MANUAL OF THE NtLAGIRI DISTRICT. 51 



" The range of the temperature of the air during the hottest hours CHAP. IV, 

 of the day, or at its maximum, throughout the whole year, appeal's PART II. 

 to he not quite nine degrees ; at the coldest hours of the night, or at _ 

 the minimum, only 9"15 degrees; that is, the hottest hours of Medical 

 the day, whether in summer or in the depth of winter, do not vary Climate, &c. 

 more than nine degrees. The extreme variation from the hottest ' 



day temperature to the coldest night temperature during the 

 whole year (average of seven years) was only 2r25. The extreme 

 average range between day and night temperature was about the 

 same as the extreme annual range, or 21*15. The mean daily range for 

 the whole year (from seven years' observations) was 16'17 degrees." 



In further illustration of the temperate nature of the climate^ Temperate 



it may be mentioned that English vegetables (potatoes, beans, ^^^^1^'^^'^^°^*^® 



cabbage, cauliflower, beet, carrots, turnips, cellery, and lettuce,) proved by its 



grow almost as well as in England : that English garden flowers botamcal 

 o . r , productions, 



are here produced in profusion almost all the year round ; and 



that the indigenous botanical productions resemble chiefly those 



of a temperate climate. A late writer on medical topography 



states with justice that " the character of a climate is much more "^ 



faithfully indicated by such a natural test as its influence on 



vegetable products than by any instrumental or artificial means 



whatever." 



The north-east monsoon usually begins about the middle of Nortli-faat 

 October. In the early part of October the direction of the ''^°'''°°''* 

 wind is variable from the north and north-west, but, as the 

 monsoon sets in, the wind blows from the north-east. It is 

 ushered in with about three weeks of rain, after which the 

 atmosphere clears up and the cold weather sets in. This 

 usually lasts from the beginning of December until the end of 

 February. 



During the cold season the sky is remarkably clear, and the Cold seison. 

 force of the sun is very great- The nights are, on the contrary, 

 cold and frosty. Sometimes in the morning the valleys and 

 hollows of hills, owing to radiation and evaporation, are covered 

 with hoar-frost. This deposition, however, does not indicate a 

 similar general decrease of temperature, for, although the ther- 

 mometer falls to 20" F. or even lower when placed in contact 

 with the ground in valleys and sheltered but open situations, it 

 seldom ranges lower than 38" or 40° F. when exposed to the 

 breeze at an elevation of a few feet from the ground. Owing to 

 the frost and the exceeding dryness of the air at this season of 

 the year, all the more delicate plants, garden vegetables, and 

 the grasses wither, leaving a mass of decayed vegetable matter 

 on the surface of the ground. 



From the beginning of the year and until the end of April, 

 north-easterly winds prevail. These prove most trying to the 

 invalid. From April until June the winds are variable, some- 



