AUSTRALIA. 103 



high as 140 degrees F. The Australian Alps consist 

 of a range of mountains in the southeastern part of the 

 country called Warragong by the natives. The highest 

 peak is Mt. Kosciusko, which rises to an elevation of 

 7,176 feet. This forest-clad mountain range has a de- 

 cided influence on the climate of the surrounding coun- 

 try, breaking the force of the icy winds from the south 

 in winter and the land breezes from its summit moder- 

 ating the heat during the summer months. The cli- 

 mate of Sydney is very much like that of Naples, with a 

 mean annual temperature of from 58 to 62 degrees F. 

 Frosts in winter are common; the highest temperature 

 in summer does not exceed 104 degrees F. At Mel- 

 bourne, 500 miles south of Sydney, very thin pellicles 

 of ice are sometimes seen during midwinter on small, 

 quiet pools of water; the summers are decidedly cooler 

 than in Sydney. At, Sydney the average annual rainfall is 

 over 49 inches, and during the summer, from Decem- 

 ber to the beginning of March, the sky is cloudless and 

 the nights generally cool, sufficiently so to remind the 

 people of the use of woolen blankets. For the Ameri- 

 can visitor winter is the proper time to see Australia, 

 as he will then escape our summer heat and will enjoy 

 the Australian winter with its flowers and invigorating 

 cool breezes. 



PREVAILING DISEASES. 



With few exceptions the prevailing diseases of Aus- 

 tralia are the same as of our middle states. It has es- 

 caped the ravages of cholera. Sydney recently has had 

 a number of cases of bubonic plague, but the rigid san- 

 itary precautions resorted to by the board of health 

 have succeeded in stamping out the disease. Malaria 

 is met with only in the tropical part of the country. 

 Pneumonia of a very virulent type occurs most fre- 

 quently during the winter season. Acute articular rheu- 

 matism is quite rare. Influenza, scarlatina and measles 

 make their appearance from time to time. Typhoid fe- 



