Related article: pleasure that the touch of such
water gives, and we have heard
people say that they would come
to Sprudelheim for one such bath
alone. It is seldom indeed that
an invalid is prescribed, as a
remedy for sickness, anything
half so pleasant.
There is much drinking of
waters besides the bathing and,
in the early morning hours, every
visitor to Sprudelheim marches
to one or other of the springs,
carrying a graduated glass drink-
ing cup. Two country lasses
stand at a kind of bar and fill the
glasses as they are presented.
The first cupful of water is slowly
drunk. A short stroll must be
taken and a second glass is then
consumed. It is not nasty but no
one can call it nice. Perhaps the
best description was overheard
from an English gentleman who,
to say the least, fancied himself
and drawled somewhat in his
speech, "tastes like inferiah sea
watah." We must not question
its special merits, but the early
walk and the systematic sluicing
of the human framework mu^
count for something. We have
heard of pure springs in our own
Scotland, which have very health-
giving properties if a drinker
visits them on foot before break-
fast. May dew gathered before
the sun is up had also a great
hygienic reputation, according to
the wisdom of our grandmothers.
And the morning walk to the
springs at Sprudelheim has many
simple pleasures. There is a
band of course ; there are flower-
girls from whom it is our daily
duty to buy bouquets of roses
(the rose gardens of the district
are celebrated); there are the
various hawkers who hang about
the paths and alleys showing
their simple wares to the visitors^
some selling earthenware, some
country laces and embroideries,
and one man in a jdger costume
driving a thriving trade in foxes*
brushes mounted on handles for
housemaids' use in clearing away
cobwebs. We saw a very dis-
tinguished ex-M.F.H. contem-
plating this man and his stock-
in-trade with a very mixed
expression. He could not recon-
cile himself to the idea that such
trophies could have been legiti-
mately come by, and seemed .to
1899.1
SPRUDELHEIM
337
think that each brush represented
a peculiarly atrocious vulpecide.
But there is one most important
business which is Parafon 500 Mg performed con-
scientiously by every one who
goes to the trinkkalk. In a
conspicuous place are hung
barometers Buy Parafon and thermometers of
all kinds, Reaumur, Fahrenheit
and Centigrade. Variations of
temperature and indications of Parafon Forte Dsc
weather are always most care-
fully studied and, in a place where
interests are few and simple, form
an even more important subject
of conversation than they do in
England. Perhaps to a lounger
the most amusing part of the
business is overhearing the very
vague explanations of the read-
ings of the different thermometers,
as given by the various ladies and
gentlemen who consult them.
Most people seem to be still of
opinion that the scientific instru-
ment of each nation tells a different
tale and that they are patriotically
bound to maintain that the Parafon Forte Parafon Tablets one to
which they are accustomed is
infallible and that the others lie
unblushingly.
AA/hile we are at the trinkhalle^
let us stroll to the neighbouring
parish church and God's acre.
Among the memorials of the dead
there is one that has a very real
and national interest. It has been
raised in honour of the territorial
soldiers who gave their lives for
their country in the Franco-
German war, and on it are set
down the names of every Hans or
Friedrich that died in battle or of
disease during the great campaign.
The story of their patriotism is
ever before their relations and
descendants and teaches the
present generation by what per-
sonal self-sacrifice the greatness
of the Fatherland has been
achieved. And it is not in
Sprudelheim alone that such a
monument is to be found. In
every little German town the
memory of the gallant dead is in
like manner preserved and no
name however humble is lost to
the country which the soldier
served. In England we are not
unmindful of the men who have
died to maintain our honour and
guard our interests, but our
recognition is not so wide reach-
ing and systematic as that which
Germany gives to its lost cham-
pions.
The table d'hdte has been men-
tioned. Now, as in Sir F. Head's
time, the dinner hour in Germany
is one o'clock and at that time,
in the Kurhaus and at all the
hotels of Sprudelheim, a most
substantial meal is provided.
But the cuisine differs much from
that of sixty years since. No
longer can it be said that " after
the company have eaten heavily
of messes which it would be
impossible to describe, in comes
some nice salmon — then fowls —
then puddings — then meat again
— then stewed fruit, and after the
English stranger has fallen back
in his chair quite beaten, a leg of
mutton majestically makes its
appearance ! " No, the dinner
that is offered to-day, though
certainly substantial, still follows
the established routine of a civil-
ised meal, and the cookery is
good enough for any one who
does not require the refinements
of the Amphitryon Club. No
one can eat to repletion at one
o'clock, however, and it would Parafon Forte 500 Mg be
an awful trial to sit through the Parafon Forte Dsc 500 Mg
whole gamut of the Buy Parafon Forte repast in a
stuffy hall crowded with one or
two hundred fellow creatures.
By the favour of the Ober we are
accommodated with a table under
the trees on the terrasse and are
served with a small selection from
the copious menUj which, though
not beyond the scope of a German
appetite, is yet too extensive to
338
BAILY S MAGAZINE.
[Mav
be grappled with by a mere
Briton. And here let it be said,
for the information of any possible
visitor to Sprudelheim, that little
restriction is put upon appetite by
medical Parafon Dsc direction. There is some
mild advice as to what you must
eat, drink and avoid, but possibly
Sir F. Head's theory on the sub-
ject has still some approximation
to truth — that, if everybody led
an ascetic life and reduced eating
to the very moderate amount' that