seven
thousand permanent inhabitants, not less than forty thousand visitors
have made their abode within its precincts in a single season. It is
the most fashionable, and at the same time the most attractive, of the
German watering-places. The nobility and gentry, as well as the
blacklegs and swindlers of all the nations of Europe, gather there. The
country around the town is romantic and pleasing, and with good roads
through the forests and up the hills, there is a great variety of
delightful walks and drives. Everything which nature and art could do
to make the place and its surroundings an attractive abode, has been
done.

On the rocky hills above the town are the old and the new castles of
the Grand Duke of Baden. The former is of Roman origin, and was
occupied by the reigning dukes in the middle ages. The latter is the
summer residence of the present sovereign. At the foot of the rocks on
which the modern structure is located are the hot springs, thirteen in
number, to which the town owes its origin as a health-giving abode.
This part of the place is called "Hell" on account of the heat of the
springs, which does not permit the snow, even in the coldest weather,
to remain upon it. The hottest of these springs has a temperature of
54 deg. Reaumur, equal to 153-1/2 deg. Fahrenheit. Their water is led by pipes
to the "Trinkhalle" and baths in the village, the passage having but
little effect upon its temperature. A kind of temple is built over the
principal spring, which furnishes the hottest and most copious supply
of water. There is sufficient evidence that the Romans used these
fountains for vapor baths, and other medicinal purposes. The water is
perfectly clear, has a saltish taste, and at the spring is not unlike
weak broth, though it has a disagreeable odor. It is beneficial for
dyspepsia, gout, rheumatism, and scrofulous diseases.

After dinner the tourists commenced their explorations by a visit to
_das neue Trinkhalle_, or the New Pump Room, opposite the hotel. The
spring waters are conveyed to it in pipes, and in the season the place
is crowded with visitors, who drink them in the morning.

The _Conversationshaus_ is the grand centre of attraction. It is a
magnificent building, surrounded by splendid gardens. In front of it is
a Chinese pagoda, intended as a music stand for the band, which plays
there twice a day. It contains a large assembly-room, where the company
dance at times, a restaurant, a theatre