The spas of Germany / [A.B. Granville].

  • Granville, A. B. (Augustus Bozzi), 1783-1872
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The spas of Germany / [A.B. Granville]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    secured. But in such an arrangement, the greatest improvement would be the existence of a sufficient expanse, or circle of unen- cumbered ground, for the dwellers to breathe in; an operation this, which can scarcely be performed at present on the right bank, and in the long or little cross-streets of Ems. So much for the dwellings of Neu-Ems,—as the place would then be called if my suggestions were adopted; and now for the springs. The reader who has been so much accustomed to hear of this brunnen, and that brunnen, at Old Ems,—in the Kur- haus, and out of the Kur-haus,—will be surprised to learn that there are better springs, physically and professionally speaking, on the left bank of the river. After Dr. Voegler had favoured me with a view of the ground-plan of the various springs de- scribed in this chapter, and which I have followed as a guide in my descriptions, it occurred to me, that as the level of the valley, on the other side of the river, was lower than that of the area on which all the springs at Ems had either been bored or discovered accidentally,—and as the Lahn is a shallow river, the thermal sources would probably be found on that side as well. On ques- tioning the doctor, he admitted their existence, and forthwith offered to accompany me to the spot, to prove the fact. We crossed, in consequence, the narrow river, on the low bridge of boats, which serves to keep up the communication be- tween the two sides of the Lahn ; and on the shingly shore of its left bank, in all directions, and close to the very edge of the cold river-stream, I found mineral water surging, at a temperature of upwards of 100 degrees of F., which formed pools of various sizes. Many of these I examined, and put my hands deep into them, through the shingle, until I reached a lower stratum of soft sand, where the heat felt genial and delightful. That this is the same water which flows from the sources higher up, on the oppo- site side of the river, I have no doubt; and that it has lost, in its further trajet under the river, a few degrees of temperature, I think both a natural and a fortunate circumstance. It is here, therefore,—over these natural baths of thermal mineral water, rising from the lowest rock, through sand, as at Wildbad—that Badhauses, such as exist there, should be erected, and arranged in a line, each having the supply direct from the source itself, formed into basins of various dimensions, and each getting rid ol its su- K K