On the Mediterranean coast of the south of France in its medical aspect : with a report of meteorological observations made at Cannes from November 1, 1874, to April 30, 1875 / by W. Marcet.
- William Marcet
- Date:
- 1876
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On the Mediterranean coast of the south of France in its medical aspect : with a report of meteorological observations made at Cannes from November 1, 1874, to April 30, 1875 / by W. Marcet. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
10/74 (page 4)
![and drizzling rain, its cold, cutting winds, and snow storms. But, if a weakened state of healtli be benefited by such a change of climate, I may be allowed to doubt how far healthy and robust persons will be the better for wintering in the svinny South. It must be remembered that the succession of the seasons in northern latitudes is in many respects an advantage in a sanitary point of view. In winter, the functions of the body undergo a kind of repose or rest; there is less heat and light, and conse- quently less activity in the vital phenomena; this we are unconscious of; nevertheless, there can be little doubt that it is so. The hibernation of certain animals is due to a torpid condition of all their functions; again, when the air is very cold, and the body exhausted by muscular exercise, or weakened from want of food, a feeling of drowsiness and numbness creeps on, clearly indicating a failure of vital power, which can only be restored by the external a]3plication of warmth and the administration of food. After the disappearance of snow and ice, when, in the early spring, nature appears to waken afresh and rejoice in the bright virarm rays of the sun, human beings and animals are equally conscious of a renewal of life, energy, and strength. Those who winter in the South, in search of a temperature which the weakened functions of their body may require, must recollect that, let the station they select be ever so healthy, a warm climate has the tendency of lessening the power the body possesses of generating heat; consequently, cold, even to a moderate extent, will be felt much more keenly by them than it would in a colder country. Tew escape a chilly sensation on the coast of the Mediterranean, when, after being out in the sun at a temperature of 65 deg. Fahr., a spot in the shade is reached at a temperature of 52 deg. Fahr. (readings obse-ved on January 30, 1874, at noon). This feeling of cold results, not only from contrast, but in a great measure from the fact that the body is deprived, by the continued influence of a mild winter season, of the power ot producing the necessary amount of heat when](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21460073_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
