There  is,  among  the  hills  of  Somersetshire,  a  huge  basin
formed  by  the  river  Avon,  and  conveniently  supplied  with  a
natural  gush  of  hot  water,  which  can  be  turned  on  at  any  time
for  the  cleansing  of  diseased  bodies.  This  hollow  presents
many  curious  anomalies ;  though  sought  for  centuries  for  the
sake,  of  health,  it  is  one  of  the  most  unhealthily-situated  places
in  the  kingdom ;  here  the  body  and  the  pocket  are  alike  cleaned
^ut,  but  the  spot  itself  has  been  noted  for  its  dirtiness  smce  the
<lays  of  King  Bladud's  wise  pigs;  here,  again,  the  diseased
flesh  used  to  be  healed,  but  the  healthy  soul  within  it  speedily  I
l^esickened :  you  came  to  cure  gout  and  rheumatism,  and  caught  I
in  exchange  dice-fever.
I'he  mention  of  those  pigs  reminds  me  that  it  would  be  a


fk


1 34  Sickness  and  Civilization,

shameful  omission  to  speak  of  this  city  without  giving  the  story
of  that  apocryphal  British  monarch,  King  BladudL  But  let  me
be  the  one  exception ;  let  me  respect  the  good  sense  of  the
reader,  and  not  insult  him  by  supposing  him  capable  of  believ-
ing a  mythic  jumble  of  kings  and  pigs  and  dirty  marshes,  which
he  will,  if  he  cares  to,  find  at  full  length  in  any  *  Bath  Guide' —
price  sixpence.
