3 H THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



temperature, food, humidity, and other influences affecting him. 

 The effect on the individual varies according to his susceptibility 

 and the degree and intensity of the factors acting on him. In 

 some cases sluggish functional activities are energized with a 

 tonic effect. But when that is the case it does not follow that the 

 new climate is necessarily intrinsically better than the one from 

 which he came. In other cases the effect of climate change often 

 proves atonic, depressing, and injurious ; but a bad effect on an in- 

 dividual does not prove that the climate is necessarily worse than 

 the one to which he was formerly accustomed. It may happen that 

 influences, good in themselves, may be injudiciously employed : as, 

 if a person requiring a cooler climate, such as that of the coast of 

 Maine, for instance, should try Labrador, and it should be more 

 than he could bear ; or, if one needed a milder climate and should 

 find Para too depressing. Even the relatively slight difference 

 between the European and American sides of the Atlantic often 

 proves serious to the immigrant during the process of acclimati- 

 zation, and many succumb, though it is probably true that the 

 majority of immigrants find themselves invigorated in their new 

 conditions of life on this side of the Atlantic. 



My object is to call your attention strongly to the well-known 

 fact that change of climate and its attendant circumstances, even 

 when not of any extreme character or degree, does produce an 

 impression more or less profound on the vital processes, and that 

 the nature, degree, and general therapeutic or pathological char- 

 acter of these influences should be more carefully studied than 

 they have thus far been studied, so that when consulted by our 

 patients we may have some definite advice to give in regard to 

 locations best suited to the inquirer's special needs ; or, if we can 

 not do so much, we ought at least to be able to give our patients 

 some very positive ideas as to the kind of climate to seek, and 

 especially what to avoid. For instance, California is seven hun- 

 dred and seventy miles long. It embraces, according to Dr. Re- 

 mondino, at least seven climates, distinctly different from each 

 other, and all very different from the climatic conditions existing 

 on this side of our continent. What is the sense in telling a 

 patient with a hole at the top of his lung to " go to California " 

 without instructing him in regard to the location to which he 

 should go, or at least what kind of climate he should look for ? 

 Without some specific information such a patient is likely to 

 drop into a place better calculated to shorten than to prolong his 

 days. To be sure, all the climates of California are characterized 

 by a dryness exceeding what is known in the east, and this fact 

 gives some relative advantages. But unquestionably the air may 

 be too dry in certain localities for certain cases. Is it not too 

 much to expect a patient to find out what the doctor who sends 



