On the stage road to the Bath Alum and the Warm Springs, in Bath
County. The improvements here are new and comfortable, sufficient to
accommodate about one hundred persons.
"This water contains a rare and valuable combination of materials; the
principal are iodine, sulphates of iron and alum, magnesia, and
sulphuric acid. The water is tonic, increasing the appetite and
promoting digestion; it is alterative, exciting the secretions of the
glandular system generally, and particularly of the liver and kidneys;
it is cathartic, producing copious bilious evacuations; and it also
effects a determination to the surface, increasing the perspiration.
"From the efficacy of these waters in purifying the blood, they are
invaluable in the cure of all diseases of the skin; and all indolent
sores, not disposed to a healthy action. In the use of them for such
diseases, if the disease of the skin appears to be irritated at first,
or if the ulcers become more inflamed, and discharge more freely, let
not this circumstance alarm any one, or deter him from persevering in
their use. These are the evidences of the good effects of the waters,
in expelling the vitiated humours from the blood to the surface, and,
until the blood is purified, such diseases cannot be cured. In
scrofulous ulcers, the use of these waters invariably causes them to
discharge more freely, and in a short time of a more healthy
appearance. They are a very useful remedy in cholera infantum, or the
summer bowel complaint in children. They immediately give a good
appetite, promote digestion, and will effectually correct and cure
acidity of the stomach. In amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, and leucorrhoea,
the waters are peculiarly efficacious. Most obstinate cases of
scrofula, erysipelas, and dyspepsia, have been cured by these waters,
which preserve their medicinal qualities when sent away in barrels."