belonging to the Northern Confederation, will follow the example of Baden, and how the Swiss Confederation will actwhether it will permit the existence of gambling at Saxon. France sooner or later will be obliged to interfere at Monaco, one of the last refuges of the public gambler. Though it is in reality a subject for much congratulation, many English will be much disappointed at this closing of the tables, and will think that half the amusement or pleasure of a visit to Homburg is gone; but baths with good waters and good establishments and climate, and with picturesque scenery, will not in the long run be losers. For a time there may be a want of funds for keeping up the extensive establishments and grounds of the large baths, but Government must lend its assistance, and visitors will surely not be backward to pay such small sums as are usually levied in baths which are not leased by gambling companies. The chief baths in the Pyrenees are leased out to advantage, although no gambling is allowed. In these sketches of bath life we have confined ourselves as much as possible to describing its social aspects and its amusements. We have not spoken of the absolute value of mineral waters, but the strongest proof of their merits is afforded by the fact that their use has never been abandoned, while as Jeremy Taylor, remarking on the uncertainties of medicine, in a funeral sermon, observes- Many principles in the art of medicine after being believed seven or eight ages come to be considered by a witty man, and others are established in their place.' While some medicines drop out of use entirely, while others found in one age to be admirable are condemned in the next, few baths are ever forgotten, and certainly no hot ones. Baths, along with all scientific medicine, were neglected in the middle ages; but they continue to be regarded as valuable agents under all systems and modes of practice of regular, and even of irregular, medicine, and the baths which were the favourites of the Roman colonists are now more used than ever. Believing mineral waters to be very important remedies, we are unwilling to part with our readers without taking a glance, hurried though it must be, at some of our modern spas. We shall first say something of the baths that are situated at the higher elevations, because of late years invalids have shown great readiness to avail themselves of them, and because the early season for baths is already over for the present year. In fact, we English usually neglect the spring, and rush over to the Continent just at the hottest season of the year, when many of the popular baths, being situated in basins or in narrow gorges, have become intolerably hot. It is, therefore, not not surprising that we are glad to discover baths at greater altitudes. 1. The two highest baths in Europe are Panticosa, in the Spanish Pyrenees, and St. Moritz, in the Engadine. They are at a height of about 5700 feet. The first is small, cramped, and shut in; the other is in a fine elevated valley. The next highest are those of Tarasp in the Lower Engadine, where very important wells have come into notice; Bormio, on the southern slope of the Alps in the Valtelline; Leukerbad, at the foot of the Gemmi in the Vaudois; the Rigi-Kaltbad; Courmayeur and St. Didier, on the route from Italy by the Val d'Aosta; Barèges, in the Pyrenees are places at an elevation of a little more than 4000 feet. Every one of them is in the midst of magnificent scenery; good accommodation is to be had at all, unless perhaps Panticosa; and in most constitutions the good effects of the mineral waters are heightened by the effects of mountain climate. 2. Another group, among which we may class Bad Gastein, near Salzburg, Kreuth, in the Bavarian Alps, Gurnigel, and some other Swiss baths, Le Prese, on the way to Italy from St. Moritz, are at a height of about 3000 feet, as also Mont Dore, among the volcanic mountains of Auvergne. All these places are, more or less, to be commended:-Gastein, with glorious scenery, is one of the oldest and best baths in Europe, while Kreuth offers a perfect picture of sylvan simplicity, and Mont Dore is one of the best-managed establishments in France. 3. At a slightly lower elevation generally, although some, like Engelberg, are higher, come many of the favourite spots of the milk and whey cure-among which the Swiss ones are preeminent, such as Heiden, Weissbad, Gaisor Aussee, in the Salzkammergut, and, for those who do not wish to cross the Alps from Italy, the establishment on Monte Generoso, a beautiful mountain north of Lugano, deserves a trial. Many a case of threatened consumption will profit more by such places, if the milk (not the whey) cure be tried, than by seeking greater elevations. This class of stations is chiefly to be visited in spring, though they have also an autumn season. 4. Though not having really mountain climates, many baths are raised sufficiently above the plains to give a character to their climate. They range in elevation from about 1200 to 2000 feet. Some of these are the baths of Wildbad, Griesbach, Rippoldsau in the Black Forest, Reichenhall, and Ischl, near Salzburg, Marienbad and Elster, in Bohemia or its borders, Plombières, Eaux-Bonnes, Bagnères de Bigorre, and de Luchon, in the Pyrenees, and others in France, Pfeffers and Ragatz in Switzerland, N 2 Switzerland, St. Gervais, close to Chamouni, and Recoaro, not far from Verona. Several of these are most desirable places. But there are many people who have not time or patience to undergo regular treatment, yet who want a complete change; let them seek the highest spots, even though they may have no springs of importance; and, fortunately, of late years accommodation for visitors has been supplied at many of them, ranging from 3000 to nearly 8000 feet. We can but enumerate a few of them. The Jungfrau Hotel on the Aeggischhorn is at a height of 7645 feet. The neighbouring Bel Alp, with a very bad road up to it, 1300 feet lower; Pontresina, amid glorious scenery, near St. Moritz, and superior to it, if you are not going to bathe or to drink the waters, is at a height of 5587 feet; Samaden, near it, most comfortable, but not so picturesque; the Engstlen Alp in Meyringen, as high as St. Moritz; Mürren, at a comparatively small elevation, giving one of the finest views of the Jungfrau and the higher ranges; Zermatt, near the Matterhorn; the smiling plateau of Davos, or the secluded valley of Bergun, besides many quiet valleys, such as Château d'Aex, and places like Sepey and Carbaloz, the number of which can scarcely be