Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-07-20
THE TURKISH BATH.
An Oriental Luxury rs Described By
Woman.


Mrs. Burton, 10 her Inner Life of Sy-
ria, Palestine and the Holy Land, gives
the following description of the Turkish
bath Firstly, we enter a large hail. lit
by domed skylight, with huge marble
tank in the center and four little foun-
tains squirting in the corners. All around
are raised divans, covered with cushions.
Here we wrap ourselves in silk and wool
len sheets, and towels round the head
We shall now pass through six marble
rooms, all with domed skylights. marble
floors, and gutter cut in them to let the
water out, and surrounded by large stone
basins and troughs, each with its tap
of hot and cold water. The first is the
cold room, the next warm, the third
warmer, and so on until you came to the
sudarium, Of about l20 degrees Fahren-
belt, Here the operation commences,
Firstly, they lather your head and hair
thoroughly. Then you are washed over,
first with flannel and soap, if you like;
secondly, with brush and soap; thirdly,
with lif and soap Lif is the fibre ri
the palm-frond soaked in water, sun.dried
and pulled out. 1t looks like a large
sponge Of white horsehair, and it trubs as
hard as a clothes-brush. You are douched
from head to foot, between each Of these
operations, with tubs Of hot water thrown
at you and over you. You are then
shampooed with fresh layers of soap,
and douched again By this time you
are beginning to feel rather exhausted.
They then cover your face, neck aud
arms with sort of powder which looks
like meal and move you through the other
rooms, each warmer than the last, till
you are turned ioio the hottest. If it is
steam, $50 degrees will content you; if
in dry heat yon can, with practice bear
300 degrees Your stay in the calida-
rum lasts about twenty minutes. They
give you iced sherbet, and tie towels
dipped in cold water round your head,
which prevents your iainting and makes
you perspire more freely. The white
powder passes away Of itself. They
scrub your feet with a hard, rough stoue
indeed, it appears to me that ones first
skin is wholly peeled off Now you
move back again through all the rooms,
but gradually, staying ten minutes in
each. You are again douched with
water and shampooed with towels, as
you pass from heat to cold. The most
rigorous Of all is when you arrive at the
latter, when pals Of cold water are
thrown at your back and poured down
the spine. In the last room the final
shsmpooing is done with the towels. We
now return to the hall where we first
undressed, enveloped in silk and wooleu
cloths, and we recline on divans 1t is
all strewed with flowers, incense is
burned about US, cups of very hot and
rather bitter coffee are handed to US, and
nargiles are placed in our mouths. A
woman advances and kneads you like
bread; you fall asleep during the process,
which has almost the effect OF mesmer.
ism. When you awake you will find
music and dancing, the girls chasing
one another, eating sweetmeats crack
ing nuts, and enjoying all sorts of fun.
Moslem women go through much more
than the above performances, especially
in the matter of being hennad and hav-
ing their eyebrows plucked The best
time for the bath is with wedding party
preparing bride. One feels very light
after these baths, and the skin is wonder
fully white Easterns are not content
with less than peeling the outer skin off.