danger, even where there are complications -of organic diseases of the heart, lungs, or great vessels. In -such cases, the dilution with warm milk and the extrication of the gas, will -be proper. Dr. Heidler cites the case of a young lady who came to -Marienbad labouring under sympathetic hectic fever, and who had had -hæmoptysis. The stomach would retain no food—especially the dinner. -Constipation was obstinate, and nocturnal perspirations were profuse. The -Kreuzbrunn waters were taken, and, after eight days, the fever ceased. -In four weeks more the stomach became retentive. Next Summer, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -she returned to Marienbad, with the evening vomitings as before. -Eight days’ course of the waters dispelled the sickness, and she recovered -her health. The physicians of Marienbad exhibit the Kreuzbrunn to -people who have had apoplectic attacks, provided all symptoms of congestion -be removed before the waters are begun. In hæmorrhoidal and -other sanguineous fluxes, the same source may be used; but in moderate -quantities.</p> - -<p>The effects of the Kreuzbrunn on the nervous system are much dwelt -on by Dr. Heidler and the other practitioners. They are considered to be -antispasmodic, and are highly praised in the numerous and Proteian forms -of hysteria, hypochondriasis, weakness of stomach, &c. Many patients -of this kind recover at the Kreuzbrunn, after vainly trying more tonic -and chalybeate springs elsewhere.</p> - -<p>In cases of pure debility, both of body and mind, the more tonic waters -of the Carolinenbrunn (to be presently noticed) are prescribed, together -with baths of the same. This water is much used in tremors of the limbs, -paralysis from mere weakness, or from losses of blood, excesses, severe -illnesses, distresses of mind, &c. It is to be remembered, however, that -mere debility is but seldom the cause of these nervous sufferings; and that -the feelings of lassitude and exhaustion, the small pulse, cold extremities, -cramps and spasms, so frequent among hypochondriacs, are generally -symptoms or effects of congestion in the vessels of the liver and abdominal -organs, giving rise to irritation in the nervous system, constipation, and -morbid secretions. The classes of people who become hypochondriacal -are those who have lived well, both in food and drink, and who have led an -idle life, mental and bodily. In such, the pathological condition above-mentioned -is likely to occur. The action of the Kreuzbrunn is eminently -calculated to clear away viscid and unhealthy secretions, and rouse the -circulation of the liver and glandular organs of the abdomen. The -Marienbad physicians employ the Kreuzbrunn in gravelly complaints, but -in small quantities, and with good effects apparently.</p> - -<p>The physiological action of this water on the lymphatic or absorbent -system, is very striking, as might be expected. Tumours of the glands, -especially if not of long-standing, disappear or greatly diminish during a -course of the Kreuzbrunn. Cutaneous complaints are generally cured -or ameliorated by the same waters assisted by baths.</p> - -<p>But it is chiefly in chronic complaints of the abdominal, and -especially of the digestive organs, that the Kreuzbrunn is famous. The -symptoms which indicate the use of these waters, according to Dr. Heidler -and the other physicians of Marienbad, are the following:—yellow, pale, -or cachectic complexion—loss of appetite—distaste of food—sickness—furred -tongue with bitter taste in the morning—acid or rancid eructations—oppression -or cramps about the stomach—distention and tenderness of -the abdomen, local or general—colics—kidney-affections—constipation—diarrhœa—dysury—deposits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -in the water—irregularities of females—sterility—leucorrhœa—hypochondriasis—hysteria—epilepsy—various -and anomalous nervous affections—headaches of all kinds—giddinesses and -vertigo—noise in the ears—sleeplessness—asthma—anxiety about the -chest—palpitation of the heart—languor of the muscles—cold extremities—feeble -circulation—atrophy, &c.</p> - -<h4>II. FERDINANDSBRUNN.</h4> - -<p>This spring lies about a mile out of the town, and has a greater affinity -to the Kreuzbrunn than any of the other wells of Marienbad. Its constituents -are as follow:—In the pint there are 17 grains of sulphate of -soda—7 grains of muriate of soda—6½ carbonate of soda—3 of carbonate -of lime—2 of carb. magnesia—⅓rd of a grain of carbonate of iron—traces -of carbonates of strontia, manganese, and lithian—in all 36½ -grains—with 146 inches of carbonic acid gas to 100 cubic inches of the -water.</p> - -<p>From the above analysis it will be seen that the Ferdinandsbrunn contains -nearly three times as much steel as the Kreuzbrunn, with considerably -more of carbonic acid gas; but it contains much less of the -sulphates and muriates of soda. Hence it is more tonic, and less aperient -than the master-spring, the <span class="smcap">Kreuzbrunn</span>. The water is clear and transparent -in the glass—sparkles like champagne—and has a most agreeable -refreshing taste. It leaves a slight smack of ink on the palate. It may -be administered in the same class of maladies as the Kreuzbrunn is applied -to—and that either simultaneously, alternately, or successively. Thus, -where the solvent powers of the former spring are still wanted, but the -debility of the patient requiring a more tonic source, the Ferdinandsbrunn -may be advantageously conjoined with the Kreuzbrunn, or substituted for -it during a period. It may be as well to cite a case or two here from my -friend Dr. Heidler.</p> - -<p>“A gentleman, 60 years of age, who had led a sedentary life, and experienced -much trouble of mind, became extremely hypochondriac. When -he arrived at Marienbad, his complexion was cachectic—eyes dull and sunk—tongue -furred—appetite gone—abdomen distended, but not tender—hæmorrhoids—bowels -inactive—discharge of bloody mucus occasionally -with the motions—some eruption on the skin—slight wandering gouty -pains—skin dry—pulse small and slow. The Kreuzbrunn was first tried, -but produced watery evacuations, and distention of the stomach. The -Ferdinandsbrunn was therefore substituted at the end of ten days. This -water, in conjunction with mud-baths, produced, in the course of five -weeks, the most salutary effects, clearing the patient of his hypochondriasis, -and nearly the whole of the other symptoms.”</p> - -<p><i>Case the second.</i>—“A gentleman, 50 years of age, who had lived well,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -became weak and cachectic after some considerable hæmorrhoidal discharges—one -of them amounting to several pints of blood in one day. He had -derived considerable advantage from the waters of Carlsbad the preceding -year, but it increased the intestinal hæmorrhage. On his arrival at Marienbad, -he presented the following symptoms:—complexion pale, and -inclining to a yellow tint—lips bloodless, as was the tongue, and even the -palate—swelling of the eye-lids—small appetite—sleeplessness—rose from -bed more fatigued than when he lay down—great difficulty of breathing, -but without any symptoms of water in the chest, on ascending stairs—abdomen -distended, but soft, and without tenderness—constipation and -diarrhœa alternately—the pulse feeble and 85 to 95—skin rough and dry.</p> - -<p>“The Kreuzbrunn was tried, but caused oppression at the stomach—diminution -of appetite, and watery evacuations. The Ferdinandsbrunn was -then employed, and agreed better, and produced more consistent motions, but -very unhealthy—some blood was passed each time from the hæmorrhoidal -vessels. The appetite soon increased—the digestion improved—and sleep -became more refreshing. Towards the end of the course, which lasted -five weeks, he was able to go up stairs without difficulty. He returned -two years afterwards to Marienbad, with the same symptoms, and was -again relieved.”</p> - -<p>The Kreuzbrunn is preferable to the Ferdinandsbrunn, where the invalid -is of sanguine temperament, robust, inclined to apoplexy, or hæmorrhages. -Also for females who are subject to miscarriages—and, in general, for all -those who shew a tendency to fulness or congestion in any of the vital organs—diseases -of the chest—derangements of the circulation—inflammatory -complaints—and diseases of children.</p> - -<h4>III. CAROLINENBRUNN AND AMBROSIUSBRUNN.</h4> - -<p>These two springs are near each other, and only a few hundred yards -distant from the Kreuzbrunn. They come under the head of “acidulous -chalybeates,” and only differ from each other in strength—the Carolinenbrunn -being rather more potent than the Ambrosiusbrunn, as the following -analysis will show. The <span class="smcap">Carolinenbrunn</span> contains in the pint of water, -2½ grains of sulphate of soda-½ grain muriate of soda—⅔rds of a grain -of carbonate of soda—nearly a grain of carbonate of lime—3 grains of -magnesia—⅓rd of a grain of carbonate of iron—in all amounting to about -9 grains—and 123 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas in 100 cubic inches -of the water.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Ambrosiusbrunn</span> contains only six grains of solid matters in the -pint—the iron being only ¼ of a grain. The other ingredients are the -same in kind as in the Carolinenbrunn, but one-third smaller in quantity. -The carbonic acid gas is also rather smaller in quantity.</p> - -<p>Dr. Heidler considers the Ambrosiusbrunn as bearing considerable -analogy to Bruckenau, Bocklet, and the Stahlbrunn at Swalbach; but as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -far as the chemical composition is concerned, there is much difference, as -may be perceived by reference to those springs. Dr. H. prefers the Ambrosiusbrunn -for children, and also for adults of very weak and delicate -constitutions, as preparatory to the water of the Carolinenbrunn. It is -easy of digestion, and may be taken for a long time, without inconvenience. -It is very useful in gravelly complaints.</p> - -<p>The Carolinenbrunn is of more extensive application than the Ambrosiusbrunn; -but much less so than the Kreuzbrunn, or even the Ferdinandsbrunn. -Experience has shewn that the “<i>acidulous chalybeates</i>,” whose -properties are exciting and tonic, are much less useful in chronic diseases -than those which are solvent, and which produce crises in the course of -their operation—especially through the medium of the bowels and the -kidneys.</p> - -<p>The first impression of the Carolinenbrunn on the stomach is excitant -and refreshing, like all other acidulous springs. It has been generally used -by the inhabitants as common drink; and yet it does not digest so easy, -among the invalids, as the other springs of Marienbad—many of them -experiencing weight and oppression at the epigastrium, particularly if they -are weak and irritable constitutions, or labouring under any congestion or -engorgement of the abdominal organs. It is much less aperient than the -Kreuzbrunn and the Ferdinandsbrunn—indeed it often confines the -bowels, and then the patient must take some of the other waters with the -Carolinenbrunn or aperient medicine. This spring is the strongest in iron -of all the others. It bears the greatest affinity to Schwalbach and Spa; -but is a stronger chalybeate, and contains more carbonic acid gas than -they do. It leaves an <i>après-gout</i> of steel on the palate, as also of sulphur.<a name="FNanchor_63" id="FNanchor_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> - -<p>The Carolinenbrunn may be classed amongst the exciting and tonic -waters. It moderately excites the circulation and the nervous system, by -a transient stimulation, which does not leave a debility behind. Although -it is not aperient, it rarely produces astringent effects, like bark, steel and -other tonics. It augments the action of the kidneys—and may be said to -gently increase the activity of the whole organism, without checking any -of the secretions. It is therefore prescribed, with much advantage, in all -cases of pure debility, and unattended with any fever or local inflammation. -Care ought always to be taken that the bowels are cleared of all -impurities before this water is used, and that constipation is guarded -against during the course. It is used in baths. The rules for using the -waters are not materially different from those enforced at other spas. The -season lasts from the beginning of May till the end of September.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> - -<h4>THE BATHS.</h4> - -<p>The baths of Marienbad are on a splendid scale—including the mineral -water—the gas—and the mud baths. The grand source of the waters for -bathing is the <span class="smcap">Marienbrunn</span>, which furnishes 5280 cubic feet of water in -24 hours. The basin is large and capacious—entirely covered over—and -the carbonic acid gas boils up in all directions, and in globes and globules -of all sizes, with astonishing vehemence and agitation. The disengagement -of gas here is, in my opinion, much more striking and wonderful -than at the Cold Sprudel and its neighbour at Franzensbad. There is -always a thick stratum of this deadly gas incumbent on the surface of the -water. There is an admixture of sulphuretted hydrogen gas with the -carbonic. All the experiments that are made on animals at the famous -Grotto del Cane, near Naples, may be repeated here with perfect success. -The Marienbrunn is more elevated than the bathing-establishments, so -that the water is conveyed fresh from the source, through pipes that prevent -all decomposition.</p> - -<h4>PHYSICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE BATHS.</h4> - -<p>1. Soon after entering the bath—say at blood heat—innumerable globules -of carbonic acid gas are seen on the surface of the body. 2. Many people -perceive a redness of the skin, soon after immersion, accompanied by a -sense of heat, even when the bath is not above 88° or 90° of Fahrenheit. -3. Some people of irritable and sensitive constitutions, on the contrary, -experience a slight shiver, even when the temperature of the water is above -that of the blood. This phenomenon is, however, rare. 4. The bath occasions -a prompt and copious secretion from the kidneys. 5. Many people -who have had old wounds, fractures, or ulcers, feel pains in the parts, -while immersed in the water. 6. The same may be said of gout and -rheumatism; and this renewal of pains is considered a favourable omen. -7. Old and ill-conditioned ulcers soon assume a more healthy appearance -under the use of the baths, and take on a more active, or even inflammatory -condition. Ulcers ought to be covered with oil-silk or other defence -while the patient is in the bath. 8. In the course of the bathing—generally -after ten or fourteen days, any eruptions that previously existed -become more developed—and very often new cutaneous eruptions come out. -These are considered to be more or less salutary.</p> - -<p>The Marienbrunn water is much weaker than the Kreuzbrunn and other -drinking springs, and is soon decomposed by exposure to the atmosphere. -These baths are contra-indicated, or even prejudicial in cases of dropsy, -phthisis, aneurysms, irritations or inflammations of any important organ, -especially if accompanied by fever or suppuration—disposition to hæmorrhages, -or vomitings of blood—disposition to miscarriage—paralyses the -result of apoplexy. With these exceptions there are few chronic diseases<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -which may not be benefitted by the Marienbad baths in conjunction with -the internal use of the waters.</p> - -<p>It is chiefly, however, in gout, rheumatism, tic-douloureux, paralytic -debility without preceding apoplexy or affection of the head, scrofula, cutaneous -eruptions, stiffness and contractions of joints, and old sores, that -the baths of Marienbad are recommended as essential auxiliaries to the -waters internally. The baths are generally used at a temperature of 94° -to 98°, and at any time of the day except when digestion is going on after -dinner.</p> - -<h4>MUD-BATHS.</h4> - -<p>These are in great requisition at Marienbad. The peat bog is found -near the spa. It is of a very dark brown colour—friable when dried, and -unctuous to the feel when wetted. It is here, as elsewhere, the product of -vegetable matters decomposed by water, and highly impregnated with carbonic -acid gas and sulphuretted hydrogen, which gases are disengaged in -prodigious quantities. Much sulphur is found in this earth, together with -various mineral salts, as hydro-chlorate of soda, sulphate of soda—sulphates -of lime and magnesia—carbonate of iron—silex—alum—bitumen, -&c.</p> - -<p>Besides the general effects of hot, warm, and tepid baths of mineral -water, the mud-baths exhibit effects peculiar to themselves. They may be -taken at a higher temperature than water-baths, without inconvenience. -They are never employed cold. They excite the skin much more than the -liquid baths,—cause a greater degree of redness—bring out more eruptions—and -stimulate the nerves of the surface, as well as the vessels. They -are employed by the Marienbad physicians in all those cases where the -mineral-water baths are used. They are preferred, however, to the latter, -in all those maladies where the natural and salutary crisis takes place -chiefly through the excretories of the surface, and by determination to the -joints, as in gout; and in those cases where the disease is attributed to -checked perspiration. The mud-baths are much employed by Dr. Heidler, -Dr. Herzig, and others, as local applications in various local maladies, as, -for example, in swellings and stiffness of the joints—old wounds—ulcers—neuralgic -affections, &c.</p> - -<p>As the stratum of mud in contact with the body soon loses some of its -caloric, it is proper and even necessary, to keep moving about in the bath, -and using friction with the hands as well as motion with the limbs. The -fluid bath, which is placed at the side of the mud-bath, loses temperature -also, while the bather is in the latter, and as it is often a moveable tub, -warm water cannot be always added to it—therefore it should be two or -three degrees higher than usual when operations are commencing. No -time should be spent in the washing-bath longer than is necessary for -cleaning the surface of the body.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> - -<p>Having used the mud-baths both at Franzensbad and Marienbad, and -accurately watched their effects on my own person, I can aver that I perceived -no difference, either in sensible properties or physiological results, -between the mud-baths of the two places. I always felt more exhilarated -through the day, when I used the mud, than when I took the common -mineral-water bath.</p> - -<h4>GAS-BATHS.</h4> - -<p>At Marienbad, as at Franzensbad, the carbonic acid gas rises from the -earth in such abundance, that it is only necessary to inclose a piece of -ground and form a reservoir, when the deadly mephitic gas collects in such -quantities as would destroy the whole population of those spas in a few -minutes! But as the most potent poisons have been converted into the -most efficient remedies, so has this deleterious emanation from the bowels -of the earth, been made an instrument for restoring various lost powers in -the human frame. The application of this gas is only of modern date. -The first notice I have seen is in the Dict. des Sciences Medicales, 1812. -Since then Dr. Heidler, Dr. De Carro, and others have published on this -subject. The gas-bath was first used at Marienbad about twenty years -ago, on the following occasion. Dr. Struve, of Dresden, had been using -the waters and baths of Marienbad for a painful affection of the left thigh -and leg, which prevented him from walking without crutches, and, on any -little exertion, caused the most excruciating pain. A number of lymphatic -glands were swelled in the course of the vessels of that limb, and the -vessels themselves were enlarged and inflamed, though the limb was emaciated. -He had a gorged liver and hæmorrhoids. He exposed the afflicted -member daily to the action of the carbonic acid gas, which always floats -on the surface of the Marienbrunn; and the following were his words:—“I -soon felt an agreeable warmth creep up the limb exposed to the gas, -which went on increasing, accompanied by a sense of formication (creeping -of ants) over the skin. After half an hour’s application, on the first trial, -I removed from the Marienbrunn, by the aid of my servant and crutches; -but my astonishment was great, when I found that I could put my foot to -the ground with increased power, and that the painful titillation soon subsided. -In the course of a few days the power of the limb was so far -augmented that I was able to walk without crutches or even a stick. I -continued, however, the Kreuzbrunn water internally—the mud-poultices -to the limb—and the gas-bath for three weeks, when the cure was complete -and permanent.”<a name="FNanchor_64" id="FNanchor_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> - -<p>This almost miraculous cure attracted Dr. Heidler’s attention to the -subject, and, from that period, he has made numerous experiments on other -patients, with this new remedy, as well as on himself personally, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -published the results in the year 1819, at Vienna. The succeeding year -six gas-bathing chambers were constructed, and now, (August 1840) this -gas-bathing establishment is on the completest scale of perfection. The -Count St. Leu, and Marshal Schwarzenberg, were among the first patients -who used the gas-baths after their establishment in 1819. The physicians -of Marienbad have, ever since the last-mentioned period, employed this -remedy in a great number of cases and diseases, and, they informed me, -with great advantage.</p> - -<p>The sensible effects are chiefly as follows:</p> - -<p>1. A sensation of heat (sometimes preceded by a slight coldness) very -soon is felt after entering the gas-bath, beginning at the feet and mounting -upwards over the whole body, in the majority of cases, but, in others, it -is most sensibly experienced in those parts of the body or limbs which are -or were the seats of diseases. In the abdomen, and especially in the lower -parts of the pelvis, this pleasant sensation of heat is more felt than in the -chest—a fact which led to the application of gas to certain complaints in -both sexes attended with torpor and debility of particular functions.</p> - -<p>2. A sensation of twitching, formication, and even pain, is often the -result of the gas-bath, especially in parts which have formerly been the -seat of fractures, sprains, wounds, or severe gout or rheumatism. These -pains are so acute as sometimes to force the patient to quit the bath before -the usual time has expired. On the other hand, most excruciating pains -of rheumatism, tic, &c. unaccompanied by inflammation, have been instantaneously -relieved by the application of the gas. 3. Perspiration is -generally produced or augmented by the bath, either at the time of immersion, -a few hours afterwards, or in the following night. 4. The gas-bath -sometimes brings on, at others regulates, periodical discharges, -hæmorrhoidal or otherwise. 5. The gas-bath is exciting or even irritating -to the organs of respiration, and should not be used where there is any -inflammatory action or congestion in the chest. 6. If a certain proportion -of the gas gets mixed with the common air, and is thus breathed, it produces -giddiness, vertigo, anguish at the pit of the stomach, and oppression -about the lungs. If the <i>pure gas</i> is breathed, instant death is the result. -A few years ago the life of a female peasant was lost by the stupidity of -her husband, who put the cover of the bath over her head, instead of being -round her throat. No one is now allowed to take a gas-bath without the -medical or some experienced attendant.<a name="FNanchor_65" id="FNanchor_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> - -<p>The carbonic acid gas is generally employed here in commixture with a -small proportion of sulphuretted hydrogen gas.</p> - -<p>The mode of action of the gas-bath being decidedly stimulant, it should -never be employed where stimulants are improper. The disorders in which -it is most employed by Dr. Heidler, Dr. Herzig, and other physicians at -Marienbad, are the following:—1. Suppressed or scanty menstruation—especially -after the waters and common baths have been used without -effect. 2. Suppressed hæmorrhoidal discharges, in which the mineral -waters may also be employed. 3. In scrofulous ulcers and swellings, -aided by the mud-baths and mineral water. 4. Various derangements of -digestion, where there is no plethora of any of the abdominal organs. 5. -In gouty affections of a painful kind, without actual inflammation, and -where the other baths and waters have proved ineffectual. In such cases, -the gas-baths often bring out an acid and fætid perspiration on the pained -part. 6. In some chronic affections of the sight, as amaurosis, not accompanied -by inflammatory symptoms, the local application of the gas -has been found useful: also in deafness dependent on torpor of the nerves -and membranes of the ear, or where the natural secretion is defective or -nul. Great caution, however, is necessary in the local application of -streams of this gas to the eyes or ears, where there is any tendency to -vertigo, or fulness about the head.</p> - -<p>The gas-baths are taken locally or generally. In the general bath the -patient should be lightly cloathed, as the gas generally induces perspiration. -When it is used locally, by way of douche, it may often be applied -to the naked part, or with a gauze covering over the surface, especially if -to the eyes. Care should always be taken to prevent the introduction of -gas into the lungs—or even into the mouth or nose, lest disagreeable consequences -should ensue.</p> - -<p>This new remedy has attracted individuals of both sexes to Franzensbad -and Marienbad, from the wilds of Russia, and from various parts of -the South and centre of Europe. Those who come with the greatest -anxiety, and with the most ardent hopes, or at least expectations, to the -gas-baths, are such as have long sighed, but sighed in vain, to become—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“The tenth transmitters of some foolish face,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">placing, apparently, more faith in the physical operation of the waters, -baths, and gases of the spas, than in the intercession of saints or even the -prayers which they had offered up at the shrine of the Madonna herself! -How far and how often the gas-baths have wrought the happy revolution, -I cannot say. The doctors have firmly asserted, and the patients have -willingly believed the “flattering tale.” As the gas-baths are seldom -trusted to alone, it is impossible to say with accuracy, what share they -have in the general restoration of health, and the consequent invigoration -of the constitution. Upon the whole, I left Marienbad with the strong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -conviction on my mind, that its waters and baths were among the most -efficient in the list of the German spas.</p> - -<p>The valley of Marienbad is well sheltered, and surrounded by pines in -the immediate neighbourhood of the spa; but we have only to mount a -couple of miles on the Carlsbad road, when we get into a high open country, -with a bracing air and a boundless prospect. Some parts of this route -are extremely picturesque—I would almost say romantic, especially a few -miles from Marienbad, where the road winds down a precipice in numerous -tourniquets, into a valley surrounded on all sides by steep acclivities, some -bare and rugged, others crowned with woods. A rivulet roars through the -valley, and a village, a convent, and some factories, give cheerfulness and -animation to the scene.</p> - -<p>P.S.—Before quitting the subject of the Marienbad waters, I must -dedicate a few lines to a small brochure on these waters, published by my -friend Dr. Herzig, in the Summer of 1840.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="hanging">Die Heilung der Krankheiten, mit hulfe des Kreuzbrunnen zu -Marienbad. Von Dr. L. Herzig.—The Cure of Diseases by the -help of the Marienbad Waters.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The water of the Marienbad springs has a soothing effect on the nervous -system, and checks vomiting and pain in the stomach and bowels, in consequence -partly of the carbonic acid contained in the water, and partly of -its property of increasing all the secretions.</p> - -<p>In plethoric persons it often proves stimulating, and causes headache, -redness of face, and feelings of cerebral congestion—owing probably to the -carbonic acid and the iron contained in it.</p> - -<p>Its most marked effect is to increase all the secretions, especially those -of the bowels, liver, kidneys and skin—large quantities of mucus are discharged -with the stools. The mucous secretions of the bladder, and also -of the vagina, are usually much increased at first, but subsequently greatly -diminished, when these organs are in a state of weakness. Various forms -of cutaneous eruption often make their appearance, and rheumatic and -gouty pains are usually increased at first, but subsequently disappear -during the use of the waters.</p> - -<p>The digestive and nutritive functions are quickened and invigorated, and -the patients acquire strength and liveliness, in consequence of the improved -state of the intestinal secretions. The Kreuzbrunn waters at Marienbad -produce similar effects to those of the Carlsbad and the Kissengen -waters; but the former are more purging and evacuant, and act less upon -the vascular system, and more upon the digestive functions than they do.</p> - -<p>The diseases in which the Marienbad waters are most useful, are—</p> - -<p>1. All congested states of the <i>portal</i> system of veins, indicated by torpid -bowels, loss of appetite, hæmorrhoids, and gouty complaints; and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -various diseases connected with inactivity of the abdominal circulation, -such as hypochondriasis, dyspepsia, morbid sensibility, headaches, &c. -Numerous cases of chronic rheumatism and gout, which are so frequently -associated with congestion of the vena portæ, are relieved by the use of -the Marienbad waters.</p> - -<p>2. Diseased state of the mucous membranes, such as some obstinate -catarrhs, affections of the mucous coat of the bladder, uterus, &c.</p> - -<p>3. Plethora, sanguineous congestions, crampy pains of the limbs, absent -or difficult menstruation, and the numerous morbid symptoms dependent -upon this state.</p> - -<p>4. Torpor of the bowels, and its host of attendant evils.</p> - -<p>“By means of its property of increasing all the secretions and excretions -of the body, and of bringing out cutaneous eruptions and gouty affections -to the limbs, the Kreuzbrunn waters at Marienbad are an excellent -remedy in numerous diseases which depend either upon a plethoric state of -the abdominal circulation, or upon the accumulation of impurities in the -bowels, or upon an unhealthy condition of the mucous membranes. At -the same time, they subdue the morbid irritability of the whole system, or -of individual parts; they remove congestions, plethora, and various evils -dependent upon these. They are especially useful in all cases where -Nature herself seems to be striving to induce either an increase of the secretions, -or a flow of blood from certain parts, as the nose, anus, &c.”</p> - -<p>When the Marienbad waters do not prove sufficiently aperient, a small -portion of Glauber or Epsom salts may be added to it. In some cases, -the waters will agree better, if previously heated; and in others, they -are usefully combined with a little warm milk, or with a small portion of -wine.</p> - -<p>Dr. Herzig is an attentive physician, who speaks English, and may be -usefully consulted by my countrymen. I have also to express my grateful -thanks to Dr. Heidler, the spa physician of Marienbad, for his kindness and -attention.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="CARLSBAD">CARLSBAD.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent5">——fælix per secula mana,</div> -<div class="verse">Fons sacer, humano generique salutifer esto,</div> -<div class="verse">Redde seni validas vires. Pavidæque Puellæ,</div> -<div class="verse">Formosam confer faciem, morbisque medere</div> -<div class="verse">Omnibus, et patrias accedat lætior oras,</div> -<div class="verse">Quisquis in hæc lympha fragiles immerserit artes.<a name="FNanchor_66" id="FNanchor_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Sacred Font! flow on for ever,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Health on mankind still bestow—</div> -<div class="verse">If a virgin woo thee—give her</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Rosy cheeks and beauty’s glow:—</div> -<div class="verse">If an old man—make him stronger—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Suffering mortals soothe and save—</div> -<div class="verse">Happier, send them home, and younger,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">All who quaff thy fervid wave!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This is denominated the <span class="smcap">King</span> of the Spas, whilst Baden-Baden is the -<span class="smcap">Queen</span>. I wish his majesty of the “<span class="smcap">Warm Wassers</span>” had condescended -to hold his noisy court a little nearer to that of his royal consort. Two -hundred and thirty miles from Frankfort, through a country that is not -always very smooth, or very interesting—with dust in some places half a -foot deep on the roads—the thermometer at 80°—and the rate of progression -five miles an hour, is a tolerable sacrifice to the hygeian goddess of -the Sprudel! It is not improbable that many of those who travel to Bohemia, -in search of health, might find it in various other directions, and -much nearer their own doors. The journey itself requires some good -stamina, as well as resolution, and, if borne well, gives promise of success -at the Sprudel.<a name="FNanchor_67" id="FNanchor_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> - -<p>I suppose Carlsbad claims the prerogative of curing by the “<i>Royal -touch</i>,” all those maladies that resist the powers of his subject spas—and -even of the Queen’s own at Baden.</p> - -<p>I think I have discovered one cause of the great efficacy of the Carlsbad -waters, which has escaped the notice of the spa doctors, including my -friend Dr. Granville. In travelling to Bohemia, the invalid must, on a -moderate calculation, swallow full a pound of sand and dust on the road. -This being mixed with an indefinite quantity of grease, oil, and vinegar, -at the hotels, forms a kind of amalgam, resembling “<i>fuller’s earth</i>,” the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -clearing away of which, by the hot and alkaline waters of Carlsbad, must -leave the stomach, liver, kidneys, and other internal organs, as bright and -shining as a newly-scoured copper kettle.</p> - -<p>It is ascertained that Carlsbad is built on a thin crust of limestone, -forming a dome over several immense cauldrons of boiling mineral water. -At present the chief crater of this aqueous volcano offers a safety-valve for -all the superfluous soda-water unconsumed by the subterranean spa-goers; -but it has often been feared that the whole dome may one day fall in, when -the bibbers and bathers, the ramblers and gamblers, the sick and the sound, -will all have a dip in the Sprudel at its natural temperature, and without -the expense of 48 kreutzers for the bath!</p> - -<p>On some occasions the usual vent of the Sprudel has become obstructed, -and then the ground in the neighbourhood has trembled and vibrated, -as if from an earthquake. At one time the pent up water burst out in -the bed of the river: and here they have formed a large shield of wood -and stones, clasped with iron, with a plug or safety-valve in the centre, -along the sides of which the steam and water now oozes out, and the -aperture can be enlarged at any moment by removing the plug, when -another Sprudel rises in the middle of the Teple.</p> - -<p>Be this as it may, Carlsbad may now be considered as the grand -“<span class="smcap">Maison de Santé</span>” of Europe, where the patients support themselves, -on the principle of the Sanataria in general, and where Mr. Owen might -find his social system almost perfect. Thus we have at Carlsbad (and indeed -at most of the great German spas,) our food in common—our physic -in common—and even our physician in common. The air we breathe, the -water we drink, and gardens and walks where we exercise, are all in common. -The socialists might even find little reason to complain of that -“accursed thing,” <span class="smcap">matrimony</span>, for although <i>matches</i> are occasionally -projected at Carlsbad, I believe that <i>marriage</i> is seldom perpetrated there.<a name="FNanchor_68" id="FNanchor_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> - -<p>This great valetudinarium then presents four or five wards or hygeian -fountains, of which the <span class="smcap">Sprudel</span> stands most conspicuous. I was completely -disappointed at the first sight of this lion of the Spas. The descriptions -and drawings of the spring are most outrageously exaggerated. One -would expect to see a fountain of boiling fluid rising to a height of six or -eight feet, and falling down in fervid and foaming showers. No such thing. -During half the time, it does not rise above the level of the kettle in which -it boils; and is often below that mark. Then it mounts a foot or so, -and every now and then spirts a small irregular and ragged pillar or -column of foaming water to a height of two, three, or perhaps four feet -above the reservoir. More frequently, however, it squirts a jet of water -to one or the other side of the kettle, which splashes into the conduits that -carry it off. The whole of the kettle, reservoir, and exits are coated with -calcareous deposits, and, in many parts covered with green matter, the -bodies or receptacles of animalculæ. Still the Sprudel is a stupendous -ebullition of hot medicinal water from some infernal laboratory, amply -sufficient for the expurgation of a whole nation! The temperature of the -water is 168° of Fahrenheit, each pint containing about 44 grains of solid -matters, of which the sulphates, carbonates, and muriates of soda form 37 -grains. A trace, and merely a trace, of iron is found in the water. Some -very recent analyses have also detected traces of iodine, and of an animal -substance, together with some sulphuretted hydrogen gas. Its taste is -certainly not very agreeable and rather mawkish—and though clear at the -fountain, it is turbid when cold. It very much resembles the Cockbrunnen -in savour.</p> - -<p>The second spring is the <span class="smcap">Muhlbrunn</span>, whose temperature is nearly 30° -below that of the <span class="smcap">Sprudel</span>; but whose constituent salts are the same. -Nevertheless this difference of temperature is supposed to produce a difference -in the taste of the water, and renders it more acceptable to the -stomachs, or at least to the palates, of many of the drinkers at Carlsbad.<a name="FNanchor_69" id="FNanchor_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Neubrunn</span> is separated from the former source only by a covered -walk, and marks 144° of heat. It did not appear to me to be so much in -vogue at this fashionable watering-place, as the Muhlbrunnen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p> - -<p>Behind the Neubrunn there is a hill, cut into terraces and gravelled -walks, where rises the <span class="smcap">Theresienbrunn</span>—a spring much frequented by -the ladies, and indeed by both sexes. The temperature is only 134° of -Fahrenheit, and the water is almost tasteless. These three (with the Hygienequelle, -close to the Sprudel) are the chief springs, which are much -frequented by the great mass of bibbers at Carlsbad.<a name="FNanchor_70" id="FNanchor_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></p> - -<p>The waters of all the springs deposit abundance of calcareous matters, -which crystallize in stalactites of all shapes and hues, called <i>Sprudelstein</i>, -and give employment to numerous hands in the formation of snuff-boxes -and various kinds of bijoux.<a name="FNanchor_71" id="FNanchor_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> As incrustations form on the surfaces of -any woody, mineral, or vegetable substance immersed in these waters, a -fear is sometimes engendered in timid minds that similar incrustations -might form in the stomach, bowels, or kidneys of those who drink them! -It has been proved by Dr. De Carro and others, that the stalactitious deposits -will not take place on any <i>animal</i> substance, with the exception of -the teeth. Even here, the quantity of stony matter is so small in a dozen -beakers of the Sprudel, that nothing is to be apprehended to the teeth on -this score. It would, perhaps, be a happy circumstance for Germany, if -the Sprudel had the faculty of encrusting the teeth with a calcareous -enamel! If such were the case, the whole of the five springs at Carlsbad -would be insufficient to supply dentrifice varnish enough!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p> - -<p>A serio-comic anecdote is related of a hypochondriac, who had drunk -of these waters for some weeks before the <i>petrifying</i> thought flashed across -his mind, (in consequence of some uneasy sensations in his stomach) that -incrustations were forming in his interior. From that moment he became -firmly convinced that snuff-boxes, heads of canes, Madonnas, and even -crucifixes, were torturing his entrails! He drenched himself daily with -drastic purgatives—but, unfortunately, no stalactites came forth: on the -contrary, his inward pains and miseries were increased by the very means -that were employed to expel the enemy! Whether he ever recovered from -his imaginary sufferings is not known.</p> - -<p>Another source of terror to the timid and nervous drinkers at Carlsbad -has lately arisen. A learned German philosopher has discovered living -fossil animalculæ in the waters of Carlsbad. Now if these little salamanders -can “live and move, and have their being,” in the Sprudel at a -temperature of 167°—or rather in the bowels of the earth, where the -water is at the boiling point, or even in the form of steam, it may well be -supposed that they would thrive luxuriously in the temperate climate of -the human stomach, where the heat does not exceed 98° of Fahrenheit. -However, the drinkers of the Thames water need have no fears respecting -the <span class="smcap">Infusoria</span> of Carlsbad, which would soon be devoured by the proteiform -monsters which are daily ingurgitated by the citizens of London.</p> - -<p>I have already stated that some of the philosophic spa doctors have -broached the doctrine, that mineral waters are merely <i>secretions</i> from one -great watery being residing deep in the bowels of the earth! As the secretions -from the human body are very various, so the secretions from the -mother Spa are almost innumerable, and thus the infinite variety of mineral -waters is readily explained and accounted for. Q. E. D.<a name="FNanchor_72" id="FNanchor_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - -<p>The situation of Carlsbad is very picturesque—I might say romantic. -It might be pretty well characterised by a single line, descriptive of a very -different locality—the valley of the <span class="smcap">Upas tree</span>:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Rocks rise on rocks and fountains gush between.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> - -<p>The town is built partly in the valley, partly on the ledges of granite -rocks that rise abruptly behind it, to a height of 1500 feet, while the lazy -<span class="smcap">Teple</span>—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Slow as Lethe’s stream,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">creeps at a snail’s space through the vale, contrasting remarkably with the -boisterous, foaming, upheaving, and boiling <span class="smcap">Sprudel</span>, that gushes from -unknown and unfathomable depths in the bowels of the earth, carrying -health and life to its unnumbered votaries.</p> - -<p>Carlsbad cures, as a matter of course, nine-tenths of human maladies; -but as King of the Spas, it has a royal prerogative of a curious and important -nature—namely, the power of curing those diseases which resist -the virtues of all other spas and all other remedies! In answer to a question, -“why Carlsbad sustained its reputation undiminished?” <span class="smcap">Hufeland</span> -replied—“C’est qu’il guérit des maux rebelles a tout autre moyen curatif.” -It is true that, if we take the testimonies of the other spas, none of which -admit their fallibility in any case, this prerogative of Carlsbad would be -little more than a sinecure; but the promises of spa doctors, like the -waters which they prescribe, must be taken <i>cum grano salis</i>; and we may -safely conclude that some maladies present themselves at the Sprudel which -have resisted the Cockbrunnen, as well as many other brunnens between -the Rhine and the Danube.<a name="FNanchor_73" id="FNanchor_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> - -<p>The attestations to the power of the Carlsbad prerogative would fill a -volume. One just before me, as recorded by Dr. Granville, on the authority -of a British nobleman, well known in the world of wit, is worthy -of notice. Lord A——, it appears, through the efficacy of the Carlsbad -waters, “had lost a <i>pleuritic adhesion</i> under the sternum (or breast bone) -the consequence of neglected inflammation in the chest, which had annoyed -him for a long time, and resisted all curative means. The complaint made -him short-breathed in ascending hills, and gave him a dragging sensation -whenever he sneezed—all which symptoms have since disappeared.