The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-04 00:00:00

THE COMING OF CIiuLERA.

To John Bright, Fsq.
Chalet des Metezes, above St. Gervais,
Haute, Savoie, Franco,
July 30, 1865.
Dear Sir,—Though above the region of news-
papers, rumours from the world below have
reached me of the advance from the East of the
Cholera.
I have considered to whom I could best address
myself to move the adoption of measures by which
the scourge, should it reach our shores, may be
stopped, or its fatal effects mitigated.
yourself, as I know no
My choice has fallen on
one, who, if inclined to do so, could act so effectu-
ally alike .on the Government and on the public
mind. You are familiar with the means to be em-
ployed. You alone have opened your mouth in
Parliament on the subject. I therefore expect from
you a quarter of an hour of serious consideration
before you reject the appeal I make to you. I will
confine myself to the merest indications.
The cholera is a malady which yields to a certain
treatment with great docility.
That treatment does not consist in drugs to be
obtained on the occasion, but requires the previous
construction of an apartment and the instruction of
attendants and others in its proper use.
The treatment consists in obtaining abundant
transpiration and in application of external force.
By the first (heat) au escape is afforded for the
pdisen (urea), which in this malady does escape, even
when unaided by external heat, through the skin.
By the second (shampooing so vehement as to
extend to blows) the cramp is relieved, breaking the
tension of the nerves, and restoring the equilibrium
of the circulation,-
My conclusions as to the certainty of stopping
cholera by the Turkish Bath were formed on a
priori grounds. My own life has been saved in a
relapse of cholera by the same means when I had
no bath, and had to obtain the heat in a subsi-
diary manner. These few words contain, if you give.
to them effect, protection from death and relief
froth suffering for hundreds of thousands of our
fellow-creatures.
There is, however, a preliminary objection which
cannot fail to be urged, and to it I must supply the
answer.
If the Turkish bath cures the cholera, how is
it that it comes .to ns from Alexandria and Con-
stantinople ?
The Turks are not in the habit of going to the
bath' when attacked by cholera, and if they did they
would not be cured, because the heat of their bath
at present has descended below the necessary point,
and the amount of vapour has consequently in-
creased, so as to neutralise in a considerable degree
the value of that heat which they still retain. What.
I speak of is the Turkish bath as I have presented
it to Europe, which in case of disease must have
the heat equal to or surpassing that of boiling
water, and in which the air must be perfectly dry.
I can recall an incident which will make the case
clear. It bears not on the cholera, but the plague.
But the value of it consists in showing that I could
obtain perfect immunity from the latter disease
whilst at Constantinople, and making use of one of
their baths, by merely taking the precaution of using
additional fuel.
In 1837 I inhabited a yali (country house) on the
Bosphorus at Arnaotet Keni. A half circle of hills
on the west enclosed the village. There not only
did the plague rage, but an encampment had been
formed just above me for the plague patients, and
thence proceeded day and night the wail of the re-
lations of the dying and the dead. I did not fly, as
others, the fatal spot. I did not take, as others,
sanitary precautions. I had long been on familiar
terms with the plague, visiting it Wherever it was
to be found. My confidence was based on two con-
siderations. The one was the discovery I had just
before made of the immediate cause of its propaga-
tion, by which I could rate the danger even to
feet. The other was the protective and curative
. power of heat. The discovery was this. That
the plague extended first in places exposed to
the heavy gases evolved from the burying grounds ;
and that these escaped in consequence of a peculiar
manner of burying practised by the Mussulmans.
The plague has now disappeared from Turkey, and
I attribute its disappearance to the change in respect
to the manner of burying, even though that change
has been as yet but partial. My first precaution,
then, consisted in closing up all the windows looking
landways, or on the side of the cemeteries, and
opening those on the side of the Bosphorus.
My bath—in itself an attractive suite of apart-
ments--for it was the most beautiful private bath I
have ever seen—was kept constantly heated. It fol-
lowed that the heat was high arid the air, dry. I
occupied the bath as an apartment. There com-
menced the restoration of the Roman habit of taking
the bath daily. Every person in the house went in
daily. I explained the matter to them, and they
submitted to this change in their national habits.
Well, now as to the results. I escaped with impu-
nity. In the adjoining house to mine all died. I
had no case of sickness. Not one of servants, about
30 in number, suffered whilst under this treat-
ment. Two died ; but they were away on leave—
were smitten—and never returned.
I think 1 have now met effectually, and in antici-
pation, the objection, whether arising in your own
mind, or in that of others, that the Turkish bath
cannot be a protection, since it has failed to protect
the inhabitants of Alexandria and Constantinople.
I have referred to the " Manual of the Turkish
Bath" to see what it contains on the subject. I
am rejoiced to find that I there mentioned my own
experience in the case of cholera above quoted, and
that I have given a letter which I received in 1861
from Dr. Thudichum, which enters into the patho-
logical rationale of the action of the bath in cholera.
One passage I cannot resist quoting, referring to
the introduction of the bath, " The cholera in algia
state need no longer be fatal." You will find these
words at page 212. I have directed the volume to
be sent to you with this letter, and I earnestly en-
treat you to study it.
Should the cholera visit Great Britain, I shall
consider it as a providential inspiration, the resolu-
tion I took in 1856, to apply myself to the practical
introduction of the bath in our country ; for it has
now taken root. Sufficient results to convince,
sufficient experience to operate, sufficient authority
to justify public measures and expenditure, have
been obtained, so as'to interpose this process on a
commensurate scale bet Ween the people and the
destroying angel.
If you have not visited the Hamm= in Jermyn-
street since the completion of the Radiating Cham-
ber, I beg you to do so without delay. It is the
most perfect adaptation that I can suggest. It re-
duces also the expense to a mere per tentage on that
which would have been requisite had the ordinary
Turkish or Roman bath been employed. You will
see at page 112 of the -Manual subsidiary means that
may be called into play at once. I beg you also to
communicate with Dr. Sheppard, the director of the
Middlesex Asylum at Colney Hatch. If you move
in the matter, you will find the. military and medi-
cal authorities favourable.
It is not only England that has to be looked to.
The measures which you may induce the English
people to take will be the .signal for the adoption of
the like all over.thn continent where the subject is
as yet new or unheard of. -
It has, however, to be taken into account that
there is about to be held at Geneva a meeting of the
Swiss Scientific Association, which will be attended
by the learned from all countries. There the
Turkish bath cannot fail to be brought prominently
forward, as the society has this year for President
Dr. Gosse, the only medical man since Hippocratc's
who has so much as articulated the word " caloric "
in reference to disease, until my preaching began.
Dr. Gosse has recently published a work, which
send you ;it is called The Turkish Bath Modified
by Radiating Heat and its Introduction into
Switzerland." In it he has given his experience in
reference to plague and cholera, as treated by

