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.