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p> - -<p>Whether his lordship’s breathing, and consequently his years, have been -lengthened by the dissolution of substernal <i>adhesions</i>, or by certain <i>corporate -reforms</i> effected by the Sprudel, may admit of some doubt; but the -narrative shews on what sort of evidence the miracles of the spas sometimes -rest! Not that this evidence is worse than we have often at home—witness -the attestation on oath by a nobleman, that he saw St. John Long -extract quicksilver from the brain of a man who had taken mercury—and -the solemn assertions of grave and learned doctors, that an Irish girl could -see through her navel, and hear with the points of her fingers!!</p> - -<p>If we estimate the number of cures by the number of candidates, this spa -must be “a sovereign remedy” for many of our ills. But this criterion is -not always correct. It is not always the physician who sees most patients -that cures most diseases. But Carlsbad, like other bads, has a very convenient -postern to retreat through, when hard pressed for testimonials. -Thus, if the first season fails, the most confident hopes are held out that -the second will succeed. If the second turn out a miscarriage, then the -third will prove infallible! It requires no ghost to prophesy that, if the -pilgrim of the spas goes two successive years to Bohemia, without relief, -the third pilgrimage will, in all human probability, be to that “undiscovered -country,” whence no invalids return to tell their tale of disappointment! -If a patient die at home, it is because he did not visit Carlsbad—if at -Carlsbad, because he came too late.</p> - -<p>The waters of Carlsbad were formerly used almost entirely as baths—but -now it is just the reverse—they are chiefly taken internally. In former -times the bathers passed eight or ten hours in the baths, as they now do -at Leuk, Baden, and Pfeffers. My friend De Carro thinks that, formerly, -cutaneous complaints were more rife—and now, that liver and stomach affections -are the prevailing maladies—hence the change from bathing to drinking -at this celebrated spa. There may be some truth in this. The taste of these -waters very much resembles that of weak chicken-broth, with a flat and -alkaline savour. It has been seen that <span class="smcap">soda</span>, combined with sulphuric, -muriatic, and carbonic acids, is the chief agent in the Carlsbad waters. -Soda uncombined with acids, either out of or in the body, has rather a -deleterious effect on the organs of circulation and digestion. “But the -Carlsbad water (says Chev. De Carro) though used for a long time, reanimates, -vivifies, excites the appetite, and promotes digestion—thus with -proper regimen, restoring the patient to health.” Doubtless the efficacy of -the waters is augmented by the admixture, however small in quantity, of -other elements, as the oxide of iron, the carbonic acid, the iodine, and -materials yet unknown, diffused in extreme solution, through a fluid of a -very high temperature, which enables the component parts of the spring -to permeate the minutest vessels of the body. The Carlsbad salts are -found in the renal secretion, as well as in the cutaneous transpiration, after -being taken internally. These waters act by exciting the stomach, bowels,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -kidneys, liver, and abdominal organs generally, augmenting the secretions -and excretions—especially those of the intestines, sometimes it is said even -to purgation, when they are taken in considerable quantity. This effect, -however, must be rather unfrequent, for I found no one, including myself, -who experienced it. “They excite the circulation, so as frequently to produce -palpitation of the heart, and determination of blood to the head. This -water augments the activity of the absorbents; but it is not till after its -other operations, that it acts as a direct <span class="smcap">tonic</span>.” Purgation is not considered -by the Carlsbad doctors as essential to its beneficial agency, which is -often produced without any action on the bowels, but only on the various -secretions already mentioned. In all cases, however, it is necessary to -guard against constipation, by adding some Carlsbad salts to the water, or -exhibiting some other aperient. Although these waters contain no sulphuretted -hydrogen gas, or extremely little, they produce fætid eructations -from the stomach when drunk—but they have not a corresponding effect on -the alvine evacuations. “The operation of the Carlsbad waters, in fact, is -what is called ‘<i>alterative</i>,’ or ‘<i>deobstruent</i>;’ and as such they are applicable -to a long list of maladies arising from congestion or obstruction -in the abdominal organs, particularly the liver, spleen, mesentery and other -glandular viscera, attended by debility of the stomach, heart-burn, acidity, -distention, eructations, constipation, jaundice, biliary concretions, hypochondriasis, -hæmorrhoids, head-aches, giddiness, gouty feelings, cutaneous -eruptions, scrofula, and urinary obstructions.”<a name="FNanchor_74" id="FNanchor_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> - -<p>This is an encouraging picture, but I have no reason to consider it as -overcharged. Dr. De Carro observes, that it is impossible to explain the -<i>modus operandi</i> of such simple and minute ingredients on the human -organism. “Whoever, he remarks, has experienced a crisis (called also -the spa fever—the bad-sturm, &c.) in his own person, will never doubt the -power of the Carlsbad waters.”</p> - -<p>Dr. De C. compares the action of the Carlsbad waters on the human -frame to a good filter that separates all impurities from the constitution.</p> - -<p>“Hypochondriacal affections appear nowhere under more various forms -than at Carlsbad; and the misanthropic and pusillanimous feelings of those -unfortunate beings, passing, without known motives, from hope to despondency, -from moroseness to exaltation, deserve the greatest indulgence and -sympathy. When we see so many hepatic and splenetic patients whose temper -depends entirely on the state of their abdominal functions, we feel disposed -to forgive the materialism of the ancients, who placed the seat of so -many passions in the liver; we remember unwillingly the <i>Fervens difficili -bile tumet jecur</i>, the <i>jecur ulcerosum</i> of Horace, as synonymous of <i>jealousy</i> -and <i>violent love</i>, and we understand how they could say that men <i>splene -rident, felle irascunt, jecore amant, pulmone jactantur, corde sapiunt</i>.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> - -<p>The worthy Doctor deplores the disappointments and mortifications -which many invalids from far distant lands annually experience here, -when they learn, to their grief and dismay, that the mineral waters -are totally inapplicable to their maladies! They have then only the -alternative of laying their bones in Bohemian soil, or undertaking another -long, fatiguing, and expensive journey towards their native land. Dr. De -Carro blames the ignorance which prevails among the faculty generally, -respecting the medicinal properties of the Carlsbad and other spas. But -the spa doctors themselves, and spa tourists, are not entirely blameless. -The exaggerated accounts that are published respecting the <i>miraculous</i> -powers of almost every spa in Germany, are quite sufficient to mislead -practitioners and patients who have no personal knowledge of these -vaunted springs. One great object of the present volume is the attempt -to sift the grain from the chaff, or to filter these waters and depurate them -of their gross crudities and absurdities.</p> - -<p>“The Carlsbad waters (says Dr. De C.) are detrimental when there are -any symptoms of inflammation, congestion, or vertigo present. If these -exist on the arrival of the invalid, they must be removed before he takes the -waters; if they occur during the use of the waters, these last must be -immediately discontinued.”</p> - -<p>Dr. De C. observes, that these springs are detrimental in phthisis or any -grade of pulmonary complaint—and that, in general, they aggravate -<i>organic</i> diseases of all kinds, and hasten their march. Here then is a rule -which applies to many of the spas besides Carlsbad—namely, that the constitution -should be free from inflammation, congestion, and structural -changes in any organ, before the waters can be safely taken. Dropsical -affections, even where no organic disease can be detected as their cause, -are aggravated by the Carlsbad waters. Dr. De C. relates a melancholy -instance of a nobleman who was sent there from a great distance—only to -die of dropsy.</p> - -<p>In chlorotic and amenorrhœal disorders, Carlsbad waters are beneficial; -not so much from the minute quantity of iron they contain, as from their -stimulant and deobstruent qualities. Females ought not to use these -waters at all times.</p> - -<p>A painful complaint which often presents itself at Carlsbad is <i>biliary -calculi</i>. Dr. De C. thinks that the waters are almost specific in such -cases. He lately attended an invalid who had come from a great distance -to Carlsbad. On the third day of using the waters a prodigious number -of gall-stones, of all sizes, were expelled. He has often found gravel to -be expelled from the kidneys and bladder during the use of these waters; -but he does not vouch for their <i>lithontriptic</i> powers—that is, their power -of <i>dissolving</i> urinary calculi, although this quality has been attributed to -them by some physicians.</p> - -<p>It is in chronic gout, especially of the wandering and misplaced kind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -that the Carlsbad waters have acquired considerable renown, disputing the -palm with Wisbaden itself. It is in general necessary to take some chalybeate -waters, in such cases, after the course at Carlsbad is completed. It -is acknowledged by Sir John De Carro, that more than one visitation to -Carlsbad will be necessary in gouty affections of any standing.</p> - -<p>In the nervous tremors occasioned by quicksilver, these waters have been -found very beneficial, both internally and externally.</p> - -<h4>THE CARLSBAD STURM, OR CRISIS.</h4> - -<p>From the age of 35 years, Dr. De Carro was subject to severe attacks -of gout, each attack generally lasting ten or fifteen days, followed by much -debility, with great tenderness of the feet. The intervals were of various -duration—sometimes months—sometimes years. The complaint is hereditary -in his family for four generations. About fifteen years ago (1825) one -of the paroxysms ceased suddenly on the third day, followed by alarming -symptoms—difficulty of breathing—irritation about the throat—total loss -of sleep—copious muco-purulent expectoration, of an acrid and acid taste—rapid -emaciation—cadaverous expression of countenance—and all the -symptoms of approaching laryngeal phthisis. From these, however, he -gradually emerged; but a sense of constriction in the trachea remained, -occasioning loss of voice and many uncomfortable feelings. In April 1826, -many of the symptoms above-mentioned returned, with considerable violence, -and the Dr. removed from Vienna to Carlsbad. The waters of this -spa are not beneficial in pulmonic complaints generally, but Dr. De C. considered -his own malady as misplaced gout, and he commenced the waters -on the 17th of May, at the Neubrunn. “During the first three days he -felt no effect whatever. He had been unable to get higher than seven goblets -daily; but, on the fourth day, he felt as if he were drunk—lost his appetite—staggered -on his legs—had indistinct vision—burning cheeks—excited -and agitated circulation—overwhelming drowsiness, and total inability to -read or write. These violent symptoms continued for three days, and -were <i>much mitigated by copious evacuations</i>, (tres soulagé par des evacuations -copieuses) and, the storm having subsided, he continued the course of -waters for six weeks, without further inconvenience. The bowels became -regular, and there was a copious but fætid secretion from the kidneys -during the whole time. All the symptoms of misplaced gout disappeared.”<a name="FNanchor_75" id="FNanchor_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> - -<p>Dr. De C. observes that, had he not been a physician, he would have -looked upon the above symptoms as forerunners of apoplexy. I am quite -confident that they were so, and that the apoplexy was warded off by the -“copious evacuations” that were procured, whether by nature or art. I -have seen several instances of this “<span class="smcap">bad-sturm</span>,” and have no doubt of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -being owing to some inflammatory action going on in some part of the -body (as was clearly the case in the present instance), or to the neglect of -aperient medicine taken in conjunction with the waters. The misplaced -gout, such as Dr. De C. presented, is readily relieved by saline aperients, -with small doses of colchicum and counter-irritation, without the risk of -the “<span class="smcap">bad-sturm</span>,” which is a violent conflict between the constitution and -the remedy. It is when the complaint is quiescent, and all inflammatory -symptoms removed, that the Carlsbad and other mineral waters are -beneficial.</p> - -<p>Dr. De Carro has a short chapter on the East and West Indian invalids -who resort to Carlsbad annually, for the relief of broken-down constitutions, -and especially for affections of the liver, the spleen, and for the consequences -of intermittent and remittent fevers contracted within the -tropics. The worthy doctor, who has the usual dread of mercury, so widely -infecting the Continental faculty, seems to hint pretty broadly that many -of the Anglo-Oriental and Occidental diseases, are as much owing to the -remedies as to the climate. Be this as it may, he gives the pagoda-complexioned -gentry great hopes of benefit from the waters of the Sprudel.</p> - -<p>The regime laid down by Dr. De Carro, is rather more liberal than by -some of his confreres at the German Spas. Breakfast should not be taken -till an hour after finishing the last goblet. Besides the exercise which is -taken while drinking the waters, he recommends half an hour’s promenade -after leaving the spring, if the patient be not too fatigued. The breakfast -itself may be coffee, tea, or chocolate, according to the habits or inclinations -of the invalid. Coffee is rather hazardous where there is any tendency -to inflammatory action in the constitution. The bread and the -cream are excellent at Carlsbad. <i>Dejeuners a la fourçhette</i> are inadmissible -here. The dinners at Carlsbad are very abstemious, as the <span class="smcap">Traiteurs</span> -are obliged to regulate them by the orders of the faculty. They present -no temptation to commit excesses. A very temperate use of plain and -well-boiled vegetables is permitted. Salads, cheese, herrings, anchovies, -and all raw fruit are strictly forbidden. The supper should be a little soup—and -the time of going to bed is ten o’clock at the latest. Gambling is -forbidden. The beer of the place, and light wines are permitted. The -Bohemian, Hungarian, and Austrian wines are wholesome; but those of -the Rhine, the Rhone, and Moselle may be used. It is recommended to -keep the mind tranquil and contented! Alas! the prescription is easily -written, but what pharmacy can supply the drug?</p> - -<p>The season at Carlsbad extends from the first of May till the 30th of -September. It is divided into three epochs. From the 1st of May till -the 15th June, those who love quietude, economy, and health, will go to -the spa. From the latter period till the middle of August, when the air -is nearly as hot as the waters, <span class="smcap">Carlsbad</span> swarms, like a bee-hive, with -legions of invalids and their friends, who lead, as Dr. De Carro says, “une<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -vie bruyante,” and pay handsomely for their accommodations. The last six -weeks, like the first, are more quiet, cool, and reasonable in expense. -Those, too, who are anxious to have long interviews with their doctors, -and pour out all their complaints into his attentive ear, will avoid the hot -and fashionable season, and prefer the beginning or end.</p> - -<p>It is remarked by Dr. De C. that a considerable number of people annually -resort to Carlsbad without any other complaint than constipation of -the bowels, obliging them to be constantly taking aperient medicine. -“The waters of Carlsbad generally establish the regularity of the bowels, -and during their use no aperient medicine whatever should be taken.” As -the causes of constipation are chiefly sedentary avocations, there is little -doubt but that a journey to Bohemia, and the waters of the Sprudel, will -generally obviate this troublesome complaint or inconvenience; but I -greatly doubt whether the Carlsbad waters will prevent its return, when -the causes come again into operation.</p> - -<p>Here our worthy author enters his protest against the codes of minute -instructions which are often issued by far distant practitioners, who have -no personal knowledge of the spas, for the guidance of the patients, and -by which they are often led into great errors or even dangers, by neglecting -to consult some physician on the spot, respecting the proper waters to -drink and the best mode of taking them. All indeed that the distant -physician ought to do is, to investigate well the complaint, and recommend -such spa as he deems proper, leaving the details of application to the discretion -of the medical practitioner on the spot.<a name="FNanchor_76" id="FNanchor_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> - -<p>Since the publication of Dr. De Carro, many monographs on the Carlsbad -waters have appeared by different authors, some of which have been noticed -in the annual <span class="smcap">Almanack</span> of Carlsbad, composed and published by Dr. De -Carro himself. This little annual is of a miscellaneous nature, combining -amusement with information, and never omitting <i>one particular</i> item—a -list of all the visitors, with their titles, avocations, rank, and <i>celebrity</i>—where -there is any fame. It may be as well to glance at some of these -monographs, so as to pick out as much information from them as we can.</p> - -<p>Dr. Bamberg, of Berlin, published a paper on the modern practice of -Carlsbad, in the year 1835, from which I shall collect a few facts or opinions. -Dr. B. was astonished to find at least ten drinkers at the <span class="smcap">Neubrunn</span> or -<span class="smcap">Muhlbrunn</span> for one at the “Old Man of the Valley,” the splendid <span class="smcap">Sprudel</span>. -The Theresebrunn too, was not less frequented than her sister Naiads. -It appears that a spa-doctor, now dead, had denounced the Sprudel as a most -dangerous water on account of its high temperature, and prejudicing the -visitors against it, by alleging, when other arguments failed, that it mounted -up to the head with the same force and velocity with which it springs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -from its hidden source! The prejudice was erroneous. All the waters -are from the same source, and the temperature of the Sprudel is generally -as low as that of the others before it reaches the stomach. The Carlsbad -doctors, however, are often greatly teazed by the directions brought by -visitors from their own physicians, respecting the particular springs which -they are to use. Some prejudice still hangs over the Sprudel, and that it -is generally looked upon as of superior power to the others, is proved by -the character of the drinkers there. The sick are more seriously ill—their -aspects more sinister—and their figures more demonstrative of organic -diseases at the Sprudel than elsewhere. But fashion comes in to the aid -of prejudice. The Archipelago formed by the Neubrunn, Muhlbrunn, and -Theresebrunn, is decorated so elegantly, and the temperature so drinkable, -as the water rises from its source, that we need not wonder at the multitudes -that crowd around them, especially when the physicians assure their -patients that the waters of these fountains are precisely the same as the -Sprudel.</p> - -<p>The Sprudel possesses two very curious and clashing properties—that -of creating stony concretions where they did not previously exist, and of -dissolving them when already formed—like the famous sword of antiquity, -whose rust healed the wound inflicted by its edge. The Carlsbad waters -have the power of dissolving calculi in the human bladder, and are much -resorted to for that purpose. Dr. Bigel, of Warsaw, has published his -own case, in a letter to Dr. De Carro, some particulars of which may here -be stated.</p> - -<p>Dr. B. became affected with calculus after the age of 60 years, having -previously passed several renal calculi, and was operated on by the lithotritic -apparatus. The stone was smashed, but several of the fragments -could not be discharged afterwards. He was then conveyed in a kind of -litter many hundreds of miles to Carlsbad, where he took the waters under -the direction of Dr. De Carro. On the third day of taking the Theresebrunn, -and that in small quantities, Dr. B. became affected with fever, -such as he experienced after the operation of lithotrity. This was relieved -by copious perspirations. Returning to the waters, a similar attack of -fever was kindled up on the fifth day—but with it the expulsion of several -fragments of stone, and much solace in the organ. The fragments, which -had hitherto been of a dark brown colour, were now white, and their surfaces -smooth and polished. The white colour was found to penetrate to -some depth from the surface. Dr. B. changed from one spring to another -of higher temperature, till he finished with the Sprudel. At each of the -sources he passed pieces of stone, and after their disappearance for a fortnight, -the bladder was explored, and no more calculi were discoverable. -All uneasiness in the bladder ceased from this time.</p> - -<p>Dr. Creutzburg made some experiments on urinary calculi subjected to -the action of the Carlsbad waters, and the results appear to be favourable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -to the idea that these waters are beneficial in calculous complaints. And -now, when lithotrity is so frequently employed, instead of lithotomy, these -waters may prove eminently useful in polishing and softening the fragments -left after the operation.</p> - -<p>But the waters of Carlsbad do not limit their powers to the solution or -expulsion of vesical calculi; they have done wonders in people afflicted -with biliary concretions. Dr. De Carro had a patient, aged 40 years, who -evacuated daily, by means of the waters, not only large quantities of -gravel, but numbers of gall-stones, of various shapes and sizes. Liver-complaints -occupy a considerable figure among the maladies which are -treated at Carlsbad—and biliary calculi are very frequently observed there. -Dr. De Carro has related numerous instances where the baths and the -waters of Carlsbad have appeared to dislodge the gall-stones, and carry -them off by the bowels.</p> - -<p>The Carlsbad baths, which are now much more used than formerly, often -bring forward masked gout, rheumatism, or neuralgic pains that had lain -more or less dormant in the constitution for months or years.</p> - -<p>Before quitting these celebrated waters, I must take a short notice of a -little work just published by a rising young physician of Carlsbad, whose -acquaintance I had the pleasure of making there.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="center">(<i>From the Medico-Chirurgical Review.</i>)</p> - -<p class="center">Geschichte von Karlsbad. Von Dr. Hlawaczek.—History of Carlsbad.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The learned author gives a most elaborate account of almost every work -that has been published on these famous waters, since their discovery by -the Emperor Charles IV. in the sixteenth century. His book is, in short, -a catalogue raisonnée of the writings of his predecessors. The few practical -observations contained in it may be thus stated:</p> - -<p>The medicinal powers of the Carlsbad waters are the following:</p> - -<p>1. They invigorate the primæ viæ, and dislodge from them all impurities -and accumulations. Hence in various forms of dyspepsia, arising from a -sedentary life, from torpor of the bowels, &c. they are especially useful; -also in chronic jaundice, obstinate head-aches accompanied with constipation, -&c.</p> - -<p>With such patients the use of the Carlsbad waters often act as an -emetic for the first day or two.—Corpulent indolent persons, who feed too -much and take little exercise, are always benefitted.</p> - -<p>In all obstructed and infarcted states of the abdominal viscera, the use -of the Carlsbad waters may be recommended. Hence, in many cases of -hypochondriasis and hæmorrhoids, they are beneficial: also in enlargements -of the liver, spleen, and mesenteric glands.</p> - -<p>In addition to these maladies, we may enumerate many cases of amenorrhœa -and dysmenorrhœa—diseases which are so often dependent upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -accumulations in the bowels and general torpor and plethora of the -system.</p> - -<p>2. The Carlsbad waters have the effect of freeing the blood of acrimonious -particles, either by neutralising and discharging them out of the body, or -by causing a metastasis and derivation of them to the joints or to the skin. -Hence in various forms of <i>internal</i> gout and rheumatism, they are singularly -useful; the disease being often drawn from the internal viscus which -may happen to be affected to some outward part.</p> - -<p>3. The Carlsbad waters cleanse the urinary passages of calculous deposits.</p> - -<p>And lastly, they often effect a cure in a number of anomalous diseases, -whose causes are not known, and to which indeed, a name cannot be -given; as, for example, loss of power and feeling in the limbs, a tendency -to syncope followed by cramps, some cases of epilepsy and asthma; also -in certain disturbances of the mental functions. In all these cases, the -Carlsbad waters seem to act as an <i>alterative</i>.</p> - -<p>The venerable <i>Hufeland</i> published in 1815, a treatise on the chief medicinal -springs in Germany. He recommends the use of the Carlsbad -waters in cases of constipation, tympanites, incipient disorganisation of -the stomach and bowels and other abdominal viscera, more especially of -the liver, of chronic jaundice, of congestion of the mesenteric and portal -veins; also in nervous ailments, as amaurosis, hypochondriasis, and in various -forms of calculous disease. He also strongly recommends them in -most of the forms of gout. The Carlsbad waters, in addition to their -purgative qualities, are possessed of remarkable alterative powers, so that -often they effect quite a change in the state of the blood and other fluids -of the body, depriving them of all acrimonious and hurtful particles, and -restoring them to a condition of health. Hence their striking utility in -numerous cases of cachexia, which are irremediable by ordinary medical -treatment.—<span class="smcap">Hlawaczek.</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="VALETUDINARIUM">VALETUDINARIUM.</h3> - -<p>It is often more easy to ascertain the internal condition of the body -through the medium of external phenomena, than that of the mind through -the physiognomy of the countenance. To the experienced observer, the -complexion, the expression, the eye, the gait, the tone of voice, the figure, -the proportion of the different parts of the body, and many other indications -incapable of description, convey very authentic information respecting -the condition of organs and structures that are far removed from sight. It -is in a great <span class="smcap">sanitarium</span> like this, where invalids are gathered from all -quarters of the world, that a young physician, under the guidance of -an old one, might beneficially study the <i>physiognomy</i> of diseases. For, -although the greater number of spas have much that is common, both as -respects the waters and the maladies for which they are taken, yet each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -spa, or at least, each class of spas, exhibits some characteristic features -among the mass of visitors, indicative of the maladies which led them to -the Hygeian fountains of the place. Thus it is impossible to stand long -at the <span class="smcap">Fontaine Elisée</span> of Aix-la-Chapelle, without discerning a large -sprinkling of cutaneous complaints, however carefully they may be concealed -by the wearers of them. It is in vain that—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Wrapp’d in his robe white <span class="smcap">Lepra</span> hides his stains,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the features of the <span class="smcap">leper</span> disclose the worm that torments him by day -and by night. The French and Germans are universally imbued with the -doctrine that the repression of a certain malady, which has got the musical -soubriquet of “<span class="smcap">Scotch-fiddle</span>,” is the cause of half the evils to which -flesh is heir. On this account, the continental folks have a great longing, -or rather a violent <i>itching</i> for sulphureous waters. The slightest odour of -sulphuretted hydrogen gas in a newly-discovered spring, is a real treasure—and -in the old ones, it is sure to preserve reputation to endless ages!</p> - -<p>The neighbouring mineral source—<span class="smcap">Spa</span>—together with <span class="smcap">Schwalbach</span>, -<span class="smcap">Brockenau</span>, <span class="smcap">Bocklet</span>, and other chalybeate springs, attract a different -class of votaries—namely, the pallid, the debilitated, the leucophlegmatic—those, -in fact, who have been sucked, and left bloodless by vampyre -diseases.</p> - -<p>The emblem of <span class="smcap">Wisbaden</span> might be a swelled and gouty foot—that -of <span class="smcap">Wildbad</span> a crutch, or a hobbling paralytic invalid—<span class="smcap">Kissengen</span>, the -tumid liver and green fat—<span class="smcap">Marienbad</span>, the paunch of Falstaff, and the -jaundiced eye.</p> - -<p>But <span class="smcap">Carlsbad</span> presents a greater medley than any of the other spas that -I have visited. When we contemplate, even for a single morning, the -crowds that surround the Sprudel alone, presenting specimens of almost -every human infirmity, not in solitary cases, but often in trains of twenties -or thirties in succession—when we consider that, in these various specimens, -there are many that are of a diametrically opposite nature to each -other—yet all cured or relieved by an upheaving fountain that never varies -in temperature, taste, or composition—doubts may well arise whether there -is not some truth in the sarcastic remark of an eminent philosopher,—that -“there are more false <i>facts</i> than false <i>theories</i> in physic.”—But there is -something to be said <span class="smcap">per contra</span>. 1st. Many complaints which are -thought and believed to be cured by mineral waters, are only <i>relieved pro -tempore</i>—and the contradiction seldom or never appears. 2d. Many different -diseases are produced by the <i>same causes</i> acting on different constitutions. -Thus luxurious living and idleness will, in one person, induce -gout—in a second, hæmorrhoids—in a third, liver complaint—in a fourth, -rupture of a bloodvessel in the lungs—in a fifth, congestion in the brain—in -a sixth, paralysis—in a seventh, stone in the kidney or bladder,—and -the list might be far extended. Now, if the same cause or class of causes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -produce such a number of different maladies; there is nothing unreasonable -in the supposition that the same remedy, or class of remedies, may be useful -in abating or even removing those varied disorders.</p> - -<p>3d. With the exception of a few specific remedies, such as mercury, -sulphur, colchicum, and ergot, with the real nature of whose physiological -operation on the human frame little is known, almost all the other medicinal -agents act through the medium of the digestive organs, the liver, the -kidneys, and the skin. Now, the mineral waters of such spas as Wisbaden, -Kissengen, Marienbad, Carlsbad, &c. act through these organs also, -and contain the elements of many of our most efficient remedies. They -have, besides, great advantages over ordinary medicines at home, in consequence -of the exercise of travelling, the change of air, and the alteration -of habits that precede the course of the waters.</p> - -<p>4. Through what channels do the noxious <i>physical</i> agents enter the -constitution and produce disease? Through the digestive organs and skin, -without doubt,—to which may be added the lungs, which may imbibe the -principles of disorder with the oxygen from the air we breathe.</p> - -<p>5. But there is a great class of <i>moral</i> causes of diseases, acting on the -body through the medium of the mind—a class so extensive that <span class="smcap">Plato</span> -considered it to be the origin of all corporeal maladies!</p> - -<p>6. Against these moral agents the great spas possess powerful auxiliary -counter-agents, <i>as preventives</i>, in the form of amusements on the spot -and abstraction from cares. They also present the means of removing -(if removeable) the effects which these moral causes have already inflicted -on the bodily frame.</p> - -<p>7. The far greater number of physical remedies act by altering and improving -disordered functions and secretions—by evacuation—and by -imparting tone to debilitated organs or the whole constitution.</p> - -<p>8. It must be allowed that mineral waters contain, to a very considerable -extent, the requisite ingredients for fulfilling one or all of the foregoing -indications.</p> - -<p>9. It is often found to be beneficial to combine tonics, alteratives, and -aperients in the same formula or prescription, in order that the three indications -alluded to, may be simultaneously accomplished.<a name="FNanchor_77" id="FNanchor_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> It is undeniable -that some of the spas contain within themselves this combination of chalybeates, -aperients, and alteratives, either of which ingredients can be increased -at pleasure on the spot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> - -<p>10. The medicinal agents in the mineral waters, though in much smaller -quantities than when given in prescriptions, have a much better chance of -success, in consequence of their being so largely diluted by the hand of -Nature, and the temperature of the diluent being so very high, in most of -the springs.</p> - -<p>11. The early hours, and the exercise taken while drinking mineral -waters, have powerful influence in promoting their salutary operation. -How many invalids, in England, would start from their beds at five o’clock -in the morning, to drink salt and water till seven or eight o’clock, using -their limbs all the time in locomotion? very few!</p> - -<p>12. The warm bathing, which generally precedes or accompanies the -drinking of the waters, has also great effect in augmenting the medicinal -agency of the waters taken internally. The circulation is drawn to the -surface—the insensible perspiration augmented—and various internal -organs sympathise with the skin and are relieved from habitual congestion.</p> - -<p>13. The habit of early rising, which is unavoidable at the great spas, -leads to many other good habits. Early meals and early bed-going follow -of course, and of consequence. The excursions in the middle of the day, -undertaken while devoid of care, and free from business, contribute not a -little to the efficacy of the spas, and to soundness of repose at night.</p> - -<p>14. When I observed that many of the German spas combined tonic, -with aperient, and alterative qualities, I by no means averred that these -qualities were always well proportioned for all complaints and various constitutions. -On the contrary, they are often very deficient in one or other -of these qualities—and it is by overlooking this defect, and trusting solely -to the remedial agency of the waters, that continental physicians commit -a grand mistake—especially in the treatment of British patients.</p> - -<p>15. The digestive organs of our continental neighbours are habitually -in a far more tender and excitable condition than those of our countrymen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -in consequence of their greasy and sloppy food, and the poverty and acidity -of their wines and other drink. They cannot, therefore, bear medicines -of any strength, without great suffering. Relying on identity of constitution, -the mineral waters are often administered ineffectually by foreign -physicians to the people of these islands. These last are washed and -drenched, from day to day, and from week to week, while the glandular -organs (the liver in particular) not directly affected by the waters, become -torpid in function, and vitiated in their secretions. Hence it is that, after -a week or a fortnight, much derangement takes place in the digestive organs—febrile -irritation is set up—the nervous system is impaired—and -then, when the patient declares that the waters are disagreeing with him, -the <span class="smcap">spa doctor</span> consoles him with the information that the spa-fever or -crisis has come, and, if he lives through it, he will be much better than -before it commenced! All this, in nine cases out of ten, might be prevented -by taking a small dose of blue pill—a couple of grains, for instance—over -night. In this case, a much smaller quantity of the waters would -be sufficient in the morning, and the liver and other glands would be -roused to simultaneous action with the bowels. The physicians of Cheltenham -and Leamington act on this plan, and render the course of waters far -more beneficial than they otherwise would be. The crisis or spa-fever -appears to me an act of salutary rebellion, on the part of Nature, against -the injudicious employment of the waters, and an effort to restore the equilibrium -of function among the great organs, which equilibrium has been -disturbed by the waters themselves.</p> - -<p>16. It is a well-known fact that soldiers, sailors, and even civilians, will -recover from illness much sooner in a public hospital than in their own -homes—although attended by the same physician or surgeon. The same -applies to infirmities of mind as well as of body. The individual who -becomes insane, has infinitely less chance of recovery at home amongst -his friends, than among strangers in an asylum. A great valetudinarium, -like the spas, comes under the same rule. How is this to be accounted -for? I have heard the aphorism of Rochefaucault quoted in explanation, -viz. “that we derive pleasure from the sight of misery and suffering in -others, even when they are our dearest friends.” From long acquaintance -with human nature, I venture to say that, in this celebrated aphorism—or -rather sophism—the author of it only stated <i>half</i> a fact, and drew from -that half fact a <i>false</i> inference. The emotion which we involuntarily experience -at the sight or the intelligence of misfortune or affliction in others, -whether strangers or friends, is not unmixed—but a compound of <i>commiseration</i> -for the afflicted, and a feeling of <i>secret satisfaction</i> (magnified by -Rochefaucault into <i>pleasure</i>) at our own immunity from the evil. Two -sailors are on the lee yard-arm furling the mainsail in a tempest. The ship -lurches—the yard-arm is swept by a wave—and one of the sailors is torn -from his hold, and plunged into the deep. Will the French philosopher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -persuade us that the seaman, who clings to the yard and escapes death, -feels <i>pleasure</i>, unmixed with sorrow, at the sight of his drowning mess-mate? -The poet, who saw and described a catastrophe identical with -the above, but on a larger scale, was far from entertaining the sentiment -of the philosopher.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Bereft of power to help, their comrades see</div> -<div class="verse">Their late companions die beneath their lee,</div> -<div class="verse">With fruitless <i>sorrow</i> their lost state <i>bemoan</i>.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>17. But there are other and adequate causes assignable for the more rapid -recovery of health in public places of resort for invalids, than in private -life. Man is the creature of habit; and habit results chiefly from imitation. -In a great watering-place, we acquire, or at least comply with, habits -which we would not attempt at home. How many delicate and fashionable -invalids would start from their couches at sun-rise every morning, in London, -and drink repeated draughts of nauseous compounds before breakfast? -How many would dine at one, instead of seven o’clock? How many -would retire to bed at nine o’clock, instead of midnight or later? How -many gourmands and Bacchanalians, in England, would comply with the -rigid rules of abstemiousness enjoined by the spa doctors, and which they -dare not infringe, lest the disobedience might render the waters useless, or -even injurious?</p> - -<p>The revolution in social, but insalutary habits alone, would cure half -the <i>disorders</i> for which the aristocratic valetudinarian flies to the spas. If -the maxim of Rochefaucault, too, have any foundation in truth, what a -prodigious source of pleasure must the spa-goer find in the different -watering-places, where he daily contemplates almost the whole of the -moving mass of mortals around him labouring under more or less of bodily -suffering! But, admitting the less humiliating explanation which I have -attempted of the philosophical maxim, the result will not be materially -different. Every one affected by <i>disorders</i> at all curable, will see many -around him who are evidently afflicted by <i>diseases</i> beyond the reach of -remedy. While commiserating the fate of their neighbours, they have a -pleasing consciousness and assurance that they themselves are not in such -a hopeless condition. As for the victims doomed to an early grave, <i>they</i> -never despair. They see daily recoveries going on around them—and -<span class="smcap">hope</span>, “that comes to all,” does not withhold its balmy influence even from -them! The resounding Sprudel is pouring forth its healing waters for -the incurable as well as for the curable, whilst the veil of mystery that -hangs over its origin and source, exaggerates, on the well-known principle, -“<i>omne ignotum pro magnifico</i>,” the virtues of its miraculous qualities! -The season of the year in which the journey is made and the waters -taken, is not a little favourable to the recovery of health, and, combined -with the sanguine expectations of recruited vigour and emancipation from -sufferings, gives wonderful efficacy to the spa.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="GASTEIN">GASTEIN, commonly called WILDBAD GASTEIN.</h3> - -<p>Gastein, Pfeffers, and Teplitz are triplet sisters of the same qualities, -physical and medicinal. They are so pure that they may be, and are used -as spring water for drinking and culinary purposes. The locality of Gastein -is only inferior in romantic scenery to that of Pfeffers. It is much -superior to that of Wildbad. It is situated on the frontiers of the Duchy -of Salzburg and Carinthia, in the midst of mountains ten thousand feet in -height, and its fervid springs, several in number, rise on the borders, and -in the very middle of a cataract that foams and flies over a precipice, with -a noise like thunder, into an abyss of nearly 300 feet in depth. It is the -little river <span class="smcap">Ache</span> that descends from the mountains, and forms the striking -feature of the landscape at Gastein, which was once a place of wealth and -consequence, by reason of the neighbouring mines; but is now only a valetudinarium -for the recovery of health. The people of this neighbourhood -are of remarkably robust and vigorous constitutions, well made, and -handsome in appearance—pastoral in their habits, and simple in their -manners.</p> - -<p>There are six available springs, besides those which rise in the bed of -the torrent. The highest is the Prince’s Well, near the Chateau, and -which is a very abundant source—furnishing 13,680 cubic feet of water in -the 24 hours—the temperature being always 37° of Reamur, or 115° -Fahrenheit. It is used conjointly with the water of an adjoining spring, -called the “<span class="smcap">Doctor’s Well</span>,” which is one or two degrees higher in temperature. -This last furnishes 3,600 cubic feet of water in the 24 hours. -These two sources supply, by means of a pump, the new baths near the -Chateau. Another is named after the Emperor Francis—and another still, -that of the Hospital, at the foot of the Richeuibein, throwing up the astonishing -quantity of 72,720 cubic feet of hot water in the day and night! -All these springs are on the right bank of the <span class="smcap">Ache</span>; but there are other -sources on the left bank also—the aggregate of all being upwards of one -hundred thousand cubic feet of mineral water in the 24 hours.</p> - -<p>There are ten or a dozen establishments for bathing at Gastein—some -of them not the most splendid or convenient in the world. The practice -of bathing in common is not very unusual here, and consequently upwards -of 150 people may bathe at the same time. The complaint of Dr. Granville, -that the baths are seldom completely emptied during the day, is not -without foundation in truth. Gastein is now probably the only place -where men and women bathe together.</p> - -<p>“The common bath (says Dr. Streinz) in which gentlemen and ladies -assemble together, contains 365 cubic feet of water, and requires nearly -four hours to fill it. It will accommodate fifteen or sixteen persons, who -can walk about in the water, or rest upon seats which are fixed there for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -the purpose. At each side of the bath there is a large dressing-room, one -for the men, the other for the women. Around the bath runs a gallery, -where the friends or acquaintances of the bathers can assemble, and enter -into conversation with them.”