H.—2.

6

some of the most famous baths of Europe, but it is one which removes many difficulties of administration, and adds considerably to the comfort of bathers. Then, as far as possible, all stairs are avoided, and every facility is afforded for crippled bathers to reach their baths with a minimum of labour : it will be possible for a patient to leave his bedside in a bath chair, and be wheeled straight to the side of his bath. Every bather will have a private bath, fresh water, and a private dressing-room. The cooling-rooms will be large, lofty, light, well ventilated, and free from draught, so that the risks of catching a chill after a bath may be reduced to a minimum. The corridors will be broad, light, and airy, and paved with tiles ; while, to minimise draught, swing doors are provided in the cross-passages. With a multitude of pipes, and abundance of hot acid vapours, there is sure to be, at frequent intervals, " something wrong with the pipes." This is inevitable and must be faced. To prevent incessant pulling-up of floors, I have arranged the whole ground floor on arches 6 ft. 6 in. above the ground-level, and through these arches run all pipes, electric wires, &c. This arrangement also adds additional height to a building which must necessarily be somewhat long and low. To gain a further appearance of height, a terrace lawn runs along the whole front of the building. In regard to material, while it would, of course, be cheaper to build in timber, it is absolutely essential that the foundations and lower sections of the walls should be of a more stable material, on account of the amount of water and vapour always present. Timber walls are sure to warp to a certain extent however well the material may be seasoned; and it is practically impossible to affix the necessary tiles to a wooden backing. Although it would be possible to erect the superstructure in wood, I should strongly advise the use of a more permanent material. The spaces between the " half-timbering " could be filled with concrete blocks, which, while adding vastly to the appearance of the building, would also render it practically fireproof. In addition, it would be warmer in winter and cooler in summer; and from the manner in which the wall is split up into segments there would be a minimum risk of damage from earthquake-shocks. Excellent concrete can be made locally from the pumice at a very cheap rate. Description op proposed New Baths. To return now to the actual details of the building. We approach either by a gently rising crescentic carriage-road from the Queen's Drive, or by a more direct footpath and flight of steps from the grounds. Directly facing us is the building some 320 ft. long—apparently two-storied— it is in reality largely of only one floor. The building runs due north and south and faces west, so that every portion, except the short south aspect, sees the sun at some time in the day. In the centre, over the entrance-hall, the gabled roof contains two stories above the ground floor. At the intersection of the central roofs is placed an octagonal tower, forming a lantern light to the central hall. An arrangement of double doors serves to prevent the westerly winds blowing straight into the building, and shuts out draught. The central hall rises straight to the roof, showing the open timbers. The floor is tesselated, and in the centre is a fountain, while palms and ferns lend refreshing green. Straight ahead is an arched opening into the east corridor, while on either side a broad flight of stairs leads to the first story. Through the arch we get a fine vista of stainedglass window. A gallery leads round the hall to a pretty room over the entrance-porch, and provides, amongst other things, room for an orchestra. On your right hand as you enter the hall are the doctor's consulting-room, with attached waiting-room and dressing-rooms for patients, and a clerk's office. On the left is the ticket-office, where you can book your bath for a certain specified hour, weeks in advance if you like, with the certainty that it will be reserved for you. Beyond this is a sort of bar, where you may obtain a glass of any of the recognised mineral waters of the colony. On each side from the central hall open the corridors leading to the north and south halves of the building, the gentlemen's and ladies' sides respectively. As these are almost in duplicate, it will be sufficient to describe one half only, merely noting in passing such slight differences as have been found necessary to be made between the two wings. Let us turn to the left into the male side. Passing through swing doors we enter a long corridor 10 ft. broad, lighted on each side by windows near the ceiling, opening inwards. The red tiles of the floor look clean and inviting, and contrast with the clean light walls. At regular intervals along the wall on our left are a large number of doors —these lead to the private deep and shallow baths ; on the right hand other doors lead to the douche-massage establishment. We will visit one shallow and one deep bath as types of the rest. Shallow Bath. Opening a door on our left we find ourselves in a small dressing-room 10 ft. by 7 ft. It contains a couch, a chair, a dressing-table, mirror, and other accessories. The floor is covered with a soft rug, the walls painted a light cream, while a dado, stencilled in light blue, proclaims the nationality of the baths in a pattern of fern and tea-tree. The ceiling is 20 ft. above the floor, to prevent stuffiness and favour ventilation. With the same idea, and also to prevent any well-like appearance in such small lofty rooms, the dividing-wall between the dressing-rooms is only carried up to a height of 12 ft., leaving a clear space of 8 ft. to the ceiling, so that the dressing-rooms are in effect cubicles. This is a modification of the plan, which has been found to work well in some of the European baths. In the opposite wall of the room, but so placed as not to be opposite the entrance from the passage, is a door leading into the bath-room. Entering we find ourselves in a room closely similar in size and shape to the room we have left, and cubicled on the same plan. The floor is of red tiles, with a blue-black-edging pattern ; the walls, to a height of 5 ft., are lined with tiles —white, with a border of pale green at the top, and finished off with a tile moulding of dark green. Let into the floor is the bath, the faintly green hot water looking all the more inviting from the clean white and