78 



PHYSICAL GEOGKATHY. 



[PART I. 



as likely to follow needless exposure to the withering 

 " along-shore wind " of the winter months in Ceylon \ 

 as they are traceable to unwisely confronting the east 

 winds of March in Great Britain ; and during the alter 

 nation, from the sluggish heat which precedes the 

 monsoon, to the moist and chill vapours that follow the 

 change, intestinal disorders, fevers, and liver complaints 

 are not more characteristic of an Indian rainy season 

 than of an English autumn, and are equally amenable to 

 those precautions by which liability may be diminished in 

 either place. 



Paleness. At the same time it must be observed, 

 that the pallid complexion peculiar to old residents, is 

 not alone ascribable to an organic change in the skin 

 from its being the medium of perpetual exudation, but 

 in part to a deficiency of red globules in the blood, and 

 mainly to a reduced vigour in the whole muscular ap- 

 paratus, including the action of the heart, which imper- 

 fectly compensates by increase of rapidity for diminution 

 of power. It is remarkable how suddenly this sallow- 

 ness disappears, and is succeeded by the warm tints of 

 health, after a visit of a very few days to the plains of 

 Neuera-ellia, or to the picturesque coffee plantations in the 

 hills that surround it. 



Ladies. Ladies, from their more regular and mo- 

 derate habits, and their avoidance of exposure, might 

 be expected to withstand the climate better than men ; 



1 See ante, p. 57. It is an agree- 

 able characteristic of the climate of 

 Ceylon, that sun-stroke, which is so 

 common even in the northern por- 

 tions of India, is almost unknown in 

 the island. Sportsmen are out all 

 day long in the hottest weather, a 

 practice which would be thought 

 more than hazardous in Oude or the 

 north-west provinces. Perhaps an 

 explanation of this may be found in 

 the difference in moisture in the two 

 atmospheres, which may modify the 

 degrees of evaporation ; but the in- 



quiry is a curious one. It is be- 

 coming better understood in the 

 army that active service, and even a 

 moderate exposure to the solar rays 

 (always guarding them from the hcail), 

 are conducive rather than injurious 

 to health in the tropics. The pale 

 and sallow complexion of ladies and 

 children born in India, is ascribable 

 in a certain degree to the same pro- 

 cess by which vegetables are blanched 

 under shades which exclude the 

 light: they are reared in apart- 

 ments too carefully kept dark. 



