46 MANUAL OF THE NlLAGIRI DISTRICT. 



PART II. 



THE PHYSICAL AND MEDICAL CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY OF 

 OOTACAMAND AND THE SURROUNDING PLATEAU OF THE NILA- 

 GIRIS, TOGETHER WITH REMARKS ON PERSONAL HYGIENE, 

 FOR THE USE OF VISITORS, INVALIDS, &c. 



{By Surgeon-Major Whitton, m.b., b.a., Cicil Surgeon, Ootacama^id.) 



Physical topography. — Elevation. — Climate. — Health. — Rainfall. — Temperatm-e. 

 — Hygienic rules. — Diseases peculiar to residents and new-comers. — Lawrence 

 Asylums. — Climates of Coonoor and Kotagiri. 



CHAP. IV, Amongst the combined circumstances wliicli influence and produce 

 PART II. the climate peculiar to the Nilagiri plateau may be mentioned — 



Physical AND j Local elevation. 



Medical 

 Climate, &c. 2. Geographical position. 



3. The geological structure of the soil, its vegetation, 



Causes of t n j • 



physical and configumtion. 



climate of 



Ootacamand. ^g ^[j. receives its warmth from the earth, its temperature must 



Effects diminish as the elevation increases ; moreover, warm air, as it 



oi local . •(•11 



elevation. ascends, expands, its capacity for heat becoming greater ; much 



of its heat therefore becomes latent, and sensible heat, as shown 

 by the thermometer, is diminished. Another effect of elevation is 

 the increase of the power of the sun's rays, a result which is, 

 however, here greatly modified by strong winds, clouds and mist, 

 or by the abundant moisture exhaled from the vegetation which 

 covers the surface of the soil. 

 Effects of The Nilagiris, being situated but a short distance, some fifty 



^^"^^••f^phical jjjiigg^ from the Indian Ocean, are exposed to the full force of the 

 south-west monsoon, more especially the higher and western 

 portions of the range. The great height of the Nilagiri also 

 brings it in a marked degree under the influence of the north- 

 east monsoon, especially towards the north and east. These 

 monsoons, especially the south-west, exercise a most beneficial 

 influence on the climate ; for instance, during the months 

 of June, July, and August, the sun is vertical, and would 

 prove injurious in its efi'ects on animal and vegetable life were 

 it not that the clouds and mist, which are the usual concomitant 



Note. — General description has been omitted, as it repeats matter already 

 given; also other matter which seemed unsuitable to a paper for a manual.— Ed. 



position. 



