Dr Mathias Roth's Russian bath
< Image: Mathias Roth The Russian bath,
published with a view to recommending its introduction into England for
hygienic as well as curative purposes. 2nd ed. (Groombridge, 1855)
Roth's bath had a canework cover on which the patient lay. Using the appropriate taps, vapour could be added to the room, to the bath itself beneath the cover, or with a flexible tube allowing the vapour to be directed to specific parts of the body.
Hot and cold water could be supplied to a douche or a rose jet fixed to the ceiling. To the left is a stool on which the patient sits if an upward douche is required. To the right of the bath, a wash basin is fixed and there was a bell to ring for the attendant if needed.
Such rooms, Roth suggested, could be constructed of polished marble or slate, and the floor heated by pipes running beneath it.
This page first published 01 January 2023
This page enlarges an image or adds to the information found below:
History of the Turkish bath. 1: Before the Victorian Turkish bath
Sexual activity in the Jermyn Street Hammam. 3: A case study in queer history
Victorian Turkish Baths: their origin, development, and gradual decline
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© Malcolm Shifrin, 1991-2023