USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. II > Part 13
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94
MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.
As would be expected, from the above data, the climate of Georgia is a varied one. Inasmuch as there is a fall of one degree in temperature for each 300 feet of elevation, this would give a variation of sixteen degrees in the state, and the difference of four and one-half degrees of latitude causes a variation of nine degrees. From the two causes-elevation and latitude-there arises a variation of twenty-five degrees. The records of the agricultural dpartment show the annual mean for the state to be 65.1 degrees, the summer mean about 79.7 degrees, and the winter mean, about 50.1 degrees. In northern Georgia the summer mean about 75.3 degrees, the winter mean 42.8 degrees. In middle Georgia the annual mean is 63.5, summer 79.2, winter 47.2. In south Georgia the annual mean is 67.7, summer 81.3, winter 53.6 degrees.
TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL, 1878 TO 1883. Compiled by the Agricultural Department of Georgia. TEMPERATURE.
State
Georgia.
Georgia.
Georgia.
Georgia.
Georgia.
Average Annual.
65.1
59.2
63.5
68.1
66.1
68.9
Spring
63.8
58.8
63.0
68.0
65.7
68.3
Summer
79.7
75.3
79.2
81.1
81.4
81.4
Autumn.
66.0
59.9
64.1
69.3
66.1
70.3
Winter.
50.1
42.8
47.2
54.0
51.3
55.6
Summer average above winter.
29.6
32.5
32.0
27.I
30.1
25.8
RAINFALL.
Average Annual.
49.3
60.2
49.7
47 3
41.4
47.8
Spring .
12.4
15.5
13.7
12.5
10.3
100
Summer.
13.4
13.6
12.6
14.5
12.3
14.2
Autumn ..
II.O
12.7
9.0
9.7
9.6
14.I
Winter.
12.4
18.4
14.5
10.6
9.2
9.5
Average elevation above sea feet
1,600
1,700
750
400
125
100
The
North
Middle
N. W.
East
S. E.
This table of the agricultural department shows that the average summer temperature of Georgia is only 15 degrees above the average annual temperature, and our average winter temperature is but 15 degrees below the annual. It further shows that the average of spring is below that of our annual temperature. Our average fall temperature is a little above the annual. This table also shows that the average annual temperature of southeast Georgia was 9.7 degrees above that of North Georgia, the difference in the summer temperature of the two sections 6.1 degrees, and the difference in the winter temperature 12.8 degrees. Commissioner Henderson also tells us that comparing single localities, the highest annual average is at Blacksliear-70.3 degrees-the lowest at Rabun Gap -56.3-a difference of 14 degrees. Blackshear is in latitude 31 degrees 15 minutes and 127 feet above the sea level. Rabun Gap is in latitude 34 degrees 55 minutes and 2,168 feet above the sea level. Thompson (McDuffie county), 531 feet above sea level, shows an average annual temperature within half a degree of the average annual of the state. Macon I degree above, and Augusta I.I degree below the average of the state.
TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL IN CITIES.
The summer temperature of Athens is 79.7 degrees, identical with the state average, 79.7; Thompson, 2 degrees below the state average, and Augusta, I
95
MEDICAL HISTORY.
degree above the average summer temperature of the state. Comparing the average winter temperature of Swainsboro, Emanuel Co., Thompson, Macon and Augusta, with that of the entire state of Georgia, it was found that Swainsboro was 3 degrees above, Macon 2 above, Thompson I degree below, and Augusta 1.2 degrees below the average temperature of the state.
The following tables from the agricultural department, 1885, show the differ- ence in temperature and rainfall in various sections of the state:
Mean Temperature.
Total Rainfall.
Seasons.
Stations.
Spring.
Summer.
Autumn.
Winter.
Annual.
Spring.
Summer.
Inches.
Autumn.
Inches.
Winter.
Inches.
Inches.
North Georgia.
Ellerslie .
56.7
73.11
57.2
39.1
56.5 17.28 13.88 13.33 19.74 64.23 May '71 to May '83
Gainsville ..
61.2
76.7
61.5
45.4
61.2
13.39 13.64
9.87 18.07 54.97
April '84 to July '84
Leo (White Co.).
59.2|
76.7
60.6
43.8
60.1 15.55 |14.77
Rabun Gap.
55.I
71.7
57.5
41.0
56.3
15.44 18.01 20.24 71.71
Jan. '78 to July '84
Rome ...
