Bath Aqua = Cross spring
[Raymond
Sevar]
Traditional medicinal use of the spa and diseases found to benefit; chemical and radiological constituents of the water
Only site in Britain with water over 4°° C rises naturally to the surface.
King’s Spring/Hetling Spring/Cross Spring emerge around 1°° metres from each other. The springs flow at different temperatures: the King’s Spring at 45° C and the Hetling Spring at 47° C are too hot from prolonged immersion or sustained bathing without exhaustion or overheating. The water of the Cross Spring flows at a constant 41° C, giving an average sustained bathing temperature in the bath of 37.7° C and this proved to be the most comfortable for immersion and bathing and accounts for the size and great popularity of the Cross Bath since Tudor times.
Medicinal use of the geothermal springs in Bath
The legend of the healing waters of Bath begins with Bladud who had returned from his travels a leper and was employed as a swineherd. In cold weather his pigs took to bathing in the hot mud near the springs. Finding his pigs free of scurf and scabs he bathet in the water and was cured. He became the 9th king of the Britons in 863 B.C., founded the town of Bath around the hot springs and built baths so that others might be cured.
In 1138 Bishop Robert built a house for lepers close to the Cross Bath. Term leprosy describe chronic scaly eruptions many of which would be termed psoriasis or eczema.
Patients
with skin diseases represented 15% of admissions to the Mineral Water Hospital
- between the years 1755 and 1764 some 241 lepers were admitted. Of these, 122
were “perfectly cleansed” and 85 were much benefited”. Only 16 had no benefit
and 4 of these died in hospital.
Treatment of infertility.
Diagnoses fell into 3 main areas: palsies (39%), rheumatics (33%) and skins (1°%) - (children 5% of admissions). The most consistent results were in the treatment of paralysis due to lead poisoning. From 176° to 1879 there were 3377 cases of lead palsy treated by standing head out of water immersion (SHOWI) plus drinking around 5°° ml of the water daily. Of these: 93% benefited, 1533 patients (45%) had no residual paralysis on discharge and were said to be cured; 1629 (48%) were said to be greatly improved. The average length of stay in hospital was 24 weeks. The extent to which other factors (clean water, improved nitrition, better housing e.t.c.) influenced the results remains unknown.
The physiology of immersion in thermal
waters
Cardiovascular, renal and hormonal changes in normal subjects and in those with early lead toxicity were noted after immersion in Bath spa water and tap water at temperatures from 33° to 39° C at immersion times of 1, 2 and 3 hours. The greatest changes occurred with immersion at 37° C (the bathing temperature in the Cross Bath was 37.7° C).
Cardiovascular: Significant (p less than °.°°1) rise in cardiac index and stroke volume
and fall in peripheral resistance were found. The percentage rise in cardiac output rose from 34% at 35° C to 8°% at 37° C.
Renal: The increase in diuresis was found to be most stable at 37° C. There was
haemo-dilution with fall in haemoglobin, red cell count and plasma viscosity; increase in urine volume and increased excretion of N + K + Ca + Pb
Hormonal: Decrease in the secretion of anti-diuretic hormone, rennin, aldosterone and
catecholamines, and increase in the secretion of atrial natriuretic peptide.
Although there were differences in results between tap water and spa water these were not statistically significant.
Chemical analysis of the water of the
Cross Spring
Total mineralization 2295, ph 6.9, Ca 393, N 22°, Mg 58, K 18, Sulphate 1°8°, Cl 325, Bicarbonate 17°, Nitrate °.35, Sr 6.3, Fe 2.°, Ba °.°3, Boron °.5, Silicon 19.5, Mn °.3, Bromine 1.8, Iodine °.°41, traces of Radon, Helium, Radium and Uranium. The chemical composition of the water shows that it has chemically equilibrated with carboniferous limestone. The variation in the chemical composition of the water shows a very small influence from rainfall or superficial ground water.
Radio-active contents of the Cross Spring
The largest contributor to the spring’s radio-activity: Radon 8°° pCi/l (1 picocurie pCi = °.°37 becquerels, Bq)/Helium (7°° 1° cm H2O)/Radium (1°.2 pCi/l)/Uranium (°55 micrograms/l (U238 activity ratio 2.77). The radio-element contents, although greater than shallow ground water, are an insignificant hazard for public tasting of the waters.
Age of the water of the Cross Spring
Best estimates are that the water is at least several hundred years old and may be several thousand years old. The isotope composition and noble gas recharge temperatures of the water shows that it was recharged within the last 1°,°°° years. The Uranium U234/U238 activity ratio suggests the water has resided deep in the Carboniferous limestone for perhaps 3,°°° years.