<a name="FNanchor_78" id="FNanchor_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> - -<p>It is quite useless to go into minute topographical details. Those who -repair to Gastein will not need them—and those who stay at home will -not read them. We shall therefore proceed to the properties of the waters -themselves. It has been already observed that they are purer than any -spring water, and so clear that you can discern particles of gravel at a -depth of some feet. They spring from the earth without noise or bubbling. -In certain damp states of the atmosphere, and preceding rains, some people -have perceived a slight odour of sulphuretted hydrogen gas in these -springs; but it is so questionable that they may be used as common beverage. -They suffer no change, when exposed to the air, nor deposit any -matter. Their temperature has been stated. When polished silver is immersed -for four or five hours in these springs it becomes tinged of a brownish -yellow colour, not easily effaced. The water leaves incrustations on -wood or other articles exposed to its action, which incrustations are soft, -astringent, and bitter to the taste. These waters have a remarkably vivifying -effect on flowers, fruits, and vegetables exposed to their influence. -In a pint of the water there is about 2⅔ grs. of solid matters, chiefly sulphate -and muriate of soda, with a minute trace of iron. When brought -near the magnetic needle it draws the loadstone sensibly towards it, which -quality diminishes as the water cools. It has been ascertained that the -Gastein water is composed of three, instead of two atoms of hydrogen to -one atom of oxygen.</p> - -<p>These waters are used as common baths—vapour-baths—and taken internally. -The douches are also much employed. Their remedial powers, -seeing that they have no chemical properties worth notice, have called -forth much speculation—the conclusion, however, being, that the cause of -this medicinal agency is veiled from human ken. This being the case, our -object is to investigate the actual effects of waters so pure on the human -frame. This, which is mere matter of observation, is far from being an -easy matter. Spa doctors become unintentionally prejudiced—and spa -tourists are often credulous—while patients themselves are often deceived—attributing -virtues to the waters which sprang from various other causes -that received no credit at the time. It is affirmed by Dr. Streinz and -others, that the waters of Gastein, whether used internally, or externally, -or both, produce a certain degree of excitation in the human constitution, -evinced by some increase of temperature in the body—of power in the -muscles—of animation in the eye and countenance—of clearness in the -complexion—of acceleration in the circulation—of activity in the nervous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -system—of exhilaration of spirits. Those who bathe in them experience -(as they say) unusual pleasurable sensations. The surface of the body -becomes soft and smooth, with a slight but pleasant pricking, and sometimes -a minute vesicular eruption. Dr. Granville’s description of the -effects of the Gastein baths, however, is directly the reverse of Dr. Streinz, -who observed them so long in others, and experienced them in his own -person.</p> - -<p>“The effect (says Dr. G.) produced by the water on the skin of the -hands during the first ten minutes of immersion in it was curious. The -bath corrugated and crisped it as if the hands had been held in very hot -water for a considerable time; and on passing my hand all over the body, -previously to the skin of the fingers becoming crisp—in fact almost immediately -after going into the bath—instead of gliding smoothly and oilily -down it, as at Wildbad, it felt ruvid, and the two surfaces seemed to meet -with resistance, as if a third body, slightly rough, like the finest sand, lay -between them.”</p> - -<p>Here then we have two physicians giving diametrically opposite accounts -of the physical phenomena produced by the same waters—shewing how -little dependence can be placed on individual descriptions—the said phenomena -varying according to the temperament, state of health, or even -temper of mind of the personal observer!</p> - -<p>It is stated by the German physicians that, after the third or fourth bath, -some indisposition is usually felt—some giddiness about the head, and a -relaxation, or sense of weakness in the limbs. These symptoms disappear -in a day or two by repose and abstinence. The use of these waters renders -people more susceptible of atmospheric impressions, of the electric kind, -especially before or during a storm, accompanied by a sense of prostration -or exhaustion, and heaviness about the head, with depression of spirits. -The internal exhibition of these waters promotes the action of the bowels, -and still more of the kidneys, attended by increase of appetite. The -deposits of this water are extolled as applications to old wounds and inveterate -ulcers.</p> - -<p>“Long and multiplied experience (says Dr. Streinz) has proved that the -bathe of Gastein re-animate the vital powers that were almost extinct—comfort -and give tone to the flabby limbs—communicate new and vivifying -heat to the blood—vigor to the nerves—and, through the medium of the -magnetico-galvanic principle, re-establish the activity of the whole animal -organism. Those who labour under direct debility, are those who have -experienced most benefit from these waters—as those who have lost their -strength from excessive efforts of the mind, large discharges of blood, or -too copious and violent evacuations of any kind—those who have never -perfectly recovered from severe acute diseases—who labour under disorders -of the digestive organs—tremors—hypochondriasis—hysteria—neuralgic -pains—inveterate gout and rheumatism—paralysis—contractions—affections<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -of the spine—scrofula—mercurial diseases, &c. Their exciting -qualities, however, render it necessary that both patient and physician -should watch their physiological action on the body, and observe a very -mild and abstemious regimen.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Granville appears to be quite as confident in the efficacy of the -Gastein waters as Dr. Streinz, Dr. Storch, or any of the most sanguine -of his German brethren.</p> - -<p>“I have no more doubt of the power which this mineral spring possesses, -in the diseases for which it has been recommended, than I have of the -effect of bleeding in subduing inflammation.”</p> - -<p>My friend’s “grain of faith” is not like that of a mustard-seed—it is -as large as a cocoa-nut! At all events, I cannot swallow it; and entertain -very strong doubts indeed of the efficacy of Gastein water in such a -multiplicity of serious diseases as are comprehended in Dr. Granville’s or -Dr. Streinz’s catalogue. I can easily conceive that these waters, assisted -by the mountain air, the romantic scenery, and the journey to the place, -may produce all the effects which can be expected from such waters as -Pfeffers, Wildbad, and Schlangenbad; but that they can work like magic -I entirely disbelieve.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="PRAGUE">PRAGUE.</h3> - -<p>Whether we view this ancient capital of Bohemia from the bridge below, -or the monastery above, we must acknowledge that, next to Constantinople, -Prague is the most picturesque city in Europe. It is, however, from the -central arch of the longest bridge in Germany, and certainly the most -<i>sainted</i> one, that we have the finest view of a vast amphitheatre rising tier -above tier, from the broad stream of the Moldau, till the highest ridges -of the precipices seem groaning under the massive piles of buildings that -crown their brows. The huge structure, called the <span class="smcap">Hradschin</span>, the palace -of the Bohemian kings—frowns over endless domes, spires, turrets, minarets, -churches, convents, and cathedrals. The eye comes down at length -to a bridge more holy, though not more handsome, than the Santa Trinita -over the Arno. There are nearly as many saints standing on the parapets -here as there are sinners traversing the body of the bridge! The master -saint (St. John Nepomuck) was a priest, who, refusing to disclose the secrets -of the confessional, was pitched into the Moldau by King Winceslaus for -his contempt of court. But murder will not sleep; and a flickering flame -hovered over the spot where the priest lay in his watery shroud, till he was -discovered, and his body encased in a gorgeous silver shrine, which may -be still seen in the cathedral (enclosed within the Hradschin) and is, perhaps, -the most costly tomb in the world. The silver alone weighs thirty-seven -hundred weight! The body of the sainted priest lies in a crystal -coffin of great value! The lions of Prague would require a volume for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -description, and as Murray has dedicated twenty-seven columns to short -notices of the chief objects of curiosity, I shall not say a word on this -head. Three or four days, or a week, may be well occupied here, and -the environs are very pretty. But it is worthy of notice that, in this beautiful -and picturesque capital of Bohemia, the average duration of life, is -one-third less than in London! The annual mortality in Prague, is one in -twenty-two. In London it is not more than one in thirty-two. The -Jews, who are here, as at Rome, crowded into a low and dirty quarter on -the banks of the river, are longer lived than their tyrannical Christian oppressors. -They are also more prolific.</p> - -<p>We spent a few days very pleasantly at Prague; but when preparing -to start for Teplitz, I was horrified at finding that I had lost the receipt -for my passport—and that too, in Austria! The Commissionaire at the -“<span class="smcap">Drei Linden</span>,” seemed even more terrified than myself, and thinking he -would contrive to make a job of the business, I marched off to the Bureau, -and candidly stated the loss I had sustained. The officer, having cast -a scrutinizing glance at me, took down a huge pile of passports, and -soon singled mine out. “Voila, Monsieur, votre passport,” was all he -said, and he never made the least difficulty, or seemed to consider it the -slightest favour, to deliver me the precious document, without producing a -receipt! I say again, and again, the Austrian police is grossly slandered. -They are the most civil and polite on the Continent.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="TEPLITZ">TEPLITZ.<a name="FNanchor_79" id="FNanchor_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></h3> - -<p>A long journey of sixty odd miles from Prague, through a country -varied, and often interesting, brings us to the fertile valley of Teplitz studded -with chateaux and villas, and well cultivated. The hills and mountains, for -many miles before we reach Teplitz, are all conical and volcanic. This is -the great <span class="smcap">wash-tub</span> of Germany. What prodigious masses of exuviæ, -suds, and sordes, must annually float down the Elbe to fertilize its shores! -Three great public baths (and now a fourth, at Schoneau) for men, women, -and children, respectively, display an immense number of human beings—all -Adams and Eves without fig-leaves—immersed in water at a temperature -sometimes of 114° of Fahrenheit, inhaling a dense steam, through -which you could formerly have scarcely distinguished them—panting, -perspiring, and streaming blood from scarifications on their backs to prevent -their brains from being torn up by the excited circulation! Such -<i>was</i> a picture from which <span class="smcap">Dante</span> might have drawn some of his scenes in -the inferno—except that here, it was not the “<span class="smcap">purgatory</span>” of guilty souls, -but the “expurgatorium,” of unclean bodies.<a name="FNanchor_80" id="FNanchor_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p> - -<p>The natural temperature of these waters is from 120° to 84°—and the -chief ingredient is carbonate of soda—about two or three grains in the -pint.<a name="FNanchor_81" id="FNanchor_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> The private baths are upwards of eighty in number, in the town, -besides the long range of most elegant new baths in the village of Schonau—decidedly -the most superb bathing-places in Europe, and are in full -request from morn till dewy eve. The water is limpid, and soon after immersion -in a blood-heat temperature, or even lower, the surface of the -body (according to Dr. Granville) becomes rough, rigid, and even wrinkled—a -condition that obtains for some time after leaving the bath.<a name="FNanchor_82" id="FNanchor_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> Perspiration -also is visible on the skin, in big round drops, while the individual is -proceeding to dry and dress. At a higher temperature than that of the -blood—say from 108° to 112° or 114°, the action of the bath on the circulation -and excitability is emphatic, and must often be extremely dangerous. -The excitation first induced, is, and must be followed by a corresponding -degree of depression or exhaustion. The reputation of the Teplitz -baths is probably as much founded on the high temperature at which they -are used, as on the composition of the waters themselves. There ought -to be a mart at Teplitz for the sale of cast-off or second-hand crutches! -“I may state (says Dr. Granville) that the specific virtue of these baths -lies in the power they possess of restoring a cripple—it matters little from -what cause—to perfect motion and elasticity.” Among the list of maladies -that may be perfectly cured here, we have—“all cases of suppressed gout, -chronic rheumatism, diseases of the articulations, paralytic affections, contracted -limbs, old wounds, night pains in the bones, and many other diseases.”—<i>Granville.</i> -Again, Dr. G. avers that—“with proper management -I should not despair of recovering <i>from all his ailments</i>, the most -pitiable object of gouty tyranny.” These are strong assurances. But I -would strenuously caution the victim of suppressed gout respecting the -baths of Teplitz, where the temperature is much higher, though the -ingredients are not much stronger than in the waters of Wildbad or -Pfeffers.</p> - -<p>A physician, though young in years, yet of good promise, at Teplitz,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -(Dr. Richter) has written an interesting little work on these waters, and as -it is in French, I would recommend it to the perusal of those who go to -Teplitz for the purpose of bathing. During my stay at this celebrated -spa, I had the advantage of Dr. Richter’s company and experience through -the whole of the bathing establishments, and, through his influence, was -permitted (being only a doctor) to visit the public baths—even those in -which the women were bathing, with the greatest facility. It was at -Schonau that I first saw the female bath in full operation. There might -be about twenty women in the basin, when Dr. R. and myself entered. -There was a slight commotion among the bathers on my first appearance, -which quickly subsided, when my profession was announced and my privilege -explained. Dr. R. published his work in 1840, and it is the most -authentic guide and authority on the subject. I shall here give a condensed -analysis of the small volume.</p> - -<p>The various sources of the waters here differ but little in their chemical, -physical, or even thermal properties. The water is limpid, and does not -become turbid by standing, nor does it disengage bubbles of gas or air, -with the exception of the Gartenquelle. The temperature varies from -120° Fahrenheit (the Hauptquelle), to 80° (the Gartenquelle). The -tunnels and reservoirs over which the waters pass become coated with a -brownish-yellow substance, composed chiefly of silex and acidulated oxide -of iron. There are other depositions and incrustations into which the -carbonates of lime and magnesia, as well as manganese and strontia, enter. -In the wells of Steinbad, Stadtbad, and Gartenquelle, there have been observed -various <i>thermal oscillatoria</i>. These waters do not present the same -slowness in boiling and cooling that some other hot spas have evinced.</p> - -<p>The great disproportion between the physiological action and the chemical -composition of the Teplitz waters, has given rise to numerous speculations, -and support the grand argument that there is an occult quality in -mineral waters which defies our minutest chemistry. One thing is obvious, -that these waters are alkaline, saline, and chalybeate—and consequently -that they possess, at one and the same time, solvent and tonic qualities, -which are greatly augmented by their temperature. Dr. R. very properly -investigates their physical and physiological action, according as they are -applied hot, warm, tepid, or cold to the body. They may be termed hot, -when above 100°—very hot when approaching to 120°—warm at blood-heat -(98°)—tepid, when under 90°—and cold at the temperature of the earth -or air.</p> - -<p>The very hot bath (110° to 115°) produces quickly a general excitation -of the circulation and sensibility, like all other hot waters. It augments -the secretions, ending in considerable perspiration—and followed ultimately -by relaxation in the muscular and fibrous systems, and a general softening -of all the solid parts. When the bath is very warm, we have often, in -addition to the foregoing phenomena, oppression at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -chest—anxiety—palpitation—vertigo—dimness of sight—heaviness about the head—syncope—and -even apoplexy. It need hardly be added, that baths at such a -temperature as to induce the foregoing train of symptoms, are very dangerous, -and hardly ever necessary.</p> - -<p>But even at a moderate temperature—96° or 98°—these baths produce, -after a few days, sleeplessness, constipation, great disposition to perspiration, -emaciation, susceptibility to cold or damp, aggravation of gouty or -rheumatic pains, the aching of old wounds, prostration of strength, &c. -These occur about the eighth day, and, after more or less duration, gradually -disappear. After this period, there generally appears an eruption on the -skin, of a whitish yellow or red colour, accompanied by considerable itching, -discharging a watery humour, and finally desquamating, with occasionally -some fever.</p> - -<p>If the baths be continued longer, the prostration and lassitude increase, -accompanied by great irritability and moroseness, loss of appetite, furred -tongue, nausea, fætid eructations, repugnance to the bath, wandering pains -in the limbs—in fine, fever is kindled up, with inflammation of the mucous -membrane of the stomach and bowels. This is what the Germans call -“<span class="smcap">das ueberbaden</span>,” or over-bathing—and occurs after eighteen or twenty -baths—sometimes not till after forty or sixty.</p> - -<p>Dr. Richter conceives that, in all cases where it is deemed proper to -stimulate the circulation and the lymphatics—to rouse the energy of the -nervous system when paralyzed—to excite strongly the functions of the -skin—to depurate bad humours—to expel a morbid principle from the -constitution or the internal organs—to relax contracted tendons or muscles—to -reduce abnormal or morbid growths—it will be necessary to have -recourse to the <span class="smcap">hot</span> baths of Teplitz, watching their effects, and moderating -their action from time to time, according to circumstances.</p> - -<p>The <i>warm</i> baths (95° to 100°) re-animate the human organism—cause -a sense of comfort (bien-être)—gently excite the circulation—equalize the -excitability of the nervous system—and impart elasticity to the muscles. -They do not cause perspiration: but rather absorption of fluids, internal -as well as external—resolve enlargements of glands or other parts—correct -acidity—prove diuretic—and excite the healthy action of the uterine -system. The symptoms of “<span class="smcap">over-bathing</span>,” described under the head -of hot baths, less frequently occur, with the warm bath—are more moderate -in degree, when they do occur—and are longer in making their appearance. -It is needless to observe that these are much safer than the hot -baths.</p> - -<p>The tepid baths of Teplitz (84° to 94°) diminish nervous irritability—dispose -to sleep—render the respiration slower—soften and abate the action -of the heart and arteries—diminish the size of external parts—increase -the action of the kidneys and internal glands—promote absorption. With -this temperature of the waters, the symptoms of “over-bathing” seldom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -appear. It may be remarked, that they have here, as at Wildbad, baths -where the waters rise through the sand at the bottom of the basin. As -the spring is constantly rising and running away, the temperature cannot -be regulated, and those springs are selected for the sand-baths, where -the temperature is about blood-heat. The same advantages are attached -to the sand-baths here, as at Wildbad—namely, that the waters are always -running in and out of the bath, which is kept at the same degree of heat -always. The same advantage attaches to the stone-baths at Pfeffers, and -the latter are, I think, more cleanly—at least to the imagination.</p> - -<p>The internal use of the Teplitz waters is considered favourable to the -physiological or remedial action of the baths. They have some aperient -properties—promote mucous and other secretions—but their chief action -is on the absorbents, and therefore they are most used in those cases where -there are tumours to be dispersed, or abnormal growths to be removed. -There can be little danger in drinking such pure waters as those of -Teplitz.</p> - -<p>The special or particular maladies for which the waters and baths of this -place have long been renowned, were already stated in the extract from -Dr. Granville. Dr. Richter has dedicated a chapter to the <i>modus operandi</i> -of the Teplitz baths on gout, both local and in its complications with -affections of the digestive organs, lungs, heart, &c.—on chronic rheumatism, -in its various seats, and with its painful consequences, as swellings of -the joints, ankylosis, muscular contractions, loss of power, &c.—<i>paralysis</i>, -numbers of patients affected with which, come annually to Teplitz, to -throw away their crutches, and—“retourner gaiement dans leurs foyers.” -The noise, however, of a brilliant cure too often brings to Teplitz paralytic -sufferers, with organic diseases of the brain or spine, and therefore -beyond the reach of all remedy. Rickets, disease of the hip-joint, and -spinal distortion, are said to be eminently relieved, and often cured by the -Teplitz waters. The same may be said of various cutaneous diseases, -especially in their chronic forms—suppression of the natural or habitual -evacuations—ulcers—disposition to gravel and stone—old and painful -wounds, healed or open—diseases resulting from metallic fumes—swellings -and engorgements of the liver, spleen, and other abdominal organs—hæmorrhoids—nervous -asthma—chronic sickness—colics—hysteria—hypochondriasis—derangements -peculiar to females—sterility—in short, three -fourths of human affections, in their chronic or tedious conditions!</p> - -<p>The counter-indications are here much the same as at the other thermal -springs—namely, states of plethora, local or general—and all dispositions -to inflammatory or feverish affections. The cautions and precautions need -not be repeated in this place.</p> - -<p>Mud-baths have been established at Teplitz since 1835—one establishment -is at the Stadtbad—the other at the Schlangenbad. The peat-bog -it found to the north of the town, and contains, according to the analysis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -of Messrs. Wolf and Pleische, the sulphates, muriates, carbonates, and -humates of soda—lime—magnesia—iron—and much ulmine and other -organic remains. They are prepared in the same manner as at Franzensbad -and other places, and are much used in cutaneous complaints—rheumatism -and gout of obstinate character—deformities and nodosities, the -sequences of these maladies—neuralgic and paralytic affections—metallic -diseases—tumours and indurations of glandular structures, as of the liver, -spleen, mesentery, ovaries, &c. They are wisely forbidden in organic -diseases of the heart and other vital viscera, in high grades of nervous irritability, -and in all predispositions to hæmorrhages, on account of their -high powers of stimulation. An English lady of rank was using them -here, and spoke in high terms of their salutary effects.</p> - -<h4>TOPOGRAPHY.</h4> - -<p>The town of Teplitz is not very interesting. The street that leads from -the <span class="smcap">Market-place</span> to the <span class="smcap">Place du Chateaux</span>, is chiefly composed of -hotels—none of them of first-rate character. From the Prince de Clairy’s -palace (which looks like a cotton-factory in Manchester) we turn down an -abrupt little street to the great bathing-places—including the Herrenhaus, -and the gardens behind, where the waters are drunk by a very few persons. -The gardens behind the Prince de Clairy’s residence are umbrageous and -pleasant; but the masses of stagnant, or almost stagnant, green water, -amongst them, are neither agreeable to the eye nor healthy to the constitution.</p> - -<p>The neighbourhood of Teplitz is very beautiful and picturesque. A -walk of fifteen minutes up a steep ascent from the Herrenhaus takes us -to the <span class="smcap">Spitalberg</span>, from the summit of which, where there is an imitation -of a ruin, a fine view may be taken of Teplitz and the surrounding -country for twenty miles in every direction. A still finer and more extensive -view is had from the <span class="smcap">Schlossberg</span>, two miles distant from Teplitz, -and mounted without much difficulty. The mountain is crowned with the -old ruin of a strong castle, from which a magnificent panorama is seen. -To the South-East we contemplate Boreslau, and the numerous conical -heads of the Mittlegebirge mountains, as far as Aussig, where the silver -Elbe is seen flowing along.—To the North-East is the long line of the -Erzgeberg (Metalliferous) mountains, the frontiers of Saxony—while directly -North, the battle-field of Culm, with its three brazen monuments, -lies stretched before us, with all its historical associations and recollections -of the brave but bloody deeds which were there enacted, even in our own -days!</p> - -<p>The history of the Schlossberg is veiled in obscurity. It was a rebel’s -or perhaps a robber’s citadel, some eight hundred years ago; but has been -a mass of ruins since the time of the Hussites. It was partially rebuilt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -in the fifteenth century, by John de Wresowec, and its praises were chanted -by the poet <span class="smcap">Mitis</span>.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent4">——Cujusdam refulgent</div> -<div class="verse">Mænia vixque non attingentia nubes,</div> -<div class="verse">Quæ <span class="smcap">Wresowichia</span> jecit de stirpe Joannes.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The walls which then “all but reached the clouds,” have now, all but -crumbled into dust, like Wresowec and all his ancestors and descendants! -It was from this ruin that the Emperor of Russia, the Emperor of Austria -and King of Prussia surveyed, with no small anxiety—perhaps fear—the -great events that passed underneath them on the field of Culm.</p> - -<p>Upon the whole, Teplitz may be considered as the most fashionable -bathing-place in all Germany—scarcely a season passing, without crowned -heads and flocks of nobility coming here to rid themselves of bodily infirmities -or cares of the mind.</p> - -<h4><i>Translation of a Note received from Dr. Richter, of Teplitz, (by Mr. -Spitta) dated 18th Sept. 1840.</i></h4> - -<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>,—In my little work on the waters of this place, I find -I have entirely omitted to mention the subject of <span class="smcap">paralysis</span>, occasioned by -mechanical injuries, and especially those which sometimes follow difficult -accouchements. On this topic, Dr. Siebold, one of the most eminent -obstetrical practitioners in Germany, has published his opinions, and -strongly recommends the baths of Teplitz, as more efficacious than any -other remedy.</p> - -<p>I omitted also, in my “<span class="smcap">Environs of Teplitz</span>,” to allude to the mineral -waters of Püllna, Sedlitz, and Saidschitz, so celebrated all over Europe, -and which are situated at four leagues from Teplitz, on the Carlsbad road. -The village of Püllna lies in a beautiful plain, two or three hundred yards -from the Chaussee, on the right; and the mineral springs themselves are -close to the road. I refer you to Mr. Spitta for further particulars.</p> - -<p>P.S.—A rail-road is forming between Dresden and Prague, to run by -Teplitz. This will render the communication between London, Teplitz, -and Carlsbad, extremely easy and quick.</p> - -<p>I am, dear Sir,</p> - -<p class="center">Your’s truly,</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Theodore L. Richter</span>, M.D.</p> - -<p><i>Teplitz, 18th Sept. 1840.</i></p> - -<h4><i>Extract of a Paper of Mr. Spitta’s on the Waters of Püllna, &c.</i></h4> - -<p>Within a morning’s drive from Teplitz, are situated three mineral springs, -little known, yet in many respects extremely interesting—Püllna, Saidschitz, -and Sedlitz. They all yield a water of a similar nature, rich in the -sulphates of magnesia and soda; and which is so peculiarly bitter, as to -have acquired the title of “Bitterwasser.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p> - -<p>Having heard so much of this bitterwasser in Germany, and of the powders -of Sedlitz at home, I was anxious to ascertain the true nature of the -springs; and see if they really afforded a mineral water so agreeable and -salutary as we get in England by dissolving our “genuine <i>Sedlitz</i> powders.” -I proposed an excursion, and Dr. Richter, of Teplitz, with his usual urbanity, -kindly accompanied me.</p> - -<p>So near as Teplitz is to these springs, it will doubtless appear strange -to others as it did to me, that, no one, not even the people at the post-office, -where we ordered the carriage, could tell us their exact position. So -great a traffic! so much Sedlitz salt prepared! one hardly knew how to -account for such ignorance. Püllna, indeed, they had heard of; for, being -on the road from Carlsbad to Teplitz, it could not well have been overlooked; -Saidschitz was conceived, by possibility, to exist; but, as to poor -Sedlitz, where all our powders come from, its very existence was denied; -nor was it, till we were within a mile, that we learnt its situation from a -few wandering peasants.</p> - -<p>I may mention a few of the general characters of these bitterwasser springs -before noticing each separately. Their method of formation is peculiar. -Large circular holes are dug into a stratum of earth, which contains the -saline ingredients; in these the rain-water is allowed to collect: it dissolves -the salts, and yields the bitterwasser. It is really very remarkable, -that a stratum of soil should be found containing so large an amount of -saline ingredient; and not the less singular, that it is of so limited an extent; -thus, at Saidschitz, it has a diameter of about a quarter to half a -mile; and a well dug beyond this area will yield no bittersalz. The soil -is easily recognized by its yellow-white colour, and by the fact that nothing -grows upon it. The plautago indeed, and some species of hieracea (hawk’s -weed) exist there; and I had the curiosity to bring home a specimen of -the former plant, because the man who had been some years in charge of -the wells at Saidschitz, knew the character of the soil, and judged of the -propriety of sinking another well in any given spot, by its presence or -absence.</p> - -<p>In a geological point of view, these springs are not without interest. -They are, if I may be allowed so botanical a comparison, a completely -different genus of the great class “mineral spring.” It has been asserted, -that mineral springs in general are formed by solution of the salts in the -neighbouring mountains, by the rain-water which passes through them. -This opinion, for many reasons, has <i>seemed</i> to me erroneous; but these -springs furnish a <i>proof</i> by analogy, of great weight. For here are springs -really formed by such an artificial method; and what happens? The -soil furnishes (which is not the case with the soil in the neighbourhood -of any other springs) the same water by artificial digestion. The late -Dr. Struve succeeded in this manner in forming a very capital Püllna.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -Again, these springs formed so artificially are uninfluenced, like others, by -volcanic shocks, and earthquakes. The Hauptquelle, at Teplitz, stopped -for a moment, during the earthquake at Lisbon, and then rushed forth -with redoubled violence. Many other sources also have been similarly -affected. Indeed, from Lyall’s account, it seems to be no uncommon circumstance: -and new ones have even risen into existence, at such awful -crises. On they go, however, the bitter springs, from year to year, totally -regardless. They have no fixed temperature; because, as I presume, they -are not in connexion with the centre of the earth. They have no fixed -level of water, from the same cause. They vary, on the contrary, like -all other common springs at the surface, with the temperature of the atmosphere, -and the quantity of water which percolates the earth to supply -them.</p> - -<h4>SAIDSCHITZ.</h4> - -<p>The first we visited was Saidschitz, about three hours drive from Teplitz: -and I would advise none but those anxiously desirous of medical observation, -to venture there. The road is shocking; at one part I was -walking, whilst my friend Dr. Richter was reclining in the carriage. -Suddenly a large rut appeared, and I feel convinced, that, had not the -coachman and myself propped up the side of the carriage, which was -falling towards us, it would, with all its professional contents, have been -quietly precipitated.</p> - -<p>Arrived at length, and eager to taste the water, of which so much had been -said, I swallowed some of the most nauseous physic it is possible to prescribe. -Instead of the nice saline draught which <i>our</i> Sedlitz powder makes, of -tartrate of soda and potash, rendered even effervescent by the succeeding -additions of carbonated soda and tartaric acid, the bitterwasser of Saidschitz -consists of a strong solution of Epsom and Glauber’s salts; and I need not -say that the term “bitterwasser” is most appropriately applied. There -are twenty-two wells at Saidschitz, all capable of furnishing a large quantity -of water, though few only are in actual use. They are included, as I -previously said, within an area of about a quarter of a mile; and each well -is covered with a small wooden shed, like a hay-cock. When drawn, the -water is quite clear, and without any bubbles of carbonic acid. It has no -smell, but a slightly brown color, depending on the presence of a peculiar -acid, termed by Berzelius the “<i>chrenic</i>” (χρηνη, source). It undergoes no -alteration by standing.</p> - -<p>Most of these properties would have been anticipated from an inspection -of the following analysis<a name="FNanchor_83" id="FNanchor_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> published by Professor Berzelius.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sixteen ounces contain,</p> - -<table summary="Composition of the waters of Saidschitz"> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of soda</td> - <td class="tdr">46.8019</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of potash</td> - <td class="tdr">4.0965</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">84.1666</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of lime</td> - <td class="tdr">10.0776</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Chloride of magnesium</td> - <td class="tdr">2.1696</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Iodide of magnesium</td> - <td class="tdr">.0368</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Nitrate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">25.1715</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">3.9858</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Chrenate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">1.0667</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Oxyde of iron and manganese</td> - <td class="tdr">.0192</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Oxyde of tin with traces of oxyde of copper</td> - <td class="tdr">.0307</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Silica</td> - <td class="tdr">.0360</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Bromine and fluorine</td> - <td class="tdr">traces</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Ammonia</td> - <td class="tdr">traces</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdr total">177.6589</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>The water is not allowed to be bottled at Saidschitz, but is sent to Bilin, -a little town about two hours drive from Teplitz, for that purpose.</p> - -<p>Saidschitz salt however is prepared there in considerable quantities. -The water is evaporated to a proper degree of concentration, when the -three sulphates of soda, potash, and magnesia, crystallize. They present -crystals of large size. Again dissolved and concentrated, the latter salt -is separated from the two former by its greater solubility; and the new -solution, when crystallized, furnishes the Saidschitz salt—a tolerably pure -sulphate of magnesia. The popular term in Germany for sulphate of -magnesia corresponding to our “Epsom salt” is “bittersalz;” but it is -known also as Saidschitz and Püllna salz; so that, if you enter a chemist’s, -and demand a salt with either of the above titles, he will supply you from -a certain bottle, labelled sal-amarum. If you ask for Sedlitz-salt, he will -smile at your ignorance, and quietly tell you he does not keep it; and for -this, we shall presently see, there is the very best of reasons. The prince -is said to get about 1200 florins of good Austrian money annually by his -salt making.</p> - -<h4>SEDLITZ.</h4> - -<p>It is but a quarter of an hour’s drive from Saidschitz to Sedlitz; a name -better known, perhaps, in England, than that of any other spa in Germany. -For who has not had a Sedlitz? a <i>genuine</i> Sedlitz? or who has not bought -a box of these powders, with the acid in the blue and the alkali in the -white paper? as though the wondrous spring could produce a salt, acid or -alkaline, at the pleasure of the chemist who dispensed it?</p> - -<p>Large manufactories indeed must be there! and how thriving a village<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> -Sedlitz must be!! A few miserable hovels, however, soon undeceive you, -tenanted by the poorest of the poor. There are nine springs, not separate -from the village of the same name, as at Saidschitz, but interspersed -among the houses; and really it requires no small discernment to distinguish -which are dwelling-houses, and which represent the wooden sheds -covering the wells. Spring, No. 2, is the only one in use; and well, -No. 2, the only one supplied with a bucket. The bucket was lowered by -a rope and windlass (just conceive how civilized a bath-place); and brought -up, full of water, for our inspection. I was not caught twice; I did not -venture to taste this Bitterwasser with so much rashness. Its taste, color, -and other physical properties, are exactly similar to those of Saidschitz-water, -except that they are rather less marked, from its containing a smaller -quantity of mineral ingredients. The following analysis by Professor -Steinmann will be interesting.</p> - -<p>Sixteen ounces contain,</p> - -<table summary="Composition of the waters of Sedlitz"> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of soda</td> - <td class="tdr">17.446</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of potash</td> - <td class="tdr">4.414</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">79.555</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of lime</td> - <td class="tdr">4.144</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Chloride of magnesium</td> - <td class="tdr">1.061</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">0.201</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of lime</td> - <td class="tdr">5.297</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of stronthian</td> - <td class="tdr">.009</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of protoxyde of iron and manganese, alumina, silica and extractive</td> - <td class="tdr">.050</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdr total">112.177</td> - <td>grs.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonic acid gas</td> - <td class="tdr">3.461</td> - <td>grs.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>But where is the salt-manufactory, asked Dr. Richter? The woman was -astonished—she knew not, nor had she ever heard of such a thing, although -she had been in charge of the wells for thirty years. Her aged -mother solved the difficulty. About thirty-three years ago. Prince -Lobkowitz rented Sedlitz of the “ordre des chevaliers de l’etoile rouge,” -and then a salt apparatus was in action. Finding, I presume, that Saidschitz -was a more prolific source of bittersalz, he stopped the process at -Sedlitz; so that absolutely, for the thirty-three long years that we have -been drinking and enjoying our <i>genuine</i> Sedlitz powders, not a single atom -of salt has been prepared.</p> - -<p>But it is said, Saidschitz salt has been prepared, it imports little, that -the mere name should have been mis-spelt. I answer—truly; a mere verbal -error is of no moment; but when it is found, that the salt of Saidschitz and -Sedlitz waters is sulphate of magnesia or Epsom salts; and when further it -is observed, that the renowned Sedlitz powders are composed, for the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -part, of Rochelle salt, or the triple tartrate of potash and soda, I confess, -it seems that more than a verbal error is committed.</p> - -<p>Like Saidschitz, the waters of Sedlitz are bottled at the establishment -of Prince Lobkowitz, at Bilin. Some is sent into Germany; by far the -greater part goes to Paris; none to England. The bottles are known -by the peculiar manner in which they are stopped; they have metal collars -round the necks, on which metal caps are screwed. It is a singular circumstance, -that, at Teplitz, not a single bottle of Sedlitz water could be -obtained.</p> - -<p>Before quitting Prince Lobkowitz and his springs, I may notice another -ingenious application of the Saidschitz water. At Bilin there is a mineral -spring, containing the carbonate of soda, about 23 grains in the pint. -The result is anticipated. It is concentrated considerably by evaporation, -and mixed with the Saidschitz water, also much concentrated; a double -decomposition of the proximate elements of the carbonate of soda in -the one, and the sulphate of magnesia in the other water, ensues: and -a very capital carbonate magnesia is precipitated. The prince is said to -add 500 more florins of good Austrian money to his income by this -preparation.</p> - -<h4>PÜLLNA,</h4> - -<p class="noindent">The last of the three bitter springs, lying on the road from Carlsbad to -Teplitz, is the property of the village of that name, close by, but is rented -at present, by a private individual. Compared with the two former, it -is quite an elegant spot. There is even a small white hotel opposite the -wells; where, if fortune smiles, and you are in time for Table-d’hôte, you -may get a dinner; but if not, you must fare, as we did, on “butter-brod.” -It contains, moreover, a few baths, supplied with water from the springs; -and one patient, Baron Christophe de Campenhausen, with his medical attendant, -was resident there for the cure. An attempt at a registry of the -visitors is also made. About thirty people, perhaps, may have seen Püllna, -certainly not more than half a dozen English. Of the three bittersprings, -the waters of Püllna have been by far the most drank—it is said that -300,000 of the Püllna dumpty bottles are annually circulated. Bittersalz -is also made here in considerable quantity.</p> - -<p>The wells are scattered over a larger area than either at Saidschitz or -Sedlitz; but have the same odd appearance. The physical characters of a -bitterwasser, its yellow tint, oily consistence, and horribly bitter taste, are -here most strongly marked. The last analysis (which I obtained at Püllna) -is by Dr. Ticinus, professor of chemistry at Dresden; and it will be seen -how extremely concentrated a water it is.</p> - -<p>Sixteen ounces contain—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p> - -<table summary="Composition of the waters of Püllna"> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of soda</td> - <td class="tdr">10.125</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of potash</td> - <td class="tdr">82.720</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">96.975</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Sulphate of lime</td> - <td class="tdr">.800</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Chloride magnesium</td> - <td class="tdr">19.120</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Bromide magnesium</td> - <td class="tdr">.588</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">2.280</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of lime</td> - <td class="tdr">.760</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonate of iron</td> - <td class="tdr">traces</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Nitrate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">4.602</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Crenate of magnesia</td> - <td class="tdr">4.640</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Phosphate of soda</td> - <td class="tdr">.290</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdr total">222.900</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Carbonic acid gas</td> - <td class="tdr">.49</td> - <td>cubic inches.