[Footnote 2: Not _draughts_. The ancient Romans, it is curious to note,
would walk in the open air after the bath; and both the _Frigidarium_ of
the Romans and the _Mustaby_ of the Turks were, and are, open to the
heavens.]

CHAPTER V.

HEATING AND VENTILATION.

Of the many questions that merit attention and study in connection with
the Turkish bath, all sink into insignificance by the side of that of
the _heating_ and the _nature of the heat_ supplied in the sudatory
chambers. Other things being equal, it is, after all, the _heating_ that
distinguishes one bath from another on the score of excellence. The
heating of the "bath" is the Alpha and Omega of the whole matter.

There are two ways in which heat may be applied to the body--by direct
radiation, as from the sun or an open fire; and by convection, as
through a volume of air.

The ancient Roman bathers, with floors below them which rested upon
_pilae_, or little pillars of brick or tile, around which the flames and
hot gases from the furnace played, and surrounded by heated, hollow
walls, evidently submitted themselves to the action of a heat that must
have been of a purely radiating character.

So, also, in a less perfect manner, the Turks, who employ flues running
beneath the floors, and the Moors, who adopt stoves visible to the
bathers.

Theoretically, radiant heat in a bath is vastly superior to that which
is transmitted to the body through the medium of the air. Its virtues
have been extolled by David Urquhart and other eminent authorities on
the bath. "There is a difference," says Mr. Urquhart, "between radiating
and transmitted caloric.... I cannot pretend to treat of this great
secret of nature; to work out this problem a Liebig is required. This I
can say, that such heat is more endurable than common heat. There is a
liveliness about it which transmitted heat lacks. You are conscious of
an electrical action. It is to transmitted heat what champagne is to
flat beer.... Let us drop, if you please, the word 'bath': it is 'heat.'
Let us away with that absurdity 'hot-air': it is the application of heat
to the human frame." Elsewhere this writer has pointed out that the
terms _thermae_, _sejac_, and _hammam_--the names given to the bath by
the Romans, Moors, and Orientals proper--mean _heat_, and not "hot-air"
or "hot-air bath."

My own studies, observations, and experience lead me to the conclusion
that the direction in which we shall impro