The high Radium226 content is typical of geo-chemically evolved waters and suggests that the water is old, probably at least several hundred years old. The high temperatures attained by the water during its transit makes accurate dating using Carbon14 unreliable. Chemical geo-thermometers suggest that the maximum temperature attained was 64 - 69° C, probably closer to the lower figure. A geo-thermal gradient of 2°° C/km indicates water circulation to a depth of 2,5°° metres.
Helios homeopathic pharmacy.
There was a delay of 3 to 15 weeks between the provers receiving the bottle and beginning the trial. Reasons given for the delay varied: acute illness, difficulty in stopping coffee, pregnancy, and an intuitive apprehension that the remedy would affect them deeply (provers p13 and p3). One other person received a bottle and had not begun the trial a year later and was excluded. In the second phase the 3 provers who had taken placebo were asked to take verum.
Repertorium:
Mind: I didn’t want to get up, whole body heavy, lack of enthusiasm for the day or work, felt flat and bored, weepy, tired.
Sensations as if:
L. side of body feels calmer, heavier and more robust
12 h. a woolly sensation over my forehead
L. corner of mouth felt as if cracked
My feet feel hot inside but are cold to touch/my feet feel swollen but are not
Vertigo: At 14.30 h. I went for a walk and felt powerful vertigo and a cold sweat on my head, face and back which lasted 1 minute and I felt very heavy
At 16 h. I felt unsteadiness on movement without any precipitating factor
Head: Headache onset 1 hour after each of the 6 doses which lasted about 1 hour each time - occipital and spreading forward with a congested feeling, a fullness and tightness like a band sensation. Completely > eating. Headache + a hot, hard and tight feeling in eyeballs and my eyelids feel hot along the lid margins. This headache recurred each day (4 days) and then ceased
Headache heavy and pressing on vertex - a dull ache < thinking and concentrating and > fresh air
A head pain boring inwards above my l. eye of sudden onset (1st and 1°th days
Headache all day above and behind my eyes with a tightness of the forehead and above my eyes and a hang-over type feeling
A tightness about my head which increased to a pain deep behind my eyes and the next day it settled into my occiput and l. eye as a sharp pain
A headache from early morning gradually increasing with a sense of tension and bursting which spread to vertex and occiput and was made worse by glaring light. The pain became severe and bursting and was better from a walk in the fresh open air. The headache persisted for two days
Eye: My eyeballs feel hot, hard and tight and my eyelids feel hot along the margins with a gritty sensation as a concomitant to a headache (4 days)
Itching of my eyelids for 3° minutes at a time recurring several times a day (4 days) - there was no redness of my eyes and no lachrymation
The whites of my eyes have become yellow - this began on the 2nd day and persisted for 42 days (author’s note this prover has Gilbert’s syndrome which may been provoked by the action of the remedy or it may be a coincidence)
Pain above r. eye for 2 days with excess tears from both eyes < in fresh open air. Eyes feel hot and tired and I want to sleep
My eyes felt hot a dry and itchy and heavy (5 days)
Nose: I have a sore feeling in the end of my r. nostril with a clear, slightly acrid discharge which is not profuse. The skin is not reddened by the discharge
Sneezing episodes lasting 3° minutes at a time lasting 2 days
A runny nose like a cold with fluent bland coryza but intermittent and < mornings lasting (3rd to 6th day)
Face: A dull pain in my r. shin, r. middle finger/then the r. side of my face and head
A sudden aching pain in eye and bridge of nose and upper cheek which moved to above my eye. The pain waxed and waned (2 days)
Crack in the r. corner of my mouth with a pain like a cut
Lower lip swollen and lips are dry
Mouth: Ulcer on inside lower lip
Base of tongue become white and feels dry
A burning prickling in mouth which is not hot to touch/> better by cold drinks
Throat: My throat dry and I need to clear my throat before I speak – not > drinking - dryness increases throughout the day
Stomach: Nausea began 1 minute after the 1st dose and persisted 44 days. I feel the nausea around my xiphistrenum and it extends around my epigastrium and intercostals area. The nausea < pressure when it feels like it rises like a lump to my throat; < evenings and usually > by exercise like walking or running but not always and sometimes the nausea appears while walking or running. The nausea + increases appetite although eating < nausea, a feeling of oppression of the chest, a pain in my liver, a sharp pulsating stabbing pain to the r. of my xiphisternum and there is a sour flatulence with the nausea. (Author’s note: in this prover the persistent nausea was accompanied by some yellowing of the sclera of the eyes. The patient had Gilbert’s syndrome but this had been asymptomatic for over 1 years prior to the proving. During the proving he gained 6 kg in weight and lost it again over the next month)
Nausea lasting 8 days < evenings but with increased appetite although the nausea < eating. Sometimes with nausea there is pain in the stomach (evenings). The nausea + with a sensation of oppression in my chest in the evening of the 6th day
Abdomen: A sudden sharp pain my abdomen r. in line with my liver + a dull pain ext. r. shoulder blade < bending over, > movement in the fresh air. It feels like an eructation would relive the pain but I cannot belch.