61.9
78.0
62.9
44.8
61.9 13.10 10.18
9.27
14.68
47.23
April '78 to July '84
Average
58.8
75.3
59.9
42.8
59.2 15.47 13 57
12 74 18.44 60.22
Middle Georgia.
Athens.
62.6
79.7
63.8
45.9
63.0 14.52
12.94
9.60 18.21 55.27 April '78 to July '84
Atlanta ..
61.4
77.5
61.7
45.2
61.4 13.16 10.80
9.26 15.74 48.99 Feb'y '76 to July '84 9.81 15.86 53.30 April '78 to July '84
La Grange.
63.6
80.2
64.7
47.9
64.1 13.50 12.76
7.88 14.79 48.93
April '78 to July '84
Macon.
65.8
80.7
66.8
51.3
66.1|13.12 12.72
7.18 II.74 44.76 April '78 to June '82
Oxford.
62.4
78.5
63.6
46.1
62.6 14.33 14.02
9.38 13.71 51.44 April '78 to July '84
Thomson
64.3
79.5
65.9
49.I
64.7
12.28 12.16
9.74
II.36 45.54 April ', 8 to July '84
Average.
63.0
79.2
64.1
47.2
63.5 13.71
12.56
8.98
14.49 49-74
Southwest Georgia.
Americus
68.3
81.3
69.5
53.9
68.2 13.04 15.96
8.53
9.58 47.II
April '78 to July '84
Cuthbert.
67.3
81.7
69.6
53.9
68.1
13.15 12.87
10.44 12.07 48.53
Mar. '79 to Oct. '83
Nashville
68.4
80.3
68.8
54.I
67.9
11. 36
14.61
10.17
10.09 46.23 April '78 to June '84
Average
68.0
81.I
69.3
54.0
68.1 12.52 14.49
9.72 10.58 47.30
East Georgia.
Augusta.
62.9
79.8
64.6
48.9
64.0 11.60 11.73
9.80
9.92 43.05
April '78 to July '81 April '78 to Sept. '81
Swainsboro.
67.3
82.8
67.5
50.4
67.0
9 00 11.46
9.36
9.53 39.35
May '78 to Feb'y '81
Average
65.7
81.4
66.1
51.3
66.1 10.27 12.32'
9.58
9.18 41.35
Southeast Georgia.
Blackshear ...
68.8
82.2
73.I
57.2
70.3
[11.65
11.07
Brunswick
68.4
81.5
69.6
55.5
68.7
16.57
13.28
Walthoursville. .
67.7
80.4
68.1
54.I
67.6
8.52
15.07 12.82
April '78 to July '84
Average
68.3
81.4
70.31
55.6
68.9
10.02
14.24
14.II
9.46 47.83
Average for State .. .
64.8
79.7
66.0
50.I
65. 1 12.38 13.44|11.02 12.43 49.28|
WINTER TEMPERATURE AT NOTED HEALTH RESORTS.
To illustrate one important factor in the climate of Georgia, i. e., temperature, I cite the following comparisons of winter temperature at renowned health resorts, foreign and American, giving the mean temperature of the following localities for the months of November, December, January, February and March, for a period of three to four years. This chart is to be found in a book entitled Cli- matology of Florida, by C. J. Kenworthy, M. D., Jacksonville, Fla .:
Ogeechee
66.9
81.5
66.1
54.7
67.3 10.20 13.76
9.58
8.08
41.62
Carrollton
61.9
78.2
62.6
45-3
62.0 15.09 12.54
13.26,19.42 63.00 April '78 to July '84
Annual.
Series From and To.
Inches.
16.21 12.15 51.08 |April '78 to Dec. '81 8.14 47.88 April '78 to July '84 8.10 44.51
96
MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.
Mean for
188I.
Year. Nov.
Dec.
Jan
Feb.
Mar.
5 mo.
Cannes, Mediterranean .. .
3 54.6
48.8
48.5
49.4
58.8
50.8
Nice, Mediterranean ......
3
53.8
48.5
47.0
48.4
51.8
49.9
Mentone, Mediterranean. .
3
55.2
50.5
48.8
50.4
53.4
51.6
Nervi, Mediterranean.
3
55.2
47.8
46.2
47.8
49.0
49.2
Nassau, N. P ..
I
75.7
72.3
72.2
71.9
74.4
73.3
Atlantic City, N. J ..
4
45.3
35.3
32.2
33.2
37.I
36.5
Augusta, Northern Ga.