caloric.
Whatever you do towards having the bath added
to dispensaries, hospitals,
.unions, asylums, or as
recommended to the adoption of corporate bodies,
will not be labour lost,
.should England not be
visited this year by Asiastic cholera. Its value, as
you well know, does not consist in being specific
against the cholera or any other disorder. It com-
bats plague, yellow fever, typhus, consumption, &c.,
no less. Its value consists in placing the patient in
a more favourable position in respect to disease,
whether by purifying the body externally and in-
ternally, by counteracting inflammation, and ex-
tracting poisons. The fear of the cholera at this
moment may therefore be turned to account to
produce a vast benefit to the nation now and here-
after, a benefit which by its example and authority
cannot fail to be extended to the whole of Europe.
Believe me, faithfully yours,
D. URQUHART.

•
Mn. AND MRS. CHARLES KEAN.—We learn from
Canada that Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean are performing
with immense success at the Montreal Theatre. Every seat
has been taken for each night of the engagement.

MR. CHARLES MATHEWS.—" The celebrated come -
dian , Charles Mathews," says the Opinion Nationale,
"is engaged to give some performances at the Vaudeville
Theatre. , He is to play the chief part in "L'Homme
Blase," by Messrs. Duvert and Lausanne, in which Arnal
was so successful. Mr. Mathews has already played that
Part in England iu a piece freely translated from the vaude-
ville of Duvert and Lausanne. He has asked the authors
to make some small changes in the piece, and las indicated
their nature. The chief change is said to be in the part of
the English gentleman."