_a._ The plane for supporting the back. _b._ The thigh-plane. _c._ The leg-plane. _d._ The foot-piece, which is movable, and admits of adjustment, to suit the comfort of the bather. _e._ The head-piece, for supporting the head. _f._ Arc of the angle _a-b_. _g._ The angle corresponding with the bend of the knee. _h._ Arc of the angle _b-c_. _i._ Lower hole, for the foot-piece. _k._ Elevation of the trunk-plane from the ground-line, _l_. _m._ One of the feet of the couch. This figure is intended to exhibit the construction of the _dureta_, the best lines of angle, and the size the most convenient for a person of medium stature--say five feet, eight inches. If the person be taller or shorter, a corresponding difference must be made in the length of the three principal pieces. The _dureta_ is constructed of deal boards, 20 inches long, nailed on a pair of lateral rails; the rails being supported by a firm foot, _m_, and steadied by a bracket at the angle _g_. The measurements are as follow:--_a_, 28 inches; _b_, 18-1/2 inches; _c_, from _g_ to the foot-piece, 19 inches; and from _g_ to the extreme end, below the letter _i_, 23 inches. The holes for the foot-piece are two inches apart; and the head-piece may be made movable. The arc of the angle _a-b_, measured at _f_, from the upper angle of _a_ to _g_ is 38 inches; the arc of the angle _b-c_, measured at _h_ from the angle _m_ to the end of the plane _c_, is 37 inches; the height of the upper end at _k_ is 24-1/2 inches; the height of the angle _g_ at _l_ is 14-1/2 inches; and the dotted line from the angle _m_ to the perpendicular _k_, 21 inches; the height of the angle _m_ from the point where the dotted line touches to the ground is 6-1/4 inches; and the height of the end at _i_ is simply the depth of the rail--namely between two and three inches. The _dureta_ after the above model is manufactured by Mr. Allen, 7, Great Smith-street, Westminster.] THE EASTERN, OR TURKISH BATH. CHAPTER I. The Bath is an animal instinct: and, _par excellence_, a human instinct; it is as much a necessity of our nature as drink. We drink because we thirst--an _interior sense_. We bathe because water, the material of drink, is a desire of the outward man--an _exterior sense_. An animal, whether beast or bird, pasturing or straying near a limpid stream, first satisfies the inward sense, and then delights the outward sense. A man, be he savage or civilized, can no more resist the gratification of bathing his wearied limbs in a warm transparent pool than he can resist the cup of water when athirst. Instinct bids him bathe and be clean. To inquire--Who invented the act of drinking? would be as reasonable as to ask--Who invented the bath?