4
54.9
47.6
48.I
49.6
57.0
51.4
Breckenridge, Minn
5
17.3
13.4
6.8
I3.I
18.9
13.9
Duluth, Minn.
4
28.3
21.6
12.4
19.2
25.7
21.5
St. Paul, Minn
5
28.3
20.0
13.0
19.4
27.6
21.7
Key West, Fla.
5
74.5
70.5
70.5
71.7
73.9
72.2
Punta Rassa, Fla
5
69.7
64.8
65.5
65.9
69.8
67.0
Jacksonville, Fla.
4
62.I
55.8
56.2
65.9
62.7
58.7
Aiken, S. C. .
5
54.7
46.7
46.4
47.5
56.4
50.3
Los Angeles, Cal
I
62.I
55.3
54.I
54.6
55.8
56.3
ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY.
The following table is from Dr. Kenworthy's pamphlet on the climatology of Florida, prepared by him to show the climatic advantages of that state. I insert ¿t here because of the favorable showing which it makes for Georgia:
Mean for
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
5 mo.
Cannes and Mentone.
71.8
74.2
72.0
70.7
73.3
72.4
Augusta, Ga.
71.8
72.6
73.0
64.7
62.8
68.9
Breckenridge, Minn
76.9
83.2
76.8
81.8
79.5
79.6
Duluth, Minn.
74.0
72.I
72.7
73.3
71.0
72.6
St. Paul, Minn.
70.3
73.5
75.2
70.7
67.I
71.4
Jacksonville, Fla
71.9
69.3
70.2
68.5
63.9
68.8
Key West, Fla.
77.I
78.7
78.9
77.2
72.2
76.8
Punta Rassa, Fla
72.7
73.2
74.2
73.7
69.9
72.7
It will be observed that Augusta is the point in Georgia selected for this com- parison. The mean relative humidity of Thomasville, Ga., during the period of the year included in the above table was only 63.11. An examination of Dr. Kenworthy's tabular statement shows that Augusta, during the winter and spring seasons, has a mean relative humidity for the season less than any health resort in the table except Jacksonville, Fla., which has one-tenth of a degree less than Augusta. Augusta's mean relative humidity is 2.5 degrees less than Cannes and Mentone, 10.7 less than Breckenridge, Minn., 3.7 less than Duluth, Minn., 2.5 less than St. Paul, Minn., 7.9 less than Key West, Fla., and 2.8 degrees less than Punta Rassa, Fla. Now compare with these the humidity of Thomasville, which is dryer than Augusta, and we find as follows: For the same period of the year the mean relative humidity of Thomasville was 8.4 degrees less than Cannes and Mentone, 15.6 less than Breckenridge, 8.6 less than Duluth, 7.4 less than St. Paul, 4.8 less than Jacksonville, 12.8 less than Key West, and 8.7 degrees less than Punta Rassa.
The mean relative humidity of Atlanta for the five months has been, for thir- teen years, 1871 to 1883 inclusive, 65.5. Therefore Atlanta's humidity was 6.9 degrees less than Cannes and Mentone, 14.I less than Breckenridge, 7.I less than Duluth, 5.9 less than St. Paul, 3.3 less than Jacksonville, 11.3 less than Key West, and 7.2 degrees less than Punta Rassa. Reports show that the mean relative
97
MEDICAL HISTORY.
humidity of Savannah was 70 degrees, for a period of thirteen years, 1871 to 1883 inclusive, for the five months, November, December, January, February and March. So that Savannah has a less mean relative humidity for the period under consideration than any of the noted health resorts quoted by Dr. Kenworthy out- side of Georgia except Jacksonville, Fla., which is 1.4 degrees less than Savannah. I have attempted to obtain data as to temperature and relative humidity of Macon, Columbus, Rome, Gainesville, Marietta and other cities and towns in Georgia, but there are no signal service officers in this state except those in Augusta, Atlanta and Savannah.
ADVANTAGES IN PULMONARY DISEASES.
