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ational Health and British Spas
anvil spas are playing an increasingly important part in proving the general health of this country. The spa ospitals are served by men who are specialists in the treatment f various diseases by water, and many thousands of patients dealt with each year. Systematic research work is pro- 'ding much more scientific knowledge of the effects of waters d baths on ill-health.
We have still, however, a long way to go before we make the est possible use in this country .of our natural resources of eral springs. The British Spas Federation, of which Mr. E. Boddington, the Spa Manager at Buxton, is Hon. Sec- tary, is carrying out much valuable work in strengthening
d improving the conditions in this country, and in making ore widely known the exceptional facilities provided. This ederation includes the spas of Bath, Buxton, Cheltenham, n, Droitwich, Harrogate, Llandrindod Wells, trathpeffer, Woodhall, Trefriw, and New Zealand, and there many other medicinal waters in the United Kingdom. ut compare these ten spas in Great Britain with the 217 spas 'thin the republic of Czechoslovakia alone. It is estimated y the Ministry of Health that so great is the belief in Czecho- ovakia in the efficacy of spas and of hydrological treatment hat at least 180,000 persons visit them annually. If a imilar number of persons were assured as regular patients in ur British spas, what a difference there would be in their rosperity - whereas it is admitted that a good deal of the ecommodttion at our British spa hospitals lies vacant during uch of the year. In many cases, too, beds are occupied by which are so advanced that they are incapable of any 1 improvement.
The British Spa Federation has been exploring a number of emes for increasing the number of insured persons who will me for cures while in the early stages of ill-health. It will remembered that the report of the Royal Commission on ational Health Insurance recommended the increase of the pe of medical benefit by the payment of the whole or part f the cost of treatment by water cures. When this recom- endation is carried out to the full, we shall see the varied ources within our own islands being more fully utilized. any case, in order that we may have in this country more owledge of the treatment of chronic rheumatism, investi- Lions are being carried out by Guy's Hospital and by the in-Chemical Department of the University of Oxford. The ritish Red Cross Society is also taking an active interest in e establishment of an experimental clinic for the study of heumatism. These and other developments will also assist spreading a wider knowledge of the benefits of spa treat- ent, and a firmer basis for diagnosing and treating diseases t our spas from their earliest stages.
It must be remembered, that on the Continent many spas ceive State financial assistance. In Czechoslovakia a cial department of the Ministry of Public Health and of hysical Education is charged with the supervision of mineral rings and of health resorts, and there are at least two Chairs f Medical Hydrology, the one at the University of Prague
d the other in the medical school of Bratislava. But our ritish spas without any subsidy from the taxpayer are ttraeting a rapidly increasing flow of visitors.
At Buxton, a tonic spa suitable for gouty and rheumatic rents, there has been an increase in the last year of twenty cent. in the number of treatments. The City of Bath, the lily place where there are natural hot springs, has not been ore fashionable and popular since the days of Beau Nash it is to-day. The continuously increasing demands at arrogate for cures by treatments with the variety of natural aters—eighty-eight in all—has necessitated considerable nsions to the Royal Baths. A similar report comes from eltenham, where in order to meet the demand for treatment y the only natural alkaline water in Great Britain an expen- tire of over £40,000 has just been recommended by the Spa edical Advisory Committee for the erection and equipment f an entirely new installation on a central site. Llandrindod ells is forging ahead rapidly in every way, and under the ntrol of a new Spa Manager it is believed that plans are ing prepared for a completely new Cure House where prac- 'eally every kind of Continental Spa treatment can be given. At Droitwich, with its densely saline and radio-active water,
e figures for the present year are a record. Malvern, under e influence of a Development Association, of which Mr. tanley Baldwin is President, has been famous for its waters m St. Anne's Well and Holy Well for centuries, and the baths equipment is now being reorganized with a view admission into the Federation of British Spas next year. t will be remembered that last July the new Winter Gardens d Pump Room were officially opened by the Duke of oucester.
At Leamington, with its mild climate and sedative influence,
e baths have been remodelled. Strathpeffer, in the High- lands of Scotland, has the same summer temperature as a health resort at 4,000 feet in the Alps. Woodhall Spa amid the heather and gorse of Lincolnshire, possesses a bromo- iodine water with therapeutic properties. Anyone who studies a British spa, and compares its advan- tages with those provided abroad, must confess that we have many assets which only require to be known more widely to attract thousands of more visitors. Personally,' I find the fusty, and at times unpleasant, smell inside certain spas on the Continent very unsavoury, and prefer every time the cleanli- ness and the fresh air to be found in an English, Scottish, or Welsh pump room. On the Continent there is a " fug " in the spas which is fortunately absent in this country, where condi- tions are " tonic," and suitable for many classes of health seekers.
The musical attractions provided by such an orchestra as that at Bath, where a new Director, Mr. Edward Dunn, has just been appointed, or at Buxton, where Mr. Horace Fellowes is Director, surpass those in many an over-boosted Continental spa.
We have not a Casino or a Baccarat room in a single English spa, but surely it cannot be for such amenities that thousands of our fellow-countrymen, who publicly state that they are strong advocates of the " Come to Britain " movement, prefer to cross the Channel to some resort that has the reputation of being fashionable. They may declare that they love the scenery around Aix or above Carlsbad, but where can finer scenery be found than the Derbyshire dales around Buxton; or the Yorkshire moors north of Harrogate, or the beauty of Somersetshire near Bath ? Those who follow fashion's dictates may talk of the picturesqueness of Marienbad, Mont- Dore, or Pistany ; but what place can be of more interest to the lover of old-world surroundings than the Georgian City of Bath, or those towns like Leamington and Cheltenham, from which may so easily be reached Shakespeare's country and the Cotswolds ?
Our British spas deserve much more support, for their treatments need fear no comparison with those of other countries, although they are not financed by the taxpayer as is the case so frequently abroad. Especially we should re- member that the British are the pioneers in the use of the " sweating " bath and of hot and cold water in medicine. Naturally medical advice must be followed, for the strong air at such places as Harrogate or Strathpeffer may be too much for some invalids who need the more sedative climate of a Continental Spa ; but it may truly be said that many of those leaders of fashion who have formed the habit of spending September in some foreign country would derive at less expense and in more comfort equal benefit from staying in their own country under the care of our experienced spa
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