Staraya Russa

STARAYA RUSSA, a balneological and mud resort, located at 57°59' N, 31°21'9" E from Greenwich, almost on the same longitude as Leningrad, 17 km south of Lake Ilmen on the Polist River, a tributary of the Lovat, in the Northwestern region; elevation above sea level 24.7 m; on the Pskov-Bologoye railway line; 503 km from Moscow, 265 km from Leningrad. There is steamboat communication on the Volkhov from Novgorod. Staraya Russa is situated at the southeastern edge of the Baltic Lowland. The plain is covered with forest, significantly cut down near the city; due to the presence of surface clay deposits of glacial origin, it is partly swampy, while on sandy areas it is covered with pine groves. Under the surface glacial deposits, sometimes several meters thick, lie horizontal layers of sandstones and limestones of the Devonian period with several layers impregnated with table salt. Natural salt springs gave rise to a salt industry, apparently as early as the last millennium. The climate is moderately humid; meteorological elements are tabulated (see article 685-686). Winds are predominantly south-western; only in summer, together with them, north-eastern winds occur, lowering the temperature and making summer less scorching. There are 7 springs, grouped in two places: at the salt works 2 (Tsaritsyn and Ekaterininsky, used by the resort only for obtaining brines) and at the resort 5; of these: 1) The Old, or Lake, of very ancient origin, flows out among the upper lake; 2) Muravievsky has existed since 1854-59, depth 118 m, up to a depth of 70 m it is cased with copper pipes, erupts with a turbulent jet 8.53 m high and 3.5" in diameter; above the fountain a glass dome with an iron frame has been built; Meteorological elements January February March April May June July August September October November December Average t° Relative humidity Amount of precipitation Number of days with precipitation Cloudiness on a 10-point system Number of clear days Number of cloudy days Percentage of calms Wind speed in m/sec -7.4 -5.7 85 22.4 83 22.3 7.2 8 7.7 3 17 11.1 18 9.3 3.4 3.7 - 1.8 83 31.2 6.4 6 11.1 72 30.9 6.5 4 13 3.3 2.7 13.2 67 59.8 5.7 6 13 5.5 2.3 16.9 83.5 5.4 3 7 4.4 18.9 69 74.2 14 4.1 6 9.7 15.1 11.1 4.0 -0.9 -6.1 76 63.2 76 42.3 78 45.3 83 61.0 84 33.6 6.0 4 5.7 4 8.5 1 8.2 1 12.1 7 7.7 15 6.6 21 2.2 7.5 2.1 2.6 3.4 3.2 2.7 77.5 562.7 16) 7.3 2.9 3) Director's since 1819-31, cased with copper pipes at a depth of 66 m; 4) in 1913 a bore was made to a depth of 84.27 m, however, it draws water from a horizon of 68.59 m, specifically with the aim of obtaining mineral drinking water and named the New Source; it flows out in the form of a thin jet among a small pavilion in the classical style. - Data on these 4 sources according to the Kurlow-Karsten formula are as follows: Old, or Lake: m_{a 4}M, Sp. Br_0>011 Muravievsky: Sp. Br _ Director's: Sp. Br_0>(|₈₁M New Source; CI00SO7 Na,oCa_I9Mg<i T, Cl,₀SO Na₆8Ca_alMg CUiSOf - T, Na^Ca^Mgi T_u 111,58 ^jCIsqSOio Na_6i " Tio,5oD_5#5_a6- gCa^Mgig The main wealth of the resort is 3 lakes, the bottom of which is covered with mud; the total reserve is 29,620 m³, including the exploitable fund of 5,000 m³, but the working part of the remaining reserve fund is no more than 2,000 m³. The lower lake is a mud generator, the first in the USSR in terms of time and rationalization of the mud economy, built on strictly scientific foundations as a result of a thorough study of the Old Russian lakes, which began together with the restoration of the national economy of the USSR. Mud supply is mechanized, although not entirely; the mud, after sieving, has the appearance of a fatty, pleasant to the touch black mass; in well-settled mud up to 60% water; dry mud contains up to 10.4% volatile and organic substances, up to 55.77% silica, the rest are mineral substances soluble in HCl, and in some cases even in water, among them 4.81% ferrous oxide. The formation of new mud occurs at the expense of both the vital activity of algae (diatoms) and iron bacteria, as well as physicochemical conditions and is quite rapid. There is a mud clinic named Semashko and three more bath buildings, although in all four both mud baths and mineral and salt-pine baths are dispensed (total 152 with a capacity of 1,500 people per day). Hydroclinic, inhalation, X-ray, electrotherapy, and massage rooms, outpatient clinic for ambulatory patients; baths on the middle lake; there is a laboratory for medical analyses; the pharmacy is located in the city. A sanatorium within the resort has 185 beds in summer and 130 in winter, and 5 wooden buildings outside the resort, for a total of 240 beds, and altogether 425 beds. The water in the rivers within the city is not suitable for drinking due to its salinity; therefore, there is a water supply from artesian wells in the village of Dubovitsy 4.2 km to the northwest of the resort; pumps pump 1,500 liters per hour. Mining-sanitary protection was established in 1923, its district is divided into 3 zones, the long diameters of which: for the first within the city - 1.5 km, the second - 20 km, and the third - 210 km. In treatment, the factors of the resort are used first of all: 1) whole and girdle mud baths -- 40-42°, 15--20 min.; 2) sitting mud baths -- 45--50°, 15-20 min.; 3) diluted mud baths -- 36-38°, 15-20 min.; 4) mud wrappings, mud bags, and mud in an apparatus -- 47-50°, 15-20 min.; 5) mud tampons -- 40°; 6) mineral salt-pine baths -- 35-36°, 15--20 min.; 7) douching with mineral water 41-43°; 8) showers from mineral water; 9) drinking mineral water from the New Source; 10) irrigation of the intestine with mineral water in the form of enemas; 11) bathing in the lake. Subsidiary methods of treatment are also applied on a large scale: helio-, electrotherapy, etc. Special gonorrheal and syphilitic treatment is also practiced. The course of treatment is 10-15 and even 20 mud baths, 10-15 mineral or salt-pine baths. There is a special diet doctor. Indications. Absolute: 1) chronic arthritis, except tuberculous (treatment period 40 days), 2) infiltrates and exudates after traumatic injuries (35 days), 3) disorders of muscles of rheumatic, infectious, and toxic character (35-40 days), 4) female diseases of inflammatory character (40 days), 5) neuralgias, polyneuritis, and paralysis of peripheral character, of rheumatic and traumatic origin (35-40 days), 6) remnants of traumatic injuries of the spinal cord (35 days), 7) gastrointestinal diseases (catarrhs, colitis, atony, chronic catarrhs of the bile ducts, jaundice, adhesions of the abdominal cavity after operations and acute diseases) (35 days), 8) diseases of metabolism - gout (35 days). Relative: 1) osteomyelitis (28 days) 2) lesions of joints of gonorrheal character (28-35 days), 3) lesions of periosteum, bones, and joints of syphilitic and tuberculous origin (1 month), 4) diseases of nutrition and metabolism (obesity, scurvy, diabetes, rickets, chlorosis) (35 days), 5) neuralgias, neuritis, and paralysis (35 days), 6) myelitis, spinal sclerosis (1 month), 7) neurasthenia, hysteria (1 month), 8) gallstones and chronic inflammation of the kidneys (1 month), 9) phlebitis, thrombophlebitis (35 days), 10) diseases of the eyes of rheumatic and syphilitic origin, diseases of the skin (dry eczema, psoriasis, ichthyosis) (1 month). Contraindications: acute febrile diseases, mental diseases, epilepsy, malignant tumors, senile debility, sharp arteriosclerosis, tendency to apoplexy, fresh hemorrhages into the substance of the brain, heart defect and myocarditis, angina pectoris. The resort operates all year round. For the entertainment of patients there is a beautiful park, a reading room, a library, a theater and daily (in summer) an orchestra, games. Excursions: the city with its antiquities, the museum of the local region, with Dostoevsky's rooms, the territory of the former salt works (varnitsa, cooling tower), Sormovo grove, the village of Kosino 3 km away, the Savior grove 8 km away, boat trips, a trip by steamboat to Novgorod.