I have alluded to the plentiful supply of bog which the immediate vicinity of Franzensbad offers to the mud-bathers. This earth contains the following materials:—viz: The fibres of plants not decomposed, and whose organization is recognizable—matters soluble in water, such as vegetable substances rich in carbon, and of a yellow colour;—sulphate of lime—sulphate of magnesia—sulphate of iron—alum—bituminous extractive matter—oxide of iron—fine sand. Thus we see that the mere boggy material of the mud-bath contains many substances that may and do exercise a considerable physiological action on the body; and medicinal agency on the constitution. The peat bog is carried to the neighbourhood of the baths, and there allowed to dry to some extent. It is then sifted and separated from the woody fibres and coarser materials, when it is mixed with the mineral water of the Louisenquelle into the consistence of a very soft poultice. In this state it is heated by steam to a temperature varying from 80° to 100° of Fahrenheit, when it is ready for the bather, being worked up by means of wooden instruments and the hands into a complete black amalgam. I took the mud-bath here, at Marienbad, and Carlsbad, and do not regret the experiments. I confess that, at first, I felt some repugnance, not fear, in plunging into the black peat poultice; but when up to the chin (temperature 97°) I felt more comfortable than I had ever done, even in the baths of Schlangenbad, Wildbad, or Pfeffers. The material is so dense, that you are some time in sinking to the bottom of the bath—and I could not help fancying myself in Mahomet’s tomb, suspended between Heaven and Earth, but possessing consciousness, which I fear the prophet did not enjoy. There was one drawback on the mud-bath, or peat-poultice. We cannot roll about, like a porpoise or whale, as in the water-bath, without considerable effort, so dense is the medium in which we lie; but I found that I could use friction to all parts of the body, with great ease, in consequence of the unctuous and lubricating quality of the bath. After twenty minutes’ immersion, I felt an excitement of the surface, quite different from that of the common mineral warm baths—even of those of Wisbaden, Kissengen, or Schwalbach—attended, as I fancied, by elevation of spirits.