Robert Ottiwell Gifford-Bennet

“ As a rule, experience teaches that the younger the individual, and the more recent and acute the disease, the fewer number of baths will be requisite to give permanent relief, the full effects of the medicinal water being obtained more rapidly, and the ultimate result being more satisfactory. ”

“ As the medicinal thermal water of Buxton is admitted to be very powerful in its action upon the human system, it is absolutely necessary that it should be used with the greatest care. I have known many accidents and even deaths take place from the incautious use of the natural baths by persons wilfully or negligently p. 33taking it in a totally unfit state of health, or by remaining in the water too long. When used as a bath at the natural temperature, the water is buoyant and emollient to the skin, and produces a sense of exhilaration both to the body and mind of the bather. ”

“ The air being so pure and dry exerts a most bracing and tonic effect, especially in cases where the system has become debilitated from any cause—anæmia, chlorosis, chronic liver and splenic disease, many forms of bronchial asthma, the first stage of tuberculosis of the lungs, and tubercular degeneration of the mesenteric glands in childhood, I have seen much benefitted by a short residence in the district. ”

“ But if indulged in too frequently or too long at one time, this beneficial effect is entirely lost, and instead of the glow of heat which ordinarily takes place directly after immersion, the surface of the body becomes chilled and covered with what is commonly called “goose” skin, a sense of oppression and discomfort ensues, erratic pains are developed, and the mind becomes greatly depressed. ”

“ When a longer time is indulged in, frequently reaction does not take place, but chilliness and discomfort ensue, and the rheumatic pains are increased in severity rather than diminished. Energetic friction of the joints and surface of the body generally, with the hands beneath the water, should be resorted to, and gentle rubbing through a hot towel immediately upon leaving p. 35the bath, after which the bather should at once go to the drinking fountain and take the prescribed quantity of the thermal water. ”

“ During a long experience in prescribing the medicinal baths of Buxton 1 have never observed any ill effects ensue from giving way to sleep, and therefore allow my patients to p. 38follow their own inclination in the matter. When the bather has been covered up for a quarter of an hour, and the skin acts freely, he or she may begin to throw off some of the wraps, thus permitting the surface of the body to cool by degrees. When a full hour has been accomplished, the ordinary occupations and duties of the day may be resumed. ”

“ Out of this vast number were returned only 6,753, having obtained no relief, which may be accounted for by the fact that most of these latter were labouring under affections unconnected with either gout or rheumatism. These figures will, I think, be admitted as conclusive evidence of the medicinal efficacy of the Buxton Spa in relieving suffering humanity from some of the most painful and intractable forms of disease to which high and low, rich and poor, are alike amenable. ”

“ Cold to the head is of signal advantage when there is persistent headache, or a tendency of blood to that part. In cases of acute sciatica, congestion of the liver, spleen, and kidneys, accompanied by a general sluggishness and torpidity of the portal circulation, frequently very painfully indicated by internal or external hemorrhoids, the hot sitz bath gives very speedy relief. ”

“ To the closely-confined and overworked residents in towns the crispness and buoyancy of the atmosphere impart a feeling of lightness and exhilaration rarely experienced except in a highland district, making mental and physical labour less irksome and life more enjoyable. ”

“ This, however, need not be a discouragement to those advanced in life, whose misfortune it has been to suffer from repeated attacks of gout or rheumatism, as may be gathered from a perusal of the annual report of the Devonshire Hospital, an institution mainly for the reception of patients of all ages, suffering from the gouty and rheumatic diatheses. ”

“ The nitrogenous components become oxidised, and urea ultimately formed, which being very soluble is freely excreted by the sudorific glands p. 23in the perspiration, and by the kidneys in the urine. The non-nitrogenous compounds are also changed by the action of oxygen into carbonic acid, which is expelled from the system by the lungs. If the natural functions are not perfectly and with regularity performed, the balance of power must of necessity be lost, and disease engendered. ”

“ The archæologist and the antiquarian may wander to the top of Cowlow, Ladylow, Hindlow, Hucklow, or Grindlow, and picture in imagination the savage and warlike aborigines of the High Peak, wending their way up the precipitous sides of the hill, carrying their dead chieftain to his last resting-place on the mountain summit, where, placing him in a p. 20cyst, made of rough unhewn stones, they cover him up with earth, leaving his spirit to find its way to the happy hunting-grounds of the unseen ”

“ When the natural bath is prescribed during the summer months, viz., from the commencement of June until the end of September or the first week in October, to those capable of locomotion the best time for bathing is from 6 to 8 o’clock a.m., but when incapable of walking from 11 a.m. ”

“ The dome covers an area of nearly half an acre, and is said to be one of the largest in the world. Under its vast expanse between 5,000 and 6,000 people can assemble without overcrowding. A perfect echo, like that in the Baptistry at Pisa, is heard slightly away from beneath its centre. ”

“ The antiquarian may take his stand upon Mam-Tor, the mother rock, when the moon sheds her silvery light o’er Loosehill Mount, and, carrying his mind back into the past some 230 years, hear the bugle’s note as it sweeps through the Wynnats Pass, and is taken up by the Peverel Castle and transmitted onwards through the Vale of Hope, calling the hardy dalesmen to their midnight rendezvous, there to be instructed in the science of war, so as to enable them to protect their homes and families p. ”

“ Situation—Altitude—Geology—Roman Baths—Climate and Temperature—Death Rate—Water-Supply—Rainfall—Drainage—Railway Communication—Public Buildings—Devonshire Hospital and Buxton Bath Charity—Visitors’ Accommodation—Antiquarian. ”