Sauna is the Finnish word for a wood-lined and insulated room, heated by a special stove containing stones, and erected specifically to create the right environment for a certain kind of dry bath. lts fundamental purpose is to induce perspiration and thus to cleanse the skin and. body. The authors have now applied scientific data to the mystique and culture of the often misunderstood Sauna which has been used by the Finns for some two thousand years.