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>I shall add but one word on the medical properties of the bitterwassers. -As a glance at the analyses would anticipate, they are solvent and -diuretic. They are aperient, however, without being at the same time -stimulating; as is the case with the Salzbrunn at Franzensbad, from its -abundance of carbonic acid, and with the Carlsbad water, from its heat. -They, especially the Püllna, which is employed the most frequently, are too -strong to be taken pure. One-third to the half of a dumpty bottle, with an -equal quantity of luke-warm water, will be found an efficient and tolerably -palatable dose. A medicine of this kind, repeated regularly every morning, -is of the greatest advantage to persons habitually costive from sluggishness -of action in the muscular fibre of the intestine, brought on by -sedentary lives, much study at late hours, &c. If this state be accompanied -with hæmorrhoids, the remedy, from its gentle effect, is still more -valuable. In congested states of the liver and spleen, they are efficient; -blood is determined to the intestine, to the relief of the portal vessels. In -actual jaundice, they are even prescribed with advantage.</p> - -<p>In mentioning the leading properties of these bittersprings, I do not -think I should be inclined (were he willing) to send a patient there; for I -should expect to hear, either that he had been upset in his journey, or -starved on his arrival. But I have another motive. From the very nature -of the water, containing so little carbonic acid, and so little iron, it can be -imitated with great success. I saw Struve’s process at Dresden; and I -have taken that made at the Brighton spa, with all the effect of the original -and genuine Püllna. It seemed to me a remedy worthy of more patronage -than it had hitherto received.</p> - -<p>Finally, I would not wish, from what I have said, to depreciate the -character of our very old and tried friend, the “Sedlitz.” On the contrary—I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -hold him in much veneration. One word only I would add to -his title—I would call him the “<span class="smcap">Genuine (London) Sedlitz Powder</span>.”</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Robert J. Spitta.</span></p> - -<p>P.S.—I may as well state here, for the information of travellers, and -especially of invalids, the ready means of communication that now exist, -independent of the rail-road abovementioned.</p> - -<table summary="Travel times"> - <tr> - <td>From Teplitz to Tetchen</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td>hours.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>From Tetchen (through the heart of Saxon Switzerland by steamer) to Dresden</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>From Dresden to Magdeburg (passing through Leipzig—rail-road)</td> - <td class="tdr">8</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Magdeburg to Hamburg (steam)</td> - <td class="tdr">14</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Hamburg to London</td> - <td class="tdr">48</td> - <td class="center">”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr total">86</td> - <td class="total">hours.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>The whole run may be done in six days; the traveller sleeping every -night in his bed, and undergoing no fatigue whatever in the day. The -opposite course will require an additional day, on account of the stream of -the Elbe, but may be performed with great ease by all, to whom economy -of time, money, and bodily exertion is of any moment. It is only an easy -day’s journey from Teplitz to Carlsbad, and 24 miles from thence to Marienbad. -The route through Saxon Switzerland alone, will well repay the -journey, which is almost all by water, and the far greater part by river -steaming, where there is no chance of sea-sickness. In fine, the line of -the Elbe offers, as it were, an invalid carriage, by which the most frail -valetudinarian, or the most crippled victim of gout or rheumatism, may -repair to the great fountains of health in Bohemia, with almost as much -ease as if reposing in an arm-chair. J. J.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="THE_ELBESAXON_SWITZERLAND_TEPLITZ_TO_TETCHEN">THE ELBE—SAXON SWITZERLAND. TEPLITZ TO TETCHEN.</h3> - -<h4>CULM.</h4> - -<p>On leaving Teplitz, we pass through a highly picturesque country, full -of mountain scenery, but not of that Alpine grandeur which excludes fertility, -cultivation, and beauty, till we come to the Thermopylæ of Bohemia—the -battle-field of Culm—whose history, though “Ære perennius,” is -yet commemorated by three monuments—the Russian and Prussian dedicated -to the memory of those heroes who fell in the combat—the Austrian, -to the general who turned the fortune of the day—and changed a doubtful -and sanguinary battle into a splendid and decided victory.<a name="FNanchor_84" id="FNanchor_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> The three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> -monuments are of very different stature and dimensions. The first we -come to is the Russian, a Gothic pyramid of cast iron, of great height, -bearing on its summit the figure of Fame. The portrait of the hero -<span class="smcap">Osterman</span>, who, with 8000 Russians, checked Vandamme and 40,000 -Frenchmen, is sculptured on one side. This monument is like Russia itself, -infinitely more colossal than either of the others. The Prussian, like its -kingdom, is the smallest of all—while the Austrian, is next in dimensions -to the Russian, and dedicated, as was observed, to the hero who conquered, -and not to those who fell in the battle. After all, this was perhaps the -wisest plan. The living hero would feel pride and pleasure in contemplating -the monuments; but, alas!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Can storied urn or animated bust</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Back to its mansion draw the fleeting breath?</div> -<div class="verse">Can honour’s voice provoke the silent dust,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death?”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">No! the blood of the brave has, no doubt, fertilized the soil of this beautiful -valley, while the bodies of heroes, who drew their natal breath on the -banks of the Gneiper and the Vistula—the Elbe and the Danube—the -Rhine and the Rhone—the Seine and the Tiber, have served to fatten the -birds and beasts of prey, as well as the mould of mother-earth—migrating -into myriads of new existences, and completing the mysterious circle of -the <span class="smcap">Samian Sage</span>!</p> - -<p>When we glance at this infinitessimal speck of human consciousness -and identity, surrounded and swallowed up by the countless cycles of other -and ephemeral modes of existence, we may well marvel that <span class="smcap">man</span>—reasoning -man—should be the only creature on this globe who wages -eternal war—against his own species! One would think that the span of -human life was narrow enough, without abridging or annihilating it by -fire, famine, and the sword! War indeed is a game which—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent10">——were their subjects wise,</div> -<div class="verse">Kings <i>could</i> not play at.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">It is rather singular that, in our days, at least, though monarchs occasionally -lose their crowns in these games of <i>hazard</i>, they rarely part with -their heads at the same time.</p> - -<p>Three Emperors and a King played one of those fearful games of <i>hazard</i> -in the valley of Culm. From the summit of the Schlossberg the royal -Eagles of Austria, Russia, and Prussia beheld, with astonishment, if not -dismay, the sudden and unexpected descent through a gorge in the Erzebirge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -mountains, the fierce, the rapacious, and the ferocious <span class="smcap">Vandamme</span>, -at the head of forty thousand Frenchmen, flushed with the victory of -Dresden (27th August, 1813) and pouncing on the scattered troops of the -allies in the valley, quite unprepared for such an unexpected onslaught! -The “<span class="smcap">Cock of the North</span>,” and <span class="smcap">he</span> of the Danube, “immediately retired.” -Not so the regal bird, with two heads, from the Elbe and the Oder. -He clapped his sable wings, as he snuffed the sulphurous fumes from the -roaring cannon—directed several movements of the allies below—and presented -a wall of steel, to a cloud of cossacks, flying before the enemy—thus -compelling them to face their foes.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, <span class="smcap">Osterman</span> and his eight thousand Russians slowly and -doggedly retreated (fighting) before Vandamme and his forty thousand -French, till within two miles of Teplitz, when the Gallic general considered -the crowned heads as inevitably within his grasp! Here the Muscovites -stopped short—wheeled round—and crossed the narrow valley, like an -avenue of knotted oaks that might be borne down or torn up by the furious -storm or lightning’s flash, but never would bend. It was in vain that -the “ferocious” Vandamme brought up line after line of his men against -the northern phalanx. They were repulsed, one after the other, as the -basaltic columns of Staffa repel the onsets of the Atlantic surge! As individuals -fell in the Russian ranks, the lines instantly closed again, as if -by a vital and instinctive movement of the whole body! When the last -column of Vandamme had failed to break the Russian phalanx, the furious -and disconcerted Frank retreated in his turn, and encamped on the field of -Culm for the night. This gave time for the panic-stricken and disordered -allies to collect, combine, and arrange for the grand struggle of the coming -day. The dawn (30th August) had not yet unveiled the peaks of the -surrounding mountains, when all were ready and panting for the sanguinary -conflict.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">By torch and trumpet soon array’d,</div> -<div class="verse">Each horseman drew his battle-blade,</div> -<div class="verse">And furious every charger neigh’d,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To join the dreadful revelry.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then flew the steed, to battle driv’n—</div> -<div class="verse">Then shook the hills, with thunder riven—</div> -<div class="verse">And louder than the bolts of heaven,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Far flash’d the red artillery!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The allies under Schwartzenburg may now have outnumbered the French -under Vandamme, but their <i>morale</i> was depressed by the recent disasters -at Dresden, and their <i>physique</i> exhausted by their almost superhuman exertions -in dragging their cannon, baggage, and ammunition over the rugged -summits of the Bohemian mountains. On the other hand, the French -were elated beyond measure by the recent and successive victories of Lutzen, -Botzen, and Dresden—but still more by the star of Napoleon, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -was now rising, like a Phœnix from the ashes of Moscow, and approaching -its second zenith on the banks of the Elbe. Daylight, however, had -scarcely enabled the armies to distinguish friend from foe, when they rushed -simultaneously into mortal conflict. Vandamme lay between a great -crescent of the allies on the West, and the towery ridge of Erzeberg in his -rear, and from which he had descended the preceding morning. The -“fiery Frank” fought like a tiger encompassed and goaded by hunters—while -the “furious <span class="smcap">hun</span>” successfully repelled his repeated efforts to break -the line of the allies, and even drove him nearer and nearer to the mountain -behind. The pass of the Erzeberg, through which Vandamme descended -into the valley, now presented the only opening by which he could -effect his egress out of it. The order for retreat was given; but what was -the surprize of the French on entering the defile from below, when they -beheld a body of Prussians enter it from above! The surprize and consternation, -however, were mutual. Kleist, who, with five or six thousand -Prussians, had been wandering among the mountains since the disaster of -Dresden, and who was now hurrying to Teplitz to join the allies, was -thunderstruck to see the French scrambling up the defile to meet him, -and considered his retreat as cut off. Vandamme looked upon himself as -in precisely the same predicament. Kleist knew that the French columns -were pressing onward in his rear—Vandamme knew full well that the Austro-Prusso-Russian -army was close at his heels. The object of each corps -in the defile was therefore to cut through its opponent, and escape in the -direction of its friends. Under these impressions, they rushed into tumultuous -combat, and were soon mingled in inextricable confusion. The -officers of one corps were sometimes in the midst of the soldiery of the -other, and <i>vice versa</i>—all fighting pell-mell like two hostile mobs, without -order or command—individually rather than collectively—often wresting -the arms from their opponents, and fighting with the weapons of their -enemies! So desperate a struggle on such a precipitous pass, was never, -perhaps, witnessed since the days of Leonidas in the Straits of Thermopylæ! -The Prussians had the vantage ground, inasmuch as their own -weight gave them an increased momentum in rushing down the declivity—the -French had greatly the advantage in numbers, both in horse and -foot; but Kleist prevailed, and Vandamme and his army were hurled back -into the valley below, when the allies closed round them and the Gallic -Eagles surrendered!</p> - -<p>On the field of Culm the sable wing of destiny threw a shade over the -star of Napoleon, which never afterwards regained its splendour, or stayed -its downward course, till it sunk in the far Atlantic. On the plains of -Marne and Waterloo, indeed,<a name="FNanchor_85" id="FNanchor_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> that star emitted some vivid corruscations; -but they only tended to exhaust its fire and accelerate its fall!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p> - -<h4>TETCHEN.</h4> - -<p>Full of ruminations on the vicissitudes of human life—the vanity of -man’s hopes—and the nothingness of his works—we drove through a -highly picturesque valley, at the foot of the last range of the Bohemian -mountains, till we suddenly debouched on the silvery Elbe, at the bustling -and boating little town of Tetchen. The first object which arrested our -attention was a huge pile of white buildings standing on a bold and jutting -promontory some seven or eight hundred feet above the right bank of the -river, with thrice as many windows in its walls as there were eyes in the -head of Argus. Various were our conjectures as to whether the edifice -before us was an immense barrack, an overgrown convent, where half the -daughters of Bohemia might prepare for another world, or a great factory? -Even the oracular authority of the “<span class="smcap">red-book</span>” could not persuade us -that it was a palace. The river at this place is always crowded with boats -of all shapes and sizes laden with merchandize—chiefly hewn stone from -the rocky banks, and timber from the pine-clad mountains. We had some -difficulty in getting the carriage along between a precipice on the left, and -the stream on our right, but at length got safely housed in the <span class="smcap">Josephsbad</span> -Hotel—“in one of the most romantic situations which the banks of the river -Elbe afford.”—<i>Murray.</i> Here we learnt that the great pile of building was -actually the palace or castle of Count Thun, and crossing the ferry we -scrambled up through a straggling town to the rear of the castle, and then -climbed up a road of rock that led to the chateau, and which was steep -enough for goats, though the tracks of wheels, worn in the smooth and -precipitous stone, shewed that less agile animals than the ibex had dragged -their weary way to the summit. The view from the castle is remarkably -picturesque, though rather hemmed in by hills, rocks, and mountains—the -winding Elbe soon disappearing in the dark ravines of <span class="smcap">Saxon Switzerland</span>. -Count Thun’s library is, I believe, the great lion of the castle; -but as I never could derive much amusement or information from a survey -of the backs of books, we returned to our eagle’s nest, the Josephsbad, -and slept sound over the murmuring Elbe. There is a chalybeate spring -here of some local reputation, and certainly an invalid could not easily -select a more romantic spot for the restoration of health than Tetchen.</p> - -<p>We embarked in a gondola early in the morning, and immediately entered -“<span class="smcap">Saxon Switzerland</span>,” a tract of country extending from Tetchen to -the neighbourhood of Dresden, and perfectly unique in character, bearing -little or no resemblance to Switzerland, or to any other country in the -world through which I have passed. It has none of the snowy solitudes, -the sparkling glaciers, or the majestic altitude of the Alps; but it has a -geographical and geological physiognomy, of which there is “nil simile -aut secundum” on this globe. The river runs through a gorge, which is, -in fact, a gigantic excavation—a huge crevasse—a profound chasm, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> -rocky bed of an antediluvian ocean, disclosing glimpses of “the world -before the flood,” and letting out some of the “secrets of the prison-house.” -Whether this ocean-bed was raised from its dark abyss by the -agency of subterranean fire, or was left uncovered by the subsidence of the -superincumbent sea, may admit of question; but no doubt can be entertained -as to the formation of those rocky walls that now rise a thousand -feet high on each side of the stream. They are piled, layer over layer, in -strata of different thickness and different density—but all as horizontal as -the ocean under which they once lay. They were all, therefore, depositions -from the sea, and considering that most of these strata are hard -enough to form millstones, imagination is lost in the vain attempt to estimate -the countless ages that must have rolled away during the deposition -and consolidation of even a single stratum—how many millions of years, -then, must it have required to form layer over layer, of this immense crust, -at the bottom of the ocean, leaving aside the unknown intervals that must -have elapsed between the various deposits!! Again, the elevation of the -earth, or the subsidence of the waters, so as to produce the complete denudation -of this rocky district, could not but occupy ages of ages. In -whatever way this long chain of stratifications took place, it is quite evident -that it was long subjected to powerful currents. The layers are all -grooved and furrowed <i>horizontally</i>, in the line of the river, and not <i>perpendicularly</i>, -as by rains descending along their sides. It is true they are often -split perpendicularly and irregularly; but this is quite the work of time -and decay—not at all like the horizontal smoothing, the consequence of -long-continued watery friction. Some travellers have supposed that the -river Elbe has hewn its way through these rocks and formed the huge -ravine on the principle—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed sæpe cadendo.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">But as the very summits of the rock (800 feet high) shew the same proofs -of horizontal “wear and tear” as the lowest strata, what must have been -the state of the surrounding country, when the Elbe was 800 feet above its -present level? It was covered with water, and the grooves in the rocks -were the effects of currents, not rivers—in other words, they are <i>diluvial</i> -and not <i>fluvial</i> phenomena. But the banks of this stream are not the only -places here which exhibit proofs and records of a deluge. The neighbouring -country, especially on the right bank, and where no rivers exist, is -studded with “fragments of an earlier world,” all bearing the same marks -of watery attrition, from their highest to their lowest strata. Although -many of these “splinter’d pinnacles,” are columnar in shape, they are -tabular in construction—all shewing horizontal strata (where they have -not tumbled down), and all evincing a greater wear and tear of the interstitial -materials between the layers, than of the layers themselves—another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -proof of the lateral and not perpendicular action of the waters by which -they were worn smooth.</p> - -<p>We descended slowly in our gondola, the day being splendidly clear, -and the wind blowing fresh against us, which retarded our progress, but -favoured our examination of the infinitely varied scenery in this romantic -gorge. At Neidergrund, on the left bank, we were stopped by the last -Austrian Douane, for examination of passports; and then continued our -descent. At this place, however, there is a huge fragment of rock which -must have rolled from the adjacent cliff, at some remote period, but which -is now perfectly smooth in every part of its surface, from the friction of -the floods. In this stone, there is also a polished excavation, with a narrow -door, in which, it is said, a pious hermit once resided. Hence its name—“<span class="smcap">Monchenstein</span>.” -It is worth examining while the tardy Douanier is -poring over your passport, and filling unmeaning columns in his musty -journals.</p> - -<p>A league farther on, where the right bank rises like a wall to a stupendous -height, and demonstrating the stratifications with peculiar distinctness, -we come to a huge pile of buildings, overhung by massive crags of rocks, -and forming a douane, police-station, and hotel. Here we encounter the -Saxon Custom-house, where our trunks were opened and examined—an -operation which was never once performed by Prussian, Bavarian, or Austrian, -during our whole journey. And here I must do the Austrians, who -are represented as so very <i>austere</i> in their police and douanes, the justice to -say that, in no part of their dominions did we ever experience the slightest -interruption or inconvenience in respect to passports; nor did they ever -ask us for the key of a trunk on entering, travelling through, or quitting -their territories.</p> - -<p>From this place (Herrnskretchen), excursions are often made, by people -who have plenty of time on their hands, to the summit of the “<span class="smcap">Winterberg</span>,” -where a very extensive prospect of Saxon Switzerland and the -Bohemian ranges is obtained. The mountain prospect is hardly worth -the toil of the mountain journey. Better prospects are obtained from two -points to be presently noticed, where the view, though not quite so wide, -is infinitely more distinct and striking, and where the points themselves -possess the highest degree of interest, which the summit of the Winterberg -does not. The <span class="smcap">Preberchthor</span>, however, a league and a half from -Herrnskretchen, is worth seeing. It is a gigantic natural arch of rock, -exhibiting well the stratified formation, and looking like the portal of some -enchanted castle, being 60 ells (French) in height, the same in breadth, and -30 in depth. The arch itself is 1400 feet and more above the level of the -sea. The summit, or key-stone of the arch forms a kind of narrow -slanting platform, 30 or 40 feet in length, from which a romantic prospect -opens on the view.</p> - -<p>The Kuhstall (or cow-house) is another natural arch, where the strata<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -of rock appear to be somewhat bent as they stride over the aperture below. -Various other “disjecta membra” of an antediluvian world are scattered -about between the Winterberg and Schandau.</p> - -<p>We remained but a short time at Schandau; and, after dinner, hired a -gondola, where a female rowed manfully against the breeze, assisted by -her husband and brother, and in a couple of hours we reached</p> - -<h4>KŒNIGSTEIN.</h4> - -<p>This is one of the lions of Saxon Switzerland—a kind of jung-frau -fortress that has never yielded to shot, shell, or escalade. It is situated on -the left bank of the river, near the town of Kœnigstein, from whence we -ascended by a long and steep road that required full an hour before we -arrived at the gate of this impregnable fortress. The Saxon war minister -being governor of Kœnigstein, our passports procured us admission, with -an orderly to shew us round. One of the most prominent features of this -country is, the projection from its surface of numerous truncated cones of -the same kind of stratified rock which compose the banks of the Elbe. -They rise almost perpendicularly from plain or hill, to various heights of -one hundred to seven or eight hundred feet, with a flat surface on the top, -like a sugar-loaf with its upper third cut off. Kœnigstein is one of the -largest of these natural forts, and the strongest. It springs from an elevated -ground, and is at least fifteen hundred feet above the level of the -Elbe that flows at its base. The walls are not columnar, but masses of -horizontal strata piled upon one another, precisely like those composing the -banks of the river, the highest as well as lowest layers presenting the same -horizontal “wear and tear,” produced by the action of long-continued -currents of water. The plateau on the summit of this antediluvian citadel -occupies a space of two or three acres, which, considering the locality, -supports a good deal of vegetation, trees, and fruit. Excavations in the -rock serve as bomb-proofs for provisions, ammunition, and military barracks, -if assailed. The plateau is encircled by a coronet of cannon and mortars, -and in the spaces between the embrasures, immense heaps of stones are -piled up, to be hurled on the heads of those who ventured to approach the -rocky ramparts of this aerial fortress. Down through the centre of the -rock a well is bored to the depth of 1800 feet, and from this source an -abundant supply of excellent water is drawn up by a wheel, like a tread-mill, -worked, or rather walked, by half a dozen soldiers. In the centre of -the plateau there is a circus, where the governor with one of his aide-de-camps -was galloping round, for air and exercise.</p> - -<p>We made the entire circuit of the ramparts, and from these the most -extensive views are taken in every direction, embracing scenery so strange, -romantic, and beautiful, that no language can do it justice—nor pencil -neither! At its eastern base flows the winding Elbe, and directly opposite,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -on the other side of the stream, rises <span class="smcap">Lilienstein</span>, about three miles distant -from Kœnigstein, and of a precisely similar shape and composition. -A German prince, who was also a Polish king, had the courage and dexterity -to scale the <i>Lilienstein</i>, and was so proud of the exploit, that he -commemorated it by an inscription near the place of ascent. Napoleon, -in one of his German forays, succeeded, with incredible labour and difficulty, -to elevate some guns to the summit of this gigantic rock, in order -to batter Kœnigstein, but his labour was lost, for the shot fell short of -the sister fortress. But Kœnigstein might have laughed at Bonaparte even -if his cannon could have swept the houses from the plateau of the Saxon -strong-hold. It would have remained as impregnable as ever. The -view from this spot takes in the whole or nearly the whole of Saxon -Switzerland, and extends to thirty or forty miles in every direction—from -the Winterberg to <span class="smcap">Dresden</span>, the towers of which are plainly visible. All -the peculiar rocks in the shape of truncated cones, as well as those masses -of pillars and cliffs about the Bastei, are distinctly seen from Kœnigstein. -Mr. Russell has the following passage in his work on Germany.</p> - -<p>“The striking feature is, that in the bosom of this amphitheatre, a plain -of the most varied beauty, huge columnar hills start up at once from the -ground, at great distances from each other, overlooking in lonely and -solemn grandeur, each its own portion of the domain. <i>They are monuments -which the Elbe has left standing to commemorate his triumph over -their less hardy kindred.</i> The most remarkable among them are the Lilienstein -and Kœnigstein, which tower, nearly in the centre of the plain, to a -height of above 1200 feet above the Elbe.”</p> - -<p>I have marked a sentence, in italics, because it conveys an erroneous -idea. It may be poetical; but it is not philosophical. If the Elbe was -the Deluge, or the Deluge was the Elbe, all well. But I think Mr. Russell -would hardly contend for this identity. The fact is, that the <span class="smcap">Deluge</span> wore -away the softer parts from around Kœnigstein, Lilienstein, and all the -other Steins, ten thousand, or, more likely, ten million of years before the -Elbe was born! The diminutive stream of the river merely conducted its -rills from the mountains through the bottom of the chasm hollowed out by -the mighty currents of an antediluvian ocean.</p> - -<p>It required two hours to visit the cloud-capt towers and frowning battlements -of this impregnable citadel, whose walls were not built by human -hands, but constructed beneath the waters of some mighty deep. The -magnificent and singular scenery which everywhere bursts on the astonished -eye from the cannon-crown’d crest of Kœnigstein, can never be erased -from the memory.</p> - -<p>We descended from the fortress to the town, tired, hunger’d, but highly -gratified by the excursion. Fickle Fortune is not always profuse of her -gifts. The feast of the eye this day was purchased by a fast of the -stomach. Notwithstanding the care we had taken to order the “<span class="smcap">huhn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> -gebraten</span>,” the “<span class="smcap">schinken</span>,” the “<span class="smcap">kartoflen</span>,” and other little matters -for dinner, all of which were civilly promised, with a hearty “ja wohl -mynheer,” into the bargain; yet, to our mortification, up came the infernal -or at least the eternal dish—mutton-chops, composed of old meat -pounded into a paste, squeezed into a mould, fried with butter, covered -with flour, and pierced with the ribs of some “<i>schaf</i>” that might have -been slaughtered the preceding year! Remonstrance was vain, and complaint -was unavailing. Dish after dish was returned untouched—and dish -after dish of the <i>same materials</i>, came back again, in other forms! With -a sorrowful heart and an empty stomach, I called to mind the first line of -Ovid’s Metamorphoses—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“In <i>nova</i>, fert animus, <i>mutatas</i> dicere <i>formas</i>,</div> -<div class="verse"><i>Corpora</i>.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>As a forlorn hope, we requested some cheese; when, lo, after a quarter of -an hour’s expectation, in came a wedge exhaling such a complication of all -horrible and unutterable odours, that we were glad to launch it out of the -window among the pigs—and even they scampered off in all directions at -the sight, sound, and smell of this unexpected and apparently unwelcome -visitor! Good comes out of evil. This last consummation of our miseries -fortunately obliterated our appetites as effectually as a fit of sea-sickness -in a gale of wind. The beds were as bad as the board, and the smell of -the cheese seemed to have called forth myriads of the most minute, agile, -and animated beings, who appeared to <i>leap</i> and skip with joy, over our -beds and round our dormitory—but whether in search of the savoury -“kase,” or bent on more sanguinary depredations, I will not pretend to -decide. This I know, that the frolicksome gambols of these black and saltant -imps conduced but very little to sleep, notwithstanding the lightness -of our supper. Mr. Murray says that the <span class="smcap">Inn</span> at Kœnigstein is “tolerable.” -It may be so, but the <span class="smcap">inmates</span> are intolerable! I do not think -that Horace spent a worse night in the Pontine fens, when he was assailed, -on one side by the “mali culices,” and on the other, by the “ranæ palustres.” -We had not the “<i>mali culices</i>,” it is true—but we had far worse customers, -the <i>mali pulices!!</i> In fine, it was the “frogs and flies” of Treponti in -Italy, <i>versus</i> the “fleas and cheese” of Kœnigstein in Germany. I would -pit the <i>latter</i> against the <i>former</i> any Summer’s night of the year!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="THE_BASTEI">THE BASTEI.</h3> - -<p>We left Kœnigstein early on a beautiful morning in our gondola, and in -two hours we were housed in New Raden, at the foot of the <span class="smcap">Bastei</span>. -Having procured a guide, we commenced a laborious and steep zig-zag -ascent towards the summit of the arch-lion of Saxon Switzerland. It -required an hour or nearly so, to accomplish this task—each tourniquet of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> -the ascent opening out more and more extended and splendid prospects. -At length we got into the “regio petrea,” or stony region—sometimes -winding round the bases of huge cliffs—sometimes squeezing through -narrow fissures of the rock—and at others, crossing profound chasms over -slender wooden bridges, or rather foot-paths. When almost despairing of -gaining the summit before our strength was exhausted, we suddenly found -ourselves on a small but level platform, on the highest pinnacle of the -Bastei, and commanding a complete view, not only of the immense mass -of splintered rocks around us, but of the whole country in every direction. -In all my peregrinations round this globe, I never met with any locality -or prospect similar to the one which burst on my astonished sight at this -place!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I’ve travers’d many a mountain strand,</div> -<div class="verse">Abroad and in my native land;—</div> -<div class="verse">And it has been my fate to tread,</div> -<div class="verse">Where safety more than pleasure led—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">But by my Halidome—</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A scene so rude, so wild as this—</div> -<div class="verse">Or so sublime in barrenness,</div> -<div class="verse">Ne’er did my wandering footsteps press,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Where’er I chanc’d to roam!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>We stood on the verge of a tremendous precipice, eight hundred feet in -height, and overhanging the Elbe below. Though its brow is fringed with -an iron ballustrade, I observed that very few ventured to look over the -frightful bourne,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Lest the brain turn and the deficient sight</div> -<div class="verse">Topple down headlong.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the opposite direction, rises one of the most singular scenes that ever -opened on the human eye. The billows of an angry ocean suddenly converted -into stone, while agitated by a furious hurricane, might convey some, -but a very imperfect, idea of this astonishing locality. The fractured rocks, -though all presenting the stratifications so often mentioned, and most of -them still horizontal, assume almost every shape and form that imagination -bodies forth in the autumnal clouds that range themselves along the -western horizon, as the cortege of a setting sun, on a beautiful evening. -Pyramids, cliffs, spires, columns, ruins, cupolas, turrets, battlements, -castles, colossal statues and fantastic figures—of everything, in short, -which a fertile fancy can conjure up in the animate or inanimate world.<a name="FNanchor_86" id="FNanchor_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p> - -<p>After the first emotions of surprize and astonishment have subsided, -we begin to ask ourselves what convulsion of Nature could have -produced this scene of devastation, destruction, and dislocation? Was -it an earthquake?—a volcano?—or a <span class="smcap">deluge</span>? Coupling this last idea -with the acknowledged fact that all these fractured rocks were once a series -of level and solid strata at the bottom of the ocean, the remarkable expression -in Holy Writ rushed on the mind—“And the fountains of the -great deep were broken up.” Whether this indescribable scene of disruption -and dilapidation was produced by any one of those three causes, -or by all in succession, must for ever remain a secret sealed from human -ken,—but it is abundantly evident, from the vast masses of debris along -the banks of the river, that the winds and rains are constantly disintegrating -the softer materials of this “<span class="smcap">Mer de Pierres</span>,” and carrying them -down towards the stream of the Elbe, which acts its part in conveying -them to the bed of the great Northern Ocean, there to form new deposits, -preparatory to some other revolution in our planet, which may once more -raise the bed of the sea into terra firma—and overwhelm our mountains -and plains in unfathomable depths of the vast watery element!</p> - -<p>Various paths are formed among the intricacies of the rocks here, and -seats formed for contemplating</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Craggs, knolls, and mounds confusedly hurl’d,</div> -<div class="verse">The fragments of an earlier world.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And few minds can dwell on such a scene without profound reflections on -that Almighty <span class="smcap">Power</span> whose operations are displayed here on such a stupendous -scale.</p> - -<p>The external or distant views from the Bastei are still more striking than -those from the fortress of Kœnigstein—more varied in their character, and -having Kœnigstein itself, and also Lilienstein, as most prominent features in -the landscape. The rocky mounds in the same shape as the Lilienstein, -which stand up in every direction, are all seats of legendary tales, nearly -as numerous as those of the Rhine.</p> - -<p>We were not a little surprized to find in this eyrie a very comfortable -hotel—the romantic situation of which has no equal in Europe, or in the -world. But we were still more astonished to find horses and carriages in -the court-yard of the inn! We were, at first, inclined to disbelieve the -evidence of our own senses: but soon discovered that the northern approach -to the Bastei admits of a good carriage road, so that invalids or -weakly tourists may ascend to the very edge of the plateau on the summit -of the highest rock, without the slightest fatigue. Near the hotel, there -is seen a gigantic excavation in the rock, five times the size of the Coliseum -in Rome, and very much in the form of a huge natural amphitheatre, surrounded -by a towering rocky wall, of immense height, which wall is -crowned by a great variety of grotesque and colossal figures, bearing more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -or less resemblance to animals and artificial constructions. Here is a very -loud and distinct echo, which adds to the interest of a scene quite unique -on the face of this globe.</p> - -<p>We descended by the same path by which we ascended, enjoying the -prospects from various points, and bidding adieu to the most interesting -spot we had ever visited.</p> - -<h4>ELBE to DRESDEN.</h4> - -<p>Our little gondola floated down the silver Elbe towards Dresden on a -beautiful day, the right bank of the river still preserving its superiority of -scenery over the left. Indeed I think the former bank little, if at all, inferior -to even the best parts of the Rhine—besides the advantage of innumerable -white villas, vineyards, gardens, and orchards, scattered from the -summit of the hills down to the water’s edge.</p> - -<h4>PILLNITZ.</h4> - -<p>Passing the fortified town of <span class="smcap">Pirna</span> a on the left, we arrived at the summer -residence of the royal family at <span class="smcap">Pillnitz</span>; but too late to avail ourselves -of the permission given to foreigners to see, from a contiguous -gallery, the regal banquet at dinner-hour. The lions had not only fed, -but fled—perhaps to realize our nursery estimate of the felicity attendant -on crowns and sceptres—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“The <span class="smcap">King</span> was in his cabinet, counting out his money:</div> -<div class="verse">The <span class="smcap">Queen</span> was in the drawing-room, eating bread and honey.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>I certainly feared that the faithful adhesion of Saxony to the fortunes -of Napoleon, though it saved the “galleries” and “green vaults” of Dresden, -had not tended to an overflow of the royal treasury—and I was quite -sure that the battle of Leipsic and the Congress of Vienna had by no -means enlarged the territories of the Saxon Monarch. As to the Queen, -Boney’s inordinate love of <i>bees</i> must have greatly thinned the ranks of -her majesty’s hives on the sunny banks of the Elbe, and diminished the -supply of honey for the use of herself and maids of honour.<a name="FNanchor_87" id="FNanchor_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> Be that as -it may, I sincerely hope that no <i>Saxon</i> queen will ever be reduced from -bread and honey to bread and <i>cheese</i>—for in that event, her majesty’s case -would be hopeless.</p> - -<p>We greatly regretted that we had not a glimpse at that magnificent -lioness of Pillnitz, the Princess Amelia, sister to the monarch, and <span class="smcap">Playwriter</span> -to Germany in general. How she, as a Saxon princess, contrived -to depict on the stage, “the domestic manners of the Germans,” as Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -Jameson very artfully terms her dramas, is beyond my comprehension, unless -she imitated the Eastern Princes of former days, who went <i>incog.</i> among -their subjects. Be this as it may, I confess I do not see any delineation -of character in these plays that might not be picked up in the library, -theatre, and drawing-room, by any clever girl of Princess Amelia’s calibre -and talents. There is a clearer insight into domestic manners in one of -Horace’s Odes or Satires (vide Sat. VIII.,) than in the whole of the Princess’s -plays put together.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="DRESDEN">DRESDEN.</h3> - -<p>We approached this city on a beautiful evening—its numerous spires -and domes, its raised terraces, shaded promenades, broad river, and handsome -bridge, making a favourable impression on the stranger’s mind. The -bridge, though said to be the finest in Germany, would make a sorry figure -alongside of our Waterloo—and it bears on its centre arch a memorial that -is not likely ever to appear on any bridge that crosses the Thames—the -marks of a blow-up by a French General. The memorial, however, is not -very complimentary to the Gallic soldiers, who performed the exploit to -prevent the allies from running—<i>after them</i>! I wish the bridge regulation -over the Elbe was enforced on all bridges, and even streets—viz. that of -compelling passengers to take the right-hand side, by which they avoid -jostlings or collisions. The new town, on the right bank, is the unfashionable -one—the old one, the reverse—though the streets of the latter -are narrow, the houses high, and very dull as well as unadorned.</p> - -<p>You have scarcely descended from the bridge on the left bank, when you -find yourself entangled between a palace, a church, a theatre, and a minister’s -huge hotel, or rather bureau. Here I observed what I had hitherto -scouted—an “iter ad astra”—a <span class="smcap">royal road to heaven</span>. From the windows -of the palace a royal arch strides across the street, and enters the -Catholic church, high up, near the regal box or pew over the altar!—On -the opposite side rises the theatre. Thus <span class="smcap">Religion</span> sits calmly, but proudly, -between Comedy and Carousel; and the same musical corps which “swell -the notes of praise” in the solemn anthem of morning mass, fill the air -with the dulcet notes of Terpsichore, in the evening Opera. Such easy -transitions would excite some remark in holy England—though there is -nothing, after all, in these double duties of the vocal train—“vox et -pretærea nihil.” But the sight of an English king going every Sunday to -mass would astonish his Protestant subjects. Not so in Dresden. The -Saxons are just as much Protestants as the British are; yet they take no -umbrage at their monarch preferring the Romish to the reformed ritual!! -Would that such peaceable and charitable sentiments were universal in the -world!</p> - -<p>The palace itself is the most strange, straggling, and sombre mass or rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -chaos of state prisons that ever monarch inhabited—unless it is <span class="smcap">he</span> of the -Tartarian regions. It runs up the side of one street—down that of another—cuts -a third in two—swallows up a fourth in toto—and then scatters -itself into squares, courts, platzes, galleries, museums, &c. from which a -stranger would find no small difficulty in extricating himself, except by the -aid of Ariadne’s clue, or a rope-yarn longer than any that was ever spun -by a Greenwich pensioner. No wonder that their majesties take their -annual departure from this gloomy abode most punctually on the first day -of May, to enjoy the pure air and romantic prospects of Pillnitz and the -Bastei.</p> - -<p>The picture-galleries here have procured for Dresden the title of “the -<span class="smcap">Florence</span> of <span class="smcap">Germany</span>.” I think the “<span class="smcap">Green Vaults</span>,” and “<span class="smcap">Porcelain -Manufactories</span>,” entitle it to the additional appellations of -“Royal Toy-shop of Saxony,” and “China-Warehouse of Europe.”