I'll cop to using "fuzzy" (or is that "sweaty" ?) terminology.
> Cheap north american imitation mostly don't get hot enough for
> maximum effect, so people use a lot of steam to get the same effect,
> but a proper sauna is not at all steamy. It is also so hot that the
> uninitiated had best breath carefully, move slowly, and not sit
> directly on the wood. You might dash a little water on the rocks for
> a surge of apparent heat, but I seem to recall my grandfather doing
> so almost never.
The "cheap North American imitation" of the various indiginous peoples (which of course are not imitations, but parallel evolution) often does include steam as a major component, though there are all sorts of variations. As you note in the snipped portion, there are plenty of Heat/Steam baths out there in the big wide world. In present-day America they are usually classed as "Saunas". "Turkish bath" used to be a popular term in England, I don't know if it still is...
Roderick
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