A visit to Vichy : comprising a sketch of its mineral springs and thermal establishment, with a notice of the medicinal uses of the Vichy waters, salts, and lozenges / by M. Prosser James.

  • James, Prosser, 1836-1918.
Date:
1866
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A visit to Vichy : comprising a sketch of its mineral springs and thermal establishment, with a notice of the medicinal uses of the Vichy waters, salts, and lozenges / by M. Prosser James. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    spring is stamped upon the countenances of its patrons, and the same remark is equally applicable to the other springs. The Grande Grille is strongly recom¬ mended for chronic diseases of the liver, spleen, pancreas, and other abdominal viscera; and here the really ill as distinguished from the mere idlers and pleasure-seekers are of the various shades of pale, sallow or yellow, combined with the peculiar physiognomy mostly apparent in patients whose ailments are referable to the organs of this great cavity. At the opposite end of the gallery is the spring called Mesdames^ presenting many points of contrast. It is nearly cold instead of hot: it does not come up in nearly such large quantity. The actual spring is not imme¬ diately underneath, but at a considerable distance—the water being brought hither in tubes. The centre of the font, as well as the ladle, are coated with a precipitate of iron. At the invitation of the presiding nymph, taste, and you will find a cool inky draught in place of the former hot, soapy one. Then the faces of the devotees at this shrine wear altogether a different aspect. It is as a chalybeate that it is most sought; not that the water does not contain the same alkali, but, in con¬ sequence of the iron found in it, the medicinal virtue of this metal is superadded. In place of the middle-aged, worn-out, sallow-yellow face of abdominal organic mis¬ chief, we accordingly meet here the fragile frame of anaemia and protracted convalescence: young girls, growing too fast, or whose blood-making powers are inferior to the demand made upon them. Between these two—say about the middle of the gallery, is another spring, named Chomel^ after the physician who discovered it, and first described its peculiarities. This water is warm, and its taste more simply sodaic. It is destitute of any chalybeate or other peculiar ingredient, and those for whom it is mostly prescribed do not carry theii* maladies so dis¬ tinctly in their countenances. It is celebrated for certain disorders of the stomach, and is said to agree when none