WINTER IN THE UPPER ENGADINE. 8 I 



of 10,000 to 15,000 feet and upwards oversea-level.* 

 Here, all the peculiar effects of a dry atmosphere, 

 such as we have already described, are again exhibited, 

 but in an exaggerated degree. Those who have visited 

 these regions, have always been struck with the in- 

 tensity of the sun's power, so long as one remains 

 exposed to its rays ; but on the other hand, the pecu- 

 liarly searching nature of the cold the moment one 

 enters the shade, is no less remarkable while at 

 night, as might be expected, its intensity is something 

 extraordinary. These phenomena may be witnessed to 

 a certain extent in Europe, by those who make a 

 winter visit to St. Moritz, and other places in the 

 Upper Engadine, which lie at an elevation of some 

 6100 feet above sea-level, f During the brilliant 

 sunshine of a cloudless day the heat on these occa- 

 sions is often so considerable that visitors skating on 

 the lakes are obliged to be dressed in the thinnest 

 summer clothing but the moment the sun goes down, 

 or that night approaches, the cold is that of the arctic 

 regions. These variations of temperature in a dry 

 atmosphere, however, are not so objectionable as they 

 would otherwise be; for Dr. Tucker Wise, the English 

 physician at Maloja, states that 



" it is by no means rare for individuals to quit a room 

 and proceed out of doors, with a difference of 50 and 

 occasionally of 60 Fahr., without feeling any very pressing 

 need of gloves or extra clothing" and provided there is 

 no wind " on the bright days of mid-winter, surrounded by 

 ice and snow, the new visitor marvels that the low tempera- 

 ture is unperceived, and that the sun's rays carry with them 

 the heat of summer." "Ordinary catarrh," he also tells us, 



* Murray's Handbook for Switzerland, 1886. j Ibid. 

 VOL. I. 6 



