In England the next revival of baths was at the close of the 17th century, under the name of hummans, or the Italian name of bagnios. These were avowedly conducted on the principle of the Turkish baths of the present day. But there were several consider able epochs in the history of baths, one in the commencement of the 18th century, when Floyer and others recalled attention to cold bathing, of which the virtues had long been overlooked. In the middle of the century also, Russell and others revived sea bathing in England, and were followed by others on the Continent, until the value of sea bathing became fully appreci ated_ Later in the same century, the experi ments of James Currie of the action of the complete or of partial baths on the system in disease attracted attention; and though for gotten for a while, they bore abundant fruit in more recent times.
In the 4th decade of the 19th century free cold swimming baths were revived in Germany. In England, since 1842, public swimming baths, besides separate baths, have been supplied to the public at very moderate rates, and floating baths in rivers, always known in some German towns, have become common wherever there are flowing streams. The better supply of cities with water during the 19th century has greatly aided the movement to extend bathing facilities to the public. In 1846, the British Parliament passed the first of a series of acts to encourage the establishment of public baths by the local authorities, but by 1865 only 25 boroughs had cared to provide bathing establishments for their inhabitants. About 1890 the city councils began to take up the matter energetically with authorization from Parliament; but it then increased so rapidly that almost every town or borough of 50,000 people now has its public bath open the year round and many smaller communities are similarly equipped. About 50 German cities maintain public baths throughout the year and many of the establishments in the larger cities are models of their kind in con struction and equipment. On the Continent gen erally and in Scandinavia only the large cities are thus provided; but in Russia they are almost universal in places of any size.
In the United States, though public baths have existed since 1866 until about 1895 in a few water-side cities, they were confined to cold swimming-baths sunk in the sea or river near the shore, and open only during warm weather; of excellent service for the comfort of those not too far off, but too limited in scope to be of the highest value to the general public.
Not only were they closed for more than half the year, but to those who must walk more than half or three-quarters of a mile to obtain a bath (their utility being for the poor), their value as refreshment in hot weather was neu tralized by the needful exertion to reach them. Their use, therefore, depended on their dis tribution and relation to the water system. Thus, in Boston, where six were established in 1866, with 300,000 patrons during the first sea son, and extended to 14 in 1897, they were so located on the Charles River, at City Point and on South Bay, that a considerable part of the poorer population were within fairly easy dis tance of them. Only about a dozen United States cities had even these bathing facilities prior to 1895, and the first general movement in favor of year-round hot and cold baths was a reflex from Germany, about 1891. The first city in the United States to establish a free municipal bath supplied with hot and cold water was Chicago, which opened such a bath in 1894. Yonkers was the first city to establish free public baths open all the year. This bath was opened on Labor Day, 1896. Brookline, Mass., established free public baths in 1896, and Boston and Buffalo in 1897. The pioneer in the public bath movement in the country gen erally was Dr. Simon Baruch. It was he who closely investigated the working of the public bath systems in Germany and in other European countries and subsequently advocated, despite the strongest official opposition, the introduc tion of the system into the larger cities of the United States. In 1890 his plans were adopted by the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor and the following year this Association's ((People's Baths') were completed and at once became a great popular success. Shortly afterward the trustees of the Baron de Hirsch Fund erected a public bath on Henry street, New York, and the Demilt Dispensary bath was opened about the same time. In 1895 the Riverside Association opened a public shower bath in West 69th street. Among other efforts by various charitable organizations for the provision of bathing facilities for the masses may be mentioned the floating hospital of the Saint John Guild, the Wayfarers' Lodge and the municipal lodging house.