Report by the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly.

  • Jamaica. Central Board of Health
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report by the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    102/594 (page 88)
    Pn:v€u!i(}ji of Epukmic, Endemic, that, in fact, Xhv causes now in action tend to (lestmy the (liluvial plains rather than to add to them. 'IMie section of tliese gTavels, which the river has Tormefl by cuttinj^ its l)ed, cannot he less than from two hun- dred to three hundred feet in depth near the Hope tavern. In addition to the river, numerous gullies, (formed by heavy tropical rains,) cut the diluviid plain of Li- guanea in various directions, so that every stream that crosses it tends; to its destruction. As previously stated, at its upper portion it is de- fended by the palisadoes ; alluvial maitcr is deposited in some parts of its shore, ])articularly between King- ston and Port-Henderson, vvhei'e mangrove trees are numerous. These trees are particularly well calcu- lated for the formation of alluvium—their long stilt- like roots collecting mud and other matters togetlier, and protecting what they have accumulated from any sudden rush of water. The diluvial plain of Liguanea is continued vv^est- ward throngh the lands of St. Catherine and St. Do- rothy ; sands and clays, of different colours, are more abundant, but in other respects the (h'luvium is the same. The sections aflbrded by the rivers and gul- lies are of considerable extent, though there is none so deep as that of the Hope river. 1 he large plain of Vere and Clarendon is separat- f^d from the al)Ove, as before described, by a low range of white limestone. It is surrounded by white lime- stone hills and mountains on all sides, save on tiie south east, where it is washed by the sea, with the excej)tion of that portion protected by the Portland ridge. Hie greater part of this plain is diluvial, con- sisting of gravels, clays, and sands. The former are composed of the same trappean rocks as above named, and these appear to have been, in a great measure, derived from the partial destruction of the trap dis- tricts among the St. John and Clarendon moun- tains. Diluvium occurs at the bottom of Luidas Yale, and