The eastern or Turkish bath

by Sir Erasmus Wilson

Mr. Urquhart's Bath; the Bath at Riverside. [(Page 79.)]

a. The door of entrance. b. The ceiling of the vestibule of the Bath. The side or rather the end of the vestibule c is occupied by an immense sheet of plate glass, through which are seen the Frigidarium, and the window of the Frigidarium, with a trellis of roses beyond. d. The floor of the vestibule. e e. One side of the great Hall of the Bath. f. A step covered with a Turkish towel. g. A platform, under which the hypocaust, h h, extends from one side to the other of the Hall. i. An ornamental grating, through which heated air enters the Hall directly from the furnace. k k. The tent, or enclosed chamber immediately over the furnace, where the highest degree of heat exists; the Laconicum. l. A couch, of lower temperature, but still hot, from being over the hypocaust. m. The spiracle of perfume from the mignionette bed. n. The floor of the Hall. o. The Lavatrina. p. A couch of less heat than l. q. Steps leading to the pool of cold water. r. The piscina or cold pool.

Ground-plan of my own Bath at Richmond-Hill. [(Page 88.)]

a a. Front wall. b. Door of entrance from a lobby, leading from the Frigidarium. c. Vestibule. d. Inner door. e e. Spiracles or ventilators. f. Mouth of the furnace. g. Furnace of fire-brick, enclosed in a jacket of hollow brick. h h h. Flue. i. Chimney. k. Returned flue, supporting a tank for warm water. l l. Outer wall; the dark shade between l h, and l k, indicates the interval between the flue and outer wall. m. The Lavatrina. n. Tesselated pavement.

The Dureta, or Reclining Couch, used in the Bath; both in the Calidarium and Frigidarium. (Pages [53], [97].)

a. The plane for supporting the back. b. The thigh-plane. c. The leg-plane. d. The foot-piece, which is movable, and admits of adjustment, to suit the comfort of the bather. e. The head-piece, for supporting the head. f. Arc of the angle a-b. g. The angle corresponding with the bend of the knee. h. Arc of the angle b-c. i. Lower hole, for the foot-piece. k. Elevation of the trunk-plane from the ground-line, l. m. One of the feet of the couch.

This figure is intended to exhibit the construction of the dureta, the best lines of angle, and the size the most convenient for a person of medium stature—say five feet, eight inches. If the person be taller or shorter, a corresponding difference must be made in the length of the three principal pieces. The dureta is constructed of deal boards, 20 inches long, nailed on a pair of lateral rails; the rails being supported by a firm foot, m, and steadied by a bracket at the angle g. The measurements are as follow:—a, 28 inches; b, 18-1/2 inches; c, from g to the foot-piece, 19 inches; and from g to the extreme end, below the letter i, 23 inches. The holes for the foot-piece are two inches apart; and the head-piece may be made movable. The arc of the angle a-b, measured at f, from the upper angle of a to g is 38 inches; the arc of the angle b-c, measured at h from the angle m to the end of the plane c, is 37 inches; the height of the upper end at k is 24-1/2 inches; the height of the angle g at l is 14-1/2 inches; and the dotted line from the angle m to the perpendicular k, 21 inches; the height of the angle m from the point where the dotted line touches to the ground is 6-1/4 inches; and the height of the end at i is simply the depth of the rail—namely between two and three inches.

The dureta after the above model is manufactured by Mr. Allen, 7, Great Smith-street, Westminster.