Page:1880. A Tramp Abroad.djvu/412

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394
THE BATHERS AT LEUK.

weight. She had suffered from corpulence and had come there to get rid of her extra flesh in the baths. Five weeks of soaking,—five uninterrupted hours of it every day,—had accomplished her purpose and reduced her to the right proportions.

Those baths remove fat, and also skin-diseases. The patients remain in the great tanks hours at a time. A dozen gentlemen and ladies occupy a tank together, and amuse themselves with rompings and various games. They have floating desks and tables, and they read or lunch or play chess in water that is breast deep. The tourist can step in and view this novel spectacle if he chooses. There's a poor-box, and he will have to contribute. There are several of these

BATH HOUSES AT LEUKE.

big bathing houses, and you can always tell when you are near one of them by the romping noises and shouts of laughter that proceed from it. The water is running water, and changes all the time, else a patient with a ringworm might