told. Nor are such places wanting in the Tyrolese Alps. Few can surpass in beauty Bertisau, on the Achen lake, the finest of all in the Bavarian Tyrol. To visit some of these places the traveller may possibly be obliged to ride. He must at times put up with the liquid manure of the meadows, and possibly with unpleasant smells still closer to him. He, of course, cannot get as good a table as in old established stations down below. Still, those who have once visited these heights, well know how refreshing and invigorating they are, and will visit them again, while philosophers are determining what change in the air it is that produces their exhilarating effects. To over-worked brains, and to systems below par, both of men and women, those climates often give an extraordinary degree of relief. If bath cures in the spring are neglected by the English, those in the winter are much more so. There are not, indeed, many places at present where such a cure can be carried on conveniently. Most baths, even in the South of Europe, are closed during winter, and we have seldom seen anything look more miserable than an Italian watering-place at that season. Still there are various places where treatment may be carried on with great advantage. First comes our own Bath, where, along with excellent bathing arrangements, one can share in the amusements and the society of a considerable town. The case of Aix-laChapelle is similar, though its continental climate is colder; and the absence of pleasure-grounds is less felt in winter than at other other seasons of the year. Wiesbaden and Baden-Baden, and possibly Canstadt, might be resorted to in the winter season. In France we have Vichy, its greatest bathing establishment, open in winter. Bagnères de Bigorre also offers its first-rate bath arrangements, though it must be somewhat dull at that season. Amélie les Bains, with its quiet family party, living for an incredibly small sum in the establishment of Dr. Poujaud, is now expressly a winter station. Balaruc, near Montpellier, of ancient fame, with its mild climate, is well fitted for winter cures, while Ischia offers advantages which could easily be made available at any period of the year. It would be out of place here to discuss the therapeutic action of mineral waters, or to recommend particular baths to patients. Of this subject physicians in England rarely know much, and in consequence of their ignorance underrate the value of mineral waters. We would, however, strongly recommend patients, before choosing a bathing-place, to consult a well-informed medical man; as the indiscriminate use of some of the more powerful waters, such as those of Carlsbad, will be attended with injurious, and possibly even fatal, effects. But, with this caution, we may venture on a few hints. One class of patients, among whom the gouty and dyspeptic may be specified, will seek alkaline waters, of which Vichy, Ems, and Neuenahr in the valley of the Ahr are some of the best known. Another class will find that the salt springs of Homburg or Kissingen, or Soden or Harrogate, with its salt and sulphur, or many others, will restore their digestive powers and help them in many ways, or they may try cold sulphur waters in Great Britain. Those who are unfortunate enough to have deranged livers, will do well to repair to Carlsbad, Marienbad, or Elster. Ladies, and delicate children, may find advantages from visiting Kreuznach, Ischl, Reichenhall, Kreuth, Rehme, advantages which, with a little management, might be obtained at our own neglected wiches, or salt springs, and at the seaside. The ladies' baths, par excellence, are Bocklet, Ems, Franzensbad, Liebenzelle, Schwalbach, Schlangenbad, and, out of Germany, Neris, Plombières, St. Sauveur, Bormio, and Ischia; affording a wide enough choice. Those who suffer from rheumatism and cutaneous affections may avail themselves of either of the Aixes, of the Pyrenean baths, and of many others, and, indeed, might do worse than visit Mehadia in the Carpathians. One set of patients will find themselves wonderfully soothed, and their nervous systems restored by Gastein, or Wildbad, or Ragatz, while those who require energetic treatment for stiff joints and old wounds have a great variety variety of places, with very hot waters from Baréges in the Pyrenees to Teplitz in Bohemia to select from. The very numerous class who suffer from debility will rejoice in the carbonated chalybeates of Spa and Schwalbach, and in the champagne waters of Pyrmont; or may prefer the shady groves of the Black Forest at Rippoldsau, or the mountain climate of St. Moritz. Pale faces and lips will at such places resume their natural colours, and the muscular system regain its pristine strength. In the case of such persons it is almost impossible to exaggerate the beneficial action of the iron-cure, the three head-quarters of which are Schwalbach, St. Moritz, and Pyrmont. But our space renders it impossible to pursue this subject further. We hope that we have said enough to show how very various mineral waters are, and that if care be taken in the selection of a bath, one may be found to meet the requirements of almost every patient. With reference to the works placed at the head of this article, the two first of them now 300 years old, supply a stupendous amount of information; it is mainly to them, and to foreign literature, that we must look for the history of bathing. We regret that Lersch's very complete book did not reach us till these pages were written. Few modern English works (and the older English Balneological literature is very superior to the modern) treat of the subject at all. Some hints on it may be gathered from Dr. Macpherson's useful and discriminating handbook, but for most of our facts we have been obliged to refer to the original authorities. ART. VII. Rig-Veda-Sanhitá. The Sacred Hymns of the Brahmans. Translated and explained by Professor F. Max Müller, M.A., LL.D. Vol. I. London, 1869. SAN NANSKRIT literature is all based on the Rig Veda.' Not only is the Rig Veda' the oldest Sanskrit work,—it is the foundation on which all the subsequent literature more or less rests. No doubt the Hindu mind has immensely changed since. that old Vedic time; the nation has been conquered again and again, and a thousand foreign influences have been at work to alter the whole fabric of society. Internal corruption has also debased the national character; idolatry has pursued its inevitable downward course, and, with the gradually increasing gloom of superstition, the lights of intellect, taste, and morality have burned |