ns, a descent must be made by the
staircase to the basement. The Great Bath is a rectangular tank 111
feet by 68 feet, originally lined with lead 1/4 inch thick. It was
surrounded with dressing-rooms, from which steps led down to the water.
The great hall which contained it was covered in with a roof of hollow
bricks and concrete (plentiful specimens of which lie scattered about),
supported by carved columns. On the left is another square bath with a
semi-circular tank at each end, and a series of vapour chambers behind
it. The greater part of this bath was unfortunately destroyed in the
18th cent., to furnish material for the construction of a new bath. To
the right of the great bath is a fine stepped circular bath, and beyond
this again are sudatories. Still further on, extending beneath the
street, in a part not always shown to the public and somewhat difficult
of approach, is a third rectangular basin of considerable size. Even
this does not complete the full tale of the bathing accommodation once
provided. Buried beneath the basement of the Pump Room itself has been
discovered the masonry of a large oval bath, the outline of which is
still marked out in the flooring. The huge Roman reservoir into which
were poured the healing waters as they bubbled up fresh and fervid from
the bowels of the earth cannot now be seen, for it lies immediately
beneath the floor of the King's Bath, but the visitor can still inspect
the overflow conduit which conveyed the surplus waters to the Avon. The
character of the lead and brick work should be carefully examined if
justice is to be done to the skill of the Roman workmen. The specimens
of the tessellated pavement that once formed the flooring of the great
hall are worthy of passing notice. The King's Bath, the great bathing
place of the fashionable world in Nash's day, is open to the air, and
may be seen from one of the windows of the corridor. The various modern
baths must be inquired for on the spot. Medicinal bathing is obtained
at the New Royal Bath, in connection with the Grand Pump Room Hotel.
The spring which keeps the whole of this vast array of bathing
appliances going yields three hogsheads per minute, and issues from the
earth at a temperature of 117 deg. Fahr. The chief constituents of the
waters are calcium sulphate, sodium sulphate, magnesium chloride,
calcium carbonate, and sodium chloride, and there are traces of other
minerals.

[Illustration: BATH ABBEY]

_The Ab