niust roll clown like a. log, as your liaiids
and feet are coiiqilctely conHned ; but such
is the dexterity of the porters, that accidents
of this kind are iiiikiiowii. The bed
being pre\ ioiisly wanned, the porters take
off the woollen wrapper, leaving the wet
sheet round your body : one man takes you
bv the shoulders, the other by the feet, and
vou are lifted like a corpse into bed. They
wish you good morning, and depart. Your
servant or attendant then covers you over
with the hed-clotlies, and leaves you for a
longer or shorter time, according to tlie
directions of your physician.* A profuse
perspiration immediately succeeds, and generally
continues till your attendant comes
to release you from your confinement, warm
your linen, and assist you to dress. Half an
hour was considered sufficient in my case,but
for rheumatism or palsy, the patients sometimes
remain in bed three or four hours.
The operation is somewhat painful, and
* It may seem extraordinary that the patients should
be suffered to remain so long wrapped in a wet sheet,
but I never heard of any injury arising from it; and I
am sure, by my own experience, that the perspiration
was more profuse than if the skin were dried before
being put to bed.
very exhausting; it may he aptly compared
to purgatory, where all the peccant humours
arc to be expelled, by tlie continued
modified agency of' fire.
The whole expence of douching, including
the porters, is only a franc and a half each
time. Out of this tlie douchers and porters
have four sous, or only one sous each ; the
remainder belongs to the government, and
it is calculated that the king of Sardinia
receives a clear revenue of about ¿^1500
per annum from these baths. The douchers
and porters are prohibited from receiving
any presents individually ; but there is a
box at the bath, into which most patients,
who have derived benefit from the douches,
put money when they leave the place.
This goes to a general fund for the support
of the douchers and porters, in sickness or
old age. The douching, in the height of
the season, commences at three o’clock in
the morning, and continues till two or
three in the afternoon. The douchers continue
constantly in the cells, to be ready
for the patients. One of them, a fat old
man, told me, that he began douching before
three o’clock, and should continue till
noon. It might be imagined that the exf
r .