We examined the effect of the successive bathings in Tamagawa Hot Spring in Akita Prefecture on the autonomic nervous system in healthy adults by Wenger's method (for examining the function of the autonomic nervous system) and obtained the following results:
1) Out of 58 healthy adults, we obtained results relatively similar to those reported by Wenger of healthy adults, taking into consideration the effect of the climate of mountainous regions of moderate altitude.
2) An analysis of the acting agencies shows that it is impossible to say definitely whether it tends to go in the direction of parasympathetic nervous system predominance or of sympathetic nervous system predominance through the hot spring bathing, both single and successive.
3) It seems that the hot spring bathing does not cause uniform changes in the function of the ant onomic nervous system of each: individual, it causes changes peculiar to each individual.

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Carrying out experiments with rabbits by means of Adler-Reimann's Kongo-red method, the authors studied the effects of successive injection of four different hot-spring waters on the function of reticuloendotheliar system and reached the following conclusion:
1) Generally the function of the reticuloendotheliar system, is stimulated be the successive injections of hot spring waters, but gradually approaches the initial value after the cessation of the injection.
2) The stimulation of the function of the reticuloendotheliar system is pronouncedly observed in the injection of hot spring waters from the simple carbondioxated spring and from “Unagi-yu” (alkaline sulphur spring). The injection of the hot spring waters from the simple carbondioxated spring, in particular, is capable of stimulating the function for the longest period of time after the cessation of the injection. The stimulation of the function induced by the injection of the hot spring waters from the sulphate spring is a little remarkable in the early stage of the stimulation, soon taking an irregular course of stimulation. The stimulation caused by the injection of the hot spring waters from “Genzo-yu” is in the early stage generally irregular, but it is in the latter stage, slighllyobserved.
3) The stimulation of the function of the reticuloendotheliar system through the successive injections of the hot spring waters is considered to be due to the non-specific stimulation of the hot spring rather than to the action of chemical components of the hot spring water. It also suggests an interpretation of the mechanism ofrecovery the from a disease by the injection of the hot spring waters.

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A general survey was made of balneal curative treatment at Semi Spa in Yamagata Prefecture and the following results were obtained:
1) Spa visitors are mostly men and women more than fifty years old. They are mostly from Yamagata Prefecture and southern parts of Akita Prefecture.
2) 64% of the Spa visitors are those who are engaged in agriculture.
3) 38.9% of the visitors have come for balneal therapy, those with neuralgia being largest in number, followed by those with disorder of the digestive organs, those with gynecological diseases, those with rheumatism, those with high blood pressure and those with asthma.
4) At Semi Spa one round of curative treatment requires five days, and most of the Spa visitors remain there for two to three rounds of curative treatment, that is, they stay there for ten to fifteen days.
5) 74.5% of the visitors bathe in the hot spring four to six times a day and 13.6% bathe more seven times a day.
6) 23, 9% of them drink hot spring,
7) Only 5.0% heve come to the Spa under doctor's directions, showing how unconcerned physicians in general are about balneal therapy.
8) 18.1% of them have been conscious of the bathing reaction, symptoms of which are headache, being largest in number, constipation and languor in the body and others.

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Through the quantitative analysis of urobilinogen in urine, using 2 hour-urine-from 2 p. m. to 4 p. m. -in order to examine the hepatic function of those patients who are suffering from dermatitis by acid water owing to the serial bathing at a temperature between 40°C to 45°C once a day, and those who are taking baths by the hour (so often in the high temperatured spring water) I have found the following facts;
An unusual increase in quantity of urobilinogen tends to occur in those who have bathed once a day at the normal temperature for more than five months and less than ten months.
Further few more opinions are discussed.

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Examinations were performed on Kusatsu Middle School boys for quantitative change of urobilinogen in urine excreted in 2 hours (from 2p. m. to 4p. m.)
And it is concluded that those who usually take bath in the Spa of Kusatsu excrete more urobilinogen than those who do not.

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In comparison with antibacterial activity against coli bacilli of the serum of the rabbits bathed in Tamagawa Hot Spring and those bathed in fresh water, it is noticed that antibacterial activity of rabbits bathed in Tamagawa Hot Spring was far more intensified.
It is concluded that the denaturalized tissue substance of dermatitis activates the location of antibody production as the stimulus to promote the antibacterial activity.

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Membrane potential difference of the human skin was measured in 100 cases of “to the thermal bath accustomed” subjects and 5 cases of control, “to the thermal bath not accustomed” healthy subjects.
Three Spas were chosen for the experiment:
Nozawa: Simple sulfur springs
Shibu-Kakuma: Calcium sulfate containing sodium chloride springs
Asama: Simple thermals
The investigation revealed an electrically negative membrane potential of the human skin against the thermal waters. The membrane potential of the control subjects…“to the thermal bath not accustomed”…proved 5-36 mv lower than the membrane potential of the “to the thermal bath accustomed”, namely inhabitants of the spas.
The membrane potential of the healthy controls…“to the thermal bath not accustomed”…approached to that of the “to the thermal bath accustomed” after taking thermal baths daily two times for from ten days to two weeks.
The membrane potential of the visitng patients was in the first stage of till ten days similar to that of the healthy controls.
But after about twenty baths it changed gradually and took a tendency to approach to that of the spa inhabitants.
The negative membrane potential difference of the human skin was transiently increased by a thermal bath both in the “to the thermal bath accustomed” and in the “to the thermal bath not accustomed.” But it resulted stronger in the control group than in the spa inhabitants.
The increased membrane potential difference recovered its pre-bathing value in about one hour.
Raising of water temperature increased the membrane potential difference, namely the higher the temperature rises (→45°C) the greater becomes the potential difference.
The membrane potential of the thermal waters against the physiological saline proved to be 3-28mV. Their pH ranged from 5.8 to 9.5. And their reductionoxidation potential ranged from -80 to +298mV.
Oshima and his co-workers could show with radioactive isotopes that the percutaneous resorption of the ions in bath water decreased by the repetition of daily baths in one to two weehs. Biological reactions to the thermal baths (phagocytosis index, leucocyte count, red cell count, blood sugar level, blood catalase activity, index of wound healing etc.) proved also to become decreased in 2-4 weeks of thermal bathing. And it is known in Japan that the spa treatment is less effective in the spa inhabitants…“to the thermal bath accustomed”…than in the transient spa visitors…patients. All these observations show that an organism does adapt to the thermal or chemical stimuli of the thermal waters in a few weeks gradually. The objective change in one of the physical properties of the human skin by the repetition of daily thermal baths gave a clue to the explanation of the mechanism of the adaptation.

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