</p> - -<p>As good Protestants we first went to the cathedral—but as service was -over we climbed to the summit of the dome, and there we had a most complete -panoramic view of Dresden and the surrounding country, renewing -our acquaintance with our old friends Kœnigstein and Lilienstein, which -stand proudly forth as gigantic guardians of an enchanted land. The dome -of the cathedral is the first spot which a stranger should visit, as it is the -only place which spreads everything before him, as on a map, and all in -their just proportions and distances. The city of Dresden is by no means -extensive, even when including the old and new town; but the surrounding -and distant country presents scenery of great variety and beauty. The -southern views take in Saxon Switzerland—the northern, the fertile plains -and vales that stretch away towards Leipzig and Berlin. It is from this -elevated position that the great field of battle between Napoleon and the -allies (26th and 27th of August 1814) now smiles in peace and cultivation, -instead of being bristled with cannon, and strewed with human sacrifices -at the altar of Mars. The fortifications are now levelled to the ground, -or converted into beautiful shaded walks, gardens, and groves, that lead -out to meet a laughing landscape in every direction. One, and only one, -melancholy object arrests the wandering eye of the delighted observer—the -monument of <span class="smcap">Moreau</span>, on the spot where he fell by the side of the Emperor -Alexander. A plain free-stone block commemorates at once, the -death of the “<span class="smcap">hero Moreau</span>,” and the last victory of Napoleon! From -that moment, the star of this “child of destiny” began to fade in lustre, -and descend from its meridian. The battle of Culm and the disastrous -defeat at Leipzig completed the liberation of Germany; whilst the struggles -in France and Belgium afterwards, were only the pangs of a dying -giant!</p> - -<p>It appeared that <span class="smcap">Fortune</span> had, in Napoleon’s case, determined to wipe -the stain of fickleness from her character; but that she became exhausted -by, or, almost ashamed of, pouring incessant favours on a man, whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> -talents were as brilliant as his ambition was boundless; and whose philanthropy -was so weak that the blood of the whole human race would -scarcely have satiated his thirst of power, while the faintest hope of attaining -or retaining it remained!—a man without moderation in prosperity, -magnanimity in adversity, fidelity in matrimony, philosophy in exile, or -religion in death.<a name="FNanchor_88" id="FNanchor_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> He expired in the crater of an extinct volcano—a -suitable sepulchre for one who had grown up amid revolution, storms, -political earthquakes, and the thunders of war. His ashes, which reposed -in peace during twenty years, have been exhumed from the grave, and -cast like a fire-brand upon a huge pile of the most inflammable and destructive -combustibles that were ever amassed for the explosion of another -moral volcano!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Paci funesta dies! en tristia erynnis—</div> -<div class="verse">Atlantiaca pulsa resurgit humo!</div> -<div class="verse">Ecce alias tœdas Helenæ, atque incendia Trojæ</div> -<div class="verse">Oceani, oceani prodita claustra vomunt!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It was for a nation like France, to demolish the altar of the living God -(to use the words of Montalivert) to make room for the ashes of a Deist -dead!</p> - -<p>While memory retraces the page of history, written in blood on the -smiling landscape beneath us, the eye rests once more on the pyramidal -block which marks the fall of one of the ablest and best children of the -revolution. Some dastard, under the cover of night, nearly effaced the -word “<span class="smcap">hero</span>,” and substituted for it that of “<span class="smcap">traitor</span>.” Man is judged in -this world by his <i>actions</i>—in the next world by his <i>motives</i>. If <span class="smcap">Moreau</span> -warred against his country, he was a traitor—if he warred against a tyrant, -who usurped the sceptre and destroyed the liberties of his country, he was -a <span class="smcap">patriot</span>.</p> - -<p>Taking a last circumspective view of the splendid prospect around us, -we descended from the dome of the cathedral, and bent our steps to the -Catholic church, where high mass was about to be celebrated. Here we -found a sacred precept at once completely violated. “Whom God has -joined let no man separate.” But the wife is here severed from her husband, -and the sister from the brother—for what good purpose I am unable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> -to divine. If the two sexes are not allowed to pray together, lest the -scandal of assignations should result, the priesthood of Saxony are as little -acquainted with human nature as they are with the Aborigines of New -Holland.</p> - -<p>But what becomes of this regulation, when we see that it only extends -to the <span class="smcap">pit</span>, while in the galleries of this holy opera (for high mass is neither -more nor less than a sacred drama), the ladies and gentlemen are allowed -to listen and laugh—or peradventure to pray, during the service?</p> - -<p>The music here is said to be the best in Germany—and I suppose it must -be so. If the object of sacred music be the elevation of the soul to the -highest pitch of religious fervor and devotional enthusiasm, the accomplishment -of that object may be doubted where a multiplicity of violins -and other instruments drown rather than accompany the choir and the -organ. There is, however, one exception to this doubt. When, in the -performance of the solemn <i>requiem</i>, and at the words—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Tuba, mirum spargens sonum</div> -<div class="verse">Per sepulchra regionum,</div> -<div class="verse">Coget omnes ante thronum—</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the trumpet pours its loud notes along the vaulted roof of some lofty -cathedral, which reverberates them on the crowd below, in imitation of the -“<span class="smcap">last trump</span>,” whose awful sounds shall penetrate every grave on this -globe—burst the marble cerements of the tomb—and summon their -shivering tenants to the foot-stool of their God—the effect is almost -magical! And well it may be so. The very idea of such a stupendous -and miraculous event, involving the hopes and fears, the rewards and -punishments, the eternal peace or endless misery of the whole human race, -is sufficiently astounding and overwhelming in itself; but when heightened -by the most artful and gorgeous imitation that human ingenuity could -invent or effect, the impression is beyond description or even conception!</p> - -<p>The picture-galleries are the master-lion of Dresden, and as a mere -catalogue of the paintings—not a “catalogue raisonnée”—fills a goodly -octavo volume, the reader may be assured that I will not, even if I could, -inflict on him a critical notice of this celebrated collection, reiterated <i>ad -nauseam</i>, by so many connoisseurs in the art and mystery of the craft. -Would that the pictorial critics would keep their unintelligible jargon and -puzzling lingo to themselves! How many hundreds and thousands of -the visitors of galleries have the cup of enjoyment dashed from their lips, -while admiring paintings, by hearing some pert hypercritic condemn them -as deficient in “depth of shade,” “breadth of colour,” “truth of tint”—or -some arbitrary quality which his brain has engendered to bewilder the -uninitiated, and display his own refinement of taste and judgment! Then -the host of pseudo-critics, who prick up their ears and catch the <i>fiats</i> of -the connoisseur, become actual pests in the galleries, retailing the <span class="smcap">dicta</span> of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> -their superiors, and scattering doubts and dissentions among the confiding -crowd—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent4">——Spargere voces</div> -<div class="verse">In vulgum ambiguas.——</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In such a prodigious collection the great majority of pictures must be of -inferior note, and unworthy of attention. There are, however, a vast -number of gems and chef-d’œuvres, and on these, the traveller will, almost -always, find artists (male and female) constantly employed in copying—many -of them for their daily bread—not a few, as amateurs, even of the -highest rank in life. Here, then, are a series of guides, more practical -than all the critics which commit their lucubrations to the press.</p> - -<p>Although Saxony is a Protestant <i>state</i>, it is a Catholic <i>kingdom</i>, and -therefore there is a good sprinkling of sacred subjects in the Dresden galleries. -The intentions of delineating the mysteries of our holy religion on -canvas, may be pious, but the attempt to do so is little less than impious. -What required the miraculous power of a Deity to effect, is not likely to -be imitated in oil and colours by the hands of <span class="smcap">man</span>. The great truths of -<span class="smcap">religion</span> are addressed to the heart rather than to the eye—to the internal -feelings rather than to the external senses—to faith rather than to demonstration. -Let the painter beware how he tries to reduce <i>these</i> to sensible -and visible representations!</p> - -<p>Be this as it may, the stranger will always find artists and artistes busy -in copying Bellini’s “<span class="smcap">Christ</span>”—Titian’s “Tribute Money”—the same -painter’s “Mistress”—Veccio’s “Virgin and Infant”—P. Veronese’s -“Adoration of the Virgin and Child”—“The Finding of Moses”—Giorgione’s -“Meeting of Jacob and Rachael”—“The Marriage of the Doges -of Venice with the Sea”—the “Four Doctors of the Church,” by Dosso -Dossi—Raphael’s “<span class="smcap">Madonna de san Sisto</span>,” the jewel of the gallery, -which was bought for £8000—Corregio’s “Virgin and Child”—the -“Virgin and Infant in the Manger,” the second gem of Dresden paintings,—the -“Recumbent Magdalene”—“the Sacrifice of Isaac,”—“Venus -and Bacchus”—Rubens’ “Descent of the Fallen Angels”—Van Dyk’s -“Charles I. and Family”—Rembrandt’s “Own Self and Wife”—Poussin’s -“Discovery of Moses in the Bullrushes”—Claud’s “Acis and Galatea,” -&c. These and scores of others are in perpetual transition from the walls -of the galleries to the easels of the copyists—hence a common complaint -that such collections as these give the highest encouragement to imitators, -and almost annihilate originality.</p> - -<h4>THE GREEN VAULTS.</h4> - -<p>This royal toy-shop—this magnificent museum of costly curiosities, might -satiate the eyes and appetites of all the Arabian princes and princesses—of -all the Persian shaws and Peruvian monarchs, that ever lived—nay, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> -might leave the <span class="smcap">Grand Mogul</span> himself (could his court be re-established -in Hindostan) nothing to wish for or want!</p> - -<p>“Whoever,” says an intelligent traveller, “takes pleasure in the glitter -of precious stones—in gold and silver, wrought into all sorts of royal ornaments, -into every form, however grotesque, that art can give them, -<i>without any aim at either utility or beauty</i>, will stroll with satisfaction through -the apartments of this gorgeous toy-shop. They are crowded with crowns -and jewels, and regal attire of a long line of Saxon princes;<a name="FNanchor_89" id="FNanchor_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a>—vases and -other utensils seem to have been made merely as a means of expending -gold and silver—the shelves glitter with caricatured urchins, whose bodies -are often formed of huge pearls, or of egg-shells, to which are attached -limbs of enamelled gold. One is dazzled by the quantity of gems and -precious metals that glare around him:—he must even admire the ingenuity -which has fashioned them into so many ornaments and unmeaning -nick-nacks. But there is nothing that he forgets more easily, or that deserves -less to be remembered.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Russell’s opinion has been cavilled at, as not giving sufficient praise -to the merit of patience labour and skill that have been expended on this -royal collection. If these had resulted in things that were either useful -or ornamental, the merit might have been granted; but neither the one nor -the other has been the consequence of an expense equal to that of the -national debt. The best exception to this general censure is—“the <span class="smcap">Court -of the Great Mogul</span>,” representing the Emperor <span class="smcap">Aurengzebe</span> upon his -throne, surrounded by his guards and courtiers, in appropriate costumes, -according to the description of Tavernier. There are 132 figures, all of -pure enamelled gold, which cost <span class="smcap">Dinlinger</span> eight years’ labour, and the -Saxon treasury eighty-five thousand dollars! This is decidedly the most -elaborate and meritorious work in the Green Vaults; but is it more so than -that which was proposed by <span class="smcap">Dinocrates</span>—the carving of Mount <span class="smcap">Athos</span> -into a statue representing Alexander? I think the latter was the more -noble of the two. The Macedonian project would have given occupation -and subsistence to tens of thousands of labourers for half a century—the -<i>materials</i> being barren rock. The Saxon enterprize occupied only one man -for eight years—the material being pure gold, and precious jewels. But -as men, women and children will run after pretty baubles, glittering gewgaws, -and rare curiosities—and as a tax of one shilling a head is levied in -the Green Vaults, a tolerable revenue is derived from this royal shew-shop, -independent of the constant influx of wealth from the legions of -travellers that ascend and descend the Elbe. It is but justice to acknowledge -that the curators who attend visitors around these costly treasures, -are polite and accomplished gentlemen, who speak various languages, and -are ever ready to afford the fullest information on every subject. These<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> -vaults, the picture-galleries, and armoury, &c. are open every day in the -week to the public.</p> - -<h4>RUSTKAMMER.</h4> - -<p>If a tour through the Green Vaults excites reflections on the ingenuity -which man has evinced in carving inanimate materials into the shapes and -forms of various living things, an inspection of the immense armoury here, -is calculated to call forth emotions of a very different description! Here we -find the ingenuity of man exerted and tortured in the invention of innumerable -deadly weapons by which his fellow man may be carved into fragments, -pierced with wounds, or battered into mummies!<a name="FNanchor_90" id="FNanchor_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> The Rustkammer -certainly leaves the Tower of London at immeasurable distance in the rear, -not only for the variety of instruments used in general warfare, but for -those which were employed in tilts, tournaments, and the chase. Here we -see not merely the arms of the feudal ages, but the horses, the knights -themselves, and all the trappings and accoutrements thereunto belonging.</p> - -<p>The prodigious labour and wealth expended on man, horse, armour, and -trappings, excite our astonishment rather than our admiration. The great -variety of drinking vessels, horns, goblets and cups of all dimensions, and -adapted for all depths of potation, would have charmed the heart of the -Baron of Bradwardine, and, well nigh eclipsed the “<span class="smcap">Blessed Bear</span>” of -that hospitable old Highlander! But what shall we say to the armour of -those days—for instance, that of Augustus the Second, surnamed the -Strong? The French giant, who displayed his powers some years ago, at -the Adelphi theatre, would hardly strut under it, weighing, as it does, more -than two hundred pounds!</p> - -<p>It has been observed that—“were Europe thrown back, by the word of -an enchanter, into the middle-ages, Saxony could take the field, with a -duly equipped army, sooner than any other power. We cannot easily form -any idea of the long practice which have been necessary to enable a man -to wear such habiliments with comfort, much more to wield such arms -with agility and dexterity. But the young officers of those days wore -armour almost as soon as they could walk, and transmigrated regularly -from one iron shell into another, more unwieldy than its predecessor, till -they reached the full stature of knighthood, and played at broad-sword, -<i>with the weight of a twelve-pounder on their backs</i>, as lightly as a lady bears -a chaplet of silken flowers on her head in a quadrille.”</p> - -<p>The “<i>twelve-pounder</i>” on the back is a pretty considerable bounce, far -outstripping Jonathan’s sea-serpent, since a “twelve-pounder” would -weigh at least fifteen hundred pounds! But let that pass. No discipline -or early tuition would enable a person of the present day to fight in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> -armour of the middle-ages. It would require a series of generations -trained in the habits, diet, and manners of those times, to produce a progeny -capable of enduring such coats of mail, or wielding such Herculean -weapons as were in use seven hundred years ago. The present age does -not yield to that of any former period, in heroic deeds or personal courage; -but science now supersedes brute force, and the energies of the brain -amply compensate for diminution of muscular strength.<a name="FNanchor_91" id="FNanchor_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></p> - -<p>As there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous—from -solemn tragedy to laughing farce—so are there only a few paces between -the great magazine of toys in the green vaults, and the great magazine -of manslaughter in the Rustkammer. From these depôts we turn away, -more in pity than in admiration, to repositories of a very different kind—those -of the peaceful arts, that mingle with, and contribute to, our domestic -comforts and social enjoyments, and which combine elegance with ornament, -and utility with beauty. Need I allude to the Saxon porcelaine, -celebrated over Europe and the world.</p> - -<p>I own that I entertained a secret hope that the number of <i>other</i> lions in -this city would drive <i>this</i> particular one out of the memory of my better-half. -I had three reasons for this hope or wish:—1st, the saving of expense—2d, -of carriage and breakage—3d, of—smuggling! But I had calculated -without my host. Just when we had come to the conclusion, that -we had now seen all the sights, it was suddenly recollected that the best of -all was happily yet in reserve—the porcelaine manufactory! No. You may -as well attempt to drag a lady from Geneva without purchasing trinkets, -as from Dresden without buying China. A compact, however, was signed, -that we were only to enjoy the luxury of viewing the repository, without -encumbering our luggage with any of its precious but brittle wares. -Nevertheless, it happened that some of the articles were found to be so -“dog cheap,” and so pretty withall, that, to leave the Elbe without taking -away some specimens of its renowned manufactures, was considered to be -a kind of travelling solecism, if not a porcelaine suicide! It was urged, -moreover, that the <i>ad valorem</i> duty, at an English Custom-house, would -be—next to <i>nothing</i>. I strongly suspect that this prophecy, like many -others, tended to fulfill itself, and that the <i>duty</i> was, as predicted, next to -<i>nothing</i>!</p> - -<p>We had been bored, for some days, by the Laquais de Place, to make an -excursion to a place called Tharand, about ten miles from Dresden, a locality -which was represented as the ne plus ultra of all that is sublime and beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> -in natural scenery—and moreover, that it was visited by every traveller who -passed through Dresden. So we posted off one fine morning, and arrived at -this valley of Rasselas. We found it situated where three narrow and steep -defiles meet at one point, and where the ruins of an old castle, perched -on a sharp promontory, overlook a small village on one side, a watering-place -on the other, and the road to Dresden in front. The locality has -nothing of the sublime, little of the beautiful, and less of the romantic in -its composition. It is a picturesque spot, but not worth the trouble of -going three miles to see it. The lacquais de place will always endeavour -to eke out an additional day’s boar hunting, when lionizing is at an end.</p> - -<p>Of the Dresdenese themselves, it is “not my hint to speak.” They -are like most other people under similar latitudes, institutions, and governments. -Like most continental folks, they are fond of sitting in the open -air, smoking their pipes and sipping their coffee. And no wonder. The -air of the Bruhl Terrace, raised above the Elbe, and commanding a fine -view of the opposite bank, as it stretches away towards Saxon Switzerland, -contrasts wonderfully with the stagnant atmosphere and gloomy -apartments of their own houses. The demolition of the fortifications -round Dresden has given such lungs to the Saxon metropolis as must -greatly increase the longevity of its inhabitants—contrary to what is likely -to occur to the “heroes of the barricades,” who will now be barricaded, -with a vengeance!</p> - -<p>Saxony being a favourite pupil of the “Grande Nation,” the “glorious -days of July” were rehearsed on the banks of the Elbe, and a representative -constitution was extorted, without much force, from the king. The conversion -of one archon (mon-arch) into three hundred archons elected by -the people, and forming the “tiers etat,” or house of representatives, did -not realize the golden dreams of the country. On the contrary, as the -odious task of levying taxes was shifted from the shoulders of the king, -who was always economical, to be divided among 300 representatives, the -latter body nearly doubled the taxes, being now mere tools of the court!</p> - -<p>However, the Saxons have obtained important privileges, and great -extension of the franchise. Among other valuable rights acquired, by the -people, is that of <i>electing their executioner</i>! This interesting functionary -is considered a kind of gentleman—at least he is an officer of state, which -is next thing to it—and has a house, land, and several perquisites attached -to the office. Among these last is a claim to the bodies of all horses and -cattle that die a natural death. This revenue from hoofs, horns, and hides, -is said to be very considerable. It would be equally amusing and edifying -to hear the professions and promises of the candidate for <i>headsman</i><a name="FNanchor_92" id="FNanchor_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> delivered -from the hustings, during the canvass. One of the promises or -temptations held out by this “limb of the law”—this “<i>sharp</i> practitioner”—this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> -member of the <i>executive</i>—would, doubtless, be that, should any of -his constituents honour him with their custom, he would be happy to <i>serve</i> -them, on the shortest notice, on the most liberal terms, and with the utmost -<i>dispatch</i>!</p> - -<h4>DRESDEN to LEIPZIG.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Swift as <span class="smcap">Camilla</span> scours along the plain—</div> -<div class="verse">So darts on iron wings the thundering <span class="smcap">train</span>.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The steam-engine possesses the all but miraculous power of contracting -space and expanding time. Thus, it compresses the sixty-two miles between -Dresden and Leipzig into fifteen miles—while it enables a three -hours’ run by rail to throw off an expansion of ten spare hours to see the -great emporium of books on the banks of the Estler, which hours would -otherwise be spent in traversing the most monotonous road that ever man -or beast drew their weary limbs along! Corn, corn, nothing but corn, or -the bare stubble from which it was cut, meets the tired eye between the -city of the pallet and the city of the pen. We become as sick, indeed, -of wheat and oats, as the unwashed artisan of Birmingham is of the laws -that confine these oceans of grain to the banks of the Elbe and the Vistula, -instead of being diffused through the factories and work-shops of -England—to appease the hunger and invigorate the limbs of a dense and -manufacturing population. The rapidity of the train, the clanking of the -machinery, the belching of steam, the evolution of smoke, and the scattering -of burning cinders, render the three hours’ journey bearable enough. -There is but one long tunnel, (between Dresden and Magdeburg) through -which the train runs and roars and spits its fires—while at another place, -it leaps clean over the river Elbe! A rail-road in the North of Germany -is quite an oasis in the desert. One hundred and forty miles from Dresden -to Magdeburg, with Leipzig in the centre, occupy only seven or eight -hours, instead of three or four toilsome days by the snail-post.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h3 id="LEIPZIG">LEIPZIG.</h3> - -<p>Having had a good deal—perhaps too much—to do with books, I had -some curiosity to see this great mart of <span class="smcap">buckhandlungs</span>—at once the -cradle and the grave of literature! The first thing that strikes the stranger -is the eternal “<span class="smcap">buckhandlung</span>” over every second door in the city. -The next, is the paucity of carriages—a drowsky or a private vehicle being -rarely visible. The third object is perpetually reminding us, not without -sighs and groans, of the smooth trottoirs over which we were wont to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> -glide in modern Babylon. Of all the towns through which I have limped -and hobbled in my journey of life, Leipzig bears the palm for maiming -and laming the unfortunate visitor, by means of its sharp stones and uneven -pavée. I wonder that the seven-leagued and iron-shod boots of -the students, together with the innumerable tomes of <i>heavy literature</i> that -are biennially carted through the streets of Leipzig, have not ground off -the angles from the said stones. Yet they have not.</p> - -<p>As I was unwilling to do the penance of Peter Pindar’s pilgrim, I directed -my steps to the observatory, and mounted its highest balcony, when -Leipzig and its contiguous battle-field lay stretched beneath me. The -astronomer kindly pointed out the topography of the city and its vicinity, -with minute details of the great combat which he himself had witnessed. -Leipzig is a curious compound of the modern and the antique—one side -being new and the other old. But in every street, bustle and business -went on, while on every countenance thought and reflection were so visibly -painted that one would suppose the whole of the books that came to -the two fairs were studied by the inhabitants. The demolition of the fortifications -has secured the Leipzigers two things—the presence of healthful -walks, and the absence of bloody sieges—blessings and curses which -the Parisians seem neither to desire nor dread. Cities should never be -converted into fortresses. The extent of the works and the number of the -people are causes of weakness and not strength. A fortress should only -contain soldiers, who can lay in provisions against long investment, and on -whom, not on citizens, the horrors of war should fall.</p> - -<p>I have said that this city is the cradle of literature. No biblio-parturient -author in Germany would think of being confined, and delivered of -his bantling of the brain, without the aid of a Leipzig accoucheur. -Whether his cerebro-gestation may have lasted nine months, or, as Horace -directs—as many years—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Nonum prematur in annum,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Mr. Brockhaus, or some of his obstetrical brethren in Leipzig, must usher -the “<span class="smcap">nouveau né</span>” into light.</p> - -<p>But I have also said that Leipzig is the grave as well as the cradle of -literature, or rather of its authors. At every fair there is a number of -fairies on the look out for every promising birth, which is immediately -kidnapped—wrested from its lawful parents—and sold in distant markets! -In other words:—whenever a work of merit, or apparent merit, appears in -the Leipzig fair, it is pounced upon by literary sharks and vultures from -Frankfort, Wirtemburg, and other places, and instantly reprinted for the -benefit of those who have gone to no outlay in brains or money! It is in -vain that authors and publishers complain. The <i>former</i> are told that, -although they have pocketed nothing by their long literary toil, they have -earned reputation, which is greatly superior to sordid gold; while the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -publishers are laughed at for their foolish speculations! Hence it is, that -authors of the most splendid talents and universal renown, are often forced -to publish by subscription—a mode that would damn, or at least, degrade -them in the eyes of a British public. It may be said that—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“All partial ill is universal good,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and that, though authors and booksellers are defrauded, the public are -gainers. But private industry is as deserving of protection as private property—and -there can be no doubt that many men of great talent and -learning are discouraged by these piracies, and deterred from embarking in -literary labours. This uncertainty too prevents all liberal outlay on paper -and type, both of which are disgracefully bad in Germany.</p> - -<p>Leipzig is not without interesting associations and reminiscences. But -some of the historical are too remote—some too recent—to be dwelt on -here. The poetical are too extravagant—and the literary too mystified for -much notice in this place. Yet we cannot bid adieu to this cradle and -grave of literature, without a passing thought on two of its magnates—Gottsched -and Klopstock—the <i>former</i>, the father of modern German -learning—the <i>latter</i>, the Goliath of the same. Gottsched was born to be -a great man—for his stature was such that he abandoned, through pure -modesty, his native land, and took refuge in Leipzig, lest he should be -promoted to the rank of a grenadier in the army of Frederick the Great. -There he claimed the character of an universal genius, acting, at once, the -philosopher, grammarian, critic and poet. But his body was bigger than -his brains, and he is now consigned to oblivion—perhaps unjustly so. His -language then (1740-60) was just emerging from barbarism. It was a -period of transition, and shewed no signs of vigorous life. “He introduced -a more cultivated style—attacked pedantic extremes—and excited -useful controversy.”</p> - -<p>Passing over Schlegel, Gellert, and other literary lions of Leipzig, we -must bear in mind that it was from this mart of learning that the great -Klopstock, like a huge gymnatus electricus, caused Europe to vibrate by -the birth of his Messiah. “It roused all Germany from Leipzig to its -circumference; and Bodmer, from the valleys of Switzerland, hailed its -author as the morning-star of a new æra.”</p> - -<h4>RETROSPECTIVE VIEW FROM THE TOWER OF THE OBSERVATORY.</h4> - -<p>He must be a stoic, or something more, who can stand on this time-worn -tower, without recalling to mind those stupendous events which occurred -a quarter of a century ago, around the base of the building. No event, -ancient or modern, can at all compare with the battles around Leipzig, in -Oct. 1814: whether we look to the magnitude of the armies—the discipline, -valour, and enthusiasm of the men—the talents and skill of the commanders—or -the momentous object for which they fought. Six crowned heads—three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> -Emperors and three Kings—were present at these terrific conflicts, -and witnessed the carnage and havoc among <span class="smcap">five hundred thousand</span> -soldiers engaged for several days and nights in mortal combat!! This was -not the undisciplined rabble, or the effeminate retinue of an Oriental -despot, crossing the Hellespont in pride and ignorance; but veterans from -every country between the mountains of Norway and the mouths of the -Danube—between the Atlantic on the West and Siberia in the East. -These battles were not for mere victory, or to decide some political quarrel -between two or more states. No. It was for the very existence of sceptres—for -the independence or subjugation of every empire and kingdom -in Continental Europe. The struggle was between the oppressor and the -oppressed—between Napoleon the aggressor, and the allied Sovereigns, as -defenders of their crowns, hearths, and altars. The one army had the -disgrace of a hundred defeats to obliterate and avenge—the other the -laurels of a hundred victories to preserve and sustain. The French fought -for the glory of their country, or rather of their Emperor, and the conquest -of Europe—the Allies, for the liberation of their soil from thraldom, and -the repulsion, if not the deposition, of a tyrant invader.</p> - -<p>Such a prodigious accumulation and concentration of martial hosts,—excited, -agitated, and impelled by the fiercer passions of our nature—by -ambition, hatred, and revenge—portended the approach of some great -crisis in the affairs of the world. The feeling on both sides was, evidently, -“aut Cæsar aut nullus.” The grand crisis was indeed at hand. The -benignant <span class="smcap">Star</span> of Peace and Justice was about to rise, in splendour, from -the East;—while the malignant <span class="smcap">Meteor of War</span>, that had scattered, for -twenty years, plague, pestilence and famine over a groaning world, was -about to descend from its bad eminence, and be extinguished for ever in -the Atlantic surge.</p> - -<p>Napoleon, with all his strength of mind, was superstitious; having -some peculiar notions about fate, and destiny, and stars and fortune—as -though these imaginary beings had any power to control the laws of Nature, -or interfere between cause and effect, whether in the moral or -physical world.</p> - -<p>It is not improbable that, when, in the night of the 15th October, -Napoleon saw three “<span class="smcap">death-rockets</span>” rise from the southern horizon, -streaming their pale but brilliant light high through the Heavens—and, -when, immediately afterwards, he beheld four blood-red meteors springing -up far far to the northward, indicating too plainly that the signal from the -grand Austro-Russian army in the South was answered by the Swedo-Prussian -in the North, his moral courage may have experienced a momentary -depression, and his superstition an alarm! There was little time, -however, for reflection. Action, action was soon required. At the dawn -of day the Austro-Russian army attacked the whole southern front of the -French position with great fury but no success. Six desperate attempts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> -were reiterated, one after the other—but all failed! This was discouraging -enough—worse remained behind. The moment of exhaustion among -the allied troops was seized upon by Napoleon, who, by one gigantic effort, -pierced and penetrated the very centre of the allied line, while Murat, -Maubourg, and Kellerman, dashed through the gap with the whole of the -cavalry! At this moment of frightful peril, when the torrent of French -troops was pouring through the fatal breach with irresistible impetuosity, -shouting and exulting in the successful exploit, <span class="smcap">Alexander</span> called to his -faithful Cossack guards, and pointing to the column of French cavalry that -was thundering forward in the rear of the allies, addressed a few, and but -a few words to them—probably not dissimilar from those of our own poet, -at another terrific combat—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent8">——on ye brave,</div> -<div class="verse">Who rush to glory or the grave—</div> -<div class="verse">Wave, Cossacks! all your banners wave!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And charge with all your chivalry!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The valorous Pulk right well fulfilled the emperor’s order. The “furious -Huns” sprang, like tigers, on the “fiery Franks,” and not only charged -and checked the headlong torrent, but rolled back the dense mass of -cavalry at the point of their spears, with destructive carnage, through the -opening by which it had penetrated the Austro-Russian line. Thus, at -the moment when all appeared lost for the allies, a handful of semi-savages -from the banks of the Don overwhelmed the finest body of French horse -that ever paraded on the banks of the Seine—and that with the King of -Naples at its head!</p> - -<p>After this rebuff, the fickle goddess forsook her favourite child! The -assailing armies hemmed in, closer and closer, the contracting circles of -Napoleon’s troops, and after days of ineffectual struggles to revive a sinking -cause, the hero of a hundred victories was obliged to sue for an armistice! -No answer being returned, the mortified emperor prepared for -retreat. But even here Fortune turned her back on him. The Saxon -troops threw off their allegiance, and even fired on their former companions -in arms, while endeavouring to extricate themselves from the western gate -of Leipzig! The only bridge, too, by which they could escape, was blown -up by mistake, while twenty-five thousand Frenchmen were left prisoners -on the other side! Napoleon with difficulty reached the western bank of -the Estler—Poniatouski was drowned in that muddy ditch—and a mere -wreck of the Gallic army reached the Rhine. From that day, the star of -Napoleon descended till its light was quenched for ever in the western -wave! Of all the auxiliaries and mercenaries which various passions, -propensities, necessities, or interests had attracted round the standard of -the victorious emperor, <span class="smcap">one only</span> remained true to its trust in the memorable -retreat from Leipzig! Italians, Bavarians, Saxons, Swedes—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“All, all forsook the friendless guilty mind,</div> -<div class="verse">But faithful Poland lingered still behind.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It may not require any great fortitude to meet the scowl or scorn of -our enemy, whether conqueror or conquered; but he must have nerves of -iron who can look in the face of <i>friend betrayed</i>. The sight of the gallant -and deceived Poles, bearing nobly the hardships and miseries of a disastrous -flight, might have wrung tears of remorse from Napoleon’s eyes. But he -had no heart. Egotism was the nutriment on which even his ambition -fed. What said he, when viewing the wretched remains of his army when -it halted at Erfurt, on the 23d of October? “<i>They are a set of scoundrels, -who are going to the devil.</i>” Retributive justice ordained that <span class="smcap">he himself</span> -should not be far behind them!</p> - -<p>The Tower of the Observatory stands close to the Estler and the scene -of the dreadful evacuation of the town, the death of Poniatouski, and the -blowing up of the bridge. It also commands a view of most of the theatres -of operations during the successive battles, besides an excellent bird’s-eye -view of the town itself. No one should fail to visit this spot, and recall -the mighty events which occurred around it.</p> - -<h4>MAGDEBURG to HAMBURG.</h4> - -<p>A good railroad whisks us along, through monotonous corn-fields, from -Leipzig to Magdeburg, in three or four hours. This is the strongest fortification -(always excepting Kœnigstein) on the Elbe—and contains more -than fifty-thousand people, garrison and all. It is, or rather <i>was</i>, in -Saxony; but, thanks to the auspices of Napoleon, in favour of his pet of -Dresden, it is now Prussian, and likely to be long so. It is of immense -extent, and would require thirty or forty thousand men to defend it—consequently -double that number to invest it. As all great virtues are assailed -by virulent abuse, so all strong cities are honoured with long sieges. The -history of Magdeburg should be printed and posted on the gates of Paris. -It has had its ups and downs in its day. It was besieged many a time, -and sometimes taken. Although it repulsed the famous Count Wallenstein, -in the thirty years’ war, it fell, after two years’ siege, before the magnanimous -Tilley (1631), who sacked the city; but in his humanity, spared the -whole of the inhabitants—except <span class="smcap">thirty thousand</span>, whom he massacred, -without distinction of age or sex!! These are among the “splendid -miseries” to which fortified towns and cities have been entitled, time immemorial—from -the days of Alexander and <span class="smcap">Titus</span>, to those of Napoleon -and Wellington—from the sacred heights of Solyma, to the sandy plains -of Haerlem! This doubtful glory—this dangerous pre-eminence, appears -to be the height of a great people’s ambition—though it is probable that -a nation’s strength has more in its moral courage and physical energies, -than in dead walls and deep ditches.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span></p> - -<p>A steamer starts at five o’clock every morning from Magdeburg to -Hamburg, and when the Elbe is not very low, the passage may be performed -in one day. But fortunately, or unfortunately, we had not had a wet day, or -hardly a cloud in the sky, from the day we left London, till our return to that -metropolis, and therefore the river was so shallow, that we were forty-eight -hours on the voyage. There never was a vessel that had a greater partiality -for the ground than ours—and when once her keel and the sand came in -contact, it was as difficult to separate them as to disengage two furious -mastiffs joined in mortal combat. Our captain, too, had a singular method -of loosening his vessel from her hold on the shoal. Instead of carrying -out an anchor astern, and dragging her off in that direction, as we drag -dogs from one another by their tails, he invariably took the anchor out -a-head, and after prizing the vessel as far forward on the bank as possible, -he then tried the retrogressive plan, and, of course, succeeded, though sometimes -after two or three hours’ delay. At length we came to a dead stop—for -there was not three feet water in any part of the river; so we were -obliged to shift into another steamer, “<i>below bar</i>” and jogged along, as -above the barrier, but more of our time passed aground than afloat. -However, we had a very pleasant society on board—people from various -countries—very good table-d’hôte—but, as the weather was fine, and the -berths close and crowded, I picked out the softest plank I could find on -deck, and slept in the open air, during our descent of the Elbe. There is -little or no improvement of the scenery between Dresden and the mouth -of the river. The Elbe pays a heavy fine in the shape of monotony for -its short but romantic route through Saxon Switzerland!</p> - -<h4>HAMBURG.</h4> - -<p>From the muddy wharves and quays, we scramble up through steep -streets, every second house having an inscription, or rather an advertisement -in English on its walls or over the door Of the Babel tongues that -salute the ear in every part of this city, the English seems to hold the next -rank to German and Dutch. Whether it was from the lowness of the -Elbe, and the long drought, I know not, but the canals that penetrate far -up several of the streets, appeared abominably filthy and malodorous. -Three-fourths indeed of their bottoms were bare of water, and only exhibited -reeking mud, well impregnated with all kinds of animal and vegetable -debris, and admirably calculated to spread pestilential disorders -through the city.</p> - -<p>At length we got to what might be termed “the West End,” though it -is here the North or North-East quarter, and the scene is entirely changed. -We find ourselves, all at once, on the borders of a spacious lake, which is -narrowed in the middle, and spanned there by a bridge, exhibiting on its -surface numerous pleasure-boats, and on its banks a succession of handsome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -buildings. Shaded walks and terraces are constructed along the shores, -so that these lakes (for they may be considered as two formed by a bridge) -really present a most refreshing picture to the eye in Summer, and furnish -a magnificent skating-plain in Winter. The levelled fortifications are now -converted into superb and extensive promenades, gardens, and shrubberies, -exhibiting a pleasing contrast to the endless batteries, fosses, and bastions -of Magdeburg and other fortified towns. No city or town on the Continent, -that I have seen, presents anything like the <span class="smcap">bustle</span> of <span class="smcap">business</span> that -is going forward in every street of Hamburg. Leipzig is nothing to it, -since it wants all the elements and materiel of maritime commerce. The -great hotels face the lake (which, by the bye, is a monstrous dam formed -by a dribbling stream, the Alster) and the <i>Salles-a-Manger</i> there, shew us -that we are almost clean out of Germany, and nearly in the heart of old -England. The table-d’hôte is at four o’clock, where good substantial -joints and dishes dance merrily round the table, and are eagerly demolished -by stomachs sharply whetted on the exchange, the bureaus, warehouses, -and shops of this most singular entrepôt of European merchandize; The -Hamburghers and Leipzigers appear to belong to the class of ruminating -animals, who flock to the table-d’hôte for the purpose of swallowing, or -rather bolting their dinners, dispensing entirely with the process of mastication, -and leaving the triple functions of rumination, digestion, and calculation -to go on simultaneously, not successively, by which many hours -of valuable time are daily gained for the dispatch of business. I will not -maintain that this bolting system, followed by the hard labour of two important -organs, the head and the stomach, at one and the same time, is -equally as well calculated for the preservation of health as for the accumulation -of wealth; but probably it is not more insalubrious than the -ennui, the inertion, the eternal pipe, and the poisonous dishes of the noncommercial -Germans in general.