bath-house, and the cliffs all around make a barrier. At the back of the house, however, the rocks are cleft by a narrow fissure, through which the torrent rushes with little room to spare. Passing through the house, and entering the fissure, its sides are found to be inclined, so that the cliff on one side gradually overhangs the narrow passage, the rocks being cleft in an incline, and the leaning walls are only a few feet apart. The torrent occupies the whole space below, and the passageway is upon a platform about thirty feet above it, supported by beams and hung from above. As one advances the gloom deepens, not a ray of sunlight penetrating the profound depths of the narrow fissure. High above, a few trees and bushes can be seen extending their branches over the verge, but most of the time the top cannot be seen at all. Sometimes the walls close over head, making the place like a lofty vault. Soon a steam jet is seen, rising from the warm springs. The heads of the springs are protected by a vault of masonry and are approached through short tunnels, the temperature of the waters being about 100°. As early as the eleventh century, these famous springs were known. For a long time the unfortunate patients were lowered into the gorge from the top, suspended by ropes till they got down to a little ledge of rocks close by the outflow, and here they were left with a supply of food, until they had gone through the "course," when they were hauled out. Such rough treatment was hardly calculated to cure. The |