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.”