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34
" drawn to the deficient means for Bathing in
" London and Westminster. The practice of bathing
" is most strengthening to the system, whilst the
" act of swimming is most important in preserving
" and saving human life in a great sea-girt country
" like great Britain. On the Continent of Europe
" extensive arrangements are made for bathing and
" learning the art of swimming. There are several
" swimming baths in the Seine, both for men and
" for women. The same is the case in the Rhone
" at Geneva, and many other Continental cities.
" It would be unreasonable to erect swimming baths
'' in the Thames so long as it retains its present
" character. From the specimens before you of
" Thames water obtained at several places between
" Westminster and Battersea, you will see how
" unfit such water must be for bathing. There is
"one public spot in London provided with
" abundance of water, which I think might be
" used for the purpose of constructing public baths,
" and that is Hampstead Heath. In the ponds
" there, covering several acres, an admirable means
" exists of constructing public baths. Bathing is
" permitted there by the Board of Works at present,
" but the dirt of the ponds, the public exposure,
" and the annual loss of life render it any thing
" but desirable that the practice should continue.
" These ponds, however, might be levelled, their
" bottom concreted, and walls erected around, so
" as to render them every thing desirable for public
" bathing.