FRANZENSBAD  , or KAISER-FRANZEDiRAD, a

town and watering-place of Bohemia, Austria, 152 M . IlkN.W. of Prague by rail . Pop . (1900) 2330 . It is situated at an altitude of about 1500 ft. between the spurs of the Fichtelgebirge, the Bohmerwald and the Erzgebirge, and lies 4 M . N.W. of Eger . It possesses a large kursaal, several bathing establishments, a hospital for poor patients and several parks . There are altogether 12 mineral springs with saline, alkaline and ferruginous waters, of which the oldest and most important is the Franzensquelle . One of the springs gives off carbonic acid gas and another contains a considerable proportion of lithia salts . The waters, which have an average temperature between 50.2° F. and 54.50 F., are used both internally and externally, and are efficacious in cases of anaemia, nervous disorders, sexual diseases, specially for women, and heart diseases . Franzensbad is frequently resorted to as an after-cure by patients from Carlsbad and Marienbad . Another important part of the cure is the so-called moor or mud-baths, prepared from the peat of the Franzensbad marsh, which is very rich in mineral substances, like sulphates of iron, of soda and of potash, organic acids, salt, &c .

The first

information about the springs dates from the 16th century, and an analysis of the waters was made in 1565 . Theywere first used for bathing purposes in 1707 . But the foundation of Franzensbad as a watering-place really dates from 1793, when Dr Adler built here the first Kurhaus, and the place received its name after the emperor Francis I . See Dr Loimann, Franzensbad (3rd ed., Vienna, 1900) .