</p> - -<p>It is upon the same principle of economy of time, and division of labour, -that the Hamburghers hire professed mourners to weep and wail over their -deceased relatives. By this ingenious procedure the business of the living -is not interrupted by the departure of the dead—perhaps not even on—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">The first dull day of nothingness—</div> -<div class="verse">The last of suffering and distress!</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>When the Hamburghers levelled their fortifications to the ground, they -took care to leave certain portals or barriers standing, by which they might -be enabled to levy contributions on—“the stranger within their gates,” -as well as on those who are outside. The nocturnal tax on ingress and -egress increases with every hour after sunset, and the bustle and confusion -occasioned by the embarkations and debarkations of steam-travellers with -their luggage, baffle all description. The drowskies and their cads, -the porters and their wads, the janitors, the police, and the watermen—all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> -jumbled in the darkness of the night about the water-gate of the city—all -vociferating in the most discordant jargon; but all united in the strictest -harmony of action, as to one operation—the patriotic endeavour to empty -the passengers’ purses of every stray mark that might be encumbering their -pockets—such a scene is not easily delineated, nor will it be forgotten!</p> - -<p>A good steamer, fair weather, and a pleasant company, rendered a forty-eight -hours’ run to modern Babylon an agreeable variety in the chequered -scenes of a long tour.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="CHARACTERISTIC_TRAITS">CHARACTERISTIC TRAITS<br /> -<span class="smaller">OF</span><br /> -GERMANY AND THE GERMANS.</h3> - -<p>Having now brought my various perambulations (at various times) through -Germany to a close, it might be thought possible that a traveller could form -some definite idea—or draw some distinctive character of the people themselves. -This is more easy in theory than in practice. If an intelligent Japanese -were conveyed through the air to Connaught or Kerry, and dropped there -for a month, to observe the manners, habits, and character of the inhabitants:—if -he were thence deposited in Yorkshire, for an equal time—then -among the mountains of Wales—and finally in the Highlands of Scotland: -and if, after all this, “he returned to the place from whence he came,” and -was asked for some characteristic sketch of the British nation, he would -be not a little puzzled. In the first place, he would assert that he had -visited four nations, differing as much from each other as the shamrock -differs from the rose, or the thistle from the leek. They differed in appearance, -language, dress, manners, diet, drink, avocations—soil—climate—and, -for aught he knew, in religious creeds. If pressed for some one characteristic -common to all, he might be tempted to reply that the only one -thing in which they all agreed was—<i>to eat potatoes</i>. However varied were -the other component parts of their food, they all <i>ate potatoes</i>. Now if, -within the narrow boundary of the British Isles, we find such diversity -among their inhabitants, what may we expect in that huge democracy of -autocracies that stretches from the Baltic to the Adriatic—from the banks -of the Rhine to the confines of the Russ—which extends over a surface -of fifty thousand square miles—bears a population of 38 millions of souls—and, -what is still more remarkable, sustains a weight of 38 sovereignties, -of all shapes and sizes, from Imperial Austria, of 12,000 square miles, -down to the principality of Lichtenstein, covering the enormous area of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -ten or eleven! Throughout these vast and varied territories, there is diffused -all the varieties of physical organization, moral temperament, and -intellectual capacity, characteristic of the great European family. And -yet there is a certain degree of family likeness in these 38 sovereignties, -that can hardly be mistaken.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent6">——Facies non omnibus una,</div> -<div class="verse">Nec diversa tamen.——</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>1. <i>Physiognomy.</i>—The large head, the square face, the blue eyes, the -honest countenance, the solemn gait, the modest mein, and the punctilious -manners of the German, are everywhere conspicuous.</p> - -<p>2. <i>The Language.</i>—This, it must be confessed, is grating enough to the -ear; but it is far more disagreeable to the eye! When will Germany -discard that barbarous, or at least Gothic system of hieroglyphics, by which -bad paper is disfigured by worse type! There is something so singular, -not to say startling, in the German language, that if a mummy who had -slept in one of the Pyramids since the days of Sesostris were to awake -among a mixed company of antiquarian unrollers, the German tongue -would surely be the first to tickle its withered ears.</p> - -<p>3. <i>Ideology.</i>—The Germans are great dreamers—magnificent dreamers. -The Italian may imagine, the Frenchmen invent, the Spaniard may ruminate, -and the Dutchman may calculate; but it is the German who can -<span class="smcap">dream</span> while wide awake. A German will dream you a dream, as long -(to use a nautical phrase) as the main-top-bow-line; or rather as an epic -poem, and as full of reality as the latter.</p> - -<p>4. If the four British races were unanimous only in one thing—the -eating of potatoes;—the 38 sovereignties beat them in this respect. All -ranks and classes smoke tobacco—and both sexes devour sour-krout, grease, -and vinegar.</p> - -<p>5. The <span class="smcap">Patience</span> of the German is proverbial. He is patient in politics, -affliction, adversity—and, what is still more commendable, in <i>prosperity</i>. -Hence he wins and loses at the gaming-table with more equanimity than -any other man.</p> - -<p>6. In <span class="smcap">Religion</span>, Germany presents nearly as many creeds as principalities. -These, however, shoot forth from the Reformed Church. Popery is -too poor a soil for the growth of “heresies and schisms.” It will not bear -a plurality of faiths. If Catholicism be not the true belief, we must admit -that Catholics are the true believers. Of all the deviations from the -Protestant Church in Germany, <i>Rationalism</i> and <i>Scepticism</i> are the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -prominent and dangerous. Speaking of the latter, Dr. Hawkins observes:—“We -must anticipate, however reluctantly, that, not only in Germany, -but in some other parts of Europe, the heaviest calamity impending over -the whole fabric of society is the lengthening stride of bold Scepticism.” -And, after describing the tenets of the <span class="smcap">Rationists</span>, the same authority -remarks:—“They consequently disclose to us the frightful fact, that all -the essential doctrines of Christianity are unreservedly rejected.” A question -might here be asked: is this widespreading state of no belief—of no -religion—preferable to Catholicism, mixed up with a few superstitions and -errors?</p> - -<p>We hear constant complaints that Popery is on the increase. How can -it be otherwise? Where and when was <span class="smcap">union</span> not a source of strength, -and <span class="smcap">division</span> of weakness? The Protestant <i>High</i> Church is like a brilliant -meteor shooting through the air in splendour and brightness; but -constantly detaching from its own body some vital elements of its own -existence. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, is like a snow-ball -rolling along the ground, with apparent humility, a dense and cohesive -mass, alike tenacious of that which it possesses, and attractive of that -which falls in its way.<a name="FNanchor_93" id="FNanchor_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p> - -<p>7. <i>Affability.</i>—I have before remarked, and it is remarked by all travellers, -that, in no part of Europe or the world, are affability, amenity, and -suavity of manners, in social intercourse, more conspicuous among all -classes, orders, genera, and species of society, than in Germany; or a more -complete absence of all prominent or repulsive distinction of ranks. I -endeavoured to account for this by education, habit, and example. But -there is one other cause adduced by Dr. Hawkins, which I overlooked—the -numerous sovereignties and states into which Germany is divided, the very -inter-collisions of which tend to preserve a smoother surface, and a greater -equilibrium of urbanity, than under one great monarchy, or even republic. -I shall attempt to illustrate this moral phenomenon by a physical one. Let -us take two small and tranquil lakes, one to represent England, and the -other Germany. Let a large stone be dropped into the centre of the -<i>former</i>, and we shall quickly observe a series of waves or undulations, -rolling in excentric circles to the remotest edges of the water, in every -direction—all parallel, all close to each other, but never touching or mingling. -This exactly represents the gradations of rank, classes, professions, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> -avocations in England. They diverge from the central monarchy in -parallel lines down to the peasant—always in close approximation; but -never touching or amalgamating.</p> - -<p>Into the other lake, let 38 stones, of various shapes and sizes (corresponding -with the 38 sovereignties) be precipitated in as many different -parts of the glassy mirror. What shall we see? Not the series of distinct -waves rolling from centre to circumference—but a chequered surface where -one undulation is broken, crossed, or neutralized by another, and where -large or definite circles of waves are nowhere perceptible. The application -of this simile to German society requires no explanation.</p> - -<p>8. <i>Education.</i>—It is acknowledged that, in no other country is education -so cheaply and amply provided as in Germany. It is remarked by -Dr. Hawkins, that the <i>results</i> of education in Germany and in England, -are very different. In the <i>former</i>, the student is almost entirely engrossed -by the physical and practical sciences—whilst the English one is very -much occupied with theology, morality, classics, poetry, and rhetoric. -“Yet in the end, the Englishman becomes most practical, and the German -the most theoretical and sentimental.” With all due deference to Dr. -Hawkins, I doubt or rather deny the fact, that the practical <i>education</i> of -the German renders him theoretical: or that the theoretical <i>education</i> of -the Englishman makes him practical. Will Dr. H. maintain that a good -education in the physical and practical sciences would convert an Englishman -into a theorist or sentimentalist? No, it would not. It is not the -education, but the different circumstances in which the two people are -placed, after leaving the schools, that produce the contrast noticed by -Dr. Hawkins. A complaint is made that this facility of education leads -to surplus candidates for professional honours; and the German governments -endeavour to divert the aspirants into other channels than the learned -professions. But where is there <i>not</i> this surplus? In England, where -education is expensive enough, the ranks of the church, bar, and medicine, -are crowded to suffocation. Two causes of this operate in Germany. -The cheapness of education—and the cheapness of living afterwards.—Two -or three in England—the redundancy of population, and the choaking -up of the war-channels, those waste-pipes and safety-valves of society. -To these may be added the restless ambition of the shopocracy to push -some of their sons into the carriage from behind the counter.</p> - -<p>A considerable portion of the English consider that education (among -the lower classes) without a particular creed, is worse than no education -at all. The real, though not the acknowledged meaning of this is, that -education, or knowledge, is, in the abstract, or <i>per se</i>, an evil rather than a -good. It would be much better to openly and candidly maintain this doctrine -at once, than mystify it under the term “religious instruction,” that -is, instruction combined with a <i>particular</i> creed. An ingenious casuist<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> -might easily shew—perhaps prove—the truth of the anti-education doctrine. -Beginning with the Garden of Eden, he might quote Scripture -that knowledge first</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Brought death into this world, and all our woe.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And descending along the stream of time, he might adduce proofs that, in -exact proportion as nations advanced in knowledge, they became discontented, -refractory, immoral, and irreligious. But though it is maintained -by the High Church party in England, that a particular creed, without -knowledge, is preferable to knowledge without a particular creed; yet it -is confessed that the <i>latter</i> is not always an infallible corrector of the evil -inherent in learning. We too often find sin and science in those academic -bowers where the thirty-nine Articles are regularly inculcated, and implicitly -believed.</p> - -<p>Be this as it may, in Germany, reading, writing, and arithmetic—Greek, -Latin, and mathematics—astronomy, geography, and navigation—anatomy, -physic, and surgery, &c. &c. are taught in public seminaries without reference -to any other creed than that of the general truth of Christianity as -contained in the New Testament.</p> - -<p>Some few particulars of the system of education in Prussia, may not be -uninteresting.</p> - -<p>Every department has a board of education, which employs school-inspectors, -residing in the chief towns. Every circle and parish has also its -school-board—and every school its proper inspectors. The clergyman of -the parish is, <i>ex officio</i>, one of the inspectors. The whole system is under -the cognizance and control of the Minister of <span class="smcap">Public Instruction</span>, assisted -by a Council. The seminaries are divided into—1. Elementary or -Primary Schools—2, Burgher, or Middle Schools—3, Universities.</p> - -<p>Parents unable to prove that they can give their children a competent -education at home, are compelled to send them to school at the age of five -years. Masters are obliged to give their servants and apprentices a suitable -education between the seventh and fourteenth year. No child can -be removed from the school till examined by the inspectors. Poor parents -are furnished with the means of sending their children to school. The -schools are supported by endowments—tax upon property—and contributions -from the affluent. The schools are built in healthy places, with playgrounds, -gymnasiums, &c. “The first law of every school is to train up -the young so as to implant in their minds a knowledge of the relation of -man to God—and to excite them to govern their lives according to the -spirit and precepts of Christianity.” The daily occupations begin and end -with a short prayer and some pious reflections. The New Testament shall -be given to those who can read. The more advanced scholars shall have -the Bible. “This book shall also be used for the religious instruction in -all the classes of gymnasiums (or middle schools.)” “Clergymen are to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> -seize every opportunity, whether at church or on visits of inspection, of -reminding teachers of their high and holy mission, and the scholars of their -duty towards the public instructors.” There are numerous “normal -schools” for training up schoolmasters. Of all the children in Prussia, -between the age of seven and fourteen years, it is calculated that thirteen -out of every fifteen, are educated in the national schools.</p> - -<p>9. <i>Learning.</i>—That depth of erudition should be a necessary sequence -of cheap education may admit of question, or, at least of cavil; but one -thing is certain, that, whether as a <i>post hoc</i>, or a <i>propter hoc</i>, this article -is more abundant in Germany than in any other country. Germany is, in -fact, the great European granary of learning—a granary sadly infested -with rats and mice from poorer soils—whole shoals of these vermin being -seen crossing the Rhine annually, with all the voracity evinced by their -forefathers, when in pursuit of the Bishop of Maintz!</p> - -<p>But Germany is also a vast <span class="smcap">minery</span>, where thousands are digging in the -dark, during the best years of their lives, extracting the most precious literary -lore from the masses of rubbish in which it lies concealed. Around -the mouths of these mines are always hovering certain birds of prey, of -passage, and of furtive propensities, which, under cover of the night, commit -depredations on the shining ore that is rescued from its grave by the -laborious miner. Among these are the literary cormorant, the gull, the -daw, and the magpie, who no sooner get <i>crammed</i> with the German spoils, -than they fly off to their roosts and nests to exhibit them as the legitimate -produce of their own industry. I have known more than one, two, or -three of these daws who, having plumed themselves in German feathers, -strutted as proudly as if their habiliments had been of genuine indigenous -growth!</p> - -<p>The German seems to court, and to cultivate <span class="smcap">learning</span> for the sake of -itself, rather than of its attendant advantages. He climbs the rugged steeps -of science—wanders over the flowery fields of literature—or explores the -dark and mysterious labyrinths of metaphysics—with little hope, and less -prospect of reaping more than empty fame,—and that too often posthumous! -Yet the German is as modest in the profession, as he is industrious -in the pursuit of knowledge. In his patient researches, he is hardly ever -led aside to the right or to the left, by ambition, vanity, or avarice. Truth -is his object—accuracy, impartiality, and laborious research, are the channels -through which he reaches it. Not that he is insensible to honours of -all kinds. On the contrary, like the whole of his countrymen, a ribbon, -a cross, or a star, is to him not only a symbol of distinction but an object -of worship.</p> - -<p>The German illuminati, whether literary, philosophic, or scientific, immersed -in their libraries and laboratories, far removed from the excitement -of politics, commerce, arts, or manufactures, not seldom lean to the speculative,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -rather than to the practical—to the mysterious, rather than to the -obvious.—Hence the transcendental dreams and extravagant experiments, -which daily rise, like meteors, from this land of ideality and metaphysics, -soon to dissolve in air—thin air. Yet these eccentricities are not attributable -to peculiarity of education, or idiosyncrasy of constitution; but -to those extrinsic circumstances in which the German is placed.</p> - -<p>10. <i>The Press.</i>—The freedom with which this powerful engine is -wielded in the different states of Germany, varies very much. Between -Vienna and Leipzig-liberty of the press, there is nearly as much difference -as between Negro freedom in Virginia and London. But the censorship -exists everywhere. The manuscript of volume, magazine, or newspaper -must first undergo the revisal of the phlegmatic and inexorable <span class="smcap">Censor</span>, -who strikes out or alters every passage or paragraph which has any tendency -to exercise the imagination, excite the feelings, or appeal to the -passions. This at least, is the policy of Austria. Now it would require -but little ingenuity to prove—or at least, persuade, that this is the very -<i>ne plus ultra</i> of good government. What engines are so potent in the -origination and propagation of evil as imagination, feeling, passion? How -praiseworthy is it in the Austrian Emperor to stifle and suppress all combustible -materials of this kind!—How beneficial would the Censorship -prove in England! Take, for instance, the subject of <span class="smcap">libel</span>—so well calculated -to introduce all kinds of hatred and ill-will amongst Britons. The -<span class="smcap">Age</span> or the <span class="smcap">Satirist</span> might, without the possibility of <i>prevention</i>, assert -that “the <span class="smcap">Queen</span> was—anything but a gentlewoman:”—and that “the -Chancellor of the Exchequer was lately <i>detected in picking the pocket</i> of one -of his neighbours on the treasury bench!!” Now if such paragraphs came -before an Austrian Censor, that redoubtable <span class="smcap">official</span> would either erase -them entirely and cite the audacious editor before one of the tribunals, or -substitute something like the following:—“From all parts of the country -congratulatory addresses are pouring in upon her <span class="smcap">Majesty</span>, in consequence -of the recent happy event.” And in respect to the alleged <span class="smcap">pick-pocket</span>, -it would probably run thus:—“The recent financial measure of the Chancellor -of the Exchequer (the imposition of a tax on rent-gatherers), has -given universal satisfaction to all classes of the community—with the exception, -perhaps, of Daniel O’Connel, M.P., who opposed the measure so -stoutly in parliament.”</p> - -<p>But the <i>prevention</i> of all sources of excitement and irritation amongst -the community, so much preferable to the <i>punishment</i> of them afterwards, -would not be the only advantage of a shackled, that is, a censored <span class="smcap">press</span>. -The great majority of writers, who, being defective in imagination, feeling, -and passion—in other words, of <span class="smcap">genius</span>—are now consigned to oblivion, -would, under the paternal Austrian system, spring up in myriads, and -greatly tend to render the Plumbean rule of authority a veritable wand of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> -Mercury, soothing the great mass of society into soporific torpor, and -silencing effectually those turbulent spirits of the age, who stir up men’s -minds to mischief! Away then with those hot-headed enthusiasts who -prefer a “<span class="smcap">libertas periculosa</span>” to the Austro-patriarchal system of -“<span class="smcap">servitudo quieta</span>,” where the fiat of the sovereign is the fate of the -subject!!</p> - -<p>Then think of the incalculable benefit that would accrue to society from -the suppression of those myriads of critical and political reviewers, trimestral, -mestral, hebdomadal, and diurnal, who batten and fatten on the vitals -of authors, scattering their quivering members to the winds, or flinging -them about, like firebrands, to inflame the passions of the community! In -fine, till <span class="smcap">princes</span> muzzle the press, there will be no millennium between -them and their <span class="smcap">people</span>.</p> - -<p>11. <i>Domestic Manners.</i>—A treatise on the <i>domestic</i> manners of the -French and Germans, is like an essay on the rail-roads of the Alps in the -days of Hannibal—or steam-navigation in the voyage of Nearchus—or -the mariner’s compass in the Periplus of Hanno. Let us hear the testimony -of one who resided long in Germany, and was intimate with their -habits and language.</p> - -<p>“The Germans are not so domestic as the English, yet perhaps more so -than the French. The taste of the <i>middle and lower classes</i> carries them -necessarily to public gardens, coffee-houses, the table-d’hôte, and the -theatre. A large portion of the male population dine daily at the table-d’hôte, -and here a considerable portion of their time is dissipated. The -<i>higher orders</i>, in addition to the theatre, derive one of their chief gratifications -from a Summer visit to some of the mineral springs; and here -they live all together in a family manner—entire families at these bathe -dine and sup, and even breakfast in public.”—<i>Bisset Hawkins.</i></p> - -<p>It is really no paradox, therefore, to say that an insight into <i>domestic</i> -manners in Germany, will be best acquired in <i>public</i>—where all classes, -high, middle, and lower orders “live and move and have their being!”</p> - -<p>12. <i>Women.</i>—Perhaps in no country of Europe (as indeed the preceding -section would indicate) are the barriers around female honour more feebly -raised, or less vigilantly guarded;—yet in no country is female virtue more -free from stain. “Here the temperament of woman is cast in a happy -mould. Gentle, kind, unambitious, unaffected, she is less intent upon -adorning herself, than in administering to the happiness of those around -her. She is fenced round with few artificial restraints; and, in society, -she often meets with too much laxity of opinion and usage. Her full and -confiding heart requires a helpmate on whom to lean through life. This -support granted to her, she generally exhibits all the domestic virtues in -their vernal bloom.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p> - -<p>To this it has been objected that, the number of children born out of -wedlock in Germany, is infinitely greater than in England. Thus, in the -great city of Prague, more than a third of the children born annually are -illegitimate. But mistresses may be virtuous without being married—and -they may be married without being virtuous. In many countries marriage -is only a civil, and not a religious rite. The neglect of that ceremony, -therefore, <i>in such countries</i>, involves neither sin, nor crime, nor disgrace. -The slender <i>liaison</i> of affection is often stronger and more durable than the -massive chains of matrimony. The frequency of these <i>liaisons</i>, therefore, -is to be attributed to the influence of public sentiment, rather than to depravity -of the female heart. The facilities, indeed, of effecting divorce in -many Protestant States of Germany render the tie of marriage little more -than a nominal bond that can be conveniently cancelled, when passions -cool, tempers clash, or interests predominate!</p> - -<p>13. <i>Morality.</i>—Although there can scarcely be genuine <span class="smcap">religion</span> without -morality; yet there may be great display of <span class="smcap">morality</span> without religion. -Germany affords a proof and illustration. In no other country is there -less of <span class="smcap">religion</span>—in none is there less of <span class="smcap">crime</span>. The apparent paradox -is easily solved. Crime is punishable by the laws of man, in this world;—irreligion -is punishable by the laws of God, in another. In a country -where little or no religion prevails, and consequently where there is little -or no belief in future rewards and punishments, it may readily be supposed -that the fear of the magistrate is much more efficient than the fear of the -Lord.</p> - -<p>14. <i>Socialism.</i>—Smoking is not so sociable an affair in Faderland as in -some other countries. In this respect, indulgence in tobacco presents a -great contrast to that in tea. If you visit a cigar divan in London, or an -estaminet in Paris, you will find “the flow of soul,” if not the “feast of -reason,” in conjunction with the fumes of the “cursed weed.” Not so -beyond the Rhine. The German shrinks within the cloudy atmosphere of -his pipe, like a snail within its shell, and there remains imperturbable, -immoveable, and insensible to the external world. Meanwhile the soul -retires to some remote nook or corner of the brain—probably the pineal -gland—and there taking its metaphysical siesta, dreams of all imaginable -and unimaginable things! This appears to be the real explanation of the -idealism, mysticism, and transcendentalism of the German character.</p> - -<p>15. <span class="smcap">Time.</span>—By half the world or more—by all who have much to do, -whether by the head, the hands, or the feet—<span class="smcap">time</span> is regarded next to -health, as the most valuable article: by the other half—or a large portion -of it—<span class="smcap">time</span> is looked upon as little better than a drug, and readily bartered -away for the merest trifles!—Nay, it is often voted to be a great <span class="smcap">bore</span>, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> -a thousand ways and means are invented to kill the bore. In Germany -<span class="smcap">time</span> is not over-rated, on the one hand, nor despised or hated, on the other. -All Germans have something to do (for who is without his pipe), and few -have very much work on hand. The German, therefore, takes everything -leisurely and coolly—never permitting himself to be hurried or flurried—even -by the sound of the dinner-bell, or the march to the table-d’hôte. It -is seldom of any use to bribe the waiter or the postillion to increased velocity. -The cook and the horses not being participators of the <i>douceur</i>, are -not at all inclined to assist in the completion of the implied contract between -the other parties. The German never attempts to “<span class="smcap">kill time</span>,” -well knowing that in such a conflict the enemy must be ultimately victorious. -But he daily and hourly offers him a <i>narcotic</i>, by which his scythe -may be blunted, and his ravages obscured.</p> - -<p>Of all the mythological divinities, <span class="smcap">Time</span> is most familiar to us, through -the medium of his works:—for he himself is invisible, inaudible, intangible. -<span class="smcap">Time</span> is cloathed, on one side, with flesh and blood:—the other is a naked -skeleton. In his right hand he holds a wand, by which he calls into existence, -every instant, countless myriads of beings throughout the animal -and vegetable world—leading them forward to maturity and age. His -skeleton hand is clenched on a crooked falchion, with which he smites, -destroys, and annihilates everything which he had previously created—thus -realizing the fabled monster that eternally devours its own progeny!<a name="FNanchor_94" id="FNanchor_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> It -is a melancholy spectacle—but it could not have been otherwise! It is -possible that the Almighty could have created a single pair immortal—but -the power of multiplying could not have been conferred without the penalty -of death!</p> - -<p>Tyrannical, inexorable, and pitiless, as he is, yet <span class="smcap">Time</span> is not without -some redeeming qualities. 1mo. He is strictly <i>impartial</i>. He slackens -not his pace at the command of the monarch—he hurries not his steps -at the prayer of the slave. 2do. <span class="smcap">Time</span> mitigates every <i>moral</i> ill that is -unattended with culpability or remorse: and although he too often aggravates -<i>physical</i> maladies, yet he invariably diminishes our sensibility to -pain, and thus tends to reconcile us to our lot of suffering. 3tio. He is -sure to remove from the sphere of their operations all tyrants, oppressors, and -evil-doers; thus giving the world a chance of better successors. 4to. <span class="smcap">Time</span> -is a great enemy to personal beauty, of feature or form—apparently deeming -such qualities to be dangerous accompaniments to length of years. On the -other hand, he is more favourable to virtue, honour, morality, and <span class="smcap">religion</span>, -of which <span class="smcap">time</span> <i>alone</i> never deprives the individual till the curtain falls.</p> - -<p>On <span class="smcap">time past</span>, hallowed in memory and mellowed by distance, we look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> -back as on an old and valued friend, whom we did not sufficiently appreciate -while living, but who is now lost to us for ever.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Time present</span> we too often contemplate through the haze of prejudice, -passion, or impatience; underrating his value, overlooking his flight, and -neglecting the advantages which he offers, till, all at once, we find that -<span class="smcap">time present</span> has changed into <span class="smcap">time past</span>, and vanished from our grasp!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Time to come</span>—is that fairy-land of promise—of air-built castles—of -hopes that are seldom to be realized, of fears that are generally exaggerated—of -phantoms, good and evil, conjured up by imagination on the -dim horizon of our mental vision, which dissolve as we approach, or fly as -we follow!! Yet these phantoms of futurity form the solace and the -misery of half the world!</p> - -<p>16. <i>Titles, Decorations, &c.</i>—From the savage, with the ring in his nose—the -serjeant, with the tassel on his shoulder—the prince, with the star -on his breast—up to the monarch, with the diadem on his brow—all and -every of the human race, are nearly insatiable in the pursuit of honours, -titles, distinctions, or decorations. I do not presume to determine what -nation or people most <i>desire</i> these pomps and vanities; but I think it will -be allowed that the Germans are not behind their neighbours in the <i>display</i> -of them. The French may dispute the palm on this point; but I doubt -whether they will gain the victory. <span class="smcap">John Bull</span> appears to be the -least ostentatious of the European family, often pocketing his stars and -garters, when travelling, by which he saves in money what he loses in -eclat.</p> - -<p>After all, this weakness of the German and Frenchman is very pardonable. -Those who have <i>fairly</i> earned honours are under no obligation to -conceal them; and those who have not done so, are not called upon to -proclaim the secret—especially as so many of their friends and neighbours -are always ready to kindly perform that office gratuitously.</p> - -<p>17. <i>Aerophobia.</i>—From one end of Germany to the other, among all -ages, ranks, and professions, an <i>AEROPHOBIA</i>, or dread of fresh air, universally -prevails! If you take a seat in the diligence or eilwagen, your -German neighbour in the corner closes the windows immediately, lest a -breath of pure air should enter the vehicle. On arriving at the hotel, -half poisoned by the disoxygenated atmosphere of the coach, and enter -your chamber, you find all the windows securely fastened, and the air of -the apartment a mass of heavy mephitic vapour, like that which issues from -a long unopened tomb. If you descend to the spies-saal, where the air is -still farther vitiated by the fumes of tobacco, and throw open a window, -you are stared at by the ober-kellner, the under-kellner, and every “<span class="smcap">gast</span>” -in the “<span class="smcap">haus</span>,” as a person deranged. I had long puzzled my brains to -account for this aerophobic phenomenon, and, at last, traced its cause to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> -the <span class="smcap">German stove</span>—that black brewery of mephitism, which, bearing a -mortal antipathy to the fresh air of Heaven, imbues every one who sits -near it with the same prejudice. In fine, the German exhibits as great a -horror of oxygen, as he does a mania for azote!</p> - -<p>And what is the consequence of this?—Why, that the Germans are ten -times more susceptible of colds, rheumatism, face-aches, and tooth-aches, -than the English, who live in a far more variable, wet, and ungenial climate. -This aerophobia is one of the causes too, of that sallow, unhealthy -aspect which all Germans, who are not forced to be much in the open air, -exhibit. It is no wonder that they swarm like locusts round their numberless -spas, in the Summer, to wash away some of those peccant humours -engendered by their diet, and fermented by their stoves.</p> - -<p>18. <i>Female Peasantry.</i>—Among a barbarous people, we always find that -the weaker sex have the harder work. It is not very flattering nor yet -creditable to the pride of civilization, that in many parts of Europe, and -even in Germany, the female peasant is little more than a beast of burthen, -with worse food and more care than the ox or the horse. Wherever we -see three persons employed in agricultural labour, two of them are sure to -be women. They cut the corn, and thrash out the grain—dig the potatoes, -and carry them home—whilst the large baskets on their backs are filled -with everything that requires transportation from the fields to the house, -or from the house to the fields. One of the most revolting instances of -this female slavery which I have seen, was in Belgium, where, on the line -of the railway, we observed women sitting with large panniers on their -backs, into which the men were shovelling the earth, gravel, and stones, to -be carried away by the females—many of them young women! Every -time that the earth or gravel was thrown into the pannier, the shock -caused a violent vibration of the whole female frame, from head to foot! -The sight was really disgusting.</p> - -<p>In travelling through many parts of Germany we are often surprised at -the paucity of men, and cannot help wondering where they are, or what -they are doing! Women are the universal drudges here!</p> - -<p>19. <i>Status quo.</i>—Among all ranks and classes of Society in Germany, -from the prince to the peasant, there is, or there <i>appears</i> to be, a complete -amalgamation, approximation—in fine, an <i>equalization</i> in one thing—<span class="smcap">politeness</span>. -But the approximation goes no farther than the hat, the cap, -and the bow. It would be almost as easy for a Pariar in India, or a Ladrone -in China to break the boundaries of his cast, and rise through the -ranks above him, as for a German of low grade to mount into the circles -of the nobility. Each ascending series is all but hermetically sealed -against the inferior one! What is impossible to be done, is not therefore -attempted—perhaps it is scarcely desired. All this is reversed in England.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> -Here we have but very little reciprocity of external and formal civility -among the different ranks; but the barriers between them are to easily—or -at least so frequently overleaped, that almost every individual has an ardent -wish, and is engaged in a constant struggle to rise above the grade in -which Nature or accident placed him at birth. It is evident that this contrasted -state of things, quite independent of politics, must produce tranquillity, -if not content, in the one country—commotion and even strife in -the other. At the same time it generates industry, energy, and enterprize -in England.</p> - -<p>20. <i>Locomotion.</i>—It is passing strange that the mercurial brains of our -French neighbours should never have infused any quicksilver into the heels -of their horses! No. There they go at the old jog-trot of five miles an -hour, over the “long rough road,” which seems as if it had been stretched -out over hill and dale, by some invisible and gigantic apparatus, into a -straight and narrow line, which is as tiresome to the eye of the traveller -as it is to the limbs of the horses. In plodding Germany, however, we -do not expect velocity in man or beast—or that the schnell-post should go -at any other rate than the snail’s pace. In that country time and space -seem to be confounded or amalgamated;—a league signifying an hour, -and an hour a league, the word “<span class="smcap">stunde</span>” (derived no doubt from -“<i>stand</i>”) being applicable to either or both.</p> - -<p>There are several reasons, indeed, for the tardiprogression of a German -vehicle, independently of the breed and the build of those animals that -draw it along. <i>First.</i> The German never does anything in a hurry. He -has more time on his hands than any other man. His days are longer—his -nights are longer (though his beds are shorter) than those of an Englishman. -Why then should he hurry over the pleasant journey, or curtail the -salutary range of travelling exercise?—<i>Secondly.</i> A German’s luggage is -twice the size and weight of an Englishman’s, besides the huge crate in -which it is stowed above or behind the carriage. <i>Thirdly.</i> There is an -outlay of time, labour, and expense in frequently cleaning the harness of -the horses—the body, the wheels, or the leather of a carriage. This outlay -is prudently avoided by the German, who trusts to the winds and rains -for disencumbering his harness and eilwagen of some layers of those -weighty and numerous incrustations that have slowly formed on their surface. -<i>Fourthly.</i> There are no Collinge’s patent axletrees in Germany, -which will hold oil for a month; and although the post-master charges -some kreutzers for “grease” at every station, small is the portion of that -lubricating article which reaches the hot and creaking gudgeons of the -ponderous locomotive!</p> - -<p>But the primary and fundamental cause of tardiprogression in Germany -may be traced to the roads themselves, which, though much improved in -many places, are still villainously bad, and require the hardest and heaviest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> -wood and iron to withstand the tremendous succussions which the vehicle -is destined to experience at every step. Besides, as the German chaussée -marches straight forward over hill and dale, without deigning to wind -round the one, in order to evade the other, so the <span class="smcap">schnell-post</span> must -necessarily go at a snail’s pace to the end of the chapter—or, at all events, -to the end of the journey.</p> - -<p>21. <i>The Burschen.</i>—Perhaps no country, except Germany, <i>could</i> generate, -or <i>would</i> tolerate a large class of the rising generation—students -by profession, but demi-ruffians by habit—who are organized in clubs, and -banded in clans, for no other purpose but the violation of all law, order, -decency, and morality! The supreme felicity of the Burschen is to swill -beer, smoke tobacco, and fight duels. If they submit one hour in the -twenty-four to the rule of the professor, they rule him, and tyrannize over -others during the remainder of the day. Most of the hours that can be -spared from duelling, fencing, and dancing, are dedicated to what they -term “<i>renowning</i>”—that is, of working all kinds of mischief—enacting all -sorts of absurdities—attracting everybody’s attention—and earning every -one’s contempt and detestation. The evening and much of the night are -spent in the ale-house, where the summit of the Burschen’s ambition is, -who can drink most beer, smoke most tobacco—and vociferate with the -loudest voice—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Though wine, it is true, be a rarity here.</div> -<div class="verse">We’ll be jolly as gods with tobacco and beer.</div> -<div class="verse indent6">“Vivallerallerallera.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">While bellowing about liberty, justice, honour, and truth, the Burschen -will tyrannize over others with the most despotic sway—break the sword -of justice over the victim’s head—trample on the laws of honour—and -violate the sacred truth!</p> - -<p>“Full of lofty unintelligible notions of his own importance—misled by -ludicrously erroneous ideas of honour—the true <span class="smcap">Bursche</span> swaggers and -renowns, choleric raw and overbearing. He measures his own honour by -the number of <i>scandals</i> (duels) he has fought; but never wastes a thought -on what they have been fought for. He does not fight to resent insolence; -but he insults, or takes offence, that he may have a pretext for fighting. -The lecture-rooms are but secondary to the fencing-school. <i>That</i> is his -temple—the rapier is his god—and the “<span class="smcap">comment</span>” (the Burschen laws) -is the Gospel by which he swears.”<a name="FNanchor_95" id="FNanchor_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> - -<p>Such is the <span class="smcap">Burschen</span>, or collegiate youth of Germany. The fraternity -itself is called the “<span class="smcap">Landsmannschaften</span>”—a confederation of various -clans for the double purpose of fighting among themselves, and defending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> -the corps against the Philistines, as the rest of the world is called! -Fortunately for society, this odious freemasonry which is forced on the -student at first, is dropped with the cap, long hair, uncouth coat, and -Jack-boots, the moment he bids adieu to Alma Mater—and he settles -down among his brethren the <span class="smcap">Philistines</span>, discharged from the <span class="smcap">Landsmannschaften</span>, -like an old soldier from the army, with nothing but honorable(?) -scars to remind him of the days of “renowning” and “scandalizing,” -in Gottingen, Jena, Leipzig, or Heidelburg. It is said, but I -doubt the assertion, that this three years’ training in habits the most -objectionable, seldom, if ever, exerts any influence on the citizen in after-life—and -that he becomes as peaceable, civil, and obedient to the laws, as -those who had never set foot within the walls of a university.</p> - -<p>Be this <span class="smcap">as it</span> may, it becomes a serious question whether initiation into -the Eleusinian mysteries and eccentric, not to say barbarous, habits of the -Burschen, be conducive to the welfare of British youth? The effects of -English universities are not always thrown off with the cap and gown! -Let parents ponder on the <span class="smcap">Landsmannschaften</span>.</p> - -<p>22. <i>German Cookery.