LEUK, or Loèchela Ville, a village of Switzerland, at the head of a district in the canton of Valais, 15 miles by rail east of Sion, on the right bank of the Rhone. The population has increased from 1220 in 1870 to 1411 in 1880. About 5 miles to the north, in the valley of the Dala, at a height of 4642 feet above the sea, and overshadowed by the immense cliffs of the Gemmi, lie the Baths of Leuk, Leukenbad, or Loèche-les-Bains, a place of only 650 permanent inhabitants, but largely frequented during its brief summer season by French, Swiss, and Italian visitors, attracted by the hot mineral springs. These springs are twenty-two in number, and vary considerably in chemical composition and temperature. The hottest and strongest is the Lorenz spring, the water of which, registering 124° Fahr., has to be allowed to cool over night before it is used. The patients remain for hours up to their necks in the bath, talking, reading, and otherwise amusing themselves in the most sociable style. Most of the hotels are open only from June to September. The little village has several times been destroyed by avalanches (1518, 1719, 1758), and a strong embankment has been erected on the eastern side to protect it from similar catastrophes.