I have flatulence with a sour smell with a pain in the l. side of my abdomen below the ribs > going out for a run
I have moved my bowels but do not feel finished and the sensation persists for some time
Rectum: During exercise a sharp pain in my r. groin and rectum which moved to my penis - a sharp and raw pain which lasts about 1 minutes
Burning about the anus after a loose, sour-smelling stool
Bladder: A constant urge to urinate but I pass no urine which causes a pushing down feeling inside which is worse sitting and better standing with my legs apart
Kidneys: Pain in r. kidney while walking occurs on days 2, 8, 9 -11, The pain moves across my back and is dull and sore and is associated some days with nausea and on day 11 it was a sharp pain. On days 1 and 11 there was also a pain in my l. kidney which waxed and waned and left a dull ache.
Extremities: Head and feet feel hot and I had to sleep with my feet out of the covers
Pain: A dull pain in my r. shin, with middle finger and then r. side of my face and head
I woke at 5 h. with a pain in my l. foot which was followed by sharp pains in both feet which recurred for 19 days
Sharp pain in r. Achilles tendon > walking
Dreams: of water: Going to get water for an allotment from a large pond.
Driving a lorry with kids on snow, helping a cyclist who’d slipped on snow and then cycling on snow.
In a room with lino on the floor, snake-like bulge under the lino, felting nails holding down lino. I thought that water under the lino would fountain out of the nail holes. What did come out of the bulge was a small creature.
Dreams in which the emotion seems unusual or inappropriate
A crowd at the bottom of a mountain made way for a car to come through and the car hit a friend of mine. I suggest giving him a kinck as “like cures like”.
Drove onto a moor on sandy ground to retrieve a collie dog with a damaged leg - the car slipped down a slope and turned over. No panic, even though knew I was going to die as the car roof crushed in.
A group of women had a man in a chair handcuffed and one of the women was brandishing a hacksaw and threatening to cut off his hand. I intervened and took the saw and cut at the wrists of one of the women. I woke up feeling regret - 5 h.
Skin: Palpitations with formication of my skin and my skin feels cold associated with tingling of my mouth lips and tongue
Generalities: Internal restlessness at night
Weakness and lassitude as if I have had influenza
Fatigue - a heavy feeling with not enthusiasm to get out of bed or take exercise - and I fall asleep while reading - made better by walking in the fresh air
Mind: one prover
“As if my arm sinking down with the weight of the remedy/a feeling of the remedy being from deep in the earth”.
She felt an apprehension about taking the remedy as she intuitively felt that the remedy would affect her profoundly. At this stage she did not know the source of the remedy/it was in the double masked stage of the proving. Eventually, 3 months later took 1 dose from C 6 and had the most severe sustained and dramatic emotional symptoms and sustained physical symptoms. The effect of knowing the source of the remedy on the following symptoms which she produced remains unknown.
Her symptoms began after a few moments. The severe emotional symptoms were observed in all their force by her husband. Her husband is a “down to earth” practical man who has worked on a North Sea drilling rig for many years. He was frightened by the power and intensity of her emotional reaction and thought that she might divorce him in her rage. Her determination to suffer severe oesophageal pain for 38 days without any attempt to antidote the reaction is testament to her courage.
“As if this remedy is poison, real deep poison" - the feeling lasted for 5 days
Head: A vague headache behind eyes with actual pain well localised in bones of maxillae and ethmoid plates lasted for two days
Face: Well localised pain in bones of maxilla for 2 days
Stomach:
Rectum: Constipated and bowels just not right (5 days) - although I am passing stool I still feel constipated.
Chest: “As if oppressive weight in upper chest with a strong well localised feeling of heartache” 5 days
Burning pain in oesophagus which is felt throughout the whole length of my oesophagus lasted 38 days and began as the emotional symptoms resolved on the 3rd day. The pain is linear, well localised and burning in my oesophagus. At times I feel it in different parts of my oesophagus - upper, middle or lower. The pain is made better by eating - I have to eat every 2 hours or the pain is terrible. (Author’s note: despite eating regularly she lost 3 kg in weight. The weight loss persisted for 6 months and then spontaneously returned to normal).
Back:
Dreams:
Generalities:
Desire salt and I am usually averse (5 days)/desire vinegar and I am usually averse (5 days)
I am so chilly that I had to wear a down-filled jacket. “As if so cold inside that nothing would warm me up” (outside temperature 24° C daytime/11° C at night) and the chilliness lasted 5 days.