</i>—I am not going into a disquisition on continental -cookery in general, nor on German in particular. Man has been characterized -as a “<span class="smcap">cooking animal</span>,” and if refinement in this noble art and -science be a proof of civilization, our Gallic and Saxon neighbours must -stand unrivalled. The New Zealander, who roasts his hog, his dog, and -his prisoner in the same oven, sinks very low on the gastronomic scale—not -on account of his canine or cannibal predilections, but because he cannot -so mystify and transform the original materials of his laboratory—the -genera and species of his animal and vegetable stock—as to defy Orfila -himself to ascertain whether they had been inhabitants of the air, the -earth, or the “waters under the earth.” As I think I have made a small -discovery that may prove of some importance in the cuisine of my native -land, I shall here communicate it, <i>pro bono publico</i>.</p> - -<p>In almost all the cities, towns, and even villages of Germany, we find on -the bill of fare certain dishes that are great favourites with <span class="smcap">John Bull</span>—namely, -beef-steaks—mutton-chops—veal cutlets—pork-chops—lamb-chops, -&c. To be sure the titles are not very easily pronounced; but the -kind host is always ready to furnish you with rind-fleisch, schwein-fleisch, -lamms-fleisch, kalbfleisch, or hammelfleisch, without doubt or delay. When -these come on the table, they are so nicely browned, and crusted over with -bread-crumbs, flower, butter and other mysterious compounds, that, except -by the external figure, and the protuberant rib, no discrimination between -the different dishes could possibly be made. Nor will the taste detect -schweins-fleisch from any of the other fleshes. All agree, however, in the -tenderness, flavour, and delicacy of the steaks, chops, and cutlets. Then, -again, they remark, how well the fat is taken off, leaving nothing but the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> -meat; while the bone comes out as easy and as clean as if it had been -boiled and scraped in a separate vessel! These eulogies attracted my -attention, and I began to examine the chops and steaks accurately. A -very slight dissection demonstrated, beyond a doubt, that all was a composition. -A few further intrusions into the cuisines explained the whole -matter, without difficulty. The cold meat, of every description, is pounded -in a mortar, with pepper, salt, and spices. When wanted, it is pressed -into moulds (like butter) according to the shape required—an old rib or -bone is thrust into one end of the chop—the whole is well covered with -crumbs of bread, flour, or other habiliments—made smoking hot in the -oven—and brought to table as most delicious mutton-chops, veal cutlets, -pork-chops, beef-steaks—or—anything you please to demand.</p> - -<p>Do I blame or criticise this ingenious manufacture? Far from it. The -pounded and compounded chops and steaks are better than original ones—are -easy of digestion—require little or no mastication—are savoury to the -taste, and warm to the stomach—and, what is of some consequence, they -are economical, and always ready for dressing at any hour of the day or -night. The only part of the compound to which I object, is the <i>bony-part</i>. -These bones remain in the kitchen, like heir-looms, serving from generation -to generation, as far as I know, and if the cook takes the trouble to -wash them daily, with the spoons’ and forks, my objection vanishes at once. -The above discovery explained an enigma which often puzzled me when -travelling on the Continent—namely, the impossibility of getting cold meat -at a hotel—even a few hours after the most splendid table-d’hôte.</p> - -<p>I can have no reason—or at all events no right, to question the taste of -our continental neighbours in the preparation of their food. To German -cookery, German spas, German baths, and German waggons, I owe the -loss of fifteen pounds in weight, and that in a late tour of two months. -But then the lost flesh was London fed—and I gained in strength far more -in proportion than I lost in weight. This may prove a valuable hint to -the race of aldermen, and many others besides.</p> - -<p>23. <i>Gallic and German Patriotism compared.</i>—The temperature of a -Frenchman’s patriotism seldom reaches the boiling, or even the fever point, -unless he is, in act or imagination, the aggressor or agitator. It requires -the fuel of pride, ambition, glory, revolution, or conquest, present or -prospective, to keep up the steam of national enthusiasm among our -Gallic neighbours. Not so beyond the Rhine. A German’s patriotism -rises in proportion as “<span class="smcap">Faderland</span>” is borne down by misfortunes, or -trode upon by the foot of the haughty foreigner. The flame of devotion -to country never burns with greater intensity in a German’s breast, than -when it is apparently extinguished by the pressure of the victorious enemy. -Both these propositions are proved by history. Every one knows the -sacrifices which the people of France made in the late war, while Napoleon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> -was trampling on the liberties of Europe. Yet, when the tide of his -glory ebbed, and the energies of Germany and other countries carried -forward the contest into the heart of France—the French nation sunk into -apathy, stupor, or indifference. So, on a recent occasion, when the thunder -of British cannon demolished the ramparts of a Syrian despot—a vice-regal -slave-driver—and reverberated from the pyramids to Montmartre, -the flame of patriotism glowed in every Frenchman’s breast, from the -Mediterranean to the Moselle—and already the <span class="smcap">Marsellaise</span> hymn depicted -the <span class="smcap">Eagles</span>, as pluming their wings and wafting their flight over -the Alps and the Rhine—over the Tyber and the Thames! For, although -the word “patriotism” means, in all other languages, the love of natal soil, -yet in the French vocabulary, it signifies the love of revolution at home, -or of conquest and spoliation beyond the limits of France.<a name="FNanchor_96" id="FNanchor_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> The wanton -and threatening insult, though only prospective and intentional, which -she lately held out to Europe, called forth a “<span class="smcap">German Marsellaise</span>,” -tuned to true patriotic principles, and containing no menace—no allusion -to former invasions of France, and capture of her capital. The whole -burthen of the song, and conclusion of each verse, breathed only the firm -resolution to resist aggression, and preserve their “Faderland” independent.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“No, never shall they have it, our free-born German Rhine,</div> -<div class="verse">Till deep beneath its surges, our last man’s bones recline!”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>German patriotism, in the long run, will prove superior to Gallic ambition. -The love of country is a nobler and safer passion than the love -of conquest.<a name="FNanchor_97" id="FNanchor_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></p> - -<p>The French tell us that the English are detested on the Continent—but -to adduce any reason for this, would be quite unlike a Frenchman—whose -assertion needs not the vulgar auxiliary of proof. The only plausible -cause which he might urge for this anti-Britannic hatred, is the fact that -the English assisted the continental nations to drive the French back over -the Rhine, and up to the Boulevards—hence the detestation of Germany, -Russia, Spain, &c. against England! This is quite the Gallic style of -ratiocination.</p> - -<p>24. <i>Prisons.</i>—There would seem to be two, if not more, kinds of -liberty—political and personal; or national and individual. They do not -always run parallel. When our Gallic neighbours placed the <span class="smcap">Cap of -Liberty</span> on the head of a <span class="smcap">Courtezan</span>, and worshipped her as a <span class="smcap">Goddess</span>, -the prisons were overflowing, and most of the inmates lost their caps—in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> -which their heads happened to be at the time! No one will contend that -Germany is overburthened with political liberty—but I believe that the -proportion of out-door to in-door prisoners there, is as great as in this -country. To say the truth there are not many temptations to take up free -quarters within the walls of a German prison—for although <span class="smcap">Howard</span>, that -great practical reformer of “proved,” that is to say, <i>approved</i> abuses, was -there; yet the hard labour, low fare, bastinado for men, and whip for -women, afford little encouragement to transgression of the laws. To -the honour of Austria be it said, that the functionaries are strictly enjoined -to apply the whip and bastinado, with all due regard to the <i>moral feelings</i> -of the prisoners, and with the most scrupulous attention to the forms and -ceremonies prescribed for those occasions!</p> - -<p>In respect to food, the following is the Austrian dietary. “The prisoner -has one pound and a half of bread <i>per diem</i>—a farinaceous dish with milk -thrice a week—and on Sundays a soup, with a quarter of a pound of -meat, and the farinaceous dish again.” <i>Hawkins.</i> This, it must be confessed, -is meagre fare; but <i>half</i> of what the prisoner can earn, <i>beyond his -daily task</i>, is given to him for the purchase of additional comforts.</p> - -<p>Instruction, both religious and lay, is provided by the state—consisting -of reading and sometimes of arithmetic—but not <i>writing</i>, as that might -lead to correspondence not entirely composed of love-letters or letters of -love! It is clear, indeed, that the Emperor of Austria (though himself a -<span class="smcap">Papist</span>) has no great faith in the dogma of a <span class="smcap">Pope</span>—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“<span class="smcap">Heaven</span> first taught <i>letters</i> for some wretch’s aid.</div> -<div class="verse">Some banished lover, or some <i>captive maid</i>.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">At all events, Prince Metternich has not recommended his master to follow -the example of <span class="smcap">Heaven</span> in teaching his subjects to write <i>letters</i>; nor is it -likely that the veteran and wily minister will introduce a penny postage, -to enable the subjects of the whip and bastinado to—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Waft a <i>sigh</i> from Indus to the Pole.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Nevertheless there are many good points about German prison-discipline. -The classification of the prisoners—the separation of the juvenile from the -hardened offenders—the law of rendering labour the only means of procuring -anything like comfortable diet—the regularity of religious instruction -and duties—the laudable exertion of Government to reinstate the -liberated and punished prisoner in the social position previously occupied—not -forgetting the humane injunction never to hurt the <i>feelings</i> of the -flogged—are all worthy of praise and imitation.</p> - -<p>25. <i>Beds and Bed-rooms.</i>—A German sleeping-room presents a real -paradox—beds that are at once plural and singular—plural in number, but -singular in office. One would suppose that all the men in that country -were monks, and all the women nuns. You look in vain for the large and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> -comfortable bed, on which John Bull and his spouse are accustomed to -repose when at home. Nothing of the kind will you see here! From the -moment that a married couple set foot on the Continent, the wife is divorced, -if not “<i>a mensa</i>” at least “<i>a thoro</i>.” I have said that the German -beds are <i>singular</i>. They are so in every sense of the word! In other -countries, they are designed to promote rest and sleep. In this they act -like strong coffee or green tea taken at ten o’clock. In a German bed, the -two extremities of the victim are “perched up aloft,” while the body is -“under hatches.” The only personage who can attain anything like horizontality -in these cribs, is the corporation gourmand after a good eight -o’clock table-d’hôte. If he turn in, or rather turn <i>over</i> on his face, with -his feet on the taffrail, and his stomach stowed in midships, he will be able -to bring his head, his spine, and his heels into something approaching a -right line. In this position he will have the great advantage of sleeping -on his supper, and thus evading the pressure of the night-mare. When -the woolsack is laid over the traveller’s body, the whole resembles the old -moon in the lap of the new.</p> - -<p>It is very fortunate for John and Jane Bull that before they sojourn -long in Germany their travelling constitutions will have begun, like new -clothes, to suit them—and, which is of greater consequence, they will have -got rid of the most inconvenient article, by far, of their luggage—(and -that is saying a good deal, when a lady’s baggage is in transit)—namely -the—idea of <span class="smcap">comfort</span>—an article which even the douanier never searches -for, as being not only out of his beat, but out of his mother tongue!</p> - -<p>Many circumstances had, long ago, impressed me with a high sense of -the value of a <span class="smcap">travelling constitution</span>, as a kind of Mackintosh against -“skiey influences;” but none more so than an occasional glimpse at the -mysteries of the laundry. If a traveller happens to forget some valuable -article at his hotel, and hastens back to his chamber about mid-day, he will -be rather surprized to find the bed-linen on the floor, nicely sprinkled with -water, preparatory to a squeeze under a high-pressure engine, which renders -it of a glossy smoothness, and diffuses the watery element so equally, -that it feels delightfully cool to the next—and even to the tenth tenant -of the caravansera! I fear that this is often the case nearer home, and -where there is no “<i>travelling constitution</i>” to resist the vapour-bath of exhalent -sheets in our foggy and cold atmosphere! The contracts between -masters and chamber-maids for the supply of damp linen to hotels, are too -often contracts for the supply of coughs, consumptions, and rheumatisms -to travellers—greatly to the advantage of doctors, druggists, and undertakers -afterwards!</p> - -<p>Tourists who can afford space for leather sheets among their luggage, -should take these useful articles with them, as there are more maladies than -colds and rheumatisms <i>contracted</i> in caravanseras, and for which there is -no provision made in the <i>contract</i> between host and passenger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> - -<p>It must be acknowledged, however, that, of late years considerable improvements -have taken place in the bedding line. In several parts of Germany, -in the Autumn of 1840, we found very comfortable mattresses, -blankets, coverlets, and sheets, to our no small joy and surprize.</p> - -<p>26. <i>German Stove</i> versus <i>English Chimney</i>.—That a room heated by -invisible caloric—with an atmosphere stagnant as the dead sea, humid as a -Scotch mist, and odoriferous as a slaughter-house—should prove more -congenial to the lungs of persons in the first or last stage of consumption, -than an apartment with a blazing fire at one end, a large column of hot -air rushing up the chimney, and a thousand tiny streams of cold air stealing -in through the chinks and crevices of doors and windows, I do not, for -a moment, deny. But, that the general balance of salubrity is on the -side of the German stove, and against the English fire-place, I very much -doubt. I admit that the air of an English room, heated by fire, is frequently -changing the degree of its temperature, not only as a whole, but -in different parts of the same chamber. This is the alpha and omega of -Continental objections to the English plan—and it would not be difficult -to show that this variability of heat, so much complained of, is a powerful -preservative against atmospheric disorders in general. Nothing is more certain -than that the most effectual way of counteracting the effects of sudden -changes in the temperature of the air around us, is to <i>habituate</i> ourselves -to these vicissitudes. It is in this way, that daily sponging of the face, -throat, and other exposed parts of the body, first with hot, and then immediately -with cold water, generally prevents face-aches, ear-aches, tooth-aches, -and catarrhs, by habituating those parts to changes of temperature. And it -is on this principle, that a person who has been for some time in an English -room, where variations prevail, goes out into the open air afterwards, with -far less risk than he who has been for an equal time in an actual sudatorium, -at a high and unvarying range of temperature. But let us look a -little more closely into the affair. In the room heated by a German stove -and consequently where there cannot be a free ventilation, every individual -is breathing the identical air that has circulated through the lungs of every -other individual in the same place—through the air-cells of the scrofulous, -the scorbutic, the asthmatic, the consumptive, &c.—air that is not -only deprived of its oxygen, but loaded with animal effluvia of a very -questionable character! Add to these the malodorous essence of tobacco, -much of which must drip down the throat, as well as into the receptacle -below the bowl of the pipe, during the day, to be exhaled in <i>poisonous</i> -gases through the rooms at night! All must have experienced the debilitating -effects of disoxygenated air in crowded rooms, even where there -were various facilities of ingress and egress for the breath of Heaven. But -where these facilities are wanting, the depression of the vital energies is -indescribable. In short, I am of opinion that nothing can compensate for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> -the ventilation produced by the English chimney. Those who stand or sit -near a partially opened door, or a broken pane of glass, may catch cold, or -face-ache, or rheumatism, it is true; but if I am to die or to suffer from -atmospheric influence, let me do so in pure, rather than in mephitic air!</p> - -<p>I have grounded these reasonings on salubrity alone—leaving <i>comfort</i> -out of the question—as indeed it must be round the German stove! Why, -the very sight of a cheerful fire in a Winter evening, is worth a German -stove with the table-d’hôte thrown into the bargain! In a good fire we -have company, conversation, and even meditation. I do not wonder that -the Persees adore fire, as an emanation from the sun itself. I much -doubt whether the Egyptians would have worshipped a German stove, even -when they were so over-godly as to deify cats and crocodiles! But, to -give the devil his due, the German stove is not without some good qualities. -It is cheap—it does not set fire to ladies’ dresses—nor cause chilblains -by scorching the fingers and toes in frosty weather. But as a drawback -upon these negative good qualities, it renders the Germans a race of -hot-house plants, who shiver in the blast whenever they issue from their -vapour-baths, and are infinitely more liable to take cold than if they had -come from an English room.</p> - -<p>The introduction into this country of the <span class="smcap">Anglo-Germanic</span> stove—that -unsightly and unsocial laboratory of sulphur and suffocation—will not, I -think, succeed. It is bad enough in Germany, where the Dutch tiles with -which it is covered, emit no bad smell, and have a comparatively light and -cheerful appearance; but here the hybrid iron mass—that dark lantern, -“cui lumen ademptum”—is positively a nuisance. It may be borne, and -even prove useful, in large halls, where there are constant currents of -cool air. In a sitting-room or other chamber, it is very offensive—at least -to my senses, from its metallic and sulphurous emanations. I had rather -pitch my tent in the crater of Vesuvius, the valley of Solfatera, or the -hut of a charbonnier in the Maremma, than in the vicinity of that sable -distillery of “Northumberland diamonds,” from which every ray of light -has been previously extracted by the gasometer.</p> - -<p>27. <i>Verlobung, or betrothing.</i>—The German system of affiance appears -to me to be a long courtship, and “something more.” It is a kind of -“little-go,” or ante-marriage contract, attended with form, ceremony, and -sequences. The affianced pair send out their cards bound together in the -silken bonds of Hymen, in perspective—are waited on and congratulated -by their friends,—are always invited together to parties, where they sit -next each other at table, engross each other’s conversation, and appear like—or -rather <i>unlike</i>, man and wife. At page 24 of this volume, I ventured -some observations on the danger and the miseries that often attend on -affiances, or long-promised marriages. Notwithstanding the approval of -Mrs. Jameson, I still hold my opinion. That lady indeed, is not blind to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> -some of the consequences of the verlobung. One of them will be sufficient. -“As the bridegroom is expected to devote every leisure moment -to the society of his betrothed—as he attends her to all public places—as -they are invariably seated next each other,—<i>they have time to become -tolerably tired of each others’ society before marriage, and have nothing left -to say</i>.” This is a charming prospect for matrimony! The soft looks, the -fine speeches, the glowing sentiments, nay even the pretty riens, are all -expended during the protracted affiance, and when, at last, the knot is tied -indissolubly, the gallant gay lothario is, as Rosalind says—“gravelled for -lack of matter.”</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Jameson says that this long state of probation enables the -parties to study well their respective characters, and detect failings and -faults which a short courtship would be apt to over-look. Now the affiance -is either binding or not binding. If the latter, of what use is it? If -the <i>former</i>, it is small consolation to the bride or bridegroom to ascertain -the causes of future misery before even Hymen lights his torch! But who -is unaware that courtship is a kind of warfare, in which the belligerents -take good care to mask their weak points and magnify their strong positions. -The Germans themselves, indeed, have an adage that runs in little accordance -with the tedious <span class="smcap">verlobung</span>.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Early woo’d and early won,</div> -<div class="verse">Was never repented under the sun.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>28. <i>March of Population.</i>—Nothing exhibits a greater contrast between -England and the Continent than the progress of population. I believe it -goes on at least three times as fast in the British Isles as in France and -Germany. Many causes may be assigned for this disproportion. The -immense outlet for redundant population in our colonies—the prodigious -extent of our commerce and manufactures—the early period of marriage, -especially in Ireland—these are among the chief causes of the rail-road -speed at which the multiplication of mankind goes on in this country. On -the Continent, it is just the reverse. The pace of population there is quite -“<i>a la schnell-post</i>.” But lest this degree of velocity should endanger the -state waggon, government (in many parts of Germany) has affixed a drag -to the wheels, in the shape of a law prohibiting matrimony, unless the -high contracting parties can produce proof of their possessing ways and -means for supporting themselves and families. If this regulation obtained -in Great Britain, it would stop one half of the marriages in Scotland, two-thirds -of those in England, and nine-tenths of those in Ireland. Here is -a hint for the Poor Law Commissioners, that may induce them to bring a -Bill into Parliament for the prevention of imprudent marriages, which -would be more effectual in checking pauperism than the terrors of the -workhouse.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p> - -<p>But, when we consider that colonization and commerce carry off an immense -redundancy of British population, how are we to account for the -<i>permanent</i> or domiciliated population of these islands increasing so much -more rapidly than that of the Continent, where the safety-valves are of -such narrow dimensions? There are some causes of these different rates -of progression, which are little known in this country; but the chief -cause must be the greater degree of prudence exercised by the people of -France and Germany than by the people of Great Britain.</p> - -<p>29. <i>Poetry.</i>—The transition from population to poetry is not so abrupt -as might at first appear; for although we may have population without -poetry, we shall rarely have poetry without population. Looking at the -<i>words</i> of the German language, a stranger to that language would be apt -to conclude that it must be as difficult to mould them into music or poetry, -as to convert hob-nails into ivory teeth—the bristles of a boar into the -ermine of a judge—or the rocks of Iona into columns of crystal. Yet -nothing would be a more erroneous prejudice than this conclusion. The -German, like the English language, is so rich in <i>synonimes</i>, as to afford every -facility for the intonations of the musician, and variety of expression of -the poet. The poverty of the French language in this respect, presents a -remarkable contrast to the German and English. French poetry must -have the jingle of rhyme to make it bearable by the ear. A French poem -in blank verse, would be like a monkey striding along on huge stilts, -exciting roars of laughter from the spectators. But this poverty in synonims, -renders the French language more precise, and the individual words -less equivocal than in any other. Hence its universal advantages in diplomatic -communications, where the synonims of other tongues would give -rise to perpetual ambiguity and quibble.</p> - -<p>A curious, not to say ludicrous, attempt has lately been made by an -American author to transplant the poetry of Goethe and Schiller into -English by <i>literal</i> translation, the said author maintaining that poetry <i>will</i> -be poetry <i>still</i>; and that the more close and servile the traduction, the -better will the spirit of the original poetry be preserved! The following -rather favourable specimen of this attempt to clothe German ideas in -English words, is quite a “curiosity of literature,” and worth preserving.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<p class="center">“TO A NATURALIST.</p> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“‘<i>What Nature hides within</i>’—</div> -<div class="verse">O thou Philistine!—</div> -<div class="verse">‘<i>No finite mind can know.</i>’</div> -<div class="verse">My friend, of this thing</div> -<div class="verse">We think thou needest not</div> -<div class="verse">So oft remind us:</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> -<div class="verse">We fancy: Spot for spot</div> -<div class="verse"><i>Within</i> we find us.</div> -<div class="verse">‘<i>Happy who her doth win</i></div> -<div class="verse"><i>The outmost shell to show!</i>’</div> -<div class="verse">Now that these sixty years I’ve heard repeated,</div> -<div class="verse">And, oft as heard, with silent curses greeted.</div> -<div class="verse">I whisper o’er and o’er this truth eternal:—</div> -<div class="verse">Freely doth nature all things tell;</div> -<div class="verse">Nature hath neither shell</div> -<div class="verse">Nor kernel;</div> -<div class="verse">Whole every where, at each point thou canst learn all.</div> -<div class="verse">Only examine thine own heart.</div> -<div class="verse">Whether <i>thou</i> shell or kernel art.”<a name="FNanchor_98" id="FNanchor_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Now if any Transatlantic Philistine can crack the shell of this German -nut, and extract an eatable kernel, he must possess a <span class="smcap">manducator</span> pretty -considerably stronger than that with which <span class="smcap">Sampson</span> cracked the skulls -of the ancient Philistines in the Holy Land—the jaw-bone of an ass.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The following is a rough attempt at a free translation of the above celebrated passage -in Horace.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Behind the gilded coach pale Care ascends,</div> -<div class="verse">And haunts his victim wheresoe’er he wends,</div> -<div class="verse">On foreign shores the exile tries, in vain,</div> -<div class="verse">To banish thought, and fly from mental pain.</div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> A gentleman, to whom I was remarking on the universal desire for <span class="smcap">change</span>, -evinced by passengers of every kind of politics and religion, observed that he, at least, -was an exception. “I am going (said he) to cross the Pontine Marshes by the ancient -road—the <span class="smcap">Via Romana</span>. Now it must be admitted that, in so doing, I am holding to -the grand principle of the <i>conservatives</i> and <i>Chinese</i>—‘STARE SUPER VIAS ANTIQUAS.’” -I acknowledged the ingenuity of the argument; but questioned the policy -of the measure. I counselled him not to “stare” it too long on the “Vias Antiquas” -of the Pontine fens, but rather to keep <i>moving</i> there, lest his own constitution should -shortly afterwords come in need of <i>reform</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Mr. Chambers alludes to a curious custom in Holland—that of the females sitting -on chafing-dishes or, in fact, warming-pans. This custom is prevalent in many parts -of Germany, and is universal among the better classes of women in Italy. It is not on -account of the dampness of the climate that it is adopted; but because there are no fire-places, -where a female can have the luxury of putting her feet on the fender, by a -cheerful fire, while conversing with her friend or reading a novel. The atmosphere of -a continental apartment, already vitiated by the vile German stove, is rendered still -farther malodorous as well as malarious by the fumes from the foot-stool or warming-pan.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> With another painting I was more at home—Rembrandt’s “Dissection.” It has -been said by a connoisseur that—“the corpse is less an image of death than a vehicle -of colour. It adjusts the equilibrium of <i>warmth and coolness</i>, and supplies a focus of -<i>brilliancy</i> which irradiates the whole scene.” I doubt whether this picture was painted -from <i>life</i> (I see I am infected by the neighbouring bull), for such a corpse has never -come before me in the various dissecting-rooms which I have visited.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The Mer de Glace, for instance, is perpetually bearing on its surface enormous -blocks of rock detached from the sides of Mont Blanc, and travelling onward, however -slowly, to the Rhone, and to the Sea.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> “Its ample volume (Rhine) of water from bank to bank, bearing a greater resemblance -to the Thames at Westminster, than any river with which I am acquainted.”—<i>Chambers</i>, -p. 49.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Leigh’s Rhenish Album, 1840.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> I have attempted a liberal rather than a literal translation of this remarkable passage -in Horace.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">At palace gate and cottage door</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Death knocks alike, nor long nor loud—</div> -<div class="verse">The shuddering tenant, rich or poor,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Next morn lies folded in the shroud.</div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Although the blue-eyed Maid of the Moselle, and the yellow-haired Lord of the -Rhine do not appear, at first, to relish the marriage that has been suddenly and unceremoniously -forced upon them; yet they soon get reconciled, and afterwards set a good -example to married folks on land. They jog on harmoniously through rough and -smooth, to the end of the matrimonial journey, without altercations or recriminations—and -without application to Doctors’ Commons for divorce, alimony, or pin-money!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Planché.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Of these lines I shall attempt a rude translation.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Grand-mamma was a <span class="smcap">Mag</span>, who laid eggs by the score;</div> -<div class="verse">And had she not died, might have laid many more.</div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The Mineral Waters of Wisbaden. By Dr. Peez, p. 103.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> In a Note to page 127 of Dr. Peez’s work, we have the following words:—“There -are some chemists, as for example, the Aulic Councillor <span class="smcap">Struve</span>, (<i>evidently actuated -by mercantile motives</i>) who charge us with purposely attempting to involve the -origin and efficacy of mineral springs in a magic gloom.” This is not a very <i>liberal</i> -insinuation!</p> - -<p>“<i>Mercantile motives!</i>” What motives led the doctor to study, and now to practise -physick?—<i>Answer.</i> Merely to heal the sick without fee or reward. What are the motives -which lead the lawyer to waste his time and health by the midnight lamp, studying -Coke upon Littleton?—<i>Answer.</i> The prospective pleasure of pleading the causes of -those who come into court “in forma pauperis”! But then there is the parson. He -spends years of his life and thousands of his money at Oxford and Cambridge, studying -theology and mythology—with the view of going forth to preach the word to Jew and -Gentile, and without the most remote prospect of worldly advantage! <i>Mercantile motives, -indeed!</i> Dr. Struve with great labour, expense, and skill, has imitated the Wisbaden -waters, so that those who are unable to ascend the Rhine, may yet drink at the -Kochbrunnen, without feeing the <span class="smcap">Spa Doctor</span>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The fatal effects of hot-bathing in the case of the late Duke of Nassau, have been -alluded to, when speaking of the <span class="smcap">Ems</span> waters.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Mineral Wells of Wisbaden, p. 360-6.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> If Æachus, Minos, and Rhadamanthus still retain their seats on a certain bench -beyond the Styx, I opine that many of the petty sovereigns of Germany may be taken -to task about the revenue which they gained in the upper regions by selling licenses to -gambling-houses.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> It is not long since an antediluvian elephant was discovered on the shores of -Siberia, and whose flesh was eatable by the dogs and wolves of that country.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The <i>average</i> duration of human life in London is 40 years, in the country, from 40 -to 60, according to the salubrity of the place.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Lee on the Mineral Waters of Nassau, 1839.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> “Vous sortez des eaux de Schlangenbad <i>rajeuni cum un Phœnix</i>—la jeunesse y devient -plus belle, plus brillante, et l’age y trouve une nouvelle vigeur.”—Fenner, p. 16.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> “The people of England have flocked within the last few years to Schlangenbad, to -bathe in its <i>foul</i> water, drawn from tanks and used in tubs.”—Granville, vol. 1, p. 132.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> I would advise Dr. Granville not to revisit the “Brunnens,” as a very considerable -prejudice exists against him there—especially at Schlangenbad, where I understood, -they were training a band of serpents to hiss him out of the valley, should he ever re-enter -it. Be this as it may, I think he stands little chance of receiving an “<span class="smcap">Order</span>” -from the Duke of Nassau—unless it be such a one as two of his brethren (Drs. Downey -and Lee,) received in the Summer of 1839—an “<span class="smcap">Order</span>” to quit the duchy in forty-eight -hours.<a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> This was neither a <i>civil</i> nor a military order, but through the police: it -was one which my friend, Theodore Hook, would be very apt to call an “<span class="smcap">Order off -the Bath</span>.” I suspect, indeed, that this would be my own fate, as well as that of Dr. -Granville—but for very different reasons—not for depreciating the virtues of the waters, -but for stigmatizing the licenses of the hells.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> This was, upon the whole, a liberal “notice to quit;” since it would be difficult, -I imagine, to point out any spot in the dukedom, whence an “exeat regno” might not -be practicable in forty-eight minutes, on a good horse.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> One would suppose from the number, profundity, and duration of these salaams, -that Germans, of all ages and both sexes, had studied in the “Imperial Academy of -Ceremonies” at Pekin. Such outrageous bowing, cap-doffing, pipe-squaring, spine-wriggling, -and <i>bussel</i>-rending, I never beheld in any other country, except the Celestial -Empire. The German, indeed, is taught civility or politeness from infancy, and far am -I from censuring this overplus of amenity.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> It must, at the same time, be confessed that, in Germany, all this quietude, order, -and decorum, <i>appear</i> to be the result of a spontaneous disposition of the people. There -is no <i>visible</i> governing or directing power—no policemen at the corner of every street, -or gens-d’armes watching their movements! All is <i>seemingly</i> automatic. Yet there -must be some strong arm behind the scene—much careful pre-arrangement and organization -to effect this tranquillity and regularity. We see a steam-carriage fly along a -rail-road, without any outward or visible impelling power; but what complicated -machinery is stowed inside? What vast labour was expended before the automaton -started on the road! So it may be with Germany.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> See a verification of these facts in the <span class="smcap">Morning Chronicle</span>, of Saturday, December -14th, 1839.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Effodiuntur opes irritamenta malorum.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Vice is a monster of such horrid mein,</div> -<div class="verse">That to be hated, needs but to be seen—</div> -<div class="verse">But seen too oft—familiar with his face,</div> -<div class="verse">We first endure—then pity—then embrace.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Granville, vol. 1, p. 110.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> I do not, for one moment, doubt the fidelity of Dr. Granville’s description; but I -am convinced that the effects which he describes were more owing to some happy mood -in which he was at the time, than to any peculiar properties of the waters. Let us remember -the expression of the Frenchman in the Serpent’s Bath at Schlangenbad—“<i>dans -ces bains on devient absoluement amoreux de soi-même</i>.” Now, I do not see why Dr. G. -might not have “fallen in love with self,” in the baths of Wildbad, as well as Monsieur -in those of Schlangenbad.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> “Chargé par son Excellence Mons. le Comte De Witt, General au service de la -Russie, j’ai l’honneur d’avertir Mons. le Docteur Johnson, qu’il est prié de se trouver a -la fête que Mons. le Comte donnera ce soir au Palais Royal.</p> - -<p class="right">“Wildbad, Aug. 18, 1839. <span class="smcap">Heim.</span>”</p> - -<p>Circumstances did not permit me to accept the kind invitation, and I can only thus -return my thanks to Count De Witt for his politeness to a casual bath-acquaintance.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32" id="Footnote_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> The public and promiscuous bathing of both sexes, so common on the Continent, is -more easily condemned by prejudice than convicted by argument. I confess that I was -fairly beaten out of the field by a German philosopher, while discussing the point. -<i>First</i>, he urged the antiquity of the practice—the Romans having public baths for both -sexes indiscriminately, on a most magnificent scale. The larger the bath, however, the -less the objection, and <i>vice versa</i>, which he acknowledged. <i>Secondly</i>, he asked me what -there was in the element <i>water</i>, to render promiscuous assemblages of the sexes more -indelicate than in the element air? I answered that in the latter element the people -were dressed. Dressed! he exclaimed. Why in the <i>bath</i> they are closely clothed from -the chin to the soles of the feet; while in the <i>ball-room</i> the ladies exclude dress from -every spot which they dare expose without outraging decency! There was no denying -this. He added that, it was surely as unobjectionable for invalids of both sexes to walk -and wade about in the bath, during the open day, as for people in high health to waltz -about in crowded assemblies, during the middle of the night. On observing that the -English were shocked at the practice of bathing promiscuously, because their eyes were -unaccustomed to the sight; he replied, “exactly so—and the Germans, who are accustomed to -it, feel nothing at all on the occasion.” The only objection on which I was obliged -to fall back, was the loss of friction and shampooing in the bath—a drawback which -the German admitted as unavoidable in public baths, but which, he maintained, was, in -some degree, compensated for by the pleasure of conversation and society.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33" id="Footnote_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> The “<span class="smcap">Auxiliary</span>” which I have recommended to be taken over night, while -using the waters of <span class="smcap">Wisbaden</span>, would prevent or mitigate the spa-fever, or “bad-sturm” -of <span class="smcap">Wildbad</span>, without any abatement of the medicinal effects of the waters.</p> - -<p class="right">J. J.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34" id="Footnote_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> This child of the Revolution, and of fickle fortune, fell at the battle of Dresden, -and his body lies interred on the frozen banks of the Neva!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35" id="Footnote_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Planché.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36" id="Footnote_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Mr. and Miss Hayward, Mrs. and Miss Johnson (now Mrs. Jackson) and myself.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37" id="Footnote_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Since the foregoing account was drawn up—now nearly six years ago—great improvements -have taken place in the Baths of Pfeffers. A good road for char-a-bancs -and light cars is constructed from Ragatz to the Baths, and the whole establishment has -been taken out of the hands of the monks of the neighbouring monastery, and put into -lay hands. The Bad-haus is improved, and better accommodations are provided for -strangers. I should not be surprized if this place becomes fashionable one day, and -eclipses Wildbad and Toeplitz!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38" id="Footnote_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> “Le pont est etroit, souvent glissant, et quelquefois on n’est separé que par une -seule planche du noir abîme de la <span class="smcap">Tamina</span>.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39" id="Footnote_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> It is surprising that the author of the “Voyage Pittoresque en Suisse,” and even -Dr. Ebell, should have been led into the monstrous error of imagining that the torrent -of the Tamina had, in the course of ages, hollowed out of the marble rock this profound -bed for itself. We might just as well suppose, that the bed of the Mediterranean had -been scooped out by the waters of the Hellespont, in their way from the Black Sea to -the Atlantic. The mountain was rent by some convulsion of Nature, and apparently -from below upwards, as the breadth, at the bed of the Tamina, is far broader than the -external crevice above.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40" id="Footnote_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> This has not always been the case. The talented authoress of “Reminiscences of -the Rhine,” &c. appears to have lacked courage for this enterprise, though her beautiful -daughters advanced to the further extremity of the gorge.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41" id="Footnote_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> This circumstance illustrates, in a very remarkable manner, the effects of passing -from a hot, or vapour-bath, into cold air or water. The immunity is nearly certain. -The hotter the medium from which we start into the cold, the less danger there is of -suffering any inconvenience. This principle in Hygiene is more understood than practised. -It will be adverted to farther on.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42" id="Footnote_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Lest I should be suspected of exaggeration, in this account of the Baths of Pfeffers, -I shall here introduce a short extract from “<span class="smcap">Reminiscences of the Rhine</span>,” &c. by -Mrs. Boddington—a work eulogised to the skies in the Edinburgh Review, and its -author represented (and, I understand, deservedly) as a lady of very superior talents -and strict veracity. After some slight notice of the Bath-house, Mrs. B. proceeds -thus:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>“Behind rolls the stormy Tamina, hemmed in at one side by the dark Bath-house and -the impending cliffs, while, on the other, a giant wall of perpendicular rock, starting up -daringly, and shutting out the world—almost the light of Heaven—closes up the scene. -Our guide proposed that we should visit the mineral springs that boil up from the depth -of an awful cavern, several hundred paces from the Bath-house. A bridge, thrown from -rock to rock, crosses the flood, and a narrow ledge of planks, fixed, I know not how, -against the side of the rock, and suspended over the fierce torrent, leads through a long -dark chasm to the source. I ventured but a little way; for, when I found myself on the -terrifying shelf, without the slightest ballustrade, and felt it slippery, from the continual -spray, and saw nothing between us and the yawning gulf, to which darkness, thickening -at every step, gave increased horror, I made a few rapid reflections on foolhardiness, -and retreated.”