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Show P/.XY. ,. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. guei, without employing another perfon, or interrupting the labour in nooK vn. which they were occupied. They alfo ufed the quills of the Huitztla- .__.....---". . M . . 1 , cucttzm, or exlcan porcupllle, whic 1 are thick, and have a iinall hole at their points. Among the means which the Mexicans employed for the prefervation of health, that ~f the bath was very frequent. They bathed themfelves extremely often, even many times in the fame day in the natural water of rivers, lakes, ditches, and ponds. Experience has taught the Spaniards the advantages of bathing, in that climate, and particularly in-the hot countries. · The Mexicans, and other nations of Anahuac, made little lefs frequent ufe of the bath Temazcalli. Although in all its circumftances it is deferving of particular mention in the hi!l:ory of Mexico, none of the hi!l:orians of that kingdom have defcr~bed it, attending more frequently to defcriptions and accounts of leis importance, fo much that if fome of thofe baths had not been ilill preferved, the memory of them mu!l: have totally perilhed. The Temazcal/i, or Mexican vapour.-bath, is ufually built of raw bricks. The form of it is fimilar to that of ovens for baking bread • but with this· difference, that the pavement of the Tcmazcalli is a little convex, and lower than the fL1rface of the earth, whereas that of I moft ovens is plain, and a little elevated for the accommodation of the baker. Its greateft diameter is about eight feet, and its greatefl height fix. The entrance, like the mouth of an oven, is wide eno.ugh to allow a man to creep eafily in. In the place oppo!ite to. the entrance there is a furnace of ftone or raw bricks, with its mouth outwards to receive the fire, and a hole above it to carry o.ff the Gnoke. The part which unites the furnace to the bath, and which is about two, feet and a half [quare, is fhu t with a dry ilone of Tefz(mtli, or fome other ftone porous like it. In the upper part of the vaUlt there i.s an air hole,_. like that to the furnace. This is the ufual firutt:ure of the T emazcalli, of which we have [ubjoioed a. figu re ; but there are others that are without vault or furnace, mere little fquare chambers, yet well covered and defended from the air .. When any perfon goe~ to bathe, he firfl: lays a mat (e) within the: T cmazcalli, a pitcher of water, and a bunch of herbs, or leaxes·' of (c) T h Sp~niatd s, ,,.hen they bathed, made ufe ·of. a mattrafs for more conreaicnce. • m~ze.. SKc·r. LXH. Temar.call'i, or \':tpourbaths of the Me:Jo:icana. |