1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Contrexéville

CONTREXÉVILLE, a watering-place of north-eastern France, in the department of Vosges, on the Vair, 39 m. W. of Épinal by rail. Pop. (1906) 940. The mineral springs of Contrexéville have been in local repute since a remote period, but became generally known only towards the end of the 18th century; and the modern reputation of the place as a health resort dates from 1864, when it began to be developed by a company, the Société des Eaux de Contrexéville, and more particularly from about 1895. In the ten years after this latter date many improvements were made for the accommodation of visitors, for whom the season is from May to September. The waters of the Source Pavilion, which are used chiefly for drinking, have a temperature of 53° F. and are characterized chiefly by the presence of calcium sulphate. They are particularly efficacious in the treatment of gravel and kindred disorders, by the elimination of uric acid.

See Thirty-five years at Contrexéville (1903), by Dr Debout d’Estrées.