XXXIV PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



PARASITIC DISEASES. 



Of parasitic diseases, those caused by the Filaria Sanguinis 

 Hominis, Anchylostomum Duodenale, and the Hydatid are the 

 most common. These diseases, however, do not exist to 

 anything like the same extent here that they do in other 

 countries — particularly the Hydatid disease, which is very much 

 more prevalent in the southern colonies than it is in Queensland. 



It will be seen from the foregoing that the climate of 

 Queensland has, with the exception of the northern coast 

 districts, no serious drawbacks, but is on the contrary admirably 

 adapted to Europeans from either the north or south of Europe. 

 The interior has a genial, bracing climate, for notwithstanding 

 the fact of a high temperature being recorded in many places 

 during the summer months, it must be borne in mind that the 

 air is dry, and that in a dry atmosphere a much higher 

 temperature can be endured without inconvenience than in the 

 case of a moist one, A temperature of 80 degs. on the coast is 

 unpleasantly warm on the lee side of a house, but a 

 temperature of 90 or 95 degs. in the shade in a dry climate is 

 by no means uncomfortable. Evaporation from the surface of 

 the body is in the former case slow — in the latter it is rapid ; 

 consequently the temperature of the skin is reduced, and the 

 disagreeable effects of the lieat are hardly felt. In the interior, 

 although the days may be hot and the sun scorching, the nights 

 are comparatively cool, and one can always sleep comfortably, 

 and in most cases a blanket is a welcome addition to the 

 bedclothes. 



The southern portions of the coastal districts, although 

 somewhat enervating in summer by reason of the length of 

 the hot weather more than its intensity, have five months of 

 cool bracing weather, and in midwinter the cold is more than 

 one cares for very often. This is more especially so in the 

 country districts ; even in the vicinity of the towns the cold 

 becomes absolutely intense during the night, and one is tempted 

 to long for summer again. Of course in the coastal districts of 

 the north or tropical part, no such cool weather is experienced 

 in winter, if indeed any season of the year can be called such — 

 the only change being one of degree of heat. It is not so hot 

 during the months of May, June, July and August as at other 