Vergleich: Enthält: Chemical analysis: Ph 6.9, Ca + Na + Mg + Ka + Sulphate + Chloride + Bicarbonate + Nitrate + Sr + Fe + Ba + Boron + Silicon + Mn + Bromine + I + traces of Radon + He + Rd + Ur + Limestone + = radio-active;
Siehe:
Aquae allgemein
Allerlei: Legend:
Finding his pigs free of scurf and scabs he bathet regularly in the water and was cured. He became the 9th king of the Britons in 863 B.C., founded the town of Bath around the hot springs and
built baths so that others might be cured.
The Goddess Sulis was adopted by the Romans and known as ‘Sulis Minerva’, her major shrine was at ‘Aquae Sulis’ the centre of modern Bath, where they built their temple where the Druids' grove had stood. Sulis was an ancient British goddess associated with healing waters, the spirit and the craft of medicine. The name Sulis is thought to be associated with the derivatives Sul or Sulla from the Celtic Siul or ‘eye’.
Sulis had a great reputation as a healer and people traveled to her shrines to take the waters, commune with the Goddess and seek a cure for their ills. The hot springs were viewed as particularly good for rheumatism and gout. Like the Celts, the Romans believed that the Goddess guarded the entrance to the Underworld in the Baths themselves.
Sulis was also a Goddess for women as she was associated with fertility and childbearing. Votive offerings of bronze and ivory breasts were found at her shrines. It has been suggested that these offerings were originally worn by breastfeeding women as amulets until they weaned their infants. The amulets were then offered to Sulis in thanks-giving for a bountiful supply of milk.
Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom, medicine, the arts, dyeing, science and trade, but also of war. As Minerva Medica she was the patroness of physicians. She was the daughter of Jupiter. In the temple on the Capitoline Hill she was worshipped together with Jupiter and Juno, with whom she formed a powerful triad of Gods.
In the 60s AD, the great Temple of Sulis Minerva was built.
The temple precinct, (enclosed area around
place of worship) included the thermal healing baths, which used the
The reservoir formed the sacred pool of the temple, near to the sacrificial altar which was in the courtyard of the great Classical temple building.
The ancient world marveled at Minerva's
great temple in
Shrouded in steam, pilgrims approached the
mysterious sacred spring at the heart of the temple believing it to be the
actual residing place of Sulis Minerva, whose healing cult had spread from
Amongst the most remarkable and revealing artefacts recovered from the Roman baths are the written dedications, vows and curses that centuries of pilgrims cast into the hot spring. As well as appealing to Sulis Minerva for health or wealth, the pilgrims inscribed curses on thin pewter sheets which were then usually rolled up and placed in the water. Typically, each curse stated a lost love or piece of stolen property; numerous suspects 'whether pagan or Christian' were often listed with an appeal that the guilty should meet some foul end.
"To Minerva the goddess of Sulis I have given the thief who has stolen my hooded cloak, whether slave or free, whether man or woman. He is not to buy back this gift unless with his own blood."
Themes:
1. Water: Wet/dry, Thirst,Bloated/Swellings, Night-Time Urinating
2. Clarity/calm
3. Fuzzy/angry
4. Energy
5. Pregnancy/fertility/sexuality
Cold/Body temperature
Phytologie: In 1138 Bishop Robert built a house for lepers close
to the Cross Bath. This bath was unusual for its time as it was within the city
walls. While leprosy existed in Britain before Elizabethan times, the term
lepra was used loosely to describe chronic scaly eruptions many of which would
be termed psoriasis or eczema today.
Patients with
skin diseases represented 15% of admissions to the Mineral Water Hospital -
between the years 1755 and 1764 some 241 lepers were admitted. Of these, 122
were “perfectly cleansed” and 85 were (much benefited”. Only 16 had no benefit
and 4 of these died in hospital.
A reputation for
the treatment of infertility drew many to the baths. James II’s infertile wife
Mary tried the effects of the waters. Soon afterwards Mary was pregnant.
The range of
diseases benefitting from the waters became very wide. Diagnoses fell into 3
main areas: palsies (39%), rheumatics (33%) and Skins (10%) – children 5%. Best
results were in the treatment of paralysis due to lead poisoning. From 1760 to
1879 there were 3377 cases of lead palsy treated by standing head out of water
immersion (SHOWI) plus drinking around 500 ml of the water daily. Of these: 93%
benefited, 1533 patients (45%) had no residual paralysis on discharge and were
said to be cured; 1629 (48%) were said to be greatly improved. The average
length of stay in hospital was 24 weeks. The extent to which other factors
(clean water, improved nitrition, better housing e.t.c.) influenced the results
remains unknown.
The physiology of
immersion in thermal waters
Cardiovascular,
renal and hormonal changes in normal subjects and in those with early lead
toxicity were noted after immersion in Bath spa water and tap water at
temperatures from 330 to 390 Celsius at immersion times of 1, 2 and 3 hours. The
greatest changes occurred with immersion at 370 C (the bathing temperature in
the Cross Bath was 37.70 C).
Cardiovascular/Renal/Hormonal