One custom that seems distinctly Victorian is "taking the waters." Actually, spa towns - resort towns based on a mineral hot spring with supposed health benefits - predated the Victorians by quite some time. Bath, perhaps the most famous of Britain's spa towns, was used for health purposes even before the Romans, as were many other British hot springs. In Georgian and Victorian times, it was fashionable to visit a spa, drink disgusting-smelling mineralized water (have you ever been to the Pump Room in Bath?) and receive a variety of treatments, both hot and cold. This section brings you articles on spas and a variety of more unusual Victorian health treatments and fads.

The Hydromania, by Mrs. Busk (Court Magazine, 1834)

On the obsession with health spas.

A Day at Ben Dhrypping (Leisure Hour, 1860)

A humorous look at the "spa" craze.

The Bank of Health (Leisure Hour, 1868)

The famous hydrotherapy spa in Matlock.

A Few German Cures (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880)

Visiting the "spa" was all the fashion in Europe, but one might hesitate to use the "roll-cure" or the "goat's whey cure"...

Putting Away the "Pathies" (Century Magazine, 1882B)

The controversy over traditional medicine vs. homeopathic medicine vs. quackery.

Massage: What It Is and What It Can Do (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888)

The Rest Cure, and When it Is Indicated (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

Fasting, by the Ven. Archdeacon Farrar, DD (English Illustrated Magazine, 1890A)

On a growing trend to encourage fasting as a necessary discipline, some errors in teachings about fasting, and ways to fast in a healthy fashion.

Nose-Improvers, by L.S. Lewis (The Strand, 1896B)

Devices designed to clamp upon your nose to make it longer, shorter, straighter, or whatever you may desire. Perhaps this should not be tried at home.

Hydros and Health, by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

Some of the pros and cons of "hydropathic" spas.

A Curious Cure, by J. Russell (The Strand, 1898B)

A "light and air bath" (taken in the altogether) at the Veldes spa in Austria.

Massage, by "The New Doctor" (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)

"As massage is a powerful agent for good in many cases, so it is also a most powerful agent of harm in unsuitable cases, or if badly performed, or if used too early in the case."

The Medical Side of Electricity, by "The New Doctor" (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)

"The action of electricity upon the body is a peculiar and an ill-defined one, and as a lifegiver or energizer or such-like it is as useless as is anything else." After a stirring denouncement of medical quackery, the article goes on to discuss the new, amazing discovery of X-rays.

The Baking Cure, by W.B. Northrop (The Strand, 1900B)

"Baking alive" was the latest thing in American medical science in 1900.

*"Medicus" was the pen-name of Gordon Stables, M.D., R.N., health columnist for The Girl's Own Paper. Read the complete collection of Medicus Columns from 1881-1902 in chronological order.

• See also Victorian Life: Fads, Faith-Healing & Fortune-Telling