The data presented in this chapter conclusively demonstrate that with the exception of the mountainous regions of Georgia the prominent and characteristic features of our climate are dryness, mildness and uniformity. We are not subject to a prolonged low temperature and great and sudden atmospheric changes so charactertistic of the winter climate of the northern and western states, where not infrequently the thermometer reaches from 10 to 40 degrees below zero. Occa- sionally a "cold snap" reaches us, but it lasts only a few days, and even at our coldest period it is far less than in the north. Zero is very rarely reached in Georgia. Snow is extremely rare in Georgia, and except in the mountainous regions it ceases to fall in a few hours, and rapidly melts before the warm sun- shine. Climate has been properly designated, "one of the chief resources of restor- ative medicine." Sunshine as a therapeutic agent is not duly appreciated. In the winter season particularly sunshine is of great service to the pulmonary invalid, and those predisposed to various other constitutional maladies. In the extremely variable and extremely cold climate of the north and northwest, individuals affected with pulmonary diseases, or predisposed to these affections, are compelled to run the risk of exposing themselves to great and sudden atmospheric changes, or remain indoors, and thus subject themselves to the deadly influence of vitiated atmosphere and want of exercise, while in a dry, mild, equable climate, like ours, they could live in fresh air and sunshine, take daily moderate exercise by riding, driving, strolling, hunting, fishing, etc. While some few climatologists believe otherwise the overwhelming majority of the ablest clinicians and climatologists contend that a temperate, dry, sunny climate is essential to the best treatment of pulmonary affections, and statistics show that this class of diseases is vastly more rare in such climate than in a cold, damp, variable one.
Dr. J. H. Bennett in his Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption, says: "Accord- ing to the Register General's Reports of the British Isles, and the mortality regis- ter all over the world, the healthiest winters are those that have the highest tem- peratures. The years of greatest mortality are those in which extremes of cold in1 the winter are reached. In temperate climates the deadliest seasons are those of greatest cold. Extreme heat and extreme cold not only interfere with the equili- brium of functional activity, throwing a strain on some of the vital functions of animal life to their serious risk and danger, but necessitates modes of existence detrimental to the healthy performance of these functions. Thus in very cold climates such as St. Moritz, in the Engandine, and St. Paul in Minnesota, United States, which have been recommended of late for phthisis in winter as well as sum- mer, invalids have to live in winter for by far the greater part of the twenty-four hours in bady-ventilated rooms. When they go out they have to undergo the transition to a temperature 30 or 40, or even more, degrees less than that in which they live during the greater part of the twenty-four hours. Such confine-
II-7
98
MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.
ment, such transitions, even much less marked ones, constantly give rise in all northern countries in winter, to inflammatory affections of the mucous mem- branes of the air passages, to pneumonia and pleurisy, and that in the healthiest members of the community. If it be so with the healthy, how can we expect those to resist such influences who are already diseased, who have morbid deposits, inflammatory, catarrhal, scrofulous, tubercular in their lungs, softened or not? How can those who have already local pneumonias, local pleurisies, expect to withstand their pernicious influences? Moreover, they do not live in the pure air they ascend to reach, but in an atmosphere vitiated by stove heating, by their own respiration, and by that of their companions."
CLIMATOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PULMONARY DISEASES.
No fact is better established in medicine than that pulmonary diseases are vastly more prevalent in cold, changeable climates than in temperate, equable ones. This fact is proven by every book of mortuary statistics in America. Blod- gett, in his magnificent work on Climatology of the United States, gives the follow- ing table, showing the climatological distribution of pulmonary diseases in America:
East-
Maine
1,702
22.44
2,074
27.35
New Hampshire.
924
21.84
1,092
25.81
Vermont
75I
24.09
884
28.24
Massachusetts
3,426
27.65
4,418
22.77
Connecticut
968
16.76
1,290
22.3I
Rhode Island
470
10.92
572
25.52
West-
Michigan
657
14.55
1,084
24.00
Wisconsin
290
9.99
535
18.43
Ohio
2,558
8.83
3,988
13.77
Indiana
1,070
8.42
1,824
14.35
Illinois
866
7.36
1,799
15.30
Kentucky
879
7.40
1,493
12.57
Iowa
159
7.78
376
8.39
Missouri
654
5.27
1,344
10.93
North-
New York.
7,890
17.04
10,846
23.42
New Jersey.
915
14.15
1,176
18.19
Pennsylvania
3,520
12.33
4,82I
16.88
Delaware
I18
9.76
185
15.30
entire mortality.
Death by
consumption
or phthisis.
Per cent. of
entire mortality.
Death by all
diseases of
respiratory
organs.
Per cent. of
99
MEDICAL HISTORY.
Death by
consumption
or phthisis.
Per cent. of
entire mortality.
Death by all
diseases of
respiratory organs.
Per cent. of
South-
Maryland
I,IOI
II.44
1,679
17.34
Washington, D. C.
