A dictionary of practical medicine: comprising general pathology, the nature and treatment of diseases, morbid structures, and the disorders especially incidental to climates, to the sex, and to the different forms of life : with numerous prescriptions for the medicines recommended, a classification of diseases according to pathological principles, a copious bibliography, with references, and an appendix of approved formulae : the whole forming a library of pathology and practical medicine and a digest of medical literature (Volume 9).

James Copland

Date:: 1834-59

Credit: A dictionary of practical medicine: comprising general pathology, the nature and treatment of diseases, morbid structures, and the disorders especially incidental to climates, to the sex, and to the different forms of life : with numerous prescriptions for the medicines recommended, a classification of diseases according to pathological principles, a copious bibliography, with references, and an appendix of approved formulae : the whole forming a library of pathology and practical medicine and a digest of medical literature (Volume 9). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

Title Page

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come, in a great many cases—indeed in most, if it be not delayed to a too far advanced stage. [The following table shows the mean tempera- ture for each season, each month, and the whole year, at St. Augustine, Fort Brooke (Florida), Nice, Rome, Naples, and Madeira, for the years 1825, 1828, 1830, rejecting decimals : Place. Lat. Mean Ann'l Tern- pern- ture. Mean Temperature of the Seasons. Mean Temperature for each Month. £ .9 I 3 | ■< Jan. Feb. Mar. April. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. StAugus-l titie ... J Ft. Brooke. Naples.... Madeira... 29 48 '27 57 43 41 41 54 40 50 32 37 72^4 73.19 59.48 60.T9 01.40 04.50 62.83 65.0-2 47.82 48.90 48.50 59.50 70.55 71.71 56.23 5T.65 58.50 02.20 S2.05 SI. 04 72.20 72.10 70. S3 00.33 73.5602.15 74.5963.75 01.63 45.85 63.96 4T.66 04.50! 40.50 07.2359.50 64.97 00.50 49.(10 47.45 4S.50 88.50 66.53 00.48 51.45 52.05 52.00 01.00 OS. 68 71.27 57.00 50.40 57.00 02.50 76.44 77.39 03.00 04.50 00.50 03.00 81.12 80.90 69.00 09.17 71.00 05.00 82.36 81.43 73.50 73.30 75.00 70.00 82.68 SO. 79 74.30 74.02 70.50 73.00 79.56 79.01 03.35 69.50 72.50 71.50 73.61 75.04 61.85 03.00 05.00 67.50 07.47 69.71 53.70 58.80 54.50 62.70 61.3S 64.76 48.60 49.02 50.50 00.50 The above table shows very conclusively the winter and spring months to that of the most superiority of the climate of Florida during the celebrated places of resort abroad.] The following table contains the result of the obser- vations noted between Thebes and Asouan, the upper- most town in Egypt, and from these an idea may be formed of the winter climate in that region: Date. Highest temp, by day. Diurnal range. •5 to 0 State of weather. Jan. 17. '■ 18. 19. '< 20. 21. 22. 23. 64 63 00 01 64 69 OS 70 OS 7,) 0 71 72 72 6 5 4 5 7 3 4 7 7 5 12 7 6 10 . Cloudless sky and bright sunshine ev- ery day; the firma- ment blazing with stars every night ; no evening chills. The benefit I derived from breathing the genial air of the Thebaid was very decided. The periodical night attacks, though still occurring, were less violent and of shorter duration ; my breathing was greatly relieved ; and my strength was so far recruited that I was able, without fatigue, to make daily excursions, sometimes of many miles, to the monuments with which this part of the valley of the Nile is studded. At Thebes, which for several reasons should be made head-quarters in Upper Egypt, the day temperature, from the middle of January to the middle of February, ranges from 68° to 78°, and after the latter date the heat be- comes rather toe great to be borne with comfort. The invalid should then commence his downward voyage, and by the time he reaches the latitude of Cairo he will find the climate there nearly as delightful as that which he left at Thebes. My register during the first week of March at Cairo was as follows: £ . H. E-i 6 § Date. 1 = % s State of weather. 