An Account of the Hot Baths of Vinadio, in the Province of Coni in Piedmont; With the State of the Weather at Turin in the Year 1759: In an Extract of a Letter from Dr. Joseph Bruni, F. R. S. to Mr. Henry Baker, F. R. S.

LXXIII. An Account of the hot Baths of Vinadio, in the Province of Coni in Piedmont; with the State of the Weather at Turin in the Year 1759: In an Extract of a Letter from Dr. Joseph Bruni, F. R. S. to Mr. Henry Baker, F. R. S. Dear Sir, Turin, Feb. 24, 1760. Read June 5, 1760. THE warm baths, which have been so very serviceable to the Chevalier Offorio, run through the rocks, near the village called Vinadio, in the province of Coni. The water is very clear, and so warm, one cannot bear the hand in it: the contents are sulphur diffused through it, and some salt almost like common salt. By evaporation, you get five, sometimes six grains, from a pound of water. I send you a small quantity of the salt, gathered from the stones by which the water runs, before the rising of the sun, for in the day-time it is not found upon them, except in winter. Where these waters run, they deposit oily particles, which, by degrees, join together, and form a soft, spongy, greenish-yellow substance, one inch almost in thickness, which is called muffa: this, when dry, is wrinkled, takes fire, crackles, and gives the smell of brimstone, and when entirely burnt, leaves a black ash behind. I immersed a piece of silver in these waters, which, in a few minutes, became black. Their taste is neither salt nor acid, but disagreeable. The muffa left for two days in common water, swells six times thicker than it was, stinks, and throws up oily particles on the surface of the water. The salt does not ferment with acids. If you dissolve it in common water, and mix it with syrup of violets, it gives some appearance of a green colour: the same water poured on a solution of silver, it soon throws down a white sediment. Some say these waters contain nitre, and particles of other bodies; but this has not been demonstrated. The disorder of the Chevalier Offorio, for which I advised him to the use of these baths, was, that he had lost the feeling of his fingers, had a weakness in his hands, and also in his legs, insomuch, that sometimes he could not walk in a strait line, but tottered from side to side. He could not extend his toes, and the soles of his feet feeled, according to his own expression, as if hard strings were drawn across them. He tried many medicines to no purpose; but is now perfectly free from the above complaints, by the use of these warm baths; of which he is so fully convinced, that he intends to go to them again next summer, notwithstanding at that time of year the heat is there excessive. He bathed in these waters forty times, when the stomach was empty, in a morning; and stayed in them, at first, half an hour, but lengthened the time, gradually, at last, to a full hour. After each bathing, he was dried with cloths, and put into a warm bed, where a plentiful sweat came on for about half an hour; during which, the pulse beat like that in an high fever, but became quieter, as the sweating abated. When the sweating was almost over, and the pulse quite regular, he was dried again with cloths, his shirt was changed, and, sitting up in bed, he was refreshed with a glafs of strong wine, and a piece piece of bread. After this, he rose, and dressed, and took a gentle walk. I observed, while I was there with the Chevalier Offorio, that no patient, who came thither, received the least prejudice by the waters, though all did not receive alike benefit for their respective disorders. But one gentleman in particular, who came paralitic, in the whole inferior extremities of his body, occasioned by hard drinking, I saw so far relieved as to walk without help. I also saw others cured of disorders in the skin, and relieved in rheumatic and many other complaints. Several persons drank the waters of a neighbouring spring, which is lukewarm, but I cannot say to any great advantage: the cures I observed were by bathing only. Where there is a partial disorder, the waters of Vinadio are pumped upon the distempered part. Olaus Borrichius mentions a remarkable cure effected by these waters. Vide Medic. Septentrion. Collat. tom. II. p. 855. I send you also an account of the weather in this country, in the last year 1759. It shews the highest and lowest state of the barometer and thermometer in every month. The first cypher denotes the day. Mat. signifies the morning; D. M. the afternoon; the following cypher the hour; and the last cypher the inches, and parts of inches, divided in 12. In the thermometer, o denotes the freezing point; and the last cypher the degrees above or under the same. The thermometer is made according to that of Mons. De Reaumur. BARO- | Months | Days | Morn. or Afr. | Hours | Inches. Parts | |--------|------|--------------|-------|--------------| | Gennaio | 3 | D. M. | 2 | 27 1½ | | | 17 | Mat. | 7½ | 27 10 | | | 25 | Mat. | 7½ | 27 1 | | Febbraio| 14 | Mat. | 7½ | 27 10 | | | | D. M. | 2 | 27 10 | | | 15 | Mat. | 7½ | 27 10 | | Marzo | 11 | Mat. | 7 | 26 11 | | | 15 | Mat. | 7 | 27 6 | | | 15 | D. M. | 4 | 26 11 | | Aprile | 16 | Mat. | 7 | 26 11 | | | 17 | Mat. | 7 | 27 6 | | Maggio | 4 | D. M. | 3 | 26 11 | | | 20 | Mat. | 7 | 27 8 | | Giugno | 30 | D. M. | 3 | 27 1 | | | 20 | Mat. | 6 | 27 7½ | | | 4 | Mat. | 6 | 27 0½ | | Guglio | 9 | Mat. | 6 | 27 8 | | | 10 | Mat. | 6 | 27 8 | | Agosto | 21 | D. M. | 3 | 27 2 | | | 5 | Mat. | 6 | 27 7 | | | 22 | D. M. | 2½ | 27 3 | | | 23 | Mat. | 6 | 27 3 | | Settembre| 17 | D. M. | 2½ | 27 3 | | | 18 | Mat. | 2½ | 27 7 | | | 28 | Mat. | 7 | 27 2 | | Ottobre| 29 | D. M. | 2½ | 27 2 | | | 22 | Mat. | 7 | 27 8½ | | Novembre| 23 | D. M. | 2 | 26 9 | | | 3 | Mat. | 6 | 27 10½ | | Dicembre| 24 | D. M. | 2 | 26 11½ | | | 2 | Mat. | 7½ | 26 11½ | TERMOM- | Months | Days | M. or A | Hours | Degrees | |----------|--------------|---------|-------|---------| | Gennaio | 7, 26, 31 | Mat. | 7½ | 0 | | | 12, 13, 14 | D.M. | 2 | 6 | | Febbraio | 1, 4, 5 | Mat. | 7½ | 0 | | | 17, 22 | D.M. | 2 | 8½ | | Marzo | 14, 15 | Mat. | 7 | 1 | | | 28 | D.M. | 2½ | 13 | | Aprile | 1 | Mat. | 7 | 4 | | | 14, 23, 24 | D.M. | 2½ | 17½ | | Maggio | 5, 19 | Mat. | 6½ | 9 | | | 13, 15, 16 | D.M. | 3 | 21 | | Giugno | 4, 6 | Mat. | 6 | 11 | | | 19 | D.M. | 3½ | 26½ | | Guglio | 2 | Mat. | 6 | 12½ | | | 22 | D.M. | 3½ | 28½ | | Agosto | 24 | Mat. | 6 | 12½ | | | 6, 18 | D.M. | 3½ | 26 | | Settembre| 22, 23 | Mat. | 6½ | 11 | | | 9, 10, 12 | D.M. | 3 | 24 | | Ottobre | 6, 25, 26, 30| Mat. | 7 | 9 | | | 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 21, 23 | D.M. | 2½ | 17 | | Novembre | 26 | Mat. | 7½ | 4½ Sotto lo zero | | | 19, 26, 29 | D.M. | 2 | 1 | | Dicembre | 28 | Mat. | 7½ | 0 | | | 29 | D.M. | 2 | 2½ |