The Turkish Bath: Its Design and Construction

Since the revival of the bath of antiquity, and its introduction into this country under the name of the Turkish bath, this method of bathing has become very generally adopted; and although onward progress is rendered less rapid than it might be, by the wide-spread popular ignorance that ascribes an element of danger to the bath, erroneous impressions are being gradually removed, and the continual building of new baths testifies to the manner in which the institution flourishes on British soil.

To what extent the delusion concerning the supposed danger connected with this form of bathing is to be ascribed to popular ignorance and prejudice, or to the fact that baths of unsuitable design and construction, and of faulty heating and ventilation, are put before the public, it would be hard to say. Certain it is that the latter cause has done much—very much—injury.

I cannot but think that one of the chief obstacles to the progress of the bath in this country, is that little or nothing has been written or said about its proper design, construction, and working, and that no full inquiry has been made into the best possible method of supplying heat to the bathers. As a consequence, we have had, and still have, placed before the public, and meeting with undeserved success, "Turkish baths" which are such only in name—unhealthy, ill-ventilated cellars, where the air, deteriorated at the outset by the heating apparatus, stagnates in the sudatory chambers, and becomes loaded with the exhalations and emanations of the bathers, and not unfrequently charged with a nauseating and disgusting odour. What wonder that we so often hear persons remark that they have tried the bath, but neither enjoyed it nor did it agree with them! The damaging effect of "baths" of this type on the prospects of the true bath is incalculable.

In the absence of enlightenment, however, thousands, convinced of the value and benefit of the bathing, periodically attend these miserable substitutes for properly-planned, hygienically-heated, and effectively-ventilated Turkish baths. Viewing any self-evident shortcomings as irremediable evils, ignorant of the true principles of bath construction, and knowing little or nothing of the physiological action of the bath, they have neither the means of ascertaining, nor the power to detect, the genuine article from the harmful substitute. With the public the best bath will be the most elaborate and most flashily decorated, and the moth-and-candle principle comes into play with striking semblance to the original type.

So much has been written and said about the arrangement, design, and working of the baths of the ancient Romans, and of the Oriental nations of to-day, that it will be superfluous and unnecessary here to enter upon the subject, fascinating though it be to any one interested in the building of modern baths. An intelligent study of old plans, and of the writings of those who have given their attention to the elucidation of the special purposes to which the various apartments of the Roman Thermæ were devoted, serves in no small degree to a complete understanding of the problems involved in the perfecting of the bath in modern times. So also with regard to the Hammam of the East, an acquaintance with its plan and working is equally instructive. But to fully elucidate the history of thermo-therapeutic architecture would require a volume of itself, since the many questions that present themselves to the student of ancient baths cannot be properly understood without considerable and lengthy description. Those desirous of studying the subject of the design of ancient and Oriental baths will find many works within easy reach. In his 'Manual of the Turkish Bath,' the late David Urquhart has given a most complete account of Eastern baths; and in Sir Erasmus Wilson's 'Eastern or Turkish Bath,' will be found a popular account of the sumptuous baths of antiquity, which will serve as an introduction to further researches with the aid of more abstruse works, such as Wollaston's 'Thermæ Romano-Britannicæ,' Cameron's 'Baths of the Romans,' and particularly the careful description of the Pompeian Balneæ in Sir William Gell's 'Pompeiana.' In the admirable works of Samuel Lysons, the Gloucestershire antiquary, will be found interesting accounts of the remains of old Roman baths in this country; and in Daremberg and Saglio's 'Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines,' is a most capable essay on ancient Balneæ. In Eastern travellers' books, desultory descriptions of the Oriental bath will be found; and in Owen Jones's work on the Palace of the Alhambra, at Granada, plans and sections are given of the elegant little bath that the Moorish builders erected therein.