THE LUXURY OF THE TURKISH BATH--ITS USES AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION--THE
AILMENTS IT TENDS TO CURE.
Next to the pleasure of enjoying an Anglo-Turkish bath oneself, _in
propria persona_, is that of hearing some one dilate on its merits.
And few who have ever tried it, will be found unwilling to expatiate
freely on the topic of Turkish bathing; of its great and manifold
advantages over all other systems of bathing, of the delights they
experienced while _in_ the bath, and of the feelings of lightness and
comfort, calmness of mind and positive happiness induced thereby. This
prince of baths would, we verily believe, change the dullest clodhopper
to a wit for a time, and convert the prosiest old antiquarian into a
poet.
If it has such a transforming power on the brains of the by-no-means
brilliant, is it any wonder that men of bright intellect like Sir
Erasmus Wilson and David Urquhart, should write or talk so prettily
about this, their favourite mode of bathing. As a rule there is not
much room for poetry in the medical profession, albeit Dr Jenner,
carried away by a pardonable enthusiasm, described the vaccination
pustule of the ninth day, with its crimson areola as "the pearl upon the
rose." Yet we cannot read the glowing and graphic description given by
the great dermatologist, concerning his visit to the bath at Riverside,
without wishing that he had marshalled his thoughts, for once in a way,
in the splendid hexameters of a Longfellow. A bath like that of Mr
Urquhart's, from which one emerged with "the body shining like
alabaster, fragrant as the cistus, sleek as satin and soft as velvet,"
is surely worthy of the high honours of blank verse. And this thermal
paradise is sketched by Sir Erasmus in language as brilliant and
beautiful, as any that ever the _other_ professor Wilson puts into the
month of the bard of Ettrick, in his inimitable Noctes Ambrosianae.
We must be forgiven, if we pick a plum or two from the description, and
hand them round to our readers, there are plenty more on the tree which
they may cull for themselves [Note 1]. At the door of the Frigidarium
or cool room, the would-be bather loosens the latchets of his shoes, and
leaves them behind the lintel; the portal opens and he enters. This
apartment though not large is sunny and bright. It is a morning in
early summer, and, through the glass doors, can be seen a balcony
festooned with roses; beyond the parapet of the balcony are terraces of
which the rose is still the favoured flower, while further on can be
seen the rippling surface of a noisy stream, then meadows with grazing
herds and flocks, and beyond these the wooded hill arching like an
eyebrow around the bright spot in which as the apple of the eye,
sparkles the bath. By his side is a _dureta_ over against him a
reclining chair, around the sides of the apartment are cushioned divans;
books, and chibouques, and many a Turkish ornament are around, and the
floor is spread with carpets of Persia, and the clean fresh mattings of
India.
Opposite the glass doors is an immense sheet of plate glass; through it
are seen marble steps, and in the aqueous depths to which these steps
descend, is the reflection of the morning sun. Here he may court the
rays of Phoebus, smiling through festoons of roses to visit the deepest
pool of his bath. Here he can swim while the sun glistens in the
crystal drops that linger on his skin, or makes mimic rainbows in the
spray that he dashes before him in his plunging revel.
The author passes on through a door by the side of the immense barrier
of glass. This door closes behind him, then onwards through a second
door to be greeted by a delightful atmosphere, and experience tells him
that no place of terrestrial existence save _the_ bath can yield that
warm, soft and balmy aether. Two steps down and then a platform. Two
steps more, the heat increases, and he has reached the tropical line of
the bath. But the hottest room was enveloped in scarlet hangings, a
fiery tent, where the temperature stood at from 240 to 250 degrees.
On a divan at a later stage of the hath, under a less degree of heat, he
spends many minutes of genuine enjoyment. Just overhead is a plug to
withdraw in order to admit a breath of fresh air if desired, and this
delicious gush of ambrosial air comes to him, perfumed with the sweet
breath of flowers over which it has been contrived that it shall pass.
Then comes a deeper descent of four steps, with a still warm but lower
temperature, where on the clear marble edge of the Lavatorina he seats
himself, while his host plies the soft pad of _gazul_ over his head and
back and sides. Then basin after basin of warm water, rinses the gazul
and the loosened epidermis from the surface, and he rises from the bath
to recommence his observations, visiting in turn all the soft, the warm,
the perfumed, the hot, the cool and the cold nooks he can find, and thus
the time flies by and the breakfast hour draws near; but before he can
quit the bath, it is necessary that the pores of the body, which all
this time have been filtering the waste fluids of the body through their
numberless apertures, should be made to close, and with this intent he
descends into the marble pool or _piscina_, whose waters in summer are
cooled with ice, and crouches under the tap, and lets the cold current
encircle him, then a pail of hot water rushes on him like an avalanche,
followed immediately by one of cold, and this is many times repeated.
Upward now, to the Frigidarium, with a mantle round his shoulders after
being rubbed down with soft Turkish towels, therein, reclined on a
softly cushioned sofa, to enjoy half-an-hour's suggestive and
instructive conversation, before going to breakfast with an appetite
like--like a man.
Sir Erasmus does not tell us how much he enjoyed that breakfast, but we
can easily fancy that part of the performance. We can easily believe,
that his manly onslaught upon the viands set before him, would have been
highly appreciated by Christopher North himself, with Tickler and the
Shepherd "settling down to serious eating."
But it is not merely as a luxury that, in this little work of ours, we
venture to recommend the Anglo-Turkish bath to our readers although
taken simply for the sake of enjoyment, a man never fails to cherish the
memory of his first bath, as does a maiden that of her first ball. But
our recommendation has a far wider scope than this. We look upon the
bath as the best means mankind has:--
ONE.--For maintaining the body in a state of perfect health.