DEMAVAND, in lat. 35° 50' N., long. 52° E., a lofty peak on the Elburz ranc,e, between Irak Ajami and Mazandaran. A high' road leads from Teheran by the town of Demavand to Ask, the capital of the district of Laurijan. The hot baths of Demavand are situated in this locality, at Garna sair, near Garm-ab. They are two in number : one, the tepid bath, is situated within 100 yards of the town of Ask, on the right bank of the river. It rises in an oval basin, measuring about 30 feet by 20, and about 3 feet in depth, forrned by deposit from the spring, which gushes up with great force in the centre of the basin, together with a considerable amount of gas. The water contains sulphur, iron, soda, and magnesia. The other spring, which is situated about two miles further down the valley, and on the motmtain of Demavand, is so intensely hot (148°), that the water has to be conducted through canals for some distance before it is collected in an artificial basin, in which the patients bathe. This water contains magnesia, iron, and sulphur in much larger proportions. Near Ask there is also a
spring of cold water, strongly impregnated with iron. From Ask a road leads down to the town of Amil, but it is extremely dangerous, lives being lost annually from mules and their riders falling over the precipice along the face of which it runs. Demavand bears 'N. 65° E. of Teheran, about 40 miles distant, and its pale lofty summit forms a mag,nificent pyramid as it shoots up from the high range of Elburz. The cone of Demavand is doubtless of volcanic origin, and consists of a number of ridges, which run from the summit to the base, leaving between them deep ravines filled in general with snow and ice, beneath which lies a mass of debris fallen from the upper part of the mountain. The height of the mountain is 21,520 feet. The cone terminates in a crater about 85 yards in diameter, which is nearly surrounded by jagged rocks.—Chesney, p. 15 ; IldacGregor.