5,-° 3 bo -1 5 a a c 0 ° ° 0 0 Mar. 1. 66 72 6 9 Gentle breeze, sunny. 2. 6.) 74 6 4 Do. do. do. 3. 69 75 7 0 0 Fog. 4. 6S 70 s 6 Calm and sunny. 5. 71 74 :; 2 Haze. 6. 69 72 3 0 Cloudy and sunny. 7. 65 69 4 0 Drops of rain. In a city like Cairo, with a dense population of more than two hundred thousand people, and with narrow streets walled in by lofty houses, and constantly watered to lay the dust, the air can neither be so pure nor so dry as in the desert. Accordingly, the medical gentlemen of Cairo are in the habit of sending almost all their conva- lescent patients to reside for some time in the adjoining desert, to enjoy the benefit of its invigorating air. In it there is no water, either running or stagnant, to produce humidity by evaporation, nor is there any decaying mat- ter, either vegetable or animal, to taint the air with nox- ious exhalations. It is in the desert, therefore, that the qualities of warmth, equability, dryness, and purity, which are characteristic of the Egyptian climate in gen- eral, are to be found in the most perfect union. The soothing influence of the desert air on delicate organs of respiration, and its invigorating influence on a debilita- ted frame, can be appreciated by those only who, like myself, have experienced its marvelous effects. It is at once balmy and bracing; and the invalid, while breath- ing it, feels as if he were drinking in health at every pore. I quitted Cairo for the desert of Ghezeeh on the 12th of March, and took up my abode in the neighbour- hood of the Pyramids; and there a sudden change came over me, as if by magic. The second night I passed in the desert was marked by sound and uninterrupted sleep, and the absence of the periodical fit of dyspnoea, the first occasion on which I had enjoyed the one or had been ex- empted from the other for more than two years. My appetite soon became excessive; both the flesh and the strength I had lost during my illness were restored ; ev- ery symptom of my complaint disappeared, and at the end of a month I returned to Cairo in perfect health. The following table contains the meteorological register kept by me while I lived in the desert: p. 1 •a Date. ?H at State of weather. is >> tb -S a s a 0 0 0 0 Mar. 13. 63 69 6 10 High wind. 14. 63 70 7 12 Bright sunshine. 15. 63 6S 5 12 Do. 16. 03 68 5 13 Do. 17. 63 67 4 13 Do. 18. 63 70 7 12 Do. 19. 63 73 10 14 Do. 20. 67 72 5 17 Do. 21. 63 70 7 18 Do. 22. 63 71 8 18 Do. 23. 66 70 10 19 Do. 24. 71 76 5 16 Cloudy. 25. 67 71 4 10 Do. 26. 63 71 8 13 Bright sunshine. 27. 63 71 8 12 Do. 28. 64 73 9 11 Do. 29. 63 74 11 15 Do. 30. 63 71 8 12 Do. 31. 66 71 5 12 Cloudy. April 1. 6/ 81 14 23 Khamseen. 2. 07 72 5 10 Cloudy and blowing. 3. 65 72 '1 11 Bright sunshine. 4. 68 71 3 12 Do. 5. 65 71 6 16 Do. 6. 65 75 ia 18 Do. 7. 04 70 6 3 Rain. 8. 65 71 6 10 Bright sunshine. The only other place in Egypt whose meteorology it seems necessary to notice is Alexandria. AVhen it is borne in mind that this city is surrounded on three sidi s by the Mediterranean Sea, and that on the land side it is enveloped by the Lake Mareotis, a moist atmosphere may be expected, and accordingly the degree of humid- ity indicated in the following extract fmm my register is excessive. In this respect the state of the atmosphere in Alexandria, during the early part of May, will be found to contrast remarkably with that of Cairo and its vicinity during the latter part of April; while the greater equa- bility of temperature in the former city, both from day to day and during the twenty-four hours, is no less ob- servable:

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