</p> - -</div> - -<p>The following lines were found in an Album at an Inn in the Canton of Glarus, in the -Summer of 1825, written by an anonymous English tourist, immediately after visiting -the Baths of Pfeffers.</p> - -<p class="center">[Communicated by C. Raine, Esq.]</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Oft hast thou marvell’d much, I trow.</div> -<div class="verse">At him who twirl’d with well pois’d toe</div> -<div class="verse indent2">On Strasburg’s pointed spire:—</div> -<div class="verse">Or him who, on the quivering slope</div> -<div class="verse">Of the tight-brac’d elastic rope,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Could bound in air much higher:—</div> -<div class="verse">But had they quaffed the fervid wave</div> -<div class="verse">In <span class="smcap">Pfeffers’</span> dark and vapoury cave—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">(Those half adventurous people)—</div> -<div class="verse">And paced the dizzy, fragile plank</div> -<div class="verse">Along the chasm’s terrific flank,</div> -<div class="verse">They then had scorned the paltry prank</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Of dancing on a steeple.</div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43" id="Footnote_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> In an old account of the baths we find the following passage:—“The water of -these baths is extremely clear, without taste or smell. It bears with it the most subtle -spirits of sulphur, nitre, vitriol, and divers metals—amongst others, <span class="smcap">gold</span>.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44" id="Footnote_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> In many people they produce slight vertigo—in more, they act freely on the bowels. -They were discovered in the 12th century, by two chasseurs from the neighbouring -monastery, who were seeking birds’ nests in the ravine of the Tamina. For a long -time they could only descend to these baths by means of ropes; but at length human -ingenuity formed zig-zags along the rocks. As if every thing relating to these waters -should partake of the wonderful, it may be mentioned that they begin to flow in May, -when the Summer is approaching—are at their acmé when the skies are fervid and the -land parched with thirst, yielding 1500 pints of water every minute—and cease entirely -in September, when the rains begin to fall, and the mountain streams to pour freely -along every declivity!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45" id="Footnote_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> A German writer informs us that the country people stay in these baths from -Saturday night till Monday morning. “Tous les Samedis on voit accourir à Pfeffers -une multitude de gens des campagne voisines, et ils restent dans le bains jusqu’au -Lundi matin pour provoquer la sueur.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46" id="Footnote_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Dr. Engel, of Vienna.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47" id="Footnote_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> For further particulars, see the Third Edition of my “<span class="smcap">Economy of Health</span>,” or -Stream of Human Life, &c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48" id="Footnote_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Unfortunately I find that gambling <i>is</i> permitted in Aix by the Prussian government -to all non-residents!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49" id="Footnote_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> In the interval between 1834 and 1840, when I last visited this place, Ems has been -completely metamorphosed. I could scarcely recognize it, so much has it been embellished -and improved. It is now one of the prettiest spas in Germany. A line of -handsome buildings, a mile in length, with a magnificent Cursaal in the centre, stretches -along the Lahn, while new edifices are fast rising on the other side of the river. -Beautiful promenades are formed all along this line, between the houses and the Lahn, -while two bands of music play several hours in the day. The view from the highest -point of the Morshutte, is very picturesque.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50" id="Footnote_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> A short time ago Ems had nearly shaken the foundation of Carlsbad. On cutting -down, with incredible labour, through a bed of schistus and other rock, on the opposite -side of the Lahn, a spring boiled up with a force equal to that of the Sprudel, and at a -temperature of 168° of Fahrenheit! The inundation, by infiltration, from the Lahn, -overpowered the efforts of the workmen, and the enterprize was abandoned. Various -fragments of masonry and wood were found in this place, rendering it probable that, at -some remote period—perhaps in the time of the Romans, there was a thermal fountain -in this place. The water is still seen boiling up from the bed of the river at this place, -and, on immersing my thermometer in the water of the Lahn there, the mercury stood -at 104°.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51" id="Footnote_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Ems, Les Eaux Thermales. Par M. Doring, 1839.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52" id="Footnote_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Dr. Doring affirms that bathing in the Ems waters is quite as salutary in Winter as -in Summer.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53" id="Footnote_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> By far the pleasantest way to Kissengen is the cross-road, leaving Wurtzburg far -to the right. It will occupy about two and a half days’ posting from Frankfort, through -a highly picturesque and beautiful country. Aschaffenburgh is the first night’s resting-place. -The second days’ journey leads through a portion of the ancient Hercynian -forest, and presents very fine scenery.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54" id="Footnote_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Balling, p. 33.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55" id="Footnote_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Ibidem.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56" id="Footnote_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Balling, p. 38-9.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57" id="Footnote_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> It is a little remarkable that Dr. Granville scarcely makes any allusion to this reactive -process so conspicuous in the Kissengen waters—and which is dwelt upon by the -writers on all the energetic spas of Germany. It is by far the most important phenomenon -which medicinal waters present, and requires the most vigilant attention. I have -not the least doubt that it is owing to the want of light aperient alteratives taken over -night, by which the biliary and other glandular secretions are kept in a state of activity, -corresponding with the action kept up on the bowels by the waters.—<i>See the Section on -Carlsbad.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58" id="Footnote_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> It would have been well if the late Duke of Nassau had observed this rule—or -rather if he had avoided these baths entirely.—<i>J.J.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59" id="Footnote_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> By the way, those visitors, who merely pass a day or two at Kissengen, without -any intention of taking the waters, have reason to complain of the tax imposed on them -by the King of Bavaria. When the “reckoning” comes in, they find two florins for -each person in the party charged by the master of the hotel. I believe, however, that -this is an imposition of the hotels, and that four or five days’ residence are allowed, -before the tax is due.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60" id="Footnote_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> It may be proper to state that, in a more recent analysis by Professor <span class="smcap">Frommsdorff</span>, -some other ingredients were discovered, although the aggregate quantity of saline -matters was 34 grains, as above. The new matters were very minute quantities of -oxide of manganese—carbonate of lithion—carbonate of strontian—and phosphate of -magnesia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61" id="Footnote_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> The Baron suggests the more frequent application of this gas to certain complaints -of both sexes which are regarded with no small anxiety by both parties. <i>Verbum sat.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62" id="Footnote_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Dr. Clarus, Dr. Granville, and others state that the skin exhales an acid odour, and -even feels salt to the tongue for several hours after leaving the bath. This I did not -perceive in my own case at all.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63" id="Footnote_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> There is another source in the forest, ten minutes walk from the Kreuzbrunn, -which contains double the quantity of solid materials found in the Carolinenbrunn, -termed Waldbrunnen.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64" id="Footnote_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Heidler, p. 334.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65" id="Footnote_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> The apparatus at Marienbad are admirably constructed, both for safety and efficacy. -The hole in the lid of the bath embraces, by the aid of a handkerchief, so well the -throat, that no gas escapes, while the patient suffers no difficulty of breathing. The -gas enters by a tube at the bottom of the bath, and the superfluity is carried off by -several others that enter near the top. Some covering is proper over the part exposed -to the <i>current</i> of the gas from the pipe, to prevent taking cold—as the clothes do not, -in the slightest degree, diminish the action of the gas on the body or members, provided -they are light and thin.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66" id="Footnote_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Lobkowitz. Ode to the Sprudel—nearly 300 years ago.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67" id="Footnote_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> The route by the Elbe, from Hamburg, through Dresden and Saxon Switzerland, -will now render the journey from London easy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="center"><a name="Footnote_68" id="Footnote_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> <i>Note from Mr. Spitta to Dr. Johnson.</i></p> - -<p>The ancient history of <i>Carlsbad</i> is interesting: it shews the powers of mendacious -tradition. There is a certain mountain on the left bank of the Teple, termed -<i>Hirschensprung</i> [Spring of the stag], which carries in its very name a wondrous tale.</p> - -<p>As early as the middle of the fourteenth century, Charles IV. Emperor of Germany, -and King of Bohemia, was pursuing a stag, and the animal, pressed closely by the -hounds, ascended that lofty mountain. The huntsmen, unable to follow, on account of -the steepness of the ascent, were returning by the bank of the river, supposing they -had lost their game, when—imagine their surprise—they heard the cries of the scalded -animal on the opposite side. The cause was easily explained. In the last despairing -hope of escape, the animal had made a leap, from the top of the Hirschensprung, -over the Teple; and had fallen, quite accidentally, into the boiling, bubbling Sprudel. -The distance, as the crow flies, may be a mile, perhaps a mile and a half (more or -less), a difference in tradition’s eye, of no importance. Thus the stag was found, and -the Sprudel discovered, simultaneously. Tradition’s stories are always complete. King -Charles happened to have a bad leg, for which (of course) the exercise of hunting was -beneficial; he happened to try the waters, and happened to get well. The place henceforth -assumed his name, Carlsbad (Charles’ bath), and rose by degrees to the importance -it now possesses.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69" id="Footnote_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Although the proportion of iodine and other materials, appears small to the <span class="smcap">Allopath</span>, -it is reckoned prodigious by the <span class="smcap">Homœopath</span>, who indeed, considers that the surplus -waters which flow from the Sprudel into the Teple, are quite sufficient to impregnate -the stream of the Elbe at Hamburgh abundantly for all medicinal purposes. M. -Creutzburg calculates that, in the course of a season at Carlsbad, during which he -drank 404 goblets of the waters, there were 3¼ grains of hydriodate of soda, in that -quantity. The quantity of carbonic acid gas in the pint is about 12 cubic inches.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70" id="Footnote_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> There is another spring, the Bernard’s Brunnen, near the New Brunnen, which has -a temperature as high as that of the Sprudel; but I believe it is seldom used. The -Schlossbrunnen, much higher up the hill, is the least hot of all—and the Marktbrunnen, -near the Muhlbrunn, is next to it in temperature. It exhales some odour of sulphur.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="center"><a name="Footnote_71" id="Footnote_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> <i>Note from Mr. Spitta.</i></p> - -<p>I brought home one of the pretty stamps, made of Sprudelstein; and had the -cruelty to break it up for chemical examination. I found it to be composed, as stalactites -in all parts of the world are, of the earthy carbonates; which, originally held in -solution by carbonic acid gas, are precipitated on its escape. The Sprudel contains a -very small quantity of carbonic acid, only sufficient, as Beecher has observed, to keep -its earthy carbonates in solution. As the water approaches the exit of the cauldron, -and the gas ceases to be under pressure, it resumes its wonted elasticity, passes quietly -off with the vapour which issues from the boiler, and leaves its irony carbonates, sticking -to the edge of the reservoir. Carbonate of lime is the main ingredient of the Sprudelstein—it -contains besides, carbonate of magnesia and iron; to the latter, its reddish-brown -colour is to be attributed. There is a portion of iron also, as peroxyde; and -minute traces of one or two other substances. With regard to the incrustations: they -are nothing more nor less than <i>petrifactions</i> (as they are called), made exactly in the -same manner as other petrifactions, by the deposition of the <i>earthy carbonates</i>. The -difference in colour from other petrifactions arises from the difference in the composition -of the Sprudel water and the water in other parts, where the <i>white</i> incrustations are -formed. The Sprudel contains a small quantity of the <i>carbonate of iron</i>. This is deposited -with the carbonates of lime and magnesia; and hence the brown colour.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72" id="Footnote_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> “Le celebre Carus a publié une tres-interessant Memoire sur les Eaux Minerales, -sur leur vitalité, sur leur formation dans le sein de la terre, qu’il considere comme un -<i>organism animé</i>, dont ces eaux sont les secretions, aussi differentes entre elles que les -fluides elaborés par les divers organs secretoires du corps humain.”—<span class="smcap">De Carro.</span></p> - -<p>It must be confessed that the idea of daily ingurgitating such lots of <i>secretions</i> from -some “great unknown” animal in the bowels of the earth, is not a very comfortable one, -and requires a stouter <i>stomach</i> than that which is necessary for the digestion of the -bear’s broth at Wisbaden. There is one consolation, that the whole is a dream; since -there is just as much proof or probability of the Spas of Germany being a <i>secretion</i> -from a living animal, as that the German Ocean is a secretion from Neptune or Amphitrite.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_73" id="Footnote_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> The remarkable influence of mind over matter, and hope over both, was exemplified -in 1839, in the person of Surgeon Fraser, of the Bombay establishment. Being reduced -almost to a skeleton by a disease, the nature of which could not be ascertained, he -happened to see my review of Dr. Granville’s book, and immediately determined to -travel <i>over-land</i> to Carlsbad. He embarked in a steamer for Suez—thence was carried -in a litter between two camels across the Desert—embarked again at Alexandria for -Constantinople—thence through the Black Sea up the Danube, and on to Carlsbad, all -this journey being sustained by hope, aided by “change of air.” At Carlsbad the waters -were eagerly taken; but alas! were found to do no good! He lost confidence in them, -and proceeded to Marienbad in a litter. He died two days after his arrival there, and -left his bones in Bohemia! There is little doubt that had he travelled on, instead of -stopping at Carlsbad, he might have reached his native mountains in the Highlands.</p> - -<p>On dissection the disease was found to be in the mesenteric glands.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_74" id="Footnote_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Carlsbad; ses Eaux Minerales. Par De Carro.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_75" id="Footnote_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Sur les Eaux, p. 167.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_76" id="Footnote_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> It is a curious fact that the waters of Carlsbad often cause a swelling of the ankles, -especially in females. Hoffman was the first who noticed this phenomenon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_77" id="Footnote_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> An English physician has realized a fortune by prescribing on this plan, and -enforcing a strict system of diet. The combination used is very nearly the following:—</p> - -<table summary="Recipe"> - <tr> - <td>℞.</td> - <td>Infus. rosæ c. ℥viss.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Acidi sulph. dil. ʒiss.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Magnes sulphat. ℥j.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Tinct. gent. c. ℥ss.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Sulphatis ferri gr. vij.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2">Misce ft. mistura, capt. coch. ij. mag. primo mane et meridie.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>I prefer the following formula.</p> - -<table summary="Recipe"> - <tr> - <td>℞.</td> - <td>Extr. col. comp.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Pil. rhei. comp. aa ℈j.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>—— hydrargyri gr. vj.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Ol. cassiæ, gtt. iv.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2">Misce ft. pil. xij. capt. i. vel. ij. hora somni omni nocte.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table summary="Recipe"> - <tr> - <td>℞.</td> - <td>Infus. gent. c. ℥vjss.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Magnes. sulph. ℥j.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Acidi. sulph. aromat. ʒiss.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Sulph. ferri. grs. vij.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td>Tinct. aurantii comp. ℥ss.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2">Misce ft. mistura, capt. coch. ij. vel. iij. mag. primo mane,<br /> - et rept. dosis intra horas duas, si alvus non respondeat.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>In this formula there is the alterative, the aperient, and the tonic combined, so that -no risk is run from any one of the ingredients. In <i>both</i> forms, there is some chemical -decomposition, but the physiological effects are good.—J. J.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_78" id="Footnote_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Les Bains de Gastein, p. 34.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_79" id="Footnote_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Erroneously spelled Toeplitz by most travellers.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_80" id="Footnote_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> This was the picture which presented itself to Dr. Granville four or five years ago; -but all is now changed. A dispute arose between the doctors and the town council of -Teplitz, as to the necessity or propriety of having the process of bleeding and bathing -simultaneously carried on—the doctors being <i>pro</i>, and the authorities <i>con</i>. Some of -the doctors, however, ratted, and declared that the practice of cupping was seldom -necessary; and that, where it was deemed prudent, the operation might be performed -out of the bath, and without any flow of blood into the water. The practice is now, -therefore, almost entirely discontinued.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_81" id="Footnote_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> The whole of the solid contents of the various springs amounts to about five grains -in the pint, with a little iron.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_82" id="Footnote_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> This effect did not take place in my own person, nor in that of any other with -whom I conversed on the subject. Dr. Richter, the latest writer on the waters, does -not mention it in his work, and he told me he had very seldom observed it in the persons -of bathers.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_83" id="Footnote_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> This analysis, as well as that of Sedlitz, I obtained at Bilin, at the establishment of -Prince Lobkowitz; and they are interesting as being the most recent yet published. -This appeared in 1840.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_84" id="Footnote_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> In the “<span class="smcap">Handbuck</span>,” Mr. Murray has committed a mistake in killing Prince -Colleredo here, instead of making him the fortunate soldier—“qui decida la journée.”—Commend -me to the Austrian policy. No man knew better than Prince Metternich -that one good living General was worth the full of a church-yard of dead ones. -Colleredo fought hard, and distinguished himself at the battle of Leipzig after the battle -of Culm.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_85" id="Footnote_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> February 1814, and July 1815.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_86" id="Footnote_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Many of the rocks have acquired distinct and permanent appellations from their -rude, but often striking similitudes to animals and other objects. More than one or -two royal personages have here their profiles <i>en gigantesque</i>, encompased by other figures -of more ignoble character, as “La grande Oie”—“La petite Oie”—“La Pierre de -Merles”—“La Pierre de Miel”—“Pierres des Ours,”—“Pierre d’Agneau”—“Pierre -de Fourterelle,” &c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_87" id="Footnote_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Did Napoleon adopt the <span class="smcap">Bee</span> as his emblem, because that animal is equally expert -in extracting the honey and implanting the sting?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_88" id="Footnote_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> His own words, as reported by Las Casas, were—“I was a Mahomedan in Egypt—a -Catholic in France. I do not believe in forms of religion; but in the existence of -a Deity.” There is not an infidel or sceptic from the North to the South Pole, who -doubts the existence of a God—provided he has sense or reason enough to be able to -distinguish his right hand from his left. It was fortunate, perhaps, for Napoleon’s -mental sufferings that he believed not in a future state of existence, otherwise the ghost -of D’Enghien would have stood by his death-bed, and rendered his last moments -most horrible! I need not allude to his divorce of Josephine, for his character in -matrimony!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_89" id="Footnote_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> These regalia are now removed to some other place. 1840.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_90" id="Footnote_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> A dagger is here preserved which, on entering the body, separates into three parts, -rendering extraction more dangerous than the primary wound!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_91" id="Footnote_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> By the way, the extreme care which the heroes of antiquity, as well as those of -the middle-ages, took to cover every part of their bodies with brass and iron plates, -does not exhibit any very striking proof of their courage. Why should they not have -fought without armour, trusting to activity, bravery, and strength, rather than to coats -of mail? In the best days of the Roman legions, they fought without armour.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_92" id="Footnote_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> In Saxony, the punishment of death is by decapitation.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_93" id="Footnote_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> From the researches of the Rev. Mr. Gleig, Scepticism has invaded the Catholic -camp!</p> - -<p>“But, even in Catholic countries, the cloven-foot of Scepticism is for -ever thrusting itself from beneath the priest’s robe; while amongst -the Protestants, <i>to believe God’s word, as it is written, forms the -exception to the general rule which Rationalism has established</i>.”—Vol. -I. preface.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_94" id="Footnote_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> He might be represented as a person with two shadows. The shade behind (time -past) is tolerably distinct—that which is before (time to come) is dim in the extreme, -and ill-defined.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_95" id="Footnote_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Russell’s Germany, Vol. I. pp. 123.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_96" id="Footnote_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> This trait in Gallic character has never been more clearly discerned, or more -cleverly met than by Viscount Palmerston. Palmam qui meruit ferat.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_97" id="Footnote_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Among the perversions of language we may notice the following in the vocabulary -of the French fire-eaters. “Offended pride” <i>means</i> detected fraud.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_98" id="Footnote_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Translations from Goethe and Schiller. By J. S. Dwight. Boston, 1839.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<p class="titlepage">THE END.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="ad"> - -<p class="center">LATELY PUBLISHED BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</p> - -<p class="hanging">I. CHANGE OF AIR; or the Pursuit of Health and Recreation; illustrating -the Beneficial Influence of Bodily Exercise, Change of Scene, -Pure Air, and Temporary Relaxation, as Antidotes to the Wear and -Tear of Education and Avocation. 8vo. 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We have here some of -the most important subjects connected with parturition fully discussed by -one who speaks not only of what he has read, but of what he himself has -seen done, and the result is correspondingly satisfactory, in that the -Observations are really practical.”—<i>Medical Gazette.</i></p> - -<p class="book">PHARMACOPŒIA HOMŒOPATHICA.</p> - -<p>Edidit <span class="smcap">F. F. Quin</span>, M.D. 8vo. Price 7s.</p> - -<p class="book">FOX ON CHLOROSIS.</p> - -<p>OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISORDER OF THE GENERAL HEALTH OF -FEMALES CALLED CHLOROSIS.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Samuel Fox</span>. 8vo. Price 6s.</p> - -<p class="book">COLOURED DIAGRAMS OF THE -REFLECTIONS OF THE PERITONEUM AND PLEURÆ,</p> - -<p>With Anatomical Descriptions.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Views are as follows</span>:—</p> - -<ul> -<li>I. Vertical Section of the Abdomen, and its contents viewed laterally.</li> -<li>II. View of the Formation of the Meso-colon and Mesentery.</li> -<li>III. 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Price 6s.</p> - -<p class="quote">“Dr. Rowland’s Work on Neuralgia does him great credit, and will be -readily consulted by every one who has to treat an obstinate case of this -Malady.”—<i>Medical Gazette.</i></p> - -<p class="quote">“Dr. Rowland’s Book is a very useful one.”—<i>Johnson’s Medico-Chirurgical -Review.</i></p> - -<p class="quote">“The Volume before us is a creditable monument of its author’s -industry.”—<i>British and Foreign Medical Review.</i></p> - -<p class="book">GUY’S HOSPITAL REPORTS.</p> - -<p>Edited by <span class="smcap">George H. Barlow</span>, M.A. and M.D., and <span class="smcap">James P. 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COOPER.—Reports of Cases requiring Capital Operations, which have been performed -since October, 1840.</li> -<li>MR. HINGESTON—On a Case of Intestino-Vesical Fistula.</li> -<li>DR. REES, & MR. S. LANE—On the Structure of the Blood Corpuscle.</li> -<li>MR. T. W. KING—Account of a Patella broken transversely, and reunited by Bone: with -Remarks on the Nature and Treatment of similar Injuries.</li> -<li>DR. BABINGTON—On Chorea.</li> -</ul> - -<p>No. XIV. WILL BE PUBLISHED IN APRIL, 1842,</p> - -<p><i>Beginning the Volume for that Year.</i></p> - -<p class="book">LEE ON DISEASES OF WOMEN.</p> - -<p>Researches on the Pathology and Treatment of some of the most important Diseases of Women.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Robert Lee</span>, M.D., F.R.S. 8vo. Plates. 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With Surgical and Anatomical -Plates. 8vo. Price £1 4s.</p> - -<p class="book">ANATOMICAL SKETCHES AND DIAGRAMS.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Thomas Wormald</span> and <span class="smcap">A. M. McWhinnie</span>, Teachers of -Practical Anatomy at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. 4to. Price 4s. each Part.</p> - -<p class="quote">The Four Parts now published are intended to illustrate the greater part -of the course and distribution of the whole of the Cerebral Nerves, -the various important regions of the front of the Neck, the course of -relations of the Thoracic Duct in the Neck, the distribution of the -Laryngeal Nerves, the regions of the Axilla and bend of the elbow-joint, -in the order most convenient for their examination. 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We have now a work which every tyro in the science -may study with advantage, and every practitioner derive improvement -from.”—<i>Johnson’s Medico-Chirurgical Review.</i></p> - -<p class="book">GRAINGER’S GENERAL ANATOMY.</p> - -<p>ELEMENTS OF GENERAL ANATOMY,</p> - -<p class="smaller">Containing an Outline of the Organization of the Human Body.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">R. D. Grainger</span>, Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology. 8vo. 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They are coloured and varnished, and mounted on cloth, with brass rollers. Price of -the Pair, £1 10s.</p> - -<p class="book">JUDD ON THE VENEREAL.</p> - -<p>A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON URETHRITIS AND SYPHILIS:</p> - -<p>Including a variety of Examples, Experiments, Remedies, Cures, and a New Nosological Classification -of the various Venereal Eruptions; illustrated by numerous coloured Plates.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">William H. Judd</span>, Surgeon in the Fusilier Guards. 8vo. Price 25s.</p> - -<p class="book">CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM -PRODUCED BY CIVILIZATION.</p> - -<p>Considered according to the evidence of Physiology and the Philosophy of History.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Robert Verity</span>, M.D. 2nd Edition. Enlarged. 8vo. Price 6s.</p> - -<p class="quote">“The many important questions put forward in these pages, added to the -profound views often taken of them by the learned Author, render this -publication worthy the deepest attention. It Is written in a noble -and perspicuous style, frequently reminding us of Lord Bacon, and -contains a lucid statement of theories which we believe to be true and -valuable.”—<i>Monthly Chronicle, Dec. 1840.</i></p> - -<p class="book">BILLING’S MEDICINE.</p> - -<p>FIRST PRINCIPLES OF MEDICINE.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Archibald Billing</span>, M.D., A.M.,</p> - -<p>Member of the Senate of the University of London; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, &c. -8vo. Fourth Edition, Cloth. 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We strongly recommend not only the -perusal but the study of it to the student and young practitioner, and -even to the ablest and most experienced, who will gain both information -and knowledge from reading it.”—<i>London Medical and Surgical Journal.</i></p> - -<p class="book">MACILWAIN’S MEDICINE AND SURGERY,<br /> -<span class="smaller">ONE INDUCTIVE SCIENCE.</span></p> - -<p>Medicine and Surgery one Inductive Science, being an attempt to improve its Study and Practice -on a plan in closer alliance with Inductive Philosophy.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">George Macilwain</span>, Consulting Surgeon to the St. Ann’s Society, &c. -8vo. Price 12s.</p> - -<p class="smaller">BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</p> - -<p>THE UNITY OF THE BODY,</p> - -<p>As illustrated by some of the more striking Phenomena of Sympathy with a view to enlarge -the grounds and improve the practice of the</p> - -<p>CONSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT OF LOCAL DISEASES. 8vo. Price 6s.</p> - -<p class="book">ANNESLEY’S DISEASES OF INDIA.</p> - -<p>SKETCHES OF THE MOST PREVALENT DISEASES OF INDIA.</p> - -<p>Comprising a Treatise on Epidemic Cholera in the East, &c. &c. By <span class="smcap">James Annesley</span>, Esq. -Of the Madras Medical Establishment. Second Edition, 8vo. 18s.</p> - -<p class="quote">“Mr. Annesley is a man of such ample experience, sound judgment, and -scrupulous fidelity, that every thing falling from his pen is highly -valuable.”—Dr. <span class="smcap">James Johnson</span>, (“<i>Influence of Tropical Climates -on European Constitutions</i>.”)</p> - -<p class="book">KOECKER ON ARTIFICIAL TEETH.</p> - -<p>AN ESSAY ON ARTIFICIAL TEETH, OBTURATORS, AND PALATES,</p> - -<p>With the Principles for their Construction and Application. Illustrated by 21 plates.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Leonard Koecker</span>, Surgeon-Dentist. 8vo. Price 10s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="book">THE ANATOMICAL REMEMBRANCER,</p> - -<p>OR, COMPLETE POCKET ANATOMIST, 2nd Edition. 32mo. Price 3s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="smaller">PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION, BY THE SAME AUTHOR,</p> - -<p>THE PHYSIOLOGICAL REMEMBRANCER.</p> - -<p class="book">WILLSHIRE’S PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY.</p> - -<p>THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY; STRUCTURAL, FUNCTIONAL, AND SYSTEMATIC, -Condensed and immediately adapted to the use of Students of Medicine. By <span class="smcap">W. -Hughes Willshire, M.D., Edin.</span>, Member of the Botanical Society of London, Lecturer on -Botany at Charing-Cross Hospital, and at the Aldersgate School of Medicine. 12mo. Price 6s.</p> - -<p class="book">LIVES OF EMINENT NATURALISTS,</p> - -<p>WITH PORTRAITS. Small 8vo.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">First Series</span>: Containing Cuvier, Linnæus, Buffon, Pennant, Aristotle, Sir T. S. Raffles, and -Sir J. Bankes. Price 5s.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Second Series</span>: Containing Bruce, Bewick, Lacepede, Lamarck, Sir R. Sibbald, La Vaillant, -Haller, and Aldrovandi. Price 5s.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Third Series</span>: Containing Sir H. Sloane, Pliny, Werner, Camper, John Hunter, and Madame -Merian. Price 5s.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="book"><span class="smaller">A NEW SYNOPSIS, OR THE</span><br /> -NATURAL ORDER OF DISEASES:</p> - -<p>Containing their Definition, Principles, and Treatment, with a New Pathology of -Fever and Inflammation.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Robert Stevens</span>. 8vo. Price 7s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="book">RAILWAY MAPS.</p> - -<p>ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND. With all the Railways. Size, 33 Inches by 21. -Engraved by Lizars.</p> - -<p>Price 5s. each, in Leather Case. 7s. 6d. Mounted and Varnished, with Roller.</p> - -<p class="book">JARDINE’S SCOTTISH SALMONIDÆ.</p> - -<p>ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCOTTISH SALMONIDÆ, By <span class="smcap">Sir William Jardine</span>, Bart.</p> - -<p>Parts I, & II, Elephant Folio, Price £3 3s. each, coloured.</p> - -<p class="book">JARDINE AND SELBY’S ORNITHOLOGY.</p> - -<p>ILLUSTRATIONS OF ORNITHOLOGY, by Sir <span class="smcap">W. Jardine</span>, Bart., and <span class="smcap">P. J. Selby</span>, Esq.</p> - -<p>In Numbers, Royal 4to. Price 6s. 6d. Imperial 4to. Price 12s. 6d. Containing Six coloured Plates -of new and interesting Species, with copious Descriptions. Seven Numbers are now published.</p> - -<p class="book">CORNARO ON HEALTH AND LONG LIFE.</p> - -<p>SURE METHODS OF ATTAINING A LONG AND HEALTHFUL LIFE.</p> - -<p>With the Means of Correcting a bad Constitution.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Lewis Cornaro</span>. 38th Edition, 18mo, Price 3s.</p> - -<p class="book">GREEN ON MEDICAL REFORM.</p> - -<p>THE TOUCHSTONE OF MEDICAL REFORM.</p> - -<p>In Three Letters, to SIR ROBERT H. INGLIS, <span class="smcap">Bart.</span>, M.P.</p> - -<p>By <span class="smcap">Joseph H. Green</span>, F.R.S., Professor of Anatomy to the Royal -Academy, &c., 8vo, Price 2s. 6d.</p> - -<p class="book">HIGHLEY’S GENERAL MEDICAL CATALOGUE,</p> - -<p>OF MODERN WORKS, WITH THEIR PRICES AND DATES.</p> - -<p>Corrected up to October, 1841. Price 1s.</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="adbox"> - -<div class="adbox-top"> - -<p class="center">PUBLISHED BY S. HIGHLEY, 32, FLEET STREET.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="center larger">THE NATURALIST’S LIBRARY.</p> - -<p class="center">CONDUCTED BY SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, <span class="smcap">Bart.</span>, F.R.S.E., F.L.S., &c.</p> - -<p class="center smaller">In Volumes the size of the Waverley and Byron, Each containing 30 to 40 Plates, coloured from -Nature, Price 6s. each.</p> - -<p class="center smaller">Among the Contributors to the Work are <span class="smcap">P. J. Selby, Esq.</span>, <span class="smcap">J. -O. Westwood, Esq.</span>, <span class="smcap">Colonel Hamilton Smith</span>, <span class="smcap">W. Swainson, -Esq.</span>, <span class="smcap">J. Duncan, Esq.</span>, <span class="smcap">G. R. Waterhouse, Esq.</span>, &c.</p> - -<p class="smaller">“We take shame to ourselves for not having directed the attention of our -readers who love Natural History (and who do not?) to the Naturalist’s -Library. It is a very delightful work, and should grace the shelves of -every man who has a family. Productions of this kind, will, we hope, -displace the trash which was formerly in the hands and on the lips of -young persons, and give them that relish for the study of nature, so -invigorating to the mind, and so calculated to fit it for the sober -occupations of life.”—<i>Lancet.</i></p> - -<p class="center">CONTENTS OF THE TWENTY NINE VOLUMES<br /> -<span class="smaller">ALREADY PUBLISHED.</span></p> - -<p class="hanging">The Work is so arranged, that any Volume or Subject may be taken by itself.—General Title -Pages for the Subscriber to the entire Series, and additional Title Pages for the purchasers -of detached Subjects, are supplied throughout.</p> - -<p>1 & 3. HUMMING BIRDS, 68 Coloured -Plates: with Memoirs and Portraits of Linnæus -and Pennant.</p> - -<p>2. MONKEYS, 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait -and Memoir of Buffon.</p> - -<p>4. LIONS, TIGERS, &c., 28 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Cuvier.</p> - -<p>5. PEACOCKS, PHEASANTS, TURKEYS, -&c., 30 Coloured Plates; Portrait and -Memoir of Aristotle.</p> - -<p>6. BIRDS of the GAME KIND, 32 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Sir T. -S. Raffles.</p> - -<p>7. FISHES of the PERCH GENUS, &c., -32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of -Sir J. Bankes.</p> - -<p>8. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS (Beetles), -32 Coloured Plates: Portrait and Memoir of -Ray.</p> - -<p>9. COLUMBIDÆ (Pigeons), 32 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Pliny.</p> - -<p>10. BRITISH BUTTERFLIES, 36 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Werner.</p> - -<p>11. RUMINATING ANIMALS, containing -Deer, Antelopes, Camels, &c., 35 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Camper.</p> - -<p>12. RUMINATING ANIMALS, containing -Goats, Sheep, Wild and Domestic Cattle, -&c., &c., 33 Coloured Plates; Portrait and -Memoir of John Hunter.</p> - -<p>13. ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, -TAPIRS, &c., 31 Coloured Plates; Portrait -and Memoir of Sir H. Sloane.</p> - -<p>14. BRITISH MOTHS, SPHINXES, &c., -32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of -Madame Merian.</p> - -<p>15. PARROTS, 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait -and Memoir of Bewick.</p> - -<p>16. WHALES, 32 Coloured Plates; Portrait -and Memoir of Lacepede.</p> - -<p>17 & 19. BIRDS OF WESTERN AFRICA, -68 Coloured Plates; Portraits and -Memoirs of Bruce and Le Vaillant.</p> - -<p>18. FOREIGN BUTTERFLIES, 33 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Lamarck.</p> - -<p>20 & 24. BIRDS of GREAT BRITAIN -and IRELAND, 68 Coloured Plates; Portraits -and Memoirs of Sir R. Sibbald and -Smellie.</p> - -<p>21. FLYCATCHERS, their Natural Arrangement -and Relations, 33 Coloured Plates; -Portrait and Memoir of Baron Haller.</p> - -<p>22. BRITISH QUADRUPEDS, 36 Coloured -Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Ulysses -Aldrovandi.</p> - -<p>23. AMPHIBIOUS CARNIVORA, including -the Walrus, Seals, and Herbivorous -Cetacea, 33 Coloured Plates; Portrait and -Memoir of Peron.</p> - -<p>25 & 28. DOGS, including also the Genera -Hyæna and Proteles, 70 Coloured Plates; Portraits -and Memoirs of Pallas and D’Azara.</p> - -<p>26. BEES, including their Management, -32 Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of -Huber.</p> - -<p>27. FISHES, their Structure and Uses, 33 -Coloured Plates; Portrait and Memoir of Salviani.</p> - -<p>29. INTRODUCTION to ENTOMOLOGY, -38 Coloured Plates; Portraits and Memoirs -of Swammerdam and De Geer.</p> - -<p>30. MARSUPIALIA, or POUCHED ANIMALS, -36 Coloured Plates, Portrait, and Memoir -of Barclay.</p> - -<p>31. HORSES—The Equidae, or Genus -Equus of Authors, 35 Coloured Plates, Portrait -and Memoir of Gesner.</p> - -<p>32. FISHES OF BRITISH GUIANA, -Vol. I., By <span class="smcap">Schomburgk</span>, with his Life, Travels, -and Portrait, 34 Coloured Plates.</p> - -<p class="center"><b>Completion of the Work.</b></p> - -<p class="center">The following Volumes, with which considerable progress has been made, will complete the Series, -forming in all 40 Volumes.</p> - -<ul> -<li>FISHES OF BRITISH GUIANA, Vol. II, By <span class="smcap">Schomburgk</span>, with his Life, Travels, and Portrait.</li> -<li>EXOTIC MOTHS, with a Copious Dissertation on the Silk Moth, by <span class="smcap">Duncan</span>.</li> -<li>BRITISH BIRDS, Vols. III, & IV, By <span class="smcap">Sir W. Jardine</span>.</li> -<li>INTRODUCTION to the MAMMALIA, By <span class="smcap">Col. C. Hamilton Smith</span>.</li> -<li>SUN BIRDS, By <span class="smcap">Sir W. Jardine</span>, with Portrait and Memoir of Willoughby.</li> -<li>BRITISH FISHES, 2 Vols., with Portraits and Memoirs of Humboldt and Isaac Walton.</li> -</ul> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pilgrimages to the Spas in Pursuit of -Health and Recreation, by James Johnson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PILGRIMAGES TO THE SPAS *** - -***** This file should be named 60104-h.htm or 60104-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/1/0/60104/ - -Produced by Susan Skinner, K Nordquist and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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