If an ornamental fountain be required in the frigidarium, it should be of terra-cotta or modelled glazed ware, and must be provided with supply-pipe, waste, and means of regulating the jet of water. A fountain is a very desirable addition to a cooling room, as it is restful to the ear, and may be made pleasant to the eye by means of flowers and plants arranged around and upon it.
CHAPTER VII.
LIGHTING, DECORATING, AND FURNISHING.
Light and shade being the soul of all ornamental effect, we may well consider first the methods of lighting the bath. As a rule, much artificial light will be required. The hot rooms, being often in a basement, are as a rule but feebly illumined from areas and the like. Seeing that purity of atmosphere in these apartments is of so vital importance, the method of artificial lighting adopted should not be such as impregnates the air with obnoxious and harmful, if unnoticeable, fumes. Gas, for this reason, used in the ordinary manner, is objectionable, as the ventilation being by means of low-level exits for the foul air, the products of combustion must of necessity pass by and envelop persons below the burners, though, of course, in a diluted state. Should, therefore, gas-lighting be employed in a sudatory chamber, it should for preference be on one of those systems whereby the burner is cut off from the atmosphere of the room, and provision made for carrying off the fumes. Happily, the use of electric lighting is at last increasing with marked rapidity; and the incandescent light is admirably adapted for all purposes of the Turkish bath. Where it can possibly be adopted it is a great addition to a bath.
For cooling room purposes gas is not so objectionable, except that it is heating, and assists in vitiating the atmosphere. But inasmuch as the fumes in this case will ascend with the general body of air, the objection to gas is much lessened in these apartments. Nevertheless, the electric light is the illuminant to be coveted.
The quality of the lighting in the cooling room should be toned and softened. It is not a place for brilliant general illumination, but rather for a soft light pervading the whole, and auxiliary lights where required, such as near couches, &c.—a system, in fact, diametrically opposed to sun-burner illumination. Nothing more objectionable of its kind can well be imagined than a glaring light in the ceiling of a cooling room. It would be found intolerable.
For practical purposes, the greatest amount of light required in any part of a frigidarium is that at the heads of the couches, where it must be of such strength as will admit of comfortable reading. One gas-burner, or one small incandescent lamp, to every two couches is a fair allowance. If effect be desired, there is, of course, much in the distribution of the illuminating agent that affects for good or evil, and the placing and the relative powers of the lamps or burners must be considered. The dominant point of light might be a prettily-designed lantern with a few brilliant points of colour in it, depending from a chain over a fountain, throwing its rays downwards on to the falling waters, and not in the eyes of those bathers who may be reclining upon the couches.
Throughout the bath, in either natural or artificial lighting, by windows or lamps, it should be the aim not to throw strong light in the eyes of the bather—a principle of universal application, but especially to be regarded in a place where, more often than not, the occupants of the various apartments are reclining, face upwards, on benches or couches. In the hot rooms, as in the cooling room, little general illumination is required. A bright artificial light in such places seems especially painful to the eyes. What light, therefore, may be provided in the sudatory chambers, should be as diffused as possible, the additional lights for the few who practise reading in these apartments being so arranged as not to be objectionable to the majority of bathers. The lights should be shaded so as to throw their rays downwards in a very small compass.
Considerably more light is required in the lavatoria and shampooing rooms. In scheming the plan of bath rooms in a basement, where daylight can only be obtained at one point, it is desirable, if practicable, to arrange the shampooing room so that it may enjoy the benefit of this light.