5IO
12.42
902
12.97
Virginia
1,616
8.48
3,540
18.56
North Carolina.
562
5-53
1,688
16.60
South Carolina
269
3.34
1,334
16.69
Georgia
279
2.80
1,334
13.44
Florida
43
4.61
108
II.60
Alabama
362
3.98
1,163
10.79
Mississippi
332
3.81
1,067
12.23
Louisiana
641
5.54
1,169
10.03
Texas
II2
3.66
377
12.33
entire mortality.
An examination of this table shows the ratio of deaths from consumption to total mortality was less in Georgia than in any state in the Union. This table also shows that there is a progressive decrease in pulmonary consumption from Maine to Georgia.
Dr. Huntington Richards, the writer on climatology in the Reference Hand Book of the Medical Sciences, Vol. I, page 443, says: "The following figures deducted by calculation from the statistics of the United States census for 1880, and showing the deaths attributed to consumption which occurred in every 10,000 of population, during the census year, are herewith presented to the reader: Maine, 28.18; Vermont, 24.46; Massachusetts, 29.20; Rhode Island, 24.98; New York, 25.29; New Hampshire, 24.95; New Jersey, 23.25; Connecticut, 22.67; Pennsylvania, 18.85; Georgia, II.14.
GEORGIA'S MILD CLIMATE.
Dr. T. S. Hopkins, a distinguished physician of Thomasville, Ga., says: "Hav- ing for many years in my travels through this section of the country noticed the almost entire absence of consumption among the people, I addressed letters to. a large number of physicians practicing in the district, asking them to report to me the number of cases of consumption coming to their knowledge during the previous years. I received replies from twenty engaged in active practice, and representing a population of 50,887. The total number of cases reported was three. I have no reason to doubt the honesty of this report. In the midst of this immense pine forest is situated the town of Thomasville, Thomas Co., Ga., two hundred miles from the Atlantic, and sixty miles from the gulf of Mexico. Thus situated, its immunity from the baneful influence of the sea winds is secured. They can reach us only after having traveled over hundreds of miles of pine forest, by which they have been sifted of all saline vapor and moisture, and are conse- quently innocuous. The town has an altitude of 365 feet above the sea. Its natural drainage is almost perfect, and art has supplied any deficiency. The soil is sandy, and the water pure freestone. There is no body of water within eighteen miles, and the nearest river is about four miles distant."
100
MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.
-
Dr. Alfred Loomis, of New York, one of the most renowned medical practi- tioners and climatologists in the world, on pages 234-5 Loomis' Practical Med- icine says: "My favorite resorts in the winter, for those recovering from acute pulmonary diseases, are: Aiken, S. C., Palatka, Enterprise and Gainsville, Fla., Thomasville, Ga., and Nassau. Southern California, South Carolina and Georgia have a dry, warm atmosphere."
Dr. H. A. Johnson, of Chicago, said before the International Medical congress, 1876: "I had about fifty patients last winter in Florida and Georgia, and they camc back better; even those in whose lungs cavities existed were better than they would have been had they staid in Illinois."
Copeland's Medical Dictionary, 1855, says: "For some years past we have been in the habit of sending such pulmonary cases, as we supposed would be benefited by a northern climate, into the interior of Florida and Georgia, in the pine region, where the dry air, and the mild, uniform temperature in connection with the aroma of the pine, seemed to exert a highly favorable influence. In our judgment the climate of no part of the West Indies can compare, in point of salubrity in such cases, with the above mentioned."
Dr. L. A. Dugas, of Augusta, Ga., one of the highest authorities in American medicine, writing on this subject in 1865 said: "It seems to me that the best test of the influence of climate upon the development of tuberculosis must be found in the relative frequency of such cases among the natives of this and other sections who remain at home. Judged by this standard, it will be readily ascertained that, while phthisis pulmonalis is very common in northern states among the natives, it is quite rare among our own people. I know of but very few native families in Augusta who have ever suffered from consumption, and thesc have lost only one or two members by it. I doubt that there are exceeding ten families who have been thus partially affected within my recollection. Again, if we confine our observation alone to those who have emigrated from the north of the United States and from Europe, it will be found that, although many bear with them the hereditary taint, comparatively few will experience its fatal development. The conclusion is, therefore, irresistibly forced upon us that this climate does exert a most beneficial influence over this class of affections."
. Dr. W. H. White, formerly surgeon of the First Iowa volunteers, and for years after the war a resident of Atlanta, said of the climate of north Georgia: "The atmosphere is invigorating, and not subject to marked, unexpected changes, as will be scen by the meteorological table, taken from the official records of the military post at Atlanta. It will be observed that our coldest day in 1873 was fiftecn above zero, in 1874, twelve above, and in 1875, four, making our mean winter wcather about forty-five above zero; the mean heat of summer about scventy-five above, which is an average of from ten to fourteen degrees less than that of the middle and western states; while our atmospheric changes at all sea- sons are more gradual and less extreme. Having passed my early life in New York, practicing my profession in the northwest for fourteen years, and being stationed in and having passed over most of the south during the war, I have had opportunities of experiencing and observing the climatic effects of the several portions of the United States rarely enjoyed. My conclusion is that the climate of north Georgia, taking all seasons together, is the finest in America; and this is the opinion of all intelligent travelcrs I have ever met. I have found that pleurisy, pneumonia, catarrh, and all affections of the respiratory organs are rare here, as compared with those generally met with in the north and west; so with epidemic and typhoid forms of fever. I have also found that persons coming from those sections suffering from any weakness of the lungs, or catarrh,
IOI
MEDICAL HISTORY.
or a tendency to consumption, or suffering general nervous prostration, be the cause what it may, are almost certain to be benefited-yes, get well-by coming to this region of country. As illustrative of this fact, there are hundreds of old citizens and old persons in north Georgia enjoying, and who have enjoyed, good health, who came here years ago as a last resort, and they were believed by their friends to be consumptive. I can but think that these marvelously pleasant results are owing, in part, to the vast number of mineral springs which are everywhere to be found in upper Georgia. We have long been satisfied, and we believe results warrant us in saying, this section of country is far better for invalids than that of Florida, as it is less liable to sudden changes, free from unpleasant, depressing ocean and gulf breezes, loaded, as they are, with the chloride of sodium absorbed from the salt waters and miasma of its vast swampy bottoms and marshes; and, above all, there is constant want of a bracing, strength-giving atmosphere."
SUMMERVILLE, RICHMOND COUNTY.
The village of Summerville, adjoining the western border of Augusta, is on the same "sand hills" ridge that Aiken, S. C., seventeen miles distant, is located. Its elevation above Augusta is 298 feet. Elevation above sea level is 463 feet. The healthfulness of Summerville is such that for Ico years it has been called "Mount Salubrity." Dr. S. E. Habersham says of Summerville: "This plateau is, properly speaking, the true summit of the hills in this state, being the highest point attained by it, and upon its eastern terminus is situated a portion of the village, including the United States arsenal and grounds. The general slope of this plateau is to the south and east; the sandy nature of the soil, with the pine and oak growth (black jack), makes it extremely dry and well adapted for those pul- monary sufferers who require a very dry climate and low dew point; while the sides of the ridge being nearer the valley are better adapted to those for whom a semi-humid atmosphere is necessary. This condition can be increased or dimin- ished by approaching to or receding from the valley, which fact makes the village of Summerville more suitable as a residence for the pulmonary sufferer than any locality I am aware of, since it is well known that though the great proportion of phthisical patients require a dry climate, yet there are occasionally those who are benefited by a comparatively humid atmosphere. This is particularly the case with asthmatic patients, who, in the great majority of cases, are benefited by residing here. As this peculiarity of constitution can only be determined by actual experiment we have, in the close proximity of these two hygometrical con- ditions, an easy and convenient means of determining the fact.
Summerville was originally designed to be simply a summer resort, by the wealthy citizens of Augusta, when that city was less healthy than it now is, but its air was found to be so healthful and bracing in winter, that they eventually made it their permanent abode, and now the population may be estimated at 800 inhabitants. It is regularly laid out in broad streets, lined with handsome elms and other shade trees, the houses being built in large enclosures, ornamented with shrubbery and flowers. It is not uncommon to see the camelia japonica in full bloom in the months of January and February, while the different azaleas are out in the early part of April. The salubrity of the climate is unquestioned. As an evidence of its healthfulness but fourteen deaths have occurred in this place during the four years 1864 to 1867. As far as I have been able to ascertain six of the persons were over three score and ten, viz .: One aged 102 years, one 94, one 84, one 75, 72 and 70 respectively. Two from accident, one from infant croup, two from congestive fever, contracted elsewhere and